Worlds of Possibility, Strange Horizons, and Kaleidotrope: Reviews by Charles Payseur

Worlds of Possibility 12/24
Strange Horizons 12/16/24, 12/23/24
Kaleidotrope Winter ’25

The December Worlds of Possibility is full of fic­tion and poetry that focuses on growth, seeds, and transformations, as in E. S. Hovgaard’s lovely “Journey of a Dandelion Seedling”, which follows a seedling named Wish who doesn’t want to be planted – who wants to fly free. Their nature and biology, however, seem to demand that they fall to the ground and grow. Except that they are intercepted on the way down by a fairy, who carries them first like an umbrella, then as a parasol, and together the two become friends. When danger strikes, though, Wish has to decide what’s more impor­tant – their freedom or their friendship, and in choosing sparks a kind of magic that allows for a beautiful and transcendent ending. If you’re looking for a poem to put a smile on your face, definitely check this one out! E.M. Linden keeps the thematic resonance going with “Ivy and Eucalyptus”, which finds Earth in the process of being left behind. Humanity, at least, is readying to abandon the surface and their own bodies to enter into a virtual world while a giant artificial intelligence does the hard work of making sure humanity survives the mess it created in the first place. For Alex, the narrator, the plan is to be among those taking the long sleep. But as the AI begins to create strange seeds as it dreams solutions, the magic and possibility of working to help fix the planet begins to sound more tempting than any virtual safety. But it’s more than just a sense of adventure that pulls at Alex – it’s an awakening to the wonder of the world and the need to stay engaged and alight with the power to change, and to create a richer soil out of which brighter futures can grow.

Strange Horizons’s December issue was full of powerful work, as with K.W. Onley’s shattering “Exit Interview”, which finds Dottie work­ing in DEI in a university during a time when Black women have been given an invitation to Cross to a different place – a portal world currently accepting only them. The allure is a world where they can be safe, seen, and free. But many aren’t eager to leave their families behind – their fathers, husbands, and sons, or any of their non-Black family or friends. And some, like Dottie, who have defined themselves largely through their work and reach for justice, aren’t very willing to give up that work. As more Cross, though, the situation domestically con­tinues to deteriorate as the country, and most of the world, work to punish those Black women remaining for the loss of the work and exploi­tation of those who have put themselves out of reach. Onley shows the ways that DEI and other justice movements are often stalled by the will­ful ignorance of those who often benefit most from the overlooked, undervalued, and often invisible work Black women do, appreciating it only when faced with losing it and even then, unwilling to cherish and uplift it – resorting instead to threats, coercion, and violence. It’s a fantastic story. Bogi Takács returns to the publication with “The Person Who Reminds the Other Person to Cast a Spell”, a new poem from eir Jobs For Magical People (That Do Not Involve the Military) series. This piece focuses on the ways that magic in this world can blur the lines of memory, making it difficult to remember what steps a person has taken to remain safe and prepared. To that end, there are magical journals, but sometimes a person has to be reminded to consult their journal, or to cast certain spells of protection and warding. Interestingly, Takács reveals a job here that is really many jobs, a web of people all helping to check on each other, making sure that the work is being done to prepare, to record, and to cre­ate a community of care and cooperation. It’s a vision of work and jobs that is largely divorced from strictly capitalist definitions, and it shows the importance of having people to watch your back, check your work, and keep you both hon­est and on task. It’s a wonderful read.

The Winter 2025 Kaleidotrope features Amy Griswold’s new story, “Out of the High Bright”, in which a squid-like being named Drifts-at-Thermocline is a teacher for the younger generation, piloting a puppetlike crea­ture in order to have better movement through the different levels of the deep ocean. Nearing the end of a fairly long life, he remembers the loves he’s had and prepares for his own final pairing. When he’s confronted by a monster from above, though, who claims to come from a place above the waters, he has to put his plans on hold as he decides whether or not to believe these unlikely claims. As he listens to the be­ing, though, he finds echoes of his own griefs, and the resolve to do what has to be done in the face of a threat to everything he has known and loved. It’s a yearning, beautiful look at love and mourning, with a few surprises, and Griswold does a great job defying expectations and pro­viding one heck of a reading experience. Owen McManus also contributes with “Birds Vibrant and Wild”, which follows Aster and Viv, who were born poor but found a kind of freedom through pushing the limits of boarding, go­ing fast and trying to build a brand out of the custom gear and modifications they can make for the underground sport. It’s their passion for going fast that brings them to the attention of Wills, a golden child from the upper echelons of the Spires. With his patronage, the three enter into both business and a relationship together, moving from boarding to building a suit that can fly, or at least glide using air temperature and currents. The story really digs into the quasi-self-destructive drive that pushes them up and away from the crush of corruption and inequality that had trapped them all in different cages. Together they find something beautiful but fleeting, a vibrancy balanced on a knife’s edge, always slipping. McManus uses vivid prose and a breakneck pace to capture the joy and despair twined inside each of the characters, and finds in Aster and Viv’s latest act something more than a stunt – a tribute, a memorial, and a thrilling read.

Moving to the issue’s poetry, Gretchen Tes­smer’s “Chicken Little Respectfully Demands an Apology From the Powers That Be” imag­ines a future where people are living in a dome that is breaking down. The “powers that be” respond by offering a slightly higher wage (that is still tragically or comically low depending on your sense of humor) to risk life and limb to try and fix it. The parallels to the present aren’t dif­ficult to see, with converging global crises being met with denial or an insistence that the free market will fix the problems that it caused. Tes­smer shows a catastrophe that could be averted, if not for the system it’s unfolding within. Those with power refuse to act, deflecting the blame while the sky falls around them, around us all. It’s a biting poem with great worldbuilding and relevance, and I really like it.

Recommended Stories
“Exit Interview”, K.W. Onley (Strange Horizons 12/24)
“Birds Vibrant and Wild”, Owen McManus (Kaliedotrope 1/25)

This review and more like it in the March 2025 issue of Locus.

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