Showing results by narrator "Will Tulin" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

When bounty hunter Duke LaGrange and his oft-inebriated Japanese-Irish ninja companion, Ishiro’shea, entered their favorite watering hole, Cyborg Joe’s Grill N’ Go & The Why Not Saloon, they had no idea that they would soon be gobbled up by an unhinged astral anomaly and deposited on an uncharted primitive world. Few things are worse than undeveloped planets, especially those that haven’t even made it to the soufflé stage. To top it off, this particular planet comes with its own insane ruler and an Orb That Controls Everything and Must Be Respected.

“Short stories have to accomplish a nearly impossible magic trick: to introduce a world often much stranger than our own and make you care about it in a matter of pages,” writes R. F. Kuang in her introduction. “The most important part of this magic trick is just a willingness to get weird.” The stories in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 are brimming with bizarre and otherworldly premises.

Specialist Amanda Sumner is one of the first to make contact on the Earth-like planet Harp and discovers she's the only Earthling, who can hear the trees sing in the strange forest. Determined to remain and learn more of the planet’s secrets, Amanda sets out to become part of the elite Guild there....

Holy hedgehogs! Everyone's favorite bounty hunting duo is back! Nova Texas' favorite son, Duke LaGrange, and his silent swordsman sidekick, Ishiro'shea, once again find themselves unceremoniously removed from Cyborg Joe's and deposited on a planet at the least opportune time. The only way for the tandem to escape the harsh world of Psitakki is for Duke to survive the most dangerous underground pit fighting tournament in the cosmos.

Bounty hunter Duke LaGrange has seemingly retired on the primitive world of Neprius. His former sidekick, Ishiro’shea, has hung up his katana and is now the proud owner of the galaxy’s loudest bar, Cyborg Joe’s Grill N’ Go and The Why Not Saloon on the planet Kelt. But when a mysterious entity visits Duke and warns him of a great danger set to destroy Earth, he must decide if he will get the gang back together for one last mission.

A young couple's fabulously orderly life is disrupted when the husband begins having prophetic dreams. The good news is that acting on these dreams averts disaster. The bad news? It soon involves a mysterious stranger in a cardigan, skeptical colleagues, and the FBI.

Past lives and past mistakes echo themselves for over five hundred years until an ancient agreement with four archangels manifests itself to remind a witch and a wizard of their destiny. This is Leyna and Sevilen's last chance to reunite and achieve the godlike powers meant for them.

Now Kirek's a full-grown Rystani warrior with the most powerful mind in the galaxy. During his previous mission, Kirek learned the Zin are about to decimate the Federation. To stop them, he must sneak into enemy territory—and he's targeted just the right woman to help him. When Captain Angel Taylor "finds" the sexy psi-warrior stowed away on her space salvage—and he claims he needs her help—she's cautious. Angel's a self-made captain and barely scraping by with her antiquated ship. But after Kirek promises her sole access to the galaxy's richest salvage haul, she's drawn into his mission.

Jaesin Grean has one priority. He wants to keep his best friend, Dr. Luciana Doll, safe from her father and a bunch of zombies wandering around outside their door. Lucy is a genius and is close to developing a cure. When her ex-fiancé, Nathanial Tyger, shows up infected she is forced to move her timetable up, hoping to save him from a future as a zombie.