Quick Sips - Fireside Magazine #86/Fireside Quarterly Autumn 2020

Art by Don Rimx

So this review, my last in this format, also has the honor of being something of a complete mess. Because, well, Fireside Magazine has had something of a bumpy road recently, and it’s thrown off the publication schedule. What’s more, because the print Fireside Quarterly has been running ahead of the magazine, there are still a number of stories that are 2020 releases that haven’t made their way online yet. So…I decided to just settle up. So here are both the stories from the most recent issue of Fireside Magazine, and all the original stories in the latest Quarterly as well. In total, it’s nine new works, and it makes for a wonderful assortment of SFF visions and voices. And it might be messy, but for maybe the last time, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Escape Pod #765

Well I wasn’t really expecting a final story from Escape Pod in 2020, but it was a year for surprises, so what’s one more? Appropriately, the story itself is about a New Years celebration, and for me is a lot about connecting with what you love, and taking steps to prioritize that love and what makes you happy. Which is wonderful and warm and a fantastic way to step into the new year. So yeah, without further delay, to the review!

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #320

Art by Avant Choi

The stories in this latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies are all about the grim realities of being young, being a woman in a time and place where that often means being property, and being without a real friend in the world. And both stories follow a person who acts as a kind of friend for young women. Who reach out to help them, to teach them, to guide them. Not always innocently, but usually with something approaching good intentions. Just ones that are also often filtered through the realities they are in, the grim and dangerous cities the stories take place in. Now, whether these are 2020 or 2021 releases, I’m less sure. What I know is that this will be my last comprehensive review of a Beneath Ceaseless Skies issue, and that’s a rather bittersweet thing. But, without too much angst, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Speculative City #10

Art by Jacqueline C.J. Barnes

And now for something new! Yes yes I know, right before I’m set to step away from doing these kind of full reviews isn’t precisely the time to be starting a whole new publication, but I assure you that’s not what I’m doing. Indeed, this is something of a one-off, as I was told about this issue of Speculative City and just couldn’t resist. Plus, I had a sudden hole in my schedule and boom! It’s a wonderful issue, though, focused on an Afrofuturism theme and featuring four short stories and two poems. The works are vibrant, dealing with some decidedly grim subjects but bringing a fresh and vibrant voice that cuts through the oppressions facing the characters and brings them new hope. It’s a fantastic collection of works, and I’ll dive right into my reviews!

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 12/21/2020

Art by Galen Dara

It wouldn’t be Strange Horizons without a little bit of last minute confusion on my part, I guess, as I was expecting a final issue of the year on the 28th that didn’t arrive. Still, I was only expecting on last poem, so it’s not a huge shift. But…wow. I have read and reviewed every issue of Strange Horizons since the beginning of November 2014. In that time, I would hazard to say that the publication has been my personal favorite, at least going statistically off of how many times stories published there have made my recommended reading lists. So breaking the streak of reviewing at Strange Horizons has something of a big impact for me personally. I will still be reading, certainly. And I do want to thank the publication for providing so many amazing stories over the years. I’m just a ball of emotions about it all, and want to say cheers before I get to this, my last comprehensive review of the publication for the foreseeable future. Cheers!

Quick Sips - Tor dot com December 2020

Art by Micah Epstein

Just one novelette to close out the year for December’s Tor dot com, and it’s a return to a familiar setting for regular Tor readers. Wild Cards is a fascinating project, a world explored by a range of authors across a long stretch to alternate history. This story keeps things contemporary in that history, checking back in on Rustbelt and his adopted daughter as things in Jokerville get a bit…political. The story might lack some of the big spills that make the setting often rather action oriented, but it provides an interesting mystery instead, and a lot of character work. And before I give too much away, let’s just get to the review!

