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Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
May 1998

Stories featured in this issue are:

"Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling give a quirky look at the future of hand-held computers. In Japan, they are used as tools for communication not only among people but sometimes total strangers; people are asked to buy or give gifts to them, for example. Things get strange when one person is asked to give a toy cat to a woman who reacts strangely.
"The Questing Mind" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch gives a look at an old man who is gradually losing his memory in strange ways. His quest to discover the cause behind his memory loss leads him to learn that it may be related to an experiment he took part in which he has, of course, forgotten about.
"Card Shark: A John Justin Mallory story" by Mike Resnick is a humourous look at an alternative New York where magic works and looks at Mallory, a detective who somehow got into this world. In this story, he faces danger depicted from tarot cards. Highly entertaining and makes a change from Resnick's "Kirinyaga" type stories.
"Ex Terra, Ex Astris" by Mary Soon Lee looks at the dangers facing one person caught in a sometime violent dispute over a treaty to be signed with aliens who can isolate humanity in the solar system.
Paul Di Filippo gives a rather strange review of the book "Imaginary Realist: The Life of Timothy Eugene," by Milton Sharp. The strange thing is the book was/will be published in 2025. Not that the character of Timothy Eugene, a novelist who, due to isolation, wrote surrealist fiction, is any easier to believe.
"Thanks, Diaz" by Robin Wilson gives an unstated look at a robbery by two people, one of whom is caught while the other vanishes complete. How this was done is investigated by a detective who comes up with a strange, but plausible, solution. But is it true?
"Mommy Nearest" by Kit Reed is a strange story about a geriatric mother and child and their constant fighting. Overall, a tale that did not sit well with me.
"The Allies" by Mark S. Geston is a tale of war between men and aliens, with the aliens slowly winning. Groups of humans desperately escape in huge ships. Only two succeed, one returning many years later to discover the aliens gone and the Earth restored but with some changes. The unravelling of the mystery behind the alien's conquest and downfall makes for fascinating reading about racial determinism.

[Home Page][Index of Reviews][April 1998][August 1998]

Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine May 1998

Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
May 1998