Quick Bonus - Anthology Thoughts: Octopus Edition

Every so often I think of a rather random theme for a short SFF anthology, pretty much when I feel I've read some sort of critical mass of stories that would fit. Today, I'm back with my anthology thinking cap on to bring you a list of stories featuring everyone's favorite cephalopods--the octopus! And okay, maybe not everybodies, but still, they're cute and crafty and classics of SFF. Now, because they're classics it might seem that there's too many stories to include. And indeed, there have been whole anthologies in the past that have included a similar theme, and indeed there was an Octopus Anthology released back in 2013 called Suction Cup Dreams, edited by David Joseph Clarke. But that was a long time ago, especially in octopus years. So join me in highlighting some of my favorite octopus-themed stories from the recent(ish) past!

“Squeezing and Entering” by Noe Bartmess (Translunar Travelers Lounge #2; My Review)
Caesar is part of the octopus Resistance, and if that wasn't enough to get you hooked on this story, then I'm sorry for you. He's also got a separate personality for each limb and the resuly is weird but also hilarious!

“Octo-Heist in Progress” by Rich Larson (Clarkesworld #146; My Review)
I think we can all agree that Pico is an octopus after our own hearts. The story is fun with a tight-paced plot that hinges on, you guessed it, a heist involving an octopus. Not, mind you, a heist of octopuses.

“Tool-Using Mimics” by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld #138; My Review)
Probably the strangest and most formally challenging of the bunch, this one doesn't involve an octopus but a picture of a "squid girl." The piece builds around survival and adaptation, and the loss of having to spend so much energy on avoiding societally-reinforced dangers and toxicities.

“Only the Messenger” by Emily C. Skaftun (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #299; My Review)
Astrill is a kind of octopus from a planet where his people are the dominant species. He now travels through space as an engineer in a setting where both reincarnation and faster-than-light communication are a thing, though the later ends up being part of an enormous conspiracy...

"Some Remarks on the Reproductive Strategy of the Common Octopus" by Bogi Takács (Clarkesworld #127; My Review)
In a complex and powerful take on "uplifted animals," the narrator of this story is a sentient octopus on an alien world who finds a human, opening up a lot about the history of both peoples. It's charming but doesn't shy away from some difficult topics. (more recently appeared in the amazing The Trans Space Octopus Congregation from Lethe Press)

"Song of the Krakenmaid" by JY Yang (Lackingtons #8; My Review)

Definitely the most sensual of the bunch so far, and not involving an octopus exactly but a kind of octopus-merperson who is found and brought in to research. The piece touches on longing and environmental exploitation and is all kinds of good.

Honorable Mention:

“The Last Stellar Death Metal Opera” by Elly Bangs (Escape Pod #697; My Review)

This is a complete cheat because the octopuses are never seen, but rather are on a planet that the narrator is trying to save from destruction (by becoming a sacrifice). But despite the only-tangential inclusion of octopuses, it's a good story and so I'm sticking it here.

Anyway, I know this is rather random, but it's something I was thinking about recently. Cheers!

---

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #299 [part 1]

Art by Andis Reinbergs

Science fantasy month continues at Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and I’m once again breaking up the issue into two passes so I can not drown under the weight of all this genre bending fiction. The three stories released first lean a bit more science fiction than the stories from the previous issue, but most of them still carry within them a fantasy core. And the works look at non-human entities struggling in hostile environments. War zones and galaxies where death itself has been twisted into profit. The works are often strange, often haunting, and occasionally gritty, and before I give too much away, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Tor dot com January 2020

Art by John Anthony Di Giovanni

Welcome to Tor dot com's January, which turned things up to eleven with three short stories and three novelettes. That's...a lot, thanks in large part to the release of three linked stories on the same day (pretty sure that was a novel's worth of words in the same setting out at once, so yeah, lots). The stories are a mix, as always, though fantasy dominates, with historical fantasy and slipstream leading the way and the lone science fiction piece balancing things out. There's a lot to get to, a lot of versions of our world to experience, so I'll cut to the chase and get going with my reviews!

