Posts Tagged ‘Young Adult fiction’

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Cast of Wonders 171: Pluto

Originally published in Lightning Cake, November 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:10 — 6.7MB)

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PLUTO

by C. E. Hyun

On Pluto, there were pterodactyls that flew in V-flock formations. Sarah had never seen pterodactyls that flew in V-flock formations.

This was not demoted-to-dwarf-planet Pluto. This was a lush and fantastic Pluto, which Sarah and her companions discovered while returning from their discouraging voyage to the system of Poseidon. (Perks and promotions had been promised on their finding the fabled god’s trident. Alas, all they’d found were dusty moon rocks, and there were plenty of those next door to home.)

On Pluto, fresh fruit dangled from the trees. They camped by the beach, where the sand was pink and pale. It was a welcome respite, and no one was eager to hurry back home. Here, the weather was lovely. Curious creatures populated the land. Silver otters and sapphire hummingbirds. Tiny compsognathus that scampered in the beach grass.

It was Tony, their systems engineer, who discovered them. “I’m good with animals. Look, I’ve got this guy eating out of the palm of my hand!” he said.

“Maybe it’s him that’s good with you,” Sarah said. The compsognathus crushed Tony’s walnut like a marshmallow.
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Cast of Wonders 170: Princesses Do Not Breathe Fire

Originally published in Flagship Magazine (February 2012).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:00 — 42.6MB)

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Princesses Do Not Breathe Fire

by Sarina Dorie

When Princess Draciona was born, it was obvious something wasn’t quite right. She had emerald eyes and viridian hair. Most unusual of all was her scaly, moss-tinted skin.

“This baby looks a little like a . . . ahem . . . dragon,” said Prince Rupunzelson (named after his great-grandmother).

“No, no,” insisted his wife, Princess Penelope. “That’s just green eczema. She’ll outgrow it.”

Prince Rupunzelson nodded and decided to let his wife worry about it. He would rather think about battle.

But Princess Draciona did not outgrow her eczema. To make matters worse, when she started to teethe, she grew sharp, dagger-like fangs. When she didn’t get her way, she sometimes breathed fire.

“Princesses do not breathe fire just because they don’t get their way,” said Rupunzelson, who was king by now.

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Cast of Wonders 169: Lost Socks

Cast of Wonders 169: Lost Socks is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:25 — 23.3MB)

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Show Notes

Want to see those OTKs I mentioned? They’re at Sock Dreams – and tell them I said hello!

Lost Socks

by Lisa Montoya

Perdy saw Grandpa Zeke sitting in the swing on the front porch as she carried the empty laundry basket.  She pushed open the old wooden screen door and went to sit next to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder as the two of them just looked out into the yard.  Perdy sighed.

He asked, “How you be, Perdy Perdy?”

She squeezed his arm and cuddled closer to him.

Grandpa Zeke slipped his arm around her. “Did you find those missing socks?”

Perdy shook her head. “No.  They aren’t in my room. Do you think a squirrel got into the house again and took them?  Or maybe we have a sock eating washing machine.”

He laughed.

She sat up and looked at him.  “Really, I looked everywhere.”

Grandpa Zeke smiled at her.  “I am sure you did. Most likely was the sock gremlins.”

Perdy stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

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Cast of Wonders 168: The Tale of the White Tiger

Originally published in Interstellar Fiction (May 2013).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:25 — 26.9MB)

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The Tale of the White Tiger

by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Blind Li Xiao surveyed the marketplace. The sensor net embedded in his storyteller’s robes fed signals directly to his brain. The citizenship transponders exactly matched the number of heat signatures. A world firmly loyal to the Empire, then. Or one too afraid to act otherwise.

A passive scan showed at least two peacekeepers in the market. Probably more secret police. He would have to be careful in his story selection. Something from one of the official chronicles. Something he could use for his own purposes.

He beat his staff on the ground three times. The bells at the head chimed out their message. Be still and hearken. Blind Li Xiao is about to begin his tale. He chanted the introductory poem in his clear, high voice:

“When wicked ministers subvert the good,

“The Systems lose the beautiful and true.

“On Heaven’s River vast, White Tiger sails,

“Her course set by the pirate Madam Hu.”

An audience gathered in front of Blind Li Xiao. Children pressed close, their grandparents behind them. The young women and men stood at the edge, feigning disinterest or fearing entrapment. Blind Li Xiao swept the head of his staff in a broad arc as he spoke.

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Cast of Wonders 167: Setting My Spider Free

Originally published in Electric Velocipede Issue 17/18 (Spring 2009).

Content Warning: This week’s story features spiders front and center. Arachnophobes may want to skip this episode and join us again next week.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:50 — 19.1MB)

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Setting My Spider Free

by Caroline M. Yoachim

Cool air swirled in through the window and carried with it the faint tapping of claws scratching against stone.  A spiderling was climbing my tower.

