F&SF Forum » Issue Contents

1. Gordon Van Gelder
   Editor/Publisher

   Contents of the Dec. 2009 issue

   NOVELETS
   Dragon’s Teeth -9- Alex Irvine
   Hell of a Fix -81- Matthew Hughes
   Inside Time -184- Tim Sullivan
   I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said -225- Richard Bowes

   SHORT STORIES
   Bad Matter -49- Alexandra Duncan
   Farewell Atlantis -69- Terry Bisson
   Illusions of Tranquility -126- Brendan DuBois
   The Blight Family Singers -142- Kit Reed
   The Economy of Vacuum -163- Sarah Thomas
   Iris -177- Nancy Springer
   The Man Who Did Something about IT -211- Harvey Jacobs

   DEPARTMENTS
   Editorial -5- Gordon Van Gelder
   Books to Look -35- Charles de Lint
   Books -43- James Sallis
   Films: Post-modern Hasidism . . . with Puppets! -159- Kathi Maio
   Coming Attractions -254-
   Index to Volumes 116 & 117 -255-
   Curiosities -258- F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre

   Cartoons: Arthur Masear (34), Bill Long (68), S. Harris (224).
   COVER BY KENT BASH FOR “HELL OF A FIX”

   Posted 1 month ago #

2. BrianCrowley
   Member

   I noticed no "classic reprints" for the last 2 issues. Does that mean you are done with those for a while ? Just curious - I don't have a strong preference either way. I have really enjoyed some, but been less impressed with others.

   Posted 1 month ago #

3. Gordon Van Gelder
   Editor/Publisher

   Yes, we're done with them for now. They were part of our celebration of the 60th anniversary.

   ---GVG

   Posted 1 month ago #

4. Gordon Van Gelder
   Editor/Publisher

   I should add that if lots of people want them back, I'm happy to do them again. I figure most readers are like me and they'd rather have all-new stories, but if a large number of readers want us to dig out more gems from F&SF's past, I'd certainly enjoy doing so.

   ---GVG

   Posted 1 month ago #

5. Gordon Van Gelder
   Editor/Publisher

   And if you check our blog, you'll see that we're giving away fifteen copies of the issue to North Americans who agree to blog about the issue.

   ---GVG

   Posted 1 month ago #

6. BrianJackson
   Member

   Will this be the last of the monthlies (to line up 2010 just so), or is this a return to them?

   Posted 1 month ago #

7. BrianJackson
   Member

   7

   Posted 1 month ago #

8. Gordon Van Gelder
   Editor/Publisher

   Early review of the issue here; http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php/print--bi-monthly-reviewsmenu-260/221-fantasy-a-science-fiction/1257-fantasy-a-science-fiction-dec-2009jan-2010

   Posted 1 month ago #

9. BrianJackson
   Member

   How dare you!

   This insolence will not be tolerated!

   Posted 1 month ago #

10. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    A blogger is posting about this issue here: http://magazineoffantasyandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/

    Posted 1 month ago #

11. BrianJackson
    Member

    Here's my review of the cover:

    This is one of the shiniest smooth silver rocketships ever featured, and the dark alien landscape is better than some of the other alien landscapes I have seen this same phallic, vibratory adult-toy rocketship land on in months and years past on other covers of The Magazine. Someone should write a story about this shiny rocketship and all the planets it's landed on for cover portraits. Is it trademarked?

    Also, we see such variation in the multitude of dragon covers, maybe next time the rocketship could have crystal scales or be translucent or feature some sporty flames painted on the hood, or a big Burt Reynolds moustache. Just an idea to shake things up some.

    Dragons and silver rocketships... Dragons and silver rocketships... Dragons and silver rocketships... Dragons and silver rocketships... Dragons and silver rocketships...

    What about a cover where a silver shiny rocketship lands on a planet that is actually a huge dragon?

    Posted 1 month ago #

12. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    Another blog post about this issue: http://calisari.spaces.live.com/

    Posted 1 month ago #

13. BrianJackson
    Member

    Major snub!

    Posted 1 month ago #

14. BrianJackson
    Member

    Doh! Freakin' 13! The *ultimate* snub!

    Yow!

    A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R - A

    El Protecto del Thirteeno

    Posted 1 month ago #

15. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    Another blog post about this issue: http://jcurtin.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/an-old-friend-revisited/

    Posted 1 month ago #

16. GusG
    Member

    Best blog review I've read since the program began. Can't wait for my issue to arrive. An old friend, indeed.

