Ambit #192
There are only three stories in issue #192 of Ambit, the first of which, “Mrs Cohen’s Conversion” by Carol K. Howell, exemplifies what appears to be a theme common to all of them, that of transformation in response to nature.
It’s a darkly comic fantasy in which the narrator, academic Marvin Cohen, tries to understand and […]
Not One of Us #39
Not One of Us is an appropriate name for a zine that features the kind of fantasy stories that resist categorisation and seem to exist in an uneasy twilight between genre and literary fiction. Though editor John Benson notes in his editorial in issue #39 that animals—real and imagined—crop up in all the stories, the […]
Continue ReadingWords Written Backwards by Gemma Files
Gemma Files writes dirty, which in her deft hands is a good thing. She’s the author of two collections, Kissing Carrion and The Worm in Every Heart, which saw her charting a similar gothic, transgendered, human/monster terrain as that explored in the work of writers like Caitlin R. Kiernan and Poppy Z. Brite. Which is […]
Continue ReadingBinding Energy by Daniel Marcus
Occasionally, say once in a blue moon, you stumble across a collection of stories whose range, intensity, passion, and inventiveness simply knock you off your feet. And then you get up and start seeking out whatever else the author of those stories has written.
Last time it happened for me it was Glen Hirshberg, whose collection, […]
Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke
Originally published in 1957, Tales from the White Hart, a collection of fifteen tall tales by Arthur C. Clarke, has been reissued in a smart new fiftieth anniversary edition with an introduction by Stephen Baxter and one new story, a collaboration between Baxter and Clarke himself.
For those more familiar with the Clarke of the […]
Not One Of Us #38
Any small press publication that reaches thirty-eight issues is to be commended. A ‘zine that, like Not One of Us, edited by John Benson, can do so while publishing a bunch of strong fantasy stories that either play with or defy genre conventions, deserves a much wider audience.
Continue ReadingFantasy Magazine Online, Oct. 29-Nov. 5, 2007
Fantasy Magazine, formerly a print journal from Prime Books, has debuted online with a number of reprints and two new stories.
In “Swan” by Eilis O’Neal, a teenage girl’s attempts to come to terms with the transformation and imminent departure of her older brother serves as the basis for a finely balanced dialogue between reality […]
God Laughs When You Die by Michael Boatman
I have no idea whether or not God Laughs When You Die, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she allowed herself a wry grimace after reading Michael Boatman’s first collection of stories. The subheading, Mean Little Stories from the Wrong Side of the Tracks, accurately reflects both their mood and origin—cynical, grotesque, and sometimes hilarious […]
Continue ReadingAnalog, October 2007
Is it possible in the twenty-first century for science fiction to be sustained solely by ideas? Should the intention to generate a sense of wonder be the summit of the genre’s ambition? As children, when we read, we tend to be more forgiving of weaknesses in style, characterisation, and ambition, particularly if the story manages […]
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