Cirsova “Orphan of the Shadowy Moons” by Michael Tierney (serial, not reviewed)
“The Flying Mongoose” by Jim Breyfogle
“Channel 121, After Midnight” by Mark Pellegrini
“The Recorporator Finds a Live One!” by Andrew Majors
“Serpent God of Mars” by Adrian Cole
“The City of the Crocodile God” by Owen G. Tabard
“Darla of Deodanth: Firewood” by Louise Sorensen
“An Ayre By Landor” by Jeffery Scott Sims
“Just Another Crappy Story That Kills Everybody In It” by Jim Breyfogle
“Dreaming of Mart Senson” by Liviu Surugiu
“Touch of Night” by Erik Johnson
“The Sound of Silence” by Rodica Bretin
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Eleven new works of science fiction and fantasy appear in this issue, in addition to the beginning of a novel and a portion of a lengthy narrative poem.
“The Flying Mongoose” by Jim Breyfogle is the latest in a series of sword-and-sorcery tales featuring a pair of adventurers. In this story, they are hired by a community of smiths to destroy dragons that keep the artisans from leaving their underground stronghold. The battle involves using an automatic crossbow and taking to the skies in an airship.
The technology of the flying machine is the most interesting aspect of the story. The fantasy elements will seem more familiar to fans of the genre. Although the two protagonists are enjoyable characters, one is off-stage most of the time, even during her climactic escape from the dragons.
In “Channel 121, After Midnight” by Mark Pellegrini, a bored schoolboy flips through multiple cable networks late at night. He finds a station that should not exist. It broadcasts bizarre, blurry images of his own neighborhood, leading to a struggle to escape from a mysterious being.
The author appears to specialize in young protagonists facing supernatural monsters, judging by previous works, and has great skill at portraying such characters realistically. The schoolboy’s desperate attempt to flee from a weird menace creates a great deal of suspense, but the entity’s existence remains unexplained and the story’s events seem almost random.
The protagonist of “The Recorporator Finds a Live One!” by Andrew Majors journeys to a seemingly uninhabited planet, hoping to find something valuable to salvage. He discovers the ruins of an ancient civilization, as well as an entirely new form of life. Eventually, he uncovers the planet’s secret.
The story is full of interesting science fiction concepts that hold the reader’s attention. The explanation for the planet’s mysteries is equally intriguing, but readers are likely to find the plot leisurely and the resolution anticlimactic. (As a trivial point, the title is awkward and does not fit the story’s mood.)
“Serpent God of Mars” by Adrian Cole takes place on a fantasy version of the red planet. The hero and his companion fight to destroy an evil sorcerer, who can transfer his mind into other bodies. The battle takes them deep underground, where they face weird creatures as well as the magician, who has taken on an unexpected form.
Fans of traditional sword-and-planet stories will enjoy the action scenes and strange monsters. Other may find the piece too old-fashioned.
Another pair of sword-and-sorcery adventurers appears in “The City of the Crocodile God” by Owen G. Tabard. They become involved with a priestess who has fallen under the influence of a sinister necromancer, in an attempt to bring her dead son back to life. As the title implies, they also face deadly reptiles as well as the wizard’s evil magic.
The most interesting part of the story is the appearance of the dead man’s so-called shadow. This entity, which is not the same as the son’s departed soul, becomes an intriguing character in its own right. Although this aspect of the plot is fascinating, it is also confusing. The role it plays in the climax is unclear.
The narrator of “Darla of Deodanth: Firewood” by Louise Sorensen is a young woman raised to be an assassin, a role she would rather escape. On a seemingly simple errand to obtain firewood, she becomes involved with a dangerous equine animal with deadly tusks as well as a sea monster.
As this brief and incomplete synopsis may imply, the best parts of the story are those dealing with imaginary creatures. The giant land snails that serve as scavengers for townsfolk are particularly enjoyable. Other aspects of the plot are less creative.
(One has to wonder, even in a fantasy story, why one species of horse-like animal consists entirely of females, and another of males. The two kinds do not interbreed; in fact, one is a predator upon the other.)
In “An Ayre By Landor” by Jeffery Scott Sims, a monarch obtains an elixir of invulnerability and immortality from a wicked sorcerer. He plans to kill the ruler of a neighboring land, who refused his hand in marriage, in order to take control of her territory and have his revenge for her disdain. A visiting warrior/magician, with the help of a great musician, seeks a way to defeat a seemingly unstoppable enemy.
The way in which music plays a role in the plot is an intriguing touch, although it seems like something of a deus ex machina. The villain meets an appropriate fate, even if many readers will be able to predict it.
“Just Another Crappy Story That Kills Everybody In It” marks the second appearance of Jim Breyfogle in this issue. As one can tell from the title, the author has tongue firmly in cheek in this account of the characters in a poorly written fantasy adventure trying to keep the story from completely falling apart. They have to guide the talentless author without drawing too much attention to themselves, in order to avoid oblivion.
This postmodern comedy has fun with the clichés of fantasy fiction in a way that manages to be both biting and affectionate. Written with a great deal of wit, it is sure to raise a smile on the face of anyone who has read too many undistinguished stories of mighty heroes and magical quests.
“Dreaming of Mart Senson” by Romanian author Liviu Surugiu, translated by J.S. Bangs, is a surrealistic tale of a man who develops images of people on his body. In each case, the person dreamed of him and then he dreamed of that person. As the situation gets out of control, it reveals his therapist’s dark secret.
One cannot fault the author for a lack of imagination, and the concept is certainly an original one. The story has an effectively eerie, nightmarish mood. Some readers may find that the revelation of the therapist’s guilt does not fit in smoothly with the rest of the plot.
“Touch of Night” by Erik Johnson combines elements of science fiction, fantasy, and crime fiction. The authorities pressure a private investigator into going undercover in a maximum-security prison in order to discover the true identity of an inmate who seems to be immortal. His discovery involves an ancient myth, and has a profound effect on the rest of his existence.
The science fiction elements seem out of place in a story that is otherwise pure fantasy. There are synthetic humans, for example, but they play no part in the plot. The encounter between the private eye and the immortal may lack drama, but the resolution is satisfying.
“The Sound of Silence” by Rodica Bretin is the issue’s second work by a Romanian writer. (There is no translation credit, so I assume it was written in English or translated by the author.) The narrator is assaulted by an instructor at a school for orphans, leading to the gruesome death of the attacker through her newly revealed psychic powers. She winds up in a mental hospital, where she experiences her treatments as a form of torture. Contact with another of her kind leads to a profound change in her life.
This is a grim story, full of visceral details of the narrator’s suffering that make for difficult but powerful reading. Its portrait of the abuse of children and mental patients may not be appropriate for young or sensitive readers, but those able to deal with these themes will find it a profound, moving experience.
Victoria Silverwolf has never been to Romania.