Burning Roses

Rosa, who was once called Red Riding Hood, has had enough of wolves and forests. Hou Yi the Archer, a hero from Chinese myth, is worn out and knows her best years are behind her. Both are middle-aged markswomen.

Then deadly sunbirds start ravaging the countryside, and the things each woman has come to love are in danger. Rosa and Hou Yi have to team up to stop them.

The hunt pulls both of them back toward sacrifices they made long ago and mistakes they have carried since. Along the way they have to ask hard questions about choice, family and the pursuit of immortality.

Tordotcom published the novella in 2020, and it belongs to the Hunting Monsters series, though it can be read first. Queer fairy tale and Chinese mythology are braided together here, with Western fairy-tale tradition running alongside. Two veteran hunters, each with a past she would rather leave alone, must decide what the sunbirds are worth fighting for.