Check Out Outer Rim!


The Outer Rim is a self-titled 'volunteer run' science-fiction/ fantasy-themed magazine interested in pursuing every aspect of the Hallowed Genres. This admirable venture seems to be quite successful. It consists of original SF/F short stories, some poetry and at least one serial novel. In addition to the original writing, the site contains archived interviews, updates on the doings of the staff, a mythos section which discusses mythological and modern fantasy, a science section, a large area for reviews of all sorts of SF/F media, graphics and art and opinions.

The Outer Rim is released eleven times a year, on the fifteenth of the month from January through June and the 1st of the month from August through December and they have a mailing list for notification.

June's issue contains no short stories, only continuing novels, but there are archived stories which are quite interesting and a good many of which seem to lean toward hard or soft SF. Something I like is that the archived stories (in fact everything on the site) are dated.

There are some excellent articles in the mythos section though, sadly nothing new for June. Same goes for reviews and art. There were two book reviews but no movie reviews, and nothing new in graphics that I saw. As the magazine is voluntary, I suppose a bit of flux in what's available is to be expected.

I was delighted to find an editorial entitled "Why I Hate Microsoft Today" in the Voices section, since I feel the same way most days. There were some fun editorials in the archives too.

The look of Outer Rim is classic and simple to read. They date and catalog everything, they have a nice, slightly skewed outlook on the world, and they seem to be committed to keeping a free, voluntary, advertisement-free magazine going, something greatly to be admired.

My biggest complaint is that it's hard to find anyone to actually communicate with. I found their EMail address, but there's really no 'about us' page. Some info is available in the FAQ section.

But Outer Rim is definitely fascinating and interesting... so much so that I signed up to receive notification of new releases. Hmmm, I might manage a movie or book review in the next month or two. I do love a volunteer effort that succeeds!

The page is at http://outer-rim.lweb.net/frameindex.html and their EMail is outer-rim@lweb.net

The copyright of the article Check Out Outer Rim! in Science Fiction Webzines is owned by Rickey R. Mallory. Permission to republish Check Out Outer Rim! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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