UK genre newcomer Hub lasted two print issues before shifting to an online-only format due to the cost of dead tree publication. Fortunately they didn’t let this hard-learned lesson faze them, and since April 20th 2007 have produced an issue containing one story and several non-fiction pieces every week, almost without fail. They even found room for a special (just after #12, which unfortunately I’ve neglected to include in this review – apologies to Hub and to author Alasdair Stuart, whose story ‘Connected’ appeared therein).
Since Hub’s editors have now had a few months to settle into their stride, I feel it’s a good time to examine how well they’ve performed. I’ll disclaim at this point that Hub is the only fiction ezine I read. There are some webzines that I periodically check up on, but most of my short fiction reading is done from traditional formats, primarily due to the time I have available for reading. There’s also the fact that I spend my workdays in front of a TFT monitor looking at little words, and thus sitting at home staring at more little words on my CRT holds little appeal for me.
So! With my ineligibility to locate Hub amidst its digital contemporaries established, let us proceed.