Reviews

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  29 September 2026·9 stories

  Walpurgis Witcheries

  Edited by D.M. Ritzlin, DMR Books, April 2026

  Nine sword and sorcery stories, every one of them set on or near the Brocken on Walpurgis Night, and a lot more variety squeezed out of that narrow brief than I was expecting. It is uneven, but Belleneuve, Piper and Tabard are worth the price on their own.

  • No Mercy for Witches Ethan Sabatella
  • The Black Hound Owen G. Tabard
  • Hecate’s Offerings Keith J. Taylor
  • The Vigil of Sister Liudgard Sam Belleneuve
  • The Wandering One and the Witchdance M. Stern
  • Cold Night on the Field Harry Piper
  • Balefires Upon the Brocken J.R. Young
  • The Sorcerers and Mysteries of Mercury-Wotan Matthew Pungitore
  • When the Great Wyrm Wakes Deborah Tapper

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  16 September 2026·11 stories

  Asimov’s Science Fiction

  September/October 2026

  Eleven stories, seven of them novelettes, and an unusually dark issue, with quite a lot of horror wearing science fiction’s coat. The one I loved most was Tegan Moore’s The Weight of a Heart.

  • Visiting Skins Christopher Ruz & Rich Larson
  • This World Is a World of Dew Andrea Kriz
  • Night Caller from Outer Space Dale Bailey
  • The Great Game Lois Metzger
  • Forever and Again Leah Cypess
  • The Invisible Bone Stephanie Feldman
  • The Case of the Lost Busker David Ira Cleary
  • Embers Lawrence C. Connolly
  • The Weight of a Heart Tegan Moore
  • The Wages of Saints Eric Del Carlo
  • We Shall Be Monsters Esther M. Friesner

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  2 September 2026·13 stories

  Adventitious

  Issue #4, Aug./Sept. 2026

  A lot of nerve on show, and several writers I will be hunting out, but also a habit that kept recurring: story after story stopping at the end to explain itself.

  • A Game of Go P.A. Cornell
  • The Fruit Is Very Acceptable Here Kari Maaren
  • No Iron Can Resist Aimee Ogden
  • Life Imitates Rio Lombana & Kaitlin Schmidt
  • How to Lose to Death Priya Sridhar
  • Heartwood Moira Richardson
  • Saul & Noah’s Hot Bouleutophagy Summer Elijah J. Mears
  • A Hole in My Heart the Shape of the Multiverse Ruth Joffre
  • The Spacefarer’s Guide to Connecting with Your Daughter’s Descendants Stewart C. Baker
  • Bath Bomb Liam Hogan
  • HELLO Jeanna Cammarano
  • All Aboard Hannya Kay
  • The Unnamed City, As Seen at Three Points Adrian Ward

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  28 August 2026·3 stories

  Nightmare

  Issue #167, August 2026

  Three stories posted across August, and in every one of them a body that will not stay put or refuses to stay whole.

  • The Dark Follows Me Quincy Lee
  • My Parts, Collected Melissa A. Watkins
  • Room 602 at the Hotel In-Between Georgina Kamsika

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  26 August 2026·4 stories

  Utopia Science Fiction

  Vol. VIII, August 2026

  The eighth-anniversary issue, and the one where editor Tristan Evarts announced Utopia is going to print alongside the digital edition.

  • Lockdown on the Moon Denis Mortenson
  • Limited Entity Gio Clairval
  • Sentinel’s Redemption Calie Voorhis
  • Her Hair the Color of a Sun-Red Orange Rodrigo Culagovski

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  28 July 2026·14 stories

  Cirsova

  Issue #26, Spring 2026

  A big tenth-anniversary issue with a lot of range, and a pattern I kept running into, of heroes who needed rescuing rather than finding the win themselves.

  • Tongue of Ash Joseph W. Knowles
  • The Sapphire Talisman Richard Rubin
  • Deep-Rooted Ken Lizzi
  • Book of a Thousand Dreams Harold R. Thompson
  • Skirt, Snake, and Eggs William Drell
  • Automaton Anon W.E. Wertenberger
  • Infinite Alley JD Cowan
  • Frozen in Time Jim Breyfogle
  • To Scale the Devil Haunted Sky Misha Burnett
  • A Bottle of Chambertin Mark Mellon
  • Voodoo Man’s Curse Michael Tierney
  • A Necklace of Ghûl Claws Tais Teng
  • Tango With Samurai Rodica Bretin
  • Corpse Ala Cart Teel James Glenn

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  16 July 2026·6 stories

  Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond

  Issue #18, July 2026

  The issue that closes the magazine’s third year, and unusually it runs without a theme, and the editorial asks instead for the sort of stories most writers started with.

  • Rope and Bell Chuck Thompson and Griffin Barber
  • A Break In The Clouds George McClellan Grant
  • Rumors On The Rialto Jack Carroll
  • Shut Up And Train More Owain Alexander
  • Who Killed Snow White? Pascal Durand
  • Through The Eyes Of A Canine Cray Dimensional

  Read the full review at Tangent Online
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  6 July 2026·5 stories

  Strange Horizons

  June 2026

  Five stories across five weeks, an unusual mix of formats, and some properly heavy subject matter.

  • A Funny Thing Happened on the Limbhackers Forum Katharine Tyndall
  • Throne of Men, Wilds of Sky Morgan Wodring
  • For a Handful of Salted Teeth Marisca Pichette
  • Dear Trilobites RJ Taylor
  • The Wisdom of the Galaxy Will McMahon

  Read the full review at Tangent Online

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