Hub, Issue 89

Hub again. I'm a little behind, but only by a week now.

Issue 89 provides Storm CHASER by Craig Pirrall. I liked this. Love the idea of a storm in a bottle and I'd have coughed up the forty bucks. The characters are very vivid for such a short piece. Again, I was disappointed that it ended so quickly.

Hub, Issue 88

It's the Tuesday post! Today, I'm going to review Hub. A nice short story to read and ponder while I eat my sandwich.

The story in Issue 88 is Red Rover, Red Rover by Janet Loftis. This is fantastic. Children, horror and excellent writing. It is really quite creepy and that sandwich is not settling well. My only complaint was that it ended. I'd love to read what happened next.

Hub, Issue 87

Ah, these one story issues of Hub are perfect for reading and reviewing in your lunchbreak.

Issue 87's story in Nightlife by Dean Grondo. Wow, that's disturbing. I think I'm actually horrified. This is a snippet of an insight into the mind of a serial killer. There's no attempt to construct a narrative or give any backstory and I think that shows just how competent and assured the writing is. All throughout the story I was thinking in a slightly hysterical way 'but why? Why?' and no why was given. It would have been a much weaker piece if the author had attempted to answer the questions. I'm not sure I actually liked it but it's the first time in ages I've been really disturbed by a horror story - and isn't that exactly what the genre is supposed to do? I'll be looking out for more of Grondo's work.

Hub, Issue 86

I'm almost caught up. This is Issue 86 of Hub. There's only one more in my Inbox, although I'm expecting another one tomorrow.

There are two stories this week. Wink by Lucy Kemnitzer is a surprisingly affecting story. She packs a lot into few words. It starts out with the idea that puberty can be controlled, thus it need only be started when required and packed into a couple of months. This is well told through a character embarking on puberty in response to meeting another character. Then the story abruptly twists into an exploration of gendered communication, misunderstood expectations and ultimately rejection and disappointment. It's really good.

Tastes of the Dark is by Malin Larsson. Something about this didn't work for me. It has the well used twist of leading the reader to believe that the POV character is the prey when they are actually the predator. Generally I don't object to using a structure or idea that has been done before because a good story is a good story. I guess what I'm learning from reviewing other people's work is that the telling matters more than the tale. And in this case the telling lacked tension.

Hub, Issue 85

I am now reviewing Hub in the same month of its publication. I'm giddy.

The story in Issue 85 is Old Clothes by Chris Cyr. I didn't like this. It's a ghost story and is the experience of a woman's spirit after her death. Old clothes are used to hang old memories on and tell parts of the woman's life story. For me, it lacks conflict and emotion. It is, unfortunately, just a bit dull.

Hub, Issue 83

Special treats in Issue 83 of Hub. There's a poem as well as a story.

Story first, as usual, and it's Mother Sponge by Mur Lafferty. This is really good. Exposition is handled in great dialogue and adds to the story rather than slowing it down. It builds from a strong start into a gripping finish - something that I now realise is rare. Stories often seem to start strong and falter towards the end but this gets better as it goes along.

The poem is The REAL Easter Bunny by Peter Roberts. It's cute in a horrible sort of way. I should mention that I don't read much poetry, although I do appreciate some of it. I'm interested in form and prefer stuff with some structure rather than free verse, so the rhyming couplets appealed to me.

Hub, Issue 84

My Dad's Idea by Llinos Cathryn Thomas is kind of fun. It's a tongue in cheek solution to resource exhaustion and its impact on the human race. It's worth a read.

On an aside, and as I don't have much to say about the story in Issue 84 of Hub, I recently watched a few episodes of Primeval based on the review in this issue. And I'm glad I did. Someday I'll make the effort to catch up with Series 1 and 2.

Hub, Issue 82

Once upon a time, I thought I was catching up but this is real life and there's no happily ever after. Which sounds more depressing than I mean. There are endings and many of them are happy and then the story keeps on going. Much like my quest to catch up on my reading. Oh happy fool.

