Curious Fictions

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Pirate Readers

Published Feb 24, 2021 · 4,326 words (16 minutes) · 1 like · 104 views

Satire Science Fiction high school reading writing Teenagers education teaching Books

People outside of education have no idea what schools are like in the present era of standardized testing, teacher "accountability," and externally applied curriculums and measurements. It's a messy, intrusive, complicated, bureaucratic world where teachers and students try to survive its most dehumanizing aspects. If trends continues, schools like the one in "Pirate Readers" are just around the corner.

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Fiction Series: Ongoing 26 Chapters

Marie Vibbert

Quixote Ugly

Updated Feb 23, 2021 · 60,181 words (219 minutes) · 1 like · 393 views

Fantasy Humor Satire urban fantasy

Marcy's neighbor asks her to be her "sassy best friend." Jasmine has been reading urban fantasy for her thesis and thinks she's a paranormal investigator. At first, Marcy humors her because it beats what's on TV, but then they meet a were-beaver, battle some drones (or fairies?), and Marcy starts to worry about "aiding and abetting." Can this modern Sancho save the town and her Quixote from each other? Note: This novel is a complete draft, but I'm revising chapters before posting them.

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David Perlmutter

Orthicon Citation

Published Jan 29, 2021 · 18 words (1 minute) · 46 views

Fantasy Satire Science Fiction Orthicon

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Tom Marcinko

The Nixon Wrangler's Tale

Published Jan 10, 2021 · 3,089 words (12 minutes) · 83 views

Humor Satire Science Fiction Elvis political satire Marilyn Costa Rica Madonna law enforcement artificial intelligence Kennedy copyright infringement politics Sinatra artificial life gardening cobain Nixon replicant

A warning: This story contains many things that might offend some readers, including semi-explicit sex, "sci-fi violence," four-letter words that somehow retain a certain power, and a general spirit of meanness. Ellen Datlow said she liked it in spite of herself, and published it in 1998 on EventHorizon.com, a site you need the Wayback Machine to find today. The theme park name in this story was stolen from Judith Berman, who I hope forgives me.

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Tabatha Wood

A Regular, Normal Christmas

Published Dec 23, 2020 · 4,998 words (19 minutes) · 163 views

Horror Humor Satire Romance Hallmark Monsters black comedy puns

DIE HARD meets Hallmark (kinda) in this crazy, tongue-in-cheek holiday mashup.

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Curtis C. Chen

Midnight at the Comedy Club Under the Bridge

Published Dec 15, 2020 · 829 words (4 minutes)

Fantasy Humor Satire trolls your mom

In my mind the audience is entirely goats

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Featured October 15, 2020

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Alec Nevala-Lee

Singularity Day

Published Oct 11, 2020 · 1,179 words (5 minutes) · 3 likes · 1981 views

Satire artificial intelligence A.I. Singularity Superintelligence Op-Ed Opinion Piece

In the future, humans commemorate the 100-year anniversary of Singularity Day, the point at which technology accelerated beyond our control and made mortality and global warming quaint relics of the past. But some historians question whether we truly understood what we were giving up when we ceded our fate to faceless algorithms.

Hugo and Locus Award finalist Alec Nevala-Lee is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Analog, Lightspeed, and more. He’s published several novels with Penguin Books, including THE ICON THIEF, and a nonfiction history of the Golden Age of Science Fiction called ASTOUNDING with Dey Street Books/HarperCollins. His forthcoming biography of Buckminster Fuller will be available in 2021.

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