Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 05/25/2015, 06/01/2015, and 06/08/2015

So apparently I've been a little behind in getting to Strange Horizons, as evidenced by there being three weeks of reviews this week. That said, there is only one piece of fiction to get to. Three poems, though, and a piece of nonfiction. There's even more up, including a HILARIOUS review of the short story category/Puppy slate. That is one cutting review. But as I'm not the point of reviewing reviews (yet) I will leave it at that. So let's get to the reviews!

Art by Vlada Monakhova

Quick Sips - Book Smugglers May 2015

So Book Smugglers is back to publishing original fiction. Last time it was retold fairy tales and now the theme is First Contact. Only one story a month, but that's fine by me. Gives me a relatively short reviewing day, which can be nice. And the story this month is quite interesting in terms of form and structure, told as a questionnaire. Really Book Smugglers just continues to show that they have a good eye for fiction and for stories that push boundaries. They might be relatively new as a fiction market, and might have a fairly small output, but they are definitely a place to watch. So let's get to it!

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #174

So apparently this issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies is quite concerned with rivers and prices to be paid. Sometimes the stories in each issue are very different, but these two are very strongly linked thematically. In both there is the crossing of a river, and in that crossing there is a buying into an agreement, a sort of cycle. There is no way to avoid paying for either main characters of these stories, no real way to get around the fact that by accepting help in crossing the river they have entered into a bargain that binds them. And yet both character do manage to twist that bargain into something that changes them and their function and also changes the one that takes them across, giving those characters a release. Interesting apart, this is an issue that begs to be analyzed together. Which I always love to do. Also, despite releasing this issue in the last few days of the month, the stories are fairly short for the publication, which I always appreciate. So yes, let's get to it!

Art by Christopher Balaskas

Quick Sips - Tor.com May 2015

Well I guess I was right that Tor would also win the "wait for the last possible moment to release their longest story of the month" award. I'm fairly sure this is something that only bothers me because it means that I was not able to get the review up on Friday. Of course, Tor was nice enough to make it up to me by publishing some great stories. Really, it's a full month, with four stories and a graphic story. So a lot to look at and none of it bad. Indeed, Tor is a great resource for some amazing stories, many of which tie in to other, larger works. So it's the gateway drug of fiction sites. It gave me pet elephants to cry about and ghost busting to cheer. There is an abundance of talent here and I'm just going to get to it, okay?

Quick Sips - Urban Fantasy #7

Urban Fantasy Magazine is out again with two stories that take very different tracks into Urban Fantasy. One is alt history and one is a more traditional "fantasy hiding beneath the surface" story with knights and wizards. Really, though, both stories look at privilege and power and loneliness and the power of one person to decide their fate. In quite different ways the stories nevertheless both tackle some pretty big issues while also being entertaining, which is always nice. So before I gush on some more, to the stories!

Quick Sips - Lightspeed #60

So Lightspeed wins my "Came out with their longest story of the month in the last five days of the month" award (normally reserved for Tor but then, as I haven't read the Tor stories yet, might mean there will be two winners this month). Which, given I just got back from WisCon, means that I had to sort of rush to get it done in time. But I kid (because though it would be nice for all places to schedule their releases to suit me I don't expect it...yet). It's another month of quality stories that really showed a wide variation in kinds of stories. Nothing really feels similar, but it is all worth checking out in different ways. Including the stunning conclusion (I think) to the long-running Kaslo Chronicles. So let's get to it!

Art by Li Shuxing

Quick Sips - Terraform May 2015

Hi all! Not quite back home following WisCon but at least the last story of the month from Terraform is a good one. Not really as short as I'm used to for the publication, which is supposed to be under two thousand words but has two stories over three. But the talent on the site continues to impress and these stories really do deliver on a science fiction vision of some pressing concerns. Also, a science fiction Orpheus retelling (I'm a sucker for Orpheus retellings). So yeah, settle in and get ready for some short fiction reviews!

Quick Sips - Nightmare #32

Two new stories grace this issue of Nightmare, and both very much live up to the horror name in the title of the magazine. Indeed, these two stories have the feel of different kinds of horror movie. The first is more of a Saw or Hostel-flavored story and the second is more of an Outbreak or other medical horror spiced tale. Both are interesting and intense and dark, but as I normally steer away from the torture-heavy movies like Saw I find that I might prefer the second story a bit more. But other readers will obviously have different preferences. So let's get to it.

Art by Vitaly Alexius

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 05/11/2015 and 5/18/2015

Just two weeks of Strange Horizons on the horizon for today. With WisCon about to start and still a good deal left to review I thought it best to just do two weeks this time so that I can be done with the monthly fiction at least before the month is over (assuming that the last week of the month will have no fiction). But the fiction is quite strong and deals a bit with loss and with grief but also the strength to keep going after change. And the poetry is, as always, interesting and subtle and worth some careful examination. Plus there's some new nonfiction that's quite good and a piece of art. So let's begin!

Art by Milan Jaram

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #173

This issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies manages to show that light and humorous stories are not out of place in fantasy. Both the stories in this issue keep things rather light, though of course there are a few less-humorous bits as well. Really, though, they capture a lighthearted approach to fantasy that really doesn't show up too often. Plus it also has a story that blends in some drama in the stylistic sense, being written as a play. So while thematically the stories are fairly different, and stylistically they are worlds apart, they both capture a bit more humorous visions that work quite well. So let's get to them.

