Grasping for the Wind

E-zine Review: Mindflights

Mindflights follows the stated purpose of the publishers “to provide quality fiction, poetry, and exposition, all in means that respects traditional values and Christian principles.” With a layout that looks a bit too much like Myspace for my taste, although without nearly as many ads, Mindflights publishes fiction, poetry, articles and columns on or by Christians in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre.

While this may seem to be an immediate turn off for some, as it would make the reader feel that the stories are then way to full of an agenda to be enjoyable, let me assure you that this is not the case. Many of the writers who have appeared in Mindflights have gone on to publish stories in several of the anthologies I have reviewed before. Many of the stories I have read have little to no agenda, and have in actuality explored the human condition, much as much SF does today, and to tell adventure stories, or feats of heroism, as is the standard for fantasy fiction.

The editors of Mindflights have worked hard to ensure that the stories and poems contained the ‘zine are good as stories first, and that support the values they espouse second. I think no matter where you come from on the spectrum of belief; you can enjoy a good tale, even when you may not agree with the preconceptions of the author.

As I mentioned before, the layout feels a bit like Myspace, and while the reader can choose from 15 different skins to serve as a background, the backgrounds often overwhelm the content, even on the more subtle skins like skin 6. But the reader should be able to find at least one skin that is not too overwhelming.

Like its predecessors, Dragon, Knights, and Angels and The Sword Review, Mindflights continues to require the reader to make two clicks to get to the full story. While some readers might like this option of getting a preview of the tale before downloading a pdf or reading an entire html file, I have always found the need to double click annoying. This is especially true since there is a synopsis on the homepage for each story. Still, it is not difficult to navigate.

The author submission guidelines are clear and comprehensive, and potential contributors would do well to familiarize themselves with them, as they have significant differences from the standard guidelines of other e-zines. The also have an easy to use submission system that allows for pretty quick and easy feedback. I once submitted an article for their review, and the various editors came back with a fair assessment of why they would choose not to publish my work (the biggest issue being it was a republication of work, not an original piece.)

If you are writer looking for a market for your stories, an artist whose work is not finding a home, or a non-fiction writer trying to break into the market, Mindflights might be a good place to look. It is off the beaten path, but is fair, has a significant readership, and caters to a marketplace (Christians and “values voters” specifically) that is very different from the standard readership of science fiction and fantasy. It’s worth a look.

This review is part of the Christian SF&F Blog Tour, others on the tour include the following:

Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Jackie Castle
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Kameron M. Franklin
Beth Goddard
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Michael Heald
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Terri Main
Margaret
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Pamela Morrisson
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Mirtika or Mir's Here
Rachelle Sperling
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Linda Wichman
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise

Posted by John on May 19, 2008 11:31 AM | Posted to Christian SF&F
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