New Reviews

Asimov’s, February 2009

With stories whose plots unfold in deserts, mountains, a polar moonscape, a resort simulacra of Mars, underwater, and in that volcanic prehuman tropic which Steven Utley always returns to, the February 2009 issue of Asimov’s is atmospheric and engrossing—with some stories more vivid than others. In almost six months of reviewing this magazine, I’ve read some [...]

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 2009

The February 2009 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction lives up to its name, with stories from both categories and one that could be either (or neither). As usual, the stories are a good mix of the complex and the deceptively simple, with the subjects ranging from ghost cars to shadow-traders, with [...]

Fantasy Magazine, December 2008

In December, 2008, Fantasy Magazine offers four fine original stories plus a reprint of Stephen Leacock’s haunting “Merry Christmas,” all well worth reading. “Geddarien” by Rose Lemberg is the poignant tale of Zelig and his grandfather, both violinists. Grandfather tells Zelig of Geddarien, a magical once-in-a-lifetime event when the living buildings of the city dance to [...]

New Articles

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• Flickers on the Wall: I’m Dreaming of a Dread Christmas

  With the winter holiday season coming to an end, it is time for an indie, fantastical Christmas, short film roundup.  Yes, Christmas.  I'd love to add a Kwanzaa film to the mix but has anyone seen one?  Next year, I want at least one pagan solstice flick.  Are you listening filmmakers?  This year, I'd settle for four or five noteworthy works, but the cinematic landscape has been as barren as December in Wyoming.  (more...)

• An Interview with Patrick Swenson

  Patrick Swenson is the publisher and editor of Talebones Magazine, as well as Fairwood Press. Talebones has been publishing quality short fiction since 1995 and just released issue #37. In 2000, Patrick started Fairwood Press and has so far published 30 titles. He lives in Auburn, Washington, is father to his six-year-old son, Orion, and finds there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done. Still, somehow he does. I am pleased that Patrick was able to answer a few of my questions for The Fix. (more...)

• Rocket Science: 1955 - 1956

  Introducing a new column for 2009, Rocket Science, a tour of the winners of past Hugo Awards in the various short fiction categories. Your guide will be Scott D. Danielson; please keep your feet and arms inside the ride at all times. 1955: Clevention, Cleveland, Ohio. Novelette: "The Darfstellar" by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1923 - 1996) had an extremely brief but extremely bright career in science fiction. He was primarily a short story writer whose published stories all appeared between 1951 and 1957. Not too long after this story was published, the first part of Miller's famous A Canticle for Leibowitz appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction (April 1955) as a novella. It and two other novellas were collected and published as the novel we know in 1960. After that, no new fiction by Miller was published until after his death in 1996. (more...)

• Looking Back: Ray Kurzweil’s 2009

  Ray Kurzweil’s 1999 classic, The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, devoted a full chapter to his predictions for the year 2009. Given that this year is already upon us, it only seems appropriate to take a look back at the predictions made for it by a thinker whose influence on science fiction has been so vast. (For one small example, just check out my double-book review of Scott Bakker's Neuropath, and Peter Watts's Blindsight. As I note there, both authors reference that writer in such telling ways that the attitude toward his thinking seems to be fast becoming a litmus test on the whole idea of the Singularity.) (more...)