Reviewing short SF since 2000
Gentle Goulart humour featuring Hix, the best second-rate B-movie writer in Hollywood in the 1940s, as he comes across a dame who is being “hoodooed, hexed and futzed” and is need of his help to eliminate her invisible nemesis.
Further adventures of Harry Challenge in a misty London night in 1901.
More tongue-in-cheek investigative adventures of Harry Challenge, returning to the pages of F&SF after some years absence, finding himself in Kensington at the start of the 20th century.
Elizabeth Hand. The Far Shore. A middle-aged man, ballet dancer initially, ballet teacher after an
James L. Cambias. Balancing Accounts. A strong SF story to open the issue, and one
Not having bothered with the lengthy Hughes story, as is my wont, there wasn’t a huge amount to get to grips with, with Reed, Rickert and Goulart all providing stories of the ilk that they regularly provide for F&SF ie well written and OK for what they are, but none of them a humdinger.
Delia Sherman. Walpurgis Afternoon. Cosy suburbia is threatened by a brand new house appearing overnight,
Paul Di Filippo. The Secret Sutras of Sally Strumpet. Similar in style to PDF’s humourous
Ellen Klages. Basement Magic. A tale of a young child with a wicked (well, not
Sean McMullen. Walk to the Full Moon. In mainland Spain a young girl is found
One Last Game. Robert Reed. Another story from Reed, who has taken over the baton
Joe Haldeman. Marsbound. The first part of a three-part serialisation gets the double issue underway.
The annual double-issue. G. David Nordley. The Fire and The Wind. The story starts with
Adam Troy Castro. Unseen Demons. A touch of the ‘Lecters’ in that a young woman,
The Precipice. Ben Bova. This is the first part of a novel serialisation. As I
Stories by : Arthur Sellings, Bob Shaw, Clifford D Simak, Gerald Jonas, Gordon Eklund, Gregory Benford, H B Hickey, Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Michael G. Coney, Neal Barrett Jr, R.A. Lafferty, Robert Silverberg, Ron Goulart, Theodore Sturgeon. (Contents only.)
Stories by : Alexander Jablokov, Bruce Sterling, David Brin, David Langford, Dominic Green, Gregory Benford, Jean-Claude Dunyach, Mark S. Geston, Mary Rosenblum, Mary Soon Lee, Michael F. Flynn, Michael Skeet, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Norman Spinrad, Rob Chilson, Robert Reed, Ron Goulart, Stephen Baxter, Ted Chiang.
Stories by Richard Wilson, Samuel R Delany, Colin Kapp, R A Lafferty, Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg, Thomas M Disch, Rogert Zelazny, Andrew J. Offutt, Harlan Ellison, Ron Goulart, Keith Roberts, R A Lafferty, Larry Niven, Brian W Aldiss, D G Compton.