There’s a new kid in town with a new online science fiction magazine.
Bastion Science Fiction Magazine.
They’ve got some kickass retro-future artwork gracing their pages (the first thing that attracted me – there’s almost nothing cooler than visions of futures that -sadly- never were), but then something else caught my eye.
Bastion Science Fiction launched their first issue on April 1st, 2014. The same day that Amazing Stories resurrected itself. The same day that marks a time eighty-eight years ago that science fiction became a thing. (Though of course the magazine itself hit the newsstands in March…)
I reckoned that the folks behind Bastion might just have a little reverence for the history of our genre, what with Moon Bases and all covering their website.
Emails with the editor in chief R. Leigh Hennig have confirmed that suspicion.
The Bastion folks have launched their second monthly issue for May (quite a feat for a start-up), featuring the following line-up:
“Moving Past Legs”, by Jamie Lackey
“The Endless Flickering Night”, Gary Emmette Chandler
“Worried About”, by Brandon McNulty
“Vines”, by G. J. Brown
“A Considerate Invasion”, by Mark Patrick Lynch
“A Rather Different Sort of F-Bomb”, by Marty Bonus
“Zombie Limbo Master”, by Rosemary Claire Smith
“Nigh”, by Eric Del Carlo
“Wruyian Sands”, by Jessica Payseur
Their April issue was equally populated:
“The Dreamcatcher”, by M. Justine Gerard
“The Last Repairman”, by David Austin
“Shale”, by David Jack Sorensen
“The Crystal Forest”, by Kurt Heinrich Hyatt
“That World Up There”, by Kurt Bachard
“Shock”, by Samuel Marzioli
“The Dead Channel”, by David Galef
“Lighthouse to the Depths”, by Nicholas Mazmanian
They’re paying non-professional rates though plan on working towards SFWA rates. They’re also seeking donations (most levels get you a copy and/or a subscription) to help them in their efforts.
Issues are available at Weightless Books, Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $2.99 per copy.
I’ve not had a chance to read any of the fiction contained in either issue (though various pieces of commentary on the site seem to be pretty enthusiastic), but am already impressed and am looking forward to good things from Bastion. Besides, how can we here at Amazing Stories not have a soft spot for another SF magazine that chooses to launch on our own legendary date?