Quick Sips - Lightspeed #121

Art by Reiko Murakami

I kick off my coverage of June short SFF with a look at the latest issue of Lightspeed, which contains three short stories and one novelette. And the stories seem to circle around isolation, finding characters who out of choice or circumstance are living largely on their own on in a small group. And who find, in that isolation, that the rules of the world seem to bend a bit. That stories become incredibly important, because of how they define the world, how they give shape to its nebulous shadows. And how they order and organize forces that don't have a great explanation, but through the lens of those stories have meaning. It's a great variety on display this month, and I'll get right to my reviews!

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 01/06/2020 & 01/13/2020

Strange Horizons opens with two issues with some strange and stunning fiction and poetry. The works are challenging in that they imagine futures or alternate worlds where things...aren't the way we're used to. Marriage is a book with sometimes-competing authors. The future is a museum plucked from the rubble of humanity as if at random. The poetry explores themes of identity and transgression, choice and fear. It's a new reminder of what to expect from Strange Horizons—stories that take risks while still being careful. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Terraform January 2019

It’s a full month of short SF to kick off 2019 at Motherboard’s Terraform. As always, the pieces on display look at visions of the future, taking trends and projecting them out, wondering what if and guessing at the shape of things to come. Or, perhaps more accurately, guessing at the shape of things that should not come, as each of these stories is a warning against a future full of heightened oppression, fear, insecurity, and corruption. They look at the pressures to conform and the way that mob mentality infects and can drive institutions that shouldn’t be handled by popular demand. The stories skew a little long for the publication, though still very manageable, and they pack rather a strong emotional wallop. So hold onto your feels and get ready for some timely science fiction. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Terraform May 2018

A novel excerpt and a short film keep Motherboard’s Terraform fiction lineup a little lean for May, but there’s still two pieces to look at that challenge what the future might look at. The stories are very much about loneliness and isolation and the injustice of systems. In both, people become trapped by the world as it is defined by money, by injustice, by misogyny. Moments of real human connection are sparse and, where present, precious. It’s perhaps not surprising that the publication features a brand new depiction of sexbots (a popular trope for Terraform), but I continue to be impressed by the nuance and care given to these stories. It’s not a piece that’s about sex, but rather the power of small moments of vulnerability and mutual comfort. Anyway, it’s a short but moving pair of stories and it’s time to review them!

Quick Sips - Tor dot com April 2017

It's another fairly full month from Tor dot com, but still nowhere near as busy as last month. There are five stories to explore, one novelette and four shorts, and the pieces all center science and study. These are pieces that look at the role that humans can play in researching other species as well as humanity itself. They look at how medical science can be used to ease burdens and to create them, how studying and interacting with other species can teach us more about ourselves and more about the universe. These are stories about pain and disease and exploration, and people coming to terms with a universe that is vast and sometimes very cruel. And they are at turns beautiful and ugly, affirming and devastating. So let's get to the reviews!

Art by Micah Epstein

Quick Sips - Tor dot com March 2017

First I guess I have to talk about Tor dot com's March project, Nevertheless, She Persisted, which features eleven pieces of flash fiction all centered around that idea, that quote. These are stories that hit and hit hard, some of them blisteringly defiant and some of them steeped in despair. The stories (and poem) show the many facets of the idea of persistence. The power of it and also the crushing nature of having to persist, and persist, and persist, ever and always. The stories run across a wide range of speculative genres and it's wonderful to see the authors taking this central idea and being inspired by it. Using it to say something new and interesting. Making a statement on our current situation and refusing to look away from the uncomfortable truths of it. So yes, it's a wonderful project and makes for a some surprising start to Tor's March.

That's not all that the publication got up to, though. Oh no. This would have been a full month even without the eleven flash stories, as there are also three short stories and two novelettes to look at. And wow. These are some gorgeous pieces that take on some deeply uncomfortable themes and manage to find glimmers of hope even in the most devastating of loss and corruption. They are stories of ghosts and magic, bodies and wars. And before I get too lost in describing them, why don't I just get to the reviews!

Art by Scott Bakal

Quick Sips - Tor dot com January 2017

The offerings from Tor dot com do an excellent job of balancing light and dark, love and betrayal, hatred and hope. The stories range from horror to noir mystery, from sci fi romance to cerebral deconstruction. As such there isn't exactly a single thread that weaves all these stories together. Which is just fine. What I find instead are stories that stand perfectly well on their own, that revel in the myriad interpretations of SFF. From gothic horror to environmental science fiction, the stories all set about capturing different flavors of genre. There isn't an awful lot of overlap, either, so fans looking for a nice primer on different styles and visions might be well served checking out each of these stories. Or, for those preferring a specific brand of SFF, you'll find weighty stories that provide satisfying experience in and of themselves. So yeah, time to review!

Art by Sam Wolfe Connelly