Quick Sips 12/03/2021

So I was hoping to get to more than this, but time makes fools of us all. Plus, I just might be trying to swing something super secret at the moment and it’s eating a lot of my time. That said, though, it’s not like I didn’t get to anything. There’s two weeks of Strange Horizons, an issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, an anniversary issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, November’s Flash Fiction Online and GigaNotoSaurus, and the latest from khōréō magazine. Plus I’m trowing in a review of a Neon Hemlock novella that I was fortunate enough to get the chance to blurb. All told, quite a few works covered!

NOTE: This will be a recurring note that will run with every Quick Sips. First, please note that I don’t necessarily mention every story or poem out in an issue. I am giving myself permission to either DNF stories, or else finish and just not comment on them. Please don’t assume it’s because I disliked the work! There are many reasons I might chose not to comment on a piece, and I reserve the right to do just that. Second, you might notice the notations at the end of the micro reviews and wonder what the [c# t#] is. These are for the Scales of Relative Grimness and a full explanation of them can be found through the tab at the top of the page or through this link. With that said, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips 10/01/2021

And the reviews just keep on coming. At the time this is posting publicly, October will have officially begun and there will only be a quarter of the year to go! Which…scary! But also, light at the end of the tunnel! This week I’m getting kind of all over, catching up on a bunch of smaller issues, mainly, as well as some novellas that came out a little while ago. Yay! That means I’m still in September (or earlier) territory, checking out this month’s The Deadlands and Clarkesworld. Plus the latest Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Strange Horizons. Plus all the Escape Artist episodes I’ve been behind on. So yeah, an eventful week hopping around, and lost of great short SFF to cover!

NOTE: This will be a recurring note that will run with every Quick Sips. First, please note that I don’t necessarily mention every story or poem out in an issue. I am giving myself permission to either DNF stories, or else finish and just not comment on them. Please don’t assume it’s because I disliked the work! There are many reasons I might chose not to comment on a piece, and I reserve the right to do just that. Second, you might notice the notations at the end of the micro reviews and wonder what the [c# t#] is. These are for the Scales of Relative Grimness and a full explanation of them can be found through the tab at the top of the page or through this link. With that said, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn't Die (Neon Hemlock) [part4]

Art by Grace Fong

And it’s time for the last of my four-part look at the wonderful Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales from a World that Wouldn’t Die, edited by dave ring and published by Neon Hemlock. The anthology so far has been incredibly, starting strong and having a lot of fun before in the third quarter dipping into a bit more tragic and heavy elements. And while those aren’t entirely gone, the home stretch builds back up, focusing on healing, on recovery, on love, and on community. On the power of queer people helping queer people survive, and in that survival making sure that no apocalypse, no end of the world, is stronger than the connections we make with each other. There’s so many amazing works, and I’ll get right to reviewing them!

Quick Sips - Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn't Die (Neon Hemlock) [part3]

Art by Grace Fong

I’m back for part three of my review of Glitter + Ashes, a so-far wonderful anthology of queer post-apocalyptic short SFF from Neon Hemlock, edited by dave ring. The first two parts (representing just over half of the works) have managed to keep spirits fairly high despite the theme of the post-apocalypse. With this section, though, things get a bit more dire. And the stories dip a bit more heavily into the violent and tragic elements that so often go along with the sub-genre. Not that the works ever forget hope, though. After all, these are stories of a world that wouldn’t die, and that refusal to give in still shines despite the muck and blood and smog. Let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn't Die (Neon Hemlock) [part 2]

Art by Grace Fong

It’s time for part two of my review of the Glitter + Ashes anthology, published by Neon Hemlock and edited by dave ring, with a look at another seven stories. The pieces range a bit longer in the meaty center of the book, and there are less very short works to break things up. That said, the anthology is really punching above its weight with every piece, with beautifully rendered and stunningly complex takes on queer life and love after and in the face of the end of the world. And the stories show that what people cling to when the world is falling apart says a lot. The stories find characters who have the option of acting selfishly, of saving only themselves, and who choose instead to help others, to try and retain art, and expression, and of course love. It’s a wonderful collection of pieces, and I’ll get right to my reviews!

Quick Sips - Glitter + Ashes: Queer Tales of a World that Wouldn't Die (Neon Hemlock) [part 1]

Art by Grace Fong

At first I was planning on doing a Quick Collections post for this anthology, recently put out from Neon Hemlock (ed. dave ring). But a confluence of circumstances made me reconsider, and now I’m just going to be doing a full review of all 26 stories. Which...is A Lot. So I’m not going to be doing them all at once. Rather, I’m going to be breaking the anthology up into 4 parts, and reviewing them as I have convenient spots in my posting schedule. First up, the first seven stories! There’s a mix of lengths and elements, but the promise of queer stories about resilience in the face of the end of the world is front and center, delivered on beautifully. To see what I mean, let’s get right to the reviews!

Regular Sip - Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling (Neon Hemlock)

Art by Robin Ha

I’m back rounding out my looks at the last of Neon Hemolck’s 2020 novella series, which is available for pre-order now (out September 5). There’s been a great range of works here, mostly fantasy but with some touches of science fiction, and this story builds a second world rich in political intrigue and some light (but decidedly grim) magical touches. It’s period drama laced with danger and despair, guilt and something new and sinister. It’s tragic, for all that there are bodies aplenty littering the floor before everything is said and done, but it’s also got a hope to it that makes to cut the poison with something sweet, helping it to slide over the tongue and into the body to seed and spread. To the review!

Regular Sip - Stone and Steel by Eboni Dunbar (Neon Hemlock)

Art by Odera Igbokwe

I’m back looking at one of the latest novella releases from Neon Hemlock. After absolutely loving the first two, my hopes going into this one were very high (especially considering the author is a Sippy Award winner for the stunning “The Percivals: The Bennett Benefit”). And it does not disappoint. It combines world building and action, showing a chosen family fighting corruption and the disappointment of their own failures to try and build something better...because the first time they tried it all fell apart. It’s exhilarating, sexy, and so much fun. Think Avatar: The Last Airbender aged up and infinitely more queer, looking at the promise of, failure of, and need for continue reform and revolution in the face of institutional injustice and abuse of power. It’s great, and I’ll get right to my review!

Regular Sip - Cradle and Grave by Anya Ow (Neon Hemlock)

Art by Y.C. Yang

I’m back with a look at another novella from Neon Hemlock. This one shoots the action into the far future, or onto another world entirely, where a cataclysmic event has resulted in a world shattered, broken, and with signs that the breaking might just be getting worst. The piece looks not just at the ravages of climate change but on an assault on reality itself, where humanity’s desire for order has backfired and created a society living beside the white-hot mutating chaos of a city and a water that can turn people into insectoid monsters. It’s a bold piece, solidifying the feeling I have that Neon Hemlock is a publisher willing to take some risks that, for me at least, have paid off big. To the review!

Regular Sip - Queens of Noise by Leigh Harlen (Neon Hemlock)

Art by Crystal Araiza

Today I’m reviewing a recent novella Neon Hemlock Press, which has already run a successful kickstarter for a slew of SFF novellas that all look amazing! This one deals with shifter, punk rock, and some shady business going down around the local music scene. It’s got a robust and fabulously queer cast, world building that gives me shifters and witches that do not disappoint at all, and enough romance, action, and mystery to keep hopefully even the pickiest of readers engaged and entertained. At least it certainly worked for me. But before I give too much away, let’s get to the full review!

Regular Sip - The West and Everything Above (Neon Hemlock Press)

I’m doing something a little different today, looking at a new chapbook from an emerging queer publisher, Neon Hemlock. The chapbook itself, The West and Everything Above, is the winner of the 2019 Outwrite Chapbook Competition and contains three stories exploring trauma, family, memory, and hope. They reveal characters who have been hurt, who have been scarred by a world that often seems indifferent to their suffering. That doesn’t cut them any breaks, and often seems poised to stomp them out entirely. The characters are survivors, though, finding ways to weather any assault or else craft themselves into nails to punch through the thick sole bearing down on them and strike back against the seemingly-unstoppable forces at work. It’s a difficult and often unsettling handful of stories, grim but with a resilience and determination to refuse the rigid structures imposed by the dominant culture and find a way forward embracing a universe where they can exist without compromise. To the reviews!