Book picks similar to
The Nine Curves River by R.F. Kuang


fantasy
short-stories
levar-burton-reads
fiction

Vaccine Season


Hannu Rajaniemi
    This story appears in the anthology Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future, edited by Gideon Lichfield and available for pre-order from The MIT Press.Content advisory: Discussion of pandemics, near-drowning

The Foster Portfolio


Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
    

Staying Behind


Ken Liu - 2011
    Originally published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 61, the story is now also available online at tor.com as an excerpt of Liu's story collection The Hidden Girl and Other Stories.

End Game


Nancy Kress - 2020
    You can find this story in FOUNTAIN OF AGE by Nancy Kress.

The Story We Used to Tell


NOT A BOOK
    

Tideline


Elizabeth Bear - 2007
    This story was originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine in March 2007. It is available in The Best of Elizabeth Bear.

Let Those Who Would


Genevieve Valentine - 2020
    Content advisory: violence

As Worlds Collide


Stephen Michell - 2020
    This story was first published in THOSE WHO MAKE US: CANADIAN CREATURE, MYTH, AND MONSTER STORIES.

FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Issue 14, Spring 2020


DaVaun Sanders - 2020
    Cover artist: Dominique RamseyProse:GUARDIAN OF THE GODS // TOBI OGUNDIRAN - 5765 WORDSUNIFORM // ERRICK NUNNALLY - 5549 WORDSA TERMINAL KIND OF LOVE // VERONICA HENRY - 3041 WORDSYOUR ROVER IS HERE // LP KINDRED - 3415 WORDSPoetry:"Zombie of Palmares" by Woody Dismukes"Autolysis After Mentor Pursues Me While in a Relationship" by Jacqui Swift

The Specialist's Hat


Kelly Link - 1998
    Something is creeping up the stairs, something is standing outside the door. Something is sobbing, sobbing in the dark; something is sighing across the floor... "The Specialist's Hat" by Kelly Link is one of 27 short horror stories in Nightfire's audio anthology.Come Join Us by the Fire S2 is the second installment of Nightfire's audio-only horror anthology, featuring a wide collection of short stories from emerging voices in the horror genre as well as longtime fan favorites. The collection showcases the breadth of talent writing in the horror genre today, with contributions from a wide range of genre luminaries including Laird Barron, Indrapramit Das, Shaun Hamill, Daniel M. Lavery, Matthew Lyons, T. Kingfisher, Seanan McGuire, Nibedita Sen, and Nightfire’s own Cassandra Khaw and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.The full Table of Contents is as follows:Cassandra Khaw- "Some Breakable Things"Sarah Langan- "The Changeling"Shaun Hamill- "Music of the Abyss"Caitlín R. Kiernan- "Standing Water"Tade Thompson- "Bone"T. Kingfisher- "Origin Story"Silvia Moreno-Garcia- "The Sound of Footsteps"Laird Barron- "Jōren Falls"Damien Angelica Walters- "Tooth, Tongue, and Claw"Sunny Moraine- "If Living is Seeing I'm Holding My Breath"Matthew Lyons- "Blood Daughter"Jessica Guess- "Mama Tulu"Daniel M. Lavery- "Prodigal Son"Seanan McGuire- "Emergency Landing"Indrapramit Das - "You Will Survive This Night"‘Pemi Aguda- "Things Boys Do"Kelly Link- "The Specialist's Hat"Clay McLeod Chapman- "The Fireplace"Nibedita Sen- "Pigeons"Camilla Grudova- "Ghost Bread"Catherynne M. Valente- "The Days of Flaming Motorcycles"Brian Evenson- "The Cabin"Maria Dahvana Headley- "The Krakatoan"Craig Laurance Gidney- "Spyder Threads"Mariana Enriquez- "Things We Lost in the Fire"Gabino Iglesias- "The Song of the Lady Rose"Nick Antosca- "The Quiet Boy"

On the Lonely Shore


Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 2019
    Judith had neither. Her father had been a friend to Balthazar’s father. She was now an orphan, though she was no trembling waif-child. At twenty-two she was too old for such a designation. Nevertheless, the loss of her father and the subsequent funeral and the settling of his accounts had depleted their already meager purse. Judith’s father had gifted his only daughter fine frocks and hair combs, but that was years ago, before his luck turned, and the vast majority of such gifts had been sold.Judith found herself with a terribly small inheritance and no way to supplement this dismal income. That is, until she was summoned by Balthazar’s mother.

The Truth About Owls


Amal El-Mohtar - 2014
    This short story by Amal El-Mohtar is beautiful coming of age story that deals with identity, loss, magic, and owls.

The 5:22


George Harrar - 1999
    When a fellow passenger on his usual train goes missing, a man begins to wonder if everything is as it seems.

In The City of Martyrs


Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam - 2015
    A young man searches for a memory.

The Angel of Khan el-Khalili


P. Djèlí Clark - 2017
    A girl visits a bazaar in Cairo, seeking a favor from a mysterious angelic being.This story first appeared in the anthology Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt.