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richardleis's review against another edition
4.0
Fantasy Magazine has been on hiatus for several years, but new editors Arley Sorg and Christie Yant have relaunched the magazine starting with Issue 61 and four short or flash prose pieces and two poems, along with interviews. In their opening editorial, Sorg and Yant discuss why they’re bringing the magazine back now; it’s a timely relaunch, to be sure.
I haven’t read previous issues of Fantasy, so I’m not able to point out what might have changed, or not changed, between the first sixty issues and this new one, but overall I’m impressed with the quality of the stories and poems by a diverse group of writers and poets. Interviews with some of them reveal accomplishments and youth that make me feel a little jealous, but also joyful and really, really impressed. Speculative literature is in good hands, both editorial and authorial.
In “And This is How to Stay Alive” by Shingai Njeri Kagunda, grief follows the unexpected death of a family member, but time, and Time, might offer a way back to pivotal moments that could still make a difference. It’s a heartbreaking and hopeful story that offers a compelling alternative to Western conceptions of time. I appreciate the exploration of love and empathy between siblings here, and how they could stand as a bulwark to the misguided and uninformed bigotries of parents.
A collective provides instruction in “An Introduction” by Reina Hardy, with a voice full of authority and attitude that is both decidedly concrete and delightfully ambiguous at the same time. This might need to be read a couple times, but it’s really short flash fiction that naturally drew me back to the beginning.
There seemed to be ambiguity in “To Look Forward” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu, until I realized I needed to read the short story literally. Friends certain and uncertain about their academic paths forward into Senior school as they approach their Junior school graduation in Nigeria gather at a swing set and reveal their choices through their very natures and abilities. This story drew me in immediately because I remember so vividly how I used to swing, point my feet to the sky, and feel delicious terror at the very thought of falling up and up if I were to let go.
I also love “Love Laws and a Locked Heart” by Tamoha Sengupta, a short fairy tale about a princess, a creep wizard, love, and identity. Sengupta crafts such an amazing protagonist in so few words.
The description and specific sensory details of a beloved are equally as strong in the poem “things i love about my werewolf girlfriend” by May Chong. I’m so happy to read poetry in this issue and fingers crossed poetry will be featured regularly in future issues. The other poem, “The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same” by Sarah Grey, makes use of form and imperatives to explore a particular cure for heartbreak, but the cure might be even more vicious than the broken heart. Then again, why shouldn’t it be?
A note about the poetry, though: at least in my epub copy of the magazine, the poems are images rather than text that can be highlighted, presumably to retain their forms. The image quality isn’t as high as native text, so these pages looked a little funny to me, but were readable.
The interview with SL Huang by Sorg, as well as interviews with the short story writers by Sorg and Yant, provide further insights into the authors’ works and their writing processes, which I’m always excited to read about.
I’m really here for this relaunch, and happy to say that my decision to purchase a lifetime subscription was indeed the right call. The font of the magazine’s name on the cover is amazing, in my opinion, as is the artwork by Alexandra Petruk. Fantasy is going to be another favorite magazine along with Lightspeed and Nightmare!
I haven’t read previous issues of Fantasy, so I’m not able to point out what might have changed, or not changed, between the first sixty issues and this new one, but overall I’m impressed with the quality of the stories and poems by a diverse group of writers and poets. Interviews with some of them reveal accomplishments and youth that make me feel a little jealous, but also joyful and really, really impressed. Speculative literature is in good hands, both editorial and authorial.
In “And This is How to Stay Alive” by Shingai Njeri Kagunda, grief follows the unexpected death of a family member, but time, and Time, might offer a way back to pivotal moments that could still make a difference. It’s a heartbreaking and hopeful story that offers a compelling alternative to Western conceptions of time. I appreciate the exploration of love and empathy between siblings here, and how they could stand as a bulwark to the misguided and uninformed bigotries of parents.
A collective provides instruction in “An Introduction” by Reina Hardy, with a voice full of authority and attitude that is both decidedly concrete and delightfully ambiguous at the same time. This might need to be read a couple times, but it’s really short flash fiction that naturally drew me back to the beginning.
There seemed to be ambiguity in “To Look Forward” by Osahon Ize-Iyamu, until I realized I needed to read the short story literally. Friends certain and uncertain about their academic paths forward into Senior school as they approach their Junior school graduation in Nigeria gather at a swing set and reveal their choices through their very natures and abilities. This story drew me in immediately because I remember so vividly how I used to swing, point my feet to the sky, and feel delicious terror at the very thought of falling up and up if I were to let go.
I also love “Love Laws and a Locked Heart” by Tamoha Sengupta, a short fairy tale about a princess, a creep wizard, love, and identity. Sengupta crafts such an amazing protagonist in so few words.
The description and specific sensory details of a beloved are equally as strong in the poem “things i love about my werewolf girlfriend” by May Chong. I’m so happy to read poetry in this issue and fingers crossed poetry will be featured regularly in future issues. The other poem, “The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same” by Sarah Grey, makes use of form and imperatives to explore a particular cure for heartbreak, but the cure might be even more vicious than the broken heart. Then again, why shouldn’t it be?
A note about the poetry, though: at least in my epub copy of the magazine, the poems are images rather than text that can be highlighted, presumably to retain their forms. The image quality isn’t as high as native text, so these pages looked a little funny to me, but were readable.
The interview with SL Huang by Sorg, as well as interviews with the short story writers by Sorg and Yant, provide further insights into the authors’ works and their writing processes, which I’m always excited to read about.
I’m really here for this relaunch, and happy to say that my decision to purchase a lifetime subscription was indeed the right call. The font of the magazine’s name on the cover is amazing, in my opinion, as is the artwork by Alexandra Petruk. Fantasy is going to be another favorite magazine along with Lightspeed and Nightmare!
dsnake1's review against another edition
4.0
And This is How to Stay Alive by Shingai Njeri Kagunda
That content warning is on the nose. Anyway, the first Baraka section was the best writing in the entire story, and I thought it was solid until the first Time section. It wasn't bad after that, but it just dipped a bit. Honestly, I think each section is better than the next for that first half (before Time). Overall, another round or two of revisions could have strengthened this to keep more emotion in the back half of the story, and the ending didn't work for me, either.
things i love about my werewolf girlfriend by May Chong
Can't say I liked this one much. It was fine, and I suppose it's a 'fun' poem, but it just didnt' do anything for me. It reminded me of a poem version of werewolf romances on Wattpad, which are good if you like them, but they're not my cup of tea.
An Introduction by Reina Hardy
I really liked this one. It plays with some magical realism tropes and some portal fantasy tropes (while distinctly saying it's *not* a portal fantasy). To me, it's saying that you have an opportunity to see things as they are, how they truly are, but there are some sacrifices along the way (looking insane, not having much material wealth, etc). It's only 600 words, so there's a lot it leaves open-ended, but it gave me strong The Starless Sea vibes, which is one of my all-time favorites. Essentially, magic is real and you (as in the 2nd person you in the story but also the reader) have the opportunity to take it or leave it. I thought some of the writing could have been shored up a tad, but honestly, some of that may have been deliberate. At times, it comes off as pretentious, as if the author was trying to be too cute for 600 words, but the line about arrogance makes me wonder if Hardy wasn't going for that. Regardless, I really liked it.
The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same by Sarah Grey
Now this poem, I really liked. I'm not an expert on poetry, and I have even less experience with heartbreak, but this felt raw, evoked emotion, and was a joy to read. Now I want a poetry collection modeled after a cookbook, where the poems are recipes. Now, what is the poem doing in Fantasy Magazine? I don't know. It's a little witchy with some of its ingredients, but it doesn't feel like spec fic poetry to me unless we're counting all kinds of practices and religions as spec fic. I'm not disappointed it's in there, as I really enjoyed it and wouldn't have found it otherwise, but I'm just a tad surprised, I suppose.
To Look Forward by Osahon Ize-Iyamu
I didn't like this one. It's well-written. It's a good coming-of-age story about the pressures placed on youths to excel and conform. It's a wonderful depiction of anxiety and overcoming it in a way that fits an individual. It just didn't hook me. I can certainly see why some people would like this, why some will love it. It just didn't do anything for me. Honestly, this felt way more literary than I'd expect from a magazine titled Fantasy Magazine. That's not inherently bad, but the spec fic elements are really underplayed and simply don't matter, in the sense that they really don't impact the story and function well as entirely metaphorical.
Love Laws and a Locked Heart by Tamoha Sengupta
This was fine. It's flash fantasy with an interesting concept, but the climax and conclusion were lackluster to me. In my opinion, it should have either been a short story (so longer than the ~1k words it ended at), or it should have taken less time with the background and put more of a focus on the conclusion. It gets a bit blunt right at the climax, whereas it hadn't been near as bare-bones leading up to it, and it carries that bluntness through to the end. I think it would have been interesting to see this reworked to give it a more fable/fairy tale feel. That would allow the story to maintain its bluntness without feeling lacking in the end. Again, all of that's just an opinion. I think the story's fine as it is, too.
Quick rundown:
Liked: An Introduction, The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same
Meh: And This is How to Stay Alive, Love Laws and a Locked Heart
Disliked: things i love about my werewolf girlfriend, To Look Forward
Overall, I'm honestly a little surprised. This magazine is titled Fantasy Magazine, but this issue specifically was heavily literary. I'm not saying you can't have literary fantasy, of course, but The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same and To Look Forward both could pass as not-fantasy pretty easily. Still, I did enjoy myself throughout the magazine (although To Look Forward took me way too long to read for 5k words). An Introduction and The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same are going on potential re-read lists, as well.