Issue 82 of Hub contains the story Under A Bridge by Paul Fairbairn. It's okay. It's a modern fairy tale and that's quite nice to see. I like the idea but the telling of it lacks depth. Exposition is nicely weaved in with dialogue and the writing is competent. It took me a moment to put my finger on what was missing - and in this case, it is that something is missing rather than that something is wrong. There's no sensation. A very physical scene is described very cerebrally. There's no smell or sound or texture and little colour.

Hub, Issue 81

Still struggling to get used to the new blocky design of Hub's website. And still struggling to catch up with all the things I want to read.

Anyway, Issue 81. The story is Gifted by Philip Palmer. Wow. This is fantastic. The very sad tale of a lonely boy who wastes the gifts he has, and knows that he wastes them. The non-linear structure underpins the sense of dislocation and conveys some of the backstory without words. I loved the repetition of some of the scenes and the way it helped to heighten the emotion. Definitely read this one.

Hub, Issue 80

Yikes, Hub's had another redesign. I'm not so keen on this version; it hurts my eyes a little and seems a bit old-fashioned. Still, what it looks like is less important than what's in it.

On to Issue 80 and Hush a Bye by Beverly Allen. This story starts off well. Allen takes a mundance breakfast scene, hints at a mundance cause of her protagonist's sleepless nights and makes it compelling through wonderful writing. She creates a viscerally real atmosphere and knowable characters with a deft hand. I was really impressed.


The ending was a little disappointing. It felt rushed and lacked the drama that the story really deserves. It's worth a read, for the brilliance of Allen's writing, and I'll be looking out for more of her work.

Hub, Issue 79

The story in Issue 79 of Hub is another that plays with format. SBIR Proposal by Richard K Lyon takes the well used guise of a letter from one organisation to another. There is quite a lot of back story early on that I think would be unlikely to form part of the content of such a letter. The central idea is entertaining and suits the letter format, but it might have been more effective to have had an exchange of letters. I found myself skipping a couple of paragraphs. It's a neat idea that could have been executed better.

Hub, Issue 78

OK, I'm steadily catching up.

We're on to Issue 78 of Hub, only five issues behind now. The story is Gravestones by Mari Ness and it's a real treat. I'm really interested in structure and the impact it has on a story. The same tale structured in different ways can be so different. I like to see something new. Gravestones is a short, anecdotal story, given a lift by a staccato structure. The graveyard is given a discordant, creepy feel in a deft manner and the ending was hilarious. I laughed out loud.

I'll be looking out for more of Mari Ness's work.

Hub, Issue 77

I've heard on the grapevine that Hub is the semi-pro place to get published these days, at least in the UK.

The story in Issue 77 is Hidden Underneath by Malin Larsson. This is an anecdotal tale of a cabbie who is hard to like with an enchanting ending. I'd decided that I didn't like the story - the writing was competent but not remarkable and the POV character sees the world in stereotypes. I was put off by the negative, cynical narrator. However, the ending is so lovely and memorable that I'm sure it'll stay with me for longer than many other stories.

I'm catching up a little bit. Then on to Crossed Genres and Issue 9 of Pantechnicon.

Hub, Issue 76

Montgolfier Winter by Alisdair Stuart is quite a bit longer than the recent fiction in Hub has been. The start is a little ropey, there are some clunky sentences and a couple of typos. I'm being picky - Hub has set itself high standards. However, the writing becomes more assured after a while and what follows is good. The story question is essentially - what else is there on this planet and what is the mad professor chasing after. The suspense is built up well and the reveal is handled excellently. The characters are a little two-dimensional but no more so than most plot-driven commercial fiction.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that I'd like to know more of the backstory. How did the characters come to be where they were? How is it that a church could buy a planet?

Hub, Issue 75

The fiction in Issue 75 is not so much a story as a sketch. A Little Mystery by Len Bains is a short, well written exploration of what it would be like if you knew everyone's secrets. It's a great idea and the author alludes to some devastating consequences. I'd really like to see it expanded, to have the story unfolded as it happens. I guess that's why this piece is the way it is, otherwise it might just have to be a novel.

