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Rabbit Test and Other Stories
“In
Rabbit Test and Other Stories
, Mills examines the human spirit with a sharp eye and a gentle heart.”—Eugenia Triantafyllou
A subversive debut short-fiction collection from one of the hottest talents in speculative 2025 Compton Crook Award winner and Pushcart Prize nominee Samantha Mills ( The Wings Upon Her Back ). These riveting stories range effortlessly from fantasy and science fiction to literary fiction, from the here and now all the way into the farthest reaches of space. The central tale of this collection is Mills’ pivotal Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon Award–winning story “Rabbit Test,” which interrogates the past, present, and future of abortion rights.
Introduction by Meg Elison
A time-traveling fisherwoman keeps landing on the right shore, but at the wrong time. A pair of witches fight over the gate between life and death. A new consciousness, intent upon seeing all the wonders of the universe, visits a floating library. A rock-and-roll legend squares off against a town full of devils. Humanity makes first contact, but falters when put in charge of selecting the world’s representatives.
In her strange and emotional worlds, with stakes ranging from the epic to the personal, Mills creates ample room for humor and hope amidst tragedy and struggle.
A subversive debut short-fiction collection from one of the hottest talents in speculative 2025 Compton Crook Award winner and Pushcart Prize nominee Samantha Mills ( The Wings Upon Her Back ). These riveting stories range effortlessly from fantasy and science fiction to literary fiction, from the here and now all the way into the farthest reaches of space. The central tale of this collection is Mills’ pivotal Nebula, Locus, and Sturgeon Award–winning story “Rabbit Test,” which interrogates the past, present, and future of abortion rights.
Introduction by Meg Elison
A time-traveling fisherwoman keeps landing on the right shore, but at the wrong time. A pair of witches fight over the gate between life and death. A new consciousness, intent upon seeing all the wonders of the universe, visits a floating library. A rock-and-roll legend squares off against a town full of devils. Humanity makes first contact, but falters when put in charge of selecting the world’s representatives.
In her strange and emotional worlds, with stakes ranging from the epic to the personal, Mills creates ample room for humor and hope amidst tragedy and struggle.
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First published April 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
June 25, 2026
In a Nutshell: A speculative fiction collection containing some truly imaginative stories. Introspective and dystopian – a strangely effective combination. I love the creativity but the random back-and-forth in some stories was a bit challenging. A great option for those who enjoy speculative SFF tales.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This story collection contains thirteen stories from the speculative genre. The stories come from varied speculative set-ups such as dystopian, fantasy, science fiction and paranormal.
The collection begins with an enthusiastic introduction by Meg Elison. I had no clue who she was, but her writing in this foreword impressed me so much! It's one of the most lyrical and heartfelt introductions I've read. I was happy to discover that she too is an author because it means that this single collection has given me the names of two talented writers I need to keep an eye out for.
The writing in this collection is powerful and imaginative. Many of the stories seem to have some kind of a guardian-child relationship, though their theme isn't necessarily that of parental love. The relationships are also complex as a result. In fact, most of the stories aren’t *happy* stories. Rather, they have a strong undercurrent of introspection, and some, even of doom. But to my surprise, a couple of the darkest stories have a lovely silver lining of hope at the end.
On the flip side, some stories are a bit slow-paced, so they feel overly lengthy. Further, many stories involve an abrupt change in perspective or timeline (usually because of flashbacks.) This gets a bit confusing. It might have been better if the flashbacks/backstories had been kept to a minimum.
To my surprise, some of the stories contain a social message that’s relevant to us. Even if they come from a futuristic timeline, they feel like something that could very well happen in our contemporary lives thanks to autocratic politicians and unstable climactic conditions. This might be a turnoff for readers who do not like social commentary in fiction. But I appreciated how the stories don’t thrust the agenda aggressively; rather, they allow the plot to put the point across subtly. It is more of a warning bell than a wagging finger.
The endings of many stories are apt. But a few left me wanting more. A couple of the tales had enough potential to be novellas. The complexity of their plot didn't allow them to make a greater impact in this short length.
The final section of the book contains two really interesting elements. First, it has a listing of the stories in the order in which they were originally written. The author calls this the table of contents as per “evolution of style”. I loved this idea, and more than that, I loved correlating this chronological listing with my favourites. The list showed me that while her earlier works had a mixed hit rate with me, her latest five stories all ended up in my top favourites list. This makes me believe that her writing has evolved in the direction of my reading taste and hence I can readily try more of her future works.
Furthermore, the backmatter contains detailed notes for each included story, talking about how the story was inspired. This was also wonderful to read, though I wish these had been placed at the end of the respective tales.
As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the thirteen entries, seven reached or crossed the four-star mark for me, which is a highly successful hit rate. A couple more stories would have easily touched four had they not jumped around so much in the timeline. One story was too abstract for my comprehension, though I was intrigued by its start. (Looking at you, “Laugh Lines”!)
These are my top favourites with 4+ stars each.
On the whole, this ended up a satisfying story collection. Even though a few of the stories could have worked better for me, I cannot deny the powerful imagination of the author and the creativity of these tales. Combining speculative with social messages is not that easy, but the author handles it wonderfully.
Definitely recommended to short story lovers who would appreciate thoughtful speculative fiction.
3.65 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.
My thanks to Tachyon Publications for providing the DRC of “Rabbit Test and Other Stories” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This story collection contains thirteen stories from the speculative genre. The stories come from varied speculative set-ups such as dystopian, fantasy, science fiction and paranormal.
The collection begins with an enthusiastic introduction by Meg Elison. I had no clue who she was, but her writing in this foreword impressed me so much! It's one of the most lyrical and heartfelt introductions I've read. I was happy to discover that she too is an author because it means that this single collection has given me the names of two talented writers I need to keep an eye out for.
The writing in this collection is powerful and imaginative. Many of the stories seem to have some kind of a guardian-child relationship, though their theme isn't necessarily that of parental love. The relationships are also complex as a result. In fact, most of the stories aren’t *happy* stories. Rather, they have a strong undercurrent of introspection, and some, even of doom. But to my surprise, a couple of the darkest stories have a lovely silver lining of hope at the end.
On the flip side, some stories are a bit slow-paced, so they feel overly lengthy. Further, many stories involve an abrupt change in perspective or timeline (usually because of flashbacks.) This gets a bit confusing. It might have been better if the flashbacks/backstories had been kept to a minimum.
To my surprise, some of the stories contain a social message that’s relevant to us. Even if they come from a futuristic timeline, they feel like something that could very well happen in our contemporary lives thanks to autocratic politicians and unstable climactic conditions. This might be a turnoff for readers who do not like social commentary in fiction. But I appreciated how the stories don’t thrust the agenda aggressively; rather, they allow the plot to put the point across subtly. It is more of a warning bell than a wagging finger.
The endings of many stories are apt. But a few left me wanting more. A couple of the tales had enough potential to be novellas. The complexity of their plot didn't allow them to make a greater impact in this short length.
The final section of the book contains two really interesting elements. First, it has a listing of the stories in the order in which they were originally written. The author calls this the table of contents as per “evolution of style”. I loved this idea, and more than that, I loved correlating this chronological listing with my favourites. The list showed me that while her earlier works had a mixed hit rate with me, her latest five stories all ended up in my top favourites list. This makes me believe that her writing has evolved in the direction of my reading taste and hence I can readily try more of her future works.
Furthermore, the backmatter contains detailed notes for each included story, talking about how the story was inspired. This was also wonderful to read, though I wish these had been placed at the end of the respective tales.
As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the thirteen entries, seven reached or crossed the four-star mark for me, which is a highly successful hit rate. A couple more stories would have easily touched four had they not jumped around so much in the timeline. One story was too abstract for my comprehension, though I was intrigued by its start. (Looking at you, “Laugh Lines”!)
These are my top favourites with 4+ stars each.
👑 The Death of the God-King: Creative and complex! How I wish this had been a novella because the story length couldn't do its potential complete justice. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌊 Strange Waters: The title sounds plain but it suits the story perfectly. Did I understand everything that happened? Nope! Did I like it? Heck, yes! One of the most creative depictions of time travel based on the concept of time as an endless flow. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐇 Rabbit Test: Probably one of the best and most intricate stories I've ever read. This is dystopian and contemporary and historical at once, and also a mind-boggling mix of fact and fiction. A deserving title story. I would have given it more stars if possible. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
👻 A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost: For a good part of the story, I thought this would be a five star. But the vague detailing about the ghostly elements and the sudden ending made me want more. Regardless, the concept was just fascinating! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
👓 10 Visions for the Future; or, Self-care For the End of Days: Given the bleakness of the content, I didn't expect this to be a story of hope and love and resilience. A truly creative structure with some wild imaginings of futures that I hope never come true but I'm afraid some are already occurring. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
😈 Kiki Hernández Beats the Devil: I certainly didn't expect the title to be so literal. One of the most enjoyable stories in the book, and possibly the only heartwarming one despite the satanic danger. If you have ever been annoyed by claims that rock'n'roll is the devil's music, you're going to love this one! Docked off half a star only because I wanted more about Kiki's backstory. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🚀 Anchorage: Honestly, my first read of this story was a strange one. I simply couldn't put a finger on why the first-person narration sounded so odd. By the time the reveal came, I had already lost my concentration. But the author's story notes about this tale intrigued me so much that I returned for a second attempt. I'm so glad I did! Reading the whole story knowing the identity of the narrator proved to be a much better experience. This was one of the stories that needed to be a novella. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
On the whole, this ended up a satisfying story collection. Even though a few of the stories could have worked better for me, I cannot deny the powerful imagination of the author and the creativity of these tales. Combining speculative with social messages is not that easy, but the author handles it wonderfully.
Definitely recommended to short story lovers who would appreciate thoughtful speculative fiction.
3.65 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.
My thanks to Tachyon Publications for providing the DRC of “Rabbit Test and Other Stories” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
June 9, 2026
A selection of short stories from acclaimed writer Samantha Mills featuring award-winning “Rabbit Test” written in a fury after the overturning of Roe vs. Wade yet skilfully constructed and fiercely moving. Mills’s pieces effortlessly criss-cross genre boundaries. There’s the solemn, fable-like “The Death of the God-King” an intriguing play on mythic figures and the traditional hero’s journey –reminded me a little of Marcel Schwob. “10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days” incorporating a nod to Lovecraft, it reads like a twist on an eco-fable. Set in a future in which doomsday cultists have opened a Hellgate off the coast of California it presents a series of imagined futures each riddled with horrors; and explores how people learn to negotiate them and, somehow, find solace. It’s an ingenious take on our current predicament in the face of climate change. “Strange Waters” is a striking, poignant variation on a time-travel narrative featuring Mika a fisherwoman lost at sea. The currents take her out of time. Each time she reaches shore she’s always decades into the future or the past. Eluding capture by grasping politicians, hunted by bureaucrats desperate to know what she knows, all Mika wants is to return to her three children. “Spindles” deftly splices fairy tale with SF centred on a girl and a bear fleeing from a devastating alien invasion.
