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The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January/February 2017
CONTENT:
Novella
“Homecoming” by Rachel Pollack
Novelets
"Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffmar
"One Way" by Rick Norwood
"Dunnage for the Soul" by Robert Reed
"There Used to Be Olive Trees" by Rich Larson
Short Stories
"The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi
"A Gathering on Gravity's Shore” by Gregor Hartman
“On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies” by Debbie Urbanski
"Alexandria" by Monica Byrne
"Wetherfell's Reef Runies" by Marc Laidlaw
Poems
"Kingship" by Mary Soon Lee
Volume 132, No. 1&2 #729, January/February 2017
Edited by C.C. Finlay
Cover art by Charles Vess
Novella
“Homecoming” by Rachel Pollack
Novelets
"Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffmar
"One Way" by Rick Norwood
"Dunnage for the Soul" by Robert Reed
"There Used to Be Olive Trees" by Rich Larson
Short Stories
"The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi
"A Gathering on Gravity's Shore” by Gregor Hartman
“On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies” by Debbie Urbanski
"Alexandria" by Monica Byrne
"Wetherfell's Reef Runies" by Marc Laidlaw
Poems
"Kingship" by Mary Soon Lee
Volume 132, No. 1&2 #729, January/February 2017
Edited by C.C. Finlay
Cover art by Charles Vess
260 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2017
13 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
C.C. Finlay
66 books96 followersFormer Editor, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Author of The Prodigal Troll, the Traitor to the Crown Series, and Wild Things, plus dozens of short stories. World Fantasy Award Winner, and finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Sidewise, Sturgeon, and Locus Awards. Teacher at Clarion and elsewhere.
Married to novelist Rae Carson.
Married to novelist Rae Carson.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 28, 2018
Starting to deeply enjoy this magazine, best I've read yet. It's a pleasure to see the writers of the future showing their stuff here. I've added two to my favorites list: Rachell Pollack (insane, prolific, where the hell is she coming up with all this? Mind-screw, thrill), and Rich Larson (loved his sci-fi world, characterization and dialogue). I enjoyed all of them (I skipped one but won't say which). The first, Vinegar and Cinnamon: adorable. Can't wait to read the next one in my book shelf, and for the next issue to arrive soon!
December 27, 2016
I'll update as I read each story. However, as is my MO, I began with the Robert Reed novelette: Dunnage for the Soul.
I love Dictionary.com. It costs $, unlike Merrium, but it's only failed me--by not containing the word I was searching--once thus far, in nearly 6 months.
It defines "dunnage" as "baggage, or personal effects," along with other unrelated twists on the definition. In the story, the protagonist tells us it speaks to wood that's so crappy, we might find it in a garbage pile. I couldn't find that definition anywhere else.
However, from the first few paragraphs, the story is a treat. A compelling one. It won't let go.
Lovely and angry and arbitrary in the most ugly and unfair sense, and so much bigger than the mere words used to share it with us. Yes. SYNERGY. This story REEKS of it. And we get to be the victors enjoying all the spoils here.
I subscribe to the magazine. Each month, I think,
As long as I read 1 idea in this issue that stays with me in some sense, it will have been worth the cost of the subscription.
This Robert Reed story? It may have made at least 3 issues a brilliant investment for this girl!
Get it if you can, and ENJOY!!! Steal, borrow, beg, or shell out the couple bucks. It's worth it. Or I'll....I'll....I'll read one of those awful Western books! There. Now, no one, and I mean NO ONE, goes around saying these types of things lightly!
I love Dictionary.com. It costs $, unlike Merrium, but it's only failed me--by not containing the word I was searching--once thus far, in nearly 6 months.
It defines "dunnage" as "baggage, or personal effects," along with other unrelated twists on the definition. In the story, the protagonist tells us it speaks to wood that's so crappy, we might find it in a garbage pile. I couldn't find that definition anywhere else.
However, from the first few paragraphs, the story is a treat. A compelling one. It won't let go.
Lovely and angry and arbitrary in the most ugly and unfair sense, and so much bigger than the mere words used to share it with us. Yes. SYNERGY. This story REEKS of it. And we get to be the victors enjoying all the spoils here.
I subscribe to the magazine. Each month, I think,
As long as I read 1 idea in this issue that stays with me in some sense, it will have been worth the cost of the subscription.
This Robert Reed story? It may have made at least 3 issues a brilliant investment for this girl!
Get it if you can, and ENJOY!!! Steal, borrow, beg, or shell out the couple bucks. It's worth it. Or I'll....I'll....I'll read one of those awful Western books! There. Now, no one, and I mean NO ONE, goes around saying these types of things lightly!
February 7, 2017
A good issue overall. My favorite pieces happened to be short stories: "Wetherfell's Reef Runics" by Marc Laidlaw (which I read, quite appropriately, in rural Hawaii) and "On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies" by Debbie Urbanski (which was difficult for me at points because of the emotions it evoked). I was happy to "Kingship" by Mary Soon Lee as well--she's one of my favorite poets.
May 11, 2017
Awesome issue. A new #1. Surpasses the all-time greatness of the Jul/Aug 2015 F&SF. (Context, I've now read 769 speculative fiction magazines.)
7 • Vinegar and Cinnamon • 20 pages by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Excellent. In a fit of anger Maura turns Sam into a rat. Sam takes a minute to figure out what has happened and then starts using his rat senses. He is particularly fond of the increased ability to smell, his hearing and use his whiskers to sense his surroundings, but he doesn't want to be a rat the rest of his life.
27 • The Regression Test • 11 pages by Wole Talabi
Excellent/VG. Titilope is the human control to measure if the AI of her mother "the African Einstein" had drifted too far from being Olusola or not. She does this by asking a series of questions.
38 • A Gathering on Gravity's Shore • 14 pages by Gregor Hartmann
Excellent. Franden is invited to a party hosted by Upheld to give a speech for his friend Duvant. He is kind of shunned until he meets Maya. By that time the oMos were turned off and she couldn't immediately check his background. The conversation about urban legends was LOL funny. Talking with Maya helped Franden with his confidence to follow his convictions.
67 • Homecoming • 59 pages by Rachel Pollack
Very Good. Jack Shade is back ("Johnny Rev" Jul/Aug 2015), so you know he's a traveler able to go between dimensions, see reality, etc. He has Guest, has to take the case of anyone who brings him his business card. Carol Acker shows up with one. She feels like part of her is missing. She can't say what. Jack reluctantly accepts the case. He eventually completes the job for Carol, but it causes a bigger problem. He talks to his girlfriend Carolien to figure out the scope of the new problem. When NYTAS and COLE seem unwilling, unable or too slow to help Jack is forced to start calling in favors.
126 • One Way • 21 pages by Rick Norwood
Very Good. Harvey, down on his luck professor, has only one person come to his talk which he horribly botches. It makes no difference to whiz kid Jerry. He had read Harvey's papers and saw potential. Going so far as to get a technician and setting up shop so the three of them could start an experiment to prove the theory.
147 • On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies • 16 pages by Debbie Urbanski
OK. Many parents wake up to find that their child has is gone and a replacement child is in its place. Numerous examples are given describing how they get replaced (magic), the attributes of the new child, how the parents react and more. Doesn't go long term and say if the replacement child grow up to be adults, even though it's been happening for hundreds of years, albeit less common.
163 • Dunnage for the Soul • 24 pages by Robert Reed
Very Good+. A researcher measures brain activity and finds persistent electrical signatures. The general public thinks of PES as the soul. Eventually it can be measured with a cheap portable device. It turns out that 6% of people don't have this. That 6% quickly become discriminated against, losing jobs, friends, etc.
196 • Alexandria • 15 pages by Monica Byrne
VG. Beth has a 500 acre farm in Kansas. Her husband of fify years, Keiji, died two years ago. She decides to sell the land and build a lighthouse. Put like that it doesn't sound like much of a story, but that's why you have to read the story, to feel Beth's motivation.
211 • Wetherfell's Reef Runics • 23 pages by Marc Laidlaw
Good. Ambrose is a bookseller, and comes into possession of a book by Wetherfell. The Wetherfell that drowned in the Hollows that day. He had chained himself to the bottom, fifteen feet deep, while investigating some ole markings.
234 • There Used to Be Olive Trees • 22 pages by Rich Larson
Very Good/Excellent. Valentin has failed the prueba three times he decides to escape the city rather than risk failing again and perhaps have the chip removed. His first night out a wilder takes him hostage, Pepe wanting to take him to his town's autofab so that Valentin can talk with it.
7 • Vinegar and Cinnamon • 20 pages by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Excellent. In a fit of anger Maura turns Sam into a rat. Sam takes a minute to figure out what has happened and then starts using his rat senses. He is particularly fond of the increased ability to smell, his hearing and use his whiskers to sense his surroundings, but he doesn't want to be a rat the rest of his life.
27 • The Regression Test • 11 pages by Wole Talabi
Excellent/VG. Titilope is the human control to measure if the AI of her mother "the African Einstein" had drifted too far from being Olusola or not. She does this by asking a series of questions.
38 • A Gathering on Gravity's Shore • 14 pages by Gregor Hartmann
Excellent. Franden is invited to a party hosted by Upheld to give a speech for his friend Duvant. He is kind of shunned until he meets Maya. By that time the oMos were turned off and she couldn't immediately check his background. The conversation about urban legends was LOL funny. Talking with Maya helped Franden with his confidence to follow his convictions.
