Interzone #230, September-October 2010 | |||||
A review by D. Douglas Fratz
The Fiction
Tim Lees' "Love and War" is set in a future where humanoids from a parallel Earth are invading, with a focus
on security-minded government crackdown on personal freedom -- a parable of our own times beset by
terrorism. "Age of Miracles, Age of Wonders" by Aliette de Bodard is a surrealistic Aztec steampunk
far-future in which mechanical beings kill deposed gods again and again. Lavie Tidhar's "The Insurance
Agent" tells of an agent hired to protect an enigmatic Spiritual Entity. "Camelot" by Patrick Samphire tells
of an immortal man cast out from Camelot who is seeking his brother, while "The Upstairs Window" by Nina
Allen is set in a more mundane dystopian future where religious rulers are censoring the arts. All five
are imaginative stories by talented young writers, but none stand out as particularly memorable.
The Non-Fiction
The 25th anniversary of Nick Lowe's "Mutant Popcorn" is celebrated by reprinting his very first movie
reviews from 1985, most notable being his take on Brazil, along with an interesting interview with
Lowe. Lowe also looks at new movies, and his critical views on the flaws of Inception as hard SF are
particularly insightful. (The movie was indeed perhaps overrated due to its being the only ambitious
science fiction film of 2010.) Highlights in the book reviews this issue included a fine review by
Paul Kincaid of Fritz Leiber: Selected Stories that one can only hope will assist in assuring that
Leiber's brilliant work is rediscovered by new readers.
D. Douglas Fratz has more than forty years experience as editor and publisher of literary review magazines in the science fiction and fantasy field, and author of commentary and critiques on science fiction and fantasy literature and media. |
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