The end of October brings one heart-rending story and two poems very much suited to the season to Strange Horizons. The story is gorgeous and difficult, examining a future that might as well be the past for all that history might move in circles, in cycles where certain groups are always more vulnerable, always more at risk of being stripped of their rights and lives. The poems are actually rather creepy, both of them unfolding from perspectives that gives voice to a bit of darkness. That are waiting for people to initiate a bargain that the people might not even realize they are making. But it’s enough for horror to blossom. So yeah, let’s get to the reviews!
July has arrived at The Dark Magazine with a pair of original stories that deliver characters driven toward a singular goal. For one of the characters, it’s a release from an oppressive setting where he must constantly live in fear of his skin. For the other, it’s respect and power that he craves, that leads him down a rapidly darkening path. Both men face danger and face difficulty, but they handle things in very different ways. The stories show how the pursuit of a goal can be affirming or destructive, how it can work to free a person or chain them to a string of bad decisions. These are stories that show how both characters do not shy away from violence, but that they eventually have to make the decision of how that violence will define them. Will they overcome it, and find a more peaceful way out, or will they embrace it, and let it lead them toward their desires? It’s a great month of stories and I’m going to get right to those reviews!
October ended up being a big month for Beneath Ceaseless Skies, with a special issue on top of two regular issues, and the last made it just in time for Halloween. Appropriately, the stories in this issue veer into some dark territory, evoking settings that are steeped in some spooky and surreal landscapes. The characters are acting out battles both metaphoric and intensely literal, and through it all there is an air of isolation being cut through by companionship and friendship. Both stories feature women who are prisoners of sorts to the past. To traditions that they have not wholly chosen on their own, and in both stories the characters have to face that and decide how they want to live going forward. So yeah, let's get to those reviews!
Sometimes I just can't predict where Beneath Ceaseless Skies is going to go with its stories. There are issues that are steeped in blood and tears and darkness. That enjoy looking at the frayed, gray edges of morality and stare boldly into the abyss. And then there are issues like this one, which brings a breath of life and fun and joy into the air. That celebrate how entertaining SFF can be without being sad, without being tragic, without being hopeless. These are stories that are clever and funny, with characters that are plucky and who manage to win some rather unambiguous victories. Especially for people who have noticed the at-times gloom of tragic stories in SFF, this issue might offer a glimpse of some unashamed happiness. To the reviews!
