Our beloved critics say:
Talent, though, will only take you so far. No, what clinched the con's position on the hierarchy of honest-to-goodness geeky SFnal goodness was the august presence of Matthew Bey, David Chang and Steve Wilson, the diseased and twisted minds behind Space Squid, named for Margaret Atwood's famous dismissal of science fiction, "Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space." Naturally, any 'zine that revels in thumbing its nose at this pissy, self-righteous attitude is one that I've absolutely got to check out, and by late Friday I had my very own copy to ogle. Two words, folks: Octopus boobs. This is definitely a publication I want to be a part of. I wonder how the editors would react to a squids-and-zeppelins story? Don't dawdle, people. Grab your copy before they're all gone.
- Jaime Blashke, RevolutionSFA Texan science fiction fanzine. Oh yeah. And with an attitude. That is the very stuff of life.
- Bruce Sterling on his Wired blog. Yeah, Bruce contributed a piece to issue 1. So sue us.
Self-described as "the science fiction zine Margaret Atwood warned you about," it's worth checking out, if only to hear the inestimable Chris Nakashima-Brown read each of his short-shorts from the first issue of the zine. "Barflies," about a washed up veteran of the Kree-Skrull wars, encountered by the narrator in a bar, is a particular favorite of mine.
- writer Chris Roberson (Shark Boy and Lava Girl). Sue us #2.
Book People, the Powell's of Austin and a local institution, has informed us that Space Squid #1 has sold out. We always knew we were sellouts.
The Austin writing group Cryptopolis counts among its members three of the three editors of Space Squid. SFSite says of the Cryptopolis short story collection, Tales from the Secret City: "I don't hesitate to recommend it; and I trust that the "Secret City" won't be all that secret for much longer."
Oh god it's hideous!
- user njx about the space squid on the cover of Iain Banks' new book. Ok, so it's kinda unrelated.
Of obvious interest to readers here, since it's squid, stuff to read, and underside-embracing. Cool Texas sci-fi zine.
- Poor Mojo Newswire . Underside-embracing? We are not ass-huggers. Ok, maybe we are.
The giant squid, Architeuthis, is not only a cultural and media icon, but also a scientific enigma.
- Scotsman.com news article about the sex lives of squid. At first we thought they called us enemas, but then someone explained it to us.
Anecdote: Squidgrrl Cecil went to Book People to buy a gift for her boyfriend. She asked for something edgy with a SF bent. The bookseller promptly whipped out a copy of Space Squid and mentioned its virtues! Local, indie, funny, interesting, underside-embracing!
Cecil was underwhelmed. "Yeah, I know," she told them. "That's me on the cover."
A true story! We swear. Ask Cecil.
It’s worth it just for the drawings.
"Contrary to belief that the giant squid is relatively inactive, the squid we captured on film actively used its enormous tentacles to go after prey," Mori said.
- disgusting exploitative scientists violate squid privacy and leave the victim maimed
The Space Squid editors (Matt, Steve, and Dave) get shout-outs from Gardner Dozois in the acknowledgements for the 23rd Year's Best Science Fiction anthology! Thanks, Mr. Dozois!
We're also terribly proud to be mentioned on this Google page, enticingly entitled "Purple lump on anus." No joke. This, friends, is why we do what we do.