Quick Sips - Crossed Genres #32 - Portals

The theme for this month's Crossed Genres is Portals. And the stories do a great job exploring that idea, that theme. For portals are openings, are possibilities. They lead somewhere, and not always to places that are expected or what they seem. In each of these stories there are portals, be they food or rifts in space or boxes that can shift reality. To step through that portal is to take a chance, to find something wholly new. These stories are strong and they are powerful. So I'm going to get to reviewing, okay?

Quick Thoughts - Let Down, Set Free

So I'm stealing the title of this quick thoughts from a story by Nino Cipri (which appeared at Crossed Genres a ways back and you should all track down), but it captures something that I want to think through a bit today. Something about reviewing. I had something of a rant on Twitter a few days ago where I examined some of my own reviewing past, and it got me to thinking about...not what advice I would offer to people starting out reviewing (because I'm still new and learning and by no means "successful" so to offer advice seems...full of myself), but what I wish I had realized a little earlier when it comes to reviewing.

Firstly, of course, and probably something I knew even at the time, is don't be an asshole. Reviews can be weapons, can be used not only to hurt the authors of whatever is being reviewed but as a way to entrench shitastic genre walls and power structures that play into the old boys club mentality that pervades almost every corner of culture. I believe there are many ways to review well. There is no one right way. I feel this makes people think they can "win" some sort of argument with me, though, by saying if I believe that then people should review however they want. And that's just dumb. Because there being more than one right way to review does not mean there are no wrong ways. There are. A great many. And the easiest way to review wrong is to be an asshole, to use reviews as weapons to oppress and hurt and "defend the proper order of things."

I've spoken a bit about my thoughts on destroying science fiction. And genre. And while I have even more thoughts on them now, perhaps it's obvious that I strongly believe that the strength in short stories really rests in their ability to shatter genre expectations, shatter conventions, break down walls. Short fiction is where the most innovation is seen in form and character and giving voice to people who have long been not only voiceless but threatened if they tried to be heard. Part of that is because there are less financial barriers to short fiction. Almost anyone can write fiction and send it out, moreso than have time to write novels and go through the much more taxing process of trying to sell it. But it's also because change has to start at the bottom, has to start as a series of revolutions that work their way up, eventually toppling those who have stood on the backs of others and making room for a new (and hopefully better) landscape.

And reviews are a part of that. Reviews signal boost and, more than that, redefine the language we use when thinking about stories. They allow others to see that writing a queer story isn't just going to result in being shat upon on the internets (though that might happen, too, as recent history has taught). But in my ranting and moping, Sam J. Miller said something that really stuck with me, that the awful review of his story "We Are The Cloud," though full of hate, prompted a backlash, not of further hate but of love. It prompted people to talk about the story because they did not want to let one asshole at a problematic review site define what is thought of as good and what is thought of as bad. And that movement, to not let assholes decide what is good and what is bad, is gaining strength and momentum.

It is heartening to know that there are other reviewers out there doing so much to talk about stories that move them, that speak to them. In the face of the hate, the Puppies, the everything that seems to think enough progress has been made, enough freedom has been afforded those who have too long been silenced, threatened, and killed for trying simply to live up to the futures promised to them as human beings. There is so much hate out there, and some times it seems, while wading through it, that it's a sea that stretches on forever. But in the face of it all there is also love. And there is hope.

I no longer review for Tangent. Sometimes that feels like defeat. But that would be believing that Tangent is the best I could do. That anyone could do. And it is not. We are capable of so much more. We don't have to be assholes, or accomplices of assholes. Reviews can be weapons, yes, but that doesn't mean they should be used to hurt. Like the stories they champion, reviews are weapons of revolution, work to map a world free of the gerrymadered fuckery of bigoted assholes. It's work that needs doing, and I'm eternally grateful for everyone out there reviewing to change the world. From the reviews in publications to personal blogs to reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, we all need diverse reviewers. We need the voice of the asshole to not be the only voice in the room. It's the main reason I keep going, that I still love reviewing (aside from getting to read some amazing stories). We've got to let down our baggage, let down the shit the past has passed down to us, and set ourselves free to remake the world, to find what works for us.

And I guess I should get back to it, having fallen behind a little this week. But thank you, everyone, for being amazing and for showing me what is possible, and how to be better. And thank you for reading!

All the best,

Charles Payseur

Quick Sips - Strange Horizons 08/03/2015 and 08/10/2015

Two new weeks of Strange Horizons means two new short stories and two new poems. In a rare show of restraint (more because work is kicking my ass) I will be skipping over reviewing the nonfiction. I still recommend everyone go and check it out, but as both of the columns dealt with texts that I'm not familiar with, I'm not the best of judges on how well they succeed. They're interesting reads and make me want to do more, but as it is I did look at the fiction and poetry and it's a great collection of interesting characters and ideas, strong images and haunting messages (sometimes literally). So before I go on too long about it all, to the reviews!

Art by Geneva Benton

Quick Sips - Clarkesworld #107

Today I'm looking at the latest issue of Clarkesworld, which continues to be one of the most impressive publications month to month, especially with its commitment to translated stories. It also manages to have a fairly nice mix of stories and themes despite the original fiction being entirely science fiction. Due to some time constraints, I'm not reviewing the nonfiction, but still encourage everyone to go read, because it does provide a lot of food for thought. The fiction, though, is a nice mix of science fictional ideas and themes. Exploring virtual war crimes, collaborative AI, the nature of sentience, and the philosophy of security, the stories all show visions of the future through various lenses of intent and critique. All manage, though, to tell moving stories, fun stories, and provide a very nice picture when considered as a whole. So on to the reviews!

Art by Julie Dillon

Quick Sips - Shimmer #26 (August Stuff)

The August offerings from Shimmer Magazine are in and they both take on realities that are a little bit twisty (or, the case of the second story, VERY twisty). The second story won't be available for free for almost another week, but together the stories do provide an interesting look at loss and about not quite fitting in, of being in a different state than the rest of the world. In the first, a woman deals with the loss of her sister and her sister deals with not really being at home in her own skin. In the second, a paranoid man travels the country, spreading madness as he goes. So to the reviews!

Art by Sandro Castelli

Quick Sips - Beneath Ceaseless Skies #179

The stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies this issue embody a sort of beginning and an end. An end because the first is the last (I think) in a series that have been appearing at BCS for a while now. Beginning, because the second story feels like just the opposite, the start of something that could be a series in its own right. Both stories are strong, examining how far people are willing to go to be true to themselves. In both their is a price for honor and integrity, and in both that price is paid. Now, to the reviews!

Art by Tyler Edlin

Quick Sips - Uncanny #5 (August stuff)

Another month of Uncanny Magazine brings a mix of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The stories are a bit extreme in that some are on the longer side of short and one is perhaps the shortest that I've reviewed on the site so far. But all of them deliver strong ideas and a nice vein of darkness that makes this month a little unsettling. In some ways the issue (or this half of it) seems to revolve around the idea of the hidden coming to light, or perhaps seeing something often ignored in a whole new way. It's a strong installment, and I should get to reviewing it!

Art by Antonio Javier Caparo