The nonfiction pieces were solid, too. They're just three interviews (two with authors published in this issue), but they weren't rough to read or anything. I'm a little shocked that Osahon Ize-Iyamu is only 17, though. I'd imagine he'll work his way up the ladder pretty quickly. I think To Look Forward has award potential, and if he's pumping that out now, it'll only go up. So if anyone is trying to put together a list of up-and-coming African authors, add his name to the list.
That content warning is on the nose. Anyway, the first Baraka section was the best writing in the entire story, and I thought it was solid until the first Time section. It wasn't bad after that, but it just dipped a bit. Honestly, I think each section is better than the next for that first half (before Time). Overall, another round or two of revisions could have strengthened this to keep more emotion in the back half of the story, and the ending didn't work for me, either.
things i love about my werewolf girlfriend by May Chong
Can't say I liked this one much. It was fine, and I suppose it's a 'fun' poem, but it just didnt' do anything for me. It reminded me of a poem version of werewolf romances on Wattpad, which are good if you like them, but they're not my cup of tea.
An Introduction by Reina Hardy
I really liked this one. It plays with some magical realism tropes and some portal fantasy tropes (while distinctly saying it's *not* a portal fantasy). To me, it's saying that you have an opportunity to see things as they are, how they truly are, but there are some sacrifices along the way (looking insane, not having much material wealth, etc). It's only 600 words, so there's a lot it leaves open-ended, but it gave me strong The Starless Sea vibes, which is one of my all-time favorites. Essentially, magic is real and you (as in the 2nd person you in the story but also the reader) have the opportunity to take it or leave it. I thought some of the writing could have been shored up a tad, but honestly, some of that may have been deliberate. At times, it comes off as pretentious, as if the author was trying to be too cute for 600 words, but the line about arrogance makes me wonder if Hardy wasn't going for that. Regardless, I really liked it.
The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same by Sarah Grey
Now this poem, I really liked. I'm not an expert on poetry, and I have even less experience with heartbreak, but this felt raw, evoked emotion, and was a joy to read. Now I want a poetry collection modeled after a cookbook, where the poems are recipes. Now, what is the poem doing in Fantasy Magazine? I don't know. It's a little witchy with some of its ingredients, but it doesn't feel like spec fic poetry to me unless we're counting all kinds of practices and religions as spec fic. I'm not disappointed it's in there, as I really enjoyed it and wouldn't have found it otherwise, but I'm just a tad surprised, I suppose.
To Look Forward by Osahon Ize-Iyamu
I didn't like this one. It's well-written. It's a good coming-of-age story about the pressures placed on youths to excel and conform. It's a wonderful depiction of anxiety and overcoming it in a way that fits an individual. It just didn't hook me. I can certainly see why some people would like this, why some will love it. It just didn't do anything for me. Honestly, this felt way more literary than I'd expect from a magazine titled Fantasy Magazine. That's not inherently bad, but the spec fic elements are really underplayed and simply don't matter, in the sense that they really don't impact the story and function well as entirely metaphorical.
Love Laws and a Locked Heart by Tamoha Sengupta
This was fine. It's flash fantasy with an interesting concept, but the climax and conclusion were lackluster to me. In my opinion, it should have either been a short story (so longer than the ~1k words it ended at), or it should have taken less time with the background and put more of a focus on the conclusion. It gets a bit blunt right at the climax, whereas it hadn't been near as bare-bones leading up to it, and it carries that bluntness through to the end. I think it would have been interesting to see this reworked to give it a more fable/fairy tale feel. That would allow the story to maintain its bluntness without feeling lacking in the end. Again, all of that's just an opinion. I think the story's fine as it is, too.
Quick rundown:
Liked: An Introduction, The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same
Meh: And This is How to Stay Alive, Love Laws and a Locked Heart
Disliked: things i love about my werewolf girlfriend, To Look Forward
Overall, I'm honestly a little surprised. This magazine is titled Fantasy Magazine, but this issue specifically was heavily literary. I'm not saying you can't have literary fantasy, of course, but The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same and To Look Forward both could pass as not-fantasy pretty easily. Still, I did enjoy myself throughout the magazine (although To Look Forward took me way too long to read for 5k words). An Introduction and The Secret Ingredient is Always the Same are going on potential re-read lists, as well.
The nonfiction pieces were solid, too. They're just three interviews (two with authors published in this issue), but they weren't rough to read or anything. I'm a little shocked that Osahon Ize-Iyamu is only 17, though. I'd imagine he'll work his way up the ladder pretty quickly. I think To Look Forward has award potential, and if he's pumping that out now, it'll only go up. So if anyone is trying to put together a list of up-and-coming African authors, add his name to the list.
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