The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction May/June 2018

Baldemar #5 - Argent and Sable

by C.C. Finlay, Gordon van Gelder, Matthew Hughes

NOVELETS
The Barrens – Stephanie Feldman
Inquisitive – Pip Coen
Argent and Sable – Matthew Hughes
Crash Site – Brian Trent
Behold the Child – Albert E. Cowdrey

SHORT STORIES
Tender Loving Plastics – Amman Sabet
The Bicycle Whisperer – Lisa Mason
Unstoppable – Gardner Dozois
What You Pass For – Melanie West
Ku'gbo – Dare Segun Falowo
The Properties of Shadow – Nina Kiriki Hoffman

DEPARTMENTS
Books to Look For – Charles de Lint
Books – James Sallis
Plumage from Pegasus: Live By the Word, Die By the Word – Paul Di Filippo
Science: Asking Questions – Pat Murphy And Paul Doherty
Films: Downsizing To Little Too Late – Kathi Maio
Competition #95 –
Coming Attractions –
Curiosities – Phoenix Alexander

CARTOONS
Kendra Allenby, Kendra Allenby, Kendra Allenby,
Arthur Masear, Nick Downes.

COVER
Alan D. Clark for "The Barrens"

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies

413 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Former 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.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to read the non-fiction contents in "The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction" prior to reading the fiction. This "May/June 2018" issue forced my funds to transfer to the book seller representative due to the inclusion of the James Sallis article and the Matthew Hughes story.

Someday some one will collect these writings of Mr. Sallis into a single collection, as they are most excellent. Sadly Mr. de Lint supplied me no books to look for. The Paul Di Filippo inclusion is always a treat to read.

I'm sad to say that none of the fiction was not outstanding not even the Hughes story, perhaps I am expecting too much. Overall I would rate this collection a bit above average.

Novelettes:

019 - "The Barrens" – Stephanie Feldman
048 - "Inquisitive" – Pip Coen
092 - "Argent and Sable" – Matthew Hughes
150 - "Crash Site" – Brian Trent
222 - "Behold the Child"– Albert E. Cowdrey

Short Stories:

007 -"Tender Loving Plastics" – Amman Sabet
130 - "The Bicycle Whisperer" – Lisa Mason
135 - "Unstoppable" – Gardner Dozois
176 - "What You Pass For" – Melanie West
208 - "Ku'gbo" – Dare Segun Falowo
243 - "The Properties of Shadow" –Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Departments:

071 - Books to Look For – Charles de Lint
081 - Books – James Sallis
088 - Plumage from Pegasus: Live By the Word, Die By the Word – Paul Di Filippo
189 - Science: Asking Questions – Pat Murphy And Paul Doherty
200 - Films: Downsizing To Little Too Late – Kathi Maio
206 - Competition #95

256 - Coming Attractions
258 - Curiosities – Phoenix Alexander

Cartoons:

Kendra Allenby, Kendra Allenby, Kendra Allenby, Arthur Masear, Nick Downes.

Cover:

Alan D. Clark for "The Barrens"

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate every unique story this magazine prints. They always bring a new angle to the genres.

I like this fantasy writer, Matthew Hughes. He has a unique world and a well-developed character, a Wizard's henchman named Baldemar. I like the guy. I like his boss too, Thelerion. I hope to read more of his work and would be interested in a novel with these characters and this world.

Behold the Child, by Albert Cowdrey. I've only read him twice in this magazine and I'm a fan. I'll be a constant reader.

Every dollar I've paid for this subscription has proven well worth the money.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better than average issues with interesting stories by Amman Sabet, Matthew Hughes, Melanie West, Nina Kiriki Hoffman and with a chilling horror story by Stephanie Feldman.

- "Tender Loving Plastics" by Amman Sabet: an interesting look at a future where some children are raised in homes run by robotic mothers. The story looks at a girl raised in such a home at various points of her life from childhood to adulthood and her reactions towards her 'mother'.

- "The Barrens" by Stephanie Feldman: a chilling fantasy that starts out as a group of teenagers eager to join in a festival being broadcast on a strange radio channel, only to become involved in what may have been a continuing competition ritual since ancient times that may end in their apparent victory or death.

