A review by richardleis
The 2017 Rhysling Anthology by David C. Kopaska-Merkel

4.0

Lots of great poems in a variety of genres. My favorites were usually the science fiction or horror poems; I thought the fantasy poems seemed limited to myth and history. I liked some of the supernatural tales, too, but few of them really surprised me. If I have one critique, it is that many of these poems overall seemed lacking in surprise. I don't have a lot of experience reading genre poetry, but I think poets might approach it in a more straight-forward manner and rely on existing genre tropes more diligently than, say, literary poetry. Again, though, this might really be my own ignorance at play and I'm eager to gain more experience reading these kinds of speculative and fabulist poems. I have several back issues of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association's other quarterly journals to read and I'm definitely paying for another annual membership to continue to support them.

A few of my favorite poems:

* "To the Girl Who Ran through Crop Circles" by Karen J. Weyant because of the imagery and movement, and that last stanza and final image.
* "The Rime of the Eldritch Mariner" by Adam Bolivar because this is just a really fun idea.
* "The Leviathans of Europa" by Christina Sng because I love science fiction from the point of view of aliens and the other, especially in settings like the ocean of Europa. This is the kind of science fiction poetry I would like to write.