Quick Sips - Fantasy #62

Art by grandfailure/Adobe Stock Image

In some ways it feels too soon to close out my full reviews of Fantasy Magazine, the publication only having relaunched last month. But I’ll still very much be covering the publication, which in that short a time has already shown itself to be a wonderful source of fantasy short fiction and poetry. December brings four short stories and two poems into the world, and the works are varied and interesting, dealing with space, with anxiety, with coping. The characters find that their situations seem to be pressing in around them, and they have to decide if they’re going to push back, break out, or embrace the squeeze. So yeah, to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Translunar Travelers Lounge #3 [part 2: Luna Blend (Jasmine)]

I’m back! Yes, it’s only been a day since I reviewed the first section of the latest Translunar Travelers Lounge, but schedules are weird and I am happy to return right away for the second section, which is the Luna Blend (Jasmine). And Uncle Iroh would be proud of the selection of stories here, which are warm and heartfelt but know how to have some fun. There are shadows, moments of sadness and loss, but always a smile as well, and an earnest laugh. There’s a bit of sci fi, a lot of fantasy, and some nice twists of horror (nothing too grim, though), and it all blends together into something, well, as the publication says, “subtle in scent and sweet in flavor.” To the reviews!

Regular Sip - Cradle and Grave by Anya Ow (Neon Hemlock)

Art by Y.C. Yang

I’m back with a look at another novella from Neon Hemlock. This one shoots the action into the far future, or onto another world entirely, where a cataclysmic event has resulted in a world shattered, broken, and with signs that the breaking might just be getting worst. The piece looks not just at the ravages of climate change but on an assault on reality itself, where humanity’s desire for order has backfired and created a society living beside the white-hot mutating chaos of a city and a water that can turn people into insectoid monsters. It’s a bold piece, solidifying the feeling I have that Neon Hemlock is a publisher willing to take some risks that, for me at least, have paid off big. To the review!

Quick Sips - Uncanny #23 [August stuff[

The second half of the special Dinosaur issue of Uncanny Magazine brings even MOAR dinosaurs, with five new stories and three new poems. Two of the poems aren’t really dinosaur-centric, but the issue as a whole offers up a great diversity in styles and ways of incorporating the source material and expanding the shared space of the issue. Here we are treated to more stories of dinosaurs displaced in time, landing on the Oregon Trail, or in a strange fairy tale, or in the middle of a small town. There’s not quite the same focus on communication and understanding as before, though. Instead, these pieces look a bit more at violence, and hunger, and corruption. They don’t flinch away from showing some dinosaurs getting their feed on, as well as getting their freak on. It’s a strange, rather wonderful collection of short SFF, so let’s get to the reviews!

Art by Galen Dara

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 01/01/2018 & 01/08/2018

After a brief break for the holidays, Strange Horizons returns with its first two issues of 2018, each with a new story and new poem to enjoy. The pieces are wonderfully paired, story and poem working together to provide interesting and complex one-two punches. It’s something I very much appreciate as a reader, the issues holding together and complicating the individual pieces, allowing for a deeper reading than would otherwise have been possible. The first issue seems more about magic and growth, of children learning the dangers of the world and trying to overcome them. The second issue is more about refugees, from either wars or climate, people displaced and vulnerable, preyed upon and in need of kindness and rest. It’s a strong start for the year, so without further delay, the reviews!

Quick Sips - GigaNotoSaurus October 2016

The October offering from GigaNotoSaurus certainly captures the feeling of autumn. At least where I live, autumn is a time of slowing down. Declining. It's something that creeps across the land. Temperatures start to drop. Leaves start to change color. Nothing happens all at once. Instead there is a gradual loss happening, a march toward something bigger, more definite. And this story captures that feeling, showing a character moving slowly around a single event in his life, waiting. Unlike where I live, the story doesn't show what happens next, doesn't drop into winter or lift back into spring. It shows this achingly beautiful and tragic moment and lets it linger, and I should just get to my review!