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #289

Art by Ferdinand Dumago Ladera

Well I think that Beneath Ceaseless Skies is starting to get in the Halloween mood, as this issues stories do kind of lean toward the spooky side. Full of darkness and difficulty, the stories find characters who are pushed into violent situations. For one of them, it’s an opportunity to repay a debt and maybe break his isolation. For the other, though, the violence is part of a control being exerted over his life, and is very much causing his isolation and pain. But both characters need to work through it in order to try and find what’s on the other side. Community perhaps. Forgiveness? Well, you’ll just have to see. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Nightmare #85

Art by Elena Schweitzer / Adobe Stock Image

The stories in October’s Nightmare Magazine a quite different, though both are definitely horrifying in their own way. In one, a woman deals with being the final girl, the one left to the end of the massacres. The one who has survived twice but is now considered cursed, and has to figure out where to go from there. The other story looks a different kind of random horror, though not the kind that stalks or targets its victims specifically. This one lies in wait for a person to pass along and open themselves unknowingly to…something. It’s an interesting one-two punch, and I’ll get right to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #157

Art by Beeple

It’s a fairly large October issue from Clarkesworld, with four short stories, one novelette, and one novella. As usual, the stories lean more science fiction than fantasy, and deal with people struggling with loss, with grief, with death, and with the prospect of ruination. The stories find characters who have been through Some Shit, and are dealing with that in various ways. Veterans, star ship captains, drug addicts, the narrators and main characters face situations beyond their experience, where they must look into a new frontier, an alien face, and decide what to do next. Some of the reactions are violent, some tender, and all are worth checking out. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Terraform May 2019

It’s a fairly full May from Terraform, with five short stories taking on superheroes, robotic soldiers, historic justice, mental health, and death tourism. These are some interesting and largely bleak looks at the future, though not without exception. Though most of the stories look at a future with some huge and fundamental problems, there remains in most of them a hope. Not necessarily that humans are going to fix everything. But that people might find a way to break free of the cycles of oppression and injustice that lock the planet on a trajectory toward destruction and tragedy. They’re some cutting looks at the present through the lens of future speculation. So let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Tor dot com April 2019

Art by Keith Negley

April marks a rather full month of short SFF releases from Tor dot com with three short stories and a novelette, a mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, all of it unfolding in the “real world,” though sometimes twisted by technology, sometimes touched by magic, and always heavy with a waiting darkness. The stories certainly lean on the dark side of things, revolving around exploitation, grief, and death. That might come in the form of a family who transforms when they die into heirlooms for their relatives to treasure and care for, or in the form of a military experiment targeting a person who can’t feel physical pain but can definitely experience other kinds. There’s artificial intelligences helping to facilitate social justice, and even a creepy dog who might hide a menacing secret. It’s an eclectic month of fiction, to say the least, offering a solid tour of how SFF approaches death, recovery, and hope. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #150

Art by Arthur Haas

There’s lots of news in this March issue of Clarkesworld Magazine, plus six new stories (five short stories and one novelette). Mainly, the publication will be adding more translations to its offerings, replacing reprints with new translations of Korean SFF. I trust this doesn’t mean that the Chinese translations will stop, though the current issue again doesn’t have a translation. What is here are some stories that deal very poignantly and viscerally with grief, with oppression, and with people reaching out to other people. That finds people dealing with loss in very profound ways but working through those losses to try and find community, or joy, or love, or purpose. The stories feature moments great and small of people starting something, taking a chance and sparking change. And life. And hope. So without further delay, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Terraform January 2019

It’s a full month of short SF to kick off 2019 at Motherboard’s Terraform. As always, the pieces on display look at visions of the future, taking trends and projecting them out, wondering what if and guessing at the shape of things to come. Or, perhaps more accurately, guessing at the shape of things that should not come, as each of these stories is a warning against a future full of heightened oppression, fear, insecurity, and corruption. They look at the pressures to conform and the way that mob mentality infects and can drive institutions that shouldn’t be handled by popular demand. The stories skew a little long for the publication, though still very manageable, and they pack rather a strong emotional wallop. So hold onto your feels and get ready for some timely science fiction. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #146

Art by Helen Ilnytska

A single novelette and four short stories make for a nicely balanced month at Clarkesworld, where the theme as I can find it is ghosts and hauntings. In very different ways, the characters of these stories are being haunted. By guilt and by the past. By their mistakes and by the memories they leave behind. These are stories of people being confronted with the ways their paths differ from how they hoped. Disaster looms. And yet most of them are able to snatch back from the edge of the abyss something to help them move forward and not fall in. It’s an interesting bunch of stories, so let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Terraform October 2018

Thanks to a novel excerpt that I’m not looking at, the October Terraform stories from Motherboard are a little light this month. Three flash fictions, though, deal with some rather heavy themes. Appropriate, given the goal of the publication to put out topical science fiction. Because most of what’s topical right now is the nightmare that world and domestic politics has become. From international war to exploitation and death on a mining colony in space to the much more intimate hurts that family can inflict on each other, these works aren’t exactly a cheery bunch. They reveal characters wanting to find something better, though in very different ways. So let’s get to the reviews! 

*UPDATE: They sneaked in a Halloween novelette on me, so some of the above isn’t accurate.

