All Possible Worlds: Inaugural Edition - Review
Monday evening I came home to find something I had forgotten I ordered, the inaugural edition of All Possible Worlds, the most recent project out from Zeta Centauri, Inc. It is perfect bound with fine art work and 11 tales from otherwheres comparable to what could be found (IMHO) in The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Realms of Fantasy Magazine. For a new magazine, fresh out of the starting gate and newly launched, I felt I was getting a good deal for my $5.95. All the stories were strong, although I thought some were better than others. My two favorites were “Save a Dance for the Plowman” by Justin Stanchfield and “Penny Royalty for the Pound Mob” by Gene Stewart. However, these would be closely followed by “The Apocryphist” by Bruce Golden, “Whitening” by Michael A. Pignatella and “Prizes” by Edward Muller.
What I Liked
I liked that this was a magazine with a good strong mix of paranormal literature (please - no more definitions of what is what - just tell me a good tale!). One of the reasons I enjoy Science Fiction and Fantasy so much is that it has a similar mix: Good literature that happens to be paranormal/speculative in nature. That is what I seek. Sometimes it’s a kid’s tale. Sometimes it’s a romance. Sometimes it’s something that could have been in The Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. And it’s all good. And if All Possible Worlds keeps up this kind of mix, then I might start subscribing. I will definitely see if I have something to submit sometime.
Something else I enjoyed was the artwork. In general, I am NOT a fan of fantasy art. I think the popular stuff tends too look too much like idealized porn — every muscle outlined in a skin tight outfit on some model who wouldn’t POSSIBLY exist in real life on any world. Then there’s the other art that tends to be all fairies with gossamer wings and butterflies. So tired of that. Realms of Fantasy has a tendency to showcase the former and the latter is seen all over the internet. The artwork in All Possible Worlds, however, was NOT like this. It was much more imaginative in that there seemed to be a mix of sketch work and digital artwork, in many different styles that I found more pleasing to my eye. Cheers to the artists: Ryan Durney, John N. Baker, Marlo Dianne, and Marge Simon.
What I Did Not Like
Notice how all the authors are men. And all the stories were about men. These were all good tales and I really enjoyed reading them. However, it was really discouraging to feel like I was 12 years old again and surrounded by no female role models.
I remember when I was younger and as much as I loved reading speculative fiction, I got so tired of male authors and male protagonists. It felt so good for there to be female authors and protagonists once I discovered where they were buried that I dove into those books and rarely came up for air. I thought the field had opened up. I thought that was wonderful. But this makes it appear as if we were moving backward again. I hope not or I’m going to have start signing my work with my initials and play the pronoun game.
This made me think of something else that disturbs me lately as well. Recently, I have noticed a divergence in the speculative fiction force and it feels like a gap between the genders is increasing. When I was younger, “Mythic Realism” referred to the writings of Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and was seen as being on par with the surrealism in the art world. “Urban Fantasy” referred to someone like Charles DeLint or Neil Gaiman who showed us that the elves and spirits didn’t really go away with the forests. Both of these subgenres had a mix of readers and writers - both genders. Now these terms (well - urban fantasy more than mythic realism) seem to have been appropriated by other (more romantic, less fantastic) types of fiction that are heavy with female writers and readers and I think that disturbs me. The reason it disturbs me because when there is a divergence, there is a gap and once you fall the gap between it’s hard to be found (remember what they say- Mind the Gap). Where do the betweens go? Where does a young woman who writes like Neil Gaiman or Robert Silverberg go? Where does a young man who writes like Kim Harrison or Laurell K. Hamilton go? Where are the Drag Queens, the skateboard punks, or the nicely married biracial gay couples with 2.5 puppies that should be following us to outer space or to alternate realities? If they’re showing up on tv, then why aren’t they showing up in my speculative fiction?
One of the reasons I so love speculative fiction is that it is such a good vehicle for showing up prejudices and bigotry for what they really are - chains that hold us back from growing into better sentient beings. In speculative fiction it is possible for everyone to have a place at the table. It would be nice for there to really be a place at the table for everyone.
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Rachel said,
March 21, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
This just in….
Heard from the editor of All Possible Worlds and he assures me there is more of a mix coming up in other editions, but he also wanted to let me know that what was accepted merely reflects what was submitted. Remember that gap I was talking about?
So come ON you gals who like speculative fiction! Write! Review! Revise! Submit your stuff! Don’t keep it stuffed in a drawer to be discovered after you die……we can’t all be Emily Dickinson! Mind the Gap! Don’t get lost in between!
David Seigler said,
May 8, 2007 @ 6:58 am
I found your review of the first issue of All Possible Worlds interesting. It mostly concurred with my own thoughts about the magazine.
However, your comments about the differential in gender representation were even more interesting. The fact that all of the authors were men didn’t even register on me as I read. As I have a story in the 2nd issue of All Possible Worlds, I went to take a look at the projected line up and saw that of the eight stories scheduled (including mine), at least three are by women. That is still a minority, but certainly an step forward.
IThe online critique group to which I belong includes a large number of women. So certainly a decent number of women are making the effort to write speculative fiction. Whether this translates to a fair percentage in published work, I am not qualified to say, although I suspect it does not.
