Summary: Hub, 2008

Hub magazine debuted in 2006 with a print issue that but quickly transitioned online, publishing issues at a bit more than a biweekly rate, with usually one story per issue, occasionally more. The stories are every so often reprints, but mostly new. In 2008 I saw 34 new stories, only one novelette, and 17 (!) short-shorts. Total word count was just over 75,000.

The editors are Lee Harris, Alasdair Stuart, and Ellen Allen.

I thought the magazine slipped a bit this year, after a promising 2007. The best stories came from Richard Parks ("On the Wheel", a fantasia about business types changing to rats), Christopher East ("The Scarlet Number", a Galaxyish novelette about humans segregated by their rating number), and Eugie Foster ("A Box of Spoons", in which a man falls in love with a goddess's daughter). Other nice work came from Alasdair Stuart, Guy Haley, Ian Whates, Barbara A. Barnett, and Tony Ballantyne.

According to my count, 10 of the 34 stories were by women, a bit less than 30% (comparable to 2007); and 14 stories were SF (about 41%, rather less SF than in 2007).

Tags: 2008, webzines, yearly summaries