The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017

A good issue, with a nice nod to Robert Heinlein's 'Crooked House' by David Erik Nelson and a fascinating tale by G. V. Anderson that starts out sounding like fantasy but slowly reveals itself to be SF via biological modification. Justin C. Key's 'alternative US slavery history' (with a small dose of fantasy) might be enjoyed by those into that time period; otherwise, it's probably too specific to find a bigger audience.

• "In A Wide Sky, Hidden" by William Ledbetter: a man travels the galaxy, searching for his sister who has left behind an enigmatic message about finding her through her art.

• "The Massochist's Assistant" by Auston Habershaw: an interesting tale about the assistant of a mage whose job is to try to kill his master; for what doesn't kill him will make him stronger. But the assistant's social standing in society suffers due to the mage's attempts at death antics until he is virtually exiled from society. And it may be up to the mage to help his restore it; even if it kills him.

• "The Bride in Sea-Green Velvet" by Robin Furth: a fascinating dark fantasy tale of a landlord who appears to have a fetish for the bones of dead women. In this story, he acquires what he believes is an especially beautiful skull of a woman who he plans to use in a dark, magical ceremony involving the sea that has been going on for generations, performed by his ancestors. Little does he know how the outcome of the ceremony will affect his own future for the worse.

• "There Was a Crooked Man, He Flipped a Crooked House" by David Erik Nelson: a fascinating story about an unusual building in Detroit. Without going into too much detail, it tells the story of two people (and later, others) who find it curiously difficult to enter the house. But later, with the right key, they enter it, discover what its enticing contents are, and discover that leaving the house is now a challenge. Even more challenging is avoiding its chilling out-of-this-world occupant who is now hunting for them.

• "A Dog's Story" by Gardner Dozois: a short-short told from a dog's point of view of finding a girl's body and then, with the help of other animals, tracking down the killer and arranging a punishment. All in a dog's day.

• "I Am Not I" by G. V. Anderson: a fantastic tale that starts out sounding like fantasy but slowly reveals itself to be SF of a girl cast out from a famous family and seeks work at a body emporium. What the story reveals is an incredible world where humans are outcasts and treated like vermin in a world of genetically modified beings who see themselves as superior. The girl is desperate to fit into the world and to hide her background, but her world comes crashing down as her deception is revealed, and she has to accept that she is what she is.

• "Afiya's Song" by Justin C. Key: a long story set during the slave period in the US involving an unusual slave girl whose singing can cause healing. But things turn rebellious at the slave owner's plantation when the girl's husband is whipped to death.

• "An Obstruction to Delivery" by Sean Adams: to save money, a city strangely drives its postal service underground into former service tunnels. But things take a turn for the worse when postal workers start turning up as piles of bones. And it may need the help of a former postal worker, whose ideas on making the postal service wonderful are somewhat idealistic, to get to the bottom of the horror in the tunnels.

• "An Unearned Death" by Marissa Lingen: an interesting fantasy about a messenger of the gods whose cloak can reveal which god is willing to receive those who are about to die. But the messenger may have a difficult task ahead when she is called to find out who will receive a grandmother; for in this world, a sad fate awaits those who die without being accepted by any god.