Tag: Scott H. Andrews

The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast 2017-2018

written by David Steffen

Beneath Ceaseless Skies published has been publishing other-world fantasy since 2008, and has been edited by Scott H. Andrews since its launch.  They publish about half of their stories in audio, so if you like what you read here there is more stories that weren’t even considered on the BCS website.  This post covers two years of Beneath Ceaseless Skies–they didn’t publish quite enough stories in audio in 2017 for a full list.  Over that two year period, BCS published 42 stories on their podcast.

The stories that are eligible for this year’s science fiction awards (like the Hugo and Nebula) are marked with an asterisk if they are short stories(*).  BCS publishes all original fiction, but only that was first published in the 2018 calendar year is eligible.

The List

1. “Carnival Nine” by Caroline M. Yoachim
An incredible heart-wrenching story about what family and what you will do for the ones you love, focused on a family of clockwork people.

2.  “That Lingering Sweetness” by Tony Pi
Another excellent entry in this series of a confectioner magician who bargains with zodiac spirits.

3.  “On the Road to the Hell of Hungry Ghosts” by Richard Parks
Another in a series of great stories about a father-daughter monster hunting team.

4. “Penitents” by Rich Larson*
A post-apocalyptic science fantasy story about who and what are left behind, bizarre and interesting.

5.  “In Memory of Jianhong, Snake-Devil” by Richard Parks
The same series as #3, be sure to read them in order.

Honorable Mentions

“An Account of the Madness of the Magistrate, Chengdu Village” by Richard Parks*
Yet another in that series, obviously I quite liked the series.

 

 

 

The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies 2015-2016

written by David Steffen

This post covers two years of Beneath Ceaseless Skies–they didn’t publish quite enough stories in 2015 to do a list.  Beneath Ceaseless Skies continues to publish quality other-world fiction, edited by Scott H. Andrews.  This list only covers the stories they published on their podcast, which is a bit less than half of the stories they publish–one podcast every two weeks.  They published 45 original stories on the podcast in 2015-2016.

The stories that are eligible for this year’s science fiction awards (like the Hugo and Nebula) are marked with an asterisk (*).  BCS publishes all original fiction, but only that was first published in the 2016 calendar year is eligible.

The List

1. “The Punctuality Machine, Or, A Steampunk Libretto” by Bill Powell
Written as a futuristic time-travel musical plays written in the 1800s, with a full-cast recording.  So much fun!

2.  “The Sweetest Skill” by Tony Pi*
The third in a series of short stories about the candy magician Ao, who can make magical animated candies as well as negotiating arrangements with spirits of the Zodiac for greater powers.  Again he is drawn into using his powers in the service of others.  This story stands by itself, but if you want to find out more about his powers, and why he owes the debts that he does, you should also read the first story, “A Sweet Calling” published at Clarkesworld, and the second story “No Sweeter Art” published at Beneath Ceaseless Skies in previous years.

3.  “The Night Bazaar For Women Becoming Reptiles” by Rachael K. Jones*
Jones has a penchant for the weird, and this story is a prime example.  In the city in this story, everyone has a daytime life and a nighttime life, each with different lovers and different occupations and different expectations.  The protagonist sells reptile eggs to women at the Night Bazaar that transform them into reptiles, but she longs for such a transformation herself.

4.  “Blessed Are Those That Have Seen, and Do Not Believe” by D.K. Thompson*
Another entry in the St. Darwin’s Spirituals story, a kind of steampunk noir where Darwin invented goggles that allow the wearer to see spirits, and there are other supernatural elements as well.

5.  “Court Bindings” by Karalynn Lee
The protagonist is the bodyguard of a princess against the assassins of foreign courts, while watching her grow in her magic to compel other living beings to her will.

Honorable Mentions

“The King in the Cathedral” by Rich Larson

“The Mountains His Crown” by Sarah Pinsker*

 

The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast 2013-2014

written by David Steffen

This post covers two years of Beneath Ceaseless Skies–they didn’t publish quite enough stories in 2013 to do a list.  Beneath Ceaseless Skies continues to publish quality other-world fiction, edited by Scott H. Andrews.  This list only covers the stories they published on their podcast, which is a bit less than half of the stories they publish–one podcast every two weeks.

 

The List

  1. “No Sweeter Art” by Tony Pi
    Sequel to “A Sweet Calling” that was published in Clarkesworld, both about a Zodiac-confectioner mage–might want to listen to the other one first.
  2. “Sekhmet Hunts a Dying Gnosis: A Computation” by Seth Dickinson
    I love stories that mix fantasy and science fiction in a big way.
  3. “The Breath of War” by Aliette de Bodard
    I can’t say I recall another fantasy quest story starring a pregnant woman as the hero.
  4. “Alloy Point” by Sam J. Miller
    Flee the terrible metalman, who comes to keep the people of base metal apart from the people of precious metal.
  5. “The Penitent” by M. Bennardo
    Number 17596 wakes in his cell.  Where are the guards?  Why is the cell unlocked?  

Honorable Mentions

“The Clockwork Trollop” by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
“Ill-Met at Midnight” by David Tallerman

The Best of Podcastle 2013

written by David Steffen

Podcastle, and the other Escape Artists casts had a bit of a crisis to overcome this year–they realized that although they had a great listenership, only 1% of the listeners donated, and it wasn’t enough to keep the publications afloat. The good news is that when they revealed this there was a strong reaction to add subscriptions–if you read this and you like the cast, consider adding a subscription.

Podcastle published 57 stories in 2013, here are my favorites.

The List

1. Scry by Anne Ivy
Seeing the future, like time travel, is one of those story elements in which it’s hard to find new permutations which some other hasn’t already thought of. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use it for stories, but most attempts at using these elements novelly will result in something much like another existing story. This story managed to feel novel despite all that, giving interesting limitations to the main characters ability to scry the future, ways to make it both a strength and a weakness. She has been captured by a creature incapable of lying who has vowed to kill her, but she makes the most of what seems to be a bleak situation. Very cool.

2. Wuffle by Chantal Beaulne
Beard humor! A wizard rids himself of his beard that has soaked up so much magic it has become sapient.

3. Mermaid’s Hook by Liz Argall
A great nonhuman POV, a mermaid rescues a man who’s been thrown off a ship and does her best to try to understand his perspective.

4. The Sunshine Baron by Peadar O Guilin
An unlikeable narrator done extremely well. Cool worldbuilding, and even though I hated the POV character, I wanted to see how it turned out, and I could understand his decisions even if I hate him for them.

5. Excision by Scott H. Andrews
I’ve heard time and time again that there is a conflict between magic and science. But there really isn’t–science is the study of the universe through measurable and repeatable tests. If magic exists, science would strive to understand it and catalog it. This story embraces that concept, trying to rigorously find new methods of healing magic.

6. The Discriminating Monster’s Guide to the Perils of Princess Snatching by Scott M. Roberts
I don’t much care for the title of this one, making it seem like it will be a whimsical lighthearted adventure story for children, but the story is very good, voiced by Dave Thompson, a perfect choice. The POV character is a monster who abducts people with great destinies to steal away their destinies as a source of energy, but this time he’s abducted the wrong princess.

 

 

Honorable Mentions

The Red Priest’s Vigil by Dirk Flinthart

Rumor of Wings by Alter S. Reiss

Beyond the Shrinking World by Nathaniel Katz

 

 

The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast

written by David Steffen

If you’re looking for a new magazine to read, and you’re a fan of some quality worldbuilding, you’ve got to check out Beneath Ceaseless Skies. They have a neat little niche market, focusing on worlds that are “other” in some way, either a past time period (with speculative elements added in) or an alternate world; no contemporary, no futuristic.

BCS releases an issue every two weeks, with 2 brand new stories in text, and one audio story which is a reprint of one of their earlier text stories. For the purposes of this list, I only considered the 55 audio stories they’ve published to date–if you follow the links you can either read the text or listen to the audio. I’d like to catch up on their text stories as well, but I find it much easier to find time for audio. And as usual, I don’t consider stories that I’ve considered for one of my other Best Of lists, which does eliminate a few, including the excellent Alchemist’s Feather by Erin Cashier.

1. Father’s Kill by Christopher Green
A father and his young children live in an isolated house in a wilderness thick with wolves. Father is out hunting, leaving the children home, the wolves held back by a solid door with a series of intricate locks.  Great dark story with a child’s point of view.

2. Architectural Constants by Yoon Ha Lee
Wow. This story really put Yoon Ha Lee on my radar. Awesome worldbuilding of a very strange otherworld. I’m… not sure that I totally understood everything that happened, but it was still wholly enjoyable.

3. Dying on the Elephant Road by Steve Rasnic Tem
It certainly delivers on the title, as the protagonist gets trampled to death by elephants in an effort to save the love of his life, who has no idea he exists. Don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler– that happens in about the first paragraph. Shortly thereafter he’s patched together by a mysterious stranger with even more mysterious motives.

4. Preservation by Jonathan Wood
If you’ve ever lost a loved one have you wished that you could have kept them around forever?

5. Waiting for Number Five by Tom Crosshill
This is a story of Four, the fourth in a series of sentient dancing figurines, each an improvement on the last. But how long does she have before Five replaces her?

6. Mamafield by Corie Ralston
Sentient plants with a smothering mother, and the story of one of the other plant children who had run away.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Pale by Kathryn Allen

Remembering Light by Marie Brennan
This story takes place in the world of Driftwood, the same setting as “A Heretic by Degrees”, also written by Marie Brennan, which made my Best of Podcastle list.

Sun Magic, Earth Magic by David D. Levine