Mills’s fiction tends to revolve around particular themes: some more personal, for instance relations between parents and children; others more broadly political from the ravages of authoritarianism to, what she calls, the interplay between personal and national histories. The arresting “Four of Seven” is set on the Moon, now a capitalist dystopia where indentured mining workers struggle to free themselves from oppression. Mills interweaves their plight with a tale of two sisters from an impoverished mining family. One remained on the Moon; the other Melly built a new life off-world. Now Melly’s social mobility has left her consumed by guilt – her situation reflects some of Mills’s own life experiences. Similarly, “Adrianna in Pomegranate” draws on Mills’s background as an archivist and an interest in medieval manuscripts. First contact story “One Part Per Billion” forms a commentary on tokenism but also reworks tropes from popular horror based in outer space. There were some entries that didn’t quite work for me like flash-fiction “Laugh Lines” but overall, I found Mills’s work absorbing, thoughtful and inventive.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Tachyon Publications for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5 rounded up
Mills’s fiction tends to revolve around particular themes: some more personal, for instance relations between parents and children; others more broadly political from the ravages of authoritarianism to, what she calls, the interplay between personal and national histories. The arresting “Four of Seven” is set on the Moon, now a capitalist dystopia where indentured mining workers struggle to free themselves from oppression. Mills interweaves their plight with a tale of two sisters from an impoverished mining family. One remained on the Moon; the other Melly built a new life off-world. Now Melly’s social mobility has left her consumed by guilt – her situation reflects some of Mills’s own life experiences. Similarly, “Adrianna in Pomegranate” draws on Mills’s background as an archivist and an interest in medieval manuscripts. First contact story “One Part Per Billion” forms a commentary on tokenism but also reworks tropes from popular horror based in outer space. There were some entries that didn’t quite work for me like flash-fiction “Laugh Lines” but overall, I found Mills’s work absorbing, thoughtful and inventive.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Tachyon Publications for an ARC
Rating: 3/3.5 rounded up
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
If you've only read "Rabbit Test," you aren't prepared for the amazing journey Mills is about to take your on. Her stories are equally trenchant and humane. And if you haven't read "Rabbit Test," what are you waiting for?
I received an ARC from Tachyon, or else I would've just bought this book myself. I'm probably going to pick up a couple of copies just to give to friends.
I received an ARC from Tachyon, or else I would've just bought this book myself. I'm probably going to pick up a couple of copies just to give to friends.
July 5, 2026
Another intriguing item from Alwynne's feed. This is packed with interesting ideas, though I'm ambivalent about the author's commitment to genre practices. The title story is the standout for me. I'm usually not that enthusiastic about fiction that's so polemical, but this was rich, heart-felt, powerful, and moving. I also liked "The Death of the God-king" and its critique of that institution, and the messy time travel of "Strange Waters".
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
My first Samantha Mills, though THE WINGS UPON HER BACK has been laying dormant on my e-reader for some time now.
I tried to write some thoughts for each story but what I can say for the collection as a whole is that this is a strong collection, perhaps not always to my taste, but with a clear voice and evocative imagery. Maybe it gets a bit too preachy sometimes, but most of the time it works.
The first story has a strong mythopoeic feel to it, beautifully explored. It reminded me of HADES (the videogame). Would've loved a longer version of this, it has a lot of potential conceptually. 4 stars.
The second story, STRANGE WATERS, is a beautiful story of a fisherwoman out of time. It's a very evocative setting, with the main character looking for literal timestreams in the ocean to bring her to the past or the future of the island she was born on, desperately trying to get back to the time of her children. I loved the prose in this one so much. 5 stars.
ADRIANNA IN POMEGRANATE was let to my liking, honestly. Felt a bit too abstract, and though it tried to tug at my emotions, it failed because of this abstractness. 3 stars.
RABBIT TEST is the title story and won a few awards, so my expectations were rather high. We have a multi-generational story documenting the plight of women seeking abortingnin the past, the now and the future. 4 stars.
With A SHADOW IS A MEMORY OF A GHOST, she brings us another strange story. Birds, witches and a city on edge. Lost me halfway through I'll be honest. 3 stars.
THE LIMITS OF MAGIC is a story told in the second personal about exactly that. Just like RABBIT TEST, it's a story about women coming together to fight for what's right. 3.5 stars.
10 VISIONS OF THE FUTURE uses a format I've come to adore in SFF poetry and short stories, a tale told via a listicle. This one is quite imaginative and fun, though it gets maybe a bit too sentimental for my taste. 3.5 stars.
ONE PART PER BILLION is an interesting prelude to a first-contact story. 3 stars.
SPINDLES is part fairytale, part sci-fi, part first contact as well. 3 stars.
The next one, FOUR OF SEVEN, is quite the sad one. The fourth of seven girls born in a poor interstellar mining family comes to terms with being born poor, or doesn't, desperately trying to escape the shackles of poverty, and shows us the love for her family. Very sweet little slice-of-life story. 4 stars.
LAUGH LINES is incredibly short and simply an advocation for society to also adapt to people who don't fit into its molds, as opposed to the other way around. 3.5 stars.
KIKI HERNANDEZ BEATS THE DEVIL was not my thing.
The collection is closed brilliantly with ANCHORAGE, in which a space ship passes a point of interest that has to offer for them than they might think. Just like many of these stories, it's quite gentle, and is a beautiful little vignette. 4 stars.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I tried to write some thoughts for each story but what I can say for the collection as a whole is that this is a strong collection, perhaps not always to my taste, but with a clear voice and evocative imagery. Maybe it gets a bit too preachy sometimes, but most of the time it works.
The first story has a strong mythopoeic feel to it, beautifully explored. It reminded me of HADES (the videogame). Would've loved a longer version of this, it has a lot of potential conceptually. 4 stars.
The second story, STRANGE WATERS, is a beautiful story of a fisherwoman out of time. It's a very evocative setting, with the main character looking for literal timestreams in the ocean to bring her to the past or the future of the island she was born on, desperately trying to get back to the time of her children. I loved the prose in this one so much. 5 stars.
ADRIANNA IN POMEGRANATE was let to my liking, honestly. Felt a bit too abstract, and though it tried to tug at my emotions, it failed because of this abstractness. 3 stars.
RABBIT TEST is the title story and won a few awards, so my expectations were rather high. We have a multi-generational story documenting the plight of women seeking abortingnin the past, the now and the future. 4 stars.
With A SHADOW IS A MEMORY OF A GHOST, she brings us another strange story. Birds, witches and a city on edge. Lost me halfway through I'll be honest. 3 stars.
THE LIMITS OF MAGIC is a story told in the second personal about exactly that. Just like RABBIT TEST, it's a story about women coming together to fight for what's right. 3.5 stars.
10 VISIONS OF THE FUTURE uses a format I've come to adore in SFF poetry and short stories, a tale told via a listicle. This one is quite imaginative and fun, though it gets maybe a bit too sentimental for my taste. 3.5 stars.
ONE PART PER BILLION is an interesting prelude to a first-contact story. 3 stars.
SPINDLES is part fairytale, part sci-fi, part first contact as well. 3 stars.
The next one, FOUR OF SEVEN, is quite the sad one. The fourth of seven girls born in a poor interstellar mining family comes to terms with being born poor, or doesn't, desperately trying to escape the shackles of poverty, and shows us the love for her family. Very sweet little slice-of-life story. 4 stars.
LAUGH LINES is incredibly short and simply an advocation for society to also adapt to people who don't fit into its molds, as opposed to the other way around. 3.5 stars.
KIKI HERNANDEZ BEATS THE DEVIL was not my thing.
The collection is closed brilliantly with ANCHORAGE, in which a space ship passes a point of interest that has to offer for them than they might think. Just like many of these stories, it's quite gentle, and is a beautiful little vignette. 4 stars.
Thanks to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
November 19, 2025
A really strong collection of short stories blending fantasy and science fiction, sometimes inside the same story. Most of them revolve around themes of family and bodily autonomy. The writing is easy to follow even if she likes to jump around time a lot in a few of the stories, I still found myself pretty grounded and never lost.
It's hard to choose a favourite one because I truly believe they were all very good. I think I have a soft spot for Strange Waters, the story about the time lost fisherwoman.
But honestly they all have their qualities : The Death of the God-King is great fantasy and made me want to read a whole book about it, I loved how the timelines were intertwined in Rabbit Test, 10 Visions of the Future has such an compelling argument, Four of Seven is such a personal and relatable story and you really feel for the main character, Laugh Lines is flash fiction and yet its impact is impeccable, Kiki Hernandez is for the ones who want a bit of fun and punk rock (definitely a different tone than the other stories), and Anchorage was fascinating and I could once more read a whole book about the world and crew (reminded me a bit of the Wayfarers series).
It's always hard for me to write a long positive review because I just enjoyed myself and loved the concepts explored here and I don't really know how to delve into that. So just know it's good, it covers different genre of SFF, and it's not that long. You should check it out.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this collection.
It's hard to choose a favourite one because I truly believe they were all very good. I think I have a soft spot for Strange Waters, the story about the time lost fisherwoman.
But honestly they all have their qualities : The Death of the God-King is great fantasy and made me want to read a whole book about it, I loved how the timelines were intertwined in Rabbit Test, 10 Visions of the Future has such an compelling argument, Four of Seven is such a personal and relatable story and you really feel for the main character, Laugh Lines is flash fiction and yet its impact is impeccable, Kiki Hernandez is for the ones who want a bit of fun and punk rock (definitely a different tone than the other stories), and Anchorage was fascinating and I could once more read a whole book about the world and crew (reminded me a bit of the Wayfarers series).
It's always hard for me to write a long positive review because I just enjoyed myself and loved the concepts explored here and I don't really know how to delve into that. So just know it's good, it covers different genre of SFF, and it's not that long. You should check it out.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this collection.
January 29, 2026
The art of short story writing is to make the reader feel as connected to the character, place, and plot as if they were reading a novel length story. Samantha Mills exceeds expectations in this area, and I will be on the lookout for everything and anything written by her in the future.