67 • Homecoming • 59 pages by Rachel Pollack
Very Good. Jack Shade is back ("Johnny Rev" Jul/Aug 2015), so you know he's a traveler able to go between dimensions, see reality, etc. He has Guest, has to take the case of anyone who brings him his business card. Carol Acker shows up with one. She feels like part of her is missing. She can't say what. Jack reluctantly accepts the case. He eventually completes the job for Carol, but it causes a bigger problem. He talks to his girlfriend Carolien to figure out the scope of the new problem. When NYTAS and COLE seem unwilling, unable or too slow to help Jack is forced to start calling in favors.
126 • One Way • 21 pages by Rick Norwood
Very Good. Harvey, down on his luck professor, has only one person come to his talk which he horribly botches. It makes no difference to whiz kid Jerry. He had read Harvey's papers and saw potential. Going so far as to get a technician and setting up shop so the three of them could start an experiment to prove the theory.
147 • On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies • 16 pages by Debbie Urbanski
OK. Many parents wake up to find that their child has is gone and a replacement child is in its place. Numerous examples are given describing how they get replaced (magic), the attributes of the new child, how the parents react and more. Doesn't go long term and say if the replacement child grow up to be adults, even though it's been happening for hundreds of years, albeit less common.
163 • Dunnage for the Soul • 24 pages by Robert Reed
Very Good+. A researcher measures brain activity and finds persistent electrical signatures. The general public thinks of PES as the soul. Eventually it can be measured with a cheap portable device. It turns out that 6% of people don't have this. That 6% quickly become discriminated against, losing jobs, friends, etc.
196 • Alexandria • 15 pages by Monica Byrne
VG. Beth has a 500 acre farm in Kansas. Her husband of fify years, Keiji, died two years ago. She decides to sell the land and build a lighthouse. Put like that it doesn't sound like much of a story, but that's why you have to read the story, to feel Beth's motivation.
211 • Wetherfell's Reef Runics • 23 pages by Marc Laidlaw
Good. Ambrose is a bookseller, and comes into possession of a book by Wetherfell. The Wetherfell that drowned in the Hollows that day. He had chained himself to the bottom, fifteen feet deep, while investigating some ole markings.
234 • There Used to Be Olive Trees • 22 pages by Rich Larson
Very Good/Excellent. Valentin has failed the prueba three times he decides to escape the city rather than risk failing again and perhaps have the chip removed. His first night out a wilder takes him hostage, Pepe wanting to take him to his town's autofab so that Valentin can talk with it.
November 25, 2017
La qualité des nouvelles est en général moyenne. Les histoires sont parfois un peu trop banales, tandis que les bonnes histoires ont ne font qu'effleurer le genre.
Vinegar and Cinnamon, de Nina Kiriki Hoffman, est une histoire banale, dont la seule caractéristique est d'être dans un univers où la magie existe. L'univers est bien mis en place, et l'atmosphère de village rural est bien écrite, mais il demeure que la trame de l'histoire en elle-même m'a laissée indifférente.
Regression Test, par Wole Talabi, se distingue par la qualité de son écriture, son personnage principal bien campé et original, une intrigue soutenue et une fin parfaite. Auteur à suivre.
A Gathering on Gravity's Shore, de Gregor Hartmann, raconte l'expérience d'un homme de la plèbe qui participe à une soirée mondaine, avec une révolte populaire en arrière-fond. Le tout est sympathique, bien que plutôt simpliste, et l'omniprésence d'une projection futuriste de nos réseaux sociaux actuels semble une façon d'être "à la mode", une critique un peu à gros trait du quotidien actuel. Nouvelle correcte, sans plus.
Homecoming, de Rachel Pollack, souffre d'être une troisième nouvelle utilisant le même personnage. Ce dernier, Jack Shade, est mal défini dans la nouvelle ici présentée, comme si l'auteure s'était trop fiée sur l'existence des deux autres histoires. Il apparaît dès lors plutôt cliché et peu développé, tout comme son adversaire. L'intrigue est plus ou moins bien ficelée, surtout avec des interventions trop à-propos qui sont finalement prévues... trop de manipulations mal expliquées. Il y a quelques clins d'oeil amusants à la culture populaire (les deux "travelers" spécialisés dans le fait de prétendre être des agents du FBI s'appellent Sam et Dean...), mais la lecture devient vite laborieuse.
One Way, de Rick Norwood, relève d'une anticipation rapprochée et parle d'une découverte scientifique, des expériences qui en découlent, des bévues et de leur résolution. Les personnages sont sympathiques, mais la mise en situation est plutôt caricaturale : des fonds quasiment infinis, trois scientifiques qui bidouillent l'invention dans un entrepôt, qui manquent de détruire le monde et qui résolvent le problème à une vitesse accélérée juste au moment critique. La fin très "happy" donne presque la nausée. Dommage, on aurait pu pardonner le début si le développement avait été original, mais ce n'est pas le cas.
On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies est un récit à la structure décousue écrit par Debbie Urbanski. Il mimique la formule d'une sorte de dépliant informatif pour les parents victimes d'un phénomène de remplacement de leur enfant. Connaître le contexte dans lequel a été écrit l'histoire (le fils de l'auteure qui reçoit un diagnostique d'autisme) donne une valeur ajoutée au tout, lui donne une profondeur de reflet que je ne suis pas certaine que j'aurais apprécié sans. Exercice intéressant, mais qui apparaît davantage comme cela, un exercice, qu'un réel récit.
Suit une nouvelle de Robert Reed, Dunnage for the Soul. Ici, l'impact d'une découverte scientifique, les dérapages qui s'ensuivent alors que cette trouvaille est interprétée de différentes manières, à différents niveaux, étant donné qu'elle touche à l'intangible de l'esprit humain, sont perçus par un des premiers cobayes de l'expérience ayant mené à la découverte. L'histoire, par l'entremise de cette victime/héros rebelle, abordes toutes les sphères de l'humain, du monde professionnel aux enjeux des relations personnelles, avec une économie de moyens qui rend le tout très efficace. Si le début me laissait sceptique, mes doutes m'ont rapidement quittée. Une belle réussite.
L'article de Pat Murphy et Paul Doherty sur les robots sans cerveau/processeurs est très intéressant et remet en question notre définition usuelle de ce qu'est un robot, ainsi que ce qu'on aurait tendance à mettre et exclure de cette catégorie, en nous décrivant des êtres de prime abord inclassables.
Alexandria, de Monica Byrne, nous raconte un deuil vécu de façon très privée, intimiste, mais aussi grandiose de par l'acte final d'un amour hors du commun. En même temps, nous alternons entre le récit de base, qui se déroule à une époque similaire à la nôtre, et des futurs plus ou moins éloignés où différentes personnes sont témoins de ce qui a été bâti. Une écriture magnifique, une auteure à suivre. Un des beaux textes de ce numéro, dont le seul défaut est que son lien avec les genres (ici la SF) est très ténu, un ajout plus qu'un moteur ou un contexte essentiel.
Marc Laidlaw nous offre la nouvelle suivante, Wetherfell's Reef Runics, une histoire de réalisme magique, située dans un contexte sympathique juste assez exotique (une île imaginaire de l'archipel d'Hawaii, le protagoniste récupère des livres usagés...), mais qui a les pieds dans une réalité qui n'est pas que lunettes roses. Les personnages sont bien campés, mais le moteur de l'histoire nous laisse plus ou moins indifférents, la conclusion est décevante, il manque au tout une certaine tension. Néanmoins, je serais prête à laisser une seconde chance à l'auteur.
Le présent numéro se termine sur There Used to Be Olive Trees de Rich Larson. Le récit a du potentiel, un univers lentement mis en place et qui laisse entrevoir une belle profondeur, mais je n'ai pu m'empêcher de trouver que le personnage principal frisait le cliché. Et qu'il manquait quelque chose, sans que j'arrive à mettre le doigt dessus. Prometteur, mais pas à point.
Vinegar and Cinnamon, de Nina Kiriki Hoffman, est une histoire banale, dont la seule caractéristique est d'être dans un univers où la magie existe. L'univers est bien mis en place, et l'atmosphère de village rural est bien écrite, mais il demeure que la trame de l'histoire en elle-même m'a laissée indifférente.
Regression Test, par Wole Talabi, se distingue par la qualité de son écriture, son personnage principal bien campé et original, une intrigue soutenue et une fin parfaite. Auteur à suivre.
A Gathering on Gravity's Shore, de Gregor Hartmann, raconte l'expérience d'un homme de la plèbe qui participe à une soirée mondaine, avec une révolte populaire en arrière-fond. Le tout est sympathique, bien que plutôt simpliste, et l'omniprésence d'une projection futuriste de nos réseaux sociaux actuels semble une façon d'être "à la mode", une critique un peu à gros trait du quotidien actuel. Nouvelle correcte, sans plus.
Homecoming, de Rachel Pollack, souffre d'être une troisième nouvelle utilisant le même personnage. Ce dernier, Jack Shade, est mal défini dans la nouvelle ici présentée, comme si l'auteure s'était trop fiée sur l'existence des deux autres histoires. Il apparaît dès lors plutôt cliché et peu développé, tout comme son adversaire. L'intrigue est plus ou moins bien ficelée, surtout avec des interventions trop à-propos qui sont finalement prévues... trop de manipulations mal expliquées. Il y a quelques clins d'oeil amusants à la culture populaire (les deux "travelers" spécialisés dans le fait de prétendre être des agents du FBI s'appellent Sam et Dean...), mais la lecture devient vite laborieuse.
