PS Showcase #3: Mad Scientist Meets Cannibal by Robert T. Jeschonek
In his introduction, Mike Resnick sets the tone for PS Showcase #3: Mad Scientist Meets Cannibal by comparing author Robert T. Jaschonek to R. A. Lafferty, “possessor of the most unique and idiosyncratic voice of his era.” For Resnick, Lafferty and Jeschonek are much alike “because nobody sees the world quite the way Robert […]
Continue ReadingSteampunk, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
The VanderMeers’s anthologies seem to be establishing a new landmark for the oughts with their mixture of fiction and non-fiction pieces. After not only publishing articles in The New Weird, they also published (for the first time in an SF anthology, as far as I know) a web discussion list thread in order to get […]
Continue ReadingAnalog, July/August 2008
The July/August 2008 issue of Analog is a roller coaster: full of ups and downs—more ups than downs, but a bit frustrating all the same. It barely manages to keep a delicate balance between the scientific infodump and the storytelling, often resulting in the science overwhelming the fiction. It’s not a return to Hugo Gernsback […]
Continue ReadingWeird Tales #349
Weird Tales #349 is a special edition: it celebrates the magazine´s 85th anniversary. And it begins in great style, featuring a classic name and a regular contributor to Weird Tales since its resurrection in the 1980s: Tanith Lee.
Lee’s story, “Heart of Ice,” tells of Nirsen, an orphan betrayed by the people he lives […]
Weird Tales #348
Weird Tales #348 begins with W.H. Pugmire and M.K. Snyder’s “The House of Idiot Children,” a rather solemn but effective story. Samuel Shammua is a Hebrew teacher who has a very special student, an autistic child who can manipulate language as if it were a virus. The solemnity comes from the obsessive, almost religious attitude […]
Continue ReadingThe Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume 2, edited by George Mann
The second volume of original science fiction stories published by Solaris, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume 2, repeats the successful formula of the first: freestyle, all new tales, no strings attached, no theme restrictions. Readers will find a most variegated selection of stories, from quasi-fantasy in medieval settings to high-strung technological adventures […]
Continue ReadingA Slip of Wormwood by Heather S. Ingemar
The Echelon Press e-book, A Slip of Wormwood, is a parable on greed and what consequences may come of it. Heather S. Ingemar tells the story of a man after the death of his brother. The man is nicknamed Mr. Frog (not, mind you, Mr. Toad a la The Wind in the Willows) because […]
Continue ReadingThe New Weird, edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer
The New Weird, edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, is a veritable case study in anthology-making. Divided into several sections, it offers readers an analysis of recent precursors and their quintessential representatives such as H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Mervyn Peake, and stories from the likes of such writers as M. John Harrison—author […]
Continue ReadingThe Situation by Jeff VanderMeer
In the chapbook novelette The Situation, Jeff VanderMeer takes us on a wild ride into the innards of a weird office. Or, should we say, an excruciatingly, painfully slow visit? Instead of high-octane adventure, VanderMeer presents us with the very bureaucratic, dull life in a run-of-the-mill office. And, at the same time, presents a daily […]
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