Quick Sips - Strange Horizons - 04/20/2015, 04/27/2015, and 05/04/2015

So I got behind a bit with Strange Horizons. Normally I've been trying to do every other week but sometimes things slip a little and here is a collection of three weeks worth of stories, poems, and nonfiction. There is a lot to like with everything. The prose is solid, understated a bit and dealing primarily with family. The poetry is linked by its structure, each poem being broken into sections. But they are quite different thematically, and boy do some of them get under the skin and burrow for vital organs. Some of it is very, very dark. I'm not looking at quite all of the nonfiction, as some was either a bit over my head or on topics that I don't feel qualified to critique (or both). It's all interesting, though, and Strange Horizons continues to be a must-read publication.

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #172 - Weird Western

Really, Beneath Ceaseless Skies? A special issue released on the last day of the month? I mean, I love the issue, but I'm afraid for Monthly Round considerations I'm considering it a May read. However, did I mention that I love the issue? Yes? Well it's true! And the issue even breaks the old BCS pattern of two stories per issue. There are three! But then, this is a special issue, so it makes sense. Also, the image below does not do the cover justice. It is amazing but I couldn't seem to get all of it so you'll just have to go to the site and check that one out. Very worth it! The three stories all take different tracks when it comes to approaching the Western theme. Only one really has a gun fight in it, but they all use the place and setting of the West to good effect, and all manage to capture a bit of that feel, the Weird Western style that makes them unique and interesting. So to the stories!

Art by Ignacio Bazan Luzcano

Quick Sips - Tor.com April 2015

Sometimes I wish that the stories at Tor.com would be shorter. Because even intrepid readers might have a little difficulty fitting in some of these stories in the otherwise packed month. None of these stories are quick, none of them light. But they are all rewarding, all interesting and deep and worth wading into. Or diving into headfirst. Most of them have a longing quality about them, circle around a lack that might or might not be filled by the end. The most successful of the stories seem to leave the question open, leave it to the reader to fill in, but all the stories are interesting and compelling. Another excellent month from one of the few non-print/free publications that will put out novellas. So let's get to it!

Quick Sips - Lightspeed #59

All right, so now that the stories are out I can review the latest issue of Lightspeed. As always, two science fiction and two fantasy stories. Unlike some months, this issue is a bit lopsided. The sci fi stories are quite short, and the fantasy stories quite long. Which is all right, but a little jarring, especially when the longest fantasy story, the one released latest in the month, is so dark. Still, though, there's a lot to enjoy here, and while two of the stories seem to center on human failings, on loss and perhaps futility, there is some hope here as well, and some great humor. So yeah, let's get to it!

Art by Elena Bespalova

Quick Sips - Terraform April 2015

Another month, another handful of stories from Terraform to review. This month the stories are mostly on the longer side for the publication, but they are an interesting mix. I suppose now would be a good time to reiterate my review policy, though, in regards to negative reviews. Some stories...well, they bug me. I either find the messages that I pull from them a bit offensive or else I just find them not effective at doing what they seem to set out to do. As always, that a story did not work for me does not mean that I think it is "bad." These reviews are only my quick reactions to stories. Unfortunately, given the amount of time they take, I cannot always linger and reread and really figure out every story. So I might miss things. How I interpret a story might not be how it was intended. That said, these are my interpretations and thoughts and I feel that I should keep them honest. So what they hell am I talking about? Read on to find out!

Quick Sips - Urban Fantasy Magazine #6

Today I'm reviewing the newest Urban Fantasy Magazine. I must say, the magazine does what it sets out to do: providing some solid urban fantasy stories and nonfiction. I'm just looking at new, non-serial fiction this week. two stories, one taking on the adapted fairy tale route with the Swan Princess and the other being more of an X-Files type tale with a secret government agency tasked with dealing with paranormal threats. Both are interesting stories, the first being the more complex, showing just how nuanced urban fantasy can be and the second is a bit more shoot-from-the-hip fun and gun. So let's get to it!
 

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #171

I'm reviewing the latest Beneath Ceaseless Skies today. Two stories, as always, and quite different in their themes and styles this time. Sometimes the stories in an issue have some clear links, but here I can't quite find any. One is a second-world fantasy with action and magic and the other is a historical weird fantasy with a much slower style and not as much overt magic. Still, for all their differences they are still both entertaining and the issue itself stands up pretty well. But you don't have to take my word for it—to the reviews!