Quick Sips - Baffling Magazine December 2020

Two more original stories round out the early access stories from Baffling Magazine for the year. Except, actually, I’m thinking that they’re (as well as those I’ve covered since October) technically going to be 2021 releases. At least, the issue is being released on the first day of the year instead of the last, so despite being up on Patreon, I think that makes them 2021 originals. Probably? Whatever the case, the stories are a wonderful (if rather difficult and complex) way to move into the new year. These are stories about bargains, about grim deals. Marrying the Devil. Embracing the illusions of a necromancer. It’s wrenching work, but also just excellent short SFF. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Omenana #16

The first issue of Omenana came out just before I started doing reviews here at QSR (though I did read the issue and covered one of the stories in my new-at-the-time Monthly Round at Nerds of a Feather). Six years later and it’s still a wonderful source of SFF short fiction and a publication I look forward to diving into every issue. This latest is no exception, and the works are a nice mix of epic, intimate, gripping, chilling, and inspiring. I love the magic of the stories, the sharp edge of horror, and the beautiful hope that still clings to the narrowest of ledges. It’s a great issue, and I’ll get right to my reviews!

Quick Sips - Mermaids Monthly Bonus Issue

Art by Nilah Magruder

Following a successful Kickstarter, there’s a new source of aquatic speculative fiction in town—Mermaids Monthly! Edited by Julia Rios, the publication is officially launching in the new year, with a one year planned run. To whet our appetites before then, though, there’s a special bonus issue that has gone out to supporters already but which I am super honored to announce is available to everyone to read for free right now! The issue includes two reprint stories (one of which appears both in the original Spanish and translated into English and which I've reviewed previously), two original poems, a short graphic story, and a bunch of wonderful illustrations and small announcements about the publication. As I reserve the right to review reprints, I decided to exercise that to cover the story I haven’t already reviewed on QSR before. And already the publication shows great promise and a wonderful range. The bonus is available in three formats (the art looking best in the pdf) that are free to download, and I definitely encourage you to check it out. In the mean time, I’ll get right to the reviews!

Quick Sips - PodCastle #655-656 & 658

Welcome to a special Christmas edition of Quick Sip Reviews, where I look at the December short SFF from PodCastle! And, well, it’s really only a special edition because this month is so full of stories that I can’t even really take a single day off. Oops. But I have some free time so it’s time to post, and cover the three new stories out from PodCastle this year, including one that is definitely appropriate to review today of all days. The works look at family, at distance, at bargains and curses. And it makes for a wonderfully balanced reading on the month and just a fantastic way to end out 2020 for the publication. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Augur #3.2 [part 2]

Art by Lorna Antoniazzi

Okay, so the latest issue of Augur is...big! Having just covered the first half of it, I would probably have waited to tackle the second half until next month. But as this is my last month doing these kinds of reviews, I’m going for it. Three short stories, four poems, and a graphic story all round out the issue, and it continues to be a complex and at times fairly grim collection. Like the first half, there are themes of loss and cultural destruction, the pressures of capitalism and colonialism. But there’s still some hope, and even a bit of fun, and I appreciate the varied ways the issue treats trauma and the decision to make change, to act in the face of corruption. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Augur #3.2 [part 1]

Art by Lorna Antoniazzi

I have been eagerly dreading the end of December for a number of reasons. Both because of the change it will bring and because I was suspecting that the year that kept on giving wasn’t going to give up without one last go. And I’m pleased to say I was right, as there are a few big releases that I probably would have broken up over a few months that I’m not going to do my best to fit in immediately. First out of the gate is Augur, with an absolutely packed issue featuring seven stories, eight poems, and a graphic story. That’s a lot, and I’m covering the first half of the issue today. It’s...well, it something of a heavy bunch of works, focusing rather sharply on loss, on conflict, on climate change, on cultural destruction. It’s not an easy issue to read, but it is an easy issue to like, and there’s tons of great works that I will get right to reviewing!

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #319

Art by Avant Choi

The penultimate issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies that I’ll be covering in depth brings two stories about cities. Cities that couldn’t be more different from each other, but cities all the same. And the decisions that people make in leaving, or approaching those cities. In one, the city is complicated by a spell and a grim bargain. In the other, the city is a living being, able to long and to love. The pieces find the characters weighing their options, deciding whether to take the safer route or strike out into the unknown. It makes for a fascinating issue, and I’ll get right to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Diabolical Plots #70

