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| Art by Julie Dillon |
Short(ish) Reviews of Speculative Short Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction. Word counts are approximate. Opinions are my own. (also, probably SPOILERS ABOUND!)
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #103
Today I'm looking at the latest from Clarkesworld. Four new stories, most of them on the longer side of things, but a good mix of the serious and the lighter hearted, the luminous and the sarcastic. Pretty much all what I would call science fiction, too, this month, which is a bit different from what I'm used to with Clarkesworld but not in a bad way. In any event, enough with the into; let's get to the stories!
Monday, April 6, 2015
Quick Sips - Flash Fiction Online April 2015
Looking at Flash Fiction Online today, which if nothing else endears itself to me because it is consistently out early on the first of the month. Which for a reviewer is nice because with the early days of the month crowded with releases, having something a little shorter to look at is a great way to start things off. It helps that the quality of the stories is also consistently high (or at least consistently interesting to me). So yeah, on with the flash!
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| Art by Dario Bijelac |
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Quick Links - 04/05/2015
Hey everybody! Finally I got back to some reviews this week. So that's always good. And the majority of them I quite liked. Not all, unfortunately. But most. My search for good science fiction with some steamy bits continues. So yeah, here are my reviews!
Young Woman in a Garden: Stories by Delia Sherman (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - I quite enjoyed this collection of short fiction, which I would categorize as Gothic with a bit of a much-needed update. I love many of these stories, but some can be a little slow. Pacing aside, though, there is a great sense of dark and magic in these tales. Good times.
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - Another book of stories that can be a little slow going at times. Though there are a number of very short pieces. And The Book of Sand is amazing. That entire collection is amazing. There's a lot here, though. Seriously, the book is huge. Worth reading, but maybe don't do them all at once like I did.
Last of the Sandwalkers by Jay Hosler (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - This is a great sciencey book about bugs and family and it is just rather amazing. I loved all the digs at young Earth theories and how the book comes down very firmly on the "recognize the scale of the universe" side of things. A great way of making a point, to basically say we're like bugs in the grand scheme of things. Much recommended.
Born of Night by Sherrilynn Kenyon (Goodreads, my score 2/5) - And then there was this one. I want to find some science fiction that also has some romantic elements and is fun but this was not it. Really, shouldn't the future have less unintended pregnancies? I was willing to forgive a lot in this book before it went completely off the rails. Probably give this one a miss.
Also, as I announced earlier this week, The Monthly Round is up at Nerds of a Feather. Great tasting and satisfying fiction and drink pairings. Go see!
But yeah, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!
Young Woman in a Garden: Stories by Delia Sherman (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - I quite enjoyed this collection of short fiction, which I would categorize as Gothic with a bit of a much-needed update. I love many of these stories, but some can be a little slow. Pacing aside, though, there is a great sense of dark and magic in these tales. Good times.
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - Another book of stories that can be a little slow going at times. Though there are a number of very short pieces. And The Book of Sand is amazing. That entire collection is amazing. There's a lot here, though. Seriously, the book is huge. Worth reading, but maybe don't do them all at once like I did.
Last of the Sandwalkers by Jay Hosler (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - This is a great sciencey book about bugs and family and it is just rather amazing. I loved all the digs at young Earth theories and how the book comes down very firmly on the "recognize the scale of the universe" side of things. A great way of making a point, to basically say we're like bugs in the grand scheme of things. Much recommended.
Born of Night by Sherrilynn Kenyon (Goodreads, my score 2/5) - And then there was this one. I want to find some science fiction that also has some romantic elements and is fun but this was not it. Really, shouldn't the future have less unintended pregnancies? I was willing to forgive a lot in this book before it went completely off the rails. Probably give this one a miss.
Also, as I announced earlier this week, The Monthly Round is up at Nerds of a Feather. Great tasting and satisfying fiction and drink pairings. Go see!
But yeah, that's it for now. Thanks for reading!