- "Inquisitive" by Pip Coen: in a future where Inquisitors and fear of inquisitions rule the worlds, one girl (who lacks social skills) is determined to become one herself. But one enemy stands in her way and she will need to learn and understand what the love of her mother (whom she is oblivious to) really means to her.

- "Plumage from Pegasus: Live by the Word, Die by the Word" by Paul Di Filippo: an unusual future where artists and writers are in charge comes to an end, as the masses rebel against being told to examine their inner thoughts and feelings and yearns for the old world where rules are meant to be broken.

- "Argent and Sable" by Matthew Hughes: the next in the series of stories about Baldemar, this one has him testing out the luck and other changes done to him. It would lead him on a task to retrieve magical gloves for his master. It would require more than just luck for him to successfully perform the task, while keeping himself intact.

- "The Bicycle Whisperer" by Lisa Mason: cute small story about a girl who rescues runaway AI bikes and what its relationship with its owner says about her own past.

- "Unstoppable" by Gardner Dozois: after being disappointed by Dozois' past few stories in F&SF magazine, here is one to make up for it. From childhood, a prince has a peculiar ambition that can only be fulfilled by becoming the king of his country, which involves killing off his own brothers and isolating his sister. But even then, the path to his ambition can only be fulfilled by paying for a sorcerer and could be derailed by a smart enemy general.

- "Crash Site" by Brian Trent: a tale about a race to find a possible rare weapon being carried in a jungle on a planet between two interplanetary corporate groups.

- "What You Pass For" by Melanie West: an interesting tale about a black painter with the ability to 'paint away' not just the black colour of the skin of his 'customers' but also their mannerisms and memories that might give they away as they try to blend into the white culture setting of a highly segregated country. But things come to a head when a ballerina asks him to paint her barely visible blackness away, leading to a queue of customers from other cultures. To what extent should such skin and culture differences by painted away or celebrated?

- "Ku'gbo" by Dare Segun Falowo: a story with a 'magic-realism' feel to it about a child that yeans to escape from her village by following a magical creature that that did not really catch my fancy.

- "Behold the Child" by Albert E. Cowdrey: a child's tantrum can be a terrible thing if not controlled and this tale shows how bad it can be when this particular child's tantrums are coupled with the ability to move objects to horrible effect.

- "The Properties of Shadow" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: an interesting alien tale of being who becomes the assistant to a world travelling artist who makes artwork out of the wastes that civilisations produce. On one particular world, a reporter takes an unhealthy interest in the assistant (and her ability to quietly produce young which start out in shadowy form) which leads to a dangerous break-in of their quarters.

[Renee Babcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another pretty solid issue. I particularly liked Inquisitive by Pip Coen, Agent and Sable by Matthew Hughes was fun (I'm enjoying these Baldemar stories), Unstoppable by Gardner Dozois was really disturbing and so good, What you Pass For by Melanie West, Behold the Child by Albert Cowdrey and The Properties of Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (I'd like to read more about these characters and this world).

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great variety in this issue, a true case of something for everyone. My favorites included:

Amman Sabet - "Tender Loving Plastics"
A sweet yet sad tale of children raised by robotic nannies on the edges of society.

Matthew Hughes - "Argent and Sable"
While this isn't my favorite of the Baldemar stories--it feels slow to start to me--it comes through at the end. I am fascinated by how this fantasy world develops.

Lisa Mason - "The Bicycle Whisperer"
A story of sentient bicycles, with domestic violence depicted in a different light.

Melanie West - "What You Pass For"
This beautifully-done story examines racial issues, privilege, and what it means to pass for white. This story is, in turns, disturbing and sad, but necessary.

[Leroy Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An odd issue. Nothing really great, but nothing really bad. Overall maybe a little above average.

Amman Sabet - Tender Loving Plastics - 4 stars
- A future where orphans are distributed into foster homes to be raised by robot mothers? A fairly good story.

Stephanie Feldman - The Barrens - 3 stars
- A short story implementation of a teen slasher movie. Lots of killing and bloodshed performed by nonsensical monsters that can appear out of nowhere and, 'blip', another teen is dead. Only one or two survive the night, for some odd reason, to tell the story.

