Reviews

Uncanny Magazine Issue 55: November/December 2023 by Monte Lin, Michael Damian Thomas, Lynne M. Thomas

lukesanby's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

• [Naomi Kritzer] 4.5⋆     Before the pandemic it might have been difficult to imagine a community banding together this closely without the cliché of someone with a strong personality vying for control with extreme violence. This is the much more realistic vision for what might happen and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
• [Jeffrey Ford] 2⋆           I did not enjoy this story. The frenetic fight scene in particular slowed it to a crawl. 
• [Kel Coleman] 5⋆          This story, with the help of the song I was listening to as I read it, sent me back to being 16. The use of your Other rings so true to me. ~1 
• [Cecil Castellucci] 4⋆    Interesting to find the word “proctor” rather than “invigilator”, I quite like it. The story wrapped up a little fast, but it was otherwise satisfying. 
• [Marissa Lingen] 3.5⋆   Just as I got excited for the road trip it ends? I would enjoy more with these characters. 
• [Chelsea Sutton] 4⋆      The use of poetic structure and formatting for the soliloquy sections was very effective. The frustration of the play chosen being the one which opens her up in a vulnerable way is universally relatable. 
• [Ana Hurtado] 3.5⋆       I’m not sure I understood this story. But the ending was pretty. 
• [John Scalzi] 4⋆ I guess I’m watching Speed Racer this weekend? 
• [Amanda-Rae Prescott] 4⋆        Like all great essays, I finished this one wanting to have a discussion with the writer. I hadn’t thought about the potential for very interesting Afrofuturism settings/plots with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor. A great perspective and understanding, but I would have liked to know how both the legal framing of the BBC remit (and its binding responsibility to have diverse programming, which it fails to provide), the current BBC Commissioner and Tories dedicated to bringing an end to the BBC will affect this era of Doctor Who. 
• [Paul Cornell] 4⋆          Very well informed. I tend to find ghost stories uninteresting, but this has made me want to try these ones. This stirred up some emotions once I realised these were the ghost stories my mum loved to watch at Christmas. 
• [Lee Mandelo] 5⋆         Everything about this article gave me a sense of validation in my own observations surrounding the current “anti-” climate. I enjoyed the insights and further reading opportunities. 
• [Carlie St. George] 4.5⋆            I didn’t think I liked this poem, but days later I’m still thinking about it. It accuses the reader; it confronts their hypocrisy? Then follows up with a revelation, rather than forgiveness, as a gift to the reader. 
• [Tehnuka] 4⋆    The last six lines are powerful, and manage to pack in many concepts succinctly. I spent an embarrassing amount of time googling mannikkūdu to no avail, only to find as I finished there was a glossary at the very end. 
• [Lora Gray] 5⋆  The third stanza stands out as beautiful, as much as the fifth is sad and a little existential. The form demands a frenetic reading, and is confronted in the first line of the fourth stanza, ultimately convincing you to change how you read the rest of the poem. 
• [Angela Liu] 4.5⋆          Effectively paints a disturbing picture. I’ve come back to this poem multiple times since finishing it. 

Overall

Uncanny has a penchant for interesting literature. Sometimes it leans out of my areas of true passion for a whole issue like this one, and yet the storytelling and writing are so well done it does not disappoint. It is my favourite magazine for SF/F short fiction. 

Music

 

• Beltaine — Rockhill 
• In Flames — Come Clarity [song] ~1 
• Eluveitie — Helvetios 
• Eluveitie — Origins 
• Eluveitie — Slania 
• Eluveitie — Evocation 1 
• Eluveitie — Everything Remains 
• Eluveitie — Ategnatos 

bookwyrmknits's review

3.25

This was a mixed bag of short fiction—the bits I liked I loved a lot, and the bits I didn't like I generally REALLY didn't like. The stand-out by far was “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer. “A Piece of the Continent” by Marissa Lingen was also quite enjoyable. I read the nonfiction articles this time, too, and really liked the article by Amanda-Rae Prescott on Doctor Who regenerating into a Black man.

puck1008's review against another edition

4.0

Uncanny magazine always delivers. Highly recommended.

howardgo's review

3.0

Originally published at myreadinglife.com.

This is my last magazine review for my year of short fiction. I'll continue to read short fiction in the new year, but it will be individual stories and anthologies rather that magazines. My reviews here will be mainly for books, though I may read the occasional short fiction magazine as well. My short fiction page will continue to list my favorite short fiction short stories.

Now, here are my reviews for the November/December issue of Uncanny magazine.

