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Perfect Timing #2
Perfect Timing 2
Once again bringing you a selection of short stories and artwork by both fans and professional writers and artists, distributed in support of the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death, and featuring TV's favourite time traveller.
Contributors:
Jon Andersen, Rebecca J. Anderson, Peter Anghelides, Colin Baker, Daniel Ben-Zvi, David Bickley, David Bishop, Jim Campbell, Damon Cavalchini, Finn Clark, Charles Daniels, Martin Day, Jonathan Dennis, Rebecca Dowgiert, Diane Duane, Julian Eales, Helen Fayle, Simon Fraser, Dave Gibbons, Gary Gillatt, Trevor Hairsine, Mags L. Halliday, Craig Hinton, David J. Howe, Gareth Humphreys, Huw Griffiths, Imran Inyat, Rich Johnston, Tim Keable, Paul Leonard, Stephen Marley, David A. McIntee, Ian McIntire, Lawrence Miles, Jon de Burgh Miller, Mary Mitchell, Jim Mortimore, Dave Owen, Lance Parkin, Philip Pascoe, Mark Phippen, Philip Purser-Hallard, Simon Robinson, Stewart Sheargold and Paul Magrs, Mike Sivier, Dez Skinn, Nathan Skreslet, Dave Stone, Kathryn Sullivan, Bryan Talbot, Alan Taylor, Susannah Tiller, Barry Williams, Kimberley Yale and John Ostrander, Steve Yeowell.
Please note: Some stories contain strong language and adult themes.
Distributed solely in return for donations to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death.
Contributors:
Jon Andersen, Rebecca J. Anderson, Peter Anghelides, Colin Baker, Daniel Ben-Zvi, David Bickley, David Bishop, Jim Campbell, Damon Cavalchini, Finn Clark, Charles Daniels, Martin Day, Jonathan Dennis, Rebecca Dowgiert, Diane Duane, Julian Eales, Helen Fayle, Simon Fraser, Dave Gibbons, Gary Gillatt, Trevor Hairsine, Mags L. Halliday, Craig Hinton, David J. Howe, Gareth Humphreys, Huw Griffiths, Imran Inyat, Rich Johnston, Tim Keable, Paul Leonard, Stephen Marley, David A. McIntee, Ian McIntire, Lawrence Miles, Jon de Burgh Miller, Mary Mitchell, Jim Mortimore, Dave Owen, Lance Parkin, Philip Pascoe, Mark Phippen, Philip Purser-Hallard, Simon Robinson, Stewart Sheargold and Paul Magrs, Mike Sivier, Dez Skinn, Nathan Skreslet, Dave Stone, Kathryn Sullivan, Bryan Talbot, Alan Taylor, Susannah Tiller, Barry Williams, Kimberley Yale and John Ostrander, Steve Yeowell.
Please note: Some stories contain strong language and adult themes.
Distributed solely in return for donations to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death.
446 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1999
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February 22, 2025Consider this a roving trip through the stories of Perfect Timing 2 until I finish reading it. I'm mostly pecking through it.
A Handful of Silver by Mags L. Halliday
It was programmed to survive; the return of the technology intact to the home world was the key priority. It had forgotten until the nanosecond after it reconfigured itself, that the pilot would not survive the process.
A pretty good short story that serves as a sequel to David A. McIntee's The Dark Path. Despite this, it can be read on its own without reading Dark Path.
Knitworld by Stephen Marley (no, not that one)
'There's one thing that bothers me, Mrs Moggins. Your speech is generally that of a stereotypical char-lady, but it constantly lapses into highly uncharacteristic stylistic flourishes embellished with adjectival curlicues.'
She gave a slow nod. 'I know. I picked it up from Mister Fantastico the escapologist - best employer I ever had.'
He brightened immediately. 'Oh, I see - well, that's all right then. Let's be on our way - it's quite a distance up to the nearest attic.'
Another success from Marley with one of the better one-off characters (Mrs. Moggins) and one of the more unique and surprising villains.
Black Snow by David Bishop
The young woman realised the Doctor had not been listening again. Travelling with him was a curious business. At times he showed the glee of a child at discovering something new and exciting, yet he was prone to long periods of depression and silence, as if a great sorrow weighed upon his conscience. For an alien time traveller with a penchant for fighting injustice across the galaxy, the Doctor was a right moody sod sometimes.
The first one in this collection I found a bit ehh. Though there are some interesting ideas for the Brigadier, it feels a bit too ephemeral and keeps a bit too much a secret. With some more pages, this could have been a very good novella/short story, though.