Are there differences in the way the genders write and the kind of stories they prefer? My first inclination is to say “of course not!” Upon reflection, however, I find that I tend to prefer fiction written by women. I don’t specifically look for stories by women. I just find that at the end of the day, the stories that I enjoyed were written in a larger percentage by women.
Oddly enough, I also find that I get a more favorable response to my own stories by women than I do by men. I can’t begin to explain this. I have even submitted stories for critiques that I thought women would hate - male protagonist, unflattering protrayal of female characters, typical male fulfilment fantasys etc. - but, no, I get the critiques back and the more favorable ones are overwhelmingly by women. Perhaps they are just kinder, while the men are more willing to tear my work apart.
Whatever the reason, my own (of course limited) experience says that there is at least some differential, even if it is slight. Perhaps it is time to exploit that in a magazine that isn’t afraid to aim specifically at women readers of science fiction and fantasy. If there is such a magazine in this genre, I am unaware of it.
Rachel said,
May 8, 2007 @ 9:30 am
Well said! I think there’s lots to studied and that the world of academia would find it interesting if they were to try to parse out gender, socio-economic class, race, ethnicity, religion and see how they may or may not influence readers and writers and publishers of speculative fiction. I know I keep trying to figure it out myself, because I want to stretch my own bounds and become better. Not that I necessarily want to write to a specific audience, though that needs to be learned as well - especially if I want anyone to pay me, but if I could find what the truest vein is in my own writing, tap that and see what it appeals to, if I were absolutely true to it - I think that would be good as well.
Anyway, I do enjoy All Possible Worlds and decided to turn my sample copy into a full subscription because I think it will turn into a very strong little zine indeed.
Thanks for commenting!
Rachel said,
July 23, 2007 @ 9:24 am
Well, it’s been four months since this review. It’s been three months since I have heard anything from this zine at all, though it looks like the business it’s based out of had activity in June. I hope it hasn’t gone the way of a lot of zines in the first year. I’d like to think it’s still up and running and that I’ll be receiving another issue soon, even if there have been no answers to my queries about stories submitted to them. If anyone else out there has heard anything, please let me know.
David Seigler said,
August 2, 2007 @ 6:21 am
A short while back a customer of mine was telling me of a business venture he was trying to get involved with. A friend of his was starting a publishing company for pulp fiction magazines and possibly books.
Ever the wet blanket, I warned “Be carefull. The market for publishing is really, really sparse right now.”
He waved me away, “Oh, there’s a HUGE untapped market. He’s going to make a fortune.”
The point being - I think few normal people (that would be anyone smart enough to avoid the ego gauntlet of writing) realize just how treacherous it is for fiction magazines these days. From what I’ve seen, the numbers for even those “successful” magazines are painfully low.
I really hope that hasn’t happened to All Possible Worlds. It was a nice looking magazine and it actually had entertaining stories (which is becoming something of a rarity. And even more importantly (to me) was that I had a story scheduled for the second issue. But, like you, I’ve heard nothing from them for several months now. I’m hoping it is simply because they are hard at work on the next issue.
Rachel said,
August 2, 2007 @ 8:58 am
Thank you for checking in! Yes, I too hope that all is well and they’re just busy or behind or something. I know Blackgate had to go on sabbatical for a bit before it came back so I hope that’s all it is. It was a nice looking zine and I did enjoy the stories and I’ve since handed that one on to friends so I hope I see another one in the future.
David Seigler said,
August 29, 2007 @ 9:28 am
The following was posted on All Possible World’s website:
8-27-07: Various life issues have gotten us quite a bit behind on submission reviews. We’re working to get caught up and the next issue should be out soon. We plan to post more frequent updates HERE. Please be patient.
They’re still terribly late - which is really not a good thing to happen on only their second issue, but at least it is something. I had pretty much given up hope for them.
Rachel said,
August 29, 2007 @ 10:13 am
Me, too. I’m glad to hear they’re still around though. I enjoyed that one issue. I know BlackGate had to take a bit of a hiatus. I’m glad that we’ll be able to see your story. It’s coming out in this next issue, isn’t it?
David Seigler said,
August 29, 2007 @ 12:23 pm
Yes, it was scheduled for the 2nd issues - unless there’s been some changes.
According to Ralen’s Webstravaganza, they had a marriage, a career change and a serious fire. I’d guess that would be enough to delay a magazine.
Here’s wishing them a little better luck for the future.
Rachel said,
August 29, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
Yes! Congratulations on the wedding and best wishes going forward!
David Seigler said,
October 19, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Another one bites the dust…
Undoubtedly you’ve heard, but All Possible Worlds has left the building.
Talk about lovely timing. I got my contributor copy of the 2nd issue the day I heard they were to be no more. While it’s nice the issue with my story made it out, Their immediate defunctness certainly hurts the chances of anyone seeing it.
Despite the trouble they had obviously been having, the announcement seems somewhat abrupt. The second issue had just been released a couple of days ago and they were still updating reports of all the submissions they were steadily slogging through.
Rachel said,
October 19, 2007 @ 11:48 am
Last I heard they were announcing they’re second issue. I thought that was a good sign, now they’re no more? That is sad. I thought it was going to be a good venue. I liked their choices.