Strange Horizons is a multi-awarded, US-based online speculative fiction magazine founded in September 2000. A non-profit magazine, Strange Horizons receives financial support via “direct donations (through PayPal or by check), arts grants, corporate sponsorship, and affiliate programs through Amazon.com and Powell’s Books”. Every Monday Strange Horizons uploads a new piece of fiction which is accessible free of charge (they also have various non-fiction pieces, as well as reviews, though these follow a different schedule), although of course readers are encouraged to donate if they have the means to do so.
Here are my thoughts on the stories published by Strange Horizons in the month of May. As always, Spoiler Warning applies, so do check out the stories at the website (older stories can be found in the archives) before reading on.
I saw the multiple exclamation points in this story’s title, and I knew – I knew – I was in for something terribly terrific.
How can you fail, with a paragraph like this?
George found Bob puzzling over the new Clairol “Tru U!” offerings. It seemed to George that every product aimed at their demographic was missing a significant amount of letters. She understood this came from txting and IM. But George dropped letters because it was faster that way, not because she didn’t like the look of the English language. She was worried that soon she’d pass through a strange teenage Ellis Island where smiling marketing interns, like the kind that messaged you on MySpace back when people used MySpace, would refashion her name and give her a new, de-lettered identity. It would be something terrible, too, like Gorg. Bob—Roberta—would get something cool. Like Ta. Or Ro.
Eliza Victoria 