A good crop of stories this quarter, and what's more I understood most of them, which is some achievement!
My shortlist:
Cascade -- The Delta -- disturbingly voyeuristic
Cat's Cradle -- oh dear god -- silliness in the slush pile
DG Jones -- Crying for the Moon -- simply perfect
DZara -- Ten Second Waves -- lovely use of voice
Fitzchiv -- Cake & Wotsits -- powerful and heartbreaking
LittleStar -- The Space Between -- magical true love
mosaix -- An Offer They Can't Refuse -- frighteningly real
Phyrebrat -- Conscientious Deserter -- lyrical Armageddon
StilLearrning -- Vehicular Offence -- wonderfully daft
Victoria Silverwolf -- Amber Waves -- elegant, atmospheric writing
Wruter -- A Cup of Moonshine -- a perfect fairy tale
Whittling down a long list to this sensibly-sized shortlist was very difficult (and a number of stories only just failed to make it eg those of Perp, ratsy and Shyrka) but voting was very, very easy, since I picked my winners on the very first read. My votes went to DGJ whose story is among the best I've read, Fitzchiv for an ending which brought tears to my eyes, and Victoria for a sense of magic and otherworldiness in dystopia.
Some mythic swimming-moon thanks for the mentions, long- and short-listings and runners-up-ships Victoria, Vaz, Starbeast, johhnyjet, LittleStar, nixie and Denise, and a great many fabulous small but immensely powerful bulrush thanks for the wondrous votes Shyrka (and many thanks for the wonderful words), Cascade and Dan!
