Black Gate

The December 10th issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, issue #188, arrives with a brand new cover, “Huashan Temple” by Xiao Ran, a concept artist from Shanghai, China. Click on the image at right to see a bigger version.

Issue #188 has short fiction from Nick Scorza and John Wheeler, and a reprint (from issue #120) by Laura E. Price.

“Eyes Beyond the Fire” by Nick Scorza
When no eyes were on her, Lys frayed a rope with her knife — choosing one which would not harm the sails but would send an iron pulley tumbling into the sea. When Tamlen angrily ordered a replacement brought from the cargo hold, Lys was first to volunteer and on her way before anyone could deny her.

“The Rest Will Blur Together” by John Wheeler
I am Melika. And that is all, now. My grandfather — I believe he was my grandfather — said that our memories make us who we are. I hope that he was wrong, for if he spoke the truth, then I am no one.

From the Archives:
“The Drowned Man” by Laura E. Price
The drowned man brushed past Corwyn in his hurry to get away from her sister.

Nick Scorza has been published in magazines such as Something Wicked, Hobart, and Dogwood. John Wheeler is a graduate of the Alpha Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop for Young Writers; this looks like his first sale.

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The January issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction contains a big new novella from Allen M. Steele, “Einstein’s Shadow,” plus stories by Ian McHugh, Ted Kosmatka, Nathan Hillstrom, and others — all under a gorgeous cover by Donato Giancola, who painted the cover for Black Gate 15. Here’s the description from the website:

Our January 2016 issue features a tense alternate history novella by Allen M. Steele. Danger, intrigue, and suspense are all aboard a Bel Geddes airliner as it makes an unforgettable transatlantic journey in “Einstein’s Shadow.”

Genevieve Williams ponders the haunting and unknowable alien in “The Singing Bowl”; Ian McHugh takes on a different set of provocative and nearly unfathomable aliens in “The Baby Eaters”; while Robert R. Chase offers us human and inhuman perspectives on “Conscience.” Brand-new author Nathan Hillstrom debuts in Asimov’s with a terrifying tale of “White Dust”; Dominica Phetteplace speculates about the mystery of “Atheism and Flight”; and Ted Kosmatka investigates the startling consequences of “Chasing Ivory.”

Non-fiction this month includes Robert Silverberg’s Reflections column, which invokes ancient Norse myth and the Twilight of the Gods in his reminiscence about “Fimbulwinter 2015”; James Patrick Kelly’s On the Net looks at “The World of Series”; Paul Di Filippo’s On Books reviews a Mike Ashley anthology of tales by early women SF writers, as well as works by Alan Smale, Ken Liu, and the Strugatsky brothers; Alvaro Zinos-Amaro & Paul Di Filippo offer a Thought Experiment about “Pushing the World in a Certain Direction and other Acts of Submission”; plus the annual Readers’ Awards’ ballot and Index, poetry, and other features.

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The November-December issue of Britain’s longest running science fiction and fantasy magazine is now on sale. The cover, “Sleepy Hollow,” is by Martin Hanford (click the image at right for a bigger version.) This issue offers some fascinating ideas. Here’s Lois Tilton at Locus Online on Malcolm Devlin’s “Five Conversations with My Daughter (Who Travels in Time).”

One night, after yet another fight with his wife, Dad’s six-year-old daughter comes to join him on the sofa and begins to speak in the voice of an adult woman. It seems that from time to time her future self can rejoin herself as a child, in moments when two points converge — whatever that means. She’s come now to ask a favor, later… He does, of course, promise, and as the years pass he comes more and more to believe her. But the favor she asks, when the time comes, isn’t what he would have chosen.

And on Rich Larson’s “We Might Be Sims”

The three disposable convicts on an experimental trip to Europa [“We’re cheap enough already,” Mack says. “We’re a tin can full of human detritus.”] have long since gone stir-crazy, each in different ways. Jasper has decided it’s all a simulation, that they’re really locked in a bunker somewhere on Earth. He wants to open the hatch, to prove it.

Read Lois’ complete comments on the issue here.

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One of my frequent complaints about the current crop of genre magazines is that they don’t publish enough novella-length fiction. As page counts shrink and more magazines announce they’ll only consider fiction below 8,000 words, the market for novellas — generally any fiction between 17,500 words and novel length — has dramatically shrunk.

