Short Fiction Friday: Nevertheless, She Persisted

It's Short Fiction Friday! I know, I know. I've been neglecting this theme. It hasn't been at all intentional - I've been reading ahead with this spring's Tor.com novellas!

Today's post is another Tor.com one, but it's a little different. As you may know, Tor.com has a fantastic ever-growing collection of free shorts available online. Some are connected to SFF worlds you may be familiar with, others are complete stand-alone tales. Some are by well-known authors and others are by new and emerging voices. All of them are, I promise you, fantastic!

This week, Tor.com did something a little different. In honor of this year's International Women's Day (this past Wednesday, March 8) Tor.com put together a flash event featuring some of the top women in sci fi and fantasy.

The stories are short - flash is by definition a short story with less than 1,000 words, which means you can finish the entire collection easily in one sitting. The theme is simple, each tale begins with the now famed quote "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless she persisted." The result is a collection of eleven unique and inspiring tales.

Here's the full list with links:

Kameron Hurley: "Our Faces, Radiant Sisters, Our Faces Full of Light!"
Alyssa Wong: "God Product"
Carrie Vaughn: "Alchemy"
Seanan McGuire: "Persephone"
Charlie Jane Anders: "Margot and Rosalind"
Maria Dahvana Headley: "Astronaut"
Nisi Shawl: "More Than Nothing"
Brooke Bolander: "The Last of the Minotaur Wives"
Jo Walton: "The Jump Rope Rhyme"
Amal El-Mohtar: "Anabasis"
Catherine M. Valente: "The Ordinary Woman and the Unquiet Emperor"

Unsurprisingly, Seanan McGuire's "Persephone" was one of my personal favorites. Yeah, yeah. I know I'm a broken record where she's concerned. This story is, though, absolutely phenomenal in my opinion. It's a perfect example of just how much impact so few words can impart.

The same can definitely be said of Charlie Jane Anders's "Margot and Rosalind" and Alyssa Wong's "God Product," the latter of which was oh, so bizarre and sad!

Again, the entire collection is fantastic. You can read more about the series by hitting the image at the top, which will take you to Tor.com's announcement of the project.

Happy Friday!