Quick Sips - Tor dot com August 2018

Two short stories and a novelette round out the SFF originals from Tor this month, with a definite focus on science fiction, on futures of humanity interacting with the universe and, perhaps more importantly, with the Earth. Whether that means dealing with the touch of climate disaster and change, or working to move beyond the bounds of our terrestrial home through uploading and flight, or gaining a new and non-human presence to co-inhabit the planet with, the pieces look at how humans see the Earth, and how that perspective shifts as the gaze becomes less incorporated in a human body. It's a month full of strangeness and longing, risks and looming dangers, and it makes for a fascinating bunch of stories. To the reviews!

Art by Victo Ngai

THE SIPPY AWARDS 2017! The "Where We're Going We Won't Need Categories" Sippy for Excellent I Don't Know What in Short SFF

Welcome back to the fifth and final category of the Third Annual Sippy Awards! It’s doesn’t have the history or prestige of the Hugos or Nebulas or...well, any other award, but I like to think the Sippys represent a much needed niche in the award season. For me, at least, it’s a chance to celebrate the stories I loved from 2017 and remind myself that not everything is about the Big Awards. Sometimes it’s rewarding to just love what you love, and make no excuses for it. In that vein, the Sippys were born, and I definitely encourage everyone: don’t be shy about celebrating the stories you loved. Make awards for them, write reviews about them—have fun and add a bit of joy into the universe.

But I digress. I’ve shipped my favorite relationships, hidden under the covers from the scariest horror, wept until the world was awash in my tears at biggest heartbreaks, and drove fast and took chances with the most pulse-pounding action! Which leaves just one category to go, and it’s...

The “Where We’re Going We Won’t Need Categories” 

Sippy Awards for Excellent I Don’t Know What in Short SFF

What does it mean? Well, part of the point of this category is...I’m not sure. These are stories that defy conventional definitions and categorization. These are the ones that slip between genres and expectations. They’re...well, a lot of them are weird, but beautiful. Haunting, but fun. Deep and complex and brilliant in the ways they innovate and inspire. So without further delay...

Quick Sips - Uncanny #20 [January stuff]

Kicking off the new year with three original short stories and three original poems, Uncanny Magazine structures a lot of its pieces this month around hurt and love and obsession. From a knight who falls in love with a dragon only to be burned to a woman who wants more than anything to add one crowning piece to a collection that gets her into a dangerous situation, the focus is often on how people are drawn to situations and people who aren’t necessarily safe. And how, deeper than that, safety isn’t an option, because of the world they live in, because they themselves don’t fit, aren’t welcome. The mood of the pieces is fitting for winter—the desire for warmth, the dangers of finding yourself locked out in the cold, losing feeling. It’s a difficult bunch of short SFF, but also a beautiful and rewarding bunch. To the reviews!

Art by Tran Nguyen

Quick Sips - Apex #102

November brings a pair of rather interesting and wrenching stories to Apex Magazine. Stories that are touched by darkness but that, ultimately, give way to joy and healing and the hope for better days. These are stories that focus on unlikely pairs and unexpected meetings. That show that sometimes the characters that seem most strange can see more clearly in instances where the system fails. Where hope fails. Where there seems to be no way forward. Because they can see in different ways, it makes them guides, even when they are younger, and seen as a bit odd. These are stories about friendships, about connections, and about finding ways to understand and be understood. They are very different pieces, but make for a wonderful issue, so let’s get to the reviews!

Art by Max Mitenkov

Quick Sips - Tor dot com January 2017

The offerings from Tor dot com do an excellent job of balancing light and dark, love and betrayal, hatred and hope. The stories range from horror to noir mystery, from sci fi romance to cerebral deconstruction. As such there isn't exactly a single thread that weaves all these stories together. Which is just fine. What I find instead are stories that stand perfectly well on their own, that revel in the myriad interpretations of SFF. From gothic horror to environmental science fiction, the stories all set about capturing different flavors of genre. There isn't an awful lot of overlap, either, so fans looking for a nice primer on different styles and visions might be well served checking out each of these stories. Or, for those preferring a specific brand of SFF, you'll find weighty stories that provide satisfying experience in and of themselves. So yeah, time to review!

Art by Sam Wolfe Connelly

Quick Sips - Mothership Zeta #4

With this, its fourth issue, Mothership Zeta celebrates its first year of publication. And it's quite a celebration, though also in some ways more restrained than some of its other issues. These stories are fun, yes, and hopeful yes, but more than that I think they show a bit more emotion, a bit more reaching toward compassion and understand. Many of the tales are romantic, showing two people coming together through difficult circumstances. Showing people starting new chapters in their lives, ready for some change, ready for something new and beautiful. That even in the dark of space or the sunless night there is some trace of warmth to be had, some hope to share in. So without further delay, to the reviews! 

Art by Wendy Xu

Quick Sips - Lightspeed #73 - People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction - THE FLASH

It's here! Lightspeed Magazine's People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction is here!!! And wow. The Destroy! issues have been great since the first go and this third round is no less deep or profound or hitting. Because of the enormous nature of the project, I'm breaking up the issue into its constituent parts and looking first at the flash fiction. I'll be back to look at the longer pieces as well, but that might take a bit longer... These stories, though. There's humor and hope and crushing despair and all the things in between. These pieces of flash know how to hit and hit hard and leave the reader gasping. They are going and there's a lot to get to so to the reviews!

Art by Christopher Park