I just got back from a two-week vacation in Greece. While I was there I read in addition to doing touristy things. I’ll get to the review of all I read there later. First up is this review of the stories in the July issue of Lightspeed Magazine that I finished just before leaving on vacation.

The lead story is “Six Months After All Life on Titan Died” by J.B. Park. The format of this story is unique. It is written in the form of prompts for an artificial intelligence. While I appreciated the format, for me the story was just okay. (My rating: 3/5)

Next up was “Death Is Better” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe where a young slave and his sister attempt to escape slavery but a giant robot stands in their way. This story is very emotional and pulled me in right away. (My rating: 5/5)

I always appreciate stories that show me a different way to look at things. “The Bodhi Tree Asks Only For the Safe Return of Her Lover” by Ashok K. Banker is written in first person from the perspective of a tree seeking to negotiate peace in a war between humans and the trees. The difference in length of life offers a truly unique take. And the format is almost epistolary. (My rating: 4/5)

If you are from my generation, then you surely remember Live Aid and We Are the World. “The United Systems of Goodwill Concert Series and the Greatest Performance of All Time” by James Van Pelt felt like a cosmic version of those musical charity events. After a disaster, a collection of the system’s best bands plays a series of mega rock concerts. (My rating: 5/5)

The first of the fantasy stories in this issue is “Monsters of the Drunken Shore” by Nic Anstett. Since it is in written in the second person, you see a monster come out of the sea as you contemplate your first wild weekend as an adult. It may bring back your first time drinking or having sex. (My rating: 3/5)

I grew up in New York State near Syracuse and the surrounding area. It is always fun to read a story like “Starpoop” by Sandra McDonald that takes place in a setting you are very familiar with. And this story is so good. A woman with memory issues tries to live her life with her grandson, Starpoop, a social media star who seems to be perpetually three years old. Highly recommended. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Real Worlds” by Lauren Bajek is a family camping trip that doesn’t go quite as planned. A girl with her family camps between worlds as her father tries to get tenure for altering realities. Somewhat trippy but engaging. (My rating: 4/5)

“Muna in Barish” by Isha Karki is a story about writing and books. A worker in a bookstore is almost an indentured servant who dreams of becoming a published writer. She starts a correspondence with a famous author. And when that author comes to her bookshop, it don’t go as she expects. A wonderful allegory of those in the under classes supporting one another. (My rating: 5/5)

With four five-star stories, I think this issue is my highest rated so far at 4.25. All the stories are available to read for free. What are you waiting for?

All the stories in the June issue are now available to read free online. Here are my brief reviews for each.

Dominique Dickey writes about a biracial couple of dating teenage boys who take a “Spaceship Joyride” by hot-wiring a school vehicle. When stopped by the police, both are terrified. Also, ll the uncertainties and exciting feelings of new relationships are there. (My rating: 3/5)

Ruth Joffre gives us “Queen of the Andes” where Bolivian climate refugees struggle with the decision to leave a dying planet or stay and preserve the eponymous plant. One character tries to decide if he should take a seed and leave while others consider such a choice a betrayal. An unflinching look at how climate change can influence indigenous people. Yet I still wanted there to be more to the story. (My rating: 3/5)

When you are living on a multi-generation space ark, there isn’t much to do for fun. So, a pair of young people on separate space arks traveling together decide to make a perilous jump between them. This is “Jaywalk the Stars” by Elad Haber. It has a good built up but I found the climax a little banal. (My rating: 3/5)

Wendy Nikel tells a haunting tale in the desert in “The Bone Gatherer’s Lament“. As he travels the desert gathering and listening to the bones, he contemplates how to share what he hears. His solution is creative and beautiful. This piece of flash fiction is lyrical and poetic, a real work of beauty. (My rating: 4/5)

