This is my first time reading Wyldblood, an online magazine of speculative fiction which has been around since 2020. The stories are surprisingly strong for a relatively unknown mag, although the flash fiction seemed a little average.
Sometimes, as a reader, it feels as though you have been dropped into a fully formed world, with an existing history, people and belief system. ‘Winter Wears No Crown’, the opening story by J.L. George is very much in this vein. The story of Rhin and Talia, lovers in a time when winter has refused to come and superstition is rife. When the spirit of winter is invoked, how will Rhin cope with her new-found ‘involvement’, and how will she protect Talia?
The religious hysteria is well done, and the magical aspects are interesting, but the characterisation is the thing which holds the story together.
I don’t know much about J.L. George, but her first novel, The Word, is out now – and I might just track it down.
Another story I liked was ‘The Dead Don’t Lie’ by Chris Cornetto. This is an occult fantasy about Alenka, a ‘deadspeaker’ whose job is to be a conduit for the words of the deceased Lord Theron through his corpse. But deceit and power struggles are rife amongst the acolytes, and the baying crowd is getting angry. This is an engaging story with flowing prose and a strong internal monologue from the main character.
I also enjoyed ‘The Quiet and the Creeping’ by Jalyn Renae Fiske, a tale of dementia, ghosts and eyes at the window. Clarinda watches the cemetery and the ‘quiet people’ roaming through its ‘labyrinth,’ but when her daughter moves her to a care home, she begins to experience very different visitors, and is not entirely sure of their intentions.
The unreliable first-person narrative keeps the reader guessing for sure, but the portrayal of this elderly lady moving towards death is very compelling.
Finally, ‘Repairs’ by David McGillveray was a strong entry, and not one I would have expected to enjoy, being about an interstellar car race with all the usual rivalries, ribaldry and fast-paced action you would expect; but the alien setting, good writing, engaging protagonist (a champion returning from a crash injury), and general weirdness make for a fun story.
The other stories in this issue were fine, but didn’t catch my imagination as much. Wyldblood have been consistently producing issues and deserve to be more widely read.
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