Marin selects 15 fantasy stories from the first 25 issues of webzine Lone Star Stories
, with moderate success. In Catherynne M. Valente's stunning “Thread: A Triptych,” a fantastical mail-order bride is brought to the “real” world, only to be cast aside. The western meets dark fantasy in Martha Wells's standout “Wolf Night,” when a group of people barricaded in a stockade are attacked by an otherworldly creature. Other standouts include Ekaterina Sedia's “The Disemboweler,” where a robot explores a world where little spirits animate machines, and Sarah Monette's “A Night in Electric Squidland,” where two queer psychic cops infiltrate an occult BDSM nightclub. Most of the stories have a writer's-workshop sameness to them that flattens their range, but the gems really shine. (Nov.)
