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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

A double dose of fantasy from this zine, as

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

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

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.

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

Driven by

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

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

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

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

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.

It’d be

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.

This slick futurist ezine made its

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.

As often happens, while the ToC of this

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.

Mostly softer SF, set in various futures, near and far,

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

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