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Quick Thoughts - Destroying Science Fiction
Some of you might have heard the good news: I'm going to be destroying Science Fiction! One of my flash fictions was picked up by Lightspeed Magazine's Queers Destroy Science Fiction. Go check out the Table of Contents for original fiction and see the full awesome of the project. I am so excited to be a part of this project. Also scared. And nervous. But very, very excited.
All right, self promotion aside, my thoughts today are focusing on the destruction of Science Fiction. It's an interesting idea, because on the one hand it seems completely ridiculous and on the other hand it seems completely necessary. Because to me, destroying science fiction is impossible. Science fiction is not an institution. It's a way of telling a story. Or maybe a collection of elements that make something science fictional. It changes. It is constantly changing. And it's any number of things. Science fiction exists in romance form, in action form, in near-future bio-thriller form, in a galaxy far, far away form. All are science fiction, even if not all of them are marketed or thought of as such. Science fiction is a way of looking at a story. But it's open, subjectively defined by the reader or writer of a text.
And yet, to some people there is definitely Science Fiction that can be destroyed. That is an institution. That is rigidly defined, objectively Real. That shouldn't be changed. They task themselves with protecting it from outsiders, from what is decidedly not Science Fiction. And that is something that should be destroyed. Because many of those people have power, and leverage that power to try and invalidate other people's science fictions. They want to slap down anything that seems to them to fall outside their normative view of Science Fiction as an objective category. At the very least they want it defined as not Science Fiction. They want it subcategorized as soft, as light, as sci-fantasy or romance or something else. As Other.
It's...disappointing to see people argue that the genre is in need of saving. That it is being destroyed by those interested in a diversity of voices in science fiction. That it is being destroyed because tolerance of being a terrible person and writing awful stories is becoming less acceptable. There are many people, apparently, who believe that Science Fiction peaked in the great white, straight, cis-male past and is in need of rescue from the usurpers. That social justice has ruined it. That people are too politically correct. That people are scared lest the politically correct mobs descend on them and harass them and ruin their lives. Because the harassment is totally coming more from the social justice side of this.
And so in that case, yes, I am destroying Science Fiction. Or helping to. Or trying to help to. I am not, however, destroying science fiction. I have always been writing science fiction. Anyone who chooses to can write science fiction however they want. If they want two sentient sex toys to talk about their feelings on the goddamn Moon for five thousand or fifty thousand words, that is science fiction. Science fiction is amazing, is freeing, is exciting in its diversity and complexity. Science Fiction is bullshit and mainly used to try and reinforce shitty social and economic power structures that benefit the gatekeepers of Science Fiction. Not that works of Science Fiction aren't also science fiction. It's not the stories themselves that are shitty. It's the idea that any group should be able to control how science fiction is defined. That any group should be able to decide what is and isn't acceptable and valuable.
So let's burn this shit down. As someone with some serious problems with labels and assumptions of objectivity, I see that Science Fiction needs to be destroyed. I love, absolutely love, that there is a movement to do just that. Not to replace it with Science Fiction 2.0, but live up to a future without limit, a universe without borders, a science fiction with unbridled possibilities. To create a landscape where we don't feel the need to erect walls of Science Fiction to keep some people out and others in, but can be comfortable and safe writing and reading the stories we want to without someone telling us we're doing it wrong.
Anyway, that's my take on the whole destroying Science Fiction thing. I think. I hope. Thanks for reading.
All the best,
Charles Payseur
All right, self promotion aside, my thoughts today are focusing on the destruction of Science Fiction. It's an interesting idea, because on the one hand it seems completely ridiculous and on the other hand it seems completely necessary. Because to me, destroying science fiction is impossible. Science fiction is not an institution. It's a way of telling a story. Or maybe a collection of elements that make something science fictional. It changes. It is constantly changing. And it's any number of things. Science fiction exists in romance form, in action form, in near-future bio-thriller form, in a galaxy far, far away form. All are science fiction, even if not all of them are marketed or thought of as such. Science fiction is a way of looking at a story. But it's open, subjectively defined by the reader or writer of a text.
