Mithila Review Issue 8

Mithila Review Magazine #8

by Salik Shah (Editor), Ajapa Sharma (Editor), Arkady Martine

Mithila Review is an international science fiction and fantasy magazine. We publish original speculative fiction, poetry, essays and interviews from around the world.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

· Coming of Age in A Visual World by Ajapa Sharma

SHORT STORIES

· Ruin Marble by Arkady Martine
· Datsue-Ba by Eliza Chan

FLASH FICTION

· The Tailings by Brian Daniel Green

NOVELETTE

· Champollion’s Foot by Haris A. Durrani

POETRY

· Instructions for Astronauts by Michael Janairo
· Three Poems by Ingrid Jendrzejewski
· family (a form somehow must) by Gwynne Garfinkle
· How to build a woman, sodden flowered and strong by Hester J. Rook
· The Santa Monica Prophecies: A Collaborative Triptych by Layla Al-Bedawi, Holly Lyn Walrath & Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

VISUAL SPOTLIGHT

· Her Broken Shadow: How I Made a Science-Fiction Feature Film in East Africa by Dilman Dila
· From the Ruins of the Quake by Ashim Shakya
· An Indian Architecture Student’s Art Journal by Ashish Mathew Mammen
· Two Visual Poems by Holly Lyn Walrath

ARTICLES

· Robots, Ghosts, and Dreams: Some Preoccupations of World SF by Rachel Cordasco
· Aliens with a Human Face: The Human-like Non-Humans of Doctor Who by Urna Mukherjee
· Asian Monsters, Edited by Margrét Helgadóttir by Ajapa Sharma
· The Collected Poems of Bruce Boston: Dark Roads and Brief Encounters With My Third Eye by Salik Shah

Edited by Salik Shah and Ajapa Sharma

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2017

About the author

Salik Shah is the founding editor of Mithila Review. His poetry, fiction and nonfiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Strange Horizons, Asimov’s Science Fiction and Juggernaut, among other publications.

Reviews

[Rachel (Kalanadi) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed "Datsue-Ba" (a reprint) and "Champollion's Foot"

[Wrong Train, Right Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review only applies to "Ruin Marble" by Arkady Martine.

My first reaction to "Ruin Marble" was: OMG NEW ARKADY MARTINE!111

Which gives you a pretty good idea of my hopes going into this. Martine's work consistently impresses the hell out of me. My expectations were high. My body was ready.

I was not disappointed.

"Ruin Marble" is the (short) story of a sorcerer and her possessed radio in hiding trying to run from the consequences of her actions. Said consequences include weird, terrifying angels from dimensions beyond human ken.

Arkady Martine's prose in "Ruin Marble" is absolutely stellar. Every sentence bursts with poetic but pristine imagery, images that linger in the mind long after the story is done. This is especially evident in her descriptions of New York. Martine calls herself a New Yorker and it shows in every loving, wry description of the city she so loves, the city that houses her story. Her every turn of phrase is perfect, including the hilariously absurd interlude with an angel in the middle of Central Park. The possessed radio is a fucking star.

The weird, terrifying angels were delightful. I love weird, terrifying angels.

In conclusion, if you want some amazing, weird, melancholy, defiant, prose about cities and consequences and possessed radios... Read "Ruin Marble."

And then read the rest of Arkady Martine's bibliography because, seriously. There's not a bad story in the bunch. I can't wait for whatever she releases next.