TECHNOMALIST
Amazon's Kindle Original Stories imprint continues to be a haven for short fiction lovers, and its latest anthology, "Magic and Mystery," is no exception. This collection brings together fantasy authors to craft puzzle-box mysteries, many involving murder.
While I've largely returned to physical books for the tactile experience, Amazon's curated short story series keeps my Kindle charged. The new seven-story lineup includes imaginative tales like Travis Baldree's Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk, featuring a detective in enchanted armor, and Robert Jackson Bennett's The Lion's Tusk, which presents a bizarre murder weapon. Heather Fawcett's A Labyrinth of Honeybees packs rich worldbuilding into a single sitting, and Scott Lynch's The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious explores centuries-old friendships among mages.
Past collections have covered horror, sci-fi, and more, with contributions from heavyweights like Min Jin Lee, N. K. Jemisin, and Jeff VanderMeer, as well as a serialized story by Guillermo del Toro. The format allows authors to experiment, often producing memorable work.
A key advantage of these digital releases is flexibility: each story is sold individually for a dollar or two, letting readers approach the anthology like an episodic TV series. The downside? Most are exclusive to Amazon's ecosystem, requiring a Kindle or the Kindle app. Still, it's enough to keep me holding onto my e-reader.
Reporting by The Verge.
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