One Way, de Rick Norwood, relève d'une anticipation rapprochée et parle d'une découverte scientifique, des expériences qui en découlent, des bévues et de leur résolution. Les personnages sont sympathiques, mais la mise en situation est plutôt caricaturale : des fonds quasiment infinis, trois scientifiques qui bidouillent l'invention dans un entrepôt, qui manquent de détruire le monde et qui résolvent le problème à une vitesse accélérée juste au moment critique. La fin très "happy" donne presque la nausée. Dommage, on aurait pu pardonner le début si le développement avait été original, mais ce n'est pas le cas.
On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies est un récit à la structure décousue écrit par Debbie Urbanski. Il mimique la formule d'une sorte de dépliant informatif pour les parents victimes d'un phénomène de remplacement de leur enfant. Connaître le contexte dans lequel a été écrit l'histoire (le fils de l'auteure qui reçoit un diagnostique d'autisme) donne une valeur ajoutée au tout, lui donne une profondeur de reflet que je ne suis pas certaine que j'aurais apprécié sans. Exercice intéressant, mais qui apparaît davantage comme cela, un exercice, qu'un réel récit.
Suit une nouvelle de Robert Reed, Dunnage for the Soul. Ici, l'impact d'une découverte scientifique, les dérapages qui s'ensuivent alors que cette trouvaille est interprétée de différentes manières, à différents niveaux, étant donné qu'elle touche à l'intangible de l'esprit humain, sont perçus par un des premiers cobayes de l'expérience ayant mené à la découverte. L'histoire, par l'entremise de cette victime/héros rebelle, abordes toutes les sphères de l'humain, du monde professionnel aux enjeux des relations personnelles, avec une économie de moyens qui rend le tout très efficace. Si le début me laissait sceptique, mes doutes m'ont rapidement quittée. Une belle réussite.
L'article de Pat Murphy et Paul Doherty sur les robots sans cerveau/processeurs est très intéressant et remet en question notre définition usuelle de ce qu'est un robot, ainsi que ce qu'on aurait tendance à mettre et exclure de cette catégorie, en nous décrivant des êtres de prime abord inclassables.
Alexandria, de Monica Byrne, nous raconte un deuil vécu de façon très privée, intimiste, mais aussi grandiose de par l'acte final d'un amour hors du commun. En même temps, nous alternons entre le récit de base, qui se déroule à une époque similaire à la nôtre, et des futurs plus ou moins éloignés où différentes personnes sont témoins de ce qui a été bâti. Une écriture magnifique, une auteure à suivre. Un des beaux textes de ce numéro, dont le seul défaut est que son lien avec les genres (ici la SF) est très ténu, un ajout plus qu'un moteur ou un contexte essentiel.
Marc Laidlaw nous offre la nouvelle suivante, Wetherfell's Reef Runics, une histoire de réalisme magique, située dans un contexte sympathique juste assez exotique (une île imaginaire de l'archipel d'Hawaii, le protagoniste récupère des livres usagés...), mais qui a les pieds dans une réalité qui n'est pas que lunettes roses. Les personnages sont bien campés, mais le moteur de l'histoire nous laisse plus ou moins indifférents, la conclusion est décevante, il manque au tout une certaine tension. Néanmoins, je serais prête à laisser une seconde chance à l'auteur.
Le présent numéro se termine sur There Used to Be Olive Trees de Rich Larson. Le récit a du potentiel, un univers lentement mis en place et qui laisse entrevoir une belle profondeur, mais je n'ai pu m'empêcher de trouver que le personnage principal frisait le cliché. Et qu'il manquait quelque chose, sans que j'arrive à mettre le doigt dessus. Prometteur, mais pas à point.
September 6, 2019
A nice mixture of stories.
January 26, 2017
An above average issue, with interesting stories by Rachel Pollack, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Rich Larson and Wole Talabi.
- "Homecoming" by Rachel Pollack: a interesting fantasy story about a person who can travel into fantasy realms around the world. In this case, a woman asks him to find a missing part of her soul. Doubts arise as he performs his job but it is only on returning the soul that he discovers he may have unleashed an ancient horror on the world and it may be up to him to save it. But there is a twist to the ending: people who have read the earlier stories about this Traveller might anticipate it.
- "Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: in this fun story, magic is a given but training to control it is required. For one farming family, a dispute between a non-magical elder brother and his magical sister goes wrong when she casts a spell at him in anger, turning him into a rat. As he adjusts to a life as a rat, while waiting for a counter-spell, he starts to discover things about the world as seen by a rat; as well as getting new abilities.
- "One Way" by Rick Norwood: a rather old-fashioned SF story about a down-and-out professor with a revolutionary theory meeting a young brilliant enthusiast. Together, they prove that the theory works and will have a major inpact on the world. But a crisis occurs when the theory is push a bit further. I call the story old-fashioned because it could have been written and published during the 'Golden Age' of Science Fiction.
- "Dunnage for the Soul" by Robert Reed: an interesting, speculative story about a man in the future which, due to what may be called 'voodoo science', is considered soul-less. His, and other soul-less people's anger at society for treating them differently builds up throughout the story and he discovers a solution to the problem: a solution that he may apply to the person who started the whole situation.
- "There Used to Be Olive Trees" by Rich Larson: an interesting story set in a future when much of the land is devestated, AI 'gods' rule the skies and land and what remains of humanity eke out a living. One person, who controls a nano-based augment, leaves his town because his machine implant that allows him to connect to the town's machine isn't working and he fears the people will rip it out of him. Outside, in the wild, he meets a wilder who takes his nano augment hostage in return for help to get an auto-doctor machine working. But as he tries to communicate with the machine, he will learn some secrets of the AI gods and their plans for humanity; and he does not plan to play along with them.
- "The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi: an interesting story about a woman bought in to test a AI that is suppose to be a replica of her famous dead mother. Her test method would reveal that something is not right; but can she hold on to it when she discovers that she is in a trap set up to make her pass the AI as her mother.
- "A Gathering on Gravity’s Shore" by Gregor Hartmann: on a terraformed world, one of the workers is invited to a celebratory party. But while there, he runs into a biologists who makes him rethink about his alligence to either the world or to the elite people who are ruling the place.
- "On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies" by Debbie Urbanski: written in the style of a report with case studies, it looks at various people whose children have been replaced in the night by doppelgangers and the effects it has on the families who try to cope with unfamiliar children. The story's link to autism is obvious but the effect it has on the characters is no different.
- "Alexandria" by Monica Byrne: a widow is determined to build her own version of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, as a way to immortalise her love (frowned upon by her neighbours) for her husband. Small passages from the far future would show the effects the lighthouse would have.
- "Wetherfell’s Reef Runics" by Marc Laidlaw: a quirky story about a book collector on a pacific island who ends up with a strange book written by a visitor to the island who had just drowned. The book documents various 'lines of power' around the world and mentions a final one under the water at the island. His investigations would lead to a strange conclusion that maybe something under the water has been awaken.
- "Homecoming" by Rachel Pollack: a interesting fantasy story about a person who can travel into fantasy realms around the world. In this case, a woman asks him to find a missing part of her soul. Doubts arise as he performs his job but it is only on returning the soul that he discovers he may have unleashed an ancient horror on the world and it may be up to him to save it. But there is a twist to the ending: people who have read the earlier stories about this Traveller might anticipate it.
- "Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: in this fun story, magic is a given but training to control it is required. For one farming family, a dispute between a non-magical elder brother and his magical sister goes wrong when she casts a spell at him in anger, turning him into a rat. As he adjusts to a life as a rat, while waiting for a counter-spell, he starts to discover things about the world as seen by a rat; as well as getting new abilities.
- "One Way" by Rick Norwood: a rather old-fashioned SF story about a down-and-out professor with a revolutionary theory meeting a young brilliant enthusiast. Together, they prove that the theory works and will have a major inpact on the world. But a crisis occurs when the theory is push a bit further. I call the story old-fashioned because it could have been written and published during the 'Golden Age' of Science Fiction.
- "Dunnage for the Soul" by Robert Reed: an interesting, speculative story about a man in the future which, due to what may be called 'voodoo science', is considered soul-less. His, and other soul-less people's anger at society for treating them differently builds up throughout the story and he discovers a solution to the problem: a solution that he may apply to the person who started the whole situation.
- "There Used to Be Olive Trees" by Rich Larson: an interesting story set in a future when much of the land is devestated, AI 'gods' rule the skies and land and what remains of humanity eke out a living. One person, who controls a nano-based augment, leaves his town because his machine implant that allows him to connect to the town's machine isn't working and he fears the people will rip it out of him. Outside, in the wild, he meets a wilder who takes his nano augment hostage in return for help to get an auto-doctor machine working. But as he tries to communicate with the machine, he will learn some secrets of the AI gods and their plans for humanity; and he does not plan to play along with them.
- "The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi: an interesting story about a woman bought in to test a AI that is suppose to be a replica of her famous dead mother. Her test method would reveal that something is not right; but can she hold on to it when she discovers that she is in a trap set up to make her pass the AI as her mother.
- "A Gathering on Gravity’s Shore" by Gregor Hartmann: on a terraformed world, one of the workers is invited to a celebratory party. But while there, he runs into a biologists who makes him rethink about his alligence to either the world or to the elite people who are ruling the place.
- "On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies" by Debbie Urbanski: written in the style of a report with case studies, it looks at various people whose children have been replaced in the night by doppelgangers and the effects it has on the families who try to cope with unfamiliar children. The story's link to autism is obvious but the effect it has on the characters is no different.
