Harare Review of Books

Publication Date: 30 Aug 2021.

Finished reading on 11 Aug 2021.

Genre: SFF-themed Anthology (Fiction and Nonfiction).

Founded by Holly Lyn Walrath, Interstellar Flight Magazine is an online SFF and pop culture mag devoted to essays on what’s new in the world of speculative genres. With interviews, personal essays, rants, and raves, the authors of Interstellar Flight Magazine explore the vast outreaches of nerdom. Our 2020 anthology covers a wide range of topics from books to anime to film to television to feminism to queerness to racism and beyond.

This year’s anthology also includes seven stories from the 2020 Alternate Endings submission call, guest edited by Jamileh Jemison. This call asked writers to reimagine our world for the better, giving us the alternate endings to 2020 that reinvisioned the future. Their work is a bright light in the grim darkness of 2020.

Table of Contents

Original Articles

Escapism as a Way of Coping: Diving into New Realms of Fantasy to Process Emotions by Allison Hunt

Your Critique Group’s Feedback on Covid-19: Thanks for sharing this really interesting story! by Erin Becker

The Pixel Campfire: Indie Horror in the Age of the Internet: How Marginalized Creators are Reshaping Horror by B. Narr

Final Girl: A Life in Horror: The Making of a Horror Writer by Christina Sng

Women’s Roles in Norse Stories: From the Edda to Tolkien to Marvel to Contemporary Fiction, Women Kick Ass in Norse Legends by John Tuttle

Women of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television: 70 Years of Reaching for the Stars by Karen A. Romanko

The Spectre of Trauma: How Ghost Stories Reflect Humanity’s Struggle with Mental Health Laura Díaz de Arce

Oppression and Slavery in Speculative Short Fiction: Contemporary Black Writers Dive into History by Nathan Elias

In Defense of Bad Horror Movies: Lesbian Vampire Films & Re-Examining the Problematic by Holly Lyn Walrath

Reviews

Netflix’s Dark and the Art of Letting Go: Untangling the Labyrinth by Archita Mittra

Eternally Controversial: Doom Eternal and It’s Place in a Controversial Franchise by B. Narr

Remnant: From the Ashes is a Metaphor for Climate Change: Reconciling Colonialism, Hyperconsumerism, and the Fun of Fighting Badass Monsters by Corey J. White

Double Visions: Two Mysteries for Today’s World: Reading Frankie Y. Bailey and Claire O’Dell’s all too-near futures by Jamileh Jemison

In 21st-Century America, Who Gets to be Magic?: The Magicians and Representation by Jamileh Jemison

Goblin Slayer and the Importance of Hope in Grimdark Fantasy: In a world of darkness and suffering, He Does Not Let Anyone Roll The Dice by Kyle Tam

Grunge, Metal, and AP Chemistry: Review of Rosebud Ben-Oni’s 20 Atomic Sonnets by Leslie Archibald

On Watching Every Episode of Hellier in One Week: Kentucky goblins, UFO Sightings, and High Strangeness in the Heart of Appalachia By Cassandra Rose Clarke

New England Gothic: A Review of Josephine Decker’s Shirley by Annika Barranti Klein

Every Queer Story is Not a Fairytale: Review of Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass by Presley Thomas

Queer Vampire Relationships in What We Do in the Shadows: In Revisiting Vampire Tropes, this Retelling Breaks New Ground by Sydney Richardson

The Blair Witch Project and The Terror of The Unknown: Why a Fake Documentary from the 90s Still Captivates Audiences Today by Sydney Richardson

Beastars is Weird Anime at its Best: A World of Furries Asks: Can We Overcome Our Deepest, Darkest Natures? by Holly Lyn Walrath

Interviews

Queer Futures: An interview with Sarah Gailey, author of Upright Women Wanted by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

Artificial Intelligence, the Gender Binary, & Being Human: An Interview with Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries by Michael Glazner

Ballet, Suburbia, & Death Metal: An interview with Cassandra Rose Clarke, Author of Sacred Summer by T.D. Walker

Bog Bodies, Moors, and Ghost Girls: An Interview with Catherine Moore, Author of Borrowings of the Shan Van Vocht by T.D. Walker

Dancing Princesses, Fairy Tales, and Portal Fantasies: An Interview with Andrea Blythe, author of Twelve by T.D. Walker

#NotAllHeroes: An Interview with Tochi Onyebuchi, Author of Riot Baby by Jamileh Jemison

No Polar Bears in the Antarctic But Plenty of Women in Space: An Interview with Laura Lam, author of Goldilocks By JT Morse

One Song to Ruin Us All (in a Good Way): Interview with LGBTQ+ Romantic Fantasy Author Julia Ember by JT Morse

Slashers, Carnivals, & Urban Legends: An Interview with Jessica Guess, Author of Cirque Berserk by vanessa maki

2020 Alternate Endings

The Wake-Up Call by Suhaila Sundararajan

Not the Knife Today by Natachi Mez

For You, 2000 Quarantines From Now by Andrea Kriz

A Timely Mistake by Archita Mittra

Unwilled by Nisola Jegede

Saving Grace by Justin C. Key

Season of Safety by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Thank you to NetGalley and to Interstellar Flight Press for this ARC.

An good mix of pieces makes this an interesting read. While most of the essays and interviews seemed to focus (it felt like) on horror and fantasy, neither of which are genres I read, I enjoyed hearing from writers about what inspires them, about what influences/d them, and about their processes. Also, as always, great to hear from usually-marginalised voices. Some of the essays also put into context important issues like BLM, and gender and people group diversity in SFF.

One essay I really enjoyed was Your Critique Group’s Feedback on Covid-19: Thanks for sharing this really interesting story! by Erin Becker, which was really funny. (No writer could have written the year that was 2020).

My favourite part was at the end, the seven stories that imagine alternate endings for 2020. Because this whole anthology came out of that annus horribilis, the pandemic is a theme throughout. It’s wonderful that it ends with fiction that marks this surreal time.

Will my breath ever be considered essential?

— a wonderful line from Tlotlo Tsamaase’s pandemic story, Season of Safety. Enjoyed this story (as much as you can enjoy writing on domestic violence, and during lockdown), from a writer I’ve been watching for a while.

Also included are reviews for gamers, all of which went completely over my head.

In all, this was a very interesting anthology, with much that should be of interest to any SFF fan.

Rated: 8/10.