Queer*Welten is a queer-feminist fantasy and scifi magazine, edited by Judith Vogt, Lena Richter and Heike Knopp-Sullivan. Issue 8 contains five short stories, a poem, eleven 100-word-stories and an essay.
Finished on: 22.8.2024
[Here are my reviews of the other issues.]

I’m not much of a magazine reader, but Queer*Welten is the one I return to regularly. There is usually something good to discover. With issue 8, they changed not only an editor but also the size of the magazine and its publication schedule, so there are only two issues a year anymore that are a little bigger. Also new is the addition of 100-word-stories that all cover the same topic or theme, but are all very distinct. After a weaker last issue, issue 8 is a return to form.

The 100-Word-Stories on “aufgeregt marginalisiert” (literally: excitedly marginalized)

I won’t cover all of the bite-size stories, but there will be probably something for everybody there. My favorites were buchstäblich (literally: literally) by Anna Zabini, Die falsche Frage (literally: the wrong question) by Tasha Winter, Gute Feen glitzern nicht (literally: good fairies don’t glitter) by Iva Moor and Der letzte Wunsch (literally: the last wish) by Lina Sommerfeld.

Ritorna Vincitor (Carolin Lüders)

Mala is an exo witch, tasked with overseeing the truce between exo and endo witches. The former get their powers from their own memories, the latter from the emotions of the people around them. When Mala sees an endo witch in the subway, she decides to follow her.

I have to admit that the worldbuilding was a little much for a short story for me. I had the feeling, I was busier with trying to understand how everything worked rather than enjoy the story and the characters. But it was not bad.

Der Zustand der Welt [literally: the state of the world] (Aiki Mira)

Xiang works as a journalist and is invited to a party hosted by ZENtec, the most famous bio-hacking company around. Once there, he meets Marie who seems kind of out of place. There seems to be more going on than just a simple product launch party.

Mira has a good eye for describing characters and fleshing them out with only a few moments. The technological concepts were also rather interesting. The story itself, though, not all that new.

Ein Regenbogen aus Gold [literally: a rainbow of gold] (Linda-Julie Geiger)

Irelia is a siren. She does keep an eye on her human neighbors to know what they’re up to, but when one of those humans makes her way to the sirens, things become complicated.

This story is one of those stories where it really bites me in the ass that I have afantasia. It is written with a heavy emphasis on how things look, what characters wear and colors are important, too – and since I don’t picture things, I can’t really keep track of all of that. I liked the story, though.

Für alle Brüche [literally: for all breakings] (Claudia Klank)

Für alle Brüche is a poem about overcoming patriarchy. While poetry generally isn’t something I read a lot or know a lot about, this poem felt more interested in its message than its lyricality. It’s earnest, but I didn’t find its rhythm.

Hinter den Sternen [literally: behind the stars] (Sonja Lemke)

Linda and Pia live together on a space station, but Pia can’t fulfill her work requirements at the moment, making Linda pulling double shifts, pretending to work as Pia, so they don’t get into trouble. But this is not sustainable in the long run.

An engaging story about ableism and love and becoming refugees. I really enjoyed this story that is quite a pageturner.

Sonnenaufgang, Sonnenaufgang, Sonnenaufgang [originally: Sunrise, Sunrise, Sunrise] (Lauren Ring, translated by Tobias Eberhard)

Amaranthe is stuck in a time loop, but it’s not too bad. She actually likes the routine. So when Jet comes to rescue her, it’s a bit irritating. Especially when Jet gets trapped, too.

This story was my absolute favorite of the issue. I love timey-whimey stories, and this one works beautifully, both on a literal and a figurative level. This is two for two in short stories by Ring for me (the other one being here), so I will be having my eye on whatever comes next from her.

What Is Dead May Never Die. Über Toxische Nostalgie (Christian Vogt)

Vogt explains nostalgia, and what can make it toxic, especially in terms of media consumption. There was some interesting new information for me here, particularly his forays into neurology with research that I wasn’t aware of. I loved the idea of critical nostalgia that he arrives at in the end. A good and easily understandable essay.

Summarizing: a good issue.