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Phantaxis 6
ISSUE 6 (August 2017)
Superbly crafted tales of science fiction and fantasy from around the world. Previously unpublished stories that will take you to new realms, experience mystic sorcery, meet strange creatures, travel through time and visit distant galaxies! Turn the pages and let your journey begin today.
In this issue:
FOR HANNAH—Mark Bilsborough
PLAYMATES—Arlen Feldman
EVENS AND ODDS—Vanessa Kittle
THE SHIP OF THESEUS—Philip Brian Hall
AN INFERNAL MALADY—Michael Haynes
THE HOME SECRETARY IS SAFE—C.R. Berry
DAUGHTER OF THE WESTERN WINDS—Jenni Wood
THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Matencera Wolf
F-BOMBS—Allen Kuzara
URGENT CARE—Dale T. Phillips
A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR—Russ Watrous & Mike McHone
Superbly crafted tales of science fiction and fantasy from around the world. Previously unpublished stories that will take you to new realms, experience mystic sorcery, meet strange creatures, travel through time and visit distant galaxies! Turn the pages and let your journey begin today.
In this issue:
FOR HANNAH—Mark Bilsborough
PLAYMATES—Arlen Feldman
EVENS AND ODDS—Vanessa Kittle
THE SHIP OF THESEUS—Philip Brian Hall
AN INFERNAL MALADY—Michael Haynes
THE HOME SECRETARY IS SAFE—C.R. Berry
DAUGHTER OF THE WESTERN WINDS—Jenni Wood
THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE—Matencera Wolf
F-BOMBS—Allen Kuzara
URGENT CARE—Dale T. Phillips
A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR—Russ Watrous & Mike McHone
169 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 6, 2017
21 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 4, 2019
This review is for the short story listed below with the author. The story was originally included in an anthology in the above magazine.
F-BOMBS—Allen Kuzara
As the world changes, both the laws and personal rights will change, sometimes to the point where they become unrecognizable.
This was an entertaining read that I downloaded via a giveaway from Bookfunnel. A look at the future through the eyes of a divorced Dad having access time with his daughter and having to explain the dangers of breaking rules. A surprising and very thought provoking ending!
F-BOMBS—Allen Kuzara
As the world changes, both the laws and personal rights will change, sometimes to the point where they become unrecognizable.
This was an entertaining read that I downloaded via a giveaway from Bookfunnel. A look at the future through the eyes of a divorced Dad having access time with his daughter and having to explain the dangers of breaking rules. A surprising and very thought provoking ending!
January 2, 2018
This is an awesome collection!
I enjoyed each of these stories and the fun bits put in between. All of these stories were 5 stars! My favorite was Playthings.
I enjoyed each of these stories and the fun bits put in between. All of these stories were 5 stars! My favorite was Playthings.
September 20, 2017
Good Stuff
Simple sci-do fantasy fun. Some that stood out, some that didn't but nothing BAD, ya know? It was entertaining and gave me ideas.
Simple sci-do fantasy fun. Some that stood out, some that didn't but nothing BAD, ya know? It was entertaining and gave me ideas.
June 18, 2021
Very good work
Many thanks to the authors. Mostly excellent stories with a very few that didn't make sense to me. Other people may like all.Recommend
Many thanks to the authors. Mostly excellent stories with a very few that didn't make sense to me. Other people may like all.Recommend
June 22, 2020
I’m a bit late with this review of the August 2017 ‘Phantaxis Quarterly’ because I got bogged down in other reading, for which I’m sorry. Anyway, it was as good as I expected with stories covering a wide range of Science Fiction and fantasy themes.
For a wonder, there’s more Science Fiction than fantasy! The first story, ‘For Hannah’ by Mark Bilsborough, is about a voyage to the stars. Very wealthy Jim has booked very expensive passage on a starship to go to his true love. He’s forked out for a VR version of her to keep him company on the voyage. Jim is a genius with no social skills, so Hannah is his best bet for happiness. The story had many short scenes in order to cover its long time span, which made it a trifle bitty to read but the sentiments were realistic.
‘Playmates’ by Arlen Feldman is a clever riff on that old Ray Bradbury story where the family goes into a futuristic playroom and gets eaten by a lion. ‘Evens And Odds’ by Vanessa Kittle tackles the theme of created life and its rights and gives the hero a real dilemma. Another good one.
Continuing with solid Science Fiction, we get a number of dystopian futures. ‘The Ship Of Theseus’ by Philip Brian Hall has policeman Bosola investigating a pro-death cult. Usually, no one would care but a Senator’s daughter may have joined. Hall uses a hard-boiled detective narrative to explore a future where everyone has long lives and it works.
That future is not at all bad compared to ‘The Wheel Of Fortune’ by Matencera Wolf, where people are divided into Firsts, Seconds and Thirds in a strict hierarchy. It’s positively delightful if measured against ‘Urgent Care’ by Dale T. Phillips, where doctors demand cash on the nail before they’ll treat you and you have to bribe the security guard just to get into the hospital. Allen Kuzara’s ‘F-Bombs’ has a milder dystopia but it’s subtly conveyed by the conversations between a divorced father and his every-other-weekend daughter.
