mithalanis's review
3.0
I should start by saying that the three star review is not a reflection of the stories within the issue, but rather a reflection of my own personal tastes. As a first issue of a new magazine, the stories in this issue are very solid and the issue is put together well. It's a wonderful start to the magazine, and I'm sure that as more and more issues are released, the quality will improve tremendously.
The three star rating is more because none of the stories really resonated with me personally. It wasn't that they were bad - each story was well put together and I'm certain will be enjoyable to a lot of people. A few notes on some of the stories:
"Kariku's Ocean" grew on me the longer I read it. There's a lot of story packed into the pages, and I struggled a little to get going with it at first, which means that it took me a bit to get into the magazine as a whole. But once the story got going, I really enjoyed where it took me and how some of the sci-fi elements affected the progression of the story.
"It's Always Ice Time in the D.H.L." strikes me as a phenomenal story if I was more . . . well . . . Canadian (which I am not), or at least a hockey fan. This story was not for me at all, but not because of anything the story did; I simply don't have the hockey background to appreciate the story. I can tell that there's a lot to love there for a fan of hockey, and it would probably be a hoot for them, but as a person not interested in sports, this story went right past me.
"Mona Luna" might be the stand out story for me. I think this story probably has the fewest answers by the end out of all the stories, but the voice of the narrator really pulled me into the story and engaged me with everything going on.
"Citizen of the Galaxy" was the other story I think I enjoyed the most out of this collection. The author did a good job of painting the very different world that the characters live in while also presenting a very relatable and familiar story.
Overall, this first issue of Speculative North seems to have a lot of promise for future issues. While most of the stories weren't to my personal taste, I have another issue of the magazine downloaded and I'll definitely begin reading it soon. The stories in this first issue have given me a lot of faith in the editors and I trust that they will put together a solid magazine that is always worth a read. Hopefully a different issue has stories that I resonate with a bit better, and, if they do, Speculative North will definitely be added to the list of magazines I anxiously await the next issue of.
The three star rating is more because none of the stories really resonated with me personally. It wasn't that they were bad - each story was well put together and I'm certain will be enjoyable to a lot of people. A few notes on some of the stories:
"Kariku's Ocean" grew on me the longer I read it. There's a lot of story packed into the pages, and I struggled a little to get going with it at first, which means that it took me a bit to get into the magazine as a whole. But once the story got going, I really enjoyed where it took me and how some of the sci-fi elements affected the progression of the story.
"It's Always Ice Time in the D.H.L." strikes me as a phenomenal story if I was more . . . well . . . Canadian (which I am not), or at least a hockey fan. This story was not for me at all, but not because of anything the story did; I simply don't have the hockey background to appreciate the story. I can tell that there's a lot to love there for a fan of hockey, and it would probably be a hoot for them, but as a person not interested in sports, this story went right past me.
"Mona Luna" might be the stand out story for me. I think this story probably has the fewest answers by the end out of all the stories, but the voice of the narrator really pulled me into the story and engaged me with everything going on.
"Citizen of the Galaxy" was the other story I think I enjoyed the most out of this collection. The author did a good job of painting the very different world that the characters live in while also presenting a very relatable and familiar story.
Overall, this first issue of Speculative North seems to have a lot of promise for future issues. While most of the stories weren't to my personal taste, I have another issue of the magazine downloaded and I'll definitely begin reading it soon. The stories in this first issue have given me a lot of faith in the editors and I trust that they will put together a solid magazine that is always worth a read. Hopefully a different issue has stories that I resonate with a bit better, and, if they do, Speculative North will definitely be added to the list of magazines I anxiously await the next issue of.
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