Pip Coen - Inquisitive - 3 stars
- A world run by the surviving Spanish Inquisition? A very intelligent but also very self-centered girl maneuvers her way into a battle for leadership of the inquisition, sacrificing everyone else on the way. At a crisis point she is shown how much her mother has sacrificed for her and, suddenly, she has a total change of heart. A little too pat.

Matthew Hughes - Argent and Sable - 4 stars
- A new Baldemar sword and sorcery story which builds on his previous stories. It includes a reasonable character development for a demon?

Lisa Mason - The Bicycle Whisperer - 4 stars
- A cute love story(?) about a young man, a bicycle AI and a bounty hunter.

Gardner Dozois - Unstoppable - 4 stars
- What happens when a young prince maneuvers his way to becoming king just so he can become the greatest warrior in the world, but he doesn't take time to really think things through.

Brian Trent - Crash Site - 4 stars
- An alien spacecraft with unusual technology on board crashes on a primitive planet. The search for it is interesting, and the answer of who actually finds it is fun.

Melanie West - What You Pass For - 5 stars
- "White Like Me" made possible by a bit of little paint and a little magic. Fighting racism by surrendering to it doesn't really work out in the end.

Dare Segun Falowo - Ku'gbo - 3 stars
- A very unusual fantasy story that doesn't work for me, maybe because I just don't know the cultural basis from which it's being written.

Albert E. Cowdrey - Behold the Child - 4 stars
- Take today's society with the minor change that a couple of people have developed psychic powers that they use to support and/or break the law. Now introduce a young child who takes one step further and develops strong telekinetic power when he's too young to really understand what he's doing. We're almost back to another teen slasher film.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman - The Properties of Shadow - 4 stars
- Far in the future, licenses to take things from garbage dumps for artistic purposes and unusual alien life forms who sense things as variations of shadow. A very odd story but well done.

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing depth of great stories. Fantastic issue.

7 • Tender Loving Plastics • 12 pages by Amman Sabet
Very Good+. Issa lives in a DEWEY foster home, where the care is given by a robot mother. As a baby she has an older brother Trevor. At six Trevor is taken away to another shelter. Later on a baby sister arrives. As an adult she has an outside perspective of the system. These snippets of Issa's life are put together really well.

19 • The Barrens • 29 pages by Stephanie Feldman
Horror/Poor. Not a fan of horror. Five teens go to the Barrens to go to the Equinox Party and find the DJ. On and off the DJ is telling a pre-America story about a brave that raced a flying buffalo head. Among the group they recall a girl who drowned in the lake. They come upon a scene just like that, Matt jumps in to rescue the floundering girl, but she pulls him under. The rest of them take off, but end up getting lost. I had trouble visualizing the action and the transition between events.

48 • Inquisitive • 23 pages by Pip Coen
Excellent. Saffi is an exceptionally smart girl with a disdain for things that don't directly affect her. For instance the six year old skips classes to go to the library until the doctor gives her an old digiPad with the condition that she go to class.

92 • Argent and Sable • 38 pages by Matthew Hughes
Excellent/Very Good. In the previous episode Thelerion wanted to get the Shield Impenetrable from a rival thaumaturg. With Baldemar's help and the Help of Sagacity he got it. The being in the Helm gave Baldemar the gift of luck and maybe rearranged things so his thinking is clearer, too. He goes gambling to test this luck which got him noticed. Later on Thelerion sends him after the Gantlets of Enduring Grasp, each step seeming to be more dangerous than the last one.

130 • The Bicycle Whisperer • 5 pages by Lisa Mason
Very Good. Simon's bicycle runs away. He hires LR to find her, which she does. LR finds Shimano Stella, calms her down and asks her whether she has run away to get away or to get attention. A lot of story packed into five pages.

135 • Unstoppable • 15 pages by Gardner Dozois
Very Good/Good. In a fairy tale like manner we follow prince Kalgrin through his life. Starting at eight when he gets revenge on his ten year old who has tormented him relentlessly. It then comes to him that he has only three other siblings and the old King between him and the throne, and becoming the king is a stepping stone toward his ultimate goal.

150 • Crash Site • 26 pages by Brian Trent
Good+. Hundreds of years ago an Ashokan ship crashed on Osiris. Catherine Avellani is searching for the ship for the Tiers group. The Order of Stone sends Harris Pope and Umerah. Nice plot with a lot of creative scifi elements.

176 • What You Pass For • 13 pages by Melanie West
Good. The Charleston, a speakeasy [set in the 1920s?] Our protagonist learns that he can paint a person white. Is it right? Are they giving up who they were?

208 • Ku'gbo • 14 pages by Dare Segun Falowo
Fair/OK. The village food store is being raided by rams. Meanwhile Akin has hears an owl and has other portents that he will go up the waterfall to Takiti. We want to know what happens to Akin, but also since you bring it up, I want to know the fate of the village. Are the people going to starve? Or since Ala is a dream town anyway, does it matter?

222 • Behold the Child • 21 pages by Albert E. Cowdrey
Very Good/Excellent. Five year old Tommy has telekinesis. He's kidnapped from daycare by a shady lawyer, who then uses the kid for a hit. William Warlock is hired by Tommy's father. Warlock knows the shady Brent Maze, they used to be partners. Maze has more tricks up his sleeve.

243 • The Properties of Shadow • 13 pages by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
Very Good+. Maga and her shadow assistant are on Rutigar. Maga has gotten a commission to create a work of art. While collecting materials for the project an orange suited figure follows them. When confronted he says he's a reporter. Fantastic building of the Shadow character.

[Standback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid issue, generally enjoyable, although not much stood out to me.

The ones that did stand out:

The Barrens, by Stephanie Feldman, is a delicious, well-written horror story, revolving around the 81.9 FM "The Barrens" Spring Equinox Party:

Night has finally fallen in the Barrens, kids. It's the equinox, and that means the nights are about to become shorter than the days -- but not yet. We've got one more, just one more, so let's celebrate.

I have a bunch of tracks queued up, good ones, too. Party music -- whether you're partying in the townhouse developments or the old farmland, or if you're on your way here, and I hope you are. this is an exclusive get-together, but you're invited. It's going to be great, it always is. If you can find your way.

Intense, full of detail and voice, really wonderfully done.

What You Pass For, by Melanie West, portrays a man with the ability to turn black people white. Short, sharp, and doesn't wear out its welcome. I particularly liked the story's twist, which touches on how conforming to prejudice only makes it stronger.

---

Scattered thoughts on some of the others:

Matthew Hughe's Argent and Sable is a nice return to form, after his previous Baldemar story (which I found overly meandering). It's light fare, but Baldemar is enjoyably unflappable. I especially like the story's conclusion -- after several stories with Baldemar as the favored mortal of one fabled artifact, this story grants him the favor of another, and I see great potential in sober, cautious Baldemar just assembling a whole retinue of these funny, condescending magic items.

Ku'gbo, by Dare Segun Falowo, kind of went over my head. It's a very mystical piece -- signs and portents and mythical creatures rearing their heads; these are not merely elements in the story, they're its heart. I can't say it connected for me, but this seems a layered story, and I'm eager to read up and learn what's behind this one.

Pip Cohen's Inquisitive takes the decidedly odd tack of depicting a struggle for supremacy among the torturers of the Inquisition. I enjoyed the story; protagonist Saffi is supercilious and quite fun to follow, even as her behavior and choices are horrendous. An awful protagonist rising through the Inquisition is one thing; the end of the story, though, presents a literal torturing consequence, and seems set on having us cheer Saffi to victory. I'm not sure what its intentions are, and I'm not sure what I feel about that.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman writes beautifully, and weaves beautiful words around intriguing ideas. The Properties of Shadow was a fairly slight story, but I really enjoyed reading it.

Crash-Site, by Brian Trent, was very, ummm, McGuffin-y. "We're all after the Thing!" (Honestly, I don't even quite remember what the Thing was by this point, but there definitely was one.) Worked as a light read, but I just really couldn't get worked up about Who Gets It First, or various feints and blows in Who's Got Who Cornered Now.

[Jonathan Ficke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: On twitter, F&SF offered a free copy in exchange for a review. I was lucky enough to get in on this action and have a bit about each story after the break.

