Quick Sips - Uncanny #18 [October stuff]

October arrives at Uncanny Magazine with a flush of monsters and love letters, a complex web of desires, communities, and speculative traditions. The stories aren’t really what I’d consider spooky, though they do have an eye toward “classic” costumes—monsters, historical fashion, and robots. Instead, the stories and poems as well seem more concerned with the ideas and styles of the past, about the ways the present erases the past in order to create a new vision of the future. Or, perhaps, the ways that people now imagining the future come to override the imaginings from the past, so that what is futuristic and what is contemporary and what is anachronistic all are thrown into question. In some of the pieces, it means the styles of the past are updated and reinvigorated, while other works seek to find strength and joy in how the past imagined the future and how the past actually was, before time and taste and injustice erased everything that didn’t fit into the dominate narrative of history. So yeah, these are some complex and deep stories that still manage a sense of fun and focus. To the reviews!

Art by Ashley Mackenzie

Quick Sips - Tor.com February 2016

The stories from Tor.com this month seem to be all about offering some fresh twists on old classics. From a zombie story that's unlike any I've seen before to a steam-powered take on Sherlock Holmes (though not in the way I expected), the stories take some time-honored tropes and proceed to stuff them in a stack and beat them with sticks. What pours out afterward is a slurry of interesting ideas, complex characterizations, and brilliant world-building. Now, time to review!
 

Art by Sung Choi

Quick Links - 04/05/2015

Hey everybody! Finally I got back to some reviews this week. So that's always good. And the majority of them I quite liked. Not all, unfortunately. But most. My search for good science fiction with some steamy bits continues. So yeah, here are my reviews!

Young Woman in a Garden: Stories by Delia Sherman (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - I quite enjoyed this collection of short fiction, which I would categorize as Gothic with a bit of a much-needed update. I love many of these stories, but some can be a little slow. Pacing aside, though, there is a great sense of dark and magic in these tales. Good times.

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - Another book of stories that can be a little slow going at times. Though there are a number of very short pieces. And The Book of Sand is amazing. That entire collection is amazing. There's a lot here, though. Seriously, the book is huge. Worth reading, but maybe don't do them all at once like I did.

Last of the Sandwalkers by Jay Hosler (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - This is a great sciencey book about bugs and family and it is just rather amazing. I loved all the digs at young Earth theories and how the book comes down very firmly on the "recognize the scale of the universe" side of things. A great way of making a point, to basically say we're like bugs in the grand scheme of things. Much recommended.

Born of Night by Sherrilynn Kenyon (Goodreads, my score 2/5) - And then there was this one. I want to find some science fiction that also has some romantic elements and is fun but this was not it. Really, shouldn't the future have less unintended pregnancies? I was willing to forgive a lot in this book before it went completely off the rails. Probably give this one a miss.

Also, as I announced earlier this week, The Monthly Round is up at Nerds of a Feather. Great tasting and satisfying fiction and drink pairings. Go see!

But yeah, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!