Quick Sips - Uncanny #17 [July stuff]

July finds Uncanny Magazine full once again, this time with three original stories, two poems, and two nonfiction pieces. And may of the pieces examine the idea of home. Of community. Of something encroaching, and how people react to that. In some of the pieces, how is a physical building, a place of healing and haunting. In some it is a neighborhood, or a country, or a place among the stars. Many of these works show people reaching for a home that is different, that is better, where change is possible, where injustice and corruption can be put aside at last. These are stories, poems, and nonfiction pieces that reveal stunning compassion and blistering resistance. They are sometimes tender, sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, and all in all an incredibly collection of SFF. So let’s get to the reviews!

Oh, and if you didn't know, Uncanny is also running a Kickstarter RIGHT NOW for a special Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction! special issue that you should definitely get out and support!

Art by Kirbi Fagan

Quick Sips - Uncanny #15 [April stuff]

It’s another full month of SFF from Uncanny, and another month full of pieces that look rather specifically at resistance. At least, the three nonfiction pieces all revolve around the idea of resistance and how SFF can be an invaluable tool to bridge between cultures, people, and experiences. There’s a bit of a surprise novella in among the fiction, paired with a flash work, and both look at the profound impact that loss can have, that disaster can have, on a person and their life. How it can make an ambivalent person dedicated. How it can make a peaceful person a killer. And the people it equally beautiful, exploring the boundaries between religion and consent, history and human folly. It’s a well rounded issue, and I’m going to get right to the reviews!

Art by Julie Dillon

Quick Sips - Mothership Zeta #6

Well I guess I got a little confused because I thought Mothership Zeta already was on hiatus. The good news is that I was wrong and here's a whole new issue packed with stories to read. The bad news is that I was only off by an issue and this _does_ represent the last from the publication for a while, though I hope not forever. It's a wonderful mix of stories, though, that explore the idea of fun in SFF as well as look at hope and possibility. Many of the stories here are about opportunity, after all, and about life. About those moments when the world seems to open up, with all the fear and all the hesitation that goes along with it. But that shows, in those moments, the hope for humanity, that people are willing to work for a better future. For a better world. That people, even when perhaps they shouldn't, will reach out with compassion. Will keep reaching out. And the stories all look at how we as humans reach out in hope and fear, and how we try to find meaning in a world that is often harsh, and often dangerous. Time to review!

Art by Elizabeth Leggett

Quick Sips - Flash Fiction Online April 2016

The editorial in this month's Flash Fiction Online says that the issue is kind of about celebrations. Holidays. But I think that language might be a stronger element binding the stories together. And, more specifically, language that's not language. A language of taste and a language of song and a language of touch. Ways of communicating that not only step outside the bounds of traditional discourse but need to in order to be expressed, because they point at a central failing of traditional language, that for all that it brings people together it also is a tool of separation, and the stories all seek a more universal form of communication. A way to share meaning that goes beyond what might be found in a dictionary. It's a great common thread and one that will come up in my reviews. So let's get to it! 

Art by Dario Bijelac

Quick Sips - Uncanny #9 (March Stuff)

March has arrived at Uncanny Magazine and with it comes an interesting look at love and history and oppression and labels. People stuck in bad situations and people in some ways responsible for sticking people there. It's a nice mix of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, and there's definitely a lot to read through and enjoy. Much of pairs quite well, too, echoing themes of men as products of their times and places (and how inadequate an excuse that is when it comes to causing harm) to escaping harmful patterns and oppression and labels. As I said, there's a lot to read, so I'm going to jump right into the reviews!
 

Art by Katy Shuttleworth

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 10/05/2015, 10/12/2015, and 10/19/2015

Okay, here we are in the fourth week of October, and with these three weeks of Strange Horizons the month shows no signs of slowing down. The good news is that the fund drive that had been going on was fully funded! So there will be even more great stories, poems, and nonfiction next year. The other good news is that there is a lot of fiction and poetry that was released as part of the bonus issue. I say good news because, while it might destroy me, there is an awful lot to like about these pieces, many of which deal with the way we tell stories, and what we choose to tell stories about. And I just need to get to the reviews!

Art by Rachel Kahn

Quick Sips - Uncanny #5 (July Stuff)

Back again to review this month's offering from Uncanny Magazine, which once more has a nice mix of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. I must say, the more I read the publication the more I feel I get the title, get the vision that unites it. I really dislike that people would see a publication like Uncanny and not see a unified whole. That some people might say "Oh, look, they publish different genres which means there can be NO other way to organize a magazine" is...disappointing to me. Because I do see that Uncanny really does stick to the idea of the Uncanny, of the unexplained and the magical, of the living metaphor, of the slightly twist on the expected. The stories are indeed uncanny, unable to be easily categorized, and I quite like them for that. Anyway, I should probably stop rambling and get to the stories. Onward!

Art by Antonio Javier Caparo

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 05/25/2015, 06/01/2015, and 06/08/2015

So apparently I've been a little behind in getting to Strange Horizons, as evidenced by there being three weeks of reviews this week. That said, there is only one piece of fiction to get to. Three poems, though, and a piece of nonfiction. There's even more up, including a HILARIOUS review of the short story category/Puppy slate. That is one cutting review. But as I'm not the point of reviewing reviews (yet) I will leave it at that. So let's get to the reviews!

Art by Vlada Monakhova