None of these stories raises any truly original Science Fiction themes but they do prove that there are a zillion good yarns to be made by shining a light from a different angle on the old ones, keeping the genre fresh. Romance books have been tackling the one theme for a couple of centuries now and they’re still going strong.
All the above provided fine entertainment but my favourite SF yarn came from fellow Brit C.R. Berry with ‘The Home Secretary Is Safe’. Hapless Cody Evans gets caught in a time loop on a train. This was beautifully handled and worked all the better because it had no complete explanation at the end. There was a conclusion, though, without which a story is not a story, just some words in a row.
To the fantasy, then. ‘A Guy Walks Into A Bar’ by Russ Watrous and Mike McHone is a sword and sorcery spoof delivered by two chaps chatting in a pub. One is a dwarf. The fine fantasy vocabulary helped put the joke across. Good fun but the centrepiece of this issue is ‘Daughter Of The Western Winds’ a novelette by Jenni Wood in which three half-breeds are sent to defend a city full of ungrateful humans from a howling horde of Oni, magical, troll-like creatures that sometimes rape human women. The offspring that survive, like our heroine, are sent off to a temple where they are trained to fight and defend humanity. The first two pages are a lesson for less gifted writers in how to give physical descriptions of the three main characters without stopping the narrative and from there it gets better. A really excellent fantasy story that deserves book publication.
When I first read ‘Phantaxis’, I was amazed at such quality in a magazine paying semi-professional rates. Reading it again, I’m no longer surprised but I’m still delighted. It could stand unashamed on the racks next to any of the venerable professional publications that are the gold standard of the genre.
Of course, magazines don’t feel shame. They don’t feel anything. They’re just a mix of pulped up trees and ink. A magazine with feelings? What a silly idea! Might make a good story, though. I wonder if those top-shelf magazines feel used and dirty.
Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/
For a wonder, there’s more Science Fiction than fantasy! The first story, ‘For Hannah’ by Mark Bilsborough, is about a voyage to the stars. Very wealthy Jim has booked very expensive passage on a starship to go to his true love. He’s forked out for a VR version of her to keep him company on the voyage. Jim is a genius with no social skills, so Hannah is his best bet for happiness. The story had many short scenes in order to cover its long time span, which made it a trifle bitty to read but the sentiments were realistic.
‘Playmates’ by Arlen Feldman is a clever riff on that old Ray Bradbury story where the family goes into a futuristic playroom and gets eaten by a lion. ‘Evens And Odds’ by Vanessa Kittle tackles the theme of created life and its rights and gives the hero a real dilemma. Another good one.
Continuing with solid Science Fiction, we get a number of dystopian futures. ‘The Ship Of Theseus’ by Philip Brian Hall has policeman Bosola investigating a pro-death cult. Usually, no one would care but a Senator’s daughter may have joined. Hall uses a hard-boiled detective narrative to explore a future where everyone has long lives and it works.
That future is not at all bad compared to ‘The Wheel Of Fortune’ by Matencera Wolf, where people are divided into Firsts, Seconds and Thirds in a strict hierarchy. It’s positively delightful if measured against ‘Urgent Care’ by Dale T. Phillips, where doctors demand cash on the nail before they’ll treat you and you have to bribe the security guard just to get into the hospital. Allen Kuzara’s ‘F-Bombs’ has a milder dystopia but it’s subtly conveyed by the conversations between a divorced father and his every-other-weekend daughter.
None of these stories raises any truly original Science Fiction themes but they do prove that there are a zillion good yarns to be made by shining a light from a different angle on the old ones, keeping the genre fresh. Romance books have been tackling the one theme for a couple of centuries now and they’re still going strong.
All the above provided fine entertainment but my favourite SF yarn came from fellow Brit C.R. Berry with ‘The Home Secretary Is Safe’. Hapless Cody Evans gets caught in a time loop on a train. This was beautifully handled and worked all the better because it had no complete explanation at the end. There was a conclusion, though, without which a story is not a story, just some words in a row.
To the fantasy, then. ‘A Guy Walks Into A Bar’ by Russ Watrous and Mike McHone is a sword and sorcery spoof delivered by two chaps chatting in a pub. One is a dwarf. The fine fantasy vocabulary helped put the joke across. Good fun but the centrepiece of this issue is ‘Daughter Of The Western Winds’ a novelette by Jenni Wood in which three half-breeds are sent to defend a city full of ungrateful humans from a howling horde of Oni, magical, troll-like creatures that sometimes rape human women. The offspring that survive, like our heroine, are sent off to a temple where they are trained to fight and defend humanity. The first two pages are a lesson for less gifted writers in how to give physical descriptions of the three main characters without stopping the narrative and from there it gets better. A really excellent fantasy story that deserves book publication.
When I first read ‘Phantaxis’, I was amazed at such quality in a magazine paying semi-professional rates. Reading it again, I’m no longer surprised but I’m still delighted. It could stand unashamed on the racks next to any of the venerable professional publications that are the gold standard of the genre.
Of course, magazines don’t feel shame. They don’t feel anything. They’re just a mix of pulped up trees and ink. A magazine with feelings? What a silly idea! Might make a good story, though. I wonder if those top-shelf magazines feel used and dirty.
Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews