Individual Story reviews below: (Average 3 stars) Novella Johnny Rev by Rachel Pollack (3 stars)In a world, our world, where magic is ever-present and hidden in plain sight from those who aren't supposed to see it, one man faces a terrible circumstance. But not really. He faces it with a copy of himself, but somehow, the copy just doesn't want to go away after its task is done.I liked this story. The plot was good, the characters were cleanly developed with good detail. The story

Okay now I finished the last issue of F&SF. Two notable authors on the cover were Matthew Hughes and Rachel Pollack, both with serial publications that I've really enjoyed.Matthew Hughes writes stories surrounding an irrascible thief named Raffalon centered in a fun world filled with neer do wells of all sorts, a bit of magic, and a lot of hijinks and general cheekiness. It has become one of my most looked for stories and I'm generally quite excited when another adventure is published. Much to m...

I love her writing so much.

A few years ago a friend gave me a copy of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August, 2015 with the thought that the first story, by a new-ish author, seemed like the sort of thing I would like. As frequently happens with this sort of thing, I intended to check it out in a timely manner, but the magazine soon got subsumed into the rest of my enormous TBR pile. More recently, when I was Marie Kondo-ing said enormous TBR pile because what even is in there, I was somewhat surprised t...

I've only read Johnny Rev and (the reason I looked for this issue in the first place:) Tamsyn Muir's The Deepwater Bride. Johnny Rev was fine but fairly unmemorable for me. Deepwater Bride was an interesting twist on the whole premonitions and Lovecraftian horrors-type story.

**This is only a review of Tamsyn Muir's The Deepwater Bride**I loved this short story! Muir's writing is in equal parts weird, funny, and beautiful.

wrt to the deepwater bride by tamsyn muir: "listen," i said. "the drowned lord who dwells in dark water will claim you. the moon won't rise tonight, and you'll never update your tumblr again." is the best line i've ever read in my entire LIFE

"Johnny Rev," by Rachel Pollack. 4.5 stars. Novella."The Deepwater Bride," by Tamsin Muir. 4.5 stars. Novelette

Very well done urban fantasy, horror and luuuuv in different settings. As usual with short stories, I liked some more than others, but I'm always here for lesbian sea monsters.

i read this back in november and i’m v glad someone finally put it on goodreads because it was really throwing off my reading challenge smh. anyway i would literally read tamsyn muir‘s grocery lists at this point but these short stories genuinely were all fantastic (particularly the titular one imo) - the way she merges fantasy and romance and horror with the incredibly sharp wit that tends to characterise her writing feels so fresh and clever to me, i simply have No Choice But To Stan

An excellent issue. No duds, and several standouts: "Dixon's Road", by Richard Chwedyk. This is a beautiful, lyrical story about love and loss and sacrifice. After I read it, I went to see if it had gotten any award recognition, then realized that this was the Hugo "No Award" year so it didn't and I was sad. It was deserving, in my view. It even contains a really beautiful piece of poetry, written as part of the story (written by one of the characters) but just lovely on its own merits. "The Bod...

I read the whole story in about 20 minutes (granted it’s a short story, but still) and it was so good!!! Magic, mystery, and queer girls? Yes please!!!

For some reason, this particular edition struck me as dark and gritty, and a lot of the material didn't really work for me, which was disappointing. My favourites were probably "The Deepwater Bride" {which was dark but I enjoyed it nonetheless} and Dixon's Road, which was quite poignant.There was one story that had formatting that didn't work and I couldn't read it on my Kindle: "The Body Pirate" by Van Aaron Hughes. [I received a PDF version, where I was able to read it. A challenging read but

There's always something to love in any issue of F&SF. The two gems in this issue for me were Naomi Kritzer with another story in her Seastead universe, and "The Deepwater Bride" by Tamsyn Muir. Kritzer's protagonist Beck Garrison has had me enthralled from the first, and Muir ... there are plenty of writers that when I've finished something of theirs for the first time I think "that was cool, I'll have to look out for more by ___." Muir, like Kritzer, like M. John Harrison, Elizabeth Hand, Kell...

I've only read Johnny Rev by Rachel Pollack, through the Best SFF Novellas of 2016 anthology, and it's another novella that only appeared in a magazine and doesn't have its own cover.Very weird and fantastical, like a mix of Gaiman's American Gods and China Miélville in present day New York.

3.5/5.0

I've only read The Deepwater Bride, but it filled my heart with joy. It's what Cthulhu could have been if only HP Lovecraft had a sense of humor and were a lesbian instead of a racist.

July/August 2015 Fantasy & Science Fiction.Outstanding, several high quality stories. 8 • The Deepwater Bride • 24 pages by Tamsyn Muir Very Good/Excellent. Started slow, but once Hester met Rainbow the story took off. Hester is a seer, and the ominous things happening around town are due to some creature looking for it's bride.32 • Dixon's Road • 20 pages by Richard Chwedyk Very Good/Good. The curator/tour guide of a poet's home, spots a man at the entrance well before the usual opening time. S...

This issue was very good in parts and very poor and others. The main story, Johnny Rev by Rachel Pollack, was excellent. Johnny Rev is a story that reintroduces us to Jack Shade, who is becoming one of my favorite speculative fiction characters. Another strong story is the Deepwater Bride which leads off the collection. It is a little bit Lovecraftian and quite well done. The other stories are strictly... other stories. I don't think there is one that stands out in my mind.

A Google search for the "Deepwater Bride and other stories" (which I'm actually not exactly sure exists as an official publication) redirects here, so I'm rating this. A good short story collection, with very good atmospheric writing and Muir's trademark humour.