From stories about a time-traveling fisherwoman, a love story involving Death, bodily autonomy, to a rock-and-roll legend squaring off against a town full of devils, Mills transports you to another world, or another version of our world, in which you find yourself right at home. Each story drew me in, no matter how outlandish the story might seem, it is grounded in reality and compassion for the characters. I highly recommend this to fans of science fiction, short stories, or moral dilemmas.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
From stories about a time-traveling fisherwoman, a love story involving Death, bodily autonomy, to a rock-and-roll legend squaring off against a town full of devils, Mills transports you to another world, or another version of our world, in which you find yourself right at home. Each story drew me in, no matter how outlandish the story might seem, it is grounded in reality and compassion for the characters. I highly recommend this to fans of science fiction, short stories, or moral dilemmas.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.
June 7, 2026
This collection has been termed "subversive speculative fiction," but that's only part of what is happening here. Mills demonstrates the power of story in the telling of it.
The author introduces us to the concept that every word contains its own set of nuanced meanings, then she takes full advantage. Some words contain their own opposites. Parallel phrases can occupy antonymic space. It turns out that it's all there if we're looking for it; we just didn't see it before.
Expect to find symbolism (often drawn from ancient mythology), magic, themes of life and death, and genre mash-ups. Wait, was that reimagined and expanded fable also shot-through with colonizer allegory? And was that a reference to the death of Aeschylus in the middle of a space mission gone wrong? There are surprises aplenty.
Mills addresses a myriad of social issues, everything from bodily autonomy to worker exploitation. There are no easy solutions in these stories, but there are some very satisfying endings. The author reminds us that even though we can change the world, the world can change on its own.
Mills makes us see the angry person in the reflection, the one who chooses rage, rather than experience the hurt of sadness. We refuse to grieve our own loss while we're still alive.
Essentially, we're a mismatch to the kind of world we live in. Our society isn't structured in a way that suits organic beings and their needs. Our world sees value in numbers, in profit, not in well-being. The stories confront us with this contradiction in the way we see success.
In the afterword, the author provides little vignettes about the origins of the stories, including the ideas that would have taken the story in a different direction. She won't ever see this, but please, Samantha Mills, write that automaton story clanking around in your head. It's a really good premise.
The author introduces us to the concept that every word contains its own set of nuanced meanings, then she takes full advantage. Some words contain their own opposites. Parallel phrases can occupy antonymic space. It turns out that it's all there if we're looking for it; we just didn't see it before.
Expect to find symbolism (often drawn from ancient mythology), magic, themes of life and death, and genre mash-ups. Wait, was that reimagined and expanded fable also shot-through with colonizer allegory? And was that a reference to the death of Aeschylus in the middle of a space mission gone wrong? There are surprises aplenty.
Mills addresses a myriad of social issues, everything from bodily autonomy to worker exploitation. There are no easy solutions in these stories, but there are some very satisfying endings. The author reminds us that even though we can change the world, the world can change on its own.
Mills makes us see the angry person in the reflection, the one who chooses rage, rather than experience the hurt of sadness. We refuse to grieve our own loss while we're still alive.
Essentially, we're a mismatch to the kind of world we live in. Our society isn't structured in a way that suits organic beings and their needs. Our world sees value in numbers, in profit, not in well-being. The stories confront us with this contradiction in the way we see success.
In the afterword, the author provides little vignettes about the origins of the stories, including the ideas that would have taken the story in a different direction. She won't ever see this, but please, Samantha Mills, write that automaton story clanking around in your head. It's a really good premise.
January 15, 2026
Pretty much every story in Rabbit Test and Other Stories punched me in the feels. In the first part of each story, I was getting the lay of the land, following the path so expertly laid out by Mills. I trusted this writer to lead me, as a reader. And by the end of each story, I was either in tears, or needed to “take a moment” to breathe.
Below are some of my highlights, but every story is magnificent.
Strange Waters is a gorgeous but harrowing story of a mother traveling through time to get back to her children. Equally heart-wrenching is Adriana in Pomegranate; the way Mills unveils the relationship between the main characters in this story is absolutely masterful.
I somehow missed the multi award-winning title story, Rabbit Test, when it was initially published in Uncanny magazine. As an avid reader of short stories, I’m not sure I can ever forgive myself for this. But it is a story regarding how abortion access has never been easy, and in certain parts of the US, may never be easy. In 2026, the last lines of the story still ring depressingly true:
”It is 2022 and it isn’t over.
It is 2022 and it is never over.”
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost (what a title!) tells the story of two sisters, one of which has inherited the family duty of “care of souls unwilling to cross over to the next side”. 10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days includes ten nightmare scenarios concerning an open hellgate off the coast of California, and the ways in which a couple cope. It contains my favorite description of an eldritch beast: “An elephant-sized spider with mouths for eyes…” Amazing.
When I finished reading Spindles, I literally yelled “STOP!” To an empty room. Eight-year-old Callisto, and her bear companion, Babo, try to navigate the world amidst an alien invasion. My heart could not take it.
Hopefully by now, you’re curious enough to pick up this collection. I cannot believe this is Mills’ debut collection; it is such an accomplished piece of work, and so full of heart.
Below are some of my highlights, but every story is magnificent.
Strange Waters is a gorgeous but harrowing story of a mother traveling through time to get back to her children. Equally heart-wrenching is Adriana in Pomegranate; the way Mills unveils the relationship between the main characters in this story is absolutely masterful.
I somehow missed the multi award-winning title story, Rabbit Test, when it was initially published in Uncanny magazine. As an avid reader of short stories, I’m not sure I can ever forgive myself for this. But it is a story regarding how abortion access has never been easy, and in certain parts of the US, may never be easy. In 2026, the last lines of the story still ring depressingly true:
”It is 2022 and it isn’t over.
It is 2022 and it is never over.”
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost (what a title!) tells the story of two sisters, one of which has inherited the family duty of “care of souls unwilling to cross over to the next side”. 10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days includes ten nightmare scenarios concerning an open hellgate off the coast of California, and the ways in which a couple cope. It contains my favorite description of an eldritch beast: “An elephant-sized spider with mouths for eyes…” Amazing.
When I finished reading Spindles, I literally yelled “STOP!” To an empty room. Eight-year-old Callisto, and her bear companion, Babo, try to navigate the world amidst an alien invasion. My heart could not take it.
Hopefully by now, you’re curious enough to pick up this collection. I cannot believe this is Mills’ debut collection; it is such an accomplished piece of work, and so full of heart.
June 6, 2026
Samantha Mills hit the jackpot with her short story 'Rabbit Test' in late 2022, winning all the major SF awards. Published on the heels of the Dobbs decision, it's a searing abortion-through-the-ages story that ping-pongs through time, always returning to a future time where fertility is constantly monitored and abortion is forbidden. Talk about catching the zeitgeist, it was the right story at the right time to catapult Mills to the forefront of short fiction genre writers. It also has one of the best closing sentences I've ever read, disheartening yet defiant.
This collection rounds out her talents, showing skills in both science fiction and fantasy. In fact, 'Spindles' is a sort of science fantasy featuring an eight-year-old princess warrior. 'Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil' is a fantasy about a kick-ass rock star whose guitar kills devils. (Not to be confused with the baseball player.) If 'Rabbit Test' is her abortion story, '10 Visions of the Future' is her pandemic story.
Mills is playing with different formats and ideas in this collection, and it's fun to watch. Story notes at the end add info about the origins of each one, showing something of how she comes up with these ideas.
This collection rounds out her talents, showing skills in both science fiction and fantasy. In fact, 'Spindles' is a sort of science fantasy featuring an eight-year-old princess warrior. 'Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil' is a fantasy about a kick-ass rock star whose guitar kills devils. (Not to be confused with the baseball player.) If 'Rabbit Test' is her abortion story, '10 Visions of the Future' is her pandemic story.
Mills is playing with different formats and ideas in this collection, and it's fun to watch. Story notes at the end add info about the origins of each one, showing something of how she comes up with these ideas.
May 3, 2026
Ooh, this was good. There were a wide range of stories here (and they all felt very different), and yet it still made a cohesive collection with a very clear point of view. I don’t think I’ve read an author’s collection of short stories that felt so much like an anthology around a theme.
And each standalone story was also excellent. They’re well-written with fantastic comments and characters you somehow care about pretty much immediately. This was a delight to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications!
And each standalone story was also excellent. They’re well-written with fantastic comments and characters you somehow care about pretty much immediately. This was a delight to read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications!
June 2, 2026
Absolutely adored "Anchorage" and "Four of Seven." Throw in "Kiki Defeats the Devil" and it's well worth the price.
Gorgeous prose. Meg Elison's intro is lovely, too, it got me all hype.
Gorgeous prose. Meg Elison's intro is lovely, too, it got me all hype.
April 21, 2026
4.5 stars
A collection of thought provoking short stories that I am currently obsessed with! Some stories were just okay, but others were absolutely mesmerizing. My favorites are "Strange Waters", "Spindles", The Death of the God-King", "Anchorage", and "A Shadow Is a Memory of a Ghost". (I would 100% read a full length novel on these!)
Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for this ARC.
A collection of thought provoking short stories that I am currently obsessed with! Some stories were just okay, but others were absolutely mesmerizing. My favorites are "Strange Waters", "Spindles", The Death of the God-King", "Anchorage", and "A Shadow Is a Memory of a Ghost". (I would 100% read a full length novel on these!)
Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for this ARC.
May 26, 2026
For some reason I thought this would be happy, fun stories? I do not know where I got that idea, it was clearly my mistake, but I'm glad I made it. The stories (while sometimes bleak) are very good, very well-written, and managed to hold my attention throughout. Most short story anthologies have a story or two that you skip, or you might move ahead early once you get where they're going, but this one was no-skips.
January 3, 2026
This is a fantastic collection of short stories from Ms. Mills, including the title story that won the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus for short stories that was a response to the overturn of Roe v Wade. There are also some amazing fantasy and sci-fi stories here as well, and was just a great collection to wrap the year with. Pick this up in the current Barnes and Noble preorder sale to help drive up sales!
December 6, 2025
Strong women, revolting against their fate.
Magic and witchcraft.
SF and fantasy, sometimes woven together in the same story.
Circular time, blurred timelines.
Characters getting lost at sea to find themselves.
Samantha Mills knows how to pack a punch. The Rabbit Test and Other Stories is an enjoyable collection of very different stories. The author experiments with different genres and styles, which can be disconcerting. Careful sense of detail is infused in every story, painting rich universes and providing universal lessons.