Art by Christopher Balaskas

Quick Sips - Lackington's #6 - Seas

Today I'm looking at the latest from Lackington's. There's even a theme this issue, Seas. And each story does do a nice job of capturing the feel of the sea, even when the sea is not water, as in "Spider Moves the World" and "Excerpt from UNLANGUAGE." Most of the stories use the literal seas, the watery kind, and there's a lot to draw up from the depths. As is usual with the publication, the stories are a bit strange, focusing on form and style perhaps more than plot and action. Not that there's not action. "The Selkie" has quite a bit of tense action, Nazi ships exploding and all. But the stories are a bit more layered than that, some a bit hard to pull apart but all of them beautiful in their own way and worth pouring over. So to the reviews!

Art by Tomasz Wieja

Quick Sips - Fantasy Scroll #6

Today I'm looking at the latest issue of Fantasy Scroll Magazine. Six new stories that I'm looking at and a few reprints that I'm skipping over for now. It's a solid issue, though I am a little sad that there is no further graphic adventures in this issue. Maybe in later installments. The editorial wasn't lying when it mentions young women taking charge in this issue, though there is also a deep vein of family running through it as well. The shorter stories might tend toward a bit more humorous, but most of the others circle around some sort of loss. That takes the form of dead parents in two of the stories, a dead grandmother in one, and a sick child in another. All well done, and the magazine continues to provide a nice read with a large number of stories.

Art by Franklin Chan

Quick Sips - Farrago's Wainscot #14

Today I'm reviewing the latest issue of the revived Farrago's Wainscot, which has its second issue of new life this month. The first issue was certainly strange and this issue continues with the idea of the literary weird. This issue benefits from having stories with a bit more structure to them, though, a bit more of a standard narrative. Not that the bizarre structures that the stories in the last issue were bad, but that I found this batch of stories to be a bit easier to understand and get meaning from. Which made them more satisfying. The poetry is quite good again, with some long pieces mixed in with the shorter ones. All in all, four stories and four poems and a quite satisfying experience. To the reviews!
 

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 04/06/2015 and 04/13/2015

Well it's been a busy two weeks over at Strange Horizons, it would seem. Today I'm looking at two stories, two poems, and three pieces of nonfiction, which makes this a pretty meaty review. As is usual with the publication, the stories and poems aren't really linked thematically, so everything is interesting in its own way, more to be taken separately than together. Which is just fine by me when the quality of the work is so high. Few enough places put out such a great range of stories, poems, and nonfiction, which is probably why Strange Horizons nabbed a Hugo nomination this year. So to the reviews!

Quick Sips - Shimmer #24 (April Stuff)

This month's Shimmer includes two stories, and they are not exactly the happiest of sorts. In both, a character seems paralyzed by the tragedy of their own story. Both main characters seem to be in some ways avoiding the present by trying to escape into the past, into a time when their situation wasn't so dire, wasn't seeming so hopeless. As they are similar, though, there are also some key differences. For while both characters are not where they want to be, the first story shows a life that has made its own mistakes and can't deal with them while the second shows a life made horrible by more external circumstances, by the sinking of the world into chaos. Both are powerful, though, and a bit disturbing. So let's get to them!

Art by Sandro Castelli

Quick Sips - Nightmare #31

So this issue of Nightmare Magazine is a little special to me. Why, you ask? Well, it's not because 31 is my favorite number. It might have more to do with the fact that I'm in the issue! Now, as is my regular policy, I will not be reviewing my story. Which is free to read starting today. Just saying... Anyway, I'm not reviewing my own story, but I will still be reviewing the rest of the stories in the issue. Or, in this case, the rest of the story in the issue, as my story represents half the original fiction in this issue. But also go check out the reprints and the nonfiction, which is solid. And also maybe check out that other new story, "Spring Thaw," which is the first pro-sale of a certain reviewer you may be familiar with. To the review, though!

Art by Dariusz Zawadzki

Stories:

"The Island" by Desirina Boskovich (6015 words)

