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The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2021 (F&SF #758) by Sheree Renée Thomas
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
Kinda decided against writing a full review. I just want to quickly write a note about why I am so happy to be a subscriber and my favorite things in this issue. I have read this magazine all my life off and on. Picking it up at the rack when stories by certain authors caught my interest. Recently learning the history of the magazine by researching the co-founder Anthony Boucher for an episode of the podcast (featuring publisher Gordan Van Gelder) really got me thinking about the importance of this magazine and that I wanted to be around forever. So I put my money where my mouth is and got a subscription.
This is the first issue I have read edited by Sheree Renee' Thomas, A writer whose stories I have read a few times and enjoyed. I follow her online and thought She was a great choice for the editor. It is clear that she was by the international feeling of this issue.
My favorite piece was the cover novella by Nalo Hopkinson - "Broad Duty Water." It is a Cli-fi somewhat cyberpunk tale that plays with a similar future and vibe to Stormland the latest by Cyperpunk legend John Shirley. Hopkinson's story here is just the most solid in the issue that I wished was a whole novel. Here is hoping she explores this future again.
I enjoy the more sci-fi stories than the fantasy ones so my other favorite was the Australian set "The Vast Silence" by T.R. Napper. This was a really good story with subtle but effective world-building.
I am glad I got the subscription. I hope you will follow me.
This is the first issue I have read edited by Sheree Renee' Thomas, A writer whose stories I have read a few times and enjoyed. I follow her online and thought She was a great choice for the editor. It is clear that she was by the international feeling of this issue.
My favorite piece was the cover novella by Nalo Hopkinson - "Broad Duty Water." It is a Cli-fi somewhat cyberpunk tale that plays with a similar future and vibe to Stormland the latest by Cyperpunk legend John Shirley. Hopkinson's story here is just the most solid in the issue that I wished was a whole novel. Here is hoping she explores this future again.
I enjoy the more sci-fi stories than the fantasy ones so my other favorite was the Australian set "The Vast Silence" by T.R. Napper. This was a really good story with subtle but effective world-building.
I am glad I got the subscription. I hope you will follow me.
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is the November/December 2021 issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, the first issue I’ve read from cover to cover and in general I liked what I’ve read.
Contents:
Letter from the Editor: Gathering Light essay by Sheree Renée Thomas a general overview of works in the issue plus musings about needing more light in these gloomy times
Broad Dutty Water novelette by Nalo Hopkinson a story about a girl Jacquee and her pet pig with a voxvoder named Lickchop. They live in a water world after global warming changed Earth. She takes her Uncle Silvis’s ultralight (a kind of plane) but on her flight faces a storm and crashes, having to fight for her life. It reads as a part of a series set in this world, per se a-ok read but not great. 2.5*
A Dime short story by Robin Hobb an ill woman travels to a payphone booth shortly before Christmas, for this special phone connect not only thru distance. A poignant Christmas story. 3*
What Makes You Forget short story by Victor Pseftakis a weird piece about a hard-working woman going to ask a wish at a ‘Hole’, some kind of mysterious artefact, granting wishes for a price. She has two kids, a drunkard for a husband and works as a violinist – what should she sacrifice? 2*
A Vast Silence novelette by T. R. Napper a near future and two small crooks rob a wrong woman, getting something valuable, they don’t know what. 3*
Books to Look For (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021) essay by Charles de Lint out of listed I’ve read only [b:We Are Satellites|53431508|We Are Satellites|Sarah Pinsker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600266794l/53431508._SX50_.jpg|83019442], reviews of others hasn’t picked my interest. 2*
Books (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021) essay by James Sallis a detailed review of Octavia E. Butler: Kindred, Fledgling, Collected Stories 3*
The Reckoning short story by Alexander Glass a historical/SF mix for those in the know, Will and Kit meet in an Elizabethan bar. Midway we find out they are and one came with a strange proposal to another. 3*
Castellia novelette by Graham Edwards a fantasy about an old lady Isobel, who is a chanter that wakes up a castle named Byre. The awakened fortress can move, feel (but not see) and is ordered on a mission 3*
Laki novelette by Eleanor Arnason a story as if based on the author’s five-times great-grandmother Sofia Thordsdottir dairy. She was born in 1775 on a farm in southern Iceland and survived the Laki Rift eruption, the real catastrophe that killed 20–25% of the population. She and her family meet trolls and survives. 4*
How to Hear the Stars poem by Mary Soon Lee
How to Count Astronomically poem by Mary Soon Lee
Ways of the Multiverse poem by Vincent Miskell
Mad Milk novella by Natalia Theodoridou a (pseudo-)historical story about the army of the Epyroteans, who came with revenge to the Minoreans. Their leader is Semandra, whose husband/lover was supposedly killed by the Minoreans in a raid for which they now want a retribution. She was a woman advisor/lover Phyllida. Epyroteans’ ‘secret weapon’ is Mad milk – a concoction that makes them insensible to pain and fatigue, turning them temporary to berserks. The story does show why Semandra leads, for she is neither a super-strategist nor a popular leader and this makes the story flat. 2*
Coming Attractions (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021) essay by uncredited nothing that captured my attention
Films: Worth the Wait? essay by David J. Skal a review of movies: [1] Raya and the Last Dragon, [2] Chaos Walking
Science: Telescopes in Fact and Fiction essay by Jerry Oltion a nice pop-science on why cannot we build a telescope to see a person of he Moon. 5*
Jeopardy! essay by uncredited a humorous competition, readers gave us both an answer and question, where the answer is a science fiction/fantasy story, and the question is a humorous take on the title. The first prize for
Question: What is: You’re gonna need a bigger goat?
