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Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
February 2002

Stories featured in this issue are:

"The Man on the Persian Carpet" by Kate Wilhelm. What starts out looking like an tale about two lovers begins to develop into something together more sinister and thought provoking as it progresses. There are two critical events in this story: one involves a persian carpet, the other a birthday party. Both would cause world shattering changes as the characters make decisions that would affect their lives and the battle to prevent world domination by a secret society.
"Foodstuff" by Steven Utley. A somewhat humourous tale set in Utley's Silurian Tales series of time-travel stories back to the Silurian time. Two men on a boat that breaks down find out what the third member of their party is there for: to find out if people can survive on just Silurian food. The results of the experiment can be hard to swallow, depending on your point of view.
"Afterlife" by Jack Williamson. This is an interesting tale. A human spaceship crashlands on a mostly agricultural planet. The pilot appears to be dead but later revives with the help of micro-robots in his body. He offers to the gift of immortality to the inhabitants but is he more than what he seems?
"Black Dust" by Graham Joyce. A slow tale about life in a coal mining town. Two boys are exploring nearby hills when one of them finds a hidden cave that may be related to the current operation to rescue the coal-mining father of one of the boys trapped underground after a cave-in.
"Forkpoints" by Sheila Finch. This is a story about an actress in a future kind of stage production where the audience participates at certain points of the play ("forkpoints") to determine the outcome of certain actions. Interleaved with this is the actresses marriage to an astronaut who, because of his trip, suffers from a strange illness that may have been the cause of the strange behaviour of their son.
"Shoes" by Robert Sheckley. A humours tale about a pair of shoes that are smarter than they seem; perhaps too smart as the owner of the shoes finds out. What do you do with a pair of shoes that has too much time on its hands (or laces) and only wants to help its owner?
"A Cyborg's World" by Gregory Benford and Elisabeth Malartre looks at how a world where cyborgs exist will look at. Will cyborgs want to become human or will they seek to remove humanity? What kinds of problems (like discrimination) will cyborgs face in the future? These and other topics are discussed in this A Scientist's Notebook article.
"Death and Suffrage" by Dale Bailey. A disturbing and thoughtful tale about an American Presidential campaign with a difference: the dead arise to vote. The reason for this are not known but it may be tied up with the campaign manager of one of the Presidential candidates who makes an unwise suggestion during a talkshow. But it may also be tide to the manager's mysterious past and his feelings over the death of a young girl who gets shot before he appears on the show.

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Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine February 2002

Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
February 2002