Imaginary Beasts: Book 16

imaginarybeasts is "a bi-monthly webzine dedicated to original fiction of the oneshot variety". Anyone may participate, whether you would like to write, make visual art, volunteer to help with beta'ing, or, most importantly, read and review the stories. Etc, etc, here's the tag for previous reviews.

Each edition, or "book", has a theme; August's (almost caught up!) was "Rouges and Scoundrels". My favorite stories and art:

Cheap Lives by artillie. Two hitmen (well, a hitman and hitwoman) take a job that involves protecting a former enemy. This story is amazingly well-written, managing to be both funny and dramatic. The characters are engaging and I would totally read more about them. All, characters of color!

Reprisal by peskywhistpaw. It's hard to describe this story, because it's not what it seems to be. But I loved it! And so if you trust my recommendation, read this.

Beat by pei yi. This reads like the first chapter to an awesome new fantasy novel, one that I would totally buy. Set in a vaguely Vietnamese-influenced world, two street kids take on a job that proves to be more than they bargined for.

You can read all of the stories and see the art here.