    Posted 1 month ago #

17. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    Here's another blogger's thoughts on the issue: http://madisonwoods.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/fantasy-science-fiction-the-magazine/

    Posted 1 month ago #

18. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    The early subscription copies that we send to ourselves arrived today (10/19).

    The bulk of the subscription copies are still in transit. I don't expect them to arrive for another week or two.

    ---Gordon V.G.

    Posted 1 month ago #

19. Ed Gosney
    Member

    Gordon and anyone else who is interested, I've posted part 2 of my blog on the December issue at http://calisari.spaces.live.com/.

    Posted 1 month ago #

20. BrianJackson
    Member

    Nice cover

    Posted 2 weeks ago #

21. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    Another blogger checks in: http://www.mytwoblessings.com/2009/11/awesome-fantasy-and-science-fiction.html

    Posted 2 weeks ago #

22. chrstnsln22
    Member

    Nice cover and it seems like the December 2009 issue is really exciting. Will grab a copy later. I just hope though, it's already in the market this early.

    Christine

    Posted 2 weeks ago #

23. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    I just got late notification that this issue shipped late to most subscribers. Stay tuned for more info.

    Posted 2 weeks ago #

24. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    Issue reviewed by Sam Tomiano at SFRevu: http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=9903

    Posted 1 week ago #

25. Magister
    Member

    Didn't see this thread last time I posted about "Dragon's Teeth." I'll post about other Dec. '09 stories here.

    Alexandra Duncan's "Bad Matter" is a good story. Its oppositions are a little bit subtle, and proportionately profound. Also, she makes good use of a kind of internalized (reciprocal?) exo-anthropology -- a difficult balance, but she pulls it off. As a side note, I found her world a challenge to envision for the first two or three pages, but I enjoyed the challenge, and I think it was worth the effort.

    "Farewell Atlantis": a mythopoetical Adam & Eve, which, I suppose, is better than a mythical Adam & Eve. For a while there, I felt as if I were reading something from the pages of those old issues of _Astounding Science Fiction_ that the guy in the movie _The Box_ collected.

    Addendum: In one of the earlier footnotes in Ms. Duncan's story, I think she uses the word "comprised" incorrectly (if one goes by the book...). That is to say, she *meant* to write "is composed of" but instead wrote "is comprised of." I think John Thiel has a thread on this over at the Analog forum. Too many sci-fi writers getting their comprises and composes mixed up these days?

    Posted 1 week ago #

26. myshortname
    Member

    GVG - how can you write with a straight pen that the December issue is late - WHEN ITS STILL NOVEMBER!

    Also - what did you do with Brian?

    David :)

    Posted 6 days ago #

27. rohimislam
    Member

    I think this is good cover. Good job. Keep it up...

    Posted 5 days ago #

28. Magister
    Member

    Usually, Infernal comedies don't appeal to me all that much, but I found "Hell of a Fix" at least a fun read. It seemed like a fresh take on the moral questions that sit right on the line between "good" and "evil," especially when Mr. Hughes brings in the concept of mythopoesis (*that* part was especially clever).

    Speaking of Hell, I really like the cover too: completely fits the tone of the cover story.

    Another note on "Farewell Atlantis." I just saw the ridiculous, eye-popping, usually entertaining movie _2012_ this weekend, a mere day after reading Terry Bisson's "Farewell Atlantis." As it turns out, the main character, Jackson Curtis, has written a sci-fi novel called _Farewell Atlantis_. I tried to Google this phrase, to see if they have a common ancestor in the common parlance, but all I could find was websites that have to do with the fictional Mr. Curtis's novel (which is apparently now a real novel... by a fictional author, no less). Anybody know the origin of the phrase "farewell Atlantis"?

    Posted 5 days ago #

29. Gordon Van Gelder
    Editor/Publisher

    We found out about the commonality with the movie 2012 after the issue went to press. I'm not sure where "Farewell Atlantis" originates. I'd thought it might be with Taylor Caldwell but I was thinking of her ROMANCE OF ATLANTIS.

    Posted 5 days ago #

30. MattHughes
    Member

    There was that old Donovan song that included the line, "Hail Atlantis."

    Posted 5 days ago #

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