NewsletterThe Latest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Reviews and Essays

Dearest space worms,

We apologize for a bit of delay in correspondence lately, our editor has been hard at work on a certain project (herding poets like kittens to get a Poetry Hugo Award). We have some exciting things in the works, including a Worldcon offsite reading at a local brewery in Seattle, plus two new 2025 titles.

See you in the void!

Holly Lyn Walrath
Managing Editor

We have books for sale! It’s almost like we are a press! The Proverbial Shifter: A Linguistic History of Werewolves

Roxane Llanque takes readers on a journey through the etymology and cultural significance of the werewolf across history. Learn about the different interpretations of werewolves, from the early mythological figures like the Sumerian and Greek transformations to the Icelandic Kveldulf, who embodies the idea of the outsider revealing a more animalistic side under the cover of night. This deep dive reveals not just the linguistic evolution of the term “werewolf” but also its representation of humanity’s struggles between civilization and primal instincts.

How Ghost Stories Are Really Love Stories: An Analysis of the Presence in Presence (2024)

Sarah R. New reviews the 2024 film “Presence” directed by Steven Soderbergh. The story revolves around a family — Chris, Rebekah, Tyler, and Chloe — who move into a haunted house. The unique conceit of 2024’s Presence is a truly modern ghost story, allowing us to not only see from the ghost’s point of view but also experience their feelings as well. While this is an obvious example of grief as love in the horror genre, the conceit allows us to explore this trope in a different setting, emphasising how grief can be felt on both sides.

Speculative Poetry to Save America and the Earth: Book Review: Mexicans on the Moon by Pedro Iniguez

Rowan Minor reviews Mexicans on the Moon. Pedro Iniguez is a Mexican-American horror and science fiction writer from Los Angeles, California. A Rhysling Award finalist, he has led writing workshops and has spoken at various colleges. Iniguez has been published in several venues, including: A Night of Screams: Latino Horror Stories, Worlds of Possibility, Nightmare Magazine, Star*Line, and Eye to the Telescope. His debut poetry book, Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future, is a collection of fifty politically charged science fiction poems divided into four sections: Earth, Frontiers, Futures, and Aftermath.

Pink Kryptonite Made Superman Gay: Internalized Homophobia, Confirmation Bias, and Acknowledging the Problematic Past

E. N. Díaz’s personal essay reflects on the cultural reactions to the concept of pink kryptonite, introduced in a 2003 Supergirl comic, which controversially turned Superman gay. In this personal essay about the complexity of queerness and fandom, Díaz recalls the pop culture that shaped their understanding of societal prejudices against LGBTQ+ individuals. A critique of the modern approach to accountability.

The Wicked Movie and Ableism in Fandom: The Complexity of Unlikable Characters with Disabilities

Chloe Smith critiques fandom’s response to the 2024 Wicked film and Nessarose, a wheelchair-using character played by Marissa Bode. Smith rebuts the harmful comments and bullying online by fans who conflated Nessarose’s unlikable character with her disability. Wicked is a film that shows how unfairly those who are different can be treated and preaches kindness and unity as a result.

AJ Hackwith’s TOTO Provides a Fresh Take on an Old Classic: Oz Reimagined through the Eyes of the Beloved Terrier

Lisa Timpf reviews AJ Hackwith’s book TOTO, which looks at the Wizard of Oz through a dog’s eyes. Toto is a tough-talking terrier who makes up for his small size with a big attitude, and his narrative is imbued with a healthy dose of humor. This new take on the Ozian adventure is worth a look for speculative fiction fans who enjoy witty and subversive re-interpretations of old tales.

Why Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Was a Milestone in Video Game History: One Thousand and One Nights and the Iconic Game

Grant Butler revisits Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from the early 2000s. What makes The Sands of Time a noteworthy moment in video game history is that it feels like it could be an epic adventure novel or a blockbuster film without any animated elements whatsoever, which actually happened in 2010 when it was adapted into a live-action feature film by Walt Disney Pictures. And the reason it feels like it could be an epic adventure novel or film is because a huge influence on its storyline and structure is One Thousand and One Nights, the centuries-old collection of Middle Eastern folk tales.

The Truths and Travails of Womanhood: A Review of Mystery Lights, Short Story Collection by Lena Valencia

Archita Mittra reviews Mystery Lights by Lena Valencia. Lena Valencia’s debut collection, Mystery Lights (Tin House Books, 2024), comprises ten tightly written tales, illuminating the truths and travails of womanhood. Though the stories are firmly anchored in our reality, beset by patriarchal and other societal inequalities, Valencia’s prose is inflected with a slight speculative bent, adding an air of mystery and surrealism to the lives of the female characters she writes about. While not every tale manages to be memorable or particularly insightful, they do open up interesting conversations on femininity and horror.

Who Gave this Robot a Gun?: On Binaries and Personhood in Rossum’s Universal Robots and The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

In this fascinating long-form essay, Alex Kingsley explores what it means to be human through the lens of famous robots and Martha Wells’ Murderbot. The binary of “man v. machine” has been systematically deconstructed to call into question where man ends and machine begins — and to call into question if the distinction even matters. In this article, I will put two culturally significant pieces of robot fiction in conversation with each other: Rossum’s Universal Robots (RUR) to serve as an example of seminal AI narrative, and The Murderbot Diaries to illustrate how the ambiguity of sentient existence is now embraced instead of reviled.

Pathetic Men, Tender Gayness, and Losers: An Interview with Alex Kingsley, Author of Empress of Dust

Alex Kingsley is an IFP writer, comedy sci-fi podcast extraordinaire, playwright, and lover of all things strange and weird. As evidenced by their short story collection, The Strange Garden and Other Weird Tales, Kingsley knows how to engage with the off-putting and weird and find levity and joy paired with fantastic world-building. That collection features a story about a Frat boy ghost befriending the living and, my personal favorite, a lawyer working for Hell. Kingsley’s debut novel Empress of Dust, the first installment of the Bastion Cycle series, came out in 2024. Grace Kameyo Griego was lucky enough to get to interview them about Empress of Dust and their experience as a writer.

Interstellar Flight Magazine publishes essays on what’s new in the world of speculative genres. In the words of Ursula K. Le Guin, we need “writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope.” Visit our Patreon to join our fan community on Discord. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram

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