The star of the collection, award-winning story The Rabbit Test, left me completely out of breath. I had to pause, stop reading, and do something else. Wow. The collection is worth five stars, for that story alone. It's no wonder that it won the Hugo award.
But that's not all. Samantha Mills describes advanced chips forcing pregnancy tests on teenagers, and in the next story, we explore towers with child sized cages and witchcraft. As you start each story, you have no idea what you will find. Style, time, pace, ambience - this is an exhilarating mix and match. It almost feels like Samantha Mills, following the power she grants her characters, loudly claims "I am the author, I call the shots, I make the rules". And it works.
In a totally different medium, there are parallels between this collection and the video games series The Longest Journey. Fantasy / magic and SF / high tech can totally coexist in the same works of fiction. Below the surface, it is about tools. What they can and can't do. How they transform the world, and the lives of the characters. What leverage looks like when placed in the wrong hands. Magic, tech, witchcraft - just a different toolbox. Enjoy the ride, this one is a rollercoaster.
Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon publishing for an excellent collection of stories. Thank you Samantha Mills for opening the Pandora's box so many times. I feel like most of those stories could lead to novels I would read. Beautiful work.
Magic and witchcraft.
SF and fantasy, sometimes woven together in the same story.
Circular time, blurred timelines.
Characters getting lost at sea to find themselves.
Samantha Mills knows how to pack a punch. The Rabbit Test and Other Stories is an enjoyable collection of very different stories. The author experiments with different genres and styles, which can be disconcerting. Careful sense of detail is infused in every story, painting rich universes and providing universal lessons.
The star of the collection, award-winning story The Rabbit Test, left me completely out of breath. I had to pause, stop reading, and do something else. Wow. The collection is worth five stars, for that story alone. It's no wonder that it won the Hugo award.
But that's not all. Samantha Mills describes advanced chips forcing pregnancy tests on teenagers, and in the next story, we explore towers with child sized cages and witchcraft. As you start each story, you have no idea what you will find. Style, time, pace, ambience - this is an exhilarating mix and match. It almost feels like Samantha Mills, following the power she grants her characters, loudly claims "I am the author, I call the shots, I make the rules". And it works.
In a totally different medium, there are parallels between this collection and the video games series The Longest Journey. Fantasy / magic and SF / high tech can totally coexist in the same works of fiction. Below the surface, it is about tools. What they can and can't do. How they transform the world, and the lives of the characters. What leverage looks like when placed in the wrong hands. Magic, tech, witchcraft - just a different toolbox. Enjoy the ride, this one is a rollercoaster.
Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon publishing for an excellent collection of stories. Thank you Samantha Mills for opening the Pandora's box so many times. I feel like most of those stories could lead to novels I would read. Beautiful work.
May 3, 2026
I read Samantha Mills' debut novel The Wings Upon Her Back two years ago and was absolutely astounded by it; it was one of my favourite reads that year and I still think about it frequently. So when I saw a short story collection by Mills I jumped at the chance to read it. Thanks to Tachyon Publications and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Alongside various stories, Rabbit Test also features a Foreword by Meg Ellison, an Afterword and Story Notes, both by Samantha Mills, at the end. I have seen the latter a few times now in short story collections, definitely ones from Tachyon as well, and I really enjoy it. Here, Mills lays out how some of the stories developed, what her initial ideas were, how a specific story challenged her, or what she hopes it achieves. While I'm a strong believer that author intention never trumps reader reception, I do find it interesting to see what an author thought, as it can expand how I perceive the story itself. Especially with an author like Samantha Mills who, in my opinion, is exceptionally good at playing with expectations and genres, it is interesting to see what her thoughts were. It is, however, not necessary to engage with the Story Notes because the stories themselves already offer plenty of food for thought and enjoyment.
Rabbit Test has thirteen stories and I loved something about each of them. I loved the opening story, 'The Death of the God-King', which is about a man who dies and returns, protecting his island and people for centuries, until someone comes looking for his immortality. It is a beautiful story about love, power, sacrifice, and tradition. 'Strange Waters', the second story, is also stunning, following a mother who is stuck in temporal currents, her boat constantly cast adrift into different centuries as she tries to get home to her children. 'Adrianna in Pomegranate' has a delightful magic system based on manuscript creation and is also a tragic story about loss, parenthood, and love. 'Rabbit Test' is the story that gives the collection its name and is deeply focused on female bodily autonomy, the right to abortion and the centuries of struggle associated with it. 'A Shadow Is a Memory of a Ghost' is delightfully creepy and imaginative as a rivalry between sisters to guard the border between life and death seeps into the next generation. 'The Limits of Magic' is also excellent about how magic is not always the solution and how most things don't come easy. Set in a desert atmosphere, it is a story about repression and rebellion. '10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days' is, as the title implies, something of a list featuring ten ways the world might end but it is also oddly uplifting and hopeful for all the various apocalypses. 'One Part Per Billion' takes place in space and features alien tech, multiple selves, and the perennial question of why there is only ever one woman. 'Spindles' broke my heart but I also loved it, as a young girl and her bear companion try to reach her mother while hunted by invaders. 'Four of Seven' is for the people who listened to Noah Kahan's 'Dashboard' an felt guilty, except it takes place in a space colony and is also somehow heartwarming. 'Laugh Lines' is brief, more like flash fiction and takes the shape of an obituary that goes somewhat sideways maybe. 'Kiki Hernandéz Beats the Devil' is a stand-out, just for the sheer inventiveness and fun I had with it! It features a hellhound, a guitar, and demons aplenty. The collection ends with 'Anchorage', which was one of my favourites, about a space crew docking onto an anchorage and the ship's robot system (?) that maybe feels a little too much.
As I said at the start, Mills' The Wings Upon Her Back is a stellar book that has stuck with me ever since I read it. In that book, Mills has the space to set up an intricate world and complicated relationships and characters, all while addressing some serious themes. I wondered whether she can accomplish the same in short stories, whether I would feel that same magic. I have to agree with Meg Ellison's very admiring Foreword because the stories in Rabbit Test are indeed magnificent. I really like what Mills does with the tropes of the various genres she dabbles in here. She blends Fantasy and Sci-Fi very well with contemporary issues and concerns, bringing in a little Historical Fiction here and there, and thereby consistently surprised me. I quite simply love the worlds and characters she creates and find myself fully invested each and every time. I would truly, whole-heartedly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys Speculative Fiction because there will be something here for you. I can't wait to read more by Samantha Mills in the future, she's definitely an instant read for me.
Rabbit Test and Other Stories is a brilliant collection of stories that all in some way fall under the Speculative Fiction-umbrella. Samantha Mills is an excellent writer who has a real knack both for world-building and for the small details that make her worlds and characters come alive.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
Alongside various stories, Rabbit Test also features a Foreword by Meg Ellison, an Afterword and Story Notes, both by Samantha Mills, at the end. I have seen the latter a few times now in short story collections, definitely ones from Tachyon as well, and I really enjoy it. Here, Mills lays out how some of the stories developed, what her initial ideas were, how a specific story challenged her, or what she hopes it achieves. While I'm a strong believer that author intention never trumps reader reception, I do find it interesting to see what an author thought, as it can expand how I perceive the story itself. Especially with an author like Samantha Mills who, in my opinion, is exceptionally good at playing with expectations and genres, it is interesting to see what her thoughts were. It is, however, not necessary to engage with the Story Notes because the stories themselves already offer plenty of food for thought and enjoyment.
Rabbit Test has thirteen stories and I loved something about each of them. I loved the opening story, 'The Death of the God-King', which is about a man who dies and returns, protecting his island and people for centuries, until someone comes looking for his immortality. It is a beautiful story about love, power, sacrifice, and tradition. 'Strange Waters', the second story, is also stunning, following a mother who is stuck in temporal currents, her boat constantly cast adrift into different centuries as she tries to get home to her children. 'Adrianna in Pomegranate' has a delightful magic system based on manuscript creation and is also a tragic story about loss, parenthood, and love. 'Rabbit Test' is the story that gives the collection its name and is deeply focused on female bodily autonomy, the right to abortion and the centuries of struggle associated with it. 'A Shadow Is a Memory of a Ghost' is delightfully creepy and imaginative as a rivalry between sisters to guard the border between life and death seeps into the next generation. 'The Limits of Magic' is also excellent about how magic is not always the solution and how most things don't come easy. Set in a desert atmosphere, it is a story about repression and rebellion. '10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days' is, as the title implies, something of a list featuring ten ways the world might end but it is also oddly uplifting and hopeful for all the various apocalypses. 'One Part Per Billion' takes place in space and features alien tech, multiple selves, and the perennial question of why there is only ever one woman. 'Spindles' broke my heart but I also loved it, as a young girl and her bear companion try to reach her mother while hunted by invaders. 'Four of Seven' is for the people who listened to Noah Kahan's 'Dashboard' an felt guilty, except it takes place in a space colony and is also somehow heartwarming. 'Laugh Lines' is brief, more like flash fiction and takes the shape of an obituary that goes somewhat sideways maybe. 'Kiki Hernandéz Beats the Devil' is a stand-out, just for the sheer inventiveness and fun I had with it! It features a hellhound, a guitar, and demons aplenty. The collection ends with 'Anchorage', which was one of my favourites, about a space crew docking onto an anchorage and the ship's robot system (?) that maybe feels a little too much.
As I said at the start, Mills' The Wings Upon Her Back is a stellar book that has stuck with me ever since I read it. In that book, Mills has the space to set up an intricate world and complicated relationships and characters, all while addressing some serious themes. I wondered whether she can accomplish the same in short stories, whether I would feel that same magic. I have to agree with Meg Ellison's very admiring Foreword because the stories in Rabbit Test are indeed magnificent. I really like what Mills does with the tropes of the various genres she dabbles in here. She blends Fantasy and Sci-Fi very well with contemporary issues and concerns, bringing in a little Historical Fiction here and there, and thereby consistently surprised me. I quite simply love the worlds and characters she creates and find myself fully invested each and every time. I would truly, whole-heartedly recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys Speculative Fiction because there will be something here for you. I can't wait to read more by Samantha Mills in the future, she's definitely an instant read for me.
