A fairly good introductory issue for the new editor.Cat Rambo - Crazy Beautiful - 2 stars- An AI animates art such that it can move around so that more people can enjoy it. The story is just a little bit too fractured to really be enjoyable to read.C. L. Polk - The Music of the Siphorophenes - 4 stars- An independent spaceship pilot accepts a contract to take a famous singer on a trip to see an unusual life form in the outer solar system. After being attacked by pirates and escaping from them, t...

A solid first issue out together by new editor Sheree Renée Thomas. Looking forward to many more!- The Music of the Siphorophenes by C. L. Polk.Out past the orbit of Saturn, an isolated and lonely ship captain is taught about the companionship of ‘We’ by an unlikely teacher. A poignant and touching tale.- Mannikin by Madeleine E. Robins.In a violent world, a mother goes to great lengths to prevent her newborn son from being future fodder for the warlord’s military machine. Gender may be a social...

Here we come to Thomas's debut issue as F&SF's new editor (congrats!), though as Finlay said (or implied) in the last one, a few more stories acquired from his tenure continue.Cat Rambo's "Crazy Beautiful" told the story of an AI made to create art that got a bit um, radicalized. Made up of interviews, messages, and interrogation transcripts, it was a mostly fun story, though I was very much not amused by the realization that every single person interviewed by the police died in custody. I reall...

Great edition, lots of good stories. My favorite were:- “Character” by Harry Turtledove- “The Music of the Siphorophenes” by C. L. Polk- “In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi” by Molly Tanzer- “Mannikin” by Madeleine E. Robins- “Speak to the Moon” by Marie Brennan - “The Pizza Boy” by Meg Elison- “The Bletted Woman” by Rebecca Campbell

A great start for the new run of Sheree Renée Thomas as F&SF editor. Favorites were a couple of really good horror stories: “The Bletted Woman” by Rebecca Campbell and “Jack-in-the-Box” by Robin Furth. There’s a long list of good stuff though: “Speak to the Moon” from Marie Brennan is quite an original one - it starts from an SF perspective and turns into something completely unexpected; “Mannikin” by Madeleine E. Robbins explores gender through the lens of magic (and war); finally, “In the Gard...

I enjoyed the following stories:In the garden of Ibn GhaziJack-in-the-boxThe bletted womanSpeak to the moonCharacterThe pizza boy

Just a shout out for the story "The Bletted Woman" by Rebecca Campbell. The poetic cadence of the prose is pitch perfect as far as I can tell, and that includes some fairly nerdy scientific detail. I just re-read the story out loud and liked how it rolled even better. Good podcast candidate for the right narrator.

Lots of great stories stories in this issue. "In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi" by Molly Tanzer reminded me of "A Manuscript in Sargossa" but with more Lovecraft. "Jack-in-the-Box" by Robin Furth was genuinely creepy--though luckily it didn't go as dark as I thought it would. My favorite was probably "Minstrel Boy Howling at the Moon" by B. Morris Allen. Something about the rhythm and pace just spoke to me.

This reader's favorite: Our Peaceful Morning, by Nick Wolven; woke-ness ad absurdum. Also fun: Character, by Harry Turtkedove; reader's-view-metaphor parody.

Tanzer's novelette is a standout.

I liked "The Music of the Siphorophenes" by C. L. Polk, "Mannikin" by Madeline E. Robins, "In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi" by Molly Tanzer, and "Speak to the Moon" by Marie Brennan.

As this is the first issue under new editor Sheree Renée Thomas’ watch, it’s hard to tell how many of its stories were new selections or simply choosen from the magazine’s (likely relatively thin) backlog. Nearly all provided a strong concept, but several were a bit weaker on execution.My favorites stories from the issue were those by Madeleine E. Robins, Molly Tanzer, Robin Furth, and Harry Turtledove. I also loved the new column by Arley Sorg: By the Numbers.A worthwhile collection under a ter...

NOVELETSThe Music of the Siphorophenes - C.L. PolkA non-binary space pilot is starstruck by a female pop star who wants to listen to the singing of the siphorophenes, a sentient spacefaring species that are able to travel through the vacuum of space without a ship. After that's resolved, it shifts to being about emotional disclosure, which is facilitated by (view spoiler)[ mind-melding. (hide spoiler)]BlahMannikin - Madeleine E. RobinsA mother fearing for the life of her newly born boy asks a wi...

A strong issue! I enjoyed the new column on the publishing industry, but I wish columns weren't all stuffed into one issue. And I wish the book columns weren't one after another in the magazine.

A great collection of stories. Highlights included: "The Music of the Siphorophenes" by CL Polk, "Mannikin" by Madeleine Robins, "Speak to the Moon" by Marie Brennan, and "The Pizza Boy" by Meg Elison.Fans of Ursula Vernon's Hugo acceptance speech (you know the one) will enjoy "The Bletted Woman" by Rebecca Campbell.

I’m not sure what to think of my rating for this issue. I wonder whether I rate it more harshly because I read it in parallel with some of the works I’ve been judging for my Hugo ballot, so my standards have shifted slightly higher than they normally would. But I enjoyed this issue, as I always do, even if I don’t recall as many high points as previous issues (but, again, that may be your humble reviewer and not the issue being reviewed)

Overall, a solid issue with my favorites for the month being:- “In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi” by Molly Tanzer- “Mannikin” by Madeleine E. Robins

7 • Crazy Beautiful • 12 pages by Cat Rambo Poor. An AI is created that makes art. The AI reads a manifesto that says art should be free. It fills the air with skywhales, while are warehouses are ransacked. There weren't any characters for me to latch onto, the premise of free art is fine, but I'm more of a beauty is in the eye of the beholder guy. Seems like this AI was inflicting what it considers art on everyone. I also didn't see the relationship of how or why artists were being killed. 19 •...

Probably my favorite issue of F&SF since I subscribed in early 2020. I was ready to give this 5 stars just for C. L. Polk's "The Music of the Siphorophenes" (which was charming and sweet and made me cry), but I also loved:* "Speak to the Moon" by Marie Brennan * "In the Garden of Ibn Ghazi" by Molly Tanzer * "Jack-in-the-Box" by Robin FurthJust a lot of great stuff in here.

A better than average first issue under the new editor, Sheree Renée Thomas, it features interesting stories by C. L. Polk, Madeleine E. Robins, Molly Tanzer, Robin Furth and a fascinating story by Marie Brennan based on the legend of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".- "Crazy Beautiful" by Cat Rambo: in a world of self-aware AIs, one AI is created to generate art. But what it does instead is to make art 'free', with world changing consequences.- "The Music of the Siphorophenes" by C. L. Polk: a f...