Art by Christopher Balaskas

Quick Sips - Shimmer #25 (May Stuff)

So Shimmer has been super kind to provide me a subscription to their lovely publication for review purposes. So I'm sort of debating how I want to deal with that at the moment because I still would rather handle the issue as two review (one for each month). But it's possible that I will come out with reviews before the stories are up for free online. This month just happens to work out really well for that, because this review drops the day the second story is out for free online. Definitely go give both stories a read, as they are moody and dark with the shadows of creatures only partly glimpsed. Oh, and I will probably handle this in a future Thoughts (not this week, but maybe next?) but I am also debating how to handle spoilers in these reviews. Normally I try not to, as here (especially the second story) but I'm not sure if I can quite discuss the story as much as I want without spoiling certain stories. But that will be left for another day. For now, to the stories!

Art by Sandro Castelli

Quick Sips - Fantastic Stories of the Imagination May 2015

Normally I don't think of flash fiction as anything under 3,000 words, but that's how Fantastic Stories of the Imagination defines the form and so here are two more "flash" fiction pieces. Really I'm just teasing (though really, the first story is not flash), because both stories are once again good and both science fictional looks at the future, at two young women who are trying to figure out their place in the scheme of things. The stories offer two different views of the future, two different dilemmas, but they both share some common things. Mostly, they're about being open to change, about not being stuck with tunnel vision. One story shows the protagonist finding this out, the other shows the protagonist with maybe some more learning to do. But both are interesting and I guess I should just get to it!

Quick Sips - Apex #72

This month's Apex seems to be a lot about the stories that we tell ourselves, the stories that cover over the truth. At least the fiction definitely seems that way. There are literal stories that cover up uncomfortable truths, both through the suppression of memories and through the "misremembering" of events. But there is also a drive to face the truth, to face the past head on and deal with it. That it's necessary for moving on, for getting better. In all the stories there is a sense that the characters need to face their mistakes, that they are stronger than their guilt or grief, that they can do something. And, of course, the poetry is amazing. A solid issue, so let's get to it!

Art by Beth Spencer

Quick Sips - Crossed Genres #29 Failure

This month's Crossed Genres has the theme of Failure. It's an interesting theme to see played out because of how broad and vague it is, but here are three stories that capture different aspects of it. I like that two of them feature failed relationships, though. Because in those failures there is also something else. A failure to cave to the dominant narrative. A failure on the part of the women in the relationships to be defined by the men who acted on then. In the one, a woman whose husband ran off with another woman refuses to let her remaining life be defined by that failed marriage. In the other, a woman who was killed refuses to let the narrative of her death be hijacked and used by her boyfriend. And in all three stories, the failures that are experienced really only open the door for a greater sort of victory. So yeah, let's get to it!

Quick Sips - The Dark #8

Another issue of The Dark continues to really live up to its name, offering four original stories that deliver with the dark and creepy. The first story is, I suppose, the only one of the stories that I would consider scary, but the other three are unsettling and dark in their own ways. And the last two are rather thematically linked by being about children and the horrors of being a parent. And, now that I think of it, the first story has some elements of parenting in it as well. Hmm. Well, it makes for an interesting set of reads, so let's get to it!

Art by Angus Yi

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #104

This is rather a loaded issue of Clarkesworld. With five original stories, two of them translations, it's a bit longer than a normal issue. Plus, the stories themselves aren't by and large short (two of them coming in over 7k). But it's also loaded in the sense that it packs quite the emotional kick. Rare is it that I'm confronted with so many touching stories all in the same issue. So a very good month for the publication, plus a piece of nonfiction that takes an interesting look at the craft of creative writing. Enough talk, though—to the reviews!

Art by Julie Dillon

Quick Sips - Uncanny #4 (May Stuff)

So the new issue of Uncanny is out. Woo! Of all the various publications around, Uncanny is normally where has the biggest names consistently, which makes sense for some place looking to create a reputation and secure funding. So maybe go and support them. They're having a funding drive and do provide some amazing stories. In any event, the May offerings are indeed many and some intensely entertaining pieces. Three stories, some short and others pushing the short story word limit, but still everything is very readable. Plus some (as always) great nonfiction and an honest-to-god Sonnet for poetry. So a solid month, which I should get on with already!

Art by Tran Nguyen

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons - 04/20/2015, 04/27/2015, and 05/04/2015

So I got behind a bit with Strange Horizons. Normally I've been trying to do every other week but sometimes things slip a little and here is a collection of three weeks worth of stories, poems, and nonfiction. There is a lot to like with everything. The prose is solid, understated a bit and dealing primarily with family. The poetry is linked by its structure, each poem being broken into sections. But they are quite different thematically, and boy do some of them get under the skin and burrow for vital organs. Some of it is very, very dark. I'm not looking at quite all of the nonfiction, as some was either a bit over my head or on topics that I don't feel qualified to critique (or both). It's all interesting, though, and Strange Horizons continues to be a must-read publication.

Quick Sips - Flash Fiction Online May 2015

Three new original stories this month at Flash Fiction Online, and they all fall on the speculative spectrum. For that, though, there is a nice variety, from a off-world science fiction to a contemporary science fiction to a nice, dark fantasy. As always, these are some short short stories worth checking out, short enough to be read all in one go without really losing much time for it. And at the beginning of the month, it's nice at times to not have to worry about a huge issue to get through. So yeah, let's get to it!

Art by Dario Bijelac