Just Not My Realm
June 5, 2010
Realms of Fantasy has been having a hard time. Basically dying, then being resurrected, it is now on life support.
I feel bad about that. I honestly do. Any loss of a short fiction market is a blow to all short fiction writers. The thing is, I’m not going to feel the pain as a reader because I don’t read the magazine. I haven’t submitted to it since I’ve stopped reading it and the reason for both is the same: lack of my kind of fantasy.
In my old writing group, the magazine was known as Realm (singular) of Fantasy, because it was very focused on particular kind of fantasy—urban fantasy. This, actually, isn’t true, and it seems even less true now. Upon hearing that things are looking rocky for RoF, I went and checked the Tangent reviews for some issues. It seems that while the magazine has branched out, it still steers pretty clear of what I would like to read—fantasy with magic and swords.
I usually don’t dig modern myths and fable-based narratives. That’s a generalization, of course. I’m sure there’s a story out there that would entertain me, but it’s not a genre I seek out. Nor is urban fantasy, or modern magic realism. I like Robert E Howard. I like Fritz Leiber. I like Dave Duncan, David Drake, and David Gemmell.
I love Guy Gavriel Kay and Glen Cook.
These are not the kinds of stories I would find in RoF.
Sadly enough, there are very, very few professional level heroic fantasy periodicals. That’s why I’ve renewed my subscription to Black Gate.
Should that venue disappear, then you could expect some drama over here.