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kerstincullen's review
5.0
I listened to the podcast. It was sad and funny and made me sob in a very embarrassing way while commuting home.
omantienlukija's review
4.0
FICTION
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller
Short, scary, yet realistic and believable. A harsh look of things that can happen in intersections of technology and not great parenting. 4,5/5
A House Full Of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard
An intimate feeling look into immigrant family, trauma and memories, and how differently people can react to same experiences. 4/5
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Pretty depressing and bleak glimpse into future. Found it hard to connect with any of the characters. 3/5
Distribution by Paul Cornell
Weird and scary. Left me with a lot of questions but not in the good way. 3/5
Femme And Sundance by Christopher Caldwell
I liked the voice of the narrator but didn't really care of the crime story aspect. Would love read stories about the ASA. 3,5/5
Beyond The Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen
Mystical and enchanting. Really liked the twins in the end. 4/5
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Sander
Fantastic, definitely my favorite story in this issue. Real life injustices with a lovely magical twist. A pitty it's a reprint from 2019 and can't be nominated for Hugos this year. 5/5
ESSEYS
I really liked Weird Plagues: How Fear Of Disease Mutated Into a Subgenre by John Wiswell as an great introduction to a new subgenre. Also Hayao Miyazaki's Lost Magic of Parenthood by Aidan Moher was interesting but would probably have been more so had I seen all the movies discussed. The other esseys didn't really move the needle one way or the other.
POETRY
My favorites were Medusa Gets a Haircut by Theodora Goss, Kalevala, An Untelling by Lizzy Simonen, and What The Time Travellers Stole by L.X. Beckett, which all took something well known, twisted the point of view, and delighted while doing so.
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller
Short, scary, yet realistic and believable. A harsh look of things that can happen in intersections of technology and not great parenting. 4,5/5
A House Full Of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard
An intimate feeling look into immigrant family, trauma and memories, and how differently people can react to same experiences. 4/5
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Pretty depressing and bleak glimpse into future. Found it hard to connect with any of the characters. 3/5
Distribution by Paul Cornell
Weird and scary. Left me with a lot of questions but not in the good way. 3/5
Femme And Sundance by Christopher Caldwell
I liked the voice of the narrator but didn't really care of the crime story aspect. Would love read stories about the ASA. 3,5/5
Beyond The Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen
Mystical and enchanting. Really liked the twins in the end. 4/5
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Sander
Fantastic, definitely my favorite story in this issue. Real life injustices with a lovely magical twist. A pitty it's a reprint from 2019 and can't be nominated for Hugos this year. 5/5
ESSEYS
I really liked Weird Plagues: How Fear Of Disease Mutated Into a Subgenre by John Wiswell as an great introduction to a new subgenre. Also Hayao Miyazaki's Lost Magic of Parenthood by Aidan Moher was interesting but would probably have been more so had I seen all the movies discussed. The other esseys didn't really move the needle one way or the other.
POETRY
My favorites were Medusa Gets a Haircut by Theodora Goss, Kalevala, An Untelling by Lizzy Simonen, and What The Time Travellers Stole by L.X. Beckett, which all took something well known, twisted the point of view, and delighted while doing so.
espai's review
4.0
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller: ★★★★☆
A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard: ★★★☆☆
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: ★★★★★ - gros coup de coeur, je lirai ses romans
Distribution by Paul Cornell : DNF
Femme and Sundance by Christopher Caldwell: ★★☆☆☆
Beyond the Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen: ★★★☆☆
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Dandeen: ★★★☆☆
A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard: ★★★☆☆
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: ★★★★★ - gros coup de coeur, je lirai ses romans
Distribution by Paul Cornell : DNF
Femme and Sundance by Christopher Caldwell: ★★☆☆☆
Beyond the Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen: ★★★☆☆
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Dandeen: ★★★☆☆
afreen7's review
4.0
My first ever experience of Uncanny Magazine and I really enjoyed it. This is all thanks to P. Djeli Clarke's writing which I couldn't get enough of so I went digging into the internets and found it in Uncanny Mag.
Fiction
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller: 4/5
both fascinating and horrifying. The kind of horror that glues you to your seat in shock. Themes of VR gone too far, terrible parenting and the tech generation.
A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard: 4/5
This story is the distillation of what it feels like to miss not only a place but a time, an era, and holding on for dear life because it is perceivably the only comfort you have. I loved this because anyone who is an immigrant, or whose lives belong to multiple countries will get this.