And yet, to some people there is definitely Science Fiction that can be destroyed. That is an institution. That is rigidly defined, objectively Real. That shouldn't be changed. They task themselves with protecting it from outsiders, from what is decidedly not Science Fiction. And that is something that should be destroyed. Because many of those people have power, and leverage that power to try and invalidate other people's science fictions. They want to slap down anything that seems to them to fall outside their normative view of Science Fiction as an objective category. At the very least they want it defined as not Science Fiction. They want it subcategorized as soft, as light, as sci-fantasy or romance or something else. As Other.
It's...disappointing to see people argue that the genre is in need of saving. That it is being destroyed by those interested in a diversity of voices in science fiction. That it is being destroyed because tolerance of being a terrible person and writing awful stories is becoming less acceptable. There are many people, apparently, who believe that Science Fiction peaked in the great white, straight, cis-male past and is in need of rescue from the usurpers. That social justice has ruined it. That people are too politically correct. That people are scared lest the politically correct mobs descend on them and harass them and ruin their lives. Because the harassment is totally coming more from the social justice side of this.
And so in that case, yes, I am destroying Science Fiction. Or helping to. Or trying to help to. I am not, however, destroying science fiction. I have always been writing science fiction. Anyone who chooses to can write science fiction however they want. If they want two sentient sex toys to talk about their feelings on the goddamn Moon for five thousand or fifty thousand words, that is science fiction. Science fiction is amazing, is freeing, is exciting in its diversity and complexity. Science Fiction is bullshit and mainly used to try and reinforce shitty social and economic power structures that benefit the gatekeepers of Science Fiction. Not that works of Science Fiction aren't also science fiction. It's not the stories themselves that are shitty. It's the idea that any group should be able to control how science fiction is defined. That any group should be able to decide what is and isn't acceptable and valuable.
So let's burn this shit down. As someone with some serious problems with labels and assumptions of objectivity, I see that Science Fiction needs to be destroyed. I love, absolutely love, that there is a movement to do just that. Not to replace it with Science Fiction 2.0, but live up to a future without limit, a universe without borders, a science fiction with unbridled possibilities. To create a landscape where we don't feel the need to erect walls of Science Fiction to keep some people out and others in, but can be comfortable and safe writing and reading the stories we want to without someone telling us we're doing it wrong.
Anyway, that's my take on the whole destroying Science Fiction thing. I think. I hope. Thanks for reading.
All the best,
Charles Payseur
Friday, April 3, 2015
Quick Sips - Unlikely Story #11.5 - The Journal of Unlikely Coulrophobia
This month's Unlikely Story is the disturbingly named Journal of Unlikely Coulrophobia (fear of clowns). It is...interesting. When I first heard about the project I was assuming there were going to be some strange stories, and this mini-issue does not disappoint. Collected are five clown stories that run the gamut from creepy to rather heartwarming. Also, for fans of the issue, Unlikely Story is running a Kickstarter for a whole collection of clown stories. So check that out. First, though, let's send in the clowns!
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| Art by Linda Saboe |
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 03/23/2015 and 03/30/2015
No fiction these two weeks from Strange Horizons. But two poems and some nonfiction definitely worth checking out. And charts. Oh the charts! You might not know this about me, but I love spreadsheets. I know, how were you to know? So the SF Count is incredibly interesting to me and everyone should go and read it and look at the data and see how representation is going. Ahem. Before all that, though, some poetry and different column. Onward!
Poetry:
"Endurance Is Not Bravery / Do Not Declare Love by Staring" by Elizabeth R. McClellan
This poem stars children's toys, a paper ballerina being the narrator and a group of tin soldiers being what might be the antagonists. The tin soldiers, beings of war, are made to destroy, are made to see women as things, as spoils of war. And so the ballerina is happy when one is crippled and then thrown into a fire. And yet its a fate that she shares, as she drifts into the flames, is consumed. It's a strange poem, and I'm not entirely sure that I get all of it. Certainly it seems to be approaching how men are raised to treat women, how they are designed to be brutal, to see the woman as prey. To stare. I guess I would draw the poem back to the title to find the meaning, that the soldier that was melted stared at the ballerina and thought it love, but it wasn't. Or, at least, if it was then the act of staring was not a loving act. It was objectifying. Perhaps if he had tried to view the ballerina as a person he would have lived. he would have had a chance to be with her. Instead they both burned. It's a vivid poem, the images moving nicely, the form simple stanzas, ones that get a bit longer as the poem progresses. But I will admit that I'm not entirely sure I got this one. I did, however, enjoy reading it. (Addendum! The author reached out to say that the poem references a story by Hans Christian Andersen [The Steadfast Tin Soldier]. That clears things up for me. It twists the "love" story of the story and shines a light on the problematic aspects of it, giving the ballerina some of her agency back and showing the soldier's love as not noble. And now I like the poem even more!)