Rabbit Test and Other Stories is a brilliant collection of stories that all in some way fall under the Speculative Fiction-umbrella. Samantha Mills is an excellent writer who has a real knack both for world-building and for the small details that make her worlds and characters come alive.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Like many genre readers, my first encounter with a Samantha Mills work was her award-winning short story "Rabbit Test", published in 2022. It wasn't that story, however, that made me
pick up her 2024 novel THE WINGS UPON HER BACK. It was the premise and description alone that made me want to read that book, and it was an excellent one. But Mills generally flies under my radar, since most of what she's written is short fiction, and I tend to float in the direction of novels. However, when the opportunity to read her debut collection "Rabbit Test and Other Stories" presented itself, I decided it was time to jump right in.
Those readers who are familiar with Mills' work will nod their head sagely when I say that she does not limit herself to one type of story, one genre, one theme, one anything. In many cases in this collection, there is more than one element that makes up the tale. There may be a mixture of sf and fantasy, and a dollop of horror thrown in (I'll get to that shortly). There are elements of family, loss, emotional strife, and all sorts of things in these stories all at once. As a result, the reader is constantly kept on their toes, as it isn't necessarily clear what's going to happen next, and if it is, it's not clear how Mills is going to take us there.
There is a slew of terrific stories here. "Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil" combines fantasy (and a wee bit of horror) with rock and roll to tell the tail of a rock guitar queen who can slay devils with her guitar playing. Mills references classic rock songs from my youth as weapons for Hernandez to use when she is slaying a particular devil to save a father and his child (who steals the show, in my opinion). I'm a sucker for straightforward stories that are simple and to the point, although I'm sure that Mills would say "but wait, I was really trying to say..." and maybe she was. But it's the guitars, devils, and rock and roll that stole my heart here.
Whether you think of time travel as fantasy or science fiction - my vote is for the popular marketing term of "science fantasy", although I think that having to put that kind of label on something takes the fun and wonder of it (or not; your mileage may vary) - "Strange Waters" is an enthralling story of a time travelling fisher woman (man? sometimes the correct term escapes me) who travels through the time streams on her fishing boat looking to get back to her own time to see her family. It's a very touching and emotional story.
"Anchorage" is a science fictional story about a space ship which encounters a device called an anchorage. Most members of the crew of the ship are reluctant to enter the anchorage and
discover who or what is there, but those that do discover that the entity that is there is looking only for stories, and in return it provides something that was unexpected. "Adrianna In Pomegranate" is the story of a father who uses magic to try to bring his deceased daughter back to life. This story is as old as the hills, but Mills manages to make it much more emotional and devastating than any other version of it that I have read in a long time.
The centerpiece of the collection is, of course, "Rabbit Test", the devastating tale of women seeking abortions throughout history and how society has almost always made it difficult to safely have the procedure. This story, which won more awards than I can count - and deservedly so - was timely when it was published, and the closing line is bone-chilling. It is Mills at the top of her game.
Other favorites are "A Shadow Is a Memory of a Ghost", about the conflict between two sisters with regard to the inherited family duty to care for souls unwilling to cross over to the next side. The award for the Best Short Story Title in the collection is "10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days", about a couple dealing with a Hellgate off the coast of California. There is a Lovecraftian tone to it, which shows that Mills can indeed dig into horror without it being too...horrific.
As with most collections, not all the stories here are for everyone, and that's okay. Mills exhibits a vast and dynamic range of storytelling that is impressive, which means there is something here for everyone. Which means everyone should get a copy and read it. I recommend it.
pick up her 2024 novel THE WINGS UPON HER BACK. It was the premise and description alone that made me want to read that book, and it was an excellent one. But Mills generally flies under my radar, since most of what she's written is short fiction, and I tend to float in the direction of novels. However, when the opportunity to read her debut collection "Rabbit Test and Other Stories" presented itself, I decided it was time to jump right in.
Those readers who are familiar with Mills' work will nod their head sagely when I say that she does not limit herself to one type of story, one genre, one theme, one anything. In many cases in this collection, there is more than one element that makes up the tale. There may be a mixture of sf and fantasy, and a dollop of horror thrown in (I'll get to that shortly). There are elements of family, loss, emotional strife, and all sorts of things in these stories all at once. As a result, the reader is constantly kept on their toes, as it isn't necessarily clear what's going to happen next, and if it is, it's not clear how Mills is going to take us there.
There is a slew of terrific stories here. "Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil" combines fantasy (and a wee bit of horror) with rock and roll to tell the tail of a rock guitar queen who can slay devils with her guitar playing. Mills references classic rock songs from my youth as weapons for Hernandez to use when she is slaying a particular devil to save a father and his child (who steals the show, in my opinion). I'm a sucker for straightforward stories that are simple and to the point, although I'm sure that Mills would say "but wait, I was really trying to say..." and maybe she was. But it's the guitars, devils, and rock and roll that stole my heart here.
Whether you think of time travel as fantasy or science fiction - my vote is for the popular marketing term of "science fantasy", although I think that having to put that kind of label on something takes the fun and wonder of it (or not; your mileage may vary) - "Strange Waters" is an enthralling story of a time travelling fisher woman (man? sometimes the correct term escapes me) who travels through the time streams on her fishing boat looking to get back to her own time to see her family. It's a very touching and emotional story.
"Anchorage" is a science fictional story about a space ship which encounters a device called an anchorage. Most members of the crew of the ship are reluctant to enter the anchorage and
discover who or what is there, but those that do discover that the entity that is there is looking only for stories, and in return it provides something that was unexpected. "Adrianna In Pomegranate" is the story of a father who uses magic to try to bring his deceased daughter back to life. This story is as old as the hills, but Mills manages to make it much more emotional and devastating than any other version of it that I have read in a long time.
The centerpiece of the collection is, of course, "Rabbit Test", the devastating tale of women seeking abortions throughout history and how society has almost always made it difficult to safely have the procedure. This story, which won more awards than I can count - and deservedly so - was timely when it was published, and the closing line is bone-chilling. It is Mills at the top of her game.
Other favorites are "A Shadow Is a Memory of a Ghost", about the conflict between two sisters with regard to the inherited family duty to care for souls unwilling to cross over to the next side. The award for the Best Short Story Title in the collection is "10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days", about a couple dealing with a Hellgate off the coast of California. There is a Lovecraftian tone to it, which shows that Mills can indeed dig into horror without it being too...horrific.
As with most collections, not all the stories here are for everyone, and that's okay. Mills exhibits a vast and dynamic range of storytelling that is impressive, which means there is something here for everyone. Which means everyone should get a copy and read it. I recommend it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Short story collections are, as I always say at the start of every review of one, a hard sell for me. I love novels. Indeed, I identified a lot with what Samantha Mills says in her afterword about writing long novels in her youth and only recently getting around to learning how to short story. That’s true for me as a writer and a reader. Nevertheless, I liked
The Wings Upon Her Back
enough that I requested and received this eARC from NetGalley and Tachyon Publications.
This is a collection of thirteen of Mills’s previously published works, the most notable being the eponymous “Rabbit Test,” all of them various shades of speculative fiction. They typically focus closely on a single protagonist, variously first or third person, but always in a milieu quite unlike our own. Mills has dual talents for both setting and characterization; she can drop you into an unfamiliar world and orient you immediately, and at the same time, with a few words, introduce you to a new character like you’ve know them forever.
I won’t review every story individually, but here are some highlights for me.
“Rabbit Test” is the load-bearing story here, and I can see why. At first, I didn’t like it. I thought it was obvious and disjointed. So here’s the cool thing: Mills won me over. That disjointedness became a kind of stream-of-consciousness that connected women, and people with uteruses, throughout history. “Rabbit Test” reverberates across time in all directions in a really fascinating way, a testament to the power of a librarian writing a polemical story; we have always been here and we have always fought. It highlights how the coercive power of the state so cheerfully removing bodily autonomy is at odds with the faux libertarian trappings of conservative moments insisting government has no place in one’s home. Perhaps most poignantly, it makes space for the complicated emotions connected to coerced motherhood—the paradox of loving one’s child while also struggling to grieve for that other life.
Mills does something very similar with “Strange Waters,” which is my personal favourite of this collection. This story feels really simple at its core—a woman adrift at sea, adrift through time, trying to Quantum Leap her way home. I love its timey-wimey Doctor Who vibes. Say what you will about Moffat-era Who, it always measured out its tragedy with a dose of saccharine reassurance that some sacrifice or loss worked out for the best. It’s a tale that is both big and small at the same time, and that TARDIS-like quality gets me every time.
Of the various other stories, I’ll say this: none of them is a dud. Each one is suffused with Mills’s voice, yet each is also an interesting and different experience. “Kiki Hernández Beats the Devil” showcases this the best, for it’s clear Mills is playing in a genre (weird west) less familiar and a voice (“cocky” is how she describes it in her story notes) used less often. Yet in its theme, setting, and characters, it is very much Mills.
The story notes at the end are a nice touch, and I wish more authors were afforded the opportunity to do this (even the short epigraph-like notes we sometimes get are welcome!).
Overall, this is a stand-out collection, and Mills is an author I seem to appreciate more every time I read something new by her.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
This is a collection of thirteen of Mills’s previously published works, the most notable being the eponymous “Rabbit Test,” all of them various shades of speculative fiction. They typically focus closely on a single protagonist, variously first or third person, but always in a milieu quite unlike our own. Mills has dual talents for both setting and characterization; she can drop you into an unfamiliar world and orient you immediately, and at the same time, with a few words, introduce you to a new character like you’ve know them forever.
I won’t review every story individually, but here are some highlights for me.
“Rabbit Test” is the load-bearing story here, and I can see why. At first, I didn’t like it. I thought it was obvious and disjointed. So here’s the cool thing: Mills won me over. That disjointedness became a kind of stream-of-consciousness that connected women, and people with uteruses, throughout history. “Rabbit Test” reverberates across time in all directions in a really fascinating way, a testament to the power of a librarian writing a polemical story; we have always been here and we have always fought. It highlights how the coercive power of the state so cheerfully removing bodily autonomy is at odds with the faux libertarian trappings of conservative moments insisting government has no place in one’s home. Perhaps most poignantly, it makes space for the complicated emotions connected to coerced motherhood—the paradox of loving one’s child while also struggling to grieve for that other life.
Mills does something very similar with “Strange Waters,” which is my personal favourite of this collection. This story feels really simple at its core—a woman adrift at sea, adrift through time, trying to Quantum Leap her way home. I love its timey-wimey Doctor Who vibes. Say what you will about Moffat-era Who, it always measured out its tragedy with a dose of saccharine reassurance that some sacrifice or loss worked out for the best. It’s a tale that is both big and small at the same time, and that TARDIS-like quality gets me every time.