Lilymiya stirred.  She’d spent the daylight hours in her corner with all her legs fanned out across the floor, trying to ward off the summer heat.  My poor spider. Her fur, so thick and comforting in the winter, was patchy and ragged. Clumps of it gathered along the base of the walls, and thick strands clung to the grimy sweat on my skin.

The spiderling appeared on my windowsill.  It was medium-sized — bigger than a loaf of bread, but a hundredth the size of Lilymiya.  I didn’t want it to disturb the webs that decorated my walls, so I reached up and grabbed it with both hands.  The spiderling twirled its legs in the empty air as it tried to cool itself.

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Cast of Wonders 166: Hard Passage

Originally published by Perihelion SF (2014).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:17 — 32.3MB)

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Show Notes

Juliet Mushens’ book Get Started in Writing Young Adult Fiction is available now in the UK, and forthcoming in the US. You can find her on Twitter.

Hard Passage

by Holly Schofield

Daylan hurried along the edge of the crowd. He would violate the Heartcreed if he was late again.

As he approached the main wormhole gate, a new wave of arrivals washed over him. There should have been a few minutes grace. I’ve got the schedules wrong again, he thought, flicking his grimy pad into begging mode with an aching thumb.

“Help a poor orphan boy save for a ticket home,” Daylan called out to the kindliest-looking ones as he forged upstream, against the hectic flow of passengers, hunching to make himself shorter. He waved his pad, the large zero indicating his lack of credits. Most arrivees let their eyes pass over his ragged clothes and unblemished forehead, the lack of a visible brain implant labeling him idios.

Endless multitudes streamed by, a cacophony of colour and shapes: tall, elegant Naiphs; stocky Rassakits; right-sized Terrans. Humankind and the two known extraterrestrial species surged in a constant flux; arriving and departing ships determining the tidal ebb and flow of the spaceport.
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Cast of Wonders 165: Into The Forever Place

Originally published in the The Devilfish Review (December 2012).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:08 — 39.5MB)

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Show Notes

Our story this week is a special re-broadcast of Into the Forever Place by Luke Thomas. This story originally ran in July of last year, but the recording suffered from a technical failure that meant we took it down almost as soon as it went up, so we’ve decided to re-release it for your listening pleasure.

Into the Forever Place

by Luke Thomas

I fasten the last braid about Jad’s shoulder and step back. My belly flutters as I look him over, which isn’t normal. Jad’s my best friend. I’m never more comfortable with anyone than with him. Today, though, he is to be venerated, and he looks the part. I knew the dyes used for this sash were precious, but only now do I understand what that means.

We both examine his reflection in the slab of mirrored glass leaning against the wall. The mirror’s old tain yellows everything—the wood and mortar walls, my pale skin and Jad’s dark—it’s all yellowed except the braids of the sash. They wind around Jad’s lanky torso in blues and greens more vivid than life. I know a veneration ceremony is about the clan, not about Jad, but we can both see he looks splendid. His chest swells. I can’t help but laugh. “Jad… you’re preening.”

He blinks, realizes how puffed up he is, and laughs. This doesn’t last long though; Jad recovers himself more quickly than I can manage. He’s a trained storykeeper, after all, and can isolate the rhythm of his breathing and trim the laughter right out of it. I’ve no such control.

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2014 Parsec Award Nominations are Now Open!

Hello everyone!

The 2014 Parsec Awards nomination window is now open, and every one of the stories listed below is eligible for nomination in the Best Speculative Fiction Story: Small Cast (Short Form) category.

The nomination window is open until May 31st, 2015, so spread the word on whatever social media platforms you like. Cast of Wonders itself is eligible in the Best Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast category and we’d love your support.

Thank you all!

Marguerite

2014 PARSEC ELIGIBLE EPISODES

123: Taxidermy and Other Dangerous Professions by JR Johnson, read by M K Hobson

124: Old People Rules by Holly Schofield, read by Melissa Bugaj

125: The Clasp by Jarod Anderson, read by Elie Hirschman

126: The Perfect Prom by Kat Otis, read by Mur Lafferty

127: Learning the Game by Michael Haynes, read by M K Hobson

128: Robots Don’t Cry by George Edwards, read by Pete Milan

129: Into The Forever Place by Luke Thomas, read by Heather Welliver

130: The Phobos Monolith by Preston Dennett, read by Amy Robinson

131: Survivor by Josh Roseman, read by Marguerite Kenner

132: The Collector by Jameyanne Fuller, read by Alasdair Stuart

133: A Well-Lit Dungeon by Mark Mills, read by Adam Black

134/135: Flowers For the Dead by Jamie Mason, read by Paul Cram

136: Flotsam by Rebecca Schwarz, read by Jeff Hite

137: The Filigreed Cage by Krystal Claxton, read by Andrew Clarke

138: Things We Leave Behind by Alex Shvartsman, read by the author

139: Little Wonders 6: A Little Laughter. Continue? by James Vachowski, read by John Cmar; The Girl With The Picollo by Charity Tahmaseb, read by Fiona “Princess Scientist” Van Verth; Some Assembly Required by Terry L. Mirll, read by Dave Robison

