Quick Sips - Translunar Travelers Lounge #2 [Hearty Fare]

I’m back looking at the second issue of Translunar Travelers Lounge, this time reading through the second section, labeled Hearty Fare. And I’m not sure exactly if that means these are supposed to be a little denser, a little bit more built up. Certainly these stories do feature some interesting and complex world building, from one where fairy tales are part of genealogical research to one where superheroes walk a precarious line between heroism and corruption, to another where magic is bridged to the mundane world by a network of pirates. More than that, though, it’s possible these feature a bit more emotional complexity, putting characters in morally perilous places within these worlds and demanding they find their ways back out. It’s fascinating work and still manages to stick to the general guideline of “fun” while at times being emotionally sharp and a wee bit devastating. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Flash Fiction Online February 2019

Art by Dario Bijelac

February brings a batch of short SFF to Flash Fiction Online featuring a sense of longing, community, and the threat of loss. In each of the stories, characters deal with a fragile connection to someone else. To a child, or a student, or a part of themself. And in each that connection is under attack, is threatened in a way that makes any action dangerous. That makes any movement perilous. And in each story the characters’ movements are explored—their hesitation or their determination to keep going or stand still. And it makes for a rather quiet, rather wrenching month of stories, with a delicate but resilient hope that shines even in the darkness. To the reviews!