Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #311

Art by Alexey Shugurov

The latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies offers up two short stories that deal very much with memories and with the stubbornness of those in power when faced with an inevitable and dangerous problem that is killing people. In both, the narrators have to deal with being expected to fix a problem that’s become hard baked into the fabric of a place they think of as home. Where actually fixing it would mean breaking it, making it something different from what it was. It also requires the power to actually do something, which only one of the characters actually has. Not that it’s easy. Not that both won’t sacrifice trying to do the right thing. These are two lovely and wrenching stories, and I’ll get to my reviews!

5000 Strong

I always struggle to come up with things to say for milestones. Something Profound and Important that can somehow encapsulate what exactly I’m feeling at a time when I have done something that I want to take a moment to recognize. Quick Sip Reviews hit 5000 reviews. Yay.

Quick Sips - PodCastle #638 & #640

It’s been a little while since I’ve reviewed a new PodCastle, with the publication focusing more on reprints and flash back posts for the last little while. But the publication is back with at blast with two new stories that deal with grief and cycles of death and remembrance. In one of the stories, a veteran deals with the weight of what he carries, the expectations put on him, but also the secret pull he feels, the moon he’s looking for that will allow him to transform and give howling voice to the pain he otherwise must hide. In the other, a man deals with the intersections of his faith and his family, the desire to honor a parent against the realities of a system designed to reward those who live “complete” lives. There’s a heavy feel to these stories but also a sense of release and freedom, and I’ll get right to the reviews!

Quick Questions - R.B. Lemberg of The Four Profound Weaves

Hi and welcome to my first ever...blog tour? Stop? I'm new to these. I am not new, however, to either R.B. Lemberg's work or doing interviews. Or The Four Profound Weaves for that matter, which is out in just a few days (September 1) and is available for pre-order now. I've already reviewed (and loved) the book here. And I couldn't be happier to get to ask some questions about the book, about the wider Birdverse, about magic and worldbuilding and inspiration and ahhh! so much! I will try to retrain myself from further outbursts, though, and get to the good stuff!

Regular readers of this blog will need no introduction to R.B. Lemberg or their stunning work. But for those how don't know...

Photo @ Bogi Takács, 2019

R. B. Lemberg is a queer, bigender immigrant from Eastern Europe and Israel. Their stories and poems have appeared in Lightspeed Magazine’s Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Uncanny Magazine, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology, and many other venues. R.B.’s work has been a finalist for the Nebula, Crawford, and other awards. You can find more of their work on their Patreon (patreon.com/rblemberg) and a full bio at rblemberg.net.

And with that settled, on to the questions!

Quick Sips - Fireside Magazine #82

Art by Pao-ju Lin

The August issue of Fireside Magazine contains four short stories and a bunch of nonfiction (which I won’t be covering but do recommend you check out). The stories are all…far from easy things. There is a sense of confinement that runs through the issue, a sense of decline and suffocation. There are people literally imprisoned, either by a corrupt government in the past or a possibly dystopic government in the future. There are people finding their lives sinking, unable to pull back from their descent. There is loss. There is the prospect of more loss to come. The stories are, again, not easy, but they’re also rewarding and quite good, and I’ll get right to my reviews!

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 08/17/2020 & 08/24/2020

Today I’m looking at two recent issues of Strange Horizons, which have put out one story and two poems (and a bunch of reviews and nonfiction that I won’t be looking at here but that I recommend people check out). The story looks at extinction and profession, secrets and power. It finds a scientist kind of trying to fit in, and then finding that she doesn’t really have to. The issues also feature poems that wrap around powerlessness and transformation, dominated by settings that define the work and growth that they contain. That shape the paths people can take, limiting them in some profound and unsettling ways. It’s a great two issues, and I’ll get right to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Translunar Travelers Lounge #3 [part 2: Luna Blend (Jasmine)]

I’m back! Yes, it’s only been a day since I reviewed the first section of the latest Translunar Travelers Lounge, but schedules are weird and I am happy to return right away for the second section, which is the Luna Blend (Jasmine). And Uncle Iroh would be proud of the selection of stories here, which are warm and heartfelt but know how to have some fun. There are shadows, moments of sadness and loss, but always a smile as well, and an earnest laugh. There’s a bit of sci fi, a lot of fantasy, and some nice twists of horror (nothing too grim, though), and it all blends together into something, well, as the publication says, “subtle in scent and sweet in flavor.” To the reviews!