- "Alexandria" by Monica Byrne: a widow is determined to build her own version of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, as a way to immortalise her love (frowned upon by her neighbours) for her husband. Small passages from the far future would show the effects the lighthouse would have.
- "Wetherfell’s Reef Runics" by Marc Laidlaw: a quirky story about a book collector on a pacific island who ends up with a strange book written by a visitor to the island who had just drowned. The book documents various 'lines of power' around the world and mentions a final one under the water at the island. His investigations would lead to a strange conclusion that maybe something under the water has been awaken.
February 7, 2017
I'm going to have to break it down by story.
"Homecoming" by Rachel Pollack
Fourth story in a series. The preceding stories, which I have not read, are "Jack Shade in the Forest of Souls" (July/August 2012); "The Queen of Eyes" (September/October 2013) and "Johnny Rev" (July/August 2015). The series is about Jack Shade, a noir-ish private investigator, occultist and shaman. In this story--well, novella--he tries to help an ordinary suburban woman get part of her soul back. Things go disastrously wrong very quickly.
The writing and the plotting was good, and I was intrigued by many of the minor characters. I would have happily read stories about them. The main stumbling block was the lead, who was pretty much like every other snarky paranormal sleuth. The fact that he got people killed through his failure to do his job--i.e., INVESTIGATE before he did anything--was an additional turn-off. Lives could have been saved if Jack Shade had just done some investigative work at the start instead of assuming that Carol was harmless.. It's a "rabbits in Australia" story; just because something seems cute and fluffy, that doesn't mean that it can't destroy you. Jack, despite his supposed experience, didn't recognize this. And it got a town full of innocent people slaughtered. By the end of the story, I was in favor of binding his powers for good and kicking him into Limbo with his daughter.
I would like to read more about this world, which rates 4.5 stars, but I'm less interested in reading more about Jack Shade, who rates 3.0. That averages out to 3.75 stars.
***
"Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Fourteen-year-old non-mage Sam gets turned into a rat by twelve-year-old wizard Maura. Sam loves being able hear, smell and taste things as a rat does, but is less than enthused about being a rat permanently. Problem: Maura doesn't know how to reverse the spell.
Interesting. Hoffman captured the voice of a frustrated adolescent with a bratty younger sister very well. Also interesting--there are permanent physical consequences to being transformed. The main thing that threw me was the revelation, about halfway through, that Sam was Maura's brother, not her sister. I'd been reading "Sam" as short for Samantha until that point, so that was a bit of a jolt. I would read more in this world. 4.0 stars.
***
"One Way" by Rick Norwood
Physics professor Harvey Gold and young genius inventor Dr. Jerry Morgan develop a way of harvesting cheap energy that inadvertently almost eats the entire world. Reminiscent of the "goofy scientist" stories that Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine used to publish in the 1980s. They were almost always about male scientists not thinking things through, too.
The main flaw was that Deloris Lake, Jerry's girlfriend, was treated contemptuously by Gold even before she said anything. His mental comment that "Lor is an English major" meant she didn't know any science likewise relied on a stereotype rather than any facts. I really didn't think that misogyny added anything to the story. Also, she was completely incidental to the plot. She could have been replaced by a hamster that Gold spouted exposition at and made just as much difference.
If not for these factors, I'd rate this story higher, as it was genuinely compelling and, at times, funny. 3.75 stars.
***
"Dunnage for the Soul" by Robert Reed
Hated it. Absolutely hated it. I wanted very badly for the smarmy soul killer to be killed by the end of the story, because if there is anything that the world does NOT need, it's someone who blots out something unique and possibly good in others instead of trying create it in himself. And he didn't find out that creating/growing a soul was impossible. All he knew was that one scientist said it wasn't. So duh, prove her wrong! Or prove that people without souls don't lack the full range of emotion or ethics! Or become an activist on behalf of your soulless brethren! But no. He just decided to erase souls out of spite.
I honestly felt slimy after I read that story. Zero stars.
***
"There Used to be Olive Trees" by Rich Larson
A typical post-apocalypse story where humanity has degenerated into primitive tribes that no longer understand science or engineering and where machines rule the world. I was distracted by one question--why would humans build sentient machines to cull humans? Didn't this world have any movies or books about machines taking over? Maybe it wasn't a plothole, but I kept tripping over it. Bonus points for containing a male lead who was gay, though. 3.65 stars.
***
"The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi
Good, though I expected it to go in a very different direction and I found the ending sad. That may just be my reading of the story, though. I really liked the story's lead, Titilope Ajimobi, being old (116 years old!), female and, judging by the names in the story, Nigerian rather than (as characters so often are) American or European. I also liked the fact that Titilope's mother, Olusola Ajimobi, was such a genius that a company was trying desperately to preserve her mind in an AI long after her death. 4 stars.
***
"A Gathering on Gravity's Shore" by Gregor Hartmann
Another sequel, this one the third in a series. The previous stories about Franden, which I have not read, were "The Man From X" ( January/February 2015) and "Into the Fiery Planet" (July/August 2015).
Possibly because I didn't know anything about Franden that had already been established, I didn't really identify with him. He seemed weirdly surprised that people of a different social class didn't want to hang out with him. "Haven't you ever attended high school?" was the thought that kept running through my mind. And while he tromped a symbol of revolution into the ground in the end, I didn't get the feeling that he supported the revolution as much as he wanted the approval of his marine biologist acquaintance. Not a bad story, but I don't think that I benefited from entering the canon in the middle of things. 3.5 stars.
***
"On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies" by Debbie Urbanski
This is a story about autistic children--the non-allistic-performing kind. Except...you know how the stories of changelings are now thought to have been about autistic children all along?
This story is written as a series of case studies by doctors and social workers who deal with the trauma of parents whose REAL children have been “replaced.” That’s what the changelings are called in this. “Replacement children.” “Replacements.” Or, occasionally, “fake children.”
Aside from the autistic kids (I’m NOT calling them replacements or fakes!) all having having silver hair--which, after all, there could be a gene for--there is no sign that they are, as their parents, doctors, and social workers believe, fae. There is also nothing in the text to indicate that anyone is truly stealing children; children (especially boys, in-universe) change, seemingly between one day and the next, and the fae are blamed.
Hypotheses pop up about where the real children might be. Some think that they are imprisoned within their own bodies--possibly within one of their organs (don’t ask me). Others think that the real children are being held somewhere in a cellar or a shed, suffering terribly. Still others hope that the real children are ruling over a magical land filled with fairies and elves.
No one suggests that the real children have been right in front of their parents all along--or that just because the parents didn’t get the neurotypical children they expected and wanted, that doesn’t make the autistic kids that they do have any less real.
But wait. It gets worse.
See, almost no parents in this story want the fantasy-version autistic kids. They dump them--at hospitals, at “boarding schools” from which the kids never return home, even in the middle of fields of weeds (which is seen as a good way of getting the nonexistent neurotypical child back). All this is presented as being rather sad and certainly difficult for the parents, but it’s not really healthy to focus on such children. Parents are advised to have other children and forget about the autistic ones...who won’t even miss their parents. They don’t display affection in conventional ways, so that must mean that these children feel nothing...right?
Even that isn’t the worst. No, the worst are the ways that parents and grandparents use to try to banish the autistic child in the hopes that this will result in their real child being brought back from the lands of Faerie. You’ve probably heard about these methods in folklore. Some, like boiling water in eggshells, are silly but harmless. Others, like beating the child with a branch from a birch tree, putting the child on a chopping block for firewood, putting the child on a hot stove, feeding the autistic kid poisonous “medicine”, leaving the child tethered all night to a stake next to a well, pretending to throw the child in the oven, actually throwing the child in a fast river, and starving the child, are traumatizing and potentially lethal.
But again, the narrators do not criticize such actions. The most they say is accepting the child is an alternative, but it is clear that they don’t expect parents to avoid such things. Even when discussing children who have died as a result of such treatment, no one says anything about how horrible it would be to be murdered by your parents or caregivers simply because you weren’t the person that they wanted you to be. No one mentions arrest or charges of child abuse. There is not even a flicker of disapproval.
At the end, the story focuses on a family that decides to accept their autistic kid...though the narrative continues to emphasize, of course, that this is only a “replacement child” and that the parents are being quite unusual in treating such a child like they matter. Naturally, this family is a privileged one (they can rent a summer cabin by a lake, they know how to sail, etc.). They take their son out for a sail on the lake. The boy lies on the deck for most of the trip, only falling out of the boat once. When he does not want to leave the boat, his mother, despite really wanting ice cream (yes, this is emphasized), suggests that they just sail back because he enjoys sailing so much. As they sail back, the reader is told that the clouds seemed to form ridiculous and beautiful animals that could never be.
I think that we’re supposed to take this as a sign of fae approval of their parenting. Assuming that these children are indeed intended to be fae, then I am at a loss to understand exactly why those who abandoned, hurt or killed these children never merited any fae disapproval.
There is no resolution to the story. The parents and professionals never learn that there are ways of communicating with these children, or that the kids react as they do for physical and psychological reasons. No one ever so much as mildly reprimands the parents for treating their children like animals or aliens. Indeed, there is a general undertone of sympathy for the parents, while there seems to be none for the kids.
