The latest issue of The Dark Magazine offers up two original stories that focus on family and hurt. About the oppression of the roles people are forced to adopt, and how seeking to escape them is not always successful. Because regardless of how much a person wants to flee, wants to escape, wants to be free, family is something that often sets its hooks deep, and can only be broken with a lot of pain and blood. These stories don't hesitate to show the harm that family can cause, that societal expectations can cause, and how people have to live with what comes after. So yeah, time to review these dark fantasies!
Hot off becoming the latest SFWA-qualifying market, Unlikely Story is finally out with its new issue, the Journal of Unlikely Academia. And, well, it is not a small issue. Eight stories, with many over 6,000 words. The good news? They fucking rock. The issue shows why Unlikely Story deserves that SFWA seal of approval, with stories that run from bawlingly tragic to fist-pumpingly inspiring with many stops in between. The theme is about learning, about school, and these eight stories do a hell of a job exploring those ideas. So to the reviews!
Seven stories make the latest issue of Lackington's a rather weighty experience, especially with how each challenges and provokes, providing visions tinged with equal parts darkness and hope. Which, of course, means that I quite enjoyed myself while reading, exploring some of the depths the stories had to offer. The theme this issue was Skins, and I think most of the stories do make good use of the idea, the theme. Many feature changing skins, changing form, and it's a powerful metaphor and image. So let's get to the reviews!
