Quick Sips - Lightspeed #114

Art by Christopher D. Park

Three short stories and a novelette round out the November fiction from Lightspeed Magazine. Things kick off with a new story in the Robot Country series, and from there things progress to soul mates and annihilation of worlds, documentaries and punchlines. And a lot of the works have what might be a particular focus on world building, on large stories that unfold even outside the constraints of the stories featured here. Especially with the Phetteplace and Lee stories, these feel more like chapters that will unfold in larger confines, where the stakes are huge but still only a taste of what will be. It's a fascinating collection of fiction, with action probably taking prominence over introspection (by and large, though not without exception) and it's certainly an issue to spend some time with. To the reviews!

Quick Sips - Tor.com Late January 2016

This was certainly a full month of Tor.com, with most weeks seeing double releases of original fiction. And the second half of the month sees a nice mix of material, stories that border on funny at times but that mostly stick to the shadows. Whether that means small creatures living in the shadows of bigger things or assassins prowling the shadows in search of their target, the stories all carry a certain weight and darkness that makes them interesting and dense reads. The fantasies also range from solidly second world skulduggery to urban fantasy catering, so there's a nice range in there as well. And all in all the stories might not always be the most fun, but they do shine a light on the darkness. So let me get to reviewing!
 

Art by Rovina Cai