Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 07/29/2019

Well it turns out that Strange Horizons wasn't quite done with July despite already putting out five issues. This latest one contains what the publication is calling three poems, though the later two are graphic as well as text. Mixing art and poetry is always an interesting experience, and the two works on display (by the same author with different artists) do a fine job of showing how the two mediums can synergize, building off each other to be more than either of them would have been separate. It's a great way to close out the month and celebrate what Strange Horizons has managed to do with its Fund Drive, and what it always does with its mix of strange, speculative art. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Fireside Magazine #69

Art by Mary Haasdyk

It's another full month of content from Fireside Magazine, with five stories and one poem full of magic and family and cages. Whether the cage is more literal or figurative, though, varies from piece to piece. Sometimes the cage is a bargain there's no getting out of. Sometimes it's a future you're trying to avoid. Or a society's expectations that wrap tighter than chains. Or a promise made to a friend that takes on a life of its own. Whatever the case, the pieces show characters dealing with these constraints, these cages, and seeking perhaps to break free, to shatter the bars, to reach for freedom. To the reviews!

LIVER BEWARE! You're in for a Drunk Review of Goosebumps #21: GO EAT WORMS

Hey, a new Goosebumps that has an exclamation mark in the title! For a while, I thought this might be code for the stories dealing with science and magic merging in some weird ways (beginning with the first example, Say Cheese, and Die! However, given that You Can’t Scare Me! really wasn’t about science (though it was awesome) and this book also really isn’t about science (not...really), I’m going to have to revise my theory. Maybe it’s this: if the title has an exclamation point, I’m going to hate the main character. Because yeah, Todd, this books “protagonist,” is literally the worst. Just...awful. To the point that I suspect this book is actually a sort of psychological test of utter brilliance. What it asks is simple: will we condone mental and emotional torture if the person being tortured is an asshole? Well, dearest readers, buckle up, because we’re about to find out!

4000 Reviews: An Introspective

A Look Back

Every now and then I get to check in with my reviewing, for a number of reasons.

1. I am tired, and if I don’t recognize my own milestones and achievements, it seems unending and impassable.

2. I think some introspection is healthy in order to avoid getting stuck in patterns that might not be working.

3. I genuinely like thinking critically about reviewing, about my methods, and about SFF as a field.

So that said, I’ll begin as I normally do with some background. I got into reviewing a while ago, probably in 2011 or so, with a personal blog that is luckily not on the internet any longer. I did all sorts of book reviews, D&D commentary, and whatever else struck me. I really wasn’t on social media and I’d be surprised if anyone ever visited or remembers it. But it captures a bit of my approach to blogging and being an internet person, meaning mostly that I've always liked the work for its own sake, and thrown it at the internet with some abandon even when I don't get much feedback.

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons Fund Drive 2019

Good news! Strange Horizons has successfully funded for 2020! That means more excellent prose, poetry, artwork, and nonfiction! Wooo! As part of that celebration, they’ve released a special fund drive issue, including two short stories, four poems(!), and some special nonfiction as well. It’s all very much worth checking out, but I’m sticking to the fiction and poetry today, which shines with complex relationships, a few tarot complications, and a whole lot of longing and sex and resilience and family. If you want to know the kind of thing Strange Horizons puts out, this is a great taste! As an added aside, this marks a milestone for me, as well, because with these reviews I’m over 4000 here at Quick Sip Reviews since I began a bit over 4.5 years ago! Thank you all to everyone for making that possible (more to come on that tomorrow)! For now, let’s get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 07/15/2019 & 07/22/2019

Art by Vlada Monakhova

While the Strange Horizons 2020 fund drive is going on right now (and aiming for stretch goals!), it's also business as usual, with two new issues covering one new short story and two new poems. The work continues the long and proud tradition of the publication being, well, strange. Haunting. Kinda creepy. Oddly heartwarming. And amazing. There's perhaps a bit of a focus on death in some of these pieces, which is just fine, because there's also the focus on journeying into the unknown, in defiance and resilience, and there's a lot to be said about that. But first, let's get to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Escape Pod #687 & #689

July brings two original stories to Escape Pod, both featuring families and very vividly drawn distant worlds. Of course, these worlds couldn't be more different from each other. On one, exploitation is the name of the game, everyone essentially being born into debt and striving to buy their way out and reach for a better life for them and their families. On the other, a majority-neuroatypical population has built a world that functions for them, where people have what they need and are protected from abuse. At first glance, from a neurotypical point of view, it seems almost dystopian. But digging deeper reveals the true nature of this world, and makes me really want to move there. It's a great pairing of stories that offer very different feels, and before I give too much more away, I'll get right to my reviews!