“The Sweetest Skill”
Beneath Ceaseless Skies #197, April 14, 2016. (fantasy short story)
also available as a podcast
Named a 2016 Parsec Award Finalist for Best Speculative Fiction Story: Small Cast.
“I needed to stall the Ten Crows Sect’s men. I asked the Golden Water River for leave to shape a water-hound from its substance, and in return I’d offer my candy dog figurine as tribute. It was pleased, and it pulled the caramel into deeper currents while granting me dominion over a vat’s worth of sugar-tinged riverwater.”
Locus Magazine, June 2016. ‘‘The Sweetest Skill’’ by Tony Pi is his latest story of Ao, whose magic is entwined with ‘‘the sweetest skill’’: candy-making. In this entry he is charged by Tiger to save the Pale Tigress, guardian of Chengdu, who has been attacked by the Ten Crows gang. Straightforward enough, if hardly easy – but then Dog and Pig get involved, with ramifications, no doubt, for future stories in what’s become a quite enjoyable series.” – Rich Horton
Tony Pi, F&SF Writer 