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Cirsova: Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine
Issue 2 of the new Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine Cirsova,
- GenresFantasySword and Sorcery
105 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 11, 2016
Retro SF instantly became cool when Cirsova burst onto the scene in March with issue #1. Well, maybe not instantly. I, for one, didn’t pick it up until a couple weeks ago, advance copy notwithstanding. And note everyone has quite picked up on Cirsova yet. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake with issue #2 as with issue #1 and let Cirsova go lamestream before I read it.
Given that Alexander is publishing the sort of stuff you don’t often see in the major mags, I worried he would quickly run out of material. If that’s going to be a problem, it isn’t yet. (And if it is, get writing now, would-be pulp authors.) Cirsova issue #2 is even better than issue #1 and I’m in for the long haul.
((Images of the Goddess is longer than Hill of Stars, so issue #2 has fewer stories than issue #1.))
The Sealed City by Adrian Cole. The Sealed City is set in the world on an existing trilogy, but I haven’t read it and the story stands well on its own. Man has spread across the stars, but after a civil war have turned inward. Villagers on Earth call in a witchfinder in response to strange happenings in the desert. Despite the space opera backdrop, its straight weird fiction. (The Sealed City and Images of the Goddess, much like The Gift of the Ob-Men and A Hill of Stars did in issue #1, a solid, straight-up pulp bookends.)
Hoskin’s War by Brian K. Lowe. Set in American during the Revolution, things get weird when Iroquois attack and something unexplainable attacks with them. Lowe does some cool things with myths from a couple different sources. I liked this one quite a bit more than Lowe’s story in issue #1.
Squire Errant by Karl Gallagher. A straight-up monster killing story (well, with one twist), told from the perspective of, you guessed it, a knight’s squire. This story wouldn’t be out of place in Miles Cameron’s wonderful Traitor Son Cycle. It’s fun and well done, but it is a little bit too straight-up for my tastes though. (Gallagher is the author of Torchship, which I’ve had for a while now and really need to get to.)
The Water Walks Tonight by S.H. Mansouri. A small group of Vikings are sent to Hel’s domain as an offering to atone for their sins. It goes horror movie from there with draugr from Norse myth.
Shark Fighter by Michael Tierney. A man comes to floating in the sea, being stalked by tiger sharks. This was my least favorite of the stories, and not entirely unrelatedly the one with the smallest speculative element.
My Name is John Carter (Part 2) by James Hutchings. James Hutchings’ retelling of John Carter in epic poem form continues. Carter lands on mars, is captured by Tharks, and first sees Dejah Thoris.
Images of the Goddess by Schuyler Hernstrom. Superstitious nomads, talking apes, cultists, sassy AIs, insect-men from the fourth of five moons, giant horny horned men, slavers, radiation sickness zombies, gladiators, magic glass eyeballs, and confectioners (oh my). The Gift of the Ob-Men, by Schuyler Hernstrom, is my favorite story from issue #1, and Images of the Goddess, by Schuyler Hernstom, is my favorite story from issue #2 (and even better, it’s a novella). I will definitely be picking up Hernstrom’s self-published collection of short fiction Thune’s Vision (and talking about it here).
Rescuing Women by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I started this series, in part, to highlight hugely influential female pulp authors who were getting ignored, as in a list of 100 “must read” books by female authors that inexplicably omitted C.L. Moore, Francis Stevens, Andre Norton, or Leigh Brackett (to her credit, in Ann Leckie’s post on her 10 favorite science fiction books, 7 of her 10 selections are Vintage SF, and 4 of those are by women). Rusch noticed the same thing, and censures her tranche of female authors and those who have succeeded them for ignoring their predecessors. Forcefully. Very forcefully. But, hey, it’s a little crazy to pretend that no one came before when there was pulp great Jirel of Joiry, a female hero written by a female author who was introduced in an issue illustrated by a female artist (cover illustration above). Rusch is editing an anthology, Women of Futures Past: Classic Stories, out September 6 and featuring Moore, Brackett, and Norton among many others that Rusch gets a good plug in for and that I plan to review here.
Given that Alexander is publishing the sort of stuff you don’t often see in the major mags, I worried he would quickly run out of material. If that’s going to be a problem, it isn’t yet. (And if it is, get writing now, would-be pulp authors.) Cirsova issue #2 is even better than issue #1 and I’m in for the long haul.
((Images of the Goddess is longer than Hill of Stars, so issue #2 has fewer stories than issue #1.))
The Sealed City by Adrian Cole. The Sealed City is set in the world on an existing trilogy, but I haven’t read it and the story stands well on its own. Man has spread across the stars, but after a civil war have turned inward. Villagers on Earth call in a witchfinder in response to strange happenings in the desert. Despite the space opera backdrop, its straight weird fiction. (The Sealed City and Images of the Goddess, much like The Gift of the Ob-Men and A Hill of Stars did in issue #1, a solid, straight-up pulp bookends.)