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: 3/5
a futuristic dystopian where a crumbling unethical institution that trains modified children as combatants but fails. I would've rated this higher if the ending was better.
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Sandeen: 4/5
Just a lovely and simple story of a resilient young black girl painfully forced to conform to white standards of hair at school and its results.
Beyond the Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen: 3.5/5
This was spooky and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmospheric writing and imagery. Dolls are scary enough on their own without the added creepiness of young girls acting weird.
Femme and Sundance by Christopher Caldwell: 3.5/5
A fast paced action story of a Bonnie and Clyde except for its two young boys, one white and one black who acquire magical masks and rob a bank. This was fun, thrilling but just a little too long.
Distribution by Paul Cornell:3/5
This was certainly a little harder to grasp conceptually but interesting to read nevertheless.
Poetry
I really liked the poetry but I'm not gonna rate them individually. 'Medusa Gets a Haircut' by Theodora Goss and 'Kalevala, an untelling' by Lizy Simonen were my faves.
Editorials
Imagining Futures: Where Our Works Go from Here by Elsa Sjunneson:2/5
The premise of this is that a lot of works of art and writing are being recognized for their problematic parts and about the concept of separating the art from the artist. That's all fine and if you enjoy something that has problematic bits that's ok but to claim that all works of art and writing will eventually at some point be deemed problematic and that's why we should stop complaining, is just the dumbest idea to me. And that's what the author of this piece implies and I was eye-rolling throughout reading this.
Essays
Weird Plagues: How Fear of Disease Mutated into a Subgenre by John Wiswell: 4/5
Amazing article with lots of great recs of books of a newly emerging genre and its analysis.
Milk Teeth by Octavia Cade: 3/5
Interesting idea about ecology and environment. But I don't agree fully with it.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Lost Magic of Parenthood by Aidan Moher:4.5/5
This was a beautiful look at childhood, parenting, innocence, coming of age, etc
Trash Fantasias, or Why Mass Effect 3‘s Ending Was Bad Actually by Katherine Cross:4.5/5
Another great essay that even though I haven't played a lot of games I still understood what the point was it definitely applies to these times.
Fiction
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller: 4/5
both fascinating and horrifying. The kind of horror that glues you to your seat in shock. Themes of VR gone too far, terrible parenting and the tech generation.
A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard: 4/5
This story is the distillation of what it feels like to miss not only a place but a time, an era, and holding on for dear life because it is perceivably the only comfort you have. I loved this because anyone who is an immigrant, or whose lives belong to multiple countries will get this.
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: 3/5
a futuristic dystopian where a crumbling unethical institution that trains modified children as combatants but fails. I would've rated this higher if the ending was better.
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Sandeen: 4/5
Just a lovely and simple story of a resilient young black girl painfully forced to conform to white standards of hair at school and its results.
Beyond the Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen: 3.5/5
This was spooky and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmospheric writing and imagery. Dolls are scary enough on their own without the added creepiness of young girls acting weird.
Femme and Sundance by Christopher Caldwell: 3.5/5
A fast paced action story of a Bonnie and Clyde except for its two young boys, one white and one black who acquire magical masks and rob a bank. This was fun, thrilling but just a little too long.
Distribution by Paul Cornell:3/5
This was certainly a little harder to grasp conceptually but interesting to read nevertheless.
Poetry
I really liked the poetry but I'm not gonna rate them individually. 'Medusa Gets a Haircut' by Theodora Goss and 'Kalevala, an untelling' by Lizy Simonen were my faves.
Editorials
Imagining Futures: Where Our Works Go from Here by Elsa Sjunneson:2/5
The premise of this is that a lot of works of art and writing are being recognized for their problematic parts and about the concept of separating the art from the artist. That's all fine and if you enjoy something that has problematic bits that's ok but to claim that all works of art and writing will eventually at some point be deemed problematic and that's why we should stop complaining, is just the dumbest idea to me. And that's what the author of this piece implies and I was eye-rolling throughout reading this.
Essays
Weird Plagues: How Fear of Disease Mutated into a Subgenre by John Wiswell: 4/5
Amazing article with lots of great recs of books of a newly emerging genre and its analysis.
