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Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
October/November 1997

Stories featured in this issue are:

"God is Thus" by Walter M. Miller, Jr. is an excerpt from his latest book, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. This story tells about Blacktooth, a character in a book, who journeys away from the abbey with a group of people. They stay a few days at the home of a gennies (genetically handicapped) people and Blacktooth finds himself being fancied by the daughter of the group. As an excerpt, it leaves some questions unanswered but it may be enough for you to get a taste of Miller's last book before his death.
"Transcendense" by Nancy Springer is a 'letters-only' story (a story made up of letters) between a poet (who wants to be left alone) and his admirer (who has a fannish attachment to him). The resolution is nice and makes you wonder whether this story really does have an element of fantasy in it instead of being just a tale of coincidences between the poet's poetry and their effect on people (including the fan).
"The Hole in the World" by Jack Williamson resembles a story Philip K. Dick could have written, in the way it plays with reality as we perceive it. A character notices a mole on his face which nobody else can see and which gradually expands, turning faces and objects around him into blind spots.
"Paul and Me" by Michael Blumlein is a story about a legend of the forest trying to survive in the modern age that does not need legends anymore. The legend's downfall is unexpected, yet surprisingly realistic when considering the ills that befall modern man.
"Deus X" by Jerry Oltion and Kristine Kathryn Rusch is a modern look at the legend of Jesus. A politician puts his sister in a hospital after she claims to have invisible visitors. As he is in the midst of a campaign, he doesn't want charges of madness in his family to affect his election prospects. But things make a change for the worse when he begins to see her sister's imaginary people...or are they imaginary? As it turns out, they come seeking a certain kind of help from him.
"To Church with Mr. Multiford" by Robert Reed is a story about a group of young boys to decide to play a trick and leave a crop circle in a farmer's farm. The farmer is well know for crop circles on his farm which people suspect he creates himself. But the truth is much stranger and stunning.
"Down the Fool's Road" by Lisa Goldstein is a peculiar tail about a girl's journey through a fantasyland lead by a group of laughing, dancing people. Meeting many strange people and places along the way, she finally returns to the real world with 'something she must do'. I don't think I quite understood the story, though.
"Like the Gentle Rain" by Lewis Shiner is a story about a future run by 'scientists' which are literally brains encased in vacuum-cleaner like contraptions that take babies with potential for fast learning. The mother's quest to get her child back leads her into conclusions about who is really running the world. Fascinating although nothing really different from other 'scientific utopia' stories.
"Selfness" by Gregory Benford is a science article where he looks at the issue of clones and self-awareness. He argues that the whole ideas of clones being exact duplicates wrong (Benford has a twin brother) and gradually works into a discussion between whether you ought to transfer you consciousness into a machine or clone yourself. Some thoughtful ideas can be found in this article.
"Everything's Eventual" by Stephen King is an interesting story about a man who appears to have a good life: all he has to do is live in a house, occasionally sending out letters containing strange shapes to certain people, causing them to die. Things start to unravel when he begins to wonder about the people he is killing.

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Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine October/November 1997

Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine
October/November 1997