Quick Sips - Tor dot com June 2018

June brings three original stories to Tor dot com (two longer short stories and one short-ish novelette) that find some interesting ways of taking the unexpected and even a bit goofy and making it resonant, powerful, and subtle. Which I didn’t think I’d say about a detective chimp story, but here we are. The stories look at characters who feel on the outside looking in or on the inside trying to get out. For the first two pieces, the main characters aren’t human, and yet find themselves partnering with humans, navigating a human world, and trying to do their best to build community and connections. In the last story, a bit of the opposite happens, where a woman is trying to leave the traditional kind of humanity and leave the corporeal world behind. And whatever the case, these make for complex and rewarding pieces that I should just review already!

Art by Scott Bakal

Quick Sips - Apex #108

It’s a pretty big May for Apex Magazine, at least in terms of number of stories (with four originals). Which means there’s a lot more worlds to see and experience and get made uncomfortable by. Apex specializes in dark fiction, and these four stories do a nice job of showing how differently darkness can manifest in short SFF. From trauma and war to injustice and defeat to death and undeath to panic and fear, the stories all have different takes on what makes our skin crawl and our stomachs sink. So let’s dive right in to the reviews!

Art by Anna Dittmann

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #139

It’s a phenomenal April of fiction at Clarkesworld Magazine, with four short stories and a translated novelette to bite into. And these are evocative, emotional stories that look at connections and cooperation. That look at people helping people in many different ways. To comfort one another. To protect one another. But also to push one another to do better. To reach a fuller potential. To push toward a better future where we aren’t defined by hate and loss and sorrow. The stories are at times tinged by grief and tragedy, but they shine with a lovely strength, and a flowing sweep of language and ideas. It’s just a fantastically strong issue, and I’ll get to those reviews!

Art by Arthur Haas

Quick Sips - Tor dot com March 2018

It's a relatively light month from Tor dot com this March, with only two short stories to look at. The pieces excel, though, at building worlds that are gritty and yet border on the magical. That feature characters struggling with difficult moral decisions and having to make choices that might help them sleep at night but might lose them everything. The pieces are a mix of genres and styles, but they look at people making unexpected connections and contemplating doing things that might be out of character. Because they don't want to lose more. So yeah, let's get to the reviews!

 

Art by Brent Hardy-Smith

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #245

Science Fantasy Month continues at Beneath Ceaseless Skies with a special double issue, featuring four stories the bend genres and expectations. And these stories look very much at worlds that have suffered. That have gone through some sort of disaster or apocalypse or major fucking event that have left them more damaged. And the stories explore these broken worlds, revealing how that damage was done, and why, and in some instances how it can be healed (but in most of them it's more about how they cannot be). These are stories of people struggling to survive and, more than that, struggling to find meaning in places where bare survival often takes every possible effort. But they're about reaching for more, and perhaps helping each other get to someplace better. To the reviews!

Art by Florent Llamas

Quick Sips - Apex #98

July’s Apex Magazine features a nice little editorial that celebrates the USA’s birthday in a rather nice way. And the stories it brings to the table are an interesting pair, keeping things firmly in the realm of science fiction, probability and time travel, rabbits and desperation. In both we find characters on missions. In the first, it’s a mission to make sense out of a random universe. In the other, it’s a mission to undo what is being perceived as a great wrong. The stories differ greatly and offer up some very different interpretations of dark SFF, but they offer up some interesting and rather philosophical points to ponder. And before I get to distracted, it’s time to review!

Art by Quentin-Vladimir Castel

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #130

It’s a rather dark month of content at Clarkesworld, where the CW might well stand for content warning for most of the pieces. These are stories that take a look at the aftermath of harm. They look at post-apocalypses, post-traumatic plots that lead to further traumas. These are stories where, by and large, characters find themselves in situation they never asked for. Pressed into guarding a strange bridge. Woken from a space hibernation. Taken by raiders to do dangerous work. The stories are not as a general rule very happy. Instead they are full of violence and the looming threat of violence. But many of the stories are also full of hope and resistance. Some…not so much, but it’s a very interesting group of stories. Review time!

Art by Eddie Mendoza

Quick Sips - Tor dot com April 2017

It's another fairly full month from Tor dot com, but still nowhere near as busy as last month. There are five stories to explore, one novelette and four shorts, and the pieces all center science and study. These are pieces that look at the role that humans can play in researching other species as well as humanity itself. They look at how medical science can be used to ease burdens and to create them, how studying and interacting with other species can teach us more about ourselves and more about the universe. These are stories about pain and disease and exploration, and people coming to terms with a universe that is vast and sometimes very cruel. And they are at turns beautiful and ugly, affirming and devastating. So let's get to the reviews!

Art by Micah Epstein