But what if there was a market that published only SF and fantasy novelettes and novellas? That would be totally fabulous, right?

Well, there is such a market, and as a matter of fact, it is fabulous. GigaNotoSaurus, edited by Rashida J. Smith and published since November 2010, is a free online magazine that offers readers one story, between 5,000 and 25,000 words, every month. It has published multiple Nebula-nominated works, including Ken Liu’s “All the Flavors” and Ferrett Steinmetz’s “Sauerkraut Station,” as well as Judith Tarr’s “Dragon Winter,” S. Hutson Blount’s “The Taking of Book 257,” and C.S.E. Cooney’s marvelous “How the Milkmaid Struck a Bargain With the Crooked One.”

This month’s story is Iona Sharma’s “Quarter Days,” which Stompydragons called “utterly delightful. I loved the world she’s built, her characters felt fresh, and the plot used all of that to great effect.” Read it free here.

Neil Clarke’s editorial this issue includes some discussion of his long-term goals, a glimpse at his introduction to the upcoming Best Science Fiction of the Year, and the news that he’s also accepted a position as an interim editor of the SFWA Bulletin.

How do we shift the discussion of short fiction magazines from the goals of just merely surviving to growing into a thriving market? Yes, as the magazine editor, I have a vested interest in that path to financial success, but a good chunk of the buzz in my head was been triggered by the introduction I plan to write for The Best Science Fiction of the Year. I’ve been asked to include a state-of-the-market report in my introduction and plan to take the from-ten-thousand-feet view rather than perform a market-by-market analysis. Suffice it to say, no one has the answers, but there’s no shortage of ideas. I’m still trying to digest it all…

Oh, did I mention that I’ve also accepted the post as interim editor of the SFWA Bulletin and signed contracts for two more anthologies? Yeah, I’m a glutton for punishment, but pushing my limits seems necessary if I want to reach the point where I can quit the day job. (Yes, a day job on top of all that.)

Issue #111 of Clarkesworld has four new stories by Liu Cixin, Tamsyn Muir, Seth Dickinson, and Cassandra Khaw, and two reprints by Sean McMullen and Walter Jon Williams.

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December is a great month to try some new magazines. We started our coverage of the British Fantasy Award-winning Holdfast with issue #7, and revealed the details on the massive Best Of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Volume 1. Nick Ozment took a look at the special Horror Issue of the St. Paul-Minneapolis literary journal Whistling Shade, and Bob Byrne reported on facsimile editions of The Strand Magazine. For vintage fiction fans, Rich Horton cracked open a 56-year old copy of Amazing Science Fiction Stories from October 1959, with fiction by Harlan Ellison and Tom Purdom.

Check out all the details on the magazines above by clicking on the each of the images. Our Late November Fantasy Magazine Rack is here.

As we’ve mentioned before, all of these magazines are completely dependent on fans and readers to keep them alive. Many are marginal operations for whom a handful of subscriptions may mean the difference between life and death. Why not check one or two out, and try a sample issue? There are magazines here for every budget, from completely free to $12.95/issue. If you find something intriguing, I hope you’ll consider taking a chance on a subscription. I think you’ll find it’s money very well spent.

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Issue #187 of BCS has short fiction from Rich Larson and Jason S. Ridler, and an Audio Vault podcast (from issue #33) by Aliette de Bodard. It is cover-dated November 24.

“The Delusive Cartographer” by Rich Larson
Crane needed no further invitation. The pain in his back was forgotten now that he was finally here, finally close. He charted a foot over from the cell’s sliver window and down to the floor. He’d doubted, in the darkest hours of the night. He’d doubted the whole thing. But the groove was exactly where the cartographer had described it.

“Spider’s Ink” by Jason S. Ridler
To catch a bug, you must burn him out. That had been our experience with Macti spies and rebels. Under the authority of the Wayfaring House we came with black fire and warned all that if the Spider known as Heriz was not returned, we would decree the island corrupted and purify by shot and flame. It had worked in Jani, Uurun, and it would work here.

Audio Vault Podcast:
“In the Age of Iron and Ashes” by Aliette de Bodard

Rich Larson has been nominated for the Sturgeon Award, and his work has appeared in Asimov’s, Analog, Clarkesworld, F&SF, and many other places. Jason S. Ridler has published over sixty stories in such magazines as The Big Click, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Out of the Gutter.

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