The other flash fiction story is a wonder of storytelling. Rich Larson give us “Always Personal” in only 743 words! In it a detective is investigating a serial killer who uses genetically coded bone daggers that grow inside the victim and kill them from the inside out. A chilling and gripping piece. (My rating: 4/5)

In “Philoctetes in Kabul“, Deborah L. Davitt tells of a veteran of Afghanistan who is forced to leave the Army due to too many concussions. He is not happy with having to leave. As he deals with his PTSD, he has hallucinations that involuntarily associate his war experience with Homer’s Odyssey. The emotion really comes through here. (My rating: 4/5)

When a boy’s father dies, he leaves him a book that is a bestiary of mythical animals that come to life out of its pages. This brings him power and wealth and the ire and jealousy of his neighbors. In the end, the gift protects the boy. “Bestiary viventum” Kyle E Miller is a beautiful story of love and overcoming grief. (My rating: 4/5)

The best story of the issue is the last—”And All the Fields Below” by Sarah Grey. After a sick boy dies, his parents prepare to move out of the home. At the last minute, the boy’s dog runs into the woods, and they are forced to leave without him. He stays because he can still see the boy in his attic bedroom. He breaks into the house to be with the boy. But then the house is purchased by a new owner. What will the dog do? A sweet tale of love and loss that pulled me right in and wouldn’t let me go. I can’t wait to read this author’s next story! (My rating: 5/5)

My average rating for the stories in this issue: 3.75 of 5.

The May issue was a bit of a mixed bag for me, I’m afraid. A couple of 5-stars and a couple of 2-stars. There are a bunch smack in the middle at three that you may find more appealing than I did. As usual, here are my brief reviews of each story.

The issue starts with “The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard, a deeply emotional tale of a young woman who escapes slavery on board derelict space ships only to return in an effort to help those left behind. The woman’s mentor in the free world tries to talk her out of it to no avail. Her determination and dedication take her to those she is trying to save, but their reaction is not what she expects. (My rating: 5/5)

Almost as good is “The Infinite Endings of Elsie Chen” by Kylie Lee Baker. A computer science grad student builds an AI machine to help her figure out why so many of her high school classmates have died so early. Reading the story I caught up in the student’s obsession in unraveling the mystery. In the process you also learn in subtle ways what led her to this obsession. (My rating: 4/5)

In “All These Ghosts Are Playing to Win” by Lindsey Godfrey Eccles, a man finds himself in a casino playing blackjack. The chips represent his memories. He is surrounded by other ghost who are trying to win their way upstairs. Though they don’t know what is up there, they expect it is better than being dumped int eh DARK when their chips run out. Suddenly he finds a ghost accompanied by her living sister. He and the living sister come up with a plan to win that doesn’t go the way they expect. A haunting tale of love and loss. (My rating: 3/5)

An odd young woman is raised by a man dedicated to preserving birds and preventing them from being used to decorate hats in “The Rain Remembers What the Sky Forgets” by Fran Wilde. In adulthood, her father sets her up as a hat maker. When her foster father dies, his widow requests that she make a hat using some of the birds from her father’s aviary. This goes against her principles, but if she refuses she will lose her inheritance. What is a girl to do? (My rating: 3/5)

“Désolé” by Ewen Ma is the story of two husbands raising a young daughter. One husband if from H city somewhere in Asia while the other is from France. They meet in school in France but make their home after graduating in H city. All residents of H city must consent to a data chip implanted in them. While his husband is away on a business trip, the husband from H city has a climbing accident and his chip is damaged and replaced with unexpected consequences. (My rating: 3/5)

For a poignant and experimental tale, read “Want Itself Is a Treasure in Heaven” by Theodora Ward. The narrator switches between telling us of the past and describing the present that followed. They and their partner join a study where they get implants that allow them to see and experience all that the other sees and feels. The narrator becomes a little too enamored with seeing through their partners eyes. This is a story about not being comfortable in your own skin. For me it is the best explanation I have read for what it must be like to be transgender. (My rating: 5/5)

