Tag Archives: steampunk
Side Quest: from Underbridge to Goodnight Moons
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Six OK, I didn’t have good luck with the first nine stories in this collection, or the next ten, but here are the last twelve anyway: Underbridge by Peter Beagle. A troll statue eats small animals and, eventually, people. Relic by Jeffrey Ford. A story about a […]
Side Quest: from Malak to After the Apocalypse
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Six I didn’t have good luck with the first nine stories from this collection, but I’m sure that was just nine anomalies in a row. Here are the next ten: Malak by Peter Watts. A drone develops (or gets programmed with, I can’t remember) a conscience, […]
2017 Planetary Award Nominees
The reblog function on WordPress has been broken for several days, so I’m cutting and pasting the nominees below. If you’re a blogger, podcaster, or youtuber, and would like to cast a vote, go to the Planetary Awards Site. Nominees for Best Short Story or Novella: “Acadie” by Dave Hutchinson “The Bitten Body” by AC […]
Genre Breakdown
It’s time to look at the stories in my forty-nine ranked magazines by genre. First, let’s see if editors prefer one genre over another. I removed magazines which were only science fiction or only fantasy, and came up with the following breakdown: Genre # of stories % of stories Science Fiction 120 41.0% Modern-Day Fantasy […]
49 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Magazines Ranked from Best to Worst
In my last post, I explained why I’ve cut off my first round of magazine reviews at 49, and described my ranking method. So, on to the results, giving my first issue of each magazine an Olympic-style score from 10 to 1: [WARNING: Do not go to the website of Red Sun Magazine, as its […]
DingDingDing!
That’s the bell signalling the end of round one of my magazine quest. I initially thought I’d only review twelve SFF magazines, but that number ballooned to forty-nine. I decided forty-nine was an appropriate stopping point, as my search for great stories has been like that of the 49ers who searched for gold in the […]
Thoughts on best SFF short story of 2017
Earlier this week, I posted my thoughts on the best novel of 2017, and now its time for short stories. I’ve been reading lots of them lately, wrapping up round one of my magazine quest, reading for rounds two and three, and working on another reading project that I’ll announce when the magazine quest finishes. […]
Side Quest: from The Copenhagen Interpretation to a Response from EST17
The next 10 stories in my Side Quest: The Copenhagen Interpretation by Paul Cornell. A steampunk espionage story, where the great powers have learned to fold space-time. The Invasion of Venus by Stephen Baxter. Two alien species fight a war in our solar system, but ignore Earth. This could have been a nice flash fiction, but instead […]
Magazine: Mothership Zeta, issue 2
Mothership Zeta The human brain isn’t perfect. For example, most adults don’t remember the moment of their birth. I’m different. I remember the day I hatched, a fully grown human, from a pod on the mothership. I can’t tell you what the mothership told me that day, because the language she used has no written […]
For Steam and Country
For Steam and Country Fellow blogger Jon Del Arroz recently released his first steampunk novel, For Steam and Country. I haven’t read it yet, so this post won’t be a review. (I will point out that there must be some humor in it, as one of the characters is named Baron Von Monocle.) I’ve only […]
Magazine: Leading Edge, Issue 68
Leading Edge, Issue 68 The Saga of the Four Apes continues: Fu, Herman, Bobo, and I move quietly through the construction site, sticking to the nighttime shadows. We know the bad guys have some connection to this piece of real estate, but don’t know the details. We freeze when an attractive young woman steps from […]
Magazine: Deep Magic Aug 2016
Deep Magic, August 2016 I’m on the record as disliking prequels, but for today’s intro story, I decided to write a Four Apes prequel anyway: — The Assistant Director only makes me wait twenty minutes outside his office, so I know there’s a crisis. He motions for me to sit. “We’re shutting down your program.” […]
Magazine: On Spec #102
On Spec #102 I don’t normally work for cartels, but my magazine quest is getting expensive, and this cartel doesn’t pay in worthless dollars — it pays in cold, hard maple syrup. One of the cartel bosses lays out the problem he wants me to take care of, but I don’t speak French, so I just […]
Magazine: Grimdark #8
Grimdark Magazine #8 When I was a child, I passed my neighbor’s house every day while walking home from school. He would often be sitting on his front porch, tying his shoes, and would wave or say hello to me. I remember one day that was different from all the others: “Hi, Billy. I hope […]
Magazine: Shoreline of Infinity #4
Shoreline of Infinity #4 I perform a final check of my shark cage and SCUBA gear as our boat bobs up and down on a Scottish lake. The constable lies on the deck, drooling. I probably shouldn’t have darted him with enough tranquilizer to calm an angry plesiosaur, but he wouldn’t shut up about needing […]
Magazine: Cirsova #1
Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine Issue #1 My magazine quest has gotten expensive, so I’m driving an 18-wheeler to make some money. I speak into my voice recorder. “Trucker’s log. Date: 6-6, midnight. Weather conditions: clear, but no moonlight. Cargo: timber products. Many rigs headed same direction.” The chimpanzee in the passenger’s seat […]
Free: Cirsova issue #1
The kindle version of issue #1 of Cirsova magazine is free at Amazon through Saturday, March 19th. I recently interviewed P. Alexander, Cirsova’s founder/editor, and I plan to review issue #1 in a couple of weeks. Get your free copy so we can compare opinions of the stories!
Magazine: InterGalactic Medicine Show #47
Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, issue 47 The department took away my canine partner, my badge, and my gun, but I’m still going to take down Talking Chicken. I leave my car by the highway and walk, baseball bat over my shoulder. I ignore the signs saying “Rainbow Farms employees only”. The huge metal […]
Submit Your 2015 Nominations
Originally posted on Planetary Awards:
It’s time for book bloggers, podcasters, and booktubers to nominate their favorite science fiction and fantasy books and short stories published in 2015. There are three categories for the 2015 awards: 1) Shorter story (under 40,000 words/160 paperback pages) 2) Traditionally published novel 3) Small press / self-published novel Nominations…
Magazine: Fantasy & Science Fiction Sep-Oct 2015
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction September/October 2015 I wipe the dragon’s blood from my axe as I enter its lair. Everyone in the business of dragon-slaying knows that killing a dragon is the easy part; the real work is searching through its disorganized treasure hoard. I expect an open cavern, but the lair […]
Magazine: Interzone Sep-Oct 2015
Interzone #260 Sep-Oct 2015 My quest isn’t off to an auspicious start. I’ve spent eight weeks in London, trying to get into the archives of the Ministry of Science Fiction. Every morning, I arrive at the ministry to find a person I haven’t seen before sitting at the front desk. I show them yesterday’s approval […]
Writing Contest
I’ve agreed to be one of three judges in a writing contest. The contest is for those who have already self-published something, as first prize is a promotion package from a book tweeting service. Stories must be 1,500 words or less, and based on one of four “writing prompt” images, but can fall under any […]
Bookends: Leyfarers and Wayfarers
Leyfarers and Wayfarers is a collection of 16 stories (in a variety of genres) by G L Francis. As usual for my bookends series of posts, I read the first and last stories, then made a decision whether to continue. First Story: Tools of the Trade In this steampunk tale, Russian water spirits are killing […]
Planetary Defense Command 