140: Of Pumpkin Soup and Other Demons by Natalia Theodoridou, read by Katherine Inskip and The Ghost of Grammy Goneril by Austin H. Gilkeson, read by Christiniana Ellis

141: Reading Time by Beth Cato, read by Dave Thompson and A House In The Forest by Shawn Bailey, read by Lizzie S

142: Marrow by Mav Skye, read by Barry J. Northern

144: The Middle Rages by Joseph L. Kellogg, read by John Cmar

145: Tell Them Of The Sky by A. T. Greenblatt, read by Pete Newman

146/147: 30 Minutes for New Hell by Rick Kennett, read by Marguerite Kenner

148: Shimmer by Amanda Davis, read by Lizzie S

149: Bricks and Sunlight by M. K. Hutchins, read by Dani Daly

150: Little Wonders 7: The Season of Goodwill. Christmas Lights by Jamie Lackey, read by Marguerite Kenner and The Secret Ingredient Is by Emmalia Harrington, read by Anne Fortune

155: Aisha Bets Her Life on Magic by Jarod K. Anderson, read by Julia Rios

156/157: The Seal King by Jennifer Noelle Welch, read by Paul Cram

158: This Is Your Problem, Right Here by David Steffen, read by Graeme Dunlop

159: There Are No Marshmallows in Camelot by Christian McKay Heidicker, read by Marguerite Kenner

160: The Haunted Jalopy Races by Matthew Bennardo, read by Alasdair Stuart

161: The Rum Cake Runner by Jessi Cole Jackson, read by Michelle Ristuccia

162: Sister Winter by Jenni Moody, read by Melissa Bugaj

163: Speaking to Skull Kings by Emily Cataneo, read by Katherine Inskip and Jeremy Carter

164: Amicae Aeternum by Ellen Klages, read by Rikki LaCoste, Isis LaCoste and Fiona “Princess Scientist” Van Verth

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Julia Rios, our narrator on Episode 155, Aisha Bets Her Life On Magic, for winning the 2015 Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for the excellent anthology Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories which is also on this year’s Tiptree Award Honor list.

And if you’re a fan of Podcastle’s very own Dave Thompson, his short story collection And Welcome Back is on Kickstarter now. His stretch goals including a chapbook and audio book collection of Easter Werewolf mad libs stories by such luminaries as Ann Leckie, Amal El-Mohtar, Rachael K. Jones, Nathaniel Lee, M.K. Hobson, Matt Wallace, Mur Lafferty, and more. You don’t want to miss it.

-Marguerite

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Cast of Wonders 164: Amicae Aeternum

Originally published in Reach for Infinity (May 2014).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:50 — 24.7MB)

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Show Notes

Available from Solaris in The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 9 (May 2015), and from Tor.com.

Once you’ve listened to the story, here’s the lullaby Rikki wrote!

Amicae Aeternum

by Ellen Klages

It was still dark when Corry woke, no lights on in the neighbors’ houses, just a yellow glow from the streetlight on the other side of the elm. Through her open window, the early summer breeze brushed across her coverlet like silk.

Corry dressed silently, trying not to see the empty walls, the boxes piled in a corner. She pulled on a shirt and shorts, looping the laces of her shoes around her neck and climbed from bed to sill and out the window with only a whisper of fabric against the worn wood. Then she was outside.

The grass was chill and damp beneath her bare feet. She let them rest on it for a minute, the freshly-mowed blades tickling her toes, her heels sinking into the springy-sponginess of the dirt. She breathed deep, to catch it all—the cool and the green and the stillness—holding it in for as long as she could before slipping on her shoes.

A morning to remember. Every little detail.

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Cast of Wonders 163: Speaking to Skull Kings

Originally published in Betwixt issue 4, Summer 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:08 — 33.1MB)

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Speaking to Skull Kings

by Emily B. Cataneo

When Bird with his crown of black roses disappears from the clearing, Genevieve knows she and Joseph won’t be safe anymore. At night, while Joseph sleeps, she sorts the walnuts and lingonberries that Bird gathered for them to eat, counting fewer each time. Her stomach aches and she flinches at the rustle of the skull kings in the ghost forest beyond the clearing.

Sometimes, she clambers up trees, her boots slipping on bark, straining to hear the rustle of Bird’s wings, the growl of his caw.

Night after night, Bird doesn’t return.

Night after night, the skull kings crunch through the undergrowth, closer and closer.

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