Showing results by narrator "Natalie Naudus" in All Categories

What exactly is the difference between a love letter and a suicide note? Is there really any difference at all? These might be the questions posed by Dear Sweet Filthy World, Caitlin R. Kiernan’s 14th collection of short fiction, comprising 28 uncollected and impossible-to-find stories. Here are 28 tales of apocalypse and rebirth, of miraculous transformation and utter annihilation. Here is the place where professing your undying devotion might be precisely the same thing as signing your own death warrant or worse.

A Is for Alien is award-winning author Caitlín R. Kiernan’s first collection devoted entirely to her science-fiction work. It includes the critically acclaimed novelette Riding the White Bull, along with seven other tales of a less-than-utopian future. Ranging from the wastelands and mountains of Mars to the streets of a late 21st-century Manhattan, from the moons of Europa and Saturn to an iceless Antarctica, these tales bring Kiernan’s trademark brand of the eco-gothic to bear on what it means to be human and the paths and decisions that may face mankind....

Before the massacre at Nariin, Enebish was one of the greatest warriors in the Sky King’s Imperial Army: a rare and dangerous Night Spinner, blessed with the ability to control the threads of darkness. Now, she is known as Enebish the Destroyer - a monster and murderer, banished to a monastery for losing control of her power and annihilating a merchant caravan. Guilt stricken and scarred, Enebish tries to be grateful for her sanctuary, until her adoptive sister, Imperial Army commander Ghoa, returns from the war front with a tantalizing offer.

From the vulnerable and disenfranchised to the educated and privileged, the characters in this extraordinary collection embody the diversity of the Chinese diaspora past and present. In these deeply affecting stories, Jack Wang subverts expectations as he captures the hope, pain, and sacrifices of the millions who journey into the unknown to create better lives, and he explores the shifting boundaries of morality, the intimacies and failings of love, and the choices circumstances force us to make.

Join mother and daughter as they wade through the trenches of flowers and favors, grueling gown decisions…and the cold, cruel realities of a budget. With luck, love and loads of patience, they come out on the other side, bloodied but unbowed, replete with life lessons - and closer than ever before.

Gloria Forman and Xia Harper go to the same high school in a small South Carolina town, but they couldn’t be more different. While Gloria is part of the popular, Christian crowd, Xia sleeps through class, antagonizes anyone who dares talk to her, and buries herself in books that help her pretend she’s somewhere else—anywhere that being lesbian wouldn’t be a waking nightmare. When the two form an accidental friendship, they begin noticing each other in ways they promised themselves they'd avoid.

Hoping to revive her dishonored clan’s forbidden magic, sorceress Brehane just wants to find a lost teacher and bring him home. Instead, she finds herself trapped in a foreign port, where warring crime factions vie for control of the city’s pyramid. Local Diviner, Cassius Larusso, knows why: atop the pyramid sparkles a Dragonstone, preventing the Orc Gods from returning to the world.

When the immortal Runemaster Imperator unleashed the Hellstorm on a rival empire three centuries ago, the cataclysm sundered his own realm. In the aftermath, new kingdoms and city-states emerged, all vying for dominance. Now, half-elf Jie, on her mission to track down a clan traitor, finds herself embroiled in the latest conflict. She's joined by Paladin Sameer, who hopes to turn his beloved from the path of darkness; Mystic Brehane, looking to rescue her rival from kidnappers; and Diviner Cassius, who must decide whether or not to betray Brehane.

When two strangers are linked by a mail-in DNA test, it’s an answered prayer- that is, for one half sister. For the other, it will dismantle everything she knows to be true. But as they step into the unfamiliar realm of sisterhood, the roles will reverse in ways no one could have foreseen. Caroline lives a full, happy life - thriving career, three feisty children, enviable marriage, and a close-knit extended family. She couldn’t have scripted it better. Except for one thing: She’s about to discover her fundamental beliefs about them all are wrong.

Edgar Allan Poe may be 150 years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young adult fiction. Whether the stories are familiar or discovered for the first time, listeners will revel in both Edgar Allan Poe's classic tales, and in the 13 unique and unforgettable ways that they've been brought to life.

