Blade Through the Heart

Graff #6

by Carrie Vaughn

Graff and his crew face a particularly nasty challenge – an opponent so low-tech they might just have the advantage in this fight.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2026

About the author

Carrie Vaughn is the author more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories. She's best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. In 2018, she won the Philip K. Dick Award for Bannerless, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. She's published over 20 novels and 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop.

An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado, where she collects hobbies.

Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com

For writing advice and essays, check out her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carrievaughn

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for free on Reactor. A great free literary fiction website.

OK. Just WOW. This newest installment within Carrie Vaughn's Sci-Fi 'Graff' novelllette series is astounding. Graff's Space-farring team with stun-guns and future-tech armor is sent to a Medieival colony [Stonework castles, sharpened swords, candlelit archways, cows, etc] and goes up against them to retrieve the captured inhabitants.

Incredibly visualized, and throughout the first person narrative of Graff, I vibed wholeheartedly right along with every thought, movement and feeling Graff had to make.

Imho, one of the best Cross-Time stories I've ever read.

This can definitely be read as a stand alone amidst the other stories within this ongoing series.

[Pers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love this series of short tales.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw a new short story on Reactor from Carrie Vaughn, I was very excited, because she wrote the two novellas that make up The Robin Hood Stories — The Ghosts of Sherwood and The Heirs of Locksley — both of which I love. So I immediately read it. It wasn't until I came here to write this review that I realized it was her sixth short story about Graff, and they are all available on the Reactor website (how did I miss all of the previous ones?). So while you should read this if you're into space cowboy stories, seriously, it's great, you may want to start with the first one, An Easy Job, which you can find on Reactor here. However, if you want to jump in with the latest one like I did, it can be found here.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

First-rate space-opera novelette. Carrie Vaughn can spin a story. 4.5 stars, rounded down since it doesn't stand alone. Recommended reading.

A sample:
"I have to acknowledge the aesthetic choices that went into designing our field suits, making them streamlined and otherworldly, dark and shining. We hit that old idea of the uncanny valley, simultaneously familiar and alien. It’s designed to scare people."

I'll have to catch up on this series. I assume they are linked? Yes, and I've actually read the first 2.

Direct story link: https://reactormag.com/blade-through-...

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sitting in the dentist office reading Carrie Vaughn's That Game We Played During the War (because it's perfect length for a small wait) and then wondering if she had anything else like that. These Graff stories are fantastic! A great example of a short story done well. There's a whole world here that I would love to read more about, but also don't feel like I'm missing anything because they are so well written. I started with this one and then read the rest of them and they are fine to read out of order.

[Per · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://reactormag.com/blade-through-...