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Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
April 1998
Stories featured in this issue are:
- "So Many Miles to the Heart of a Child" by Richard
Bowes is a 'quiet, urban' fantasy that I, unfortunately, am unable to
get a grip on. Set against a background of a few years ago with the
AIDS epidemic just starting, it features a man who has a 'Shadow'
which lives apart from him. He is drawn towards a deserted
merry-to-round that may be more dangerous than it seems.
- "Straight Changes" by Rick Wilber starts off by
looking at an elderly man pitching in a game of baseball, but ends up
being something else as he starts hearing voices.
- "Home on the Range" by Jacquelyn Hooper takes a look
at a hunting expedition set on another world. But what starts off as
a simple hunt turns sinister when the apprentice begins to understand
what the hunted (an alien species) can say. Is he one of them?
- "Tall One" K.D. Wentworth takes a look at how a
priest who wants to spread The Word among a race of reptile-like
aliens. The problem is, the aliens have no past-tense in their
language, so how can the priest tell them stories of people who had
lived in the past? As the story shows, the solution is subtle,
thoughtful and somewhat uncomfortable.
- "Revenge" by Michael Blumlein is a fascinating tale
about the ghost of a young baby who asks her father to revenge her
death by killing the doctor who 'mishandled' her birth. But the
father refuses, her revenge takes a different form. The ending is
unexpected and rather unusual, unless you've seen a certain
film.
- "Boom and Zoom" by Gregory Benford is Benford's
speculative look at the future of the 'paperless' office through the
eyes of two brokers who, through virtual reality, 'surf' and 'feel'
for the next big hit. It's a wild and speculative ride.
- "Mother Grasshopper" by Michael Swanwick features
Swanwick's usual 'unique' view of the world, this time from the back
of a gigantic world shaped like a grasshopper! It tells the tale of a
man who is tracking down an apparent magician on this world, equipped
with most of the deadly plagues. What is his purpose and what is it
about the world that makes him necessary?
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