In the previous column I looked at the first print digests of 2016, now it’s time for the last month’s ezines of 2015. This December is dominated by the Lightspeed consortium, with another Destroys issue in addition to the regular publications.

• Lightspeed, December 2015
• Fantasy Magazine, December 2015
• Clarkesworld, December 2015
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #188-189, December 2015
• Strange Horizons, December 2015
• GigaNotoSaurus, December 2015

Trying to close out the old year, and on comes the new one with January issues of the digests, beginning with a double from Analog.

• Analog, January/February 2016
• Asimov’s, January 2016
• F&SF, January/February 2016

Featuring a novella from Wil McCarthy. If the zine can find more like this one, we could look forward to a good year.

A fairly lackluster bunch of stories this time.

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #186-187, November 2015
• Tor.com, November 2015
• Uncanny, November/December 2015
• Lackington’s, Fall 2015
• Shimmer, November 2015

Issue #186 reworks older material; #187 has oppression and rebellion.

#186

Another installment in the author’s serial about the Child Pope Bonifacio, his companions, and their quest ...Read More

Another anthology this time, featuring African authors. Also the final Interzone of the year and a couple of regular monthly ezines.

• AfroSF 2, edited by Ivor W. Hartmann
• Interzone, November/December 2015
• Lightspeed, November 2015
• Strange Horizons, November 2015

A rather unusual anthology, comprised of five novellas—some of a length that certainly count as short novels and could ...Read More

This time I feature a science fiction anthology and recommend the John Barnes story as one of the year’s best. Also a couple of first-of-the-month publications.

• Meeting Infinity, edited by Jonathan Strahan
• The Dark, November 2015
• Clarkesworld, November 2015

The fourth in the editor’s fine “Infinity” series of anthologies. The introduction states that the stories deal with change and ...Read More

A special issue of BSC with lots of extra fantasy and the final stories of the year from the digests, where I find plenty of science fiction. Also a strong month’s worth of stories from Tor.com.

• Analog, December 2015
• Asimov’s, December 2015
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #183-185, October 2015
• Tor.com, October 2015

A double dose of fantasy from this zine, as ...Read More

A miscellaneous group of zines this time, several with quarterly or irregular schedules.

• Kaleidotrope, Autumn 2015
• Apex Magazine, October 2015
• Unlikely Story, October 2015
• On Spec, Spring 2015
• Strange Horizons, October 2015

The stories here this time are mostly fantasy, although some show initial signs of science-fictionality.

A sequel to previous work featuring a potent but naive ...Read More

The first December issue signals the end of this year’s reading. I find some good stories this month, but my favorite is the Sulway, from Lightspeed.

• F&SF, November/December 2015
• Clarkesworld, October 2015
• Lightspeed, October 2015

A good issue featuring a science fiction novella by Carter Scholz and several worthwhile shorter works, particularly the Ford and the Reed.

Driven by ...Read More

Featuring a science fiction anthology, of which I haven’t seen so many recently.

• Twelve Tomorrows, edited by Bruce Sterling
• Strange Horizons, September 2015
• Tor.com, September 2015
• GigaNotoSaurus, September 2015

It’s become clear to me in the last couple of years that the future of actual science fiction must lie with dedicated anthologies. So I was a bit concerned when the ...Read More

Mostly a digest column this time, with a double issue from Asimov’s.

• Asimov’s, October/November 2015
• Analog, November 2015
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #181-182, September 2015
• Shimmer, September 2015

The fall double issue features a long novella by Aliette de Bodard, a piece that probably wouldn’t fit into a single-sized issue. Among the shorter works here, mostly fantasy, I find several dealing with history and changes ...Read More

I’m happy to report that the recent science fiction drought has broken, with SF of some sort to be found in every one of the zines I read this time. No surprise to find it leading off with Interzone, from which I recommend the Noon story.

• Interzone, September/October 2015
• Lightspeed, September 2015
• Uncanny, September/October 2015
• Apex Magazine, September 2015
• Clarkesworld, September 2015

It’d be ...Read More

A miscellaneous batch of publications this time, in which I don’t find much to recommend. Here is also a first look at one zine, the consequence of my desperation to find some real science fiction.

• Terraform, August 2015
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #179-180, August 2015
• Tor.com, August 2015
• Strange Horizons, August 2015
• GigaNotoSaurus, August 2015
• Farrago’s Wainscot, July 2015

This slick futurist ezine made its ...Read More

Here are three monthly and one quarterly e-publication, in which I find more dark fantasy than usual, as well as more science fiction. Critics sometimes say that such ezines are indistinguishable, but here readers can see some distinctive editorial voices developing.

• Lightspeed, August 2015
• Clarkesworld, August 2015
• The Dark, August 2015
• Apex Magazine, August 2015

As often happens, while the ToC of this ...Read More

After a surfeit of fantasy last time, I had hopes of finding some actual science fiction in the digests, from which the most sciencey is the Nevala-Lee in Analog. In fantasy, I preferred a lot of the weird stuff in Lackington’s.

• Asimov’s, September 2015
• F&SF, September/October 2015
• Analog, October 2015
• Lackington’s, Summer 2015

Mostly softer SF, set in various futures, near and far, ...Read More

An overwhelming influx of fantasy this time, making me long in vain for the cold reaches of space.

• Uncanny, July/August 2015
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #177-178, July 2015
• Strange Horizons, July 2015
• Tor.com, July 2015
• Shimmer, July 2015

As has become the norm in this zine, all five full-sized pieces of original fiction are fantasy stories by women, almost all about women confronting problems ...Read More

• Interzone, July/August 2015
• Clarkesworld, July 2015
• Apex, July 2015
• Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, uly 2015

A strong SFnal issue. I’m especially enthusiastic about the Leonard story. But I want to remark on one thing after reading the Jonathan McCalmont editorial, in which he urges British SF to take back its own scene: how very overtly American the Tobler and Leonard pieces are.

Here are the Dell digests, along with a couple of ezines. I found plenty of stories this time to reward the reading, if not to add to the award list.

• Lightspeed, 62 July 2015
• Asimov’s, August 2015
• Analog, September 2015
• Kaleidotrope, Summer 2015

The zine is only posting three individual stories this month, with two installments of a long novelette. The editor clearly ...Read More

Looking at a miscellaneous bunch of ezines, not finding any real stars in them. Hoping to have the digests in for July.

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies #175-176, June 2015
• Tor.com, June 2015
• GigaNotoSaurus, June 2015
• Perihelion, June 2015
• Aphelion, June 2015
• Fireside, June 2015

#175 has women going forth on adventures; #176 has women with a destiny.

#175

This time I feature the latest “Destroy” special issue from Lightspeed, from which I give the increasingly rare Good Story award to Chaz Brenchley. Also the June stories from Strange Horizons, from which I like the Evanby.

• Lightspeed, June 2015
• Strange Horizons, June 2015

Special “Queers Destroy Science Fiction!” issue, the latest but not last of the “Destroy” series, this one with Seanan ...Read More

It’s getting kind of unusual to see more than one print publication at a time. This time, I prefer their stories overall to the webzines.

• F&SF, July/Aug 2015
• Clarkesworld, June 2015
• Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, June 2015
• Apex Magazine, June 2015

Featuring a novella by Rachel Pollack. What I like in this issue are a couple of the shorter pieces, most notably the ...Read More