Burn, or The Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super, by A.T. Greenblatt

Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020

This is, just like it says on the tin, an episodic account of the life of a new Super, Sam Wells. His superpower is pretty marginal. He can create fire, and while it burns his hair, and his clothes, it doesn't burn his flesh. He's perfectly safe from fire.

But it's not a superpower that has a lot of practical use, in the superhero sense.

We follow Sam through getting accepted into the Super club, learning that since is superpower isn't one that especially useful on Main Team, the ones that go out and save people's lives and interfere with disasters trying to happen, his new job will be the same as his old job--accountant.

Two Truths and a Lie, by Sarah Pinsker

Tor.com, June 2020

Stella, while home on a visit after years away from her hometown, attends the funeral of an old friend's older brother, and agrees to help him clean out the brother's house. He was a serious hoarder, and Stella is glad she only committed to one day of the exhausting and disturbing experience. One thing we need to know about Stella is that she has a habit of making up lies, not for any particular reason, but simply to see if people believe her.. When she asks her friend, Marco, if he remembers a Saturday morning kids' show called The Uncle Bob Show, she expects him to say he doesn't, because she made it up.

But he does remember it. His brother, Denny, was on it, more than once. The tapes of those episodes are among the "treasures" Marco has uncovered so far, and he starts playing them. It's not your normal Saturday morning kids' show, and Stella is creeped out.

Monster, by Naomi Kritzer

Clarkesworld, #160, January 2020

Cecily is traveling to a remote area of China, looking for an old friend who has disappeared there. Andrew was her first real friend, the first one who appreciated her nerdiness rather than just overlooking it, the one who drew her into a circle of nerdy friends. They drifted apart after she got into a much better college than he did, but years later, he contacts her again. She's a successful scientist; he isn't. At least, not in the conventional sense. He's interested in her research, and she gives him one of her published papers.

The Inaccessibility of Heaven (Dominion of the Fallen), by Aliette de Bodard

Uncanny Magazine, Issue 35, July/August 2020

Samantha de Viera works at a shelter for newly Fallen angels. She's in a relationship with Calariel, a Fallen who also works at the shelter. Sam is also a minor witch. One day, she comes home to find that guests have let themselves in.

Arvedai is a Fallen Sam has had conflicts with in the past, but now he's asking for her help. Fallen are being killed, and in a horrifying way, torn apart by something with claws and fangs. Arvedai wants her to help find out who is doing it, and why. This will be dangerous--and it becomes a cause of conflict with Calariel.

This is part of de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen series, a Gothic Paris where the Fallen are a major presence, defining how everything works in a rather grim, dark world. It's well-written, developed and textured and interesting, and it's just not my kind of story or my kind of setting.  Too dark. Too grim. This novelette is a 2021 Best Novelette Hugo Finalist, and I can't say it doesn't deserve to be. For myself, though--I much prefer de Bodard's Xuya Universe stories.

This story is available as a free read on the the Uncanny website. I'm reviewing it voluntarily.