"Swans" by Vera Nazarian
"Sedna's Daughter" by Elizabeth Westbrook
"The Comfort of Thunder" by David J. Schwartz
"The Trickster's Lot" by Lena De Tar
"Conjure Me" by Jarret Keene
"Kundela" by Catherine MacLeod
"The Red Bird" by Douglas Smith
"The Missing Word" by Allan Weiss
"Legend" by Catherine MacLeod
"Closing Time" by Matthew Johnson
"The Gate of Heavenly Peace" by E.L. Chen
"The Blue, Blue Grass of Home" by Gary Archambault

Every once in a while, a magazine will put out an issue that seems to define its purpose, showcasing the best it has to offer. On Spec's Summer 2001 theme issue, World Beat, does just that. Reflecting, as general editor Diane Walton says in her introduction, "the cultural mosaic that is Canada", writers were asked to use their own culture, or one that interested them, as a basis for their stories. With one or two exceptions, the idea succeeded marvelously.

Starting things off with a bang is Vera Nazarian's captivating "Swans". There is no real conventional plot to this enigmatic story, adapted from a Russian fairy tale, of a woman who knits while bound to a pyre for not crying out when her babies were stolen at birth. Mute as a result of a vow taken seven years before, she waits for seven brothers (that she never had) to save her, and listens for the sound of swans' wings. No summary of events can do this extraordinary story justice. The pleasure rather is the tautness of the writing and the dream-like, surreal quality of the woman's predicament. In a few pages, Nazarian manages to describe, in beautiful language, the torment and suffering of her protagonist, and render themes like loyalty and purity in a truly evocative manner.

Next is Elizabeth Westbrook's "Sedna's Daughter", an enjoyable and charming read that, in the strength of its writing, follows "Swans" quite well. Set in a Newfoundland fishing community and culled from Inuit mythology, it tells of Sedna, cruel Mother of the Sea, embittered towards men as a result of having had her fingers cut off by her father when trying to scramble back on board their fishing vessel after falling overboard. Her daughter Nadooine, however, in the form of a seal, falls in love with John, a fisherman, and sets in motion the story's conflicts between mother and daughter, man and woman, and water and land. Engagingly written in east coast accent ("Lor Jee"!), the love affair between Nadooine and John is poignantly described, and Sedna's bitter fury well detailed and entertaining.

I found that the next story, "The Comfort of Thunder", by David J. Schwartz, suffered a little by comparison to the first two. A "mysterious stranger" tale, set mostly at a rural bar, to the soundtrack of country tunes that, in my opinion, added little to the story's impact, it tells of the mourning of Wendy and Mike, two young people of Norwegian descent, for their deceased grandmother. The mysterious stranger is Atli Horagalles, a big Viking-ish man whom no one seems to know, but who somehow knew their grandmother. The story attempts a surprise ending concerning the identity of the stranger, but was telegraphed far too early for my liking. What could have been a moving story instead left me feeling very little for any of the rather banal characters, which sapped the impact of the story's identity revelation.

The issue rebounds, however, with "The Trickster's Lot", by Lena De Tar. Using a mix of present day Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni mythology, the story recounts the adventures of a shape-shifting god, who travels time (dance me forward, dance me back, it says) searching for offerings from humans to kill its ravenous hunger. To get them, the god uses a variety of ingenious tricks. De Tar's god is likable and amusing, the story's tone is light, aided by De Tar's deft prose, and overall succeeds by its originality and clever execution.

Next is Catherine MacLeod's "Kundela", another of her "postcard" pieces that have been appearing in On Spec for several issues now. Some hit, some miss. This one, based on the Australian legend of the Kundela, a killing bone, misses, and I think is out of place in the issue. Perhaps the novelty has worn off?

The next two stories formed, in my opinion, the issue's peak.

Jarret Keene's "Conjure Me" is a taut, gripping investigation of voodoo, slavery and racism, set in a New Orleans suffering from an epidemic that attacks only white people. Josephine, a black slave, lusts after her owner, the Good Doctor, and, with the help of a voodoo sorceress, casts a love spell over the Good Doctor, whose wife is on her deathbed. Here the complex motivations of the characters are skillfully drawn, and the story's descriptive realism paints a dark and detailed picture of its setting and time. A grim but satisfying read.