"The Year Without Sunshine" by Naomi Kritzer: A neighborhood block bands together after a disaster returns them to nearly basic subsistence. The action is centered around making sure a woman with COPD has supplemental oxygen to breath and stay alive. More broadly, it is about how this one neighborhood unselfishly worked together to survive while a nearby suburb was more like every man for himself. (My rating: 4/5)

"The Pandemonium Waltz" by Jeffrey Ford: A neighbor and his wife learn of their neighbor couples' odd experience at an exclusive traveling waltz exhibition. This starts out very matter-of-fact and gets more creepy as it goes on. The question explored is when does a story told to you become your story rather than theirs? Not really my cup of tea. (My rating: 3/5)

"The Quiet of Drowning" by Kel Coleman: A teenage girl whose aunt killed herself is checked into a psych ward after attempting suicide. Very disturbing story of someone dealing with urges of self-harm. It is the first thing that has helped me to understand even a little the temptation to harm oneself. The girl sees herself and an Other. The Other is the one who keeps tempting her. (My rating: 4/5)

"We’re Looking for the Best" by Cecil Castellucci: A woman who has just lost her job meets an old boss going to a job interview and agrees to join her. I can't say much more without giving too much away on this one. An interesting tale of finding your niche. (My rating: 4/5)

"A Piece of the Continent" by Marissa Lingen: A young woman and her friend set off from Boston to Alaska to scatter their grandfathers' ashes. They encounter supernatural danger along the way that brings them even closer. (My rating: 4/5)

"End of Play" by Chelsea Sutton: The author tells of a play he has written and its first performance. It is also sort of in the style of a play. It feels like a lot of things that don't really come together for me. (My rating: 2/5)

"Esqueleto" by Ana Hurtado: A child tries to get his mother to understand that they live in a whale carcass that is being consumed. This story is a word salad that makes almost no sense. It is like a poem trying to be a story that succeeds at neither. I didn't even finish reading it. (My rating: 1/5)

The average rating for a story in this issue was only 3.14 out of five stars. That story with a one rating and none with a five really brought the average down for this issue.

kbhenrickson's review

3.0

This issue didn’t have as many stories, poems, or essays that I connected with, but it still had some high points. My absolute favorite story was “The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer - a story about how a community could come together and support its members in a future climate disaster rather than turn to dystopia. I also really liked “A Piece of the Continent” by Marissa Lingen, and “The Pandemonium Waltz” by Jeffrey Ford was a creepy mind-bender.

cathepsut's review

challenging informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

Very pretty cover!

- The Year Without Sunshine by Naomi Kritzer.
10883 WORDS ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

First paragraph:
“During one of the much smaller disasters that preceded the really big disaster, I met a lot of my neighbors online. I can’t remember if we set up the WhatsApp group because of the pandemic or the civil disorder or both. My Minneapolis block had always been reasonably friendly—people would take their kids around on Halloween, and I knew the names of my next-door neighbors—but everyone on the WhatsApp group got closer.”

When the Internet goes down, the mobile phones stop working and the electricity starts to go periodically, the neighbourhood deals with it all step by step and together. It is never spelled out why there is a grey sky full of ash and little sunshine. Bizarrely, this story looks at the good in people during an end-of-modern-society scenario. A feel-good story that trusts in people caring for each other. Nice!

- We’re Looking for the Best by Cecil Castellucci
5939 WORDS 👻👻👻👻
A slightly unusual ghost story. Our MC probably just committed suicide—it‘s not spelled out. And she gets a new job… I liked it. I will look for other things by the author.

- A Piece of the Continent by Marissa Lingen
4492 WORDS ⚱️⚱️⚱️
“Ollie’s and my plan was simple enough: we were going to drive our grandfathers’ ashes to Alaska.”
Odd little ghost story. About family and friendship.

- The Pandemonium Waltz by Jeffrey Ford
4168 WORDS ⭐️⭐️
Fantastical story about couples waltzing. Not for me, couldn’t get into it.

- End of Play by Chelsea Sutton
4253 WORDS 👻👻
A tale about a failed love story, told by a playwright talking about her stage play and the dead actor still practicing for his role. Breaking the 4th wall. Odd. Too artistic for me.

- The Quiet of Drowning by Kel Coleman
5806 WORDS. Content Note: graphic self-harm, suicidal ideation, eating disorders.
Skipping this one because of the content note, really don‘t want to read that.

- Essay: Scalzi on Film: Speed Racer‘s Long Road
1987 WORDS 🚗🚗🚗🚗
I don‘t think I have ever watched this movie, I have to look for it. The best bit about this essay was Scalzi‘s author bio… 😂

Everything can be found here: https://www.uncannymagazine.com/issue...

Please follow the link and read the poetry as well. Interesting, but really hard to understand and rate.

djwudi's review against another edition

3.0

My favorites this issue were Naomi Kritzer’s “The Year Without Sunshine”, Cecil Castelluci’s “We’re Looking for the Best”, and John Scalzi’s “Speed Racer’s Long Road”, which actually has me thinking about rewatching _Speed Racer_, which I haven’t seen since it first hit video.