Montmorency by Eleanor Updale
reviewed by Sherwood Smith
The time is 1875, the place a London cell block. Prison life is extraordinarily grim for Montmorency -- especially as he was horribly wounded while trying to escape a failed burglary. A young doctor named Mr. Farcett takes an interest in Montmorency's case, and slowly and painfully restores him to life with experimental treatments.

140 and Counting by Upper Rubber Boot Books
reviewed by Sandra Scholes
140 and Counting is an online poetry magazine that started out on Twitter where writers would post up such poetry as haiku, cinquains and American sentences that would fit in a tweet. They also publish very short stories that reach 140 characters and nothing more. This could be seen by some as limiting, yet for many of us it is a challenge that we might readily accept. There is nothing quite like trying to write to a deadline, but in this case each writer is using a set character count that for some would be almost impossible.

Writing in the Digital Generation edited by Heather Urbanski
reviewed by Seamus Sweeney
The dedication of this volume reads "this book began in science fiction and fantasy fandom and so is dedicated to all those in that community." This is an intriguing set of academic essays on writing in the digital generation. One of the familiar tropes of declinist narratives of a lost golden age of the humanities is that writing and reading are in decline. Radio, television, the cinema, the internet -- all were supposed to kill off the written word.

Ghost Seas by Steven Utley
reviewed by Seamus Sweeney
The eponymous opening story of this brilliant collection is a haunting tale of the West Texas sands, a strange triangle between a dementing (but rich) old man, his apparently guileless nephew, and the nephew's young wife. This story was reminiscent of all those J.G. Ballard stories and novels set in imagined landscapes that powerfully reflect mindscapes. The exotic and the eerie is a mirror of ourselves.