Hoskin’s War by Brian K. Lowe. Set in American during the Revolution, things get weird when Iroquois attack and something unexplainable attacks with them. Lowe does some cool things with myths from a couple different sources. I liked this one quite a bit more than Lowe’s story in issue #1.
Squire Errant by Karl Gallagher. A straight-up monster killing story (well, with one twist), told from the perspective of, you guessed it, a knight’s squire. This story wouldn’t be out of place in Miles Cameron’s wonderful Traitor Son Cycle. It’s fun and well done, but it is a little bit too straight-up for my tastes though. (Gallagher is the author of Torchship, which I’ve had for a while now and really need to get to.)
The Water Walks Tonight by S.H. Mansouri. A small group of Vikings are sent to Hel’s domain as an offering to atone for their sins. It goes horror movie from there with draugr from Norse myth.
Shark Fighter by Michael Tierney. A man comes to floating in the sea, being stalked by tiger sharks. This was my least favorite of the stories, and not entirely unrelatedly the one with the smallest speculative element.
My Name is John Carter (Part 2) by James Hutchings. James Hutchings’ retelling of John Carter in epic poem form continues. Carter lands on mars, is captured by Tharks, and first sees Dejah Thoris.
Images of the Goddess by Schuyler Hernstrom. Superstitious nomads, talking apes, cultists, sassy AIs, insect-men from the fourth of five moons, giant horny horned men, slavers, radiation sickness zombies, gladiators, magic glass eyeballs, and confectioners (oh my). The Gift of the Ob-Men, by Schuyler Hernstrom, is my favorite story from issue #1, and Images of the Goddess, by Schuyler Hernstom, is my favorite story from issue #2 (and even better, it’s a novella). I will definitely be picking up Hernstrom’s self-published collection of short fiction Thune’s Vision (and talking about it here).
Rescuing Women by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. I started this series, in part, to highlight hugely influential female pulp authors who were getting ignored, as in a list of 100 “must read” books by female authors that inexplicably omitted C.L. Moore, Francis Stevens, Andre Norton, or Leigh Brackett (to her credit, in Ann Leckie’s post on her 10 favorite science fiction books, 7 of her 10 selections are Vintage SF, and 4 of those are by women). Rusch noticed the same thing, and censures her tranche of female authors and those who have succeeded them for ignoring their predecessors. Forcefully. Very forcefully. But, hey, it’s a little crazy to pretend that no one came before when there was pulp great Jirel of Joiry, a female hero written by a female author who was introduced in an issue illustrated by a female artist (cover illustration above). Rusch is editing an anthology, Women of Futures Past: Classic Stories, out September 6 and featuring Moore, Brackett, and Norton among many others that Rusch gets a good plug in for and that I plan to review here.
February 5, 2017
My only quibble with the entire collection is Hutching's poetic contribution, "My Name is John Carter (Part 2)". While poetry is in the Weird Tales tradition--what the magazine looks like it is going for--I don't know if anyone ever asked for a poetic rendering of A Princess of Mars. Because it was done in ballad meter, it took a herculean effort of will to stop myself from trying to read it to the tune of Gilligan's Island.
The rest of the collection is extremely solid and not-fancy, with straightforward approaches and styles if diverse settings: weird American Revolutionary War, knight errantry, Norse "northern thing", brutal and nonfantastic modern-day, and an opinion piece reinforcing the presence of women in science fiction writing since the earliest days of pulp magazine. Even Adrian Cole's return to the Dream Lords setting in "The Sealed City" dropped the phantasmagoria and told the story simply.
The anchor of the issue, "Images of the Goddess", cemented Schuyler Hernstrom as a writer to watch, with a Dying Earth-style setting and a tone of light Jack Vance that never overpowered, but still delivered the repartee, characterization, and weird social outlook. I should have figured out the nature of the sacred book that Plom sets out to find, but didn't. Delightful.
The rest of the collection is extremely solid and not-fancy, with straightforward approaches and styles if diverse settings: weird American Revolutionary War, knight errantry, Norse "northern thing", brutal and nonfantastic modern-day, and an opinion piece reinforcing the presence of women in science fiction writing since the earliest days of pulp magazine. Even Adrian Cole's return to the Dream Lords setting in "The Sealed City" dropped the phantasmagoria and told the story simply.
The anchor of the issue, "Images of the Goddess", cemented Schuyler Hernstrom as a writer to watch, with a Dying Earth-style setting and a tone of light Jack Vance that never overpowered, but still delivered the repartee, characterization, and weird social outlook. I should have figured out the nature of the sacred book that Plom sets out to find, but didn't. Delightful.
