I'm sure everyone is already looking forward to the next installment of this column.
If you haven't read it yet, catch up with "Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: The Call of Sauúti"!
Link ⬇️
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A BSFA award for Best Short Non-fiction and a Ditmar Award nomination?
Who else but Eugen Bacon @genni.bsky.social for "Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: Finding the Self in Other"!
Congratulations!
Link ⬇️
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Left cover of Climate Imagination: Dispatches from Hopeful Futures edited by Joey Eschrich and Ed Finn featuring a painted landscape with green grass and blue skies with white clouds and floating clouds like jet engines tethered to the ground with white cords. Right REVIEWS Quote If the volume feels, in the end, incomplete, 100 puzzle pieces out of 100,000, that’s a testament to how well it represents the scale of our current plight, and how clearly its contributors recognize a book’s limitations. reviewer: Seamus Sullivan 13 April 2026 Strange Horizons
Climate Imagination: Dispatches from Hopeful Futures edited by Joey Eschrich and Ed Finn
reviewed by Seamus Sullivan
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Left cover of Book of Potions by Lauren K. Watel featuring a knife with a wooden handle pointing downward. Right REVIEWS Quote The poems in Book of Potions use humor and bizarre situations to expose how we put on masks and roles in polite society, and how these masks become trite over a lifetime. Watel’s voice is never preachy in delivering this message. reviewer: Danielle Hanson 13 April 2026 Strange Horizons
Book of Potions by Lauren K. Watel
reviewed by Danielle Hanson
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Left cover of The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey featuring a large spacecraft shooting lasers down to a metallic futuristic planet with smoke billowing out of the destruction. Right REVIEWS Quote This is not a series in which horrible events occur and then are quickly forgotten as we move on to the next plot point. These characters, and thus the reader, are never far removed from their trauma. reviewer: Bill Capossere 13 April 2026 Strange Horizons
The reviews are in!
The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey
reviewed by Bill Capossere
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
POETRY by Joshua Ginsberg Dead City Dreaming Quote So I waited, and dreamed Memorized security footage reruns (So I wouldn’t lose your shape) end Quote 13 April 2026 Strange Horizons
Dead City Dreaming
by Joshua Ginsberg
"So I waited, and dreamed
Memorized security footage reruns
(So I wouldn’t lose your shape)"
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
FICTION Quote I cannot control how my body looks, but I can control how it moves. After ten years, I can split, halo and hit a double backflip. I can jackhammer into a headspin and end in a tombstone freeze, and my footwork flies so fast people think I’m levitating. Every time I head to the dance studio, I feel like I’m glowing. That feeling never lasts. end Quote Skiinfolk by Jamie McGhee 13 April 2026 Strange Horizons
Skiinfolk
by Jamie McGhee
"I cannot control how my body looks, but I can control how it moves... Every time I head to the dance studio, I feel like I’m glowing.
That feeling never lasts."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
POETRY by Crystal Sidell laurels Quote fury tongued, we lash the breeze with our foxing song end Quote 13 April 2026 Strange Horizons
laurels
by Crystal Sidell @sidellwrites.bsky.social
"fury
tongued, we lash the breeze
with our foxing song"
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Critical Friends The Strange Horizons SF/F Criticism Podcast
NEW PODCAST ALERT!
Jenny Hamilton, Anushree Nande, and Dan Hartland discuss romance and romantasy all in the Critical Friends Episode 22: Romancing The Genre!
Link ⬇️
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Left cover of The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older featuring two grey human figures walking away from each other but looking and reaching backwards toward each other with a large planet and futuristic cityscape in the background. Right REVIEWS Quote What I do appreciate is how Pleiti is affected and changed by the actions of those around her, which forces her to confront certain prejudices, or to see institutions such as academia in a new light, or to reaffirm her connection with and love for Mossa. reviewer: Safia H. Senhaji 6 April 2026 Strange Horizons
The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older
reviewed by Safia H. Senhaji @shsenhaji.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Left cover of When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee featuring a hazy woman's face with fire coming out of her raised index finger. Right REVIEWS Quote this novel certainly confronts the reader with the possibilities and problems of the future in vivid, memorable ways, pondering its pathways and gutters, questioning who the future is made for, and who gets left behind. reviewer: Kyle R. Garton 6 April 2026 Strange Horizons
When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee
reviewed by Kyle R. Garton
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Left cover of Dispelling Fantasies: Authors of Color Reimagine a Genre by Joy Sanchez-Taylor featuring a profile of a person in bright red with curling yellow tattoos. Right REVIEWS Quote I find that this book makes a compelling case for dispelling fantasy and I recommend both it and the fiction it discusses to readers who want to move on from the outdated norms of the past. reviewer: Nick Hubble 6 April 2026 Strange Horizons
The reviews are in!
