Quick Sips - Translunar Travelers Lounge #2 [Dessert Tray]

After the main courses in the second issue of Translunar Travelers Lounge, it’s time to get to dessert! The final four stories of the issue promise a bit of sweetness and they certainly don’t disappoint, with themes that linger on family, on magic, and on growing up. All of the stories feature characters who are still relatively young. Some are still in high school, while others have just or are just reaching some level of independence. And they all have to find ways to protect themselves and their hopes in situations that sometimes seem hopeless. But with a bit of luck, a bit of magic, and a little help from their friends, they just might find the courage to take a chance, to defy conventions, and to chart their courses forward. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 02/19/2018 & 02/26/2018

Closing out the month, Strange Horizons brings a new original story and two new poems. The story features magic and feeding, faith and community, and the poems deal with the monstrous and the terrible. And in many ways, all three piece deal with beings who are dealing with the darkness of others, with the darkness around them. The pieces are about confrontations, about overcoming something terrible and powerful, and they make for some powerful reads. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Fiyah #5 (Ahistorical Blackness)

The first 2018 issue of Fiyah Literary Magazine is themed around "Ahistorical Blackness." In this case, the theme seems to aim the issue toward historical fantasy and more contemporary looks back at history and tradition. Given the history of blackness in America and beyond, it's probably no surprise that the stories all have an edge of violence to them. Whether the actual blood of revolution and rebellion or the legacy of violence in the form of inheritance and family history, the stories don't erase the pain or torture that have been the foundation for a great many nations and powers in the West. Instead, they reveal where this violence has led and where it might have led, challenging the dominant narratives about freedom, democracy, and civilization. These aren't easy reads, by and large, but they provide some excellent visions into what was and what might have been. To the reviews!

Art by Trevor Fraley