This story takes the older idea of a family going to live on an island and twists it, presents a darker take on the idyllic situation presented in those older texts. A family does go to live on an island, and builds a home and at first things seem perfect. They even manage to keep some electricity, and want for nothing, really, except other people. More children are born until there are six total, but the parents are slowly drifting apart and becoming more and more unbalanced, more abusive, and then there's a storm. The prose is interesting, a mix of the childlike wonder of the island, the hope and unlikely successes the family has. Somehow they get a television and phone to work, but that's not really enough. The storm is sort of the dysfunction of the parents made material. It opens up a fissure in the island, inside of which are dark shapes. This fissure only widens as the parents fight and move apart and try to pull the children into their struggle. The television and phone and radio are broken, and the children seem like they might fracture into groups, but they stay together. To kill their parents. It's a bit disturbing how easily they fall into it, but it does seem to solve many of their problems. The treasure of the island only returns once the parents are gone, a sign perhaps that the children need to escape the pull of their parents to be successful. More than that, though, the fissure starts to close. A tree-like thing grows from it, but otherwise the children all do just fine. And then visitors come. I like the feel of the story, the way that the children manage on their own, the way they create a system that works but one that is tainted by the tree, by the act of killing their parents. The ending hits hard and is nicely creepy, showing that taint of violence and how it has worked its way into the children. And it's always interesting to see how a group trying to escape the ills of civilization tends to bring the worst with them when they leave. A fine story.

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #170

Two new stories are the subject of today's review, from the latest Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Also a new cover! The cover art at BCS is always exceptional. Anyway, the stories are both thematically similar, featuring women who are at least part of a wild, magical world. In the first, the main character is a dryad and in the second the main character is not exactly human. Both stories focus on how humans seek to exploit the magic of these individuals, how those in power try to tame the wild to make weapons and servants. And how that urge, to exploit the wild magic, to turn them into weapons, often leads to those weapons getting free. In both stories, that journey, from wild to weapon, is a tragic one, filled with pain, but it's also a necessary one, that these creatures take hold of their own power to fight back. It doesn't make them less tragic, because something is lost in that turning that cannot be regained. But at least it's giving back agency to those who've been exploited and used. Anyway, that's a rambling intro. To the stories!

Art by Christopher Balaskas

Quick Sips - Apex #71

Today I'm looking at the latest from Apex Magazine. As always, there's a lot to like, including five short stories, two poems, and some nonfiction, of which I'm looking at one. Also, that cover. Amazing. The stories are fairly dark and most with some lingering questions after the final words fall. Which leaves it up to the reader to draw conclusions and find meaning. To introspect. It's a neat tool used to great effect in this issue. So without further delay, the reviews!

Art by Adrian Borda

Quick Sips - Uncanny #3 (April Stuff)

Today I'm looking at the April stories and poems from Uncanny Magazine. Three stories and two poems this time. The stories are a mix of longish to incredibly short. All told, though, it's some good material, visiting some popular ideas (circuses, Orpheus) with some new twists. Quick good stuff, so I'll get right to it!

Art by Carrie Ann Baade

Quick Sips - Fantastic Stories of the Imagination April 2015

Another month's Fantastic Stories of the Imagination is what I'm looking at today. Two stories, are is usual, and these two once again rather strongly thematically linked. Both are science fiction stories, though the second has some definite fantasy elements. Both deal with leaving Earth behind, deal with raising children, deal with loss, deal with generations. They're both rather sad, but there is a hope to them as well, a indomitable will to them that gives them an optimistic feel. But you don't have to take my word for it; to the reviews!

Stories:

"All That We Carry, All That We Hold" by Damien Agelica Walters (2095 words)

A rather touching and tragic story with a hopeful end, this one focuses on a woman as she grows up around giant ships that ferry humans to the stars. At first, as a young girl, the ships are monsters and she fears them. Slowly her perception changes, but the ships never really become something she likes. They are vessels that take away those she cares about. Her first love. Her husband. It's only with her daughter that the ships become something different, because to her daughter the ships are wonderful, are full of possibilities and freedom from the sorrow and trouble of Earth. And when that daughter gets cancer and dies, the ships become the one thing that the mother clings to in order to keep going. To her they are still monsters, but she also sees them in the reflection of her daughter's eyes. As freedom. As escape. And so she goes out on a ship to a distant planet in order to begin something there. And to end something, as she takes her daughter's ashes and spreads them on the wind. As I said, a bit of a tragic story, but the focus is on the healing, on the possibility and freedom that space brings. So while the story might be a bit of a downer (few stories featuring childhood cancer are light), it's still got a nugget of hope and yearning that makes the story a solid read.

