The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2019

An above average issue. An interesting mix of SF (Lavie Tidhar), Fantasy (Kelly Barnhill, Matthew Hughes) and Horror (Pip Coen, Rebecca Campbell) with a standout story by David Gullen.

• "The Abundance" by Andy Dudak: the story of a soldier who eliminates inhabited enemy planets by inducing changes in the world's environment. The soldier wants to forget his past and has taken refuge on a world in order to study it. But he is interrupted when a group of fellow soldiers find him and are intent on making him remember his past.

• "Thirty-Three Wicked Daughters" by Kelly Barnhill: an entertaining story about a king with many daughters, all of who decide to improve the kingdom by introducing progressive policies like fair taxation, schools for children, freely available designs for comfortable shoes and clothes, which gets the barons, generals and guilds to grumble to the king about his 'wicked' daughters. But the king loves his daughters. And so the barons decide to take matters into their own hands and force the daughters into marriage and lock them up in their castles. But the king and his daughters would prove to be much wilier than expected and turn the tables, although it would need a final intervention by giants to come to a proper conclusion.

• "Breath" by Bruce McAllister: a short-short involving genetically engineering aquatic beings and the desire for a couple for something in their lives.

• "New Atlantis" by Lavie Tidhar: set in a future where a global catastrophe has occurred on the earth, the story tells of a journey a woman makes to see what can be seen in an underground storage that may hold the memory of the earth when humanity was at its technological peak. The story is full of danger from ants, marauding monsters (both organic and metallic) but also wonder built around the remains of civilization. But one unexpected gift would occur when she accesses the storage to see what it can tell about the past.

• "The Moss Kings" by David Gullen: an interesting fantasy tale set in a medieval time and place where fairy creatures known as the Moss Kings and their plant-like retinue have the run of the land and demand tributes and sacrifices from the people living there. In the story, one observant apprentice receives a message from the Moss Kings about the next tribute to be delivered and becomes part of the ceremony set up to present the tribute. The ceremony is not without conflict but in the end, it is all about gathering information on the Moss Kings so that one day, the humans can free of their rule.

• "How to Kiss a Hojacki" by Debbie Urbanski: an uncomfortable story of a time when some people believe they are turning on other 'kinds' of people. In one family, the mother claims she is now a Hojacki, with her skin turning blue and refusing or unable to talk. But her husband still claims to love her, although his way of 'loving' her is via physical love that, in the tale, turns coercive. In the background are stories of a world coming to terms with other people also becoming Hojackis and other kinds of people, along with an uncertain and potentially violent election taking place in a charge atmosphere over whether the Hojacki are still considered people.

• "Second Skin" by Pip Coen: an interesting story about a farmer who takes in a girl who does not talk as an apprentice. As time passes, and she picks up farming and other skills, including the ability to sew, the farmer notices strange animal behaviour happening around her. Then, when she gets involved in some violence, a sudden change occurs to her and the people around her, and it is only be re-analysing his memories of her does the farmer slowly come to a horrifying conclusion that she may have used her sewing and other abilities as a way to get herself accepted by her family.

• "Sternutative Sortilege" by Matthew Hughes: a light fantasy tale about a thief who is captured and sold to a group of priests who see a use for him: as a device for telling the future in an unusual way related to his facial feature. But the thief plans to escape and discovers that some magical items and idols are not to be trifled with.

• "The Fourth Trimester is the Strangest" by Rebecca Campbell: a tale that starts off with the birth of a child and the mother who loves him. But in a twist to the usual post-partum depression, the mother begins to hear voices, finds her child in unexpected places and see shapes and people out of the corner of her sight. The question becomes whether they are real, or is she seeing another shape out to get her child.

• "Apocalypse Considered Through a Helix of Semi-Precious Foods and Recipes" by Tobias S. Buckell: a series of vignettes about the various ways people survive the apocalypse, each one involving an item of food.