Subgenre essay by uncredited another competition, Take your favorite subgenre, then write a sentence or two (or even more, but no more than fifty words) that can only be written or spoken within that subgenre.
Lajos and His Bees short story by К. А. Терина a fantasy fairytale-like story, about an enigmatic ‘whisperer’ Lajos who lives alone in the nearby mountains and keeps bees. He makes terrifying carvings and the bees made wonderful honey. Once he falls in love. 3*
The Black Dog Gone Gray short story by Hayley Stone an older woman-werewolf takes a young were-girl to teach her. 3*
A Demon's Christmas Carol short story by Jennie Goloboy kids’ abused by a foster mother summon a (goodhearted) demon’s who is glad to return to Earth, where once he was in love with a man. Another Christmas story. 3*
Curiosities: Shadows Move Among Them by Edgar Mittelhölzer (1951) essay by Paul Di Filippo a review of [b:Shadows Move Among Them|7827818|Shadows Move Among Them|Edgar Mittelholzer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1267947674l/7827818._SY75_.jpg|10883548]
Contents:
Letter from the Editor: Gathering Light essay by Sheree Renée Thomas a general overview of works in the issue plus musings about needing more light in these gloomy times
Broad Dutty Water novelette by Nalo Hopkinson a story about a girl Jacquee and her pet pig with a voxvoder named Lickchop. They live in a water world after global warming changed Earth. She takes her Uncle Silvis’s ultralight (a kind of plane) but on her flight faces a storm and crashes, having to fight for her life. It reads as a part of a series set in this world, per se a-ok read but not great. 2.5*
A Dime short story by Robin Hobb an ill woman travels to a payphone booth shortly before Christmas, for this special phone connect not only thru distance. A poignant Christmas story. 3*
What Makes You Forget short story by Victor Pseftakis a weird piece about a hard-working woman going to ask a wish at a ‘Hole’, some kind of mysterious artefact, granting wishes for a price. She has two kids, a drunkard for a husband and works as a violinist – what should she sacrifice? 2*
A Vast Silence novelette by T. R. Napper a near future and two small crooks rob a wrong woman, getting something valuable, they don’t know what. 3*
Books to Look For (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021) essay by Charles de Lint out of listed I’ve read only [b:We Are Satellites|53431508|We Are Satellites|Sarah Pinsker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600266794l/53431508._SX50_.jpg|83019442], reviews of others hasn’t picked my interest. 2*
Books (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021) essay by James Sallis a detailed review of Octavia E. Butler: Kindred, Fledgling, Collected Stories 3*
The Reckoning short story by Alexander Glass a historical/SF mix for those in the know, Will and Kit meet in an Elizabethan bar. Midway we find out they are
Spoiler
Christopher ‘Kit’ Marlowe, the Elizabethan playwright and William ShakespeareCastellia novelette by Graham Edwards a fantasy about an old lady Isobel, who is a chanter that wakes up a castle named Byre. The awakened fortress can move, feel (but not see) and is ordered on a mission 3*
Laki novelette by Eleanor Arnason a story as if based on the author’s five-times great-grandmother Sofia Thordsdottir dairy. She was born in 1775 on a farm in southern Iceland and survived the Laki Rift eruption, the real catastrophe that killed 20–25% of the population. She and her family meet trolls and survives. 4*
How to Hear the Stars poem by Mary Soon Lee
How to Count Astronomically poem by Mary Soon Lee
Ways of the Multiverse poem by Vincent Miskell
Mad Milk novella by Natalia Theodoridou a (pseudo-)historical story about the army of the Epyroteans, who came with revenge to the Minoreans. Their leader is Semandra, whose husband/lover was supposedly killed by the Minoreans in a raid for which they now want a retribution. She was a woman advisor/lover Phyllida. Epyroteans’ ‘secret weapon’ is Mad milk – a concoction that makes them insensible to pain and fatigue, turning them temporary to berserks. The story does show why Semandra leads, for she is neither a super-strategist nor a popular leader and this makes the story flat. 2*
Coming Attractions (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2021) essay by uncredited nothing that captured my attention
Films: Worth the Wait? essay by David J. Skal a review of movies: [1] Raya and the Last Dragon, [2] Chaos Walking
Science: Telescopes in Fact and Fiction essay by Jerry Oltion a nice pop-science on why cannot we build a telescope to see a person of he Moon. 5*
Jeopardy! essay by uncredited a humorous competition, readers gave us both an answer and question, where the answer is a science fiction/fantasy story, and the question is a humorous take on the title. The first prize for
Spoiler
Answer: Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg.Question: What is: You’re gonna need a bigger goat?
Subgenre essay by uncredited another competition, Take your favorite subgenre, then write a sentence or two (or even more, but no more than fifty words) that can only be written or spoken within that subgenre.
Lajos and His Bees short story by К. А. Терина a fantasy fairytale-like story, about an enigmatic ‘whisperer’ Lajos who lives alone in the nearby mountains and keeps bees. He makes terrifying carvings and the bees made wonderful honey. Once he falls in love. 3*
The Black Dog Gone Gray short story by Hayley Stone an older woman-werewolf takes a young were-girl to teach her. 3*
A Demon's Christmas Carol short story by Jennie Goloboy kids’ abused by a foster mother summon a (goodhearted) demon’s who is glad to return to Earth, where once he was in love with a man. Another Christmas story. 3*
Curiosities: Shadows Move Among Them by Edgar Mittelhölzer (1951) essay by Paul Di Filippo a review of [b:Shadows Move Among Them|7827818|Shadows Move Among Them|Edgar Mittelholzer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1267947674l/7827818._SY75_.jpg|10883548]
rivqa's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
More...