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mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
3.0
This anthology contains all 152 poems nominated for the 2017 Rhysling Award for the best speculative poetry. Inevitably, the poems range from those not to my taste to those that I love. Many of the ones that didn't appeal to me are still skillful. There are poems that I might have loved if I had understood them more clearly, and poems that I liked even though I didn't fully understand them. There are poems that made me wish that I could write that beautifully, and poems with a sense of humor. There are, indeed, a huge variety of poems, from three-liners to the decidedly verbose; from spacefaring science fiction, to high fantasy, to the strange. I recommend the anthology to anyone looking for a snapshot of current speculative poetry.
As for my particular favorites, among the shorter poems, I am especially fond of F. J. Bergmann's whimsical, precisely evocative "How far does night have to fall?" and Timons Esaias's resonant, elegaic "Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek," and John Philip Johnson's simply-worded, emotionally powerful "Martian Garden," and Wendy Rathbone's lyrical and delightful "Build a Rocketship Contest: Alternative Class A Instructions and Suggestions."
Among the longer poems, my favorites are Darren Lipman's grittily compassionate "Interview with a 22nd-Century Sex Worker;" Jenny Blackford's "Houses of the Living, Houses of the Dead," which speaks of Mesopotamia, love, death, and even the British Museum; Theodora Goss's tender "Rose Child" which speaks of wildness and loss; Alexandra Erin's quirky and timely take on artificial intelligence "Data Mine" and A. J. Odasso's darkly sharp "Sargasso Sea."
As for my particular favorites, among the shorter poems, I am especially fond of F. J. Bergmann's whimsical, precisely evocative "How far does night have to fall?" and Timons Esaias's resonant, elegaic "Why Elephants No Longer Communicate in Greek," and John Philip Johnson's simply-worded, emotionally powerful "Martian Garden," and Wendy Rathbone's lyrical and delightful "Build a Rocketship Contest: Alternative Class A Instructions and Suggestions."
Among the longer poems, my favorites are Darren Lipman's grittily compassionate "Interview with a 22nd-Century Sex Worker;" Jenny Blackford's "Houses of the Living, Houses of the Dead," which speaks of Mesopotamia, love, death, and even the British Museum; Theodora Goss's tender "Rose Child" which speaks of wildness and loss; Alexandra Erin's quirky and timely take on artificial intelligence "Data Mine" and A. J. Odasso's darkly sharp "Sargasso Sea."
richardleis's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of great poems in a variety of genres. My favorites were usually the science fiction or horror poems; I thought the fantasy poems seemed limited to myth and history. I liked some of the supernatural tales, too, but few of them really surprised me. If I have one critique, it is that many of these poems overall seemed lacking in surprise. I don't have a lot of experience reading genre poetry, but I think poets might approach it in a more straight-forward manner and rely on existing genre tropes more diligently than, say, literary poetry. Again, though, this might really be my own ignorance at play and I'm eager to gain more experience reading these kinds of speculative and fabulist poems. I have several back issues of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association's other quarterly journals to read and I'm definitely paying for another annual membership to continue to support them.
A few of my favorite poems:
* "To the Girl Who Ran through Crop Circles" by Karen J. Weyant because of the imagery and movement, and that last stanza and final image.
* "The Rime of the Eldritch Mariner" by Adam Bolivar because this is just a really fun idea.
* "The Leviathans of Europa" by Christina Sng because I love science fiction from the point of view of aliens and the other, especially in settings like the ocean of Europa. This is the kind of science fiction poetry I would like to write.
A few of my favorite poems:
* "To the Girl Who Ran through Crop Circles" by Karen J. Weyant because of the imagery and movement, and that last stanza and final image.
* "The Rime of the Eldritch Mariner" by Adam Bolivar because this is just a really fun idea.
* "The Leviathans of Europa" by Christina Sng because I love science fiction from the point of view of aliens and the other, especially in settings like the ocean of Europa. This is the kind of science fiction poetry I would like to write.
johnreinhartpoet's review against another edition
5.0
this is a stunning anthology with truly the best sci-fi/fantasy poetry from last year. wow!
andreablythe's review against another edition
5.0
The Rhysling Anthology pulls together science fiction and fantasy poems nominated for a Rhysling Award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. As such, these poems represent many of the best works published in journals throughout the year. A multitude of forms, styles, and themes fill these pages, revealing some surprising, powerful, and gorgeous work. Always worth a read.
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