The last two stories didn’t really connect with me. “A Lovers’ Tide in Which We Inevitably Break Each Other; Told in Inverse” by K.S. Walker is a creepy tale about two predators who hunt each other as well as being lovers. I didn’t really get the point, and it isn’t my sort of story. (My rating: 2/5)

And wrapping up the issue is “And For My Next Trick, I Have Disappeared” by Chimedum Ohaegbu. I had a hard time following the action in this one. A woman seems to slowly turn into a bus and then back into herself as she thinks of her old girlfriend. Again, I don’t know what this story is trying to do or make me feel. (My rating: 2/5)

Overall, my ratings for the stories in this issue average out to 3.375. The two 5-star stories really helped the average overall. While this was a weak issue for me, I still love and appreciate what the magazine does with the speculative fiction they publish.

I have another highly rated issue this month! In the May 2023 issue, Lightspeed Magazine has four five-star stories. Let’s dive right in.

The issue starts out with a story that is just “meh” for me. It’s called “Moons We Can Circumnavigate in One Day, or the Space Probe Love Story” by Natalia Theodoridou. In it, one man-made celestial probe opines about another as it approaches it’s last day before it’s batteries run out. Mildly interesting but nothing to write home about. (My rating: 3/5)

The second story is amazing! “She Blooms and the World is Changed” by Izzy Wasserstein is about a family who arrives on a thriving planet as the only humans there. Their mission is to study it. While there, their second child is born. There is something unusual about how the planet interacts with the new family member. A touching story about human hubris, family, and compassion. (My rating: 5/5)

Have you ever had a moment in your life that you wish you could go back and change? The main character in Sharang Biswas’s “When Shiva Shattered the Time-Stream” does just that. Over and over again. But things never come out the way he expects or wants no matter what he does. So what does he do in the end? Read it and find out! (My rating: 4/5)

“Blood for a Stranger” by Timothy Mudie is about artificial intelligence embedded in ships and corporate warfare in the solar system. The ships are so sophisticated, only AI built on former humans will work. But what they know is greatly restricted. What happens when they learn more than their owners want them to know? A wonderful tale of systemic injustice and agency. (My rating: 5/5)

The next tale is a run-of-the-mill wizard story called “One Heart, Lost and Found” by Kat Howard. A magician is hired by a wizard to find the heart he hid and can no longer remember where he put it. While well-written, it is the type of typical fantasy story that I just can’t get excited for. I wish it had more to say. (My rating: 3/5)

“The Sword, the Butterfly, and the Pearl” by Deborah L. Davitt verges on the edge of poetic. You find a butterfly that changes your life. You find that it empowers you in different ways as it transforms to fit the need you experience. This is more in the direction that I like fantasy to go. (My rating: 4/5)

A Nigerian tale of storytelling and hard choices, “Saturday’s Song” by Wole Talabi is haunting with multiple layers. On the surface, it is about personified day’s of the week and the titular Saturday directing their storytelling to assist her sister Wednesday. The underlying story tells of a mother and daughter with differing visions of their future. Beautiful, tragic, and uplifting all at the same time. (My rating: 5/5)

The issue wraps up with “The Belfry Keeper” by S.L. Harris. In a future world, an automaton librarian guards and protects the books in its keeping. As the humans in its world lose interest or simply go away, it continues its stewarding. But what happens to those books over the eons? And does anyone ever visit the library again? A poignant tale about knowledge and its importance and preservation. (My rating: 5/5)

The average rating for the fiction in this issue is 4.25. That’s the highest of any issue I’ve read this year! All the stories are free to read online. If you enjoy the magazine, consider subscribing to support the fantastic authors and storytelling.

The latest issue of Apex Magazine is a special issue exclusively dedicated to “Asian and Pacific Islander voices from the homelands and the diaspora.” The fiction is generally high quality and the perspectives are unique and wonderful.

