"Finisterra", David Moles

NT F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) December 2007 – science fantasy
<<- F&SF Dec 2007 cover by Cory and Catska Ench for "Finisterra"

Bianca Nazario y Arenas, daughter in a family of aeronautical engineers, takes a job on Sky, a gas-giant world featuring an archipelago of island-sized floating creatures called zaratán. Thousands of people live and farm on top of the humongous zaratán named Finisterra. Bianca's employer Valadez, and his spidery, alien, firija associates, are butchering zaratanes for their skin and bones, despite the fact that the Concilium considers zaratanes a protected species.

This is a story has a memorable setting. The characters speak Spanish and Arabic, which is nicely different. Yet it's a bit hard to believe that someone like Bianca would take this job, even to escape her surprisingly patriarchal society on Earth. I would have liked to read more about the wondrous aspects of Sky.

"The Bone Man", Frederic S. Durbin

NT F&SF (Fantasy & Science Fiction) December 2007 – dark fantasy
A creepy man called Conlin is sidetracked to a small American town with a strangely unmemorable name. It happens to be the day of the Hallowe’en Parade which features the Bone Man, a dancing skeleton. Apparently not everyone can see the Bone Man.

This story depicts its setting well. The protagonist's unsettling past is revealed. The ending takes a decidedly dark turn.