Wyldblood Magazine #2

by Mark Bilsborough, Fija Callaghan, Koji A. Dae

The second issue of a new science fiction and fantasy magazine - Wyldblood's eleven stories range from high fantasy to deep and gritty sci-fi. In this a stifling obligation—a genie’s duplicity—a stranded astronaut—an abandoned dinosaur— a house full of stifling memories—a god greening the South—a woman stuck in traffic hell—a brain stuffed with adverts—an android boy stuck in mid stride— a chance to live a new life in a new body—an ostrich feather in the Old West. And the a species at war —a witch’s brain—a runaway train. A galaxy in turmoil—a timeline unravelling—a renegade intelligence— a disaster unfolds. In The Lamplighter's Daughter obligation brings safety but freedom courts disaster - which will she choose? In Last Wish the first two bring you trouble - can your third wish bring salvation? Survival and sacrifice cloud The Last Woman on Mars - can she beat the odds? She'll have to fight the last man on Mars first. Little Buddy takes a dinosaur to highlight real humanity, and Dust and Memories explores how we cling on to the past - and how to let go. Plant Man tells the story of a guy in a beat up white van greening the Deep South. He's not all he seems, though - watch out for those sharp pointy little horns. And Interview with Sole Refugee from the A303 Incident crawls over the traffic snarlup from hell, possibly literally. Imagine a future where ads run in your brain, 24/7. And the only way to avoid them is to embrace them? No One Goes Lonely explores the future in your head - and how to remove it. Malfunctioning androids in They Don't Make Them Like They Used To, disasterous body-swapping in Ask Me About the Old Quarry and a weird wild west Ostrich tale, Plumes, round off the stories Readers of the first issue thought "Each piece was completely unique and stunningly creative," and "this is certainly something that all fans of SFF and speculative fiction should be reading."

147 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2021

About the author

Mark Bilsborough is a science fiction and fantasy writer from England, and the editor of Wyldblood Magazine,

Reviews

[Tova Hope-Liel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Lamplighter's Daughter - 4.5 * cool world with intense magical realism and the looming pancultural experience of fearing night.
Last Wish - 5* bittersweet and to the point
The Last Woman on Mars - 4* interesting plot, space escapism. Nothing to complain about really, just not my type of thing.
Little Buddy - warning: pet negligence and subsequent death. 4 * one star off cuz the dino died at the end :( /s this was a good story but sad.
Dust and Memories - 5* very sweet though slightly gross. Cool concept.
Plant Man - 5* lots of fun even if i saw the twist coming
Interview With the Sole Refugee of the A303 Incident - pre-reading impression: sounds like a scp title, post impression , 4* cool idea, good premise, good drop of chills/dread at the end
No One Goes Lonely - 5* cool idea, cute characters
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To - 5* oOooOooOoo very cool, very dramatic and very scary if you think about the implications. Loved it
Ask Me About The Old Quarry - 5* Yoooo Very cool. Liked this idea a lot.
Plumes - 5* very intriguing! Not actually sf/f but still cool