Bick's Reviews on Tangent Online

[Vince W]

Do you get the magazine in print or digital, @Bick? I’m thinking of subscribing again but I don’t think do digital subscriptions outside the US.

 

[Bick]

Do you get the magazine in print or digital, @Bick? I’m thinking of subscribing again but I don’t think do digital subscriptions outside the US.

I get sent an advance review pdf by Tangent, Vince. I don't like to read digital stuff generally, but for the reviews I have no choice.

 

[Vince W]

I get sent an advance review pdf by Tangent, Vince. I don't like to read digital stuff generally, but for the reviews I have no choice.

Thanks, Bick. At least I know I need to get the print version if I decide to subscribe again. Cheers.

 

[J-Sun]

My review of Analog - Sep/Oct 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

Rather a mixed issue, some good some bad, as is typical. The highlights for me are the novella Kingsbury 1944 by Michael Cassutt (certainly the best story in the issue), the novelette No One the Wiser by Tom Greene and the short stories Companion by Ron Collins, Bumblebot by Marie Vibbert and Each Separate Star by Jonathan Sherwood. This issue was especially notable for having far too many very short stories.

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I remember particularly liking some Tom Greene (especially) and Ron Collins stuff. But the thing about the excess of shorts (and short-shorts) was really off-putting and its disappointing to see it hasn't changed. I initially thought the editor was new, lacked self-confidence, and figured if he threw enough stories at the wall, something would stick, but it just seems to be some weird quirk (though it could also still be a lack of self-confidence, too, of course).

Really, though, print magazines are kind of squeezed from both ends. I don't know why you'd try to compete with short web fiction when your strength could be longer stories that aren't as web-friendly but, then again, with people unfathomably being willing to pay full book prices for individual novellas, the magazines can't really compete there either, now. And I guess a magazine of all-novelettes might lack variety... but it'd be a better lack than a magazine full of snippets like Analog now seems to favor.

 

[Bick]

My review of Fantasy Magazine #83 - Sep 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

No stories recommended (two roundly criticized).

 

[Bick]

My review of Clarkesworld #193 - Oct 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

No stories recommended here - it was actually rather a chore to read much of it in or order to do the review.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

A high school junior getting published in a professional magazine is quite an achievement. I think Vance Aandahl was very young when he started.

 

[alexvss]

A high school junior getting published in a professional magazine is quite an achievement. I think Vance Aandahl was very young when he started.

It's also a punch in the gut for me

Well, maybe it's just what I need.

 

[Bick]

A high school junior getting published in a professional magazine is quite an achievement. I think Vance Aandahl was very young when he started.

Yes... except that the bar for publication at Clarkesworld is clearly pretty low - it's not a very good story, she can't write well, and I would have rejected it.

 

[Bick]

It's also a punch in the gut for me

Ha! - don't worry, it didn't deserve to be published - maybe her story was accepted because she's a high school student.

 

[Bick]

My review of Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores - Oct 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

Two stories; the very short young reader story The Cloud Knitters by Han Whiteoak was best.

 

[Bick]

My review of Beneath Ceaseless Skies #368 - Nov 3, 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

Contains two decent fantasy tales, the better of which is Tithe the Bones, Sell the Blood by Auston Habershaw.

 

[Bick]

My review of Beneath Ceaseless Skies #369 - Nov 17, 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

Again, the two stories here were quite enjoyable and fairly well done.

 

[Bick]

My review of Fantasy Magazine #85 - Nov 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

Okay, though none of the 4 stories stood out as particularly to be recommended.

 

[Bick]

My review of Future Science Fiction Digest #17 - Dec 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

This was quite good, with several worthwhile tales from authors from around the world. It's probably the last issue of this magazine though.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Too bad. It was one of the few sources that I know about with an international flavor other than, say, Clarkesworld's usual one translated story.

 

[Bick]

My review of Tor.com - Dec 2022 is now up on Tangent Online.

Only one story - Burning Books for Pleasure and Profit by K.J. Parker - but it was quite good; recommended.

 

[Bick]

Too bad. It was one of the few sources that I know about with an international flavor other than, say, Clarkesworld's usual one translated story.

Funnily enough, its the only issue I've read of it, but I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Bick]

My review of Analog - Jan/Feb 2023 is now up on Tangent Online.

Some good stories in this issue which was pretty consistent thoughout. The best stories were the novelettes The Bends by Rajan Khanna and Hothouse Orchids by Harry Lang and the short Stories The Area Under the Curve by Matt McHugh, A Real Snow Day by M. Bennardo, Party On by James Van Pelt and The Echo of a Will by Marie Vibbert.

 

[Bick]

My review of Clarkesworld #197 - Feb 2023 is now up on Tangent Online.

The contents are mostly rubbish. The penultimate story is quite good (Silo, Sweet Silo by James Castles), but one of the entries here was one of the worst stories I've read in a good while. I guess Clarkesworld's editorial bar is pretty low these days; I shall try and avoid it for a while I think.