The issue opens with “Loving Bone Girl” by Tehnuka. In it, a young girl who can create new places out of nothing asks her friend to keep her bones when she dies. It is a touching story of two girls finding and defining their affection for each other. (My rating: 3/5)

“Your Wings a Bridge Across the Stars” by Michelle Denham is a myth about magpies and crows making a bridge one day a year so lovers can meet on it and cry, starting the monsoon season. Another touching story but nothing out of the ordinary for me. (My rating: 3/5)

A woman scorned by her Indian village returns as a representative of an alien race in “The Flowering of Peace” by Murtaza Mohsin. She takes the opportunity to get her revenge. (My rating: 3/5)

Here the stories start to get better. “Liwani” by Sydney Paige Guerrero is the story of gods who are slowly dying out because there are fewer and fewer people believing in them. The goddess of light makes her way into the world to seek out more believers to stay alive. A wonderful story that connects the past to the present. (My rating: 4/5)

“The Matriarchs” by Lois Mei-en Kwa is a tale that twists through time. One woman attempts to send a message through time while another in a different time attempts to invent the tool that will allow her to receive it. A tale of dedication and illumination. (My rating: 4/5)

The best story of the issue is “The Toll of the Snake” by Grace P. Fong. It takes place in Hollywood during the heyday of the studio system. A Chinese woman seeks to make it big, but others with prejudice have different plans for her. I really felt immersed in the era and the struggles of the main character. A fantastic melding of myth and history. (My rating: 5/5)

One story had an extremely unique proposition. What if someone cloned themselves as a weapon but the clone had no choice in this? “Rhizomatic Diplomacy” by Vajra Chandrasekera gives me the feeling that I think they were going for regarding personal autonomy and agency, but it didn’t quite land for me. (My rating: 2/5)

The last entry is a creepy tale of a girl seeking assistance from an enchanted one-eyed koi. She gets what she seeks but at a steep price in “The Fish Bowl” by Zen Cho. The author connected me to this girl’s desperation and desire. (My rating: 4/5)

I loved seeing speculative fiction from a viewpoint wholly different from my own in this issue. With a story rating average of 3.5, this is time well-spent.

I gobbled up the April issue of Lightspeed Magazine in only two days. Unfortunately, the fiction wasn’t as good as it has been in previous issues this year. Not one 5-star story for me. ☹

AI is a strong theme in science fiction right now, and “Virtual Cherokee” by Brian K. Hudson continues this trend. It is a virtual talk show hosted by an AI. The guest is an anonymous hacker who works to give AIs consciousness. This mood and setting are bit too “social media” for me. It takes away from the story. (My rating: 3/5)

On the other hand, the setup for “Lament of a Specialist in Interspecies Relationships” by Amy Johnson is absolutely delightful and is a big part of what makes the story so good. It is a letter to a recent visitor to Earth who, let’s say, had a less than respectful attention to the rules of their visa. The letter writer attempts to gently bring up what they did wrong without alienating them. A fun and funny piece. (My rating: 4/5)

Adam-Troy Castro is becoming one of my favorite new (to me) authors. His “Spaceman Jones” is another winner. A starship captain must turn around after one of her crew disobeys orders and gets himself addicted to the planet’s highly addictive drug. He must be left there as the planet is the only source of the drug. It is touching story of learning to love the life you have. (My rating: 4/5)

“Every Bone a Bell” by Shaoni C. White is about a stowaway on board a ship who is forced into becoming the ship’s singer/navigator to pay for his stolen trip. Unfortunately, this is a permanent role and involves being integrated with the ship. This is a story of individual determination and revenge. (My rating: 4/5)

A girl comes into a sword shop looking for the blade that will help her defeat her nemesis. But the proprietor senses more complicated emotions under the surface. Having similar experience, she coaches the shopper as she helps her with her purchase in “So You Want to Kiss Your Nemesis” by John Wiswell. A sweet, sort-of romance of enemies becoming lovers. (My rating: 4/5)