Most disturbing to me is the fact that the children are not granted identities, though the parents usually are. At best, they have initials. Amber and Clark Y. are the first parents we meet. They have a son with no name. Tina Q. has a son with no name. One mother (unnamed) has a son named Timothy; the alleged replacement, however, is not called Timothy but P. Another replacement (one who sounds as if he would enjoy conlangs) is merely designated Q. Terri O. has an autistic child whom she takes to the park, but we learn neither the name nor the age nor the sex of the child. Susan K.’s child likes bland foods, and that’s all we learn about him. Leslie X. has a child who cries on being held, but we learn nothing about why he cries or who he is. And so on.
A pattern emerges: the parents all have names that I could find in any predominantly white suburb, without a Tanisha J. or Ximena R. among them. And the autistic children are all vaguely interchangeable, nameless boys. One gets a line of gibberish; the others are not given lines at all. The audience is not privy to their words or thoughts. In their world, they are voiceless. Indeed, the story itself acknowledges this:
What do the replacement children themselves think about all this?
We would guess some replacements wish to return where they came from; some may wish to stay where they are; and some must wish we not tell their story for them or, at least, that we tell a different type of story. (Emphasis mine)
I would rather hear the children’s story. I imagine that raising a severely autistic child must be extremely difficult--but can it really be harder than being that child and knowing that your parents are willing to hurt you, even kill you, because you are not what they want? Is life valueless unless it fits a particular pattern? Is a future in which there are more and better coping techniques for autism and where autistic people are seen as human beings rather than others from an alien world so unimaginable?
You can’t build a better future if all you can envision is a world that’s identical to now.
So, for all of the above reasons, zero stars.
***
"Alexandria" by Monica Byrne
Beth Miyake, a widow, decides to build a replica of the Lighthouse of Alexandria on her Kansas farm, eventually selling all of her land and losing her house to build it. (Beth and her late husband, Keiji, had wanted to see the original on their honeymoon, but it had been torn down long ago.) And apparently the replica lighthouse gets excavated seven hundred years in the future when Kansas is a seacoast. Confusing, but okay. 3.5 stars.
***
"Wetherfell's Reef Runics" by Marc Laidlaw
A man dies while chained to an underwater reef. A haole bookstore owner, after receiving a new load of books and talking to a part-Hawaiian former friend who had been acting as the man's guide, discovers why. A pretty good mystery, though I'm sorry that the lead wasn't a Native Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian--and again, the female characters (a waitress and the mother of the former friend) were fairly incidental. All of the characters who did things--the dead man who'd written the book in the story's title, the bookstore owner, the former friend/guide, the argumentative members of forums to which the bookstore owner belongs, even the strange figure that breaks into the bookstore--were described as male. Perhaps there could have been a bit more variety? 4 stars.
***
"Kingship" by Mary Soon Lee
A poem contrasting the heroic-sounding events in a king's life with a moment that is unheroic but far more important to him emotionally. Good imagery at the end. 4 stars.
I'm not rating the book reviews, TV reviews, etc. I will say, though, that I loved the review of Stranger Things and the article about the Strandbeests as robots.
All in all, ten stories of varying length and one poem.
3.75
4.0
3.75
0.00
3.65
4.00
3.50
0.00
3.50
4.00
4.00
____
34.15
34.15 divided by 11 = 3.1045 = 3.11 stars.
"Homecoming" by Rachel Pollack
Fourth story in a series. The preceding stories, which I have not read, are "Jack Shade in the Forest of Souls" (July/August 2012); "The Queen of Eyes" (September/October 2013) and "Johnny Rev" (July/August 2015). The series is about Jack Shade, a noir-ish private investigator, occultist and shaman. In this story--well, novella--he tries to help an ordinary suburban woman get part of her soul back. Things go disastrously wrong very quickly.
The writing and the plotting was good, and I was intrigued by many of the minor characters. I would have happily read stories about them. The main stumbling block was the lead, who was pretty much like every other snarky paranormal sleuth. The fact that he got people killed through his failure to do his job--i.e., INVESTIGATE before he did anything--was an additional turn-off. Lives could have been saved if Jack Shade had just done some investigative work at the start instead of assuming that Carol was harmless.. It's a "rabbits in Australia" story; just because something seems cute and fluffy, that doesn't mean that it can't destroy you. Jack, despite his supposed experience, didn't recognize this. And it got a town full of innocent people slaughtered. By the end of the story, I was in favor of binding his powers for good and kicking him into Limbo with his daughter.
I would like to read more about this world, which rates 4.5 stars, but I'm less interested in reading more about Jack Shade, who rates 3.0. That averages out to 3.75 stars.
***
"Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Fourteen-year-old non-mage Sam gets turned into a rat by twelve-year-old wizard Maura. Sam loves being able hear, smell and taste things as a rat does, but is less than enthused about being a rat permanently. Problem: Maura doesn't know how to reverse the spell.
Interesting. Hoffman captured the voice of a frustrated adolescent with a bratty younger sister very well. Also interesting--there are permanent physical consequences to being transformed. The main thing that threw me was the revelation, about halfway through, that Sam was Maura's brother, not her sister. I'd been reading "Sam" as short for Samantha until that point, so that was a bit of a jolt. I would read more in this world. 4.0 stars.
***
"One Way" by Rick Norwood
Physics professor Harvey Gold and young genius inventor Dr. Jerry Morgan develop a way of harvesting cheap energy that inadvertently almost eats the entire world. Reminiscent of the "goofy scientist" stories that Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine used to publish in the 1980s. They were almost always about male scientists not thinking things through, too.
The main flaw was that Deloris Lake, Jerry's girlfriend, was treated contemptuously by Gold even before she said anything. His mental comment that "Lor is an English major" meant she didn't know any science likewise relied on a stereotype rather than any facts. I really didn't think that misogyny added anything to the story. Also, she was completely incidental to the plot. She could have been replaced by a hamster that Gold spouted exposition at and made just as much difference.
If not for these factors, I'd rate this story higher, as it was genuinely compelling and, at times, funny. 3.75 stars.
***
"Dunnage for the Soul" by Robert Reed
Hated it. Absolutely hated it. I wanted very badly for the smarmy soul killer to be killed by the end of the story, because if there is anything that the world does NOT need, it's someone who blots out something unique and possibly good in others instead of trying create it in himself. And he didn't find out that creating/growing a soul was impossible. All he knew was that one scientist said it wasn't. So duh, prove her wrong! Or prove that people without souls don't lack the full range of emotion or ethics! Or become an activist on behalf of your soulless brethren! But no. He just decided to erase souls out of spite.
I honestly felt slimy after I read that story. Zero stars.
***
"There Used to be Olive Trees" by Rich Larson
A typical post-apocalypse story where humanity has degenerated into primitive tribes that no longer understand science or engineering and where machines rule the world. I was distracted by one question--why would humans build sentient machines to cull humans? Didn't this world have any movies or books about machines taking over? Maybe it wasn't a plothole, but I kept tripping over it. Bonus points for containing a male lead who was gay, though. 3.65 stars.
***
"The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi
Good, though I expected it to go in a very different direction and I found the ending sad. That may just be my reading of the story, though. I really liked the story's lead, Titilope Ajimobi, being old (116 years old!), female and, judging by the names in the story, Nigerian rather than (as characters so often are) American or European. I also liked the fact that Titilope's mother, Olusola Ajimobi, was such a genius that a company was trying desperately to preserve her mind in an AI long after her death. 4 stars.
***
"A Gathering on Gravity's Shore" by Gregor Hartmann
Another sequel, this one the third in a series. The previous stories about Franden, which I have not read, were "The Man From X" ( January/February 2015) and "Into the Fiery Planet" (July/August 2015).
Possibly because I didn't know anything about Franden that had already been established, I didn't really identify with him. He seemed weirdly surprised that people of a different social class didn't want to hang out with him. "Haven't you ever attended high school?" was the thought that kept running through my mind. And while he tromped a symbol of revolution into the ground in the end, I didn't get the feeling that he supported the revolution as much as he wanted the approval of his marine biologist acquaintance. Not a bad story, but I don't think that I benefited from entering the canon in the middle of things. 3.5 stars.
***
"On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies" by Debbie Urbanski
This is a story about autistic children--the non-allistic-performing kind. Except...you know how the stories of changelings are now thought to have been about autistic children all along?
This story is written as a series of case studies by doctors and social workers who deal with the trauma of parents whose REAL children have been “replaced.” That’s what the changelings are called in this. “Replacement children.” “Replacements.” Or, occasionally, “fake children.”
Aside from the autistic kids (I’m NOT calling them replacements or fakes!) all having having silver hair--which, after all, there could be a gene for--there is no sign that they are, as their parents, doctors, and social workers believe, fae. There is also nothing in the text to indicate that anyone is truly stealing children; children (especially boys, in-universe) change, seemingly between one day and the next, and the fae are blamed.
Hypotheses pop up about where the real children might be. Some think that they are imprisoned within their own bodies--possibly within one of their organs (don’t ask me). Others think that the real children are being held somewhere in a cellar or a shed, suffering terribly. Still others hope that the real children are ruling over a magical land filled with fairies and elves.
No one suggests that the real children have been right in front of their parents all along--or that just because the parents didn’t get the neurotypical children they expected and wanted, that doesn’t make the autistic kids that they do have any less real.
But wait. It gets worse.
See, almost no parents in this story want the fantasy-version autistic kids. They dump them--at hospitals, at “boarding schools” from which the kids never return home, even in the middle of fields of weeds (which is seen as a good way of getting the nonexistent neurotypical child back). All this is presented as being rather sad and certainly difficult for the parents, but it’s not really healthy to focus on such children. Parents are advised to have other children and forget about the autistic ones...who won’t even miss their parents. They don’t display affection in conventional ways, so that must mean that these children feel nothing...right?