Of the various other stories, I’ll say this: none of them is a dud. Each one is suffused with Mills’s voice, yet each is also an interesting and different experience. “Kiki Hernández Beats the Devil” showcases this the best, for it’s clear Mills is playing in a genre (weird west) less familiar and a voice (“cocky” is how she describes it in her story notes) used less often. Yet in its theme, setting, and characters, it is very much Mills.
The story notes at the end are a nice touch, and I wish more authors were afforded the opportunity to do this (even the short epigraph-like notes we sometimes get are welcome!).
Overall, this is a stand-out collection, and Mills is an author I seem to appreciate more every time I read something new by her.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
May 12, 2026
4 stars; this is the average rating I calculated from rating the 13 short stories in this collection! I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks Tachyon Publications and NetGalley.
I previously came across Samantha Mills' Rabbit Test on Uncanny Magazine and was quickly converted to being a fan forever. Not only was Rabbit Test relevant, hard-hitting, but Mills also brilliantly runs through multiple perspectives and time points to tell an ongoing story about the access to birth control and abortion. It previously won a Hugo (long story), and it was awarded a Nebula and a Locus for Short Story. So when I found out she was releasing a short story collection, which included Rabbit Test, how could I say no to reading this?
3-stars indicates I thought well-written, but didn't work for me personally.
4 or 4.5-stars indicates I loved it, something prevented me from a full 5-star rating.
Adrianna in Pomegranate - 3 stars (how grief can drive you to do the most reckless of things, and how it can drive people apart. also has some lovely bits about book binding/manuscript making)
The Limits of Magic - 3 stars (a dreamy, fairy-tale like story about mothers, and how a spark can lead to something bigger)
Spindles - 3 stars (a unique fairy-tale retelling within a mismash of sci-fi and fantasy)
Laugh Lines - 3 stars (interesting flash fiction about equity)
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost - 4 stars (breaking the cycle of abuse but not doing it the right way but maybe you end up doing it correctly after all?)
One Part Per Billion - 4 stars (don't you hate being the token female in a mostly-male space crew?)
Anchorage - 4 stars (its a whodunnit but its actually more whosinfected)
10 Visions of the Future; or Self-Care for the End of Days - 4.5 stars (Hugo-nominated!!! very reminiscent of a certain style of online storytelling and I only wish there was a little more to each "vision")
The Death of the God-King - 4.5 stars (loved this, in the author's notes Mills mentioned starting to write a love story and finishing it about the end of kings.)
Four of Seven - 4.5 stars (when you grow up in a huge family and how some things you do can distance yourself from everyone, but you try your best to mend that distance)
Rabbit Test - 5 stars (this version is slightly updated but if you read the Uncanny Magazine version it is generally the same. still, 6 stars if I was allowed)
Strange Waters - 5 stars (I cried. Interstellar but with a mom, 6 stars if I was allowed)
Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil - 5 stars (if you enjoyed Tamsyn Muir's short story Undercover or if you like magical musical instruments or if you are even remotely intrigued by the title - READ. THIS.)
Anything Samantha Mills writes, I will read.
I previously came across Samantha Mills' Rabbit Test on Uncanny Magazine and was quickly converted to being a fan forever. Not only was Rabbit Test relevant, hard-hitting, but Mills also brilliantly runs through multiple perspectives and time points to tell an ongoing story about the access to birth control and abortion. It previously won a Hugo (long story), and it was awarded a Nebula and a Locus for Short Story. So when I found out she was releasing a short story collection, which included Rabbit Test, how could I say no to reading this?
3-stars indicates I thought well-written, but didn't work for me personally.
4 or 4.5-stars indicates I loved it, something prevented me from a full 5-star rating.
Adrianna in Pomegranate - 3 stars (how grief can drive you to do the most reckless of things, and how it can drive people apart. also has some lovely bits about book binding/manuscript making)
The Limits of Magic - 3 stars (a dreamy, fairy-tale like story about mothers, and how a spark can lead to something bigger)
Spindles - 3 stars (a unique fairy-tale retelling within a mismash of sci-fi and fantasy)
Laugh Lines - 3 stars (interesting flash fiction about equity)
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost - 4 stars (breaking the cycle of abuse but not doing it the right way but maybe you end up doing it correctly after all?)
One Part Per Billion - 4 stars (don't you hate being the token female in a mostly-male space crew?)
Anchorage - 4 stars (its a whodunnit but its actually more whosinfected)
10 Visions of the Future; or Self-Care for the End of Days - 4.5 stars (Hugo-nominated!!! very reminiscent of a certain style of online storytelling and I only wish there was a little more to each "vision")
The Death of the God-King - 4.5 stars (loved this, in the author's notes Mills mentioned starting to write a love story and finishing it about the end of kings.)
Four of Seven - 4.5 stars (when you grow up in a huge family and how some things you do can distance yourself from everyone, but you try your best to mend that distance)
Rabbit Test - 5 stars (this version is slightly updated but if you read the Uncanny Magazine version it is generally the same. still, 6 stars if I was allowed)
Strange Waters - 5 stars (I cried. Interstellar but with a mom, 6 stars if I was allowed)
Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil - 5 stars (if you enjoyed Tamsyn Muir's short story Undercover or if you like magical musical instruments or if you are even remotely intrigued by the title - READ. THIS.)
Anything Samantha Mills writes, I will read.
April 24, 2026
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this collection from NetGalley and it’s officially out in the world as of April 21st! From what I’ve seen, it’s been getting a lot of love and honestly? I get it.
This is a beautifully crafted collection of short stories that blends fantasy, sci-fi, and soft horror in a way that feels both immersive and emotionally sharp. This was my first time reading Samantha Mills, and saying I’m impressed feels like an understatement. The atmosphere, the shifting narrative voices, the emotional weight carried through each story, well it’s all done beautifully. It takes serious skill to make a collection feel this cohesive while still giving each story its own identity.
That said, I found myself personally gravitating more toward the fantasy and soft horror pieces over the sci-fi, but that’s purely preference, not a critique of the writing itself.
There were a few stories I desperately wanted more from, ones that honestly could’ve stood on their own as novellas:
Strange Waters is a beautifully haunting story about a fisherwoman caught in a relentless loop through time, driven by one goal: to return to her own time and be reunited with her children. It’s not only atmospheric but deeply emotional. As a mother, it stirred something personal and emotional in me.
Adrianna in Pomegranate was just an intriguing story that I felt needed more substance, more detail and a bit of a longer story. It explores grief in a way that feels raw and familiar, especially for anyone who has experienced the loss of a child, myself included.
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost is complicated, layered, and quietly powerful. Two sisters shaped by an abusive father, now raising children of their own in very different ways. There’s tension, shared trauma, and this underlying sense of love that never fully disappeared. It felt unfinished in the best (and most frustrating) way because it was truly an oddly beautiful story. I really wanted to see where their children’s stories would go as well.
Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil is absolute pure chaotic fun! This one doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s exactly why it works. It’s sassy, a little absurd, and completely entertaining. I would’ve loved more backstory and more adventures with her new companion Lucy and her lovable hellhound companion, Ozzy.
Overall, I absolutely recommend this collection if you love stories that are atmospheric, a little dystopian, emotionally driven, and genre-blending. There’s something here for everyone and at least a few that will stay with you long after you’ve finished.
Hope you enjoyed the review!
This is a beautifully crafted collection of short stories that blends fantasy, sci-fi, and soft horror in a way that feels both immersive and emotionally sharp. This was my first time reading Samantha Mills, and saying I’m impressed feels like an understatement. The atmosphere, the shifting narrative voices, the emotional weight carried through each story, well it’s all done beautifully. It takes serious skill to make a collection feel this cohesive while still giving each story its own identity.
That said, I found myself personally gravitating more toward the fantasy and soft horror pieces over the sci-fi, but that’s purely preference, not a critique of the writing itself.
There were a few stories I desperately wanted more from, ones that honestly could’ve stood on their own as novellas:
Strange Waters is a beautifully haunting story about a fisherwoman caught in a relentless loop through time, driven by one goal: to return to her own time and be reunited with her children. It’s not only atmospheric but deeply emotional. As a mother, it stirred something personal and emotional in me.
Adrianna in Pomegranate was just an intriguing story that I felt needed more substance, more detail and a bit of a longer story. It explores grief in a way that feels raw and familiar, especially for anyone who has experienced the loss of a child, myself included.
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost is complicated, layered, and quietly powerful. Two sisters shaped by an abusive father, now raising children of their own in very different ways. There’s tension, shared trauma, and this underlying sense of love that never fully disappeared. It felt unfinished in the best (and most frustrating) way because it was truly an oddly beautiful story. I really wanted to see where their children’s stories would go as well.
Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil is absolute pure chaotic fun! This one doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s exactly why it works. It’s sassy, a little absurd, and completely entertaining. I would’ve loved more backstory and more adventures with her new companion Lucy and her lovable hellhound companion, Ozzy.
Overall, I absolutely recommend this collection if you love stories that are atmospheric, a little dystopian, emotionally driven, and genre-blending. There’s something here for everyone and at least a few that will stay with you long after you’ve finished.
Hope you enjoyed the review!
May 4, 2026
'Rabbit Test and Other Stories' is a thought-provoking short story collection from Samantha Mills. The collection includes a variety of stories set in realistic, science fiction, and fantasy settings. While each story brings something different to the table, all of them elicit thoughts on modern day, real world issues. I ended up reading through this book a lot slower than I originally intended, as I found that it was really worthwhile allowing each individual story time to settle with me before continuing on to the next. It came to no surprise that the award-winning titular story, 'Rabbit Test', was the most impactful and my favourite story overall. It was terrifyingly believable, presenting a dystopian very near-future where abortion is criminalised and all women of reproductive age have an implant that automatically notifies authorities of pregnancy. Women's issues and bodily autonomy are prevalent themes in several of the stories, as well as themes of poverty, familial relationships, and resistance.
While I have rated the individual stories below based on my enjoyment of each one, I still think that every single one of them (even those that I did not enjoy as much) brought interesting ideas and discussion points to the table. For example the shortest piece in this collection, 'Laugh Lines', went straight over my head, but it still managed to have me ruminating on the idea that its okay not to grieve someone who wronged you. As a complete collection, 'Rabbit Test and Other Stories' is well worth your time. Mills is an excellent writer, and I look forward to exploring some of her longer fiction in the future.
