A slowly unrolling thread of my short #TooteReviews of my favorite stories in the July/August 2023 issue of #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #fandsf #ScienceFiction #Fantasy

#FandSF #FavoriteStories #ScienceFiction #Fantasy Jul/Aug 2023

Approved Methods of Love Divination in the First-Rate City Of Dushagorod by #KristinaTen

Gotta get the woman folk to pop out those babies to re-pop the country after a brutal war! Be sure to use an approved method of divination to match up with one of our exquisite man folk. Sucks to be you if none of the methods work.


A dark, funny look at the commodification of women trying to feel in control during chaotic and opaque times.

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Vanishing Point by #RJTaylor

For two exobiology surveyors, things are not always what they seem. A proper perspective doesn’t always help because sometimes your perspective isn't proper.

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

The Very Nasty Aquarium by #PeterSBeagle

Guppies and duppies—this was no garden variety fin rot. “She had taught junior high school English and feared nothing.”

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

The Pet of Olodumare by #JoshuaUchennaOmenga and #OghenechovweDonaldEkpeki

The Godhead’s pet is lost/borrowed/stolen and ends up serving as the catalyst for the sculpting of humans and their eventual realm.

A wonderful #Afropantheology creation story.

#Fantasy #SF #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Serenity Prayer by #FaithMerino

The cycle of abuse; "My daddy learnt it from his daddy, and his daddy afore him. If it was good enough for them, by God, it is good enough for me! Just shut your pie hole and accept it."

#Fantasy #SF #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

We Go On Faith Alone by #KSWalker

Just a thin pane of often unseeable glass—metaphorical or real—separates us from our long journey and final destination.

#Fantasy #SF #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Little Bird by #JillMcMillan

Her whole life centered around taking care of her stern humorless daddy. You can’t blame a woman for wanting to fly and sing a little.

An escape from quiet desperation on the Great Northern Plains...but at what cost?

#Fantasy #SF #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Gather Me a Treasure by #JordanChaseYoung


Eternal devotion and sacrifice, but never a moment together; a tragic love story.

#Fantasy #SF #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

NPC (or Eight Haxploits to Maximize Your Endgame Farming: A Player’s Guide) by #DaVaunSanders

Blurring the line between a world with confrontation, manipulation, violence and an on-line computer game.

While grinding and farming be sure to remember than NPCs are people too.

#Fantasy #SF #TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

A Half-Remembered World by Aimee Ogden @aimeeogden


Everyone wants something a little better for them and their kids, even those living on the back of their God--a giant sea-going crab

It's a hard scrabble existent, but in God’s wanderings you get an occasional glimpse of a different--and perhaps better-- place.

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

A Meal for Frederick by #NickThomas

Compulsively feeding your obsessions is working out just fine. The dragon doesn’t seem to be getting fat and it has to eat, doesn’t it?

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

The Day of the Sea by #JenniferHudak

The slow, relentless rise of The Sea; some will fight her and others will embrace her. Whatever the plan, she will change your world.

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

What to Do When a Protagonist Visits Your Generic Village by #DanPeacock

A guide for the NPC aspiring to become a protagonist. Will the circle be unbroken?

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Pedestals, Proclivities, and Perpetuities by #CelesteRitaBaker

Rooftops are better than pedestals because they are bigger on the topside.

“Send up my Be Relax™ masseur, Dolby Digital™ sound system and Food Ninja™. You can stay down there Charlie.”

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Plumage From Pegasus; I, For One, Welcome Our New Insect Litterateurs by #PaulDiFilippo

Title says it all.

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

A Time to Sing by #EddieDMoore

It ain’t over until the fat dwarf…

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

The Giant’s Dream by #BethGoder

A Giant as a canvas and art considered as an autoimmune disease; should the artist find a new media?

#TheMagazineOfFantasyAndScienceFiction #FavoriteStories #FandSF Jul/Aug 2023

Poetry:


How To Pack For a Quest by #MarySoonLee
How big is your bag?

 Some surprising but smart choices

Lost Lines From Ariel’s Song by #GretchenTessmer
Revenge is a dish best served with…playbills?