Though quite different, "The Red Bird", by Douglas Smith, is equally satisfying, and, in my opinion, an even better read. Set in what the author says "may or may not be 14th century Japan", young Asai is saved from marauding pillagers, who have burnt down his village and killed his parents, by a Red Bird, who then brings him to the Temple of the Hidden Light. There he learns from Ikada, a Warrior defending the Temple, that he is the prophesied thousandth defender, the last one, though he is not told why. Things get more complicated, however, when a female warrior, Sawako, comes seeking the Light to save her village, but instead begins a tragic love affair with Asai. I must admit to being a sucker for this kind of zen/samurai/way of the warrior type fiction. However, this is such a superbly told, involving, and brilliantly paced short story, complete with an ending made more tragic by its inevitability, and not lessened, that I think it could succeed on any terms. Worth the price of the issue.

What follows is a quirky tale by Allan Weiss, "The Missing Word", that features something not seen before in SF: Eliezer, a Jewish wizard, and his trusty steed, Melech. Laced with that classic Semitic humor ("oy!"), the storyline is delightfully absurd, with Eliezer enlisted by a strange cave-people to find a Word that has escaped from one of their holy texts. Reading it, I was reminded of Woody Allen's Stardust Memories where his hostility takes bodily shape and goes on a rampage, killing his grade three teacher, etc. However, there are serious undertones in the story, concerning faith, the importance of the Word, and religious tolerance, that the absurdity almost overshadows, and the wizard is something of an archetype rather than a real character, but the story works by virtue of its humor and originality.

Another postcard from Catherine MacLeod is next, "Legend", and again, for me the novelty has worn off, mostly for the same reasons given above.

The next two stories bring us back to Asia.

Matthew Johnson's "Closing Time" tells of Gao, whose deceased father's spirit keeps hanging around his old restaurant, telling old stories and eating with his friends, instead of going off to stand before the Judge of Fate. Gao, a master chef who must cook for him and his friends, is tired of the tales he's heard a million times, and wishes his father would move on. He must also cook for the Emperor's uncle, but his meal fails. Insight comes, however, and Gao realizes the value of his father's stories, and the value of tradition and "passing down" through generations. While not much really happens in the story, it manages to capture a quietness and thoughtfulness well-suited to its Oriental subject matter. There might be more entertaining reads out there, but this was for me a fine, nicely written tale about Old China that details a generation gap and manages to bridge it calmly and quietly. And damn if I didn't get hungry reading it!

It's China again, Tiananmen Square, 1989, this time, for E.L. Chen's "The Gate of Heavenly Peace". This was a story I looked forward to reading, having very much enjoyed her last piece, "Two Certainties", in On Spec Spring 2001. I hate to say, but this one disappointed me. The narrator, a Canadian journalist of Chinese descent goes, with her blue-eyed, blond haired cameraman (a stereotype, anyone?), to the Square to cover the democratic insurrections, and in the process sees the Zhi, a goat-like animal out of Chinese mythology, that appears in the middle of the demonstrations. Though well written, I found the idea of the Zhi grafted onto the story, which I thought really just wants to explore the predicament of its narrator, who is undergoing a fairly trite identity crisis. Though this struggle may mean a lot to the author, I just didn't feel it was fictionalized well enough to draw me in as a reader.

The last piece, "The Blue, Blue Grass of Home", by Gary Archambault, also suffers from a similar case of a story "too close to home" for the author. It deals with two workers, the narrator and a Native American named Jim, in an aged care center, where the elderly and infirm are anything but cared for. Jim, who sometimes speaks in a clipped, stereotypical manner ("you OK for white man"), and who just might possess special powers, gets an ingenious idea to make the grass around the center turn blue. The story is well told, with Jim being a strong creation, and while the ending was also strong and inspired, even wonderfully liberating, it ultimately fell short for me due to a perceived "preachiness" on the part of the narrator/author.

This issue of On Spec was one of the strongest in recent memory, with all of the stories, including the weaker ones, being very worthwhile reading. It was refreshing to pick up an SF magazine without encountering the usual tropes of space/time travel, alternative worlds, and nary an alien to boot! Something a little different, and highly recommended.

Erol Engin lives and writes in Toronto. His first published story appears in the August 2001 issue of Challenging Destiny, and damned if he isn't flogging it for all it's worth!