Thank you to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Individual Short Story Ratings:
The Death of the God-King 3.5/5
Strange Waters 4/5
Adrianna in Pomegranate 3/5
Rabbit Test 5/5
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost 2.5/5
The Limits of Magic 4/5
10 Visions of the Future 2/5
One Part Per Billion 3.5/5
Spindles 3/5
Four of Seven 4.5/5
Laugh Lines 1/5
Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil 2.5/5
Anchorage 2.5/5
While I have rated the individual stories below based on my enjoyment of each one, I still think that every single one of them (even those that I did not enjoy as much) brought interesting ideas and discussion points to the table. For example the shortest piece in this collection, 'Laugh Lines', went straight over my head, but it still managed to have me ruminating on the idea that its okay not to grieve someone who wronged you. As a complete collection, 'Rabbit Test and Other Stories' is well worth your time. Mills is an excellent writer, and I look forward to exploring some of her longer fiction in the future.
Thank you to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.
Individual Short Story Ratings:
The Death of the God-King 3.5/5
Strange Waters 4/5
Adrianna in Pomegranate 3/5
Rabbit Test 5/5
A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost 2.5/5
The Limits of Magic 4/5
10 Visions of the Future 2/5
One Part Per Billion 3.5/5
Spindles 3/5
Four of Seven 4.5/5
Laugh Lines 1/5
Kiki Hernandez Beats the Devil 2.5/5
Anchorage 2.5/5
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Samantha Mills’ short story Rabbit Test swept award season back in 2022/3. It won the Nebula Award in 2022, the 2022 Locus Award for best short story, the 2023 Theordore Sturgeon Award and the 2023 Hugo Award (which she subsequently disavowed due to issues with the 2023 Hugo ballot). It is now the title story of a strong collection of Mills’ short works.
Rabbit Test is a diverse collection of speculative fiction short stories. There is what might be considered science fiction – Anchorage which involves spaceships and existential threats but which Mills describes as her sweetest story, and One Part Per Billion – there are stories about magic – Adrianna in Pomegranate quickly develops a very unusual magic system – these is a time travel story – Strange Waters – and stories about gods and demons – Kiki Henández Beats the Devil is a delightful rock’n’roll riff on crossroads challenges. Rabbit Test itself is more of a future social history than anything else, charting the past and possible future for anti-abortion laws and written in the shadow of the challenge to Roe v Wade in the US Supreme Court.
While not all thematically linked, there is a strong thread in these stories of family ties. Of the relationship between parents and their children (Strange Waters, Adrianna in Pomegranate, Spindle), of the relationships between siblings (Four of Seven, A Shadow is the Memory of a Ghost), partners (10 Visions of the Future) and found families (Anchorage). Mills herself reflects on this in the notes for each story found at the end of the book.
But what really links these stories is a strong sense of place, character and setting delivered sharply and economically. In 2024, Samantha Mills first novel The Wings Upon Her Back delivered a fascinating world and a unique science-fantasy setting but also explored a number of real world issues of toxic relationships and control. In this collection readers can see both where some of these ideas developed and some even more interesting concepts.
Rabbit Test is a diverse collection of speculative fiction short stories. There is what might be considered science fiction – Anchorage which involves spaceships and existential threats but which Mills describes as her sweetest story, and One Part Per Billion – there are stories about magic – Adrianna in Pomegranate quickly develops a very unusual magic system – these is a time travel story – Strange Waters – and stories about gods and demons – Kiki Henández Beats the Devil is a delightful rock’n’roll riff on crossroads challenges. Rabbit Test itself is more of a future social history than anything else, charting the past and possible future for anti-abortion laws and written in the shadow of the challenge to Roe v Wade in the US Supreme Court.
While not all thematically linked, there is a strong thread in these stories of family ties. Of the relationship between parents and their children (Strange Waters, Adrianna in Pomegranate, Spindle), of the relationships between siblings (Four of Seven, A Shadow is the Memory of a Ghost), partners (10 Visions of the Future) and found families (Anchorage). Mills herself reflects on this in the notes for each story found at the end of the book.
But what really links these stories is a strong sense of place, character and setting delivered sharply and economically. In 2024, Samantha Mills first novel The Wings Upon Her Back delivered a fascinating world and a unique science-fantasy setting but also explored a number of real world issues of toxic relationships and control. In this collection readers can see both where some of these ideas developed and some even more interesting concepts.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
(Mild spoilers ahead)
This was genuinely brilliant! So incredibly clever and creative. I took a writing workshop and, as a beginner, this was the best possible book to be reading at the same time. The diversity in style and structure is what makes the collection, in my opinion, fun and interesting to analyze from a writing standpoint.
It was reassuring to see some of the same thoughts I wrote down in the author's own notes about her stories at the end.
My favorites, without a doubt, were Rabbit Test and Strange Waters.
The former, ah, what can I say! I get why it's the title of the collection. It is the best piece of not-so-fictional-fiction I've read about abortion. Left me breathless. Gave me chills, rage. It's injustice, it's control. It's a ten out of ten.
The latter has a one-of-a-kind plot I was instantly fascinated by. Encapsulates the perseverance that's inherent of mothers, accompanied by helplessness and a lot of hope. Beautiful and moving.
Others worthy of praise:
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰: Magical to a human extent, inspirational. First, I loved that it was the apparent secondary character the story was about, and not the high regent. Second, I loved to witness the seeds of revolution. Third, same as with Rabbit Test, the "𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴" message is so so powerful. Last, it uses a lovely second person narrative.
- 𝟭𝟬 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Witty and touching. Stirred a lot of emotions.
- 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀: What a great concept, I did not see the reveal coming. Also, it contains another genius second person narrative.
Reading this collection made me come to the conclusion that when it comes to sci-fi settings, I'm much more of a time travel enjoyer (also liked Four of Seven a lot) than I am of spaceships (Anchorage and One Part per Billion were among my least favorite).
Thanks so much, NetGalley, for this ARC and for allowing readers to discover new authors and stories.
This was genuinely brilliant! So incredibly clever and creative. I took a writing workshop and, as a beginner, this was the best possible book to be reading at the same time. The diversity in style and structure is what makes the collection, in my opinion, fun and interesting to analyze from a writing standpoint.
It was reassuring to see some of the same thoughts I wrote down in the author's own notes about her stories at the end.
My favorites, without a doubt, were Rabbit Test and Strange Waters.
The former, ah, what can I say! I get why it's the title of the collection. It is the best piece of not-so-fictional-fiction I've read about abortion. Left me breathless. Gave me chills, rage. It's injustice, it's control. It's a ten out of ten.
The latter has a one-of-a-kind plot I was instantly fascinated by. Encapsulates the perseverance that's inherent of mothers, accompanied by helplessness and a lot of hope. Beautiful and moving.
Others worthy of praise:
- 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰: Magical to a human extent, inspirational. First, I loved that it was the apparent secondary character the story was about, and not the high regent. Second, I loved to witness the seeds of revolution. Third, same as with Rabbit Test, the "𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴" message is so so powerful. Last, it uses a lovely second person narrative.
- 𝟭𝟬 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Witty and touching. Stirred a lot of emotions.
- 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀: What a great concept, I did not see the reveal coming. Also, it contains another genius second person narrative.
Reading this collection made me come to the conclusion that when it comes to sci-fi settings, I'm much more of a time travel enjoyer (also liked Four of Seven a lot) than I am of spaceships (Anchorage and One Part per Billion were among my least favorite).
Thanks so much, NetGalley, for this ARC and for allowing readers to discover new authors and stories.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It is difficult to decide what exactly to write about Rabbit Test that can fully describe the outstanding quality of these short stories or the emotional rollercoaster I had while reading them.
My plan has been simple: read one or maybe a couple at a time, but I couldn't resist finishing the full collection in one sitting. These are emotionally profound, so I did give it a bit of time to digest before revisiting my favorites.
Rabbit Test, the story that gives the collection its name, should be a mandatory read in our current times, in my opinion and left me feeling haunted while also validating many feelings I found difficult to fully express.
Strange Waters was one that had me bawling as it tells the story of a woman sailing through temporal streams trying to return to her family, though I still don't know if these were tears of happiness or sadness.
10 Visions of the Future; or, Self Care for the End of Days was one of my favorites (though it is frickin' hard to pick). The concept of finding a silver lining amongst Eldritch horrors is wild, yet the message is simple and motivating to anyone who feels they are losing control of their life and how it is supposed to be. This struck a personal chord with me.
I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into with this one, but I highly suggest it to anyone and everyone. The individual universes and their characters are so rich despite the smaller word count, and I can say for sure that they do not lose their magic, whether it's the first read or a return to certain stories.
5/5 Stars hands down.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me a chance to read this! It was an even bigger delight than I had even expected.
My plan has been simple: read one or maybe a couple at a time, but I couldn't resist finishing the full collection in one sitting. These are emotionally profound, so I did give it a bit of time to digest before revisiting my favorites.
Rabbit Test, the story that gives the collection its name, should be a mandatory read in our current times, in my opinion and left me feeling haunted while also validating many feelings I found difficult to fully express.
Strange Waters was one that had me bawling as it tells the story of a woman sailing through temporal streams trying to return to her family, though I still don't know if these were tears of happiness or sadness.
10 Visions of the Future; or, Self Care for the End of Days was one of my favorites (though it is frickin' hard to pick). The concept of finding a silver lining amongst Eldritch horrors is wild, yet the message is simple and motivating to anyone who feels they are losing control of their life and how it is supposed to be. This struck a personal chord with me.
I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into with this one, but I highly suggest it to anyone and everyone. The individual universes and their characters are so rich despite the smaller word count, and I can say for sure that they do not lose their magic, whether it's the first read or a return to certain stories.
5/5 Stars hands down.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me a chance to read this! It was an even bigger delight than I had even expected.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Samantha Mills has a distinctive voice; it's not going to be for all readers, but if you like grasping for poignant, bittersweet hope when everything feels like it's falling apart, it might land for you as well as it does for me. While not a strict theme, there is a through line of womanhood, parenthood, family, and community in the midst of speculative settings that, no matter how fantastical, often feel all-too-relatable to the plights of our modern world.
This is a pretty common short story collection experience for me, coming from a favorite author. There are five-star pieces here where everything comes together to make for some of my favorite stories of all time, and then there are others with flashes of the same emotions, the same themes and skill of the craft, that miss just a beat for me. In this collection, this usually manifests as a disconnect between the conflict and tension of a story and an abrupt ending that tries to put a hopeful/bittersweet spin on things, which ends up feeling a little muted. Still, for the standouts here, and the fact that Samantha Mills writes exactly for me much of the time, I had a great time with this collection.