Even that isn’t the worst. No, the worst are the ways that parents and grandparents use to try to banish the autistic child in the hopes that this will result in their real child being brought back from the lands of Faerie. You’ve probably heard about these methods in folklore. Some, like boiling water in eggshells, are silly but harmless. Others, like beating the child with a branch from a birch tree, putting the child on a chopping block for firewood, putting the child on a hot stove, feeding the autistic kid poisonous “medicine”, leaving the child tethered all night to a stake next to a well, pretending to throw the child in the oven, actually throwing the child in a fast river, and starving the child, are traumatizing and potentially lethal.
But again, the narrators do not criticize such actions. The most they say is accepting the child is an alternative, but it is clear that they don’t expect parents to avoid such things. Even when discussing children who have died as a result of such treatment, no one says anything about how horrible it would be to be murdered by your parents or caregivers simply because you weren’t the person that they wanted you to be. No one mentions arrest or charges of child abuse. There is not even a flicker of disapproval.
At the end, the story focuses on a family that decides to accept their autistic kid...though the narrative continues to emphasize, of course, that this is only a “replacement child” and that the parents are being quite unusual in treating such a child like they matter. Naturally, this family is a privileged one (they can rent a summer cabin by a lake, they know how to sail, etc.). They take their son out for a sail on the lake. The boy lies on the deck for most of the trip, only falling out of the boat once. When he does not want to leave the boat, his mother, despite really wanting ice cream (yes, this is emphasized), suggests that they just sail back because he enjoys sailing so much. As they sail back, the reader is told that the clouds seemed to form ridiculous and beautiful animals that could never be.
I think that we’re supposed to take this as a sign of fae approval of their parenting. Assuming that these children are indeed intended to be fae, then I am at a loss to understand exactly why those who abandoned, hurt or killed these children never merited any fae disapproval.
There is no resolution to the story. The parents and professionals never learn that there are ways of communicating with these children, or that the kids react as they do for physical and psychological reasons. No one ever so much as mildly reprimands the parents for treating their children like animals or aliens. Indeed, there is a general undertone of sympathy for the parents, while there seems to be none for the kids.
Most disturbing to me is the fact that the children are not granted identities, though the parents usually are. At best, they have initials. Amber and Clark Y. are the first parents we meet. They have a son with no name. Tina Q. has a son with no name. One mother (unnamed) has a son named Timothy; the alleged replacement, however, is not called Timothy but P. Another replacement (one who sounds as if he would enjoy conlangs) is merely designated Q. Terri O. has an autistic child whom she takes to the park, but we learn neither the name nor the age nor the sex of the child. Susan K.’s child likes bland foods, and that’s all we learn about him. Leslie X. has a child who cries on being held, but we learn nothing about why he cries or who he is. And so on.
A pattern emerges: the parents all have names that I could find in any predominantly white suburb, without a Tanisha J. or Ximena R. among them. And the autistic children are all vaguely interchangeable, nameless boys. One gets a line of gibberish; the others are not given lines at all. The audience is not privy to their words or thoughts. In their world, they are voiceless. Indeed, the story itself acknowledges this:
What do the replacement children themselves think about all this?
We would guess some replacements wish to return where they came from; some may wish to stay where they are; and some must wish we not tell their story for them or, at least, that we tell a different type of story. (Emphasis mine)
I would rather hear the children’s story. I imagine that raising a severely autistic child must be extremely difficult--but can it really be harder than being that child and knowing that your parents are willing to hurt you, even kill you, because you are not what they want? Is life valueless unless it fits a particular pattern? Is a future in which there are more and better coping techniques for autism and where autistic people are seen as human beings rather than others from an alien world so unimaginable?
You can’t build a better future if all you can envision is a world that’s identical to now.
So, for all of the above reasons, zero stars.
***
"Alexandria" by Monica Byrne
Beth Miyake, a widow, decides to build a replica of the Lighthouse of Alexandria on her Kansas farm, eventually selling all of her land and losing her house to build it. (Beth and her late husband, Keiji, had wanted to see the original on their honeymoon, but it had been torn down long ago.) And apparently the replica lighthouse gets excavated seven hundred years in the future when Kansas is a seacoast. Confusing, but okay. 3.5 stars.
***
"Wetherfell's Reef Runics" by Marc Laidlaw
A man dies while chained to an underwater reef. A haole bookstore owner, after receiving a new load of books and talking to a part-Hawaiian former friend who had been acting as the man's guide, discovers why. A pretty good mystery, though I'm sorry that the lead wasn't a Native Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian--and again, the female characters (a waitress and the mother of the former friend) were fairly incidental. All of the characters who did things--the dead man who'd written the book in the story's title, the bookstore owner, the former friend/guide, the argumentative members of forums to which the bookstore owner belongs, even the strange figure that breaks into the bookstore--were described as male. Perhaps there could have been a bit more variety? 4 stars.
***
"Kingship" by Mary Soon Lee
A poem contrasting the heroic-sounding events in a king's life with a moment that is unheroic but far more important to him emotionally. Good imagery at the end. 4 stars.
I'm not rating the book reviews, TV reviews, etc. I will say, though, that I loved the review of Stranger Things and the article about the Strandbeests as robots.
All in all, ten stories of varying length and one poem.
3.75
4.0
3.75
0.00
3.65
4.00
3.50
0.00
3.50
4.00
4.00
____
34.15
34.15 divided by 11 = 3.1045 = 3.11 stars.
March 6, 2017
10 short stories + 1 poem and articles - 4.5 stars
Vinegar & Cinnamon by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Very original, very fun! A rat! Magic! Food! and a cat named Slaughter! Sausage, kale, and white bean soup - must try that :D A different type of coming of age story. - 5 stars
The Regression Test by Wole Talabi - Surprising! As is usual for writers from other cultures. Based on memory upon memory, an interesting test. I hope it's used in the future.- 5 stars
A Gathering on Gravity's Shore by Gregor Hartmann - "Ambivalence is boring." Yes, it is. Pick a side and be clear about it. Though this wasn't written for our political times (I think), it still sends a message. Pretty fragile high maintenance beings serving no helpful purpose are useless. - 5 stars
Homecoming by Rachel Pollack - A story of djinn, Old Man of the Forest, and possession. Would love to have all these short stories in a collection! - 5 stars
One Way by Rick Norwood - Great story about responsibility regarding scientific exploration. Ending is too short, odd. Should have been longer, otherwise well thought out. - 4 stars
One the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies by Debbie Urbanski -Very sad. Made me wonder about the author's emotional health. It certainly needed the intro paragraph! However, it was an interesting "brochure", giving no help at all to the parents needing to cope in an impossible situation. A modern re-telling of the fairy changeling legends. [Extensive use of the Single They pronoun "Epicene"- Gender pronouns in this story are mixed, improper, "child" and "children" are neutral and should have "it" used as a pronoun.] - 3 stars
Dunnage for the Soul by Robert Reed - Another Changeling story! There's a machine to measure the existence of a should within a body.. surprisingly, MANY things have souls: humans, dogs, cats, many animals, even trees. However, 6% of human (and probably all beings) are empty, dunnage, useless because they don't have a soul. Animals are killed, then incinerated. Humans are shunned, given the heartless jobs, like killing "empty" animals. This story is hard to read! A story of social discrimination, and revenge against it. - 5 stars
Kingship - a poem by Mary Soon Lee -What makes a King a good one. Simple yet punches. - 4 stars
Alexandria by Monica Byrne - A lovely testament to a quiet, deep, private love - between persons and over centuries and of a certain piece of long gone ancient architecture. - 5 stars
Wetherfell's Reef Runics by Marc Laidlaw - A Hawaiian version of a Cthulhu tale, about the value of books. Funny. - 4 stars
There Used to be Olive Trees by Rich Larson - A small act of defiance leads to a larger one of more significance. Very interesting world! I want to read more of it! - 4 stars
Vinegar & Cinnamon by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Very original, very fun! A rat! Magic! Food! and a cat named Slaughter! Sausage, kale, and white bean soup - must try that :D A different type of coming of age story. - 5 stars
The Regression Test by Wole Talabi - Surprising! As is usual for writers from other cultures. Based on memory upon memory, an interesting test. I hope it's used in the future.- 5 stars
A Gathering on Gravity's Shore by Gregor Hartmann - "Ambivalence is boring." Yes, it is. Pick a side and be clear about it. Though this wasn't written for our political times (I think), it still sends a message. Pretty fragile high maintenance beings serving no helpful purpose are useless. - 5 stars
Homecoming by Rachel Pollack - A story of djinn, Old Man of the Forest, and possession. Would love to have all these short stories in a collection! - 5 stars
One Way by Rick Norwood - Great story about responsibility regarding scientific exploration. Ending is too short, odd. Should have been longer, otherwise well thought out. - 4 stars
One the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies by Debbie Urbanski -Very sad. Made me wonder about the author's emotional health. It certainly needed the intro paragraph! However, it was an interesting "brochure", giving no help at all to the parents needing to cope in an impossible situation. A modern re-telling of the fairy changeling legends. [Extensive use of the Single They pronoun "Epicene"- Gender pronouns in this story are mixed, improper, "child" and "children" are neutral and should have "it" used as a pronoun.] - 3 stars
Dunnage for the Soul by Robert Reed - Another Changeling story! There's a machine to measure the existence of a should within a body.. surprisingly, MANY things have souls: humans, dogs, cats, many animals, even trees. However, 6% of human (and probably all beings) are empty, dunnage, useless because they don't have a soul. Animals are killed, then incinerated. Humans are shunned, given the heartless jobs, like killing "empty" animals. This story is hard to read! A story of social discrimination, and revenge against it. - 5 stars
Kingship - a poem by Mary Soon Lee -What makes a King a good one. Simple yet punches. - 4 stars
Alexandria by Monica Byrne - A lovely testament to a quiet, deep, private love - between persons and over centuries and of a certain piece of long gone ancient architecture. - 5 stars
Wetherfell's Reef Runics by Marc Laidlaw - A Hawaiian version of a Cthulhu tale, about the value of books. Funny. - 4 stars
There Used to be Olive Trees by Rich Larson - A small act of defiance leads to a larger one of more significance. Very interesting world! I want to read more of it! - 4 stars
September 11, 2017
Homecoming by Rachel Pollack - I've enjoyed the two Jack Shade stories I've read (this and "Johnny Rev" from F&SF Jul/Aug 2015) so I'm happy to see that a collection called The Fissure King will soon be released. It will have the four previously published stories and a new one.
