Terraform, September 10, 2015

“These Were the Transitional Years” by Zak Smith

Reviewed by Dave Truesdale

Written by a real life alt-porn star (known as Zak Sabbath in the adult film industry), this story is strictly XXX-rated in terms of language and explicit sexual situations. It purports to show one possible future outcome from today’s society where every whim and impulse can readily be indulged–to excess–especially where the libido is concerned. There is a cautionary note included by way of the thoughts of the principle character, that this may not be the paradise some think it to be, and I suppose this is the real message here. Your take may be decidedly different.

Definitely not for the younger set; adults only for this one.

Dave Truesdale has edited Tangent and now Tangent Online since 1993. It has been nominated for the Hugo Award five times, and the World Fantasy Award once. A former editor of the Bulletin of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, he also served as a World Fantasy Award judge in 1998, and for several years wrote an original online column for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Now retired, he keeps close company with his SF/F library, the coffeepot, and old movie channels on TV. He lives in Kansas City, MO.