Quick Sips - Omenana #11

The first Omenana of the 2018 is out! Which means five new stories celebrating African speculative fiction. The stories, as usual, cover a lot ground with regard to genre, theme, and style, but there’s a rather nice unity to the issue as well, focusing on systems and corruption and the frustrations and tragedies that come about when people are preyed upon by predatory beliefs, individuals, or organizations. From science fiction featuring body swapping and uploaded consciousness to fantasy with animated mud, family curses, and superpowers, the stories all showcase fresh and interesting ideas, settings, and characters. So before I gush too much, let’s get to the reviews!

Art by Caitlin Mkhasibe

Quick Sips - Fireside Fiction September 2017

Well it's another pretty full month of fiction from Fireside Fiction, with three flash fiction stories, one short story, and two more chapters of the ongoing novella. What surprises me most about the month's releases is that two of the pieces might not be speculative, though they are definitely still worth checking out. There's only a few SFF publications that also put out stories that are completely without SFF elements, but it's nice to see, to give some variety and to show that the editorial vision is not going based on what kind of elements are in the story, but how the piece feels and impacts. And in that department these are all rather hitting stories, some of them rather fun but mostly stories about danger and injustice and the push to fight back against that. These are some excellent pieces of fiction and I'm going to get to those reviews!

Art by Galen Dara