Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #198

by Scott H. Andrews (Editor), Sylvia Linsteadt (Contributor), Thomas M. Waldroon

Issue #198 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine, featuring stories by Thomas M. Waldroon and Sylvia V. Linsteadt.

Genres: Fantasy

50 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 20, 2016

About the author

Scott H. Andrews is a writer of science fiction. He teaches college chemistry. He is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the fantasy magazine Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Andrews's short stories have appeared in Weird Tales, Space and Time, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, On Spec, Crossed Genres, and M-Brane SF.

Reviews

[Ray Denbrough · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for while-oil story, I love this kind if imagination!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

"'Or I Wil Harrie Them Out of This Land'" by Thomas M. Waldroon - This story mostly seems to be a display of the author's research into his personal genealogy and New England history during his ancestors' lives. The only speculative element is a suggestion that the accusations of witchcraft of that place and time might not have been entirely unfounded.

"Whale-Oil" by Sylvia V. Linsteadt - Another historical piece, this time in 1880 San Francisco. Told from two perspectives: young Altair, who sees ghosts of whales tethered to the lamps burning whale-oil, and Old Iris, a remnant or legend of Altair's mother's people, the Coast Miwok Indians. I enjoyed this one, but I felt like the two narratives didn't completely come together.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't make heads or tails from Thomas M. Waldroon's story. Felt like a bunch of disjointed fragments, without much of a plot or fantastical element.

The second story by Sylvia V. Linsteadt was better, but just not really my taste.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for Whale-Oil alone. Gorgeous fairy tale about the ghosts of whales haunting gas lamps, set against the backdrop of late 1800s San Francisco.