Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #191

The new Beneath Ceaseless Skies is out and features two stories that surprised me. I don't really mean that they twist, exactly, but rather that they played with my expectations on what was going on. On what I thought was going on and where I thought the stories were going. By challenging and complicating tropes, by some nice and layered characterization. By refusing to be as simple or straightforward as I had thought. So color me pleasantly surprised and impressed at these tales of "classic" fantasy. And now, to the reviews!
 

Art by Xiao Ran

Quick Sips - Apex #77

October is actually a fairly light month for Apex Magazine this year. Not when it comes to the number of stories, with four original fiction pieces as well as four poems, but the stories lean slightly on the shorter side. Which is completely fine by me, in part because of the busy month and in part because, by and large, the stories are quite entertaining. There is a feeling that this month is keeping things a bit more action-oriented, with stories where things happen and don't really stop happening. These are not exactly ponderous tales, but faster, more entertaining tales. And it works pretty well, providing smiles and laughs even while keeping things dark. Time to review!

Art by Joshua Hutchinson