Past Time Catching by Dave Stone (yes, that one)
The prolific Mr Trant has sent us, without fail, a new and meticulously hand-written manuscript from his home in Westlake Falls, Virginia, for every month since our first ever publication, and which we have always looked forward to and read with lively interest. This is his first appearance in the pages of Astonishing! itself
It's essentially a version of The Dunciad which pokes fun at pulp sci-fi magazines instead of the literary figures around its author. While I would love to see Stone write a version of the Dunciad that pokes fun at other Who authors, this one is pretty good. It's definetly a Dave Stone story. Companions acting weirdly on purpose, puckish tone, familiar names, a "Dave what the fuck" moment, and a dash of actually ominous/compelling lore. Rather good.
Absolute by Lawrence Miles
We are required to be observers of perceived time, and where necessary perhaps even protectors, although this is controversial territory in itself. Speaking scientifically, it sounds doubtful that there could ever be such a thing as Absolute Time in any sense. But even if an element of Absolute Time were to exist, it's impossible to imagine that we might be capable of analysing it. Any attempt to do so would simply result in further fruitless speculation, and hamper our knowledge of practical mechanics.
An intriguing vignette about the relativity of time itself.
Toy Story by Lawrence Miles
'What about the pilots?' asked the woman-Ship. Head still cocked, eyes still locked shut.
Lolita programmed herself to look irritated, and flicked a strand of hair away from her face. 'What have the pilots got to do with anything?'
'I think they'd be interested, sister.'
'I think they'd be irrelevant,' snapped Lolita. 'And don't call me "sister". I do have a name, unlike some people I could mention.'
A rather spellbinding short story about two somewhat familiar sisters meeting, which has some rather intriguing implications for Gallifreyan lore and introduces one of the more memorable villains of the Faction Paradox series.
A Handful of Silver by Mags L. Halliday
It was programmed to survive; the return of the technology intact to the home world was the key priority. It had forgotten until the nanosecond after it reconfigured itself, that the pilot would not survive the process.
A pretty good short story that serves as a sequel to David A. McIntee's The Dark Path. Despite this, it can be read on its own without reading Dark Path.
Knitworld by Stephen Marley (no, not that one)
'There's one thing that bothers me, Mrs Moggins. Your speech is generally that of a stereotypical char-lady, but it constantly lapses into highly uncharacteristic stylistic flourishes embellished with adjectival curlicues.'
She gave a slow nod. 'I know. I picked it up from Mister Fantastico the escapologist - best employer I ever had.'
He brightened immediately. 'Oh, I see - well, that's all right then. Let's be on our way - it's quite a distance up to the nearest attic.'
Another success from Marley with one of the better one-off characters (Mrs. Moggins) and one of the more unique and surprising villains.
Black Snow by David Bishop
The young woman realised the Doctor had not been listening again. Travelling with him was a curious business. At times he showed the glee of a child at discovering something new and exciting, yet he was prone to long periods of depression and silence, as if a great sorrow weighed upon his conscience. For an alien time traveller with a penchant for fighting injustice across the galaxy, the Doctor was a right moody sod sometimes.
The first one in this collection I found a bit ehh. Though there are some interesting ideas for the Brigadier, it feels a bit too ephemeral and keeps a bit too much a secret. With some more pages, this could have been a very good novella/short story, though.
Past Time Catching by Dave Stone (yes, that one)
The prolific Mr Trant has sent us, without fail, a new and meticulously hand-written manuscript from his home in Westlake Falls, Virginia, for every month since our first ever publication, and which we have always looked forward to and read with lively interest. This is his first appearance in the pages of Astonishing! itself
It's essentially a version of The Dunciad which pokes fun at pulp sci-fi magazines instead of the literary figures around its author. While I would love to see Stone write a version of the Dunciad that pokes fun at other Who authors, this one is pretty good. It's definetly a Dave Stone story. Companions acting weirdly on purpose, puckish tone, familiar names, a "Dave what the fuck" moment, and a dash of actually ominous/compelling lore. Rather good.
Absolute by Lawrence Miles
We are required to be observers of perceived time, and where necessary perhaps even protectors, although this is controversial territory in itself. Speaking scientifically, it sounds doubtful that there could ever be such a thing as Absolute Time in any sense. But even if an element of Absolute Time were to exist, it's impossible to imagine that we might be capable of analysing it. Any attempt to do so would simply result in further fruitless speculation, and hamper our knowledge of practical mechanics.
An intriguing vignette about the relativity of time itself.
Toy Story by Lawrence Miles
'What about the pilots?' asked the woman-Ship. Head still cocked, eyes still locked shut.
Lolita programmed herself to look irritated, and flicked a strand of hair away from her face. 'What have the pilots got to do with anything?'
'I think they'd be interested, sister.'
'I think they'd be irrelevant,' snapped Lolita. 'And don't call me "sister". I do have a name, unlike some people I could mention.'
A rather spellbinding short story about two somewhat familiar sisters meeting, which has some rather intriguing implications for Gallifreyan lore and introduces one of the more memorable villains of the Faction Paradox series.
Displaying 1 of 1 review