Volume 40, Issue
1 Winter 2017 Wyrms & Wormholes
THE TRUMP OF DOOM The thing about most science fiction and fantasy (she says, solidly smacking horror on its ugly head) is that even the most menacing plots and dystopian settings end up not being insurmountable. Presented with despots, tyrants, and those of Little Judgement, our plucky heroes and heroines, as well as those who fall on the intervening spectrum, gird up their loins, charge their phasers, hone their blades or hollow-point their bullets, and carry on. It may be a long, difficult struggle; there may be grievous losses, but our protagonists come away all the stronger for having faced the darkness and pummeled it to its knees rather than succumbing to despair.
We must take courage from our genre; that we will come out of what seems like certain destruction fundamentally unharmed, if not unchanged, with an immoderate array of poem ideas. At the very least, we can still be charmed and distracted from woe by what is available in speculative poetry these days. I’ve recently encountered two delightful genre-ish books: the hilarious Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra, and The Primitive Observatory by Gregory Kimbrell, both of which I hope will soon be reviewed herein. And anyone is welcome to submit reviews of their run-ins with spec po books.
Let’s put the “u” back in “dystopian”! —F.J. Bergmann Buy this issue of Star*Line for $3.00
plus $2 U.S./$3 international shipping.
To order, send a check made out to the SFPA the PO Box listed on the officers page. or pay SFPATreasurer@gmail.com via PayPal. Credit-card payments are accepted through PayPal. Better yet, become a member and never miss an issue!Star*Line Staff: |
![]() |
Table of Contents Features
Poetry
Illustrations
|