Quick Sips - Uncanny #34 [June stuff]

Art by Julie Dillon

The June original content at Uncanny Magazine is out and features two short stories, one novelette, and two poems, as well as a wealth of excellent nonfiction that I won’t be covering here. The works showcase a variety of genres and styles, though there is a distinct fantastical lean to these works. There are superheroes and sirens, magical communing over dresses, ghosts and memories that go deeper than the skin, deeper than the consciousness. The works show people reaching for expression, trying to push back against the forces trying to silence and co-opt them. It’s a wonderful collection of SFF this month, and I’ll dive right into the reviews!

Quick Sips - Uncanny #16 [May stuff]

This is another full issue of Uncanny Magazine, with May containing three original stories, two poems, and four different nonfiction pieces that I’ll be looking at. There’s a reprint and another nonfiction piece that I won’t be looking at because I’m not familiar with the text it’s discussing, but otherwise this is a very nicely balanced issues that focuses on resistance and fighting back but knows that there’s no hiding from the despair of oppression and the harm being done. And while many of the stories are quite hopeful, and while much of the nonfiction is about how to resist and how to maintain hope even in a very bad situation, there are also stories that know very well that there is also exhaustion, there is also hurt. And while none of the pieces stop there, some of them do carve out a space to feel that pain and recognize it. To show that it’s okay to hurt and to focus on that, while still leaving a path forward for when healing is possible and the fight can be resumed. It’s a powerful issue and I’ll get to those reviews!

Art by Galen Dara

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 11/23/2015. 11/30/2015, 12/07/2015, 12/14/2015

It's another rather full four weeks of material from Strange Horizons. Two stories, three poems, and three pieces of nonfiction. Now, there would be a fourth poem, but as it is by me I will not be reviewing it. What remains is a pretty great collection of things to read, including some incredibly interesting nonfiction. I know I don't always review nonfiction, but I do think that it's an often-overlooked medium that more people should check out. The fiction and the poetry are great as always, and really show why Strange Horizons is a must read each and every week. To the reviews!

Art by Jonathan Apilado

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 09/21/2015 and 09/28/2015

So I was not really expecting there to be so much out from Strange Horizons these last two weeks. Normally, there's only a piece of fiction, a poem, and maybe a nonfiction per week. Towards the end of the month, like now, there tends to be even less. But there is a fund drive going on. So first, maybe go and check that out. Then realize with growing apprehension that there are three pieces of fiction to look at, five poems, and two pieces of nonfiction. That's a busy two weeks. Luckily it's all quite good, rather dark, and incredibly helpful as far as the nonfiction is concerned. If this is the content that Strange Horizons keeps offering up, then I definitely want to make sure they keep up and running, and I'm sure I'll donate again this year. Plus, there are prize drawings. Amazing, amazing prize drawings. So yeah, get on that while I get to these reviews.

Quick Sips - Book Smugglers August 2015

The last of the First Contact stories is now out from Book Smugglers, and it's a good way to wrap up the theme. So far, we've seen stories about contact with aliens and demons and stars, but this one changes things up a bit, offering up a historical fantasy about a woman meeting choice for the first time. It's an interesting take on the theme and a fine story which I should just get to reviewing!

Art by M Sereno

Quick Sips - Shimmer #26

The two stories that make up the July offerings from Shimmer Magazine are very well paired. Both are stories of girls growing into women, and the relationship they share with their grandmothers. In each there is a sense of magic, a sense that the grandmother is the guardian of some old secret, some old practice that is leaving the world, but that the granddaughter can and does keep alive, a candle to honor what has passed, to celebrate a woman who was indomitable, who was beautiful and kind and captured something that was vital for the women becoming who they are. It's a great pair of stories, and I should just get to the reviews already.

Art by Sandro Castelli