Space and Time, Spring 2004 | |||||
A review by Rich Horton
The current issues offers nine stories and as many poems. (No other features -- no editorial, no reviews, no non-fiction. Though
there is copious black and white artwork.) In a very general sense, the stories are typical of the better semi-professional
magazines -- in nearly every case one can see why they may not have made the cut at the top magazines, but they are generally
decent work, with a spark in every case that kept me reading. The poems seem typical of SF poetry, with a bias towards
horror -- not entirely to my taste. ("Maine Morning", by David Napolin, a nice short lyric, not SFnal, was my favorite.)
Of the stories, these stood out. Paul E. Martens's "In His Footsteps" is a successfully funny story about the son of
God. No, not Jesus. Keith's father is a scientist who discovered how to become God. For Keith, being an underachieving
English major son of a great scientist who is also God is quite a burden. M. Christian's "The Rich Man's Ghost" is an
nice use of Japanese imagery to describe financial cyberspace, telling a story of a rich man who is haunted by a
"ghost" in the virtual world. "A Catamount Inside the Paling," by Douglas Empringham, is an effective story of an old
witch enchanting a nobleman, perhaps not in his best interests. Fortunately, his page and her two wards are just alert
enough to save the day -- half unsuspecting. Harley Stroh's "The Devil's Last Dance," the longest story here at
some 10,000 words, is a frustrating example of the plusses and minuses of semi-pro fiction. This tale of a Spanish-like
milieu, on the brink of a revolution which will topple the decadent aristocrats, is absorbing reading. It tells of an aging "true-blood"
master of the Danse, the intricate social art of the aristocracy, and how he is unwillingly drawn to a nouveau riche
young woman. But the two cannot quite overcome their pride... I read the story with interest, thought the ideas interesting
and the characters involving, but in the end I felt it a near miss -- the pacing is a bit off, the plot just doesn't quite
cohere. Still, promising work, and in some ways the most exciting story here. Finally, Brian Plante's "Irrational Space"
is a nice, ambiguous, story of the disembodied pilot of a ship travelling through i-space to a distant planet.
In all, this is a worthy effort. No stories here are classics, but the magazine is full of readable stuff, and plenty of promising work.
Rich Horton is an eclectic reader in and out of the SF and fantasy genres. He's been reading SF since before the Golden Age (that is, since before he was 13). Born in Naperville, IL, he lives and works (as a Software Engineer for the proverbial Major Aerospace Company) in St. Louis area and is a regular contributor to Tangent. Stop by his website at http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton. |
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