Issues
Issue Five: Frontier (Summer 2024)
The mission of this issue, to borrow from Star Trek’s James T. Kirk, is “to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Guest edited by Korinne West.
Life in America's (Sci-Fi) Movie Set
As I’ve seen more and more of Utah firsthand, I understand why this state has become such a magnet for science fiction films and shows in particular. Part of the reason is simply that Utah’s landscapes are beautiful and diverse, allowing for many different settings to be filmed within a single state, from snow-capped mountains to red rock deserts. These landscapes provided some of the inspiration behind the selection of the theme of Issue Five: Frontier.
Issue Four: Arcana (Fall 2023)
An important part of Soft Star’s ethos is curiosity about and reverence for the unknowns of the universe, and magic is a powerful symbol for these unknowns. The stories presented in this issue explore the amazing will of humanity to understand our universe, as well as the limitations of that understanding. There are stories of witchcraft and sorcery, poems about magical technology, reimagined fairy tales, and more.
The Limits of Control: On Magic, Mystery, and Human Ambition
Magic is, in a general sense, what sets fantasy apart from other subgenres of speculative fiction. While the unknown forces and strange phenomena in science fiction can be, theoretically, explained by the laws of science, magic represents an even greater unknown. It is beyond science, beyond full human understanding. And just as humans can attempt to control and manipulate their environments through an understanding of technology or scientific principles, characters in fantasy stories often pursue this same motivation through the use of magic.
Issue Three: Wormhole (Spring 2023)
This issue contains stories of irreversible change, reckoning with fear, contact with the unexpected, expansion of the mind, and bravery in the face of the unknown.
Welcome to Wormhole
Wormholes represent some of humanity’s greatest ambitions as well as our greatest fears, and this issue will capture the simultaneous feelings of unlimited potential and the terror of the unknown.
Issue Two: Aurora (Winter 2023)
Issue Two evokes the tenuous beauty of the aurora, the oppressive expansiveness of bitter cold winter nights under piercing stars, the liminal space between Earth and the beyond, and the moments (both real and fictional) when the mundane is encroached by something larger than ourselves.
Tenuous Veils: Taking Inspiration from the Aurora
I found myself profoundly struck by how small I felt, not only compared to the looming veils undulating far above our heads, but compared to a planet so vast that it contained so many grand mysteries like this one that I’d likely never be able to experience them all in one lifetime. And that’s just one planet. I will never forget that night for the rest of my life.
Issue One (Fall 2022)
Throughout history, humans have come face to face with surprises from the universe. Things that they didn’t expect or didn’t think possible. Sometimes that’s scary. But mostly, it’s awe inspiring. Those chance meetings and discoveries are what keeps us going as a species. We want to learn more, to see more, and every time we do it changes our world for the better.
The Case for Optimistic Futurism
The universe is unfathomably enormous, and more than that, it’s diverse. We humans will most certainly never know every possibility that this universe holds. But those unknown possibilities are awe-inspiring. Nebula clouds, volcanoes larger than the human mind can conceive, even different forms of life. Such an infinite set of possibilities is akin to magic — effectively, anything is possible.