"Magpie Wings" by Jaymee Goh
Here is a poem about the celestial love of the two lovers Altair and Vega. In it, the two stars who are also deities, separated and only able to meet on one night of the year, long for the time when their celestial orbits will be closer, for when the Milky Way will be some entwined that they will be able to be together always. I like how it reverses the normal practice of observing something in the stars and making a story about it. Or maybe it just takes it to the logical conclusion. Here the story is continued based on what we know of celestial movements, so that the story can be brought to a happier ending, not stuck in the constant cycle but resolved. And the images of these deities, these people, living out in the stars, that metaphor of more ancient times made real, literal, is neat, is fun and tragic at the same time, because it implies the time that this will take. Billions of years. Who knows how long those stars will even last. Will they make it to that joining? I'm hoping so, because it would be nice for the stars to be released of the grim narrative that humans put on them. There should be a happier ending, and the poem provides one, shows that road where the story doesn't always have to be about loss and longing. So yeah, it's a poem well worth checking out!
Nonfiction:
"Matrilines: The Woman Who Made Fantasy: Katherine Kurtz" by Kari Sperring
I have to say that I have never actually read any Katherine Kurtz. And yet I liked the look of them enough to pick them up and put them on my shelf. They are "when I get to it" reads that probably inform a bit that I am not untouched by the sexism that has relegated the author to more obscurity than is her due. I have seen her name come up as very influential and important at a formative time in fantasy and I am interested in reading some of those books I have. The article itself is well written and makes the argument that the overlooking of Katherine Kurtz is not because of a lack in her writing. Having read some of the other names in the article, I'm fully willing to believe that she is just as good, and any problematic elements would likely be no less problematic than in the books of her contemporaries. It does make one wonder who else in in the process of being forgotten. Or has been already. So yeah, it makes me want to give those books a go. So well done, column, mission accomplished.
"The 2014 SF Count" by Niall Harrison
Fascinating! I always love counts and things like things. With charts. There are spreadsheets, people. Get all on that! I love spreadsheets. I love data and I love that people are actually paying attention to this and keeping track. Not keeping score, in my mind, though if it was then we'd all probably be losing. But at least keeping track. Which is quite important, because if people weren't looking there would be even more assumptions about the need for change and what shape that should take. But for now it looks like perhaps magazines should look to take on some challenges to review more books by women and POC. Maybe consciously. I know there can be intense backlash against that, but maybe... Obviously these places are not reviewing all the books. So there is room for them to improve. For everyone to improve, probably. I will be fascinated how similar statistics would play out across other venues and levels of reviewing. Also I would be curious to see how many queer authors are reviewed but I guess that would be much more difficult to discover because for many it really isn't safe/advisable to be out. Still, it would be interesting.
