News

Happy birthday, Strange Horizons!

September 1, 2010 marked the tenth anniversary of our launch.

Contents

6 September 2010

[Article by Orrin Grey]

(Articles)

ARTICLE: Ten Years of Speculative Non-Fiction, by Articles Editors

With this in mind, we announce that SH Articles will now be accepting submissions for creative and experimental non-fiction that engages the themes, genres, and concerns of speculative fiction. We are looking for intelligent, experimental pieces with critical content enhanced by personal experiences or reactions from the writer. Much like "new journalism" in the 60s and 70s, we want pieces that actively engage speculative fiction from the perspective of an insider and participant.

ARTICLE: The Condition of a Monster: A Personal Taxonomy of Supernatural Fiction, by Orrin Grey

To put it another way, the thing that makes a vampire interesting in a supernatural story is not that it will suck your blood, but that it is a vampire at all. That it is a teratism, a thing outside of commonly accepted possibility. The better such a creature is understood, the more bound in rules it is, the more pedestrian and commonplace it becomes and, therefore, the less supernatural.

FICTION: And She Shall Be Crowned According to Her Station, by Genevieve Valentine

The first roach appears in the sink, mahogany-dark and glossy against the stainless steel. Jessie grabs a sponge and slams it down, listens for the crunch of wings.

POETRY: Improving on Nature, by Joanne Merriam

while other robots come and go,

REVIEW: This Week's Reviews, posted three times a week

Monday: Doctor Who: Series Five, reviewed by Matthew Jones
Wednesday: Stories edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, reviewed by Chris Kammerud
Friday: Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero by Dan Abnett, reviewed by William Mingin

30 August 2010

[Reviews posted three times a week]

(Reviews)

FICTION: Aphrodisia, by Lavie Tidhar

We'd shared a hub in Tong Yun City years before, the asteroid-worm and the orbital hafmek and me—shared food and drugs and sex and minds—but we were younger then, on Mars.

POETRY: Sestina for Death , by James S. Dorr

But, ah, this is a wake and so we drink

REVIEW: This Week's Reviews, posted three times a week

Monday: Narrative Power: Encounters, Celebrations, Struggles, edited by L. Timmel Duchamp, reviewed by Anil Menon
Wednesday: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, reviewed by Niall Alexander
Friday: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, reviewed by Martin Lewis

23 August 2010

[Article by Cécile Cristofari]

(Articles)

ARTICLE: Written in Maps, by Cécile Cristofari

Ever since J. R. R. Tolkien put his imprint on the fantasy genre, maps have become a staple in helping speculative fiction authors share their imagined world with the audience. Yet even as they provide this crutch to the reader, the location of maps outside the narrative raises questions about their literary significance. How does the map contribute to the creation of the invented geography? Are thematic dimensions of the narrative present on the map? And what sort of perspective does a map's author represent?

FICTION: Five Rules for Commuting to the Underworld, by Merrie Haskell

If you undertake your travels to the Underworld while you are yet a living being, you may wish to sew your mouth closed--black thread is best. It is the surest way to avoid the temptations and escape with your soul intact.

POETRY: Thrice, by Yoon Ha Lee

icebird's sharp feather / firebird's charred talon

REVIEW: This Week's Reviews, posted three times a week

Monday: Above the Snowline by Steph Swainston, reviewed by Niall Harrison
Wednesday: Toy Story 3, reviewed by David J. Schwartz
Friday: The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan, reviewed by Audrey Homan

16 August 2010

[Article by John Ottinger III]

(Articles)

ARTICLE: An Interview with Jonathan Maberry, by John Ottinger III

Zombies aren't charming, and they don't have personalities. They're walking corpses with no higher functions. They certainly aren't romantic. What they represent in zombie fiction is a constant and universal threat that is implacable and unbearable. That kind of threat puts all of the characters under pressure, and from a storytelling point of view, characters under pressure are the only interesting ones to write about.

COLUMN: Real Action, by Matthew Cheney

Seeing Christopher Nolan's movie Inception got me reflecting on his previous summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight, a film I vehemently disliked when I first saw it in the theatre . . .

FICTION: The Big Splash, by George R. Galuschak

"I thought you might be able to help him." I tried to keep the tremble out of my voice. "Maybe reverse the aging process. You're an alien and all."

POETRY: Of Ithaca & Ice, by Ann K. Schwader

I wandered the asphodel stars

REVIEW: This Week's Reviews, posted three times a week

Monday: Red Plenty by Francis Spufford, reviewed by Adam Roberts
Wednesday: Mammoths of the Great Plains and Tomb of the Fathers by Eleanor Arnason, reviewed by Kelly Jennings
Friday: Shine edited by Jetse de Vries, reviewed by Karen Burnham


Updated every Monday

Graphic design by Elaine Chen.

Click to subscribe to the
Strange Horizons Newsletter