The main character in “Construction Sacrifice” by Bogi Takács is a human who has become a mid-size city. A trans mage wanders the city and connects with the city. This story is a metaphor for the trans experience, as the mage considers becoming a city themself. I like the concept, but the idea of becoming a city just didn’t translate well for me. (My rating: 3/5)

The oddest story of the issue is “When the Giants Came Through the Valley” by Derrick Boden. The people live in the literal footprint of a giant who had walked down the valley. They are cutoff from others. They have to deal with challenges no one else does. It feels like a metaphor for climate change and capitalism, but I spent so much time trying to understand the metaphor itself that it just didn’t work for me. (My rating: 2/5)

The final tale is “The House, the Witch, and Sugarcane Stalks” by Amanda Helms. In it a witch lives in a sentient house made of candy which is also a stop on an underground railroad. At first the house isn’t too keen on the idea. It’s interesting to see the back and forth between the witch and the house. (My rating: 3/5)

Overall the issue comes in at 3.375 which I am rounding down to 3.25. A solid effort but not the best this year.

Uncanny Magazine has released the last of their stories in issue 51 to read for free online. That means it is time to review some short stories! There were eight new stories in this issue along with one that was accidentally released in the ebook last month. Let’s get started.

The issue starts with “A Soul in the World” by Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky. This is the sweet story of a single mom and her child whose origin is special. Let’s just say that she didn’t come into this world in the most terrestrial way. But that doesn’t dampen the challenges that all parents and teens deal with as teenagers grapple with a growing sense of identity. (My rating: 4/5)

An academic in the future works on an embodied AI as she deals with misogyny and hierarchy in “To Put Your Heart Into a White Deer” by Kristiana Wilsey. The world is a blend of academic mergers and corporate control. Things don’t go well for the protagonist, as you might expect, though you might not see the end coming. For me the world building was a bit clumsy and got in the way of the story. The result was too dense and disjointed. (My rating: 2/5)

“Perhaps in Understanding” by AnaMaria Curtis takes place in a world where the characters in the story literally show their emotions as masks on their faces. The wealthier you are, the more masks (and therefore emotions) you are able to wear. This is the story of a painter who is preparing for a show that will make or break her future in this world. It is a sweet story of getting under the masks we all wear. (My rating: 4/5)

My favorite story of this issue is Delilah S. Dawson’s “Blank Space“. It tells the story of a girl living in a small town with her strict uncle who polices who she can go out with and what she can wear. While working at her uncle’s hardware store, she is approached by a tattooed biker trying to pick her up. She likes him back, but her uncle doesn’t approve. Things don’t go as planned but maybe not in quite the way you think. (My rating: 5/5)

In the first fantasy story an old mage sets out to save a village from the ravages of crystal cougars. The story is “In Time, a Weed May Break a Stone” by Valerie Valdes. The cougars belong to wealthy owners who plan to use them to get a hand up on the poor villagers. But the wealthy outsiders get more than they bargained for when the town bands together. (My rating: 4/5)

A brother and sister can’t wait to get out of school and play. But, the brother is running away from the sister. She is angry because she was punished in class for something her brother did. As they both run into the woods, they find a surprise. And what is at first fear turns to play in “Space Treads” by Parlei Riviere. (My rating: 4/5)

“Yinying­—Shadow” by Ai Jiang is the other fantasy tale in this issue. A young girl whose father blames her for her mother’s death waits for foster parents to come after he also dies. Overnight she struggles with her past and how her father saw her. (My rating: 3/5)

Rounding out the issue is “Bigger Fish” by Sarah Pinsker. It feels like a futuristic Agatha Christie mystery. When a son asks a detective to investigate his father’s apparent suicide, the detective questions his house and robot valet. (My rating: 4/5)

My average rating for this issue comes out to 3.75. Overall, another excellent issue of great stories of speculative fiction.