Is it stealing to expand on someone else's short story?

Hub, Issue 74

Well, this isn't quite turning out to be the 'daily writing exercise to get me motivated to work on my novel' or 'small writing thing I can do every day so that job hunting doesn't take over completely' activity that I imagined when I started. Still, I'm not one to give up just because something doesn't turn out the way I thought it would.

I'm quite behind on reviews of Hub - and they seem to have got back to their weekly schedule - so I'll try to catch up this week.

Issue 74 has a new design. It's ok. It's clean and simple and doesn't detract from the content, all of which are very good things.

The story is The Astronomer of Baghdad by Matt Keefe. It's a tale of cursed mummies, fabulous treasure and greedy men. I liked the formal, archaic style of the writing that supported the setting of the story. Something I find jarring, which really disturbs my ability to suspend my disbelief and commit to the world of the story, is a contemporary tone, idiom, or contemporary attitudes or behaviours on the part of the characters in an historical setting. This story nicely avoided that. I liked it.

Hub, Issue 73

I'm running behind again (pesky life) and Hub aren't, so there will be a several reviews posted over the next few days.

Issue 73's story is Behind Glass by Simon Strantzas.
It's a fairly conventional horror story and is well executed. There's a claustrophobic atmosphere of isolation and disconnection that is compelling from the start. The environment is hostile and the protagonist's eventual demise comes as a relief. Worth a read.

Hub, Issue 72

Ok, so this was actually released on 5th January and I'm running a bit behind. A quick glance at the Hub website reassures me that they are too.

The first issue of the year is always the flash fiction issue and thus has more than one story. Issue 72 has four stories of varying lengths; they define flash fiction quite broadly I think.

Quartermaster, Steve Cooper. This is about 500 words and I think the best story in the issue. The quartermaster is about to do something and we find out why. It's deftly handled and left me feeling quite disturbed. 500 words is not a lot of space and no word is wasted. We know a lot about the world, about the protagonist, and about the terrible decision he has to make.

Day Trippers, Ellen J Allen. Locals save tourists from supenatural being in the moors. This didn't work for me. There was a lot of dialogue, most of which was used to give the backstory, and usually that's a good thing but in this case, it was stilted. There wasn't much tension and the whole feel seemed to be one of resignation. At around 1500 words, it seemed too long to count as flash fiction.

The Girl in the Rose-Tinted Glasses and the Man in the Mirrorshades, DJ Muir. Not keen on the title. I usually don't offer an opinion on titles because it's something I find really hard to get right. I do think this title is too long. The story was a bit strange. It was well written and at 900 words, short enough to feel like flash fiction. But I didn't really know what it was about. At the end, I got the impression it was an allegory for the turning of the wheel, the changing of the seasons. Or it might have been about two assassins and their perpetually reincarnating target.

The Harvest of the Machines, RJ Smith. This is the longest story at nearly 1700 words and is post-apocalyptic sf. Mostly I liked this. The narrative is quite compelling and the story is revealed at a nice pace. The tone is reflective and normally I wouldn't enjoy that, but there is a lot behind this story and this style of telling it gets it done in few words. Told as action - as if the reader lives it with the narrator - then there's enough here to make a novel. I hated the ending. It felt weaselly and changed the whole slant of the story.

Hub, Issue 71

Hub Magazine has a new website and it looks great.

Issue 71's story is The Watchers at the Window by Marie Faye Prior. It's good. The initial hook seems a litte weak but she so effectively creates a character completely ill at ease in his surroundings that it doesn't matter. The sense of stress, grime and fluid reality is well conveyed. I liked the ending. It was kind of sweet, in a twisted way.

Hub Issue 70

Latest short story fix - Hub #70.

I like Hub - it's delivered weekly as a pdf via email and contains one story (SF, fantasy or horror) and a couple of reviews. It's a tasty snack that can easily be consumed in between the less interesting things that I 'should' be doing.

The story in #70 is Under Offer by Gary McMahon. It's wonderfully macabre and a fine example of showing, not telling. Hop on over and have a disturbing 5-minute read.