Thursday's Children: Flash Fiction from 512 Words or Fewer

by Curtis C. Chen

A collection of very short science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories from 512 WORDS OR FEWER: a weekly anthology of flash fiction published online between October, 2008, and August, 2013.

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2014

About the author

Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (陳致宇) now writes stories near Portland, Oregon. His debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo (a 2017 Locus Awards and Endeavour Award Finalist) is the first in a series of funny science fiction spy thrillers, followed by Kangaroo Too (which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly) and True Blue Kangaroo (a Smashwords bestseller for three months running). He has written for the Realm original podcasts Echo Park, Ninth Step Murders, and Machina.

Curtis' shorter works have appeared in Playboy Magazine; the ENNIE Award-winning Kobold Guide to Roleplaying; The Year's Best Fantasy, Volume 2; Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey; and elsewhere. His homebrew cat feeding robot was displayed in the "Worlds Beyond Here" exhibit at Seattle's Wing Luke Museum. He is a graduate of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise writers' workshops.

Reviews

[Kyle A Massa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ton of inventive and interesting stories. Fun read!

[Roy Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of very short fiction from Curtis. He tells amazing stories in 512 or fewer words.

[Brian Enigma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually suffer a slight handicap when approaching short fiction. It takes my brain many pages to context-switch into a story — to get to know the characters and setting. Just as I've finally gotten into it, *bam*, the story has finished and it's time to move on to the next. I had no such problem reading this book. These short stories typically span no more than two pages (the left and right facing pages) and their structure immediately hooks you with characters and situations, in some cases wanting to see more of the world once the story is done. There are a few general themes throughout the book (superheroes, police investigations, and alien ambassadors, to name a few) and a few of the stories have loose arcs of characters or narrative that span multiple stories but, overall, these are lightweight bite-size stories that are engaging and easy to read, no matter how busy your lifestyle.

[Taylor Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short works is a great quick read that can be picked and put down at any time. Creating a compelling story in so few words can not be an easy task, but all of the stories were compelling enough to keep me reading them.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More, please.