Quick Sips - Tor.com February 2016

The stories from Tor.com this month seem to be all about offering some fresh twists on old classics. From a zombie story that's unlike any I've seen before to a steam-powered take on Sherlock Holmes (though not in the way I expected), the stories take some time-honored tropes and proceed to stuff them in a stack and beat them with sticks. What pours out afterward is a slurry of interesting ideas, complex characterizations, and brilliant world-building. Now, time to review!
 

Art by Sung Choi

Quick Links - 02/28/2016

Oh fuck. Welp, because of the Sippy Awards, my Sundays were full there for a while, and because I'm just sort of a lazy bastard I've been rather terrible about posting my review links. But here they are. There are a lot, but my #KTBookChallenge has begun. I think most of the books here from the end of 2015 count toward it, too, so hurrah! Anyway, there's a lot to get to, so here you go!

Blacksad: A Silent Hell by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - I rather love the artwork of this series a bit more than I like the plots, because while Blacksad has a nice noir feel to it and it does some interesting things, the art steals the show every time.

Brightness Falls From The Air by James Tiptree, Jr (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - This is the first I've read of James Tiptree, Jr.'s novel-length work, and it was weird and difficult and there was a lot going on and things went really, really strange there for a while. But vastly imaginative and sad and good.

Dare by Philip José Farmer (Goodreads, my score 1/5) - My only 1-star rating on Goodreads for 2015, and I'm not sure it completely deserves it more than some of my 2-star reviews, but this one is just...well, calling it dated I don't think really goes far enough. It's...I did not enjoy it at all.

The Apex Book of World SF Vol 4 edited by Mahvesh Murad (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - I like how this collection takes on the idea of World SF and complicates it. A very interesting and rather important idea, and one that the anthology handles very well.

The Apex Book of World SF Vol 4 edited by Mahvesh Murad (Nerds of a Feather, my score 8/10) - And the second review of it (or really the first, as I normally do all my NoaF reviews first and then Goodreads second for books that I review for both. Still a very good collection.

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (Goodreads, my score 5/5) - This was one of my favorite books of 2015, with a great style and innovative structure. The whole thing is a mystery set in an alternative past that has space travel and is just rather charming all the way around!

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente (Nerds of a Feather, my score 9/10) - Another review of this book, which really I would just keep on reviewing. It's great, and there's so much to think about and read into and just all the yes!

Dowry Meat by Heather Knox (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - Speculative poetry from a local poet that I actually went to university with. I ran into her at the local grocery store and learned that this book exists and it is great!

Marginalia to Stone Bird by R.B. Lemberg (Goodreads, my score 5/5) - More speculative poetry and another great one, filled with poems that cross borders and boundaries. Many of these I had already loved from when they came out around the web in 2014/2015. Very, very good!

Marginalia to Stone Bird by R.B. Lemberg (Nerds of a Feather, my score 9/10) - And hey look, another book that I reviewed twice. It's always nice when I really like the books that I have to write this much about! :)

Half World by Hiromi Goto (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - This is the first I've read of  Hiromi Goto's novel-length work and it is delightful. Lots of really weird and unsettling places while maintaining a nice YA feel and setting. And now I want more.

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson (Goodreads, my score 4/5) - This is the first I've read of Nalo Hopkinson's novel-length work, too, which I guess makes sense as it was her debut. A great and rather uncomfortable story of family and magic.

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older (Nerds of a Feather, my score 9/10) - A book so good I've reviewed it three times now. Seriously, seriously good, and probably tied with The Summer Prince as my favorite YA I read in 2015.


**NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART** - my ongoing reviews of graphic erotic works, mostly manga and graphic novels

Love on the Job Vol 1 by Chihiro Harumi (Goodreads, my score 3/5) - This is a rather cute het romance/sex romp, just fun and ridiculous and lots of sex. Rather vanilla stuff, but still a fine read.

Club for Cross Dressers by Kuromame (Goodreads, my score 3/5) - Ah, cross dressing. I quite like most of the stories in this book, but...hmm, I'm just not sure on some things about it. As written/translated, these are non-explicit m/m romance stories.

Quick Thoughts - Taste of the Forest, Dark and Sweet

In case I didn't annoy everyone enough about it on Twitter, my story "Taste of the Forest, Dark and Sweet" is out in the new Dreamspinner anthology, Simmer. Woo!

I'm fairly certain I've mentioned before that I'm a great fan of food. And cooking, really. And fun smuts. So when I saw that Dreamspinner was open for a cooking-themed M/M anthology I was all about that! Of course, me being me, it's a contemporary fantasy about Bastian, who runs his own restaurant, and a mysterious line chef named Colin (An aside: there were apparently three different stories that used Colin as a name for one of the main characters and because I was out of town when the email got sent asking who wouldn't mind changing names, my Colin was the only one to remain Colin…ah, the little weird things that happen in anthologies…). Well, after a rather disastrous night in the kitchen, Bastian finds things really weird when he goes to sleep and enters a strange dream-like world where Colin isn't exactly who he seemed to be.