As expected from one of the flagship markets for short and novelette-length speculative fiction, the volume is great. The pieces span from high fantasy to space opera, and skip through magical realism and surrealism along the way past a fairy tale. The tone varies from the serious contemplation of an aspect of race relations to the more fun-loving romp through a more traditional high fantasy setting.

Picking stories that stood out from the crowd has less to do with quality and more to do with my subjective taste, maybe even my subjective taste at the moment I read each. "The Barrens" was a tense spin on a classic horror archetype that kept me turning the page (maybe I was due for a tense tale). "Argent and Sable" was high fantasy at its most fun (maybe I was due for a taste of childhood nostalgia). "Unstoppable" was a brilliantly rendered fairy tale (maybe I'm envious of being able to perfectly land the "fairy tale voice"... okay I am envious of that, but it's still a great story).



"Tender Loving Plastics" by Amman Sabet -- This story gives a view of foster parent as robot through the eyes of one child to go through the system. In a series of snapshots as the viewpoint character ages, Sabet uses the juxtaposition of inanimate object as a "parent" to provoke thought about the idea of the foster system as it is currently, in real life, structured.

"The Barrens" by Stephanie Feldman -- Feldman takes the classic horror setup of a teenagers in a remote area (the Barrens) and infuses it with tension for the entire novelette. The point of view shifts, giving 3rd person thoughts of each of the teens as they move through the story, as well as provides a 1st person over-arching narrative structure that suggests the Barrens may have agency of its own. Just in case the narrative structure was too vanilla, folk tale (which may be more real that myth) is woven into the tale as well. All of the threads drive the story relentlessly forward.

"Inquisitive" by Pip Coen -- "Inquisitive" is, by at least one measure, the coming of age story of the arrogant, genius. A child genius from a underprivileged family rises through a cutthroat authoritarian world using her wit and ingenuity as a weapon against everyone who underestimates her.

"Argent and Sable" by Matthew Hughes -- This novelette expands on characters and setting established in a prior issue, which I had not read. So, there's some background that I missed before reading this, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the heck out of this story. It's high fantasy at its finest. It leans into wizards with colored robes, magic items, and demons. The rules of the magic are soft, and the names appropriately fantastic. "Argent and Sable" knows what it is, a pure fun romp.

"The Bicycle Whisperer" by Lisa Mason -- In a few short pages, Mason tells a sweet tale about autonomous bicycles, artificial intelligence, how AI-powered devices might react to mistreatment from their human owners, and uses this amalgam to reflect on the very real, and very complex, nature of domestic abuse.

"Unstoppable" by Gardener Dozois -- In impeccable "fairy tale voice," Dozois tells a gripping tale of a prince's unwavering dedication to achieving his "heart's desire." The tale is gripping and doesn't let go as we watch the protagonist inch ever closer to achieving his heart's desire, no matter the cost.

"Crash Site" by Brian Trent -- A science fiction novelette that plays approaches space opera. Multiple parties race to recover a wrecked ship, and unpleasantness ensues for most everyone involved. The handwavium is spot on, the tone serious with the right amount of fun sprinkled in.

"What You Pass For" by Melanie West -- In a short story that addresses race, specifically perceived race, West turns a trope on its head and creates a narrative that challenges the reader to examine not only a literal historic practice, but more broadly how perception, performance, and appearance intersect to influence (or perhaps define) how society treats its members.

"Ku'gbo" Dare Segun Falowo -- This is a beautifully surreal jaunt through a dreamlike environment. The imagery is vivid and striking, the prose beautiful, the structure complex. This is short fiction showcasing language as art.

"Behold the Child" by Albert E. Cowdrey -- Imagine the kid from the Omen embroiled in a custody dispute as told through the eyes of one of the divorce attorneys. It's an interesting point of view and take on what consequences might actually follow from a young child who can wield power that he has no ability to control.

"The Properties of Shadow" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman -- An interstellar artist and her assistant deal with an unwanted intruder.

[Michael Frasca · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite stories:

- Amman Sabet - Tender Loving Plastics. Growing up in a micro-orphanage with a robot mama; a poignant, bittersweet tale.

