Quick Sips 01/28/2022

I made it! Kinda by the hair on my chin but I managed to close out my regular reviews for 2021. Not a huge week for it this week, but I manage to pick up the last of the 2021 Escape Artists podcasts, as well as the latest from Omenana. And really, given what a hectic time these last few months have been, this is something of a relief to finally close in on. A bittersweet relief, because it means that this chapter of Quick Sip Reviews is closing, but a relief all the same. This isn’t the end! Just a change. We’ll see what the future brings!

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 11/12/2021

Well I can’t say I’m not firing on all cylinders this week, as my review load just to get through the October content I hadn’t covered already meant I had to do a lot of reading and reviewing. It also means that yeah, I only cover October content this week, despite it being decidedly November. But I did get through all the October Escape Artists original offerings (except the special, which honestly, I have no idea how to cover, so I might just skip that for now). But that’s three episodes of Cast of Wonders, two each of Escape Pod and Pseudopod, and a special flash fiction edition of PodCastle. Plus the Fund Drive issue of Strange Horizons and the latest from Samovar. Plus October’s Diabolical Plots, Tor, and Mermaids Monthly. And if all that weren’t enough, Omenana released a late issues as well, and seems to be planning to release another before the end of the year. So yeah, any hopes of breezing into 2022 are pretty much gone. Still, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it. Onward.

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 07/30/2021

Well I knew that this was going to be a bit of a smaller week for reviews compared to last week, though that doesn’t mean much given last week. I think I did end up slightly under average, but I did still get to quite a bit, rounding up a lot of the month’s releases. Luckily for my schedule, it seems like the Escape Artists aren’t doing many originals lately at PodCastle or Escape Pod, so that helped me catch up on Cast of Wonders and Pseudopod, as well as making sure I got to this month’s GigaNotoSaurus, which I would normally have read sooner. I also got to check out the new Diabolical Plots, The Deadlands, Fireside Magazine, and Omenana, as well at the latest week’s Strange Horizons, so a lot of ground I covered, all told, even if the total number of pieces covered isn’t huge. It leaves only a few things (I hope) to catch up on for next week (namely Mermaids Monthly, Tor, and another issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies). I am sort of catching up on reading, but also not. So it goes.

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 04/23/2021

And welcome back! I know I know I said that I was basically done with new venues but I feel that I’ve mostly stuck to that, for all that I’m adding another today. It’s more, though, that Cast of Wonders hadn’t had original stories until just now, and I feel I technically added it back when I added Pseudopod (essentially the beginning of the year. So there. But then, I also am looking at a new poetry collection today. But that’s a one off! And probably I don’t need to make excuses for any of this, because I doubt anyone is actually upset that I’m getting to more reviews. And aside from Cast of Wonders, Omenana also put out its first issue of the year, which is always reason to celebrate. I’m excited about the editorial that says they’re hoping to get a more regular schedule, and I’m wishing them all the best with that!

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 - Omenana #16

The first issue of Omenana came out just before I started doing reviews here at QSR (though I did read the issue and covered one of the stories in my new-at-the-time Monthly Round at Nerds of a Feather). Six years later and it’s still a wonderful source of SFF short fiction and a publication I look forward to diving into every issue. This latest is no exception, and the works are a nice mix of epic, intimate, gripping, chilling, and inspiring. I love the magic of the stories, the sharp edge of horror, and the beautiful hope that still clings to the narrowest of ledges. It’s a great issue, and I’ll get right to my reviews!

Quick Sips - Omenana #15

After a rather long pause, Omenana is back with a new issue! Six stories and some nonfiction round out the offerings and provide a vivid tour of African-centered SFF with a mix of genres and characters and feels. From philosophical to deeply intimate, the stories build situations that push readers to challenge their assumptions and deepen their thinking. They’re at turns fun and charming, grim and difficult. There’s a great variety of speculative visions on display, and it comes into a whole that looks at freedom and exploitation, hope and despair. And I’ll get right to me reviews!