Vinegar and Cinnamon by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - What happens when a teenage boy gets turned into a rat by his wizard sister. This was really sweet! Loved the family interaction (including Slaughter the cat!) and the vivid description of the rat point-of-view.
One Way by Rick Norwood - Interesting exploration of an idea, but the characters were flat and the ending was too abrupt.
Dunnage for the Soul by Robert Reed - Found it hard to believe anyone would give up on themselves or their supposedly soulless loved ones (including dogs!) so easily.
There Used to Be Olive Trees by Rich Larson - Intriguing story of a world where machines seem to have taken over and are seen as gods. However, this feels like only the first chapter of something longer.
The Regression Test by Wole Talabi - Interesting premise musing on how much someone can change and still be essentially the same person. Found the grandson a little cartoonishly evil.
A Gathering on Gravity's Shore by Gregor Hartmann - The third of four stories about Franden, this feels like a teaser. You get a glimpse of the past, a hint of the future, but not a lot happens in this segment itself.
On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies by Debbie Urbanski - A sad and discomforting look at the darkest thoughts of parents and society in general towards children who fall outside of normal expectations. The non-fictional style combining Q&A pamphlet and case study reports seemed disorganized and choppy.
Alexandria by Monica Byrne - Moving love story about a widow building a replica of the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Kansas as a monument for her late husband. Only SFnal aspect is that we see brief quotes through the story showing what becomes of it over the centuries.
Wetherfell's Reef Runics by Marc Laidlaw - Mystery with a fantastical solution. Charm of the story comes from the setting on a fictional Hawaiian island and the protagonist being the manager of a used bookstore.
Vinegar and Cinnamon by Nina Kiriki Hoffman - What happens when a teenage boy gets turned into a rat by his wizard sister. This was really sweet! Loved the family interaction (including Slaughter the cat!) and the vivid description of the rat point-of-view.
One Way by Rick Norwood - Interesting exploration of an idea, but the characters were flat and the ending was too abrupt.
Dunnage for the Soul by Robert Reed - Found it hard to believe anyone would give up on themselves or their supposedly soulless loved ones (including dogs!) so easily.
There Used to Be Olive Trees by Rich Larson - Intriguing story of a world where machines seem to have taken over and are seen as gods. However, this feels like only the first chapter of something longer.
The Regression Test by Wole Talabi - Interesting premise musing on how much someone can change and still be essentially the same person. Found the grandson a little cartoonishly evil.
A Gathering on Gravity's Shore by Gregor Hartmann - The third of four stories about Franden, this feels like a teaser. You get a glimpse of the past, a hint of the future, but not a lot happens in this segment itself.
On the Problem of Replacement Children: Prevention, Coping, and Other Practical Strategies by Debbie Urbanski - A sad and discomforting look at the darkest thoughts of parents and society in general towards children who fall outside of normal expectations. The non-fictional style combining Q&A pamphlet and case study reports seemed disorganized and choppy.
Alexandria by Monica Byrne - Moving love story about a widow building a replica of the Lighthouse of Alexandria in Kansas as a monument for her late husband. Only SFnal aspect is that we see brief quotes through the story showing what becomes of it over the centuries.
Wetherfell's Reef Runics by Marc Laidlaw - Mystery with a fantastical solution. Charm of the story comes from the setting on a fictional Hawaiian island and the protagonist being the manager of a used bookstore.
February 7, 2017
I almost gave this issue 4 stars just because of the story "Alexandria". There is a mix of a couple of very good stories but then a couple that felt like a total waste of time.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Vinegar and Cinnamon - 4 stars
- A nice little story of youthful magicians and how much fun it might be to live as a rat for a day or so.
Wole Talabi - The Regression Test - 4 stars
- A variation on a Turing test verifying whether a human intelligence has been properly reborn in a computer.
Gregor Hartmann - A Gathering On Gravity's Shore - 3 stars
- A social gathering in the far future where the attendees can use their portable scanners to identify who the other people are, where they work, what their social class is and what groups they are a part of. It doesn't identify whether the devices are running Windows, Android or IOS, though.
Rachel Pollack - Homecoming - 2 stars
- An anti-hero walking through shadow worlds to restore the full life? (soul?) to a person who turns out to be something totally different.
Rick Norwood - One Way - 3 stars
- A fantastic invention can save the world and destroy the world at the same time.
Debbie Urbanski - On the Problem of Replacement Children - 1 star
- Demons from other dimensions swapping their children for yours in the dead of night. I'm sorry, it just didn't work.
Robert Reed - Dunnage For the Soul - 2 stars
- A device can detect an extra flicker of activity in your brain which survives for a short while after your death. But some people don't appear to have this signature, so they become social rejects.
Monica Byrne - Alexandria - 4 stars
- This one is worth the price of the book. A woman has had a long, good life with her husband. When he dies, she finally decides to build a replica of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria in the center of Kansas as a monument. It's well written and very thoughtful.
Marc Laidlaw - Wetherfell's Reef Runics - 3 stars
- Ancient runes and magic in Hawaii.
Rich Larson - There Used to Be Olive Trees - 3 stars
- A post-apocalypse story of personal accomplishment.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Vinegar and Cinnamon - 4 stars
- A nice little story of youthful magicians and how much fun it might be to live as a rat for a day or so.
Wole Talabi - The Regression Test - 4 stars
- A variation on a Turing test verifying whether a human intelligence has been properly reborn in a computer.
Gregor Hartmann - A Gathering On Gravity's Shore - 3 stars
- A social gathering in the far future where the attendees can use their portable scanners to identify who the other people are, where they work, what their social class is and what groups they are a part of. It doesn't identify whether the devices are running Windows, Android or IOS, though.
Rachel Pollack - Homecoming - 2 stars
- An anti-hero walking through shadow worlds to restore the full life? (soul?) to a person who turns out to be something totally different.
Rick Norwood - One Way - 3 stars
- A fantastic invention can save the world and destroy the world at the same time.
Debbie Urbanski - On the Problem of Replacement Children - 1 star
- Demons from other dimensions swapping their children for yours in the dead of night. I'm sorry, it just didn't work.
Robert Reed - Dunnage For the Soul - 2 stars
- A device can detect an extra flicker of activity in your brain which survives for a short while after your death. But some people don't appear to have this signature, so they become social rejects.
Monica Byrne - Alexandria - 4 stars
- This one is worth the price of the book. A woman has had a long, good life with her husband. When he dies, she finally decides to build a replica of the ancient lighthouse of Alexandria in the center of Kansas as a monument. It's well written and very thoughtful.
Marc Laidlaw - Wetherfell's Reef Runics - 3 stars
- Ancient runes and magic in Hawaii.
Rich Larson - There Used to Be Olive Trees - 3 stars
- A post-apocalypse story of personal accomplishment.
February 7, 2017
I thought this a very strong issue. I especially liked the Nina Kiriki Hoffman story, Vinegar and Cinnamon, about a girl magic user who accidently turns her brother into a rat. He discovers that although he couldn't access magic when he was human, as a rat he has the power to turn anything into food. "The Regression Test" was clever, about a woman checking to see if the AI which is replicating her mother's thought patterns has not diverged from the original. There's a nice twist. "A Gathering on Gravity's Shore" is a little too close to Occupy Wall Street and the main character lacks personality. Homecoming is a supernatural story as Jack Slade is tricked into freeing a murderous entity and must gather support to take it down. It's fun but it relies on the main character being very dumb and ignoring repeated warnings. "One Way" is a nice riff on an Analog-style scientific puzzle story until three-fourths of the way when it goes off the rails by having the brilliant scientist do something really dumb. "On the Problem of Replacement Children" is not a story. There's no plot or characters. Instead it's presented as a scientific Q and A, with case studies, on the problem of having changeling children in the present day. "Dunnage for the Soul" is a very thought provoking story about what happens if there's scientific evidence that some people have souls (okay, energy field that dissipates shortly after death) and others don't. Alexandria is barely sf, about a woman who sells her farm to build a replicate of the lost lighthouse of Alexandria. And "Whetherfell's Reef Runics" is a nice mystery that only turns genre at the very end.
I don't think there's anything here I'd nominate for the hugo (well maybe the Reed story) but there's no clunkers either.
I don't think there's anything here I'd nominate for the hugo (well maybe the Reed story) but there's no clunkers either.
