Status Updates From Old Moon Quarterly, Volume ...

two bangers in a row so far-- enge's morlock piece is just such a fantastic piece in the classical sense, inspired in equal parts i think by moorcock and dunsany and more traditional mythology. LOVED this one, and all its strange worlds and creatures. the second piece, 'stolen by moonlight, betrothed by sun' was just so lovely??? ngl i got a bit choked up by the ending lmao

it's been so much longer since the last time i read one of these than i realized??? anyway this felt like the perfect bridge between the last few days of september before i start my october spooky month reading

ohhh sentient swords my beloved 🤍

Evans' "Lessons from Aulis" is quite thoughtful and thought-provoking. Great start, and with a key POV that is rather fascinating. Reflective 2nd, 3rd, and 4th POVs. Denouement doesn't quite deliver on the same scale as onset and middle, but it works. Overall haunting, as are many of OMQ's better selections.

"Bleed Me in the Water" by Hailey Piper was a strange, unexpected story. It is an interesting grimdark fantasy about a revenge story interlaced with mythology.

Finished "Last Day on the Farm," by Matthew John. Has a lot of horror elements.

"The Last Gift" by Jason Mills is really emotional. I may have wiped away a tear. 😵‍💫

"Footnotes on 'Only Forever,' the Grey Witche's Last Poem," by Calie Voorhis was very artful and evocative.

Finished "The Torrent of Souls" by H.R. Laurence. This is a entertaining and atmospheric story about a warrior who has to plunder an ancient sorcerer's tomb. It is traditional sword and sorcery with several artful passages. Some of the imagery, like the ghost river, was very vivid.

Mills' story "The Last Gift" is a melancholy, bittersweet tale that yet makes one feel good. It is also quite tame for OMQ and doesn't quite fit my expectations for their contents.

So Voorhis' poem with footnotes was ambitious. I enjoyed the footnotes more than the prose poem, but my hardcopy is missing the footnotes on page 66 so the story is incomplete.

Finished "Stolen by Moonlight, Betrothed by Sun." This wasn't for me. A magical sword reminisces about its "life," it's relationship with a renowned warrior, Elisabeth. It is an intriguing experiment, a fantasy story told from the perspective of a weapon. But how do you identify with the emotional interiority of a blade?

Finished "The Ember-Eyed" by James Enge. It's pretty good, gonzo cosmic like a 1970s prog rock album cover.

Laurence's story is rather beautiful, both in its writing and its telling. I'd be interested in following Heodric through another adventure.

H.R. Laurence's opening line of "The Torrent of Souls" is one of the best I've ever read. I've reread it numerous times and enjoyed it more each of them.

Read half of this in the PDF backers received a few months back, but really wanted to read this real thing. Delighted to open the cover and discover myself quoted atop the first page. Enjoyed the editorial introduction as well.