Tales of Moreauvia #1

The subtitle of the new print magazine Tales of Moreauvia instantly stakes out where this intriguing semi-prozine plans to take readers: on “Flights of Historical Fancy.” While this theme might seem to place Tales of Moreauvia on the same ground as the well-established Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction, the difference is that Paradox is a magazine of historical fiction which reaches into the genre of speculative fiction. For Tales of Moreauvia, science fiction and fantasy tropes stand at the heart and soul of each story, which merely happen to take place in historical settings.

The magazine opens with the story “Who We Need Here is Mister Tom Edison” by Gary K. Wolf, best known as the author of Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (which became the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). This wonderfully written story is set in the stereotypical 19th century Western town of Bright Cloud, Wyoming, which is, as expected, inhabited by all sorts of hard-bitten ranch hands and saloon gals. Into their mix steps a time-traveling salesman, who gladly offers to give them a piece of the future in exchange for their commonplace Western gear (worth a fortune on some weird future horse called an eBay). Soon the cowpokes are listening to Gene Autry on their iPods and admiring the school marm’s new breast implants. But all these changes don’t sit right with Gristle, the old-fashioned trail boss. He’s certain that something is wrong here and is equally sure his old friend Thomas Edison could have figured out if this craziness was good or bad. Too bad Edison decided to visit Gristle out west and met that hungry bear.

Centered on Gristle’s goodhearted western hero character, and full of quirky people and fun imagery, this is the best story in this issue of Tales of Moreauvia and could easily have been published in any of the professional science fiction magazines. This story will be on my extended list of the best science fiction short stories of the year.

As a side item to Wolf’s story, there is also a short interview with the author in which he discusses several incredible stories from his life—such as how he lost his treasured Vietnam War Air Force flight jacket, only to receive an even more personal jacket in return, and what caused Wolf and his childhood friend, who is now the Catholic Archbishop of New Jersey, to write Space Vulture, an updating of a classic 1950s-style space opera novel. My only qualm with this interview is that it was too short. Still, there’s a lot of insight in its short length, and the interview convinced me to purchase Space Vulture (which, by the by, is a fun, fun novel).

The next story, “His Soul Goes Marching On” by Kevin G. Summers, involves a late 19th century newsman trying to capture photographic proof of the ghost of abolitionist John Brown. Interwoven into the plot is the newsman’s attempts to reconnect with his daughter, who thinks her father has gone off the deep end with his supernatural obsessions. Unfortunately, this story is far too short for such a plot, and the resolution between father and daughter at the end feels forced and unnatural.

“Hard Lines” by Philip K. Lentz is a fascinating story of alternate realities involving an ancient Athenian named Adrastos who is accidentally kidnapped by a trio of spoiled space travelers trying to find something worth doing in a universe where every possible reality can, and does, happen. While Adrastos may not have the technical know-how of his future counterparts, he understands more than they do about what it means to be human in such a randomized existence. A very good story, and proof solid that the most basic aspect of science fiction—i.e., telling stories about exploring the universe—can exist in historical fiction as easily as futuristic fiction.

“Timberbeasts” by Joel A. Sutherland is an intriguing tale, set in a 1890s lumber camp near Lake Superior. “Timberbeasts” is also a true tale of Moreauvia, which is the term this magazine uses to indicate a creative commons shared world, open to any author. In this shared world, a new species of people were developed from animal stock in the early 19th century, with these beasts both ending slavery and preventing the outbreak of the American Civil War. Set decades after this event, “Timberbeasts” focuses on how artificially created pigmen are replacing the traditional human lumberjacks, causing the expected violence from the now unemployed men. The only human who can keep up is a former boxer named Philemon Wright, who is fleeing from his own bloody past. The imagery of this story is topnotch as Sutherland does an amazing job of recreating the harsh condition of the old-time lumber cutting world. However, Sutherland isn’t able to wrap up all of the story’s loose ends. So while the story is a good one, it still leaves the reader feeling there was more going on here than even the author knew.

“Timberbeasts” is the only story in the issue set in this Moreauvia world, and the next tale, “Before Chaos and the Glare” by Rita Oakes, returns to more familiar historical settings, in this case Napoleon’s capture of Moscow. History records that shortly after the capture of the city, a large number of fires broke out, perhaps set by saboteurs, perhaps by Napoleon’s own troops. These fires destroyed most of Moscow and deprived Napoleon’s troops of a place to live through the winter, thus setting in motion his disastrous retreat. Enter Oakes’s story of the Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, a surgeon with Napoleon’s army who discovers the true reason for the fires: The dead won’t die, and they are hungry. Part Night of the Living Dead and part miniaturized War and Peace, Oakes’s story only loses its bearing once or twice as the reader is pulled through to one of the most disturbing endings I have read in some time.

The next two stories, “Candles for the Dead” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and “Engine of Desolation” by Jason S. Ridler, are short tales which don’t live up to their potential. While both are well written, Moreno-Garcia’s tale of a lonely woman haunted by the ghost of a man she killed never truly emotionally connects with the reader. Ridler’s story of a murderer haunted by the brother he killed starts off well but loses it path with a confusing and improbable ending.

The final story, “The Colonel’s Jeep” by Daniel Pearlman, takes the reader back to the Eastern Front of World War II and the final Soviet onslaught which destroyed the German Armies. Colonel Knatte, a Nazi officer through and through, knows his war is finished. However, he is determined to survive and has hatched a secret plan to escape—a plan which centers on the shiny Jeep his unit captured from the American-supplied Russians. When his unit stumbles upon a Jewish village which has remained hidden throughout the war, the Colonel “enlists” the aid of Reb Yoel Sternberg, a holy man and practitioner of magical arts. But as Reb Yoel tries to explain, every time one invokes the mystical beings of the universe—be they angels or demons—there are costs to be paid. Blinded by bigotry and hate, Colonel Knatte doesn’t see this until far too late, when the truth of Reb Yoel’s words are literally reflected back at the Nazi. Pearlman’s story occasionally treads over well-tilled fictional ground, but his deft use of tension and character keeps the story from ever slipping into cliché.

Semi-prozines, or semi-professional magazines, exist between the worlds of the professional SF/F magazines and the numerous fan-created publications. Over the years I have encountered a number of readers who turn up their nose at semi-prozines, believing that the lack of professional-level design and printing are indicative of poor editorial work. However, as Paradox and the superb Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet have proven, professional-level stories can easily exist at the semi-prozine level. With three top-notch stories—”Who We Need Here is Mister Tom Edison” by Gary K. Wolf, “Before Chaos and the Glare” by Rita Oakes, and “The Colonel’s Jeep” by Daniel Pearlman—and several other very good stories, Tales of Moreauvia editor Pete S. Allen appears determined to show that there is room in the SF/F universe for one more professionally edited semi-prozine.