The Terracotta Bride
La mujer de terracota
Published: October 2021,
Duermevela Ediciones
Spanish edition of The Terracotta Bride, translated by Rebeca Cardeñoso and illustrated by Qu Lan.
The Terracotta Bride
Published: Oct 2011,
Steam-Powered II: More Lesbian Steampunk Stories, ed. JoSelle Vanderhooft, Torquere Press. Reprinted in Spirits Abroad, Small Beer Press.
11,000 words
When Siew Tsin’s husband brings home his new bride Yonghua, an artificial woman made from terracotta, Siew Tsin falls in love — and is drawn into a conspiracy where the stakes are eternal life, or a very final death. A tale of first love, bad theology and robot reincarnation set in the Chinese afterlife.
Note: The Terracotta Bride is no longer available as a standalone in English, as it has been included in the expanded edition of Spirits Abroad, released by Small Beer Press in August 2021.
The girl shone out from her extravagant silk robes like a pearl nestled in a red velvet box. She was beautiful, with skin as smooth as jade and hair like a lacquered black bowl.
Her eyes were black commas, no whites in them. She was not human. She had never been alive.