"Molten Heart" by Alexis A. Hunter (725 words)

In this story a sort of golem, created of clay, helps to raise a young girl to her thirteenth year. A mix of fantasy and science fiction, the golem is magic but the story takes place on a terraformed world. The golem is made to help raise a child, but is made imperfect in hopes that the child won't bond with it too closely. It lakes eyes and a mouth. Lacks a voice. But still the golem loves the child, and child loves it. This is another story about loss and about generations, but this one is a bit different, showing that when the child grows up and has a child of her own, that the golem is revived. So that it's not really gone, just dormant, and that it can still love and share its love across the generations. It's still a bit of a sad story, because the golem can never stay, because there is that limit of thirteen years even if everyone wants it to be longer. But at the same time, there is progress, and this time the golem is given a voice. And maybe, the implication seems to be, there will be a time when it can stay. At the very least, it's continued presence from generation to generation means that it's never really dead, that its love keeps it going, and that it can share it always. A very short story, this one, but with a nice sad loveliness to it that made it impact just right.

Quick Sips - Crossed Genres #28 - Silent Communication

I look at the latest issue of Crossed Genres today. As always, there is a theme to work with. In this case, it is Silent Communication. I must say the three stories take that in three very different directions, but all stick closely to that idea to make their point. In the first, a man is silent mostly because he has trouble speaking, but there is also silent communication all around him, trying to warn him of something coming. In the second story, the main character is physically mute, so the use of the theme is pretty concrete. In the last story, lack of a shared language divides two family members until a moment of crisis forces them to work together. All in all, some good stories. So let's get to it!

Stories:

"Loud as a Murder" by Sarah L. Johnson (4572 words)

In this lovely horror story, an autistic man named Henry finds that love is...a bit different than he thought it would be. Lonely in his home and in his work as a proofreader, Henry's one thing to look forward to each week is a visit from the UPS man, Dev. And Henry is in love with Dev, who seems so understanding and kind and patient. Only Henry starts to receive a package in the mail he thinks is for his work. And, thinking that, her ignored the warning that it is trying to give him. What he doesn't realize is that he's become entwined in something bigger than him. Much bigger. Something is hunting him, and the only thing trying to protect him is a bird, a crow, who puts a message in the manuscript he thinks he's supposed to proof. A message he misses because of how he works, because of how his mind operates. And so he opens himself to something that might have best been avoided. It's a chilling tale, an excellent portrayal of the way he operates, his infatuation and his frustration and his loneliness. He needs contact and yet can't handle much. Which makes the ending that much creepier, that confrontation with love that much more unsettling. A great story.

"Trollbooth" by Maureen Tanafon (1915 words)

This story mixes some classic fairy tale elements with a mute protagonist desperate to get back her two young relatives who wandered too far away from home. I like how the story builds up this strange and dark world where the humans live along the edge of a fairy wood and how the main character, though mute, is the only one who knows how to communicate with the fairies. Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone listens to her, as her uncle decides he knows how best to handle things, blaming the fairies for the disappearances and setting out to hunt them. The main character, meanwhile, learns that the children weren't taken by fairies, but by something more dangerous. A troll. The children walked over its bridge, which is to say its body, and so it took them. But the main character offers up a sacrifice to the troll, who amusedly accepts, thinking she means herself. She volunteers her uncle instead, though, and leaves the troll and her uncle to find out which is the bigger monster. And I like that ending, how she doesn't really commit any crime. She might offer up sacrifice, but in offering her uncle she isn't necessarily condemning him to death. He has weapons. It's just that she wouldn't be much upset whatever happens, as her uncle is himself something of a monster, with a taste for killing now that he's hunted the fairies. So I like that she gets away and leaves the payment to those bullies who are hottest to pay. A fun ride with a good payoff.

"A Language We Shared" by Megan Neumann (3025 words)

This story focuses on the relationship between a girl and her grandfather, divided by their cultures and their languages. The grandfather, Gong Gong, speaks only Cantonese, while the granddaughter, June Mei, speaks only English. It's something that keeps them distant, as neither has interest in reaching out to the other. And yet they are family, something that is brought home to them when they are involved in a car accident where they are both in a car that goes off a bridge and into water. Gong Gong is injured but conscious. June Mei's mother is knocked out completely, so it's up to June Mei to act. In that moment, though, she discovers that she can understand Gong Gong, and he can understand her. Working together, they get themselves and June Mei's mother to safety, and Gong Gong explains that this ability runs in the family. Only after they are healed it seems to disappear. But the prompt is there for June Mei to reach out, to try and learn Cantonese and speak with her grandfather. Unfortunately it's not quite to be, but the experience is a striking one for June Mei, and the story is a nice one, resonant with themes of family and communication and connecting across many divides. Things are left a bit open as to whether the telepathy really happened, but whatever the case it did bring June Mei and Gong Gong closer, which is a magic all its own.

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!

Art by Julie Dillon

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!

Art by Dario Bijelac