August 26, 2022
Adrian Cole returns to Dream Lords world series, probably best appreciated if you've read the trilogy which I've not. But i've got some of his other work published by DMR and one of his novels as investigador vs cosmic horrors
Brian K Love - Hoskin's War is a story set in the revolution war and a fight against Iroquois tribe and against them as well - another author I read some stories via DMR.
Karl Gallagher wove (is that a word) an excellent tale that for some reason I read it , thinking about Bretonnia from warhammer fantasy.
A Squire must do what he must to avenge his master and teach the peasants to fight. Let me search what more he has written
The Water Walks Tonight is about vikings and the evils that lurk within themselves and not... draugr (undead)
Shark Fighter I was not invested and didn't enjoy as much....
I didn't read Hernstrom story because I have his colletion to be read via DMR... but from what I've read from him - should be awesome...
Last but not least, Rusch speaks about women in fantasy and in literature... I really appreciate this piece. I've never chosen a novel or book thinking that main protagonist was a men or a women. That's absurd. I may relate to one or the other. What I don't care and I do search, (nowadays books) is the LGBT stuff which I am always on the fence. I Have nothing against gay characters. Clive Barker writes some interesting gay characters and he is one of my favorite horror novelists. What I don't care is the trend... it's now a trend making your characters gay or black but they don't feel different. You just put that label to appease the mob and say I support this current thing. One of my experiences was Christina Henry novel I've read this month - the girl in red. She wrote it like that, the character is gay (bisexual), black & disabled... all in the same package. It felt flat; forced and to me that's not the correct way to depict LGBT characters; another example is Lucifer Season 6 where Eve & Maze are in a relation and there is nothing more than sexual tension... nothing more. IT makes no sense, LGBT is far more than that. Hollywood and writers should be writing stuff they understand and they are misrepresent giving forced situations to those groups...
About women in fiction - there was always women writing fiction, less numbers yes BUT always. Saying that only now they are getting the stage is absurd and one thing I've noticed, that's why I Stop writing nebula & hugo (mainly hugo) is because they are going the wrong way - instead of giving stage to colored people or even women (which is absurd Connie & Bujold won a lot of awards - I've got all of their books) they are now descriminating against white men. Go to their webpage in the last 10 years tell me a STRAIGHT white man that won or was nomiated? Let me show you
Martha Wells / Arkady Martine / Mary Robinette Kowal / N. K. Jemisin / Cixin Liu / Ann Leckie / John Scalzi (exception -altgouht he is very left progressist type) / Jo Walton / Connie Wills and finally in 2010 China Miéville (completely left wing communist) & Paolo Bcigalupi.
Even on the nominees almost no white men. It's this what you want? To give power to women and POC you have to criminalize white men? That's how you create problems in society. You can elevate one without diminish other. Learn from past mistake...
Well... Apart fromt hat good anthology. I have one more to read
Brian K Love - Hoskin's War is a story set in the revolution war and a fight against Iroquois tribe and against them as well - another author I read some stories via DMR.
Karl Gallagher wove (is that a word) an excellent tale that for some reason I read it , thinking about Bretonnia from warhammer fantasy.
A Squire must do what he must to avenge his master and teach the peasants to fight. Let me search what more he has written
The Water Walks Tonight is about vikings and the evils that lurk within themselves and not... draugr (undead)
Shark Fighter I was not invested and didn't enjoy as much....
I didn't read Hernstrom story because I have his colletion to be read via DMR... but from what I've read from him - should be awesome...
Last but not least, Rusch speaks about women in fantasy and in literature... I really appreciate this piece. I've never chosen a novel or book thinking that main protagonist was a men or a women. That's absurd. I may relate to one or the other. What I don't care and I do search, (nowadays books) is the LGBT stuff which I am always on the fence. I Have nothing against gay characters. Clive Barker writes some interesting gay characters and he is one of my favorite horror novelists. What I don't care is the trend... it's now a trend making your characters gay or black but they don't feel different. You just put that label to appease the mob and say I support this current thing. One of my experiences was Christina Henry novel I've read this month - the girl in red. She wrote it like that, the character is gay (bisexual), black & disabled... all in the same package. It felt flat; forced and to me that's not the correct way to depict LGBT characters; another example is Lucifer Season 6 where Eve & Maze are in a relation and there is nothing more than sexual tension... nothing more. IT makes no sense, LGBT is far more than that. Hollywood and writers should be writing stuff they understand and they are misrepresent giving forced situations to those groups...