Lexa Thomas has never quite fit in. Having grown up in a family of blondes while more closely resembling Constance Wu, she's neither White enough nor Asian enough. Visiting her father in Taiwan as a child, Lexa thought she'd finally found a place where she belonged. But that was years ago, and even there, some never truly considered her to be a part of the family. When her estranged father dies unexpectedly, leaving the fate of his Taiwanese family in Lexa's hands, she is faced with the choice to return to Taiwan and claim her place in her heritage.

For some, the only way to possess magic is to steal it from others. Born without magic, Davis is an outcast in his own shapeshifter family. Yearning for his father’s approval, he sets down a path that intertwines with Iris, a girl whose own ambitions are hindered by a mysterious illness. Their quest leads to Yuras, one of California’s smallest towns, unremarkable until they discover a cave of magic-transferring stones. Now they have a chance to change their fates. But they’re not alone.

The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the war front. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city.

On the run from an abusive man, Megan Liu and her mom find work cleaning an ancient Beijing opera house in exchange for room and board. Meeting Kristy, the lead performer of the theater’s current show, ignites Megan’s long-buried singing ambition. But Kristy’s hiding something; and digging into her secrets, Megan uncovers more mysteries—including her mom’s childhood connection to the theater and a decades-old murder. The more Megan learns, the more her dreams and reality begin to blur. Something’s calling her from deep within the opera house, and it’s ravenous…

On the night of the Hungry Ghost Moon, when spirits can briefly return to the living world, Jodi Wu and her best friend sneak into Portland’s Chinese Garden and Ghost Museum. Kneeling before the pond where Jodi’s toddler drowned one year before, they leave food offerings and burn joss paper—and Jodi prays that Ella’s ghost will return for the night. To distract Jodi from her grief, the two friends tell each other ghost stories as they explore the museum.

On a university campus in rural Qixian, Lin and Liz make an improbable pair: Lin, a Chinese student closer to her menagerie of pets than to her peers, and Liz, a Chinese American teacher grieving her mother’s sudden death. They’re each met with hostility—Lin by her classmates, who mock her for dating a white foreigner; Liz by her fellow English teachers, who exploit their privilege—and forge an unlikely friendship. After a startling betrayal that results in Lin’s expulsion, they swap places. Lin becomes convinced to pursue her degree at a community college near Liz’s Ohio hometown.

Maiko Fox and Adrian Hightower were young, beautiful, in love…and famous. The latest model to grace the Valentina Posh runway show and the hottest new superhero actor were Hollywood’s breakout couple. They were in every magazine, all over the most popular celebrity-blogs, and on countless E! News stories. They starred in a blockbuster film together, reaping box-office gold. Fans were at a fever pitch. No one could get enough of Madrian, the couple that printed money for the studios, for the paparazzi, for themselves. But then, their relationship crumbled.

Have you ever wondered why winning lottery tickets always seem to be purchased in a small town in the middle of nowhere? Nadine did more than wonder. Unhappy with the way her life turned out and desperate for a change, she devises a plan to travel to a remote town that appears to pay out lottery winnings every week. Her lackadaisical husband Sam is hesitant at first (which irritates the hell out of Nadine) but then joins her on a trip that will surely change their lives. W

Hailed as “The Paris Review of BIPOC literature,” Kweli Journal has been a launching pad for many of today’s most celebrated writers. This powerful anthology marks the journal’s 15th anniversary, showcasing 15 unforgettable stories curated by founder Laura Pegram. With a foreword from award-winning author Edwidge Danticat, the narratives included in this vivid anthology explore the devastation of leaving home and the struggle to adapt to reimagined lives, lost loves, distant families, and buried pasts.

For Naomi, every day begins the same way: She awakens in a strange garden with a box of unopened letters. Will the letters contain answers or reveal unbearable truths? Naomi wanders the garden every day but can't remember how she got there. An ever-present and mysterious box of unopened letters calls to her. Even though these letters might provide the answers, she can't bear to open them.