Read
May 25, 2017Updating as I go:
“Homecoming” by Rachel Pollack; 2.5/5 stars
My feelings on this are very mixed - on the one hand it had some really interesting parts, but on the other hand I have to confess that it felt like one of the concluding chapters to a greater novel. I found myself a bit lost on the who's who's and the what's what's. Not bad, overall, but I probably would have liked it a lot more had it been a novel.
"Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffmar; 4/5 stars
Quite, quite awesome. Story focuses on Sam (who I thought was female for the first half of the story) and his little sister Maura. Ultimately, I'm in love with the world built here, but as with many of the things I've read from Nina Kiriki Hoffmar i feel like the work as a whole is unfinished, or would have worked better as a larger work i.e. novel form. Also really liked the descriptive language used throughout - how magic and sensory perception were detailed = wonderful.
"One Way" by Rick Norwood; 1/5 stars
I'm not going to lie, I did not like this one. The story or characters never gripped me, and I had a hard time keeping track of what was going on.
“Homecoming” by Rachel Pollack; 2.5/5 stars
My feelings on this are very mixed - on the one hand it had some really interesting parts, but on the other hand I have to confess that it felt like one of the concluding chapters to a greater novel. I found myself a bit lost on the who's who's and the what's what's. Not bad, overall, but I probably would have liked it a lot more had it been a novel.
"Vinegar and Cinnamon" by Nina Kiriki Hoffmar; 4/5 stars
Quite, quite awesome. Story focuses on Sam (who I thought was female for the first half of the story) and his little sister Maura. Ultimately, I'm in love with the world built here, but as with many of the things I've read from Nina Kiriki Hoffmar i feel like the work as a whole is unfinished, or would have worked better as a larger work i.e. novel form. Also really liked the descriptive language used throughout - how magic and sensory perception were detailed = wonderful.
"One Way" by Rick Norwood; 1/5 stars
I'm not going to lie, I did not like this one. The story or characters never gripped me, and I had a hard time keeping track of what was going on.
January 7, 2017
Not as exciting as the last couple of issues; still, I do recommend subscribing to the MoF&SF for the overall high quality of the stories!
My favourite was the wonderful short story by African writer Wole Talabi, but I'm glad I read it on my Kindle (words like 'furfuraceous' and 'ensorcell' are not in my personal vocabulary ...)
I also enjoyed Monica Byrne's story about a lighthouse in Kansas. Rick Norwood's story about a one way-sphere was great, but the rushed ending was a major disappointment.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Robert Reed are always worth reading, but for their high standard both novelettes were rather average than exciting.
My favourite was the wonderful short story by African writer Wole Talabi, but I'm glad I read it on my Kindle (words like 'furfuraceous' and 'ensorcell' are not in my personal vocabulary ...)
I also enjoyed Monica Byrne's story about a lighthouse in Kansas. Rick Norwood's story about a one way-sphere was great, but the rushed ending was a major disappointment.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman and Robert Reed are always worth reading, but for their high standard both novelettes were rather average than exciting.
February 15, 2017
I have started getting this series as an eread through Weightless.com one of the few places I've seen it offered.
Here's a new novella from Rachel Pollack called Homecoming, about her private investigator Jack Shade, occultist and shaman.
And I liked Rick Norwood's One Way which starts as a paper being presented at a conference that is totally ignored, and then the concept takes over the world.
And Debbie Urbanski's Onthe Problem of Replacement Children, Coping and other Practical Strategies, where she took the concept of autism and old myths, and created something quite different.
Other good stories, too. Check them out.
Here's a new novella from Rachel Pollack called Homecoming, about her private investigator Jack Shade, occultist and shaman.
And I liked Rick Norwood's One Way which starts as a paper being presented at a conference that is totally ignored, and then the concept takes over the world.
And Debbie Urbanski's Onthe Problem of Replacement Children, Coping and other Practical Strategies, where she took the concept of autism and old myths, and created something quite different.
Other good stories, too. Check them out.
June 14, 2017
As always, I like the Jack Shade stories. In this edition, it is Homecoming.
The story that hit me the most was On the Problem of Replacement Children... I shuddered when I read the therapy options knowing that some of them were real in the past. The story also hit home as I have often drawn a line between the her then and her now. I guess I felt my DD was "replaced" at the age of 5. My beautiful, smiling, laughing, outgoing girl turned into a sullen teenager-ish persona as more and more ASD symptoms became apparent.
The story that hit me the most was On the Problem of Replacement Children... I shuddered when I read the therapy options knowing that some of them were real in the past. The story also hit home as I have often drawn a line between the her then and her now. I guess I felt my DD was "replaced" at the age of 5. My beautiful, smiling, laughing, outgoing girl turned into a sullen teenager-ish persona as more and more ASD symptoms became apparent.
February 26, 2017
Probably my favorite since I subscribed last summer. Not really a bad story among them. Homecoming I didn't like at the beginning but by the end I was enjoying it.
Dunnage For the Soul, There Used to be Olive Trees, Alexandria and Wetherfell's Reef Runics were my favorite of the bunch, but like I said, there really wasn't a single one I didn't like.
Dunnage For the Soul, There Used to be Olive Trees, Alexandria and Wetherfell's Reef Runics were my favorite of the bunch, but like I said, there really wasn't a single one I didn't like.
February 23, 2017
3.5/5.0
November 20, 2023
I am rating this for "The Regression Test" by Wole Talabi that I read via the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. This short story was a slow read for me. While "The Regression Test" was well written the story was very slow. The author has a background in science and computers and I think to really enjoy this story you would have to have to have a similar academic background to the author. While the story's commentary on A.I. was interesting through the discussion of creating A.I versions of scientists after they have died was fascinating, I felt the story was a bit repetitive and poorly paced at points as the story really seemed to drag at several points. While the author's writing was good, at times the writing leaned heavily into jargon that was specific to his field of expertise which I took the time to look up and understand but it really took me out of the story. The story had an appropriately dark ending for the cautionary tale of the potential of A.I becoming corrupt and threatening but I could have done without the pronounced thread of familial betrayal throughout the entire story. I also had an issue with this story that a male author chose to have a female main character in the story that ends up being abused and exploited by her own son in law and ends up predictably powerless against the torture, abuse and mental manipulation that the men end up subjecting her to. She tries to subvert it through deeply focused thought similar to a meditative trance but it is ambiguous as to if her attempts are successful. While I am open to reading additional works by Talabi, they probably won't be very high on my TBR priorities. While I enjoy science fiction stories, the regression test wasn't in my favorite subgenre of science fiction stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2020
This is the second of these magazines that I have read and found the collection in this one much better than the previous one, #727.
As I noted when rating the #727, rather than review the individual stories as is my wont when going through a collection, I intend to rate it as a whole.
Inside, I found several enjoyable short stories, many I would rate at 4 stars or better. So why the 3 star review?
Because the people who put these magazines together have a different opinion than I do as to what constitutes fantasy and science fiction.
The centerpiece of this collection is a novella called Homecoming. In truth, it was quite good, very compelling, and it also was without a doubt 100% a supernatural tale. No science fiction. No fantasy. At least, not in my mind.
I do not consider supernatural stories as either fantasy or science fiction. They fall into the horror, ghost story genre, plain and simple. If I want to read a ghost story, I'll buy a magazine that features ghost stories.
So if this magazine was not limited to fantasy and science fiction (as in the title) then, by all means, 4 stars, maybe 4.5 as a rating. But for a hard-core lover of the two genres espoused on the cover, I do not want to be waylaid by tales outside of my chosen favorites.
As I noted when rating the #727, rather than review the individual stories as is my wont when going through a collection, I intend to rate it as a whole.
Inside, I found several enjoyable short stories, many I would rate at 4 stars or better. So why the 3 star review?
Because the people who put these magazines together have a different opinion than I do as to what constitutes fantasy and science fiction.
The centerpiece of this collection is a novella called Homecoming. In truth, it was quite good, very compelling, and it also was without a doubt 100% a supernatural tale. No science fiction. No fantasy. At least, not in my mind.
I do not consider supernatural stories as either fantasy or science fiction. They fall into the horror, ghost story genre, plain and simple. If I want to read a ghost story, I'll buy a magazine that features ghost stories.
So if this magazine was not limited to fantasy and science fiction (as in the title) then, by all means, 4 stars, maybe 4.5 as a rating. But for a hard-core lover of the two genres espoused on the cover, I do not want to be waylaid by tales outside of my chosen favorites.
August 1, 2018
This is a particularly good edition. No filler, though the novella, Homecoming, might have been sharper as a novelet, or more fully satisfying with a fuller conclusion as a full-blown novel.
The other stories are all engaging and feel fully realised. There's speculative science in One Way, philosophy on our own humanity in Dunnage for the Soul and On the Problem of Replacement Children [...], intelligent, emotional fantasy in There Used to be Olive Trees and Vinegar and Cinnamon and humour in Wetherfell's Reef Runics. Alexandria is a good, solid short story which could have appeared in any literary magazine, I'm just not sure how it counts as either Fantasy or Science Fiction.
The other stories are all engaging and feel fully realised. There's speculative science in One Way, philosophy on our own humanity in Dunnage for the Soul and On the Problem of Replacement Children [...], intelligent, emotional fantasy in There Used to be Olive Trees and Vinegar and Cinnamon and humour in Wetherfell's Reef Runics. Alexandria is a good, solid short story which could have appeared in any literary magazine, I'm just not sure how it counts as either Fantasy or Science Fiction.
August 23, 2020
I liked “Homecoming” by Rachel Pollack
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