Basically, I had a lot of fun with this story. To super serious foodies, I apologize, because I am all sorts of amateur and just sort of modeled Bastian after some chefs I've known from small (and really, really good) restaurants I've been to regionally. Hilariously, the first editor to look at the story seemed…not impressed with what I was having him cook, but I think I worked enough with the rewrites to leave everyone satisfied. I really have no training with cooking aside from messing around with cookbooks and on Pinterest-found mommy blogs. I was a cook at a bar/grill for a little while, but that's a whole different world. I actually got to contribute a recipe with my story, which isn't really the most inspired thing (a variation on bacon-wrapped water chestnuts), but OH MY GLOB THAT SAUCE. It has bourbon and buckwheat honey and maple syrup and is so good!

Ahem. This also represents my first attempt to write something a bit smutty without sex. YES YOU HEARD ME! So for anyone who does not like erotica but enjoys some romance, this is probably the work of mine you want to track down. I mean, I'm pretty sure some of the other stories in the collection have sex in them, but for whatever reason I tend to associate Dreamspinner with romance instead of erotica so the stories I've had accepted at the big DSP have been of the sweet variety. Which are also fun to write. Indeed, in many ways I get even more time to do world-building and develop side characters outside of the main pairing. Here it was just fun to get to write about some chefs finding each other. Also Legolas jokes, because I am mature (and the fae might be involved).

In the end, part of what I love about M/M romance is also what makes it frustrating at times and why I don't think I could ever write just it. It requires a happy ending. I tend to get away with just sort of implying the two guys are going to start dating and take it from there, but there is something both stifling and freeing about writing with the mandate of a happily ever after or happily for now. Most erotica/romance calls necessitate it, and for me it's an excuse to just sort of have fun and write drama and sappy love. In the face of the endless slew of rejections and how difficult writing non-smut SFF can be, sometimes it is just nice to sit down and write some happy stories. They're fun. And this one has some weird to it and hopefully a good deal of funny. I'm really not sure because feedback on smut is both easier and harder to come by that non-smut. Or perhaps I just tend to run in more non-smut circles.

Anyway…magic! M/M romance! Cooking! Go check it out and thanks for reading!

All the best,

Charles Payseur

Quick Sips - Plasma Frequency Q1 2016 (Part 1)

I was rather bummed when Plasma Frequency announced that it would going on indefinite hiatus last year. Especially with how many projects had been shuttering, I feared that it was gone for good. But after a successful Kickstarter campaign the publication is back in a big way. And I do mean big! The first of the quarterly issues has a full thirteen stories in it, seven of which I will be looking at today. From fantasy worlds to distant stars, the stories range pretty far and wide, but there's a nice balance to everything, and I do appreciate Plasma Frequency's commitment to publishing new authors. I'll be back again either late March or sometime in April to close out this first issue, but for now I'm just going to get to the reviews!
 

Art by Tais Teng

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #193

There must have been some memo I missed about making the latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies as violent and uncomfortable as possible. Valentine's Day is over, I can tell you that. It's a dark issue, circling around ideas of violence and religion, faith and punishment, sacrifice and salvation. And it is a rather shocking issue that requires quite a few trigger warnings. Otherwise it also features bad-tempered mounts, which really doesn't add much to the stories but is all I can think of to put a brighter spin on this pair of deeply disturbing works. To the reviews!

Art by Leon Tukker

Quick Sips - Orthogonal SF "The War at Home"

A new publications has appeared! Orthogonal SF is a new speculative fiction venue (despite the name, these are not all science fiction, which I like FWIW) formed a bit out of spite. And anger. And that does come through a bit in this first issue, which is fairly dark but also nicely balanced. The stories are moving and do have a strong vein of anger to them, as well as the claustrophobic feel of being trapped and trying to get out, with a bit about anonymity and archetypes thrown in for good measure. It's an interesting mix of stories, and I'm just going to get to the reviews, shall I?
 

Quick Sips - Fantasy Scroll #11

The February issue of Fantasy Scroll is out and it's a bit of a departure from what I'm used to from the publication. Not in a bad way, as this issue certainly brings the weird and revels in some strange visions of speculative fiction, from dragon bodies turned into houses to lost children living in a state of suspended bliss, the stories are often uncomfortable in a very effective way. The issue takes a lot of chances and, I think, they mostly pay off. There's a lot of stories full of the Valentine's spirit (and many more with a twist on the romantic impulse) as well as more than a few that feature some sort of revenge. All in all it's an eclectic issue that's unified by a feeling of unease and some fantastic stories. To the reviews!
 

Art by Jeremy Vickery