written by David Steffen

Beneath Ceaseless Skies published has been publishing other-world fantasy since 2008, and has been edited by Scott H. Andrews since its launch.  They publish about half of their stories in audio, so if you like what you read here there is more stories that weren’t even considered on the BCS website.  This post covers two years of Beneath Ceaseless Skies–they didn’t publish quite enough stories in audio in 2017 for a full list.  Over that two year period, BCS published 42 stories on their podcast.

The stories that are eligible for this year’s science fiction awards (like the Hugo and Nebula) are marked with an asterisk if they are short stories(*).  BCS publishes all original fiction, but only that was first published in the 2018 calendar year is eligible.

The List

1. “Carnival Nine” by Caroline M. Yoachim
An incredible heart-wrenching story about what family and what you will do for the ones you love, focused on a family of clockwork people.

2.  “That Lingering Sweetness” by Tony Pi
Another excellent entry in this series of a confectioner magician who bargains with zodiac spirits.

3.  “On the Road to the Hell of Hungry Ghosts” by Richard Parks
Another in a series of great stories about a father-daughter monster hunting team.

4. “Penitents” by Rich Larson*
A post-apocalyptic science fantasy story about who and what are left behind, bizarre and interesting.

5.  “In Memory of Jianhong, Snake-Devil” by Richard Parks
The same series as #3, be sure to read them in order.

Honorable Mentions

“An Account of the Madness of the Magistrate, Chengdu Village” by Richard Parks*
Yet another in that series, obviously I quite liked the series.