- Matthew Hughes - Argent and Sable. Baldemar is back in his quest to assemble the highest ranked magical equipment in the world. This time, he is trying to get his hands on (in) some magical gauntlets.

- Melanie West - What You Pass For. Everybody has a drop of something inside them. The trick is to embrace that drop as something special and not paint over it.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This issue had my favorite story of all the F&SF issues I've ever read.

I've been reading this magazine for a while, and it always has a wide variety of stories. When there is something for everyone, not all will be to everyone's tastes. I think that's just the nature of collecting stories for a broad audience. Up until now I haven't written about any of the issues, though there have always been stories I really liked.

"Inquisitive" by Pip Coen is a great story with a presumably Neuro-diverse protagonist. It manages to show some familiar atypical characteristics of the character without the kind of paper doll cutout sameness of the type that has become the cliche bane of joy in Neuro-diverse circles. It had heart without being mushy.

By the end I was thinking of my own difficult HFA father, who awkwardly showed his care for me by giving me a second helping of his favorite dish. Always speaking the language of the heart with a heavy foreign accent, and only after he discovered he had one.

[Kenny V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty much any issue with a Matthew Hughes story will get a 5 star rating from me, but this one has several stories also worthy of such rating. The title story "The Barrens" by Stephanie Feldman is one, I'll leave you to find the others.

[Brenda]

Favorite: Inquisitive by Pip Coen.
Also liked Tender Loving Plastics by Amman Sabet.
I thought Behold the Child by Albert E. Cowdrey was well done and therefore too horrifying for me to enjoy reading about a small child.

[Patrick Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun stories in this issue. "The Barrens" (great cover art) by Stephanie Feldman and "Tender Loving Plastics" by Amman Sabet (great last line!) were probably my favorites.

[Andy Kristensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars.

This is the first issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction that I’ve read and I will definitely be picking up future issues based on what was published here. While some of the stories are a tad bit formulaic (Hughes’ “Argent and Sable” is just another boring fantasy story about a wizard honestly) or uneventful (Cowdrey’s “Behold the Child”), there are also a few gems here, mainly Coen’s “Inquisitive,” a story about a ruthlessly smart girl in a future where the Inquisition exists once more, West’s “What You Pass For,” a remarkably original tale about a painter with a dark secret in the Jim Crow South, and Sabet’s “Tender Loving Plastics,” a story set in the future where foster children are raised by robotic mothers. Good issue overall and I look forward to see what future issues have in store.

[Mary Soon Lee]

This issue of F&SF contains eleven stories, ranging from far-future science fiction set on another planet, to contemporary horror, to secondary world fantasy. My favorite story is a toss-up between Amman Sabet's "Tender Loving Plastics," a sweet, sad science fiction tale of a fostered child, and Melanie West's disturbing and powerful fantasy tale about discrimination, "What You Pass For." I also particularly like Pip Coen's dark tale "Inquisitive," and Lisa Mason's "The Bicycle Whisperer."

The issue was weighed down by the deaths of Gardner Dozois, whose story "Unstoppable" appears here, and of Paul Doherty, whose last joint science column with Pat Murphy also appears here. Alas, alas, alas.

[J. Allen Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome selection of stories, as usual. Impressed with how a traditional-urban-horror-feeling story such as The Barrens can turn out so original! Enjoyed, as always, the latest Baldemar story, as well as Brian Trent's future stories. A great place to find new (at least to me) authors to search for!!

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avg: 2.86

Best stories: Tender Loving Plastics, The Bicycle Whisperer, Unstoppable

[Deborah Replogle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, a wonderful issue. Hard to pick a favorite, so I won't. Read them all. How does the editor do it?

[Maya Preisler · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a collection, this was a mixed bag. Some of the stories were profoundly powerful and evocative, namely Tender Loving Plastics and What You Pass For. In contrast, other stories such as the Bicycle Whisperer were poorly written or simply in bad taste. The editors of this magazine need to learn relational aesthetics and organize their stories more thematically.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read every story or article here. Mostly because the articles were older and the stories related back to older pieces. I'll have to catch up on those when I go through back issues. However, the stories I did read I enjoyed thoroughly.