About women in fiction - there was always women writing fiction, less numbers yes BUT always. Saying that only now they are getting the stage is absurd and one thing I've noticed, that's why I Stop writing nebula & hugo (mainly hugo) is because they are going the wrong way - instead of giving stage to colored people or even women (which is absurd Connie & Bujold won a lot of awards - I've got all of their books) they are now descriminating against white men. Go to their webpage in the last 10 years tell me a STRAIGHT white man that won or was nomiated? Let me show you
Martha Wells / Arkady Martine / Mary Robinette Kowal / N. K. Jemisin / Cixin Liu / Ann Leckie / John Scalzi (exception -altgouht he is very left progressist type) / Jo Walton / Connie Wills and finally in 2010 China Miéville (completely left wing communist) & Paolo Bcigalupi.
Even on the nominees almost no white men. It's this what you want? To give power to women and POC you have to criminalize white men? That's how you create problems in society. You can elevate one without diminish other. Learn from past mistake...
Well... Apart fromt hat good anthology. I have one more to read
August 28, 2023
A set of stories with blood-thirsty predators and at least one paper tiger/boogie man, in the manner of an ancient Satanic brotherhood, shaman spirit dogs, a wingless dragon, watery draugrs, tiger sharks, martians, and an author trying to sell us on why a strong female would beat the crap out of Conan. To be fair, whether she meant to insinuate it or not, women get lost to history not because male authors and readers ignore them at all, but because every new generation of female authors tend to forget about them and "storm the barricades". Women were as much a part of sword-and-sorcery cover art and writing and reading as much as they wanted to be, which Rusch was touching on. I'm thinking she wanted to be more outright in saying "women have always been a part, you just don't pay enough attention" but she still veered into marginalized talk and compartmentalizing male authors and judging the past by the present.
The Sealed City by Adrian Cole 4/5
Amongst the 9 worlds, a remote outpost on
Hoskins' War by Brian K. Lowe 5/5
Continental rebels wait to ambush a British convoy only for
Squire Errant by Karl Gallagher 4/5
Pelanon village sits at the edge of the kingdom and at the edge of the Wild. Though the kingdom awards them to a degree, the Wilds are
The Water Walks Tonight by S. H. Mansouri 4/5
Glera Syori village suffers for food since the fish are
Shark Fighter by Michael Tierney 3.5/5
Wanting to document sea creatures, a diver gets an opportunity to
My Name is John Carter (Part 2) by James Hutchings 3/5
Image of the Goddess by Schuyler Hernstrom 5/5
A darkly humorous tale. The Krixxis Mountains hold an all-male
Rescuing Women by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Apparently, successful male writers are successful with no effort
The Sealed City by Adrian Cole 4/5
Amongst the 9 worlds, a remote outpost on
Hoskins' War by Brian K. Lowe 5/5
Continental rebels wait to ambush a British convoy only for
Squire Errant by Karl Gallagher 4/5
Pelanon village sits at the edge of the kingdom and at the edge of the Wild. Though the kingdom awards them to a degree, the Wilds are
The Water Walks Tonight by S. H. Mansouri 4/5
Glera Syori village suffers for food since the fish are
Shark Fighter by Michael Tierney 3.5/5
Wanting to document sea creatures, a diver gets an opportunity to
My Name is John Carter (Part 2) by James Hutchings 3/5
Image of the Goddess by Schuyler Hernstrom 5/5
A darkly humorous tale. The Krixxis Mountains hold an all-male
Rescuing Women by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Apparently, successful male writers are successful with no effort
February 18, 2017
Enjoyed most of the stories. As with any collection of shorts, the quality varies depending. I enjoyed the concept, though some of the stuff wasn't exactly what I was expecting (which is okay!). I look forward to reading future installments of the magazine as I think they're doing good work overall. Definitely taking a lot of risks and telling stories that are more action oriented, which I applaud.
I believe my favorite from this issue is "Squire Errant". That had great making all around.
I believe my favorite from this issue is "Squire Errant". That had great making all around.
September 20, 2024
Good Stuff
This is a solid collection of shorts, and only the second magazine in the series, it is really showcasing some new (to me) authors and I look forward to much more. Schuyler Hernstrom's novella was excellent, and made me want to follow these characters and the world even more. Check it out.
This is a solid collection of shorts, and only the second magazine in the series, it is really showcasing some new (to me) authors and I look forward to much more. Schuyler Hernstrom's novella was excellent, and made me want to follow these characters and the world even more. Check it out.
January 29, 2019
Another fantastic issue!
My favourite stories were The Sealed City by Adrian Cole and Images of the Goddess by Schuyler Hernstrom.
My favourite stories were The Sealed City by Adrian Cole and Images of the Goddess by Schuyler Hernstrom.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews