Interstellar Flight Magazine Best of Year One

by Holly Lyn Walrath (Editor), E.D. Walker (Contributor), Jeremy Brett (Contributor)

From space opera to weird fiction to indie games and NaNoWriMo, this collection represents the best in nonfiction dedicated to geekery. 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.

In the words of Ursula K. Le Guin, we feature “writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope.”

This anthology also features excerpts from three new Interstellar Flight Press books: The Manticore’s Vow by Cassandra Rose Clarke, a world of dangerous magic and thrilling adventures with this trio of gorgeous, swashbuckling tales, Twelve by Andrea Blythe, a luscious and fae poetry chapbook based on the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and Local Star by Aimee Ogden, a polyamorous space opera with a fast-paced, action-packed adventure that’s sure to punch you in the feels.

Table of Contents:
The Ones Who Walk Away By Holly Lyn Walrath
Monsters Under the Bed (and Outside the Window) by E.D. Walker
The Greatest Arsenal: Science Fiction Libraries and Archives by Jeremy Brett
Boundary Crossing, Liminality, & the Hungarian Literary Fantastic by T.D. Walker
Indie Games and Accessibility: A Personal Odyssey by Archita Mittra
Diverse Space Opera, Fight Scenes and NaNoWriMo by E.D. Walker
Phantom Fares by Piper J. Daniels
Riverdale, Writer’s Block, & Naval Warfare by Holly Lyn Walrath
Cats in Science Fiction Films by John Tuttle
Unabashedly Hopeful, Heartbroken, & Silly by J.T. Morse
Strange Bodies by Presley Thomas
Spinning Tales, Chinese Embroidery, & Musical Composition by E.D. Walker
Perception, Uncertainty, and Dread: The Horror of Perspective by Caitlin Starling
Space Opera Is Having a Moment and We Love It by E.D. Walker
Goth Weirdness, Slavic Folklore, & Ohio by J.T. Morse
No Room in Narnia by Erin Becker
Korean Folklore, Big Space Explosions, & Mathematics by Michael Glazner
What Else is there to Say about the Joker? by Archita Mittra and Kaylee Craig
Excerpt: The Manticore’s Vow by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Excerpt: Twelve by Andrea Blythe
Excerpt: Local Star by Aimee Ogden

Featuring Interviews with:
T. Kingfisher
Bogi Takács
Valerie Valdes
R.F. Kuang
Christian McKay Heidicker
Elizabeth Lim
Emily A. Duncan
Yoon Ha Lee

Genres: Nonfiction

138 pages, Paperback

Published August 3, 2020

About the author

See Holly Walrath.

Holly Lyn Walrath’s poetry and short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Luna Station Quarterly, Liminality, and elsewhere. Her chapbook of words and images, Glimmerglass Girl, will be published by Finishing Line Press in 2018. She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas and a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. She is a freelance editor and host of The Weird Circular, an e-newsletter for writers containing submission calls and writing prompts. Find her online at her website.or on Twitter.

Reviews

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: As with many magazines, you can flip through the pages and read what catches the eye. Or scan the table of contents and go for specific essays. This volume has articles of various kind - everyone will get their good share of enjoyable information. My highlight - and the reason why I requested this ARC - was Holly Walrath's "The Ones Who Walk Away", an essay about Ursula K. Le Guin's famous utopia "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" (and Jemisin's counter-story). The article about Libraries was a happy find, and I enjoyed the Indie Gaming article. Some other interviews were unimportant for me, and I skipped them, others felt shallow and too short. In summary, there was too much focus on YA or horror in the interviews, and the second half fell flat for me.

While I enjoyed this anthology, I find the price a little bit steep for the amount of valuable information.

Contents (stories are ordered from oldest to newest):

★★★★☆ • The Ones Who Walk Away • Holly Lyn Walrath • this is actually the reason, why I requested the anthology from Netgalley. The essay discusses Ursula K. Le Guin's story "The Ones who walk away from Omelas", brings up interesting facts around that story, sets it in context, hints at literary analysises. I've read that story before, and this essay made me re-read it, re-think, and in addition read N.K. Jemisin's counter story "The Ones who Stay and Fight". One cannot ask for more.
★★☆☆☆ • Monsters Under the Bed (and Outside the Window) by E.D. Walker • an interview with T. Kingfisher mostly about her first horror novel The Twisted Ones and its connection to Arthur Machen classical "The White People". Horror, meh, not interested.
★★★★☆ • The Greatest Arsenal: Science Fiction Libraries and Archives by Jeremy Brett • libraries are the ultimate geek stuff for us readers. Brett makes a fantastatic case of showing the many cases of libraries within SFF stories. But wait, there is more: There are real libraries in our physical world dedicated to SFF, most prominent The Eaton Collection at UC-Riverside, a collection with more than 300,000 items. It's supposed to be the largest SFF library. The author makes a case of the trinity of libraries: the creators, the scientists, and of course we the nerds. As the curator of the SFF collection at Cushing, Texas, he takes care to include diversity - writers of color, women writers, LGBTQ writers etc. I was very interested in learning about those U.S. libraries, as I only know of one specialized in SFF near my hometown: the "Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar", which is not that little in comparison to the "world largest", as it has 291,000 items. I've given this one a shoutout.
☆☆☆☆☆ • mostly skipped Boundary Crossing, Liminality, & the Hungarian Literary Fantastic by T.D. Walker, because I wasn't that interested
★★★★☆ • Indie Games and Accessibility: A Personal Odyssey by Archita Mittra • When I read artsy platformer, I instantly checked out a let's play for Gris and fell in love with the watercolor world and music. I'm usually more into RPGs, but watching this filled me with joy. The author talks about games that I've never heard of before and this shows me that everyone needs to find their own way in the gaming department. Indie games seem to fulfill non-mainstream needs. Having learned about the existence of Gris was already enough for me.
★★★☆☆ • Diverse Space Opera, Fight Scenes and NaNoWriMo by E.D. Walker • Interview with author Valerie Valdes, who wrote Chilling Effect - I checked out reviews for that book, but that doesn't suit me currently: too comical mixed with romance Space Opera. But folks who are fan of it should be aware of the next volume Prime Deceptions scheduled for September. Her explanation of narrating martial art scenes and linking it to wuxia movies was fun. I also learned more about the NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month) pledging everyone to write 50k words within November.
★★★+☆☆ • Phantom Fares by Piper J. Daniels - less an essay, more a ghost story:  the author weaves together snippets about migratory birds, supernatural phenomena, and her sister’s abusive relationship with ghosts appearing after the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami (leading to the Fukushima break down): Multiple taxi drivers reported passengers disappearing, the eponymous Phantom Fares.
★★☆☆☆ • Riverdale, Writer’s Block, & Naval Warfare by Holly Lyn Walrath • interview with Poppy War author R.F. Kuang. I haven't read that yet and the interview didn't give away that much. I only feel old now, as I realised that she is 24 years old and in the middle of her studium.
★★☆☆☆ • Cats in Science Fiction Films by John Tuttle • ROFL: "A short Hiss-tory", how could one not love that subtitle? From the early days, cats tigered through SF flicks, and this essay has them all, including multitudous Star Treks, Men in Black, and the obligatory Marvel. The insights are not very deep, and it is more or less a fine list of occurences.
☆☆☆☆☆ • Unabashedly Hopeful, Heartbroken, & Silly by J.T. Morse • interview with author Christian McKay Heidicker. Skipped, as I don't know him.
☆☆☆☆☆ • Strange Bodies by Presley Thomas • a selfie of coming out. Memorable sentence: "I realized that coming out is itself its own kind of body modification as it changes the way others see you. Often with horns on your head instead of your shoulders." Besides of that, I couldn't relate, as there was much talk about a show "Project Runway" that I don't know at all.
☆☆☆☆☆ • Spinning Tales, Chinese Embroidery, & Musical Composition by E.D. Walker • interview with Elizabeth Lim, a YA fantasy author. YA in general is not my thing, and once again, "Project Runway" is a foreign term for me.
☆☆☆☆☆ • Perception, Uncertainty, and Dread: The Horror of Perspective by Caitlin Starling • skipped, because of horror.
★☆☆☆☆ • Space Opera Is Having a Moment and We Love It by E.D. Walker • I don't know how this made its way into a Best Of anthology, but any blogger's "Waiting for Wednesday" is probably better than this commented list of last year's space operas. It isn't even thorough.
☆☆☆☆☆ • Goth Weirdness, Slavic Folklore, & Ohio by Jody T. Morse • Interview with Emily A. Duncan. YA and horror in combination is a perfect case for ditching.
★★☆☆☆ • No Room in Narnia by Erin Becker • Do you know the fear re-reading one of your first books, because it might disillusion you and you'd have to reduce your 5 star rating to a generous 2 star? I guess, everyone has such a sad guy hugging the shelves. This essay is written by an atheist who once was a Christian and loved the world of Narnia, only to find out the it doesn't hold up anymore and feels stale. I can only say that you don't have to be a Christian to enjoy it, and there are Christians like me who never enjoyed Narnia much because of its thick allegory with religious symbols. Beside of that, the essay didn't provide much insights.
★★☆☆☆ • Korean Folklore, Big Space Explosions, & Mathematics by Michael Glazner • interview with Yoon Ha Lee. I've recently read Phoenix Extravagant, the steampunk fantasy scheduled for 20.10.2020, and I enjoyed his novelette Foxfire, Foxfire. Both are based on Korean Folklore, so I liked this interview, though it was a bit shallow.
★★★★☆ • What Else is there to Say about the Joker? by Archita Mittra and Kaylee Craig • This is the rare case of thoughtful and deep commentary in this anthology. The two authors analyze both Joker films with Phoenix and Ledger respectively in the protagonist's role, comparing them and their interpretation against the political and social background of their time.
Excerpt: The Manticore’s Vow by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Excerpt: Twelve by Andrea Blythe
Excerpt: Local Star by Aimee Ogden

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting magazine. I thought I give it a shout out since it doesn’t appear to me of being well known. This is magazine take the anthology mag format but adapt it to non-fiction so you get interview with authors, essays, excerpts and stuff like that around the sff world. The team behind it seem to do a decent job and if this is something that you’re into then have a look. Not sure how many or how often they published. It seem fairly new (might be the first one) but I could be wrong. It’s also very affordable which is important for a boo/mag like that.

[Toby Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of cutting-edge writing.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy in return for an honest review.

I was a little hesitant with this collection when I realized it was essays and not short stories. However, there were a lot of really interesting articles and interviews here and I feel like I learned quite a bit about the SFF community. While all of the articles and interviews are well written, a reader's enjoyment of the content here is definitely going to depend on their familiarity and interest in the subject before starting the collection. That being said, the collection does a good job of covering a wide variety of topics and authors, so there is definitely something for everyone to enjoy here.

[Jared Millet · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing I've always enjoyed when I've subscribed to SF magazines is the material in addition to the fiction: interviews, think pieces, and writing on the genre in general - wonderful articles that are rarely, if ever, anthologized. No more! This collection of SF nonfiction from Interstellar Flight Press is highly enjoyable and has added a host of new authors to my "to read" shelf.

[pejowalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interstellar Flight Magazine is an online magazine that publishes articles about speculative fiction with a focus on what's current. This book is a collection of the best articles published in its first year.
I really enjoyed reading it. It is fun, entertaining and thought provoking. I learnt a lot about speculative fiction from reading it and would recommend it to anyone interested in doing the same.


Disclosure:I received a copy of this book from netgalley. The views expressed are completely my own.

[WorldconReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I would like to thank Interstellar Flight Press for providing a review copy of this book.

"Interstellar Flight Magazine Best of Year One" is a non-fiction collection of 18 SFF related essays, reviews, and interviews along with three tantalizing excerpts of new novels from Interstellar Flight Press.

Before deciding to read this book, I would suggest browsing the Interstellar Flight Magazines online articles which can be found at www.interstellarflightpress.com. This collection will appeal to readers that love non-fiction articles in SFF magazines. Even though the description and category clearly state that this collection is non-fiction and contains essays, I unthinkingly and incorrectly assumed it would include more fiction. (I was probably thinking of the Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine...) Fortunately, the articles are written to both entertain and provide useful information to all kinds of SFF fans. After finishing the collection, I added several authors and books to my "must read" list. I appreciated the three excerpts at the end of the book and am looking forward to reading the two that fall into my favorite sub-genres.

In conclusion, this book is a good introduction to what "Interstellar Flight Magazine" offers and can provide information on new material that readers may be interested in.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From their website: "Interstellar Flight Magazine publishes essays on science fiction and fantasy, pop culture, and geek fandom. This publication is a project of Interstellar Flight Press, a speculative publishing house."

This book is a collection of the best essays from their website from 2019. They are non-fiction and cover a really wide selection of SFF related topics, from cats in SFF to archiving SFF, and looking back at childhood favourites (Narnia books) to excerpts from SFF books.

I really enjoyed this collection and will follow the website from now on. I liked the book format as it gave me time to properly enjoy the essays, rather than just skimming as you often find yourself doing whilst watching TV (or similar) at the same time when reading a website.

It's given me lots of ideas of other SFF works to read, books, essays, short stories and more. As the book has come from web articles, it has lots of handy links so you know you're looking at the right item that they are talking about.

This would be a good gift for a SFF fan, whether that's yourself or a friend or family member!

Thank you to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.

[BethK]

I read this book as a pre-release e-book obtained through NetGalley, provided by the publisher.

This book is 18 “short stories”, and 3 excerpts of upcoming stories. These are not really stories – except for the excerpts. There is something for everyone here – interstellar chocolate, interviews with authors, writings by authors, sociological discussions about elements in stories – from cats to ghosts to earthquakes, to diversity among writers, to how science fiction particularly parallels social changes over time, and why historical records of scifi, including journals and libraries from time periods are good at showing us who we were and who we are becoming. Some were more interesting or more engaging than others. The nice thing about such a magazine format is that if a story or interview doesn’t appeal to you – skip it.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed these essays and interviews with science-fiction and fantasy writers. And I was surprised so many of them have a Houston to Texas connection.