Quick Sips - Omenana #14 [part 2/2]

Art by Sunny Efemena

I close out my review of the latest Omenana today with a look at three short stories. And they are stories filled with people with powers. Powers they receive as part of a global trend, or powers they inherit from their god, or powers that seem to come by accident thanks to an experimental procedure. But all of the stories in this back half of the issue focus on what those characters do with their powers. Do they seek to better the world and right great wrongs? Or is there perhaps more important things to do, like using them to try and deal with the traumas in their lives to give themselves a bit more power in situations where they feel powerless? Whatever the case, it's some amazing short SFF that I'll get right to reviewing!

Quick Sips - Omenana #14 [part 1/2]

Art by Sunny Efemena

In an unexpected bonus this month, Omenana is back with a brand new issue! And, well, it’s big! So big that I think what would be best for me is to break it up across two review posts. So today I’ll be looking at the first half of the issue, at four short stories that cover science fiction set on distant worlds, horror pieces much more terrestrially based, and some fantasy to round things out. It’s a challenging start to the issue, not flinching away from some very difficult truths, and it challenges readers to face some things that most would not choose to. So pay attention to the content warnings and I’ll get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Omenana #13

Art by Sunny Efemena

A new issue of Omenana is out now, with six new short stories (plus nonfiction and art!). It’s an issue devoted to urban legends, exploring stories of magic and gods, monsters and family. There’s a bit of a feel of storms to the stories, too, of the natural world and all its power and rage being channeled into magic, into people and situations that can’t be stopped. That must be weathered. Or not. And it’s something of a bittersweet issue as well, marking as it does the exit of editor Chinelo Onwualu, who has given the world some truly amazing issues of a fantastic publication. I can only hope that the publication itself might continuing its publishing, and I very much look forward to the future of Omenana. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Omenana #12

Omenana’s second issue of the year is out and it contains four new SFF short stories. Things are leaning rather dark in these pieces, too, where characters must navigate situations where they must struggle against powerlessness. For most of them, who they are makes for some difficulties. They must deal with the world not really being set up for them, not really fair for them. They must deal with other people’s expectations on how they act and what they do. And each of them must decide whether to accept that or whether to push back and try to take back what power they can. Not always kindly. But with strength and resilience and cleverness. With kindness and cruelty and hunger and hope. It’s a wonderful bunch of stories, so I’ll get right to the reviews!

Art by Tamara Reddy

Quick Sips - Omenana #11

The first Omenana of the 2018 is out! Which means five new stories celebrating African speculative fiction. The stories, as usual, cover a lot ground with regard to genre, theme, and style, but there’s a rather nice unity to the issue as well, focusing on systems and corruption and the frustrations and tragedies that come about when people are preyed upon by predatory beliefs, individuals, or organizations. From science fiction featuring body swapping and uploaded consciousness to fantasy with animated mud, family curses, and superpowers, the stories all showcase fresh and interesting ideas, settings, and characters. So before I gush too much, let’s get to the reviews!

Art by Caitlin Mkhasibe

Quick Sips - Omenana #10

A new issue of Omenana is out, and with it comes seven original stories that move around magic and loss, hope and family. Many of the stories in this issue deal very closely with relationships and family, and specifically with the links between parent and child. For some of the stories, this means showing how parents can hurt their children, leading them into danger by not properly preparing them for what they might find. By not trusting their children, they run the risk of leaving them open to ruin. Other stories look more at the responsibility that parents have for their children, for making sure they have a future worth living. And still others look at the wounds left behind when a parent dies, when time and circumstance steal away that guiding presence, and what children might do with that open wound. It’s a full issue full of excellent SFF, so let’s get right to the reviews!

Art by Setor Fiadzigbey

Quick Sips - Omenana #9

It’s a new issue of Omenana! The first of 2017, it boasts six original stories that show stunning and often horrifying visions of SFF. These are pieces that largely lean toward speculative horror, toward the way that people can hurt each other and deceive each other and prey upon each other. The ways that humans can be made into vessels for their own destruction. The way that people seem to circle abuse and injustice like courting a mate. It’s not an entirely bleak issue, though many of the pieces are quite grim. There’s also a sense of hope to some of the pieces, that maybe we can find a better way, that maybe we can fly instead of impacting on the rocks of destruction. And before I give any more away here, let’s just dive into the reviews!

Art by Sunny Efemena

Quick Sips - Omenana #8

There's a new issue of Omenana out and you should read it. The publication is going through some changes, moving to a more robust website, adding some new ventures (like reviews), and the fiction remains strong and brilliant. These are stories that look at magic and at tragedy, that show loss but also people gaining things. New abilities. New hopes. New understandings of the world they live in. These are not always easy stories—they are dense and they are occasionally uncomfortable—but they are resonating stories. Stories that inspire and complicate. And I should get to reviewing them! 

Art by Danial Inneil, Color by Sunny Efemena

Quick Sips - Omenana #7

After a bit of a break Omenana is back with a full issue of fiction and nonfiction and art (my glob the cover is gorgeous!). The stories this issue seem to take a look at institutions. Not necessarily physical ones, but rather ideological institutions. Religion. Law. Parenthood. Masculinity. Employment. The stories examine the way these forces and concepts shape how people move through the world. How they interact and relate to each other. How they foster guilt and shame and violence and death. It's a rich issue that covers fantasy and science fiction, hope and loss and despair. And I should just get to those reviews! 

Art by Sunny Efemena

Quick Sips - Omenana #6

A new issue of Omenana is officially up! It's been a little while since the last issue launched in October 2015 and this issue marks a return to the more regular format, with a mix of flash fiction and longer works and even a piece of nonfiction to chew on. The stories are vivid, expertly crafted, and carry with them a splash of humor even in some very dark circumstances. And amid the intolerance and the brutality that is sometimes present in the stories is a hope, a resistance, and a rebellion. A push to do better and to be better and to create a future worth living in. And I'm going to get to reviewing this fine issue!

Quick Sips - Omenana Issue X

As I counted the last issue of Omenana an October release (though it might have made the very end of September), this marks the second release of the publication in less than a month. The main difference between the two issues is that this one, the special Issue X, is entirely flash fiction, stories that hit and take their bow. And they're good. If I had to pick a theme for the issue I would say it's about islands and separation. Walls and power and revolution. The stories all move and are moving, all work for the theme of visions of the future and all relate back to now, to here, to what maybe we can do to make this world a better place. Time to review!

Art by Shade Tubor

Quick Sips - Omenana #4

The cover says September but apparently I missed it at the end of the month so I'm considering the new Omenana issue an October release. And, as always, it is damn good. The stories are a rather even mix of fantasy and science fiction, with an toward the weird and unsettling. I love reading these issues because invariably I am left a bit shaken by it, in part because these stories do defy expectations and go places that I'm not always ready for. But the ride is always worth it, and so I'm going to get to reviewing!

Quick Sips - Omenana #3

Hey, the newest issue of Omenana is out! Always an exciting day, namely because Omenana is new and so far has never been disappointing. There are always stories that surprise me, stories that enchant me. This issue is once more a mix of science fiction and fantasy, and for those who think publications shouldn't cross genre lines, I'd say "Shut up" but also "Look at Omenana and try to tell me it isn't incredibly successful at capturing a coherent feel." The issue does an excellent job working as a whole, the stories all adding to a larger thematic narrative of growth and seeking, seeking connection or forgiveness and perhaps not quite finding it, but giving the feel that there's time yet, hope yet. It's a very good read. So let's get to it!

Quick Sips - Omenana #2

The long wait is over. Ever since Issue #1 came out late last year, I've been eagerly awaiting the second issue. And here it is! And it's even bigger than the first, with a rather robust selection of mostly magic realism stories but with some other stuff thrown in there too. It makes the wait well worth it to have so much to read now. So without further ado, here we go!

Stories:

"Look At Me Now" by Sarah Norman (3764 words)

This story follows a woman who finds that she can turn invisible when she is upset. It evokes (and quite consciously) Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, but instead of the invisibility being merely figurative, it's a literal fact here. The woman, Tendi, at first doesn't know what to do with her power. She watches superhero movies and tries to hide what she is, and then slowly she begins to use her invisibility to make her life easier. She steals, she gets into places she shouldn't be (like one humorous episode in the Queen's room). But even as she enjoys what her invisibility brings, helping her get a boyfriend and designer clothes, she has a growing sense of obligation to do something about the situation in her home country. Because while she can use her power to help herself, she gets caught by the superhero mantra of "with great power comes great responsibility." I loved the voice of the story, the humor that went along with the transformation and the way that Tendi goes about using her powers. The way she sees the landscape of superpowers is just so refreshing, like she looks at Spiderman and rolls her eyes. As she says, she doesn't like the movies, perhaps because while they deal with powers they are all already powerful, secure in their positions in society, even Peter Parker who is so often cited as unfortunate. And when she does decide to act, it's to assassinate a man back in her home country. And by taking that step, by using her powers to kill a man, she gains back her visibility, becomes someone who has done something. "They would see." That's how the story ends and it's fitting and strong. Nice work.

"Shadows, Mirrors and Flames" by Sanya Noel (4836 words)

This story follows a girl, Jane, whose father was executed because of his involvement in a coup. Her father, abusive and a soldier who did terrible things during his career, had driven away Jane's mother and sister. But Jane searches for her mother, finds her in her own reflection. It's a strange device, but one that works quite well, a girl seeking something tangible of her family that has all left her behind. She starts seeing her mother, and not as merely a reflection, but as someone who talks to her, to command her. It's a rather creepy setup, because her mother tells her to hurt things, to kill things. And then Jane starts seeing her father as well, and her sister. And things get...strange, as all of them start fighting and Jane is caught between them all, all their legacies. It's a complex story and a rather dark one, showing how Jane's life and family have shaped her, damaged her, and how she's dealing with that. Dark and unsettling, the story is worth reading.

"The Monkey House" by Tade Thompson (2326 words)

Lanre, who works in an office as a Special Assistant, starts to notice some strange vents that he swears were never there before in this story. Lanre's job is rather interesting, a sort of nebulous place where he's paid on time and where he doesn't really do anything. He doesn't know what he does, but he doesn't ask questions because he gets paid and needs the money. But the grates bother him, to the point where he looks in one, and sees inside the face of a monkey, something that reminds him of a story he had heard about a greedy monkey cast from heaven and imprisoned in a cage. The sight of the monkey deeply disturbs him, but his company gives him something to deal with it, though it wears off fairly quickly, leaving him to have to deal with the knowledge of the monkey. If he lets on that he knows, he will be dealt with more severely. So he keeps going to work. I liked the idea that this place is his cage, that he doesn't really know if he's being trapped. Because in some ways the story of the monkey is like his. He is allowed a safe place, a job, and doesn't really care for anyone else. He rises, but his job becomes a prison of sorts, one that haunts him. Those last lines really pulled that idea together, and I quite enjoyed it.

"You are in the city" by Liam Kruger (3341 words)

This story is told in second person and takes place in a bar where gods and other creatures go to forget. Basically, people, gods, creatures all enter into the bar and drink some of the water from the land of the dead, and when they do their memories are mostly erased. But they can't forget their names, so those they have to hide in order to avoid their fates. Two gods, destined to kill each other and destroy the world, have a good time, caught in a loop of actions that bring them back to the bar again and again, never free of each other but at least able to avoid killing each other for a time. And the you of the story is also there, watching, and holds some similarly dark fate that must be avoided, so you hide your name in a story, in the story that you are reading. It's a rather neat little twist, that breaking of the wall between author and reader and the drawing of that idea that to be what you are is a terrible thing. While not the heaviest of stories, it's a solid scene and an interesting premise, and everything is pulled off well. As with most of the stories in this issue, there is a nice voice, and a humor that underscore everything, only here the darkness isn't quite so obvious or present. This is a lighter story, well placed to balance some of the darker tales.

"Location 22" by Chad Rossouw (213 words)

This bit of micro-fiction is very short but accompanied by a piece of art depicting a strange house, stone and medieval-looking. The text describes some person being taken as prisoner across the country-side in a van, fed bread and watching the landscape pass by. It's a peek into the future, at a building project of Edwardian houses and a Franciscan Friary. It's a bit difficult to tell what's exactly going on except the buildings seem to show vast wealth and waste, having chimneys when fires inside homes are forbidden. What's happening with the person being held prisoner, though, is never revealed, is left a mystery that lingers and offers no real answers. Given that it takes so little investment to give it a look, I'd say it's well worth it.

"Afrinewsia" by Yazeed Dezele (2694 words)

This continues the science fictional trend from the last micro and brings it to further realization. In the story, a man, Daye, has to decide whether or not to give up his mother to euthanasia in order to secure funds from a united African government to help his family. The Africa in this story is very concerned with green economics, and the choice to have his mother killed is seen as a form of recycling, a way of concentrating resources to make Africa a superpower. Along with this is a parallel story about this united Africa sending men to the moon, and in the middle of it all is Daye, who doesn't want to have his mother taken away but whose family makes it rather impossible to refuse. In the end he caves, and goes through with it, and it's like it solves all his problems, makes him rich, and yet the cost of it drives him a little made, and in a manic episode he destroys his screen and flees naked out into dangerous heat. There's a great idea of balancing life in this story, present life against future life, the young against the old, comfort against prosperity. Daye is a great character, afraid and bullied by his family and, ultimately, unable to face the life ahead of him. Another story that walks the line well between comedy and tragedy.

"The Horse of War" by Mame Bougouma Diene (5642 words)

Neila is a war orphan living in Haiti in this blend of magic and science fiction. After a great war broke out in the Caribbean, Neila's family all died, and in the aftermath Neila gets on as best she can in a city filled with desperate people. Taking refuge underground during a bombardment, she meets a strange woman who turns out to be more than she seems. She's granted a favor, and from the favor manages to kill the horse of war, and in so doing kind-of end the war that had destroyed her home. But nothing is without price or consequence. And her action, made perhaps to end war, was still accomplished with human sacrifice and greed, with no thought of what was to happen, and the cost was that the world would end, that the gods would fade and that she would have to make up for that, becoming war. Which fits, in many ways, hammering home the idea that war cannot be ended with wanton death, with murder. That the answer to war is not more killing. And it leaves her as that which she was trying to prevent, as the embodiment of war itself. It's a rather brutal story but one that uses that brutality well, ending with the complete failure of the main character, something that's not done too often and I think works for this story.

"Story, Story: A tale of mothers and daughters" by Chikodili Emelumadu (3686 words)

Wow. This story is about a woman without a name exactly. Or rather, with a changing name. The story is told as a fable, or a parable, the flow very much like a myth come real, set in the modern day. In it, a woman who is brilliant and successful finds that for all her success she cannot win the admiration of those important to her. Instead of reveling in her successes, her parents and family all look to what she hasn't done, how she hasn't conformed to their expectations. And so their disappointment infects her, and she tries to please them, but no matter how she tries she cannot. They want her to settle down, have kids, and so she tries, and gets a husband, but cannot have a child. So her husband leaves and in her grief she somehow makes a child all her own. And she tries to shelter this child from all the pain she knew, but in doing so becomes just as rigid as her own parents, just as blind. The cycle of tragedy keeps rolling, keeps grinding these women under its weight. Because this is a dark story. Dark for all that it's also incredibly funny. Numerous times I laughed out loud at the lines, at the descriptions, at how easily and simply characters are captured. But the ending is sad, is dark and hits like a hammer to the heart. This really is a generational story, how sometimes we can become what we're trying to avoid by seeing children as property or as an extension of the parents' will and expectations. An excellent story!

Nonfiction:

"Academia and the Advance of African Science Fiction" by Nick Wood

This looks mostly at the landscape of African science fiction, it's roots and it's importance, and lists some key links to how African science fiction has gained as a movement and an idea in more recent years. It doesn't go too in depth, instead giving the reader a number of avenues to pursue and making the focus be that this isn't some new thing, that it has a history and context that shouldn't be overlooked. And it's a resource for readers wanting to know where to look next for things to read. Which is always good. Indeed!