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03-25-04: The Third Alternative Turns Ten |
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Ten
Years of Weird
Format is critical to magazine reading pleasure. My preferences run to the larger sizes, since in general they lay open more easily, and thus facilitate the all-important reading a great story while eating lunch in a moribund restaurant experience. The covers for all four tenth anniversary issues will be done by Dennis Sibeijn. Judging from "Spring', we've something to look forward to. The Guest Editorial is provided by Liz Williams. She talks about an interesting group of authors; the middle-aged women who wrote some excellent YA fantasy long before it was a surefire road to the Fortune 500. Susan Cooper and Joan Aiken books have their spots on my shelves, but I've not seen them cast across the literary landscape with the concise precision that Williams brings to her spot. When you live in or even near one of the larger cities, there's a certain sense of dislocation you can feel, with the city itself, or even with those around you. It's as if there's a layer of reality -- or unreality -- that you can't quite slice through. 'Iridescence' by Jay Caselberg, captures that feeling with quiet, tight prose, characters the coalesce into your consciousness and a surreal scenario that grows ever clearer, and ever more mysterious, as the story unfolds. Justin and Janessa are sort-of a couple, making their lives in the never-named city, a city that has simply up and floated into the clouds, high above the landscape. Meeting Janessa for breakfast, as usual, Justin gets some bad news; a mutual friend, Ben, has taken The Long Walk, leaving his partner Amanda behind. The event has implications for all the survivors that lead them to a greater understanding of themselves and the city. Caselberg creates characters whose reactions are real enough to lend reality to a potentially hard-to-swallow scenario. He succeeds admirably, creating a story that has a concrete, vertigo-inducing reality, but is shot through with dissonances that dislocate the reader into a pleasantly parallel parable about urban alienation. It's actually quite powerful and more than a little mysterious. Elsewhere, Christopher Fowler, whose 'Full Dark House' I just ordered, provides an acerbic column of film commentary in 'Electric Darkness'. He's talking horror films and 'Lord of the Rings'. It's fun stuff and there are a few I haven't seen I might be tempted to check out. You also get an interview with Official SF GrandMaster Ursula K. Leguin, Robin McKinley, and other stories by Tim Pratt, Karen Fischler, Joe Hill, Gavin Grant and Tim Lees. Seven bucks well spent, by any means. |
03-24-04: Can You Buy Them Fast Enough? |
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VanderMeer's
Remix Updated 3-35-04
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03-22-04: Changing Faces with PS Publishing |
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Lebbon
Sequel and Greenwood Titles from PS Publishing
When PS started, back in 1999, they laid out a fine line of novella-length fiction. Since then, they've ventured into full-length novels, short story collections, and non-fiction collections. They have an ambitious slate going forward. And they've finally come round to the point where they have released the first novella sequel to a previously-issued novella one that was easily one of my favorites. 'Naming of Parts', by Tim Lebbon, was the sixth novella to be released, and one that even my teenage son enjoyed. It was set in a post 'Night of the Living Dead'-style world, where dead things come back to life. Lebbon managed lots of imaginative riffs on that premise, but most importantly, he backed it up with a very carefully written character and voice, turning the novella into an unexpectedly powerful coming-of-age story. The cover illustration by Alan Clark was a nice touch as well. The sequel, 'Changing of Faces', is now out and once again, we’re graced with a lovely Alan Clark cover. And once again, Jack and his father, from 'Naming of Parts', are trying to forge a new life in a world where death has become common -- but not final. They're finding out that there are worse things afoot than lumbering zombies. And that their own desires may be the worst things of all. The introduction is by Simon Clark, himself not averse to tearing it up with the undead.
As ever, PS has outdone themselves on the dust jackets. To see the full Alan Clark cover for 'Changing of Faces', click here, being forewarned that it's a big image. And Chris Nurse's incredible collage for Jigsaw Men can be found here; again it's a huge image. What more can you ask for? The books themselves; but you'll have to buy 'em, just as did I. I'd suggest a subscription from PS Publishing, or that you find a reliable vendor who carries them all. Write me if you need a list of the usual suspects. |