A New Non-Fiction SF/F E-Mag

With the death of IROSF in February, I lamented the loss of an interesting source of reviews and commentaries about SF/F/H. At least Lois Tilton was able to move her Reviews of Short Fiction quickly to LOCUSonline.

Now it seems in September that writer Cheryl Morgan has started up Salon Futura:

Hello, and welcome to the first issue of Salon Futura, a new and hopefully somewhat different magazine devoted to the discussion of science fiction, fantasy and other forms of speculative literature.

It's October, so there are two issues out now for you to peruse. The webzine is a mix of online print and audio podcast, and is also available in the EPUB format for e-readers and mobile devices. It is currently free to read, but they will take donations to keep going.

If Cheryl Morgan's name seems familiar in the non-fiction genre field, it may be because she's the non-fiction editor for Clarkesworld and ran the old Emerald City webzine, which a lot of people talked about.

I ran into Salon Futura from the most excellent current issue of Dave Langford's Ansible.

I've only looked at a few of the items, but I think this will be a welcome addition to those who wish to read commentary about our field. Check it out.

Dr. Phil

Well, We Knew It Was Coming... To An End

Last month I mentioned that The Internet Review of Science Fiction was going to end its run with the February 2010 issue. Alas, that day has come. But it's still worth checking out IROSF, since there is still a February 2010 issue.

Of course, any magazine worthy of the title "Review" should contain reviews -- and IROSF did. Both in terms of current short fiction and analytical and retrospective discussions of science fiction. I think what I was anticipating missing most was Lois Tilton's short fiction review column. But...

Despair not, gentle reader, we knew that a reviewer of Lois' caliber would not languish in obscurity. Henceforward, her reviews can be found at Locus Online. We all congratulate Lois for this transition, and look forward to her future efforts.

Locus magazine already has lots of reviews in its pages -- Lois Tilton's comments will provide them with another set of reviews in the online pages.

Then again there's the case of Kristine Kathryn Rusch, whose column is entitled "Here We Go Again" this month:

I'm going to write two essays like this in two months. This is the first; the second is for my column in Baen's Universe. Both magazines are going away, both for different reasons.

If I were the pessimistic sort, I'd think I'll never work again. Or that internet magazines are doomed. Or that magazines in general are doomed. Or that writing is doomed.

But as anyone who has read this column through its first incarnation in Æon and now here at IROSF knows, I'm a realist. I know magazines come and go, markets come and go, and that's normal.

How normal? Consider Ellen Datlow's comment posted to Kristine's column:

Hi Kris,

Actually Baen's Universe was not "one of the first online magazines to pay well and get excellent fiction;"-not by a long shot.

Maybe the 5th?

OMNI Online,
Event Horizon
SCIFICTION
Strange Horizons

Those were the first.
Cheers
Ellen

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of that argument. (grin)

A Last Hurrah -- And Three Cheers For The Folks At IROSF

So let us raise the metaphorical glass in praise of IROSF and all those who contributed. Though this venue will fall silent with new content, we can hope that the years of content for IROSF will continue to be a resource for some time to come. And those who wrote columns will surely, as others have noted, write again.

Dr. Phil

It's The Second Of July

And that means new issues of three of my favorite non-fiction SF/F sources. Yeah, I've probably written about this before -- so are you reading these, too? What, not yet? Yeesh!

More Words And Pictures Than You Can Shake A Stick At

The July 2009 issue of Locus magazine arrived today. We didn't get any mail on the 1st, so I think our postal person must've been sitting by the side of the road reading my copy. (Actually, it comes in a sealed envelope so no one gets it before you do!) When I first started reading Locus, I'd see the coverage of events and cons and see all these pictures -- and I'd find out what my favorite authors look like. Now I look and see my friends. People I've seen or even done panels on at cons. People I've workshopped with or were instructors at workshops. What? Am I becoming an insider in the biz? No, probably not. But I know the insiders now. (grin) I keep recommending Locus both to new writers who want to know how it all works and to SF/F/H fans who want to read interviews and learn about who's who and what's coming.

You can get subscription information from LocusOnline. Really, it's a LOT of content and the one print magazine I receive that I devour from cover to cover the day it arrives. It seems like all magazines are suffering from subscription shrinkage and Locus is no different. But so many authors and publishers reference Locus that I don't know what we'd do without it. PLEASE give it a try. There are some stores which carry single copy sales, but not around here. (grin)

Online...

Then there's IROSF -- The Internet Review of Science Fiction. It's free right now, but you want to subscribe. Why? So you get a nifty little e-mail reminder at the beginning of the month reminding you that the new issue is up. Reviews and neat articles about people and sub-genres and history. Check it out here and also their cool logo gear at CafePress.

Speaking of you, our beloved readers, we wanted to point out that IROSF no longer requires a subscription to view—for now. We've been experimenting with ways to make our material more accessible, and this particular one has been a mixed blessing. More and more people are stopping by to read an article or two each month, but then there's the trouble of being forgotten about the following month. We'd like to invite you to sign up for the site, which is not only free, but also keeps you in the loop. You can comment on our forums and articles, becoming part of the conversation here. You'll also receive an email each month, letting you know that a new issue has come out. So take a moment and "subscribe." It's fun, you won't miss all the great stuff that's coming in August, and did I mention that it's free?

And Across The Universe

And then there's David Langford's legendary Ansible. If nothing else, this long running (July 2009 is the 264th monthly installment) U.K. e-fanzine will make you laugh. Thog's Master Class is legendary.

And now I've done my community service for the month -- and I'm going back to reading IROSF and Ansible... having already made one pass through Locus. (double-steal-grin)

Dr. Phil