Arc 1.2 Post human conditions
The second issue of Arc magazine, from New Scientist, part of Reed Business International (who grow up to be the Imperial Empire in Star Wars).
Fred Chappell. Maze of Shadows. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2012)
More fantasy derring-doings from Falco the apprentice shadow master.
Naomi Kritzer. Liberty’s Daughter. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, May-Jun 2012)
A slightly less effective story than Kritzer’s ‘Scrap Dragon’ in the Jan/Feb 2012 issue.
James Van Pelt. Mrs. Hatcher’s Evaluation. (Asimovs, March 2012).
A touch of the Miss Jean Brodie for the 21st Century
Leah Cypress. Nanny’s Day. (Asimovs March 2012).
A tense legal battle between a working single mother, and her nanny, who sues for custody!
Best SF Presents : Chris DeVito’s ‘Anise’
‘Anise’ first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept/Oct 2011. It appears with kind permission of, and is copyright, Chris DeVito.
Interzone #239, Mar-Apr 2012.
Tem provides some vivid mental imagery, Palmer provides some more straightforward sfnal fayre, the other stories not quite having the same impact.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2012.
An issue that didn’t really grab me…
Sean McMullen. Electrica. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2012)
Napleonic alternate history with a touch of the cthulhian terrors.
Robert Walton and Barry N. Malzberg. The Man Who Murdered Mozart. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2012)
Interesting construction to a story, with the narrative being relayed between observations from the omniscient observer.
Peter S. Beagle. Olfert Dapper’s Day. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2012)
A verbose story about one Dr. Olfert Dapper that could easily be confused with a Matthew Hughes creation. Good news indeed for those F&SF readers who are suffering from a Hengis Hapthorne Deficiency Syndrome.
K. J. Kabza. Gnarly Times at Nana’ite Beach. (Fantasy & Science Fiction, March/April 2012)
Kabza is like “I want to write a ‘punk that is like no -punk that has ever come before, just to prove how absurd the whole thing is” and I’m like totes ‘whatever’.