Standout stories:
Rabbit Test - titular story, (un)won all the awards, equal parts infuriating and cathartic
Strange Waters - a fascinating time-travel world about a mother unmoored from her children and trying to get back to their timeline. Awesome parenthood story.
The Death of the God-King - one of two stories newly published in this collection. About who has the right to power, and the morality of taking/using that power perpetuating a cycle of power holding and power grabbing. And also generational sacrifice.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance copy for review!
This is a pretty common short story collection experience for me, coming from a favorite author. There are five-star pieces here where everything comes together to make for some of my favorite stories of all time, and then there are others with flashes of the same emotions, the same themes and skill of the craft, that miss just a beat for me. In this collection, this usually manifests as a disconnect between the conflict and tension of a story and an abrupt ending that tries to put a hopeful/bittersweet spin on things, which ends up feeling a little muted. Still, for the standouts here, and the fact that Samantha Mills writes exactly for me much of the time, I had a great time with this collection.
Standout stories:
Rabbit Test - titular story, (un)won all the awards, equal parts infuriating and cathartic
Strange Waters - a fascinating time-travel world about a mother unmoored from her children and trying to get back to their timeline. Awesome parenthood story.
The Death of the God-King - one of two stories newly published in this collection. About who has the right to power, and the morality of taking/using that power perpetuating a cycle of power holding and power grabbing. And also generational sacrifice.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance copy for review!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Rabbit Test and Other Stories is a dynamite collection of mind-exploding stories. Samantha Mills writes wildly inventive tales with beautiful confidence, so that living in her imagination is a weird combination of wondering "what even is this?" and then reminding yourself: "she's got it under control." This book is for all the LitRPG people, for people who have read their Science Fiction Hall of Fame Vol. 1, 1929-1964 to shreds, for fans of the classics who are ready to now swallow smart, well-crafted capsules of female rage, with a glass of lyrical storytelling.
The women in this collection are memorable, heartbreaking, flawed, powerful, interesting. The title story is a moving history lesson in reproductive rights that painfully stretches hundreds of years into the future. And there are so many favorite characters to remember here in other stories -- women who reach for power, who have regrets, who brave everything. This is going on my shelf next to Bradbury and Asimov,
A couple of years ago, I read a book called Appendix N, a collection of stories from the end pages of D&D's Dungeon Master's Guide from 1979. They were writers and worlds who had shaped the fantasy universe into which D&D was born. Most of the stories, for me, fell flat. I can't remember one I really loved. I think about the diversity of RPGs out there now, and the way women are represented in fantasy now, and I realize that Rabbit Test and Other Stories, which includes magic and warrior kings and strange gods, is what I wish Appendix N has been. Literary fantasy is mesmerizing and addictive, and Mills is a rising star.
The women in this collection are memorable, heartbreaking, flawed, powerful, interesting. The title story is a moving history lesson in reproductive rights that painfully stretches hundreds of years into the future. And there are so many favorite characters to remember here in other stories -- women who reach for power, who have regrets, who brave everything. This is going on my shelf next to Bradbury and Asimov,
A couple of years ago, I read a book called Appendix N, a collection of stories from the end pages of D&D's Dungeon Master's Guide from 1979. They were writers and worlds who had shaped the fantasy universe into which D&D was born. Most of the stories, for me, fell flat. I can't remember one I really loved. I think about the diversity of RPGs out there now, and the way women are represented in fantasy now, and I realize that Rabbit Test and Other Stories, which includes magic and warrior kings and strange gods, is what I wish Appendix N has been. Literary fantasy is mesmerizing and addictive, and Mills is a rising star.
July 6, 2026
𝖱𝖠𝖡𝖡𝖨𝖳 𝖳𝖤𝖲𝖳 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖮𝖳𝖧𝖤𝖱 𝖲𝖳𝖮𝖱𝖨𝖤𝖲 by 𝖲𝖺𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗁𝖺 𝖬𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗌
🩶 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝗒 𝖬𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 | 👾 𝖢𝗈𝗌𝗆𝗂𝖼 𝖣𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 | 🛸 𝖣𝗒𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗉𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖧𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗋
vibes <---𝘹----> plot
tension <----𝘹---->
ＹＥＳ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩ｏ:
• Crave dark, dystopian tales like in Portalmania
• Live for with gray morality
• Appreciate social commentary that leaves you to think.
ＮＯ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝖺𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗒 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗂𝖿:
• You demand perfectly wrapped endings
• You need clear answers and heavy backstory
• You cannot stand exploring distressing realities
ＴＨＥ ＰＬＯＴ:
To survive a bleak and predatory world, vulnerable outcasts must navigate terrifying social, ecological, and cosmic forces that offer no easy ways out.
ＴＨＲＩＬＬ－Ｏ－ＭＥＴＥＲ: 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵
Have you ever read a story that you might not fully understand, but you strangely love it and recognize the power behind the writing? This is it!
It dives into complex relationships between caregivers and those dependent on them - in various weird and funkily dystopian settings - as they navigate a brutal patriarchy.
The gorgeous prose beautifully contrasts with a heavy undercurrent of doom and disturbing gray morality. This ain't one to skim, besties. This is a piece of freaking literature that forces you into impossible choices and comparing the reflection of your beliefs and seeing if they might need a little adjusting.
There's zero hand-holding here, and many of these tales abruptly cut off right at the edge of the cliff, leaving you to digest the unsettling fallout alone in the dark. This visceral, brilliant nightmare will hit hardest for readers who want to be deeply provoked and disturbed by the darkness of humanity before the world burns.
🩶 𝖦𝗋𝖺𝗒 𝖬𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 | 👾 𝖢𝗈𝗌𝗆𝗂𝖼 𝖣𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 | 🛸 𝖣𝗒𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗉𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖧𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗈𝗋
vibes <---𝘹----> plot
tension <----𝘹---->
ＹＥＳ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩ｏ:
• Crave dark, dystopian tales like in Portalmania
• Live for with gray morality
• Appreciate social commentary that leaves you to think.
ＮＯ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝖺𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗒 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗂𝖿:
• You demand perfectly wrapped endings
• You need clear answers and heavy backstory
• You cannot stand exploring distressing realities
ＴＨＥ ＰＬＯＴ:
To survive a bleak and predatory world, vulnerable outcasts must navigate terrifying social, ecological, and cosmic forces that offer no easy ways out.
ＴＨＲＩＬＬ－Ｏ－ＭＥＴＥＲ: 🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵
Have you ever read a story that you might not fully understand, but you strangely love it and recognize the power behind the writing? This is it!
It dives into complex relationships between caregivers and those dependent on them - in various weird and funkily dystopian settings - as they navigate a brutal patriarchy.
The gorgeous prose beautifully contrasts with a heavy undercurrent of doom and disturbing gray morality. This ain't one to skim, besties. This is a piece of freaking literature that forces you into impossible choices and comparing the reflection of your beliefs and seeing if they might need a little adjusting.
There's zero hand-holding here, and many of these tales abruptly cut off right at the edge of the cliff, leaving you to digest the unsettling fallout alone in the dark. This visceral, brilliant nightmare will hit hardest for readers who want to be deeply provoked and disturbed by the darkness of humanity before the world burns.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Received an ARC from NetGalley.
I've been sleeping on Mills, I admit. I think I meant to read both "Rabbit Test" and "Self-care for the End of Days" and never got round to either, possibly because they sounded so explicitly about the present day US that I just didn't have the inspiration. But the collection is more than just that, and when it is about that - about Roe v Wade being repealed, about lobbyist-owned-politicians being a death cult who'd absolutely call upon Cthulu for a better profit margin - it is still, in turns, tragic, funny and touching enough to stand out. Okay, my bad, I'll follow more closely from now on.
The collection is very much focused on reproductive rights, parenting and motherhood in particular. There are dead babies, and unwanted pregnancies, and wanted babies, and small children, and responsibility to the future generations, present in almost every single story. This focus is still broad enough to allow for a variety of approaches and viewpoints, but it's also specific enough that the collection feels very cohesive. Mills likes to write short stories that feel a little pointillist / meandering, and that sometimes works very well, and sometimes makes the tale lose momentum.
Rabbit Test is probably the stand-out, though I also really loved The Death of the God-King, Four of Seven and (yes, okay) Self-Care for the End of Days. Didn't really like Laugh Lines and One Part Per Billion, but they didn't subtract from overall impression - that I want to read more from Mills, and I need to keep an eye out for her next projects.
I've been sleeping on Mills, I admit. I think I meant to read both "Rabbit Test" and "Self-care for the End of Days" and never got round to either, possibly because they sounded so explicitly about the present day US that I just didn't have the inspiration. But the collection is more than just that, and when it is about that - about Roe v Wade being repealed, about lobbyist-owned-politicians being a death cult who'd absolutely call upon Cthulu for a better profit margin - it is still, in turns, tragic, funny and touching enough to stand out. Okay, my bad, I'll follow more closely from now on.
The collection is very much focused on reproductive rights, parenting and motherhood in particular. There are dead babies, and unwanted pregnancies, and wanted babies, and small children, and responsibility to the future generations, present in almost every single story. This focus is still broad enough to allow for a variety of approaches and viewpoints, but it's also specific enough that the collection feels very cohesive. Mills likes to write short stories that feel a little pointillist / meandering, and that sometimes works very well, and sometimes makes the tale lose momentum.
Rabbit Test is probably the stand-out, though I also really loved The Death of the God-King, Four of Seven and (yes, okay) Self-Care for the End of Days. Didn't really like Laugh Lines and One Part Per Billion, but they didn't subtract from overall impression - that I want to read more from Mills, and I need to keep an eye out for her next projects.
June 2, 2026
[…] there is guilt. Mountains of it. Vast oceans, roiling with the rising temperature. Guilt the size of a rich man’s space station.
A strong and varied selection of stories. Mills jumps between many different structures and ideas, blending fantasy and sci-fi in cool ways. Insofar as there is a common thread here, her tales tend to explore questions about what sort of life and future people imagine themselves preparing for and how that plays out through complex parent-child dynamics, shaped through time going both backwards and forwards.
“We’re in a different world now, Kid. If you want to survive it, you’ve got to keep to yourself. As soon as they catch on you love something, they take it away.”
The three best stories here (by far) are “Rabbit Test,” “A Shadow is a Memory of a Ghost,” and “10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days.” Also worth checking out, despite being more light-hearted, is “Kiki Hernández Beats the Devil.”
We are fighting and struggling and self-caring our way through the apocalypse, and every day there is something terrible but also something lovely, and we are caught in constant whiplash between the two.
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