Yaddith Times

The 2024 Rhysling Anthology by Brian U. Garrison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This first juried edition of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association's annual Rhysling votimg anthology is leaner than recent past ones (only 133 pp.!), but it still serves as a fine survey of some of the best new writing in this field.

With 50 short-form poems & 25 long-form poems on offer, there's plenty of variety -- though, as usual, formal verse is sparsely represented. The narrative tradition remains strong, particularly in the long form poems. This year's anthology seemed (to this reviewer) to skew a bit darker than some in the past, with a respectable amount of out & out horror verse. Fairy tale themes may be making a comeback, & traditional space opera is still popular.

As might be expected from such a diverse anthology, not every poem here will be to the taste of every reader. Still, the Rhysling anthologies remain an invaluable annual sampling of current speculative poetry in (mostly) the English-speaking press.

Truth-in-reviewing disclaimer: I have a poem in this anthology.




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The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I suspect the fault may be mine & not the novel's, but I just couldn't warm up to most of the characters in this one. This is capital-L Literary science fiction, & very well written . . . but the people just left me cold. Maybe a little too country club for this native Wyomingite?

Also -- and again, probably me -- the elegantly twisted plotline took rather too long to get where it was going, even given the number of layers this onion turned out to have. This one is generally reviewed as a dystopia, but that turned out to be only one of the layers -- though, for me, one of the most compelling.

However, I have no quibble with the writing, & some of the imagery is stunning. I'd still be inclined to recommend this to folks who are looking for SF-flavored literature rather than literature-flavored SF, & are somewhat more patient with slow-burn plot convolutions.





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Junkyard War by Faith Hunter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The right-sized novella conclusion to Faith Hunter's Junkyard Cats trilogy (I think) -- which would probably be 4 stars if I happened to be a cat person. As it is, I still rocketed happily through what amounted to one extended battle plan & execution in Hunter's post-apocalypse American wasteland.

The worldbuilding here is pretty remarkable: motorcycle clubs, nanotech, telepathic cats, all manner of gee-whiz SF weaponry, & some colorful continuing characters, headed up by Hunter's kick-A & nano-enhanced biker heroine Shining Smith. The action is nearly nonstop, aside from a few lagging moments (for me) when battle plans were being laid out in detail. The plot, however, still revolves around a simple rescue/revenge premise. YMMV.

Junkyard War does deliver what the listener probably came for -- pure escapism -- & does it with style & imagination. I'm not sure this Audible offering would rate a full credit purchase, but listeners who enjoyed the rest of this series won't be disappointed.



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The Gravity of Existence by Christina Sng

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This collection of minimalist speculative poems -- haiku, tanka and other brief forms -- joyfully tests the limits of what can be done with few words. Opening with a dark SF haibun, Christina Sng quickly shifts focus to horror (three sections), followed by mostly dark SF (two sections) and a very dark SF section for "The End."

In most cases, the haiku and tanka are presented in titled groups, forming a loosely-constructed longer poem from items previously published elsewhere. This works remarkably well, although the haiku especially become more like stars in a constellation than stanzas in a narrative work. The reader may visit them in any order, picking up resonances between them. Other haiku and tanka appear separately titled, with the titles intrinsic to their meanings. These didn't work quite as well for me, possibly because I'm not used to haiku with titles.

As one would expect from a haiku / scifaiku poet, Sng's vision is precise and frequently bleak. Some of the longer poems have distinct "punch lines," though these are never clichés. This is a generously-sized collection, but I found myself reading most of it in a single sitting. Well-crafted scifaiku, it seems, are a bit like potato chips.

Recommended for readers of both mainstream haiku and speculative poetry, or poetry-shy SF / H fans looking to broaden their horizons. My thanks to NetGalley, who provided me with a free copy of this collection in exchange for an honest review.



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fifty years later
still waiting for HAL
pod bay door


-- Ann K. Schwader

https://tinyurl.com/y7dbo8nd

I am (incredibly) happy to report that Hippocampus Press is now taking preorders for my second weird / Lovecraftian fiction collection, Dark Equinox. Find all the details – and a draft version of creepy Southwestern cover art by Lyndsay Harper! – here.

For May, at least, Hippocampus Press is also offering a package deal on Dark Equinox & my omnibus weird poetry collection Twisted in Dream. Find details here. This one came out in 2011, & includes my very SF 36-sonnet sequence In the Yaddith Time.

I’ll be posting more details & a real “cover reveal” later. For now, happy Mother’s Day weekend to any & all moms reading. Stay weird!

For those who might have missed it, & wish they hadn't: the steampunk-themed episode of the ABC series Castle (entitled "Punked")  seems to be repeating tomorrow night.

Just saying . . .  

"Of Ithaca & Ice," my cryogenic take on mythic heroes & the women who wait for them, is up this week on Strange Horizons!

This one's a rarity for me, any more: free verse.  Sort of.

If Friday's not coming fast enough for you -- or Earth just isn't hitting the spot right now -- here's a three minute vacation for eyes and ears, courtesy of The Imagined Village.  Check out the YouTube video of "Space Girl" here.

I generally don't post about this sort of thing, but the song is infectious and very, very SF . . . a cautionary tale for the next generation looking for Mr. Right in all the wrong places.  Or planets.

Anyone interested in science/SF poetry, proto-SF, and/or women's history should definitely check out eldritchhobbit 's most recent Fact Article: Looking Back Into Genre History on the StarShipSofa podcast, Aural Delights #123. 

This month's article discusses Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne . . . who hung out with the Royal Society of London, wrote poetry about atoms, penned a whole novel about an alien world -- and did all of this back in the seventeenth century.   She even signed her name to her writings, which was Simply Not Done -- at least, not by most women.

I like to think of myself as an SF poet, and I'm not sure I'd even heard of Margaret Cavendish before.  (Blush.)