Alexander Jablokov. Brain Raid. Jablokov wrote some strong short stories in the 80s/90s, being one author who I watched out for in his appearances in Dozois’ Annual Collections. This is a strong story – providing an American counterpart to the Indian rogue AI stories that Ian McDonald has impressed with in the last couple of […]
Tananarive Due. Senora Suerte. This issue featurs a trio of stories by authors who have responded to a story idea from Harlan Ellison – what happens when Lady Luck meets the unluckiest guy in the world? Rather than the setting being a casino, Due has an unlikely setting : an old people’s home in Cuba. […]
Albert E. Cowdrey. Animal Magnetism. Another of F&SF regular Cowdrey’s well observed, well drawn humorous tales. When Henry Greene’s partner leaves him, he picks up a stray dog from the local kennels. When said dog turns, on the full moon, to a foxy babe, you would reckon that Man’s Best Friend would indeed be his […]
Alex Irvine. Shambhala. The story was inspired by the illustration by Mark Evans which graces the cover, and is, like the cover, an excellent addition to a previously well covered trope. Irvine considers a future in which uploading to a virtual reality has been chosen by many, and looks at just how precarious that life […]
Gary W. Shockley. The Cathedral of Universal Biodiversity. One of those stories where either I’m missing something, or the story is. The plot : four centuries hence a man who has given up the pleasures of the flesh (and being multi-testiculated that is a big loss) to ponder the Fermi Paradox. Or rather, to create […]
An issue which gets stronger the further you get in (unless you’re a fan of the Kedrigern stories). For me Utley and McCalliser where the pick of the bunch, with Cowdrey, Reed and Shultz entertaining.
PDF version reviewed. Charles Coleman Finlay. Of Silence and the Man at Arms. The third adventure involving Vertir and Kuikin (‘For Want of a Nail’ F&SF March 2003, ‘After the Gaud Chrysalis’ F&SF June 2004). Of the first story I wrote : ‘A wry cod-fantasy yarn, in which a wise-cracking pair of thieves go a-robbing.’. […]
Having just read the Oct/Nov double issue of F&SF I ploughed straight in to this issue, and found halfway through I had to intersperse my reading of it with stories from the latest Asimovs, as I was suffering SF withdrawal, and had to get my fix! Jack Cady. The Fog. Cady died last year, and […]
