So this was a fun surprise! Planet Scumm is a sci-fi lit mag, and this issue featured eight short stories by femme, trans, or nonbinary authors. I don’t read a whole lot of short stories, but this was a well-written collection that trended towards darker stories with heavier themes, and always kept me guessing what would come next. I loved the artwork that went along with each tale and although a couple of the stories veered into the bizarre, I came away feeling super satisfied with the read.

My favorites were A Defiance of Violins by Ana Garden, Real Sugar is Hard to Find by Sim Kern, and An Eventual Feast by Lindsay King-Miller.

In A Defiance of Violins, I loved the subtle romance in the bleak world, where hope manages to wiggle its way through despite the odds. In Real Sugar is Hard to Find, the mother-son relationship that develops throughout their little adventure in their divided world really resonated with me, and left me with a smile. And the building tension and fascinating premise of An Eventual Feast were expertly executed, with the perfect ending to the bring the story and the collection to a close.

I definitely recommend this issue to anyone interested in darker, beautifully written science fiction that takes us off the beaten path into new worlds disturbingly familiar to our own. And I’m definitely curious to see what the next issue brings. Thanks so much to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Word to the wise, watch out for snake eyes.

Thanks for reading!