Dominic Green. Blue Water, Grey Death. Non-genre story about two men who get in above their depth. They find out that dolphins are not quite as friendly as they are made out to be. Alexander Glass. Lucid. Glass is a young British author who has produced some good stories to date. Here is his take […]
Queen of Hearts. Dominic Green. A couple of years ago Green’s ‘That Thing Over There’ (Interzone #132) was picked by Hartwell for his annual Years Best, and last year’s Xmas jolly ‘Rude Elves’ (Interzone 162) and ‘Grass’ earlier this year (Interzone 168), all appealed to me. Surprisingly then, I gave up on this story halfway […]
Espiritu Santo. Richard Calder. The final instalment of Calder’s telling of the multi-generational battle of the Lords of Soho against the perverse, both within humanity, and without, from the creatures of the dark depths. This Lord Soho, descendant of the orginal octaroon (1/8th orc) is a hunchback and more orcish than his forebears. Despairing of […]
Albert E. Cowdrey. The Amulet. In which a young journalist (in New Orleans, natch) meets a lady with an amulet which she says bestows longevity on the owner, provider you follow the rules. She relates the histories of some of those whom have owned said amulet, and how it changed her life. A gently amusing […]
Albert E. Cowdrey. The Posthumous Man. Cowdrey takes us once again to New Orleans. Wentworth is an antiques dealer, specialising in Funerary Arts. An old tombstone behind which is a murderous tale comes his way, bringing bad fortune to him. Benjamin Rosenbaum. Droplet. A far-future postmodern couple in deep space come across an ancient planet […]
An enjoyable collection, with Friesner, Disch, Bowman and Dozois providing some entertaining if not substantial fare. Williamson and Thomas provide some good fiction, the Finlay story is stretched just a bit too far to have really held my attention, but the Friesner is a little gem.
Raven Dream. Robert Reed. ‘An intriguing story that promises to be the start of a series’ according to the editorial intro., and that pretty much sums it up. Reed slowly reveals just enough juicy snippets of information to keep the reader interested. A small, tight-knit community of woods-dwelling humans/elves/creatures forage from the ‘big people, who […]
Doing the Unstuck. Paul Di Filippo. The angst of teen Goth Erin is painfully observed, and set to the music of The Cure (I was more of a Siouxsie and the Banshees person myself). Erin has the attitude and the fashion sense, but lacks the crowning glory – the tousled hair a la Robert Smith. […]
