In Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Expert System's Champion, sometimes the ones you hate are the only ones that can save you.It's been ten years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts.Wandering from village to village, welcoming the folk that the townships abandon, fighting the monsters the villagers cannot—or dare not—his ever-growing band of misfits has become the stuff of legend, a story told by parents to keep unruly children in line.But there is something new and dangerous in the world, and the beasts of the land are acting against their nature, destroying the towns they once left in peace.And for the first time in memory, the Ancients have no wisdom to offer...At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

I love this author! He has such a brilliant imagination. In The Expert System's Brother we visit a planet centuries after its settlement by humans who had discovered it was virtually uninhabitable. As a result they made a number of serious changes to their descendants to make them able to survive and be comfortable, with some resultant unexpected results.The world building was really good and the idea of a planet which has stood still in time was marvellous. I particularly enjoyed the very clever ending. Another really enjoyable book from this very versatile author.

In the pitch dark, witty fantasy novella Prosper's Demon, K. J. Parker deftly creates a world with vivid, unbending rules, seething with demons, broken faith, and worse men.In a botched demonic extraction, they say the demon feels it ten times worse than the man. But they don’t die, and we do. Equilibrium.The unnamed and morally questionable narrator is an exorcist with great follow-through and few doubts. His methods aren’t delicate but they’re undeniably effective: he’ll get the demon out—he just doesn’t particularly care what happens to the person.Prosper of Schanz is a man of science, determined to raise the world’s first philosopher-king, reared according to the purest principles. Too bad he’s demonically possessed.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Kingfisher wants to turn idea of goblins and elves on its head. Perhaps this is a side story to Lord of the Rings, where a band of somewhat lovable, somewhat gross goblinsThere are some fabulous explanations of grumpy people goblin psychology as well: "Wherever a goblin happens to live, he complains about it constantly. This is actually a sign of affection. A desert goblin will complain endlessly about the beastly heat and the dreadful dryness and the spiky cactus. He will show you how his sunburn is peeling and the place where the rattlesnake bit him and the place where he bit the rattlesnake. He will be thoroughly, cheerfully, miserable."As fun as that is, I can't help but think that would be more fun to see this evolve in dialogue. In fact, it does, later in the tale during dinner, and the explanation happens as an aside in a few quick sentences. Nonetheless, the descriptions are charming, playing with our expectations of romantic views of soldiering, elves and healing:"Goblins march badly... On a good day, they will stay in step for nearly a minute before somebody gets bored, or trips, or stumbles, or forgets what he's doing and begins skipping. Small knots break off. Officers ride around on their pigs, shouting orders and leaving havoc in their wake."Still, despite the amusing descriptions and interesting world-building, pacing could have been improved. It isn't until 25 to 30 percent into the book that a major event happens that sets up the conflict for the rest of the story. The conflict is interesting in a benign way, but then it takes an ominous turn once the goblins discover an abandoned farm and dead animals. It makes for an uneven tone, and there's a weird little bits of storylines involving racism, mental illness and power that made me just a tiny bit... squidgy.Characters are fun and well... humanized, for lack of a better word. There's Sings-to-Trees, the only elf who seems to enjoy getting dirty in the course of his healing duties, and Sergeant Nessilka who is doing her very best to keep the goblins alive. So: high marks for world-building and language, medium marks for storytelling, and lesser marks for plotting. Bonus marks for having a story that conveys the somewhat stupid--but sincere-- and... organic charms of goblins. It's a nice tale, but a little underwhelming in comparison to some of her other works. This is one of those times when rating might suffer a titch because of my expectations for the author. Kingfisher's other works are even better, particularly those as Ursula Vernon. I just finished Castle Hangnail and loved it. For those that want something more mature, her Jackalope Wives and The Tomato Thief are amazing short stories.Three and a half goblins, rounding up.

Oliver was a very minor mage. His familiar reminded him of this several times a day.He only knew three spells, and one of them was to control his allergy to armadillo dander. His attempts to summon elementals resulted in nosebleeds, and there is nothing more embarrassing than having your elemental leave the circle to get you a tissue, pat you comfortingly, and then disappear in a puff of magic. The armadillo had about wet himself laughing.He was a very minor mage. Unfortunately, he was all they had.

A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell – weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish. On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.Lavishly produced, packed with glorious Chris Riddell illustrations enhanced with metallic ink, this is a spectacular and magical gift.

Rhea is an ordinary miller’s daughter, engaged to be married under suspicious circumstances to a man not of her choosing. He has unknown powers and a manor house full of mysterious women.Rhea has a hedgehog. It claims to be ordinary, but normal hedgehogs don’t act like that.It’s probably not going to be enough.

Fantasy Novellas

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Asian themes, authors, or inspired

Science & Nonfiction

LGBTQ+ sff novellas

SFF novellas: complex and/or morally gray women

Nature & Nonfiction

MF Romance

Human & Nonfiction

TBR

Standalone sff + humor