"The Angle of My Dreams" by Jay Lake
"Sweet Waters" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
"Sunlight in Spelling" by Marion Pitman
"Making Fields" by Mary Soon Lee
"The Third Way" by Darrell Schweitzer
"Volunteers" by Lawrence Watt-Evans
"The Ring of Ankhar" by Cherith Baldry
"Punishment" by Richard Parks

Something I haven't seen enough of lately are magazines full of stories that are actual stories. By that I mean narrative pieces with plots and characters. The debut issue of 3SF has these in abundance, and a healthy sense of wonder besides. In recent years I have rarely sat down with a magazine and enjoyed every story within, even the flawed ones. I did so with this first issue of 3SF. The magazine is off to a good start and I look forward to seeing further issues.

"The Angle of My Dreams" by Jay Lake

Jay Lake's tale of a strict man, the grandson he must raise as his own son, and the boy's obsession with flying left me feeling uplifted, although upon later reflection I found the child narrator's voice a little inconsistent–he didn't always sound as young as he did at the start. Nor did I feel that the grandfather's change of heart was explored sufficiently. He is strongly opposed to his grandson's dreams of flight, but it seems that it only took a little coaxing for him to join forces and believe in the fantasy himself. I can't tell whether or not any of the flights were symbolic, but I enjoyed them despite my reservations.

"Sweet Waters" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Lee and Miller turned out a nifty little space opera about a pilot stranded on an alien planet. The society was fascinating, the dilemmas tense and genuine, and I enjoyed the interplay between the characters. I wish more adventure science fiction was as enjoyable.

"Sunlight in Spelling" by Marion Pitman

While much of Marion Pitman's imagery was delightful and many of her concepts interesting, I felt like I missed the point of this one. Certainly most of the symbolism went right over my head. The tale is set on an Earth forever dark, and the central character, a truck driver, is obsessed with feeling sunlight. He is uptight and desperate and abuses his forgiving girlfriend–who we later find out, in an odd dream-like sequence, isn't human–and yet we're supposed to sympathize with him. I never managed to do so. For all of this, I must say that the writing was weird and beautiful and it kept me reading. I just wish it had delivered better at the end.

"Making Fields" by Mary Soon Lee

Mary Soon Lee writes a societal speculative fiction story of just the proper length. The narrator has committed a crime and must make fields suitable for farming to atone for it. It does not take us long to discover that the narrator is simple and honest, nor does it take too long to discover that the crime she committed was far less problematic than the crime that society perpetrated against her. We see the effects that the society has on her fellow prisoners, who don't seem to share the narrator's joy in making fields. A fine piece of writing.

"The Third Way" by Darrell Schweitzer

"The Third Way" is a fabulous fantasy story. Schweitzer's prose reads as though it was written effortlessly. In this tale we're taken on a quest with a great hero and his sidekick, the humble narrator, as they seek to make a deal with death. The hero, though, proves to have less up his sleeve than the narrator himself. The fantastic descriptions of the journey and the conversation with death were enjoyable, but could not top the final conclusion, the third way of the title.

"The Ring of Ankhar" by Cherith Baldry

Make no mistake, "Ring of Ankhar" is a flawed story. Much of the background is never explained. There is the matter of a missing ring which is required to safely rule Ankhar. How it went missing is never detailed, nor is the reason given for why the mystic lion who has it should suddenly return. These are pretty serious flaws, and yet I couldn't help but like this piece. The setting, in a pseudo-Dickensian fantasy world, was fresh and interesting, and I enjoyed all of the central characters. Cherith Baldry has crafted her words with power, and this story has stayed with me far longer than other better-explained stories fashioned with less wonder.

"Volunteers" by Lawrence Watt-Evans

The aliens are finally here, and they want volunteer humans to travel back to their home planet. They won't say why. The narrator, his brother Jason, and Jason's girlfriend Emily watch it unfold, and debate what the aliens might desire and what they want to do. Lawrence Watt-Evans penned an engaging story here, and it was interesting to watch the characters' stories play themselves out. In the end it was less a fable of alien landings and more a story of seizing the moment rather than idly watching it.

"Punishment" by Richard Parks

Richard Parks pulled me through this tale of the near future, where criminals are rehabilitated to recognize the horror of their crimes and then put to death. Unfortunately, despite Parks' skill, my belief was never suspended. He never convinced me that so much time and energy would be devoted to rehabilitating only to execute. Some hope for the society is offered by the central character's husband, who hopes to use the technology the narrator uses to rehabilitate criminals to better purpose, but he never felt adequately developed.