Dispelling Fantasies: Authors of Color Reimagine a Genre by Joy Sanchez-Taylor
reviewed by Nick Hubble
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
POETRY by Victoria Ojo Code Blue Quote Little one—Exhale the ashes of your former scaffold. Let your mitochondria dance in the algae of renewal. end Quote 6 April 2026 Strange Horizons
Code Blue
by Victoria Ojo
"Little one—Exhale the ashes of your former scaffold.
Let your mitochondria dance in the algae of renewal."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
FICTION Run, then, if you never want to know what killed you, and why, and where you are now. For I have seen that thing like a great flying beast, which crackles and buzzes and trails smoke and light and fire as it comes down screaming from the sky. The Houses of the Stars in Heaven by Ferdison Cayetano 6 April 2026 Strange Horizons
The Houses of the Stars in Heaven
by Ferdison Cayetano
"For I have seen that thing like a great flying beast, which crackles and buzzes and trails smoke and light and fire as it comes down screaming from the sky.."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
by Seoung Kim Many of you have been asking what happens when an angel dies Quote On the street, you will begin to see the faces of the dead in those of complete strangers. end Quote 6 April 2026 Strange Horizons
Many of you have been asking what happens when an angel dies
by Seoung Kim
@seoungkim.bsky.social
"On the street, you will begin to see the faces of the dead in those of complete strangers."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Blue sky Giveaway winner is Britt Kaufman
And the winner of the Strange Horizons giveaway is 🥁
@brittwriter.bsky.social
Thank you to everyone who participated! We always love hearing about your love for what we publish!
NON-FICTION Quote It’s easy to let the mind wander, speculating where this might lead. Can we use other pests to treat diseases, in crops or humans? Can we protect forests before outbreaks begin? What could we modify within ourselves to promote health or resilience to environmental stress? end Quote An STD could save your (chest)nuts by Helen Pennington 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
An STD could save your (chest)nuts
by Helen Pennington
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
NON-FICTION Quote If and when the climate continues to warm, fungi are likely to become more prevalent in our daily lives, and with familiarity will come more stories. Hopefully, unlike in Hodgson’s The Voice in the Night, we can right our climate-catastrophe-bound ship and avoid being consumed. end Quote Fungus, Climate Change, and You: Facts and Speculative Fiction by Jason P. Burnham 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
It's time to wrap up Strange HoRhizomes:
Fungus, Climate Change, and You: Facts and Speculative Fiction
by Jason P. Burnham
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Left cover of The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu featuring the title in white with colourful flowers and leaves behind. Right REVIEWS Quote Nella Carter... argues that Black women shouldn’t have to write about hardship, that they should be allowed to focus on beauty too. This conversation encapsulates a central question posed by this book: Is there room for beauty and love when you’re living under systemic oppression? reviewer: Nileena Sunil 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu
reviewed by Nileena Sunil
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
#bookreviews
Left cover of Make-Believe and Artifice by Rose Biggin Right REVIEWS Quote Like any tray of sweets, Make-Believe and Artifice may be best enjoyed in moderation. After 227 pages, I felt satisfied rather than desperate for more. But with stories as artfully constructed as this, it’s difficult to feel bad. For any lover of fantasy or comic fiction, this book is a treat to be savoured. reviewer: William Shaw 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
Make-Believe and Artifice by Rose Biggin
reviewed by William Shaw
Link ⬇️
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#shortstories #bookreviews
Left cover of Shuten Order featuring six characters posing in the foreground and two faces and a headless muscular body in the background. Right REVIEWS Quote Ultimately, Shuten Order is a thoughtful exploration of the many ways in which meanings are made at both the individual and social levels through its depiction of these three major thematic pillars. reviewer: Tristan Beiter 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
The reviews are in!
Shuten Order
reviewed by Tristan Beiter
Link ⬇️
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#videogames #videogamereviews
NON-FICTION Quote The jahSepp were only around for a few episodes, but these fungi were not only complex and beautifully fleshed out but also expertly built, incorporating our current mycology knowledge base. end Quote Utopian Eukaryotes: Revisiting the jahSepp from Star Trek: Discovery by Jordan Hirsch 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
Utopian Eukaryotes: Revisiting the jahSepp from Star Trek: Discovery
by Jordan Hirsch @jordanrhirsch.bsky.social
"The jahSepp were only around for a few episodes, but these fungi were not only complex and beautifully fleshed out but also expertly built..."
Link⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
FICTION Quote The maw keeps on swallowing; the glands on the line keep extruding mush; the line cooks keep dressing the mush up with cured meat and farm-fresh herbs. Anton, the head chef, says the high-quality animal proteins we feed Nuth-Shoggoth give our Ambrosia a heady nuttiness that sets us apart from the other Shoggoth restaurants in the Loop. end Quote Nights and Weekends in the Shoggoth Loop by Yri Hansen 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
Nights and Weekends in the Shoggoth Loop
by Yri Hansen
"Anton, the head chef, says the high-quality animal proteins we feed Nuth-Shoggoth give our Ambrosia a “heady nuttiness” that sets us apart from the other Shoggoth restaurants in the Loop."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
NON-FICTION Quote This improvement on the standard SFF staple biodome comes with numerous free upgrades, such as radiation shielding, advanced nutrient cycling, cheap protein and living shelter. The drawbacks? You might end up with killer mushrooms. end Quote How to Grow a City: Biogenic Architecture and Symbiotic Evolution by Maya Horton 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
How to Grow a City: Biogenic Architecture and Symbiotic Evolution
by Maya Horton
"This improvement on the standard SFF staple biodome comes with numerous free upgrades... The drawbacks? You might end up with killer mushrooms."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
#fungi #sciencefiction
POETRY by Sonya Taaffe The Cryptogamists Quote Queer lot that we were with our notebooks crusted like churchyards, did we breed in secret end Quote 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
The Cryptogamists
by Sonya Taaffe
"Queer lot that we were
with our notebooks crusted like churchyards,
did we breed in secret"
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
#poetry #speculativepoetry #fungi
NON-FICTION Quote The scientific struggle to categorise these timeless, shapeshifting, pluralist, decentralised fungal identities underscores their potential for challenging our thinking beyond traditional human limitations. end Quote Climbing the Fungal Ladder: Towards Transcending Barriers by Ayida Shonibar 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
Climbing the Fungal Ladder: Towards Transcending Barriers
by Ayida Shonibar
"The scientific struggle to categorise these timeless, shapeshifting, pluralist, decentralised fungal identities underscores their potential..."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
#essays #fungi
POETRY by Caleb Peiffer Chronicling the Orbits of Mushrooms Quote If the universe has a mother, soil was her body, fungus was the fleshy womb end Quote 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
Chronicling the Orbits of Mushrooms
by Caleb Peiffer
"If the universe has a mother,
soil was her body,
fungus was the fleshy womb"
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
#poetry #speculativepoetry #mushrooms #fungi
This is on until tomorrow! You can still comment with your entry!
NON-FICTION Quote Our relationship with fungi includes both medicinal supplements and insectile sympathy, mildew and morels, the Wood Wide Web and chytridiomycosis. But by recognizing and exploring that full spectrum, we can find stories—and possibilities—that were previously closed to us. end Quote From Cosmic Horror to Solarpunk Futures: The Changing Face of Fungal Speculation by Ruthanna Emrys 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
From Cosmic Horror to Solarpunk Futures: The Changing Face of Fungal Speculation
by Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social
"...by recognizing and exploring that full spectrum, we can find stories—and possibilities—that were previously closed to us."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Left Four mushrooms above ground and body parts in the soil below ground. Right POETRY by Mary Soon Lee art by Romie Stott Mushroon Quote Mushroon: verb to stay rooted in one place more broadly, to favor thought over action. end Quote 30 March 2026 Strange Horizons
Here's the start of Strange HoRhizomes, the fungi special issue!
Mushroon
by Mary Soon Lee @marysoonlee.bsky.social
art by Romie Stott @romiesays.bsky.social
"Mushroon: verb
to stay rooted in one place
more broadly, to favor
thought over action."
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...