Milk Teeth by Octavia Cade: 3/5
Interesting idea about ecology and environment. But I don't agree fully with it.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Lost Magic of Parenthood by Aidan Moher:4.5/5
This was a beautiful look at childhood, parenting, innocence, coming of age, etc
Trash Fantasias, or Why Mass Effect 3‘s Ending Was Bad Actually by Katherine Cross:4.5/5
Another great essay that even though I haven't played a lot of games I still understood what the point was it definitely applies to these times.
8bitlapras's review
3.0
Fiction
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller: 3/5
A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard: 3.75/5
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: 4.5/5
Distribution by Paul Cornell: 1.75/5
Femme and Sundance by Christopher Caldwell: 2.25/5
Beyond the Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen: 2.5/5
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Sandeen: 3.75/5
Non-fiction
Weird Plagues: How Fear of Disease Mutated into a Subgenre by John Wiswell: 4.5/5
Milk Teeth by Octavia Cade: 2.5/5
Trash Fantasias, or Why Mass Effect 3's Ending Was Bad Actually by Katherine Cross: 3/5
Hayao Miyazaki's Lost Magic of Parenthood by Aidan Moher: 4/5
Poetry
I don't rate poetry because I don't read enough of it and a lot of it goes over my head but I did really enjoy Medusa Gets a Haircut by Theodora Goss.
Average rating: 3.22/5, rounded up to 3.25/5
Tyrannosaurus Hex by Sam J. Miller: 3/5
A House Full of Voices Is Never Empty by Miyuki Jane Pinckard: 3.75/5
Pathfinding! by Nicole Kornher-Stace: 4.5/5
Distribution by Paul Cornell: 1.75/5
Femme and Sundance by Christopher Caldwell: 2.25/5
Beyond the Doll Forest by Marissa Lingen: 2.5/5
In That Place She Grows a Garden by Del Sandeen: 3.75/5
Non-fiction
Weird Plagues: How Fear of Disease Mutated into a Subgenre by John Wiswell: 4.5/5
Milk Teeth by Octavia Cade: 2.5/5
Trash Fantasias, or Why Mass Effect 3's Ending Was Bad Actually by Katherine Cross: 3/5
Hayao Miyazaki's Lost Magic of Parenthood by Aidan Moher: 4/5
Poetry
I don't rate poetry because I don't read enough of it and a lot of it goes over my head but I did really enjoy Medusa Gets a Haircut by Theodora Goss.
Average rating: 3.22/5, rounded up to 3.25/5
supersonicsacha's review
4.0
For collections I just average out the ratings of each short story and then round to the nearest star. Overall this was one of the better Uncanny issues I've read.
avg. rating: 3.7
Tyrannosaurus Hex - 5
This was my favorite in the collection. I tend to love any story that has to do with VR and this was just a super interesting take on it. I think it would be great as a longer story.
House full of Voices is Never Empty - 3
Pathfinding! - 4
Distribution - 3
Femme and Sundance - 2
This story was my least favorite. I just found myself confused about the whole premise and what the masks were actually doing.
Beyond the Doll Forest - 3
In That Place She Grows a Garden - 5
This was a reprint and it was so good! I am sort of new to speculative fiction but I am really liking the unique ideas in the genre.
avg. rating: 3.7
Tyrannosaurus Hex - 5
This was my favorite in the collection. I tend to love any story that has to do with VR and this was just a super interesting take on it. I think it would be great as a longer story.
House full of Voices is Never Empty - 3
Pathfinding! - 4
Distribution - 3
Femme and Sundance - 2
This story was my least favorite. I just found myself confused about the whole premise and what the masks were actually doing.
Beyond the Doll Forest - 3
In That Place She Grows a Garden - 5
This was a reprint and it was so good! I am sort of new to speculative fiction but I am really liking the unique ideas in the genre.
mj_james_writes's review
4.0
Uncanny Jan/Feb 2021
By. Various
P. 164
Format: ebook
Rating: ****
**********************
Uncanny is currently my favorite science fiction magazine. They publish stories that are beyond the conventional old school space ship tales that are rehash of pulp science fiction. Instead the stories are creative, diverse, and a pleasure to read.
However, the Jan/Feb 2021 edition was not my favorite edition to date. I enjoyed the stories that I read, but nothing was as impactful of what was in editions prior. They were all well written and worth the read, they didn’t stick with me the way others have in the past. Also, I felt like there was more non-fiction than fiction in this edition. Even if this is not factually the case, it was my impression.
While this may not be my favorite edition, it is still a great read. Uncanny is an excellent science fiction magazine if you are looking for one to read.
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