Interzone 1, Spring 1982

by David Pringle (Editor)

32 pages, Unknown Binding

Published March 1, 1982

Reviews

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Premiere issue of the acclaimed UK SF magazine. M. John Harrison gives us the surreal tale of a woman suffering from an unspecified serious illness being treated by “The New Rays”. These cause nausea and force the spectral blue bodies from the patients. The setting is hard to pinpoint as conscripted soldiers are on the move but decimal currency is used. “The Kitemaster” is troubled by a number of fallen flyers and starts to doubt the accepted cant that they are necessary as Observers of the fey. In Keith Roberts’s otherwordly tale salvation is as near as belief. Angela Carter gives us a glimpse into “The Cabinet Of Edgar Allen Poe” where we discover his hard-drinking had very early roots and reality was, to him, merely legerdemain. When the saucer crashes the alien occupant has amnesia and after a long period of interrogation they decide to put it on the high-rating Jeb Mason Show. Unfortunately they get bumped for a mass murderer in “Guesting” by John Sladek. A dissolute roue takes his young fiancee to “The Brothel In Rosenstrasse” where he embarks upon a threesome with Alexandra and the young prostitute Therese. Amidst the threat of another European war he degrades himself and his partners in a vaguely pornographic fin de siecle of jaded emotions from Michael Moorcock. There is a very New Worlds feel to this issue.