Poetry:
"Endurance Is Not Bravery / Do Not Declare Love by Staring" by Elizabeth R. McClellan
This poem stars children's toys, a paper ballerina being the narrator and a group of tin soldiers being what might be the antagonists. The tin soldiers, beings of war, are made to destroy, are made to see women as things, as spoils of war. And so the ballerina is happy when one is crippled and then thrown into a fire. And yet its a fate that she shares, as she drifts into the flames, is consumed. It's a strange poem, and I'm not entirely sure that I get all of it. Certainly it seems to be approaching how men are raised to treat women, how they are designed to be brutal, to see the woman as prey. To stare. I guess I would draw the poem back to the title to find the meaning, that the soldier that was melted stared at the ballerina and thought it love, but it wasn't. Or, at least, if it was then the act of staring was not a loving act. It was objectifying. Perhaps if he had tried to view the ballerina as a person he would have lived. he would have had a chance to be with her. Instead they both burned. It's a vivid poem, the images moving nicely, the form simple stanzas, ones that get a bit longer as the poem progresses. But I will admit that I'm not entirely sure I got this one. I did, however, enjoy reading it. (Addendum! The author reached out to say that the poem references a story by Hans Christian Andersen [The Steadfast Tin Soldier]. That clears things up for me. It twists the "love" story of the story and shines a light on the problematic aspects of it, giving the ballerina some of her agency back and showing the soldier's love as not noble. And now I like the poem even more!)
"Magpie Wings" by Jaymee Goh
Here is a poem about the celestial love of the two lovers Altair and Vega. In it, the two stars who are also deities, separated and only able to meet on one night of the year, long for the time when their celestial orbits will be closer, for when the Milky Way will be some entwined that they will be able to be together always. I like how it reverses the normal practice of observing something in the stars and making a story about it. Or maybe it just takes it to the logical conclusion. Here the story is continued based on what we know of celestial movements, so that the story can be brought to a happier ending, not stuck in the constant cycle but resolved. And the images of these deities, these people, living out in the stars, that metaphor of more ancient times made real, literal, is neat, is fun and tragic at the same time, because it implies the time that this will take. Billions of years. Who knows how long those stars will even last. Will they make it to that joining? I'm hoping so, because it would be nice for the stars to be released of the grim narrative that humans put on them. There should be a happier ending, and the poem provides one, shows that road where the story doesn't always have to be about loss and longing. So yeah, it's a poem well worth checking out!
Nonfiction:
"Matrilines: The Woman Who Made Fantasy: Katherine Kurtz" by Kari Sperring
I have to say that I have never actually read any Katherine Kurtz. And yet I liked the look of them enough to pick them up and put them on my shelf. They are "when I get to it" reads that probably inform a bit that I am not untouched by the sexism that has relegated the author to more obscurity than is her due. I have seen her name come up as very influential and important at a formative time in fantasy and I am interested in reading some of those books I have. The article itself is well written and makes the argument that the overlooking of Katherine Kurtz is not because of a lack in her writing. Having read some of the other names in the article, I'm fully willing to believe that she is just as good, and any problematic elements would likely be no less problematic than in the books of her contemporaries. It does make one wonder who else in in the process of being forgotten. Or has been already. So yeah, it makes me want to give those books a go. So well done, column, mission accomplished.
"The 2014 SF Count" by Niall Harrison
Fascinating! I always love counts and things like things. With charts. There are spreadsheets, people. Get all on that! I love spreadsheets. I love data and I love that people are actually paying attention to this and keeping track. Not keeping score, in my mind, though if it was then we'd all probably be losing. But at least keeping track. Which is quite important, because if people weren't looking there would be even more assumptions about the need for change and what shape that should take. But for now it looks like perhaps magazines should look to take on some challenges to review more books by women and POC. Maybe consciously. I know there can be intense backlash against that, but maybe... Obviously these places are not reviewing all the books. So there is room for them to improve. For everyone to improve, probably. I will be fascinated how similar statistics would play out across other venues and levels of reviewing. Also I would be curious to see how many queer authors are reviewed but I guess that would be much more difficult to discover because for many it really isn't safe/advisable to be out. Still, it would be interesting.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Quick Link - The Monthly Round is Up!
The Monthly Round is up right now at Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together.
So go on, get over there. For those not familiar with the column, it's where I recap my favorite stories from the month and pair them with thematically appropriate drinks. So yeah, go ahead and check that out.
That's it. Back to our regularly scheduled reviews tomorrow!
So go on, get over there. For those not familiar with the column, it's where I recap my favorite stories from the month and pair them with thematically appropriate drinks. So yeah, go ahead and check that out.
That's it. Back to our regularly scheduled reviews tomorrow!
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