Art by Joey Jordan

December brings two stories to Diabolical Plots that explore characters trapped on a planet for an extended period of time, waiting for their extraction. For one, their time is more on purpose, as a spy sent to gather intelligence on a possible robot insurrection on Earth. For the other, their time comes as a result of a crash, and their time is spent trying to figure a way out of a further confinement. In both, the characters find themselves fond of beings they meet on their respective planets. For one, small music-loving creatures who are their only companions…well, mostly. For the other, a cat who doesn’t want to let them leave…alone, at least. For both people, humans stand as complications to their plans, but are ultimately rather unnecessary to their happinesses. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 12/07/2020 & 12/14/2020

I’m winding my way toward my final continuous comprehensive review of Strange Horizons. It’s…I have a lot of emotions about it, because Strange Horizons was I think the very first publication I regularly followed. The first I submitted work of my own to. I’ve reviewed every issue either here at QSR or when I reviewed at Tangent since November 2014. In that time I think it has been my favorite short SFF venue, going purely on how many of its works have ended up on my recommended reading lists. I am still definitely going to follow this publication, which has become a leader in exactly the kind of short SFF I want to read more of. It has pushed SFF in translation, has championed special issues, and has generally just been the kind of venue that embodies the work I love seeing in the field. These issues is no different, offering up a pair of stories and poems that shine with their creativity and heart. They are complex, they are beautiful, and I will with a flurry of conflicting emotions, get to my reviews!

Quick Sips - Nightmare #99

Art by Marko Stamatovic / Fotolia

I continue to be impressed with the way that Nightmare Magazine has been pairing original stories in their issues, as December brings two works dealing with the bonds of sisters. Bonds that are cut short. By tragedy. By loss. And that provoke the remaining sisters in some difficult, profound, and unsettling ways. The stories are grim and they are creeping, complicating relationships that the survivors form and have, pushing them into perhaps dangerous situations, and always bringing them back around to the loss they’ve suffered. It’s a strong and resonating issue that works even better than the sum of its parts. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Uncanny #37 [December stuff]

Art by Julie Dillon

Uncanny Magazine started around the same time that I got into reviewing. I have read every issue, and reviewed all but the very first one. So the bittersweet train keeps right on moving along as I come to my final comprehensive review of the publication’s original fiction and poetry. The works are strong, dealing a lot with the ways people sacrifice themselves, bend themselves, go without because they feel they should, because they think it’s right. And how...it’s not. Not right for some people to give up their hopes and dreams for others, especially when that’s taken for granted, perhaps forced. The stories look at the difficulty of healing, of making space for yourself and your needs, of recognizing damage done, trauma, and starting the healing process. It’s another excellent issue from the publication, and I’m happy that I can go out on such a high note (though I will keep right on reading the publication, and my coverage won’t exactly end, just shift a lot). To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #171

Art by Claudio Pilia

About six years ago, the first review to appear on Quick Sip Reviews covered Clarkeworld #100. Now, I’m covering Clarkesworld #171. So…it’s something of a moment for me. The issue brings the normal focus on science fiction, but also manages to weave a theme of home throughout the seven original stories. Home is something that means very different things to different people, and the works explore those definitions, those ideas, those realities through the lens of fiction. It’s not the happiest of issues (which I note only to say that if the publication wanted more happy submissions I’d recommend first publishing happier works) but a rather hauntingly beautiful bunch of stories. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - GigaNotoSaurus December 2020

December brings a story of space, space poachers, and women dealing with trauma through violence to GigaNotoSaurus. And okay, not just violence, but rather by forming a chosen family of people willing to risk their lives to stop a deadly exploitation and protect those who voices will the space between stars with song. The story is beautiful and moving, tense and action-packed, with a touch of tragedy but a build toward something transforming and wonderful. And before I give too much away, let’s get to the review!

Quick Sips - Flash Fiction Online December 2020

It’s another bunch of endings at Flash Fiction Online this December. First, it’s the end of the year, and the stories deal with feelings of winters, of heavy atmospheres, bleak realities, and for all that a warmth as people find people through their sorrows and stresses and move toward more hopeful futures. The second ending is that longtime editor Suzanne Vincent is stepping down. And while I have full faith in incoming editor Wendy Nikel, it’s still a moment to thank Suzanne Vincent for the years of amazing stories and wish her all the best in the future! Last, it’s another publication that I have reached the end of my full reviews for. I’ve quite enjoyed FFO and will definitely continue to read, even if I am no longer doing these complete review posts. So long, and thanks for all the flash! Cheers!