November brings a new issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, this time featuring three short stories, one novelette, and two poems. So there’s a lot of heroic fantasy to get to! And the pieces do a nice job of exploring certain themes. Second chances, for one, or the lack of them. Aging, for another, and the way that age has of teaching people lessons that are much harder to get any other way. The works are grim at times but not overly so, giving the characters some adventures, some chances to revisit things from their past. For most of them, there is hope to be taken away, even if it tastes bittersweet. And there’s just a lot to cover, so let’s jump right in to the reviews!
The second issue of the year has dropped at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, featuring three stories (2 shorts and 1 novelette) and three poems. And it’s an issue that definitely walks a fine line between darkness and hope, between violence and justice. The stories feature characters who are struggling with their choices, their paths. For many of them, they want to reach a place beyond the corruption that is holding them down, that is hurting them and those around them. For some of them, this means taking arms against a sea of trouble, and for others it means striving to consume and become that sea of trouble. But whether trying to break down or co-opt corruption and injustice, the stories show how close the two can be, and what might tip people toward one or the other. It’s a very strong issue of fantasy short stories and poetry, and it’s time to get to the reviews!
It's October at Apex Magazine, which means that there's extra reasons to revel in some dark SFF. Halloween! And while neither the stories nor the poetry evoke the holiday directly, they do bring the darkness and bring the horror and don't let up. The prose is…well, it's violent and full of monsters and uncomfortable truths. About the people who get overlooked and how the abuses the world creates lead to monsters. Lead to death and tragedy. The poetry looks a bit more at the past and the future, reaching and touching the unknown through shared experiences, through the constellations of what joins us as humans. Today also kicks of Apex's subscription drive, so be sure to give that a look! It's a spooky issue and I'm going to jump right into the reviews!
