Silverfin Harbor

In my mind, Sully is more beautiful than she could have been. When all I have left are dry facts (she was dark, she existed), I have to fill in the gaps. Concretely piece her together in my mind, and I know I will get her wrong.

Zebedee the Giant Man

Zebedee was eighteen feet tall, rough in thick olive tortua hide, with massive calloused hands the size of wagon wheels.

Child of Sunlight, Woman of Blood

For the third century I thought only of food. Bafalo haunches, spitted and roasted over fire, crackling crisp black-gold on the outside. Tender spinica leaves, folded around melting pepperpear fruit. And chokolat, always chokolat.

On Glicker Street

On Glicker Street it was always fall.
Martine walked there. Martine who looked like spring; Martine who was tall and pale and dotted her lemon hair with the snowdrops that grew only on her street, up in the most expensive part of spring.

The King of Halloween

Hard Choices

If you vow to stop looking at Bitsy's shirt in history class, go to C.
If you tell your sister to be quiet and respect her elders, go to D.

Birthday Wish

"But I like riding on dinosaurs better than dumb old minivans," said Benji.

Turning the Apples

"This ain't a negotiation, boyo," says Jonny. "They're fresh and Hawk's in a lather, he needs what you do." Then Jonny is gone and Szo is sick to his knees because he's just remembered that fresh means awake and screaming.

Turning the Apples by Tina Connolly is also a worthy mention, a tale of a psionic black market and a new SF-nal spin on human trafficking and slavery. A very enjoyable read. -- Jason Fischer, Last Short Story.

"Turning the Apples" is a fascinating story which I totally enjoyed, with a great character in Szo...fans of unusual science fiction stories will enjoy this tale. -- Jason Sanford, The Fix.

The God-Death of Halla

"Morsel of the god," said the Mouth. "A landowner has accused you of robbing him with a knife. Tell us what you have done."

Halla...suffers from a debilitating sensitivity that afflicts her whenever someone receives the judgment of the "Mouth" - the human embodiment of a cruel god. Skillful writing lends this scenario credibility, delivering Halla's backstory in comprehensible snippets as the story progresses. -- Paul S. Jenkins, The Fix.

Facts of Bone

Jules stripped to her underwear, dusted herself with powder and stepped into the stretchy flying suit.

Connolly gives us a heroine with whom we can empathize and care for. As Jules loses her struggle to maintain her mobility, we are brought to a surprising and poignant conclusion. Recommended. -- Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, The Fix.

A Day Out, with Stereoscopes

Here is the first joke of Betty L. Duncan. Why do the three-eyed aliens bank on the moon? Because there is not enough sun to go around. Press the blue button when you have finished laughing.

An effective second-person story by Tina Connolly that is hugely hilarious and beguiling. -- Benjamin Gottlieb, Art + Culture.

A Green Man Review Best of 2008 Pick, from Camille Alexa's Mildly Anarchistic Review of Favorites of 2008.

The Bitrunners

The thing about Mars is, they catch you when you yoink stuff.

A very well presented unreliable narrator, with a bitter past. -- Rich Horton, Locus.

A short but superlative substantiation of the quality of speculative fiction being published on the Internet, this exceptional anthology of the best science fiction and fantasy put online in 2008 includes gems by genre luminaries as well as rising stars like Tina Connolly and Beth Bernobich. -- Publishers Weekly, starred review for Unplugged.

On the Eyeball Floor

We've got robotic arms to put the eyeballs in. Metal clamps to pull down the eyelids.

Connolly's story is written with a keen ear for language and presents some fascinating imagery and ideas. She is definitely a writer to keep an eye on. -- Jason Sanford, The Fix.

The Salivary Reflex

The translucent knobs on the ends of their limbs reminded her of Jell-O, and she tried very hard not to wonder how they tasted.

Tina Connolly offers a story rich in the sensual details of smell and taste. Connolly has a keen eye for the details of changing relationships and desires. -- Rosanne Rabinowitz, The Fix.

At times this tale of detached strangeness reminded me of Kelly Link's fiction. Allison is wonderfully drawn, as are her husband Tom and friend Paul, and the aliens are used in an intriguing and unusual manner to complete her story. -- Shaun C. Green, Nostalgia for Infinity.

The Goats are Going Places

"Oy," said Ryder. "That's how Group dynamics are. You have to play people. You're too old to get it."

The second issue of the Australian YA zine Shiny again features three fine stories, and again my favorite was the most light-hearted: Tina Connolly's "The Goats Are Going Places" is something of a sendup of YA hits like Gossip Girl. -- Rich Horton, Locus.

A sharp and wickedly written teen high-school fantasy comedy of sorts, in the best American tradition of such. -- Dirk Flinthart

Moon at the Starry Diner

"I love a bear," repeated Jem. She toyed with her paper napkin. "Except sometimes he's a Volvo, or a Venus Flytrap, or a shed. How can anyone love a shed? He wasn't even waterproof."

Sufficient Cause

Tina Connolly made me laugh with her clever use of acronyms and savage satire in "Sufficient Cause." -- Carole Ann Moleti, Tangent.

A Memory of Seafood

A memory of seafood. (That sounds like one of those divine collections, doesn't it, like a flight of starlings or a murder of crows? I remember when I was a mere seventeen, a slight but fully breasted slip of a girl, my best girl chums and I used to entertain the governor as he waited for his tea at the old tea house on Front Street -- you Oolong afficionados, you remember it -- and he affectionately called us "a flirtation of jailbaits" -- but that's neither here nor there.)

I quite liked "A Memory of Seafood", by Tina Connolly, a deadpan restaurant review, its effect arising from the nature of the dish served. -- Rich Horton, Locus.

It Could Happen

Smart, assured, and wry, this is a great story about a man who writes terrible ones. Recommended. -- Alasdair Stuart, Tangent

A Buildup of Days

Then there's the extraordinary "A Buildup of Days" by Tina Connolly. -- Joules Taylor, SF Crowsnest.

Love at Second Sight

"Love at Second Sight" is fast-paced and a lot of fun. I haven't a single criticism of what Connolly put on paper, finding wit and a sense of joy in her sentence. -- Matthew M. Foster, Tangent.

In the Constant Image

Frigicide