Fantasy & Science Fiction - March, 2006
Feb 20 '06 (Updated Mar 01 '06)
The Bottom Line A so-so issue, not holding up to recent ones (which I will eventually get around to reviewing).
Fantasy & Science Fiction - March 2006
The Stories
"Shambhala" - by Alex Irvine (novelet) 25 pages
"The True History of the Picky Princess" - by John Morressy (short story) 11 pages
"The Revivalist" - by Albert E. Cowdrey (novella) 46 pages
"From the Mouths of Babes" - by Trent Hergenrader (short story) 8 pages
"The Capacity to Appear Mindless" - by Mike Schultz (short story) 15 pages
“Czesko” – by Elf Deal (short story) 7 pages
"Intolerance" – by Robert Reed (short story) 18 pages
The March issue has a running theme of child-parent relations (as Gordon Van Gelder says in his introduction to Reed's "Intolerance") and it runs through most of the stories in this one. In actuality, you could broaden it to say childhood-authority relationships to encompass another of the stories. This issue has some interesting stuff in it, but it isn't as good as other issues have been. A couple of inconsequential stories and one that is downright unpleasant mar what could have been an outstanding issue. The cover, illustrating "Shambhala," is very striking, with a robotic woman attached to a network of some sort, with her face in her hands.
The stories
"Shambhala" - by Alex Irvine
In this story, we see the collapse of a virtual world from both inside and out. Mike Chancey is a software engineer witnessing the collapse of Shambhala, a virtual world set up so that humans can "squirt" themselves into it and avoid having to face the real world. He's torn in two directions, because his son is one of those who has squirted himself. Also, we see the world from inside with Shannon, a woman who sees the world crumbling around her and wants to get back to her real body before it is completely destroyed. Irvine covers all the bases with this one, giving us not only the two views, but also the view of the company and its marketing reps, trying to salvage as much as they can from the looming disaster. They offer a lottery to save a few lives and are willing to pay the compensation for the rest of the people, who some don't even consider people any more. The imagery is very nice, and the different forms of language (more stylish when seen from Shannon's point of view and more practical from Mike's) showcase the differences even more. An effective way to open the issue.
"The True History of the Picky Princess" - by John Morressy
A ninety degree turn on most fairy-tales, this story shows the darker side of fairy gifts. When a princess is born, the three fairies that inhabit the land come to bestow their gifts on the new child. Unfortunately, the gifts produce a young girl who is a stuck-up snob who considers nothing good enough for her. When it comes time to marry her off, the king and queen find that none of the suitors are good enough for her and none of them are willing to go through what the princess wants them to in order to win her hand. If she's not going to grow up as an old maid, they have to do something quick. A retired fairy comes up with a plan that doesn't do exactly what they expected. This is an extremely light story with a heavy moral about pride and arrogance. Unfortunately, it's not served well by Morressy, who doesn't give it quite the depth that such a theme should have.
"The Revivalist" - by Albert E. Cowdrey
Edward Fogarty is a man with a weird physical ability: he hibernates. Mistaken for being lazy, his father throws him out of the house at seventeen and he has to make his own way in the world. Once he researches his condition and determines what it is, he resolves to live forever, hibernating occasionally to slow his rate of growth, and spread progeny all through time. Unfortunately, his first wife, Myra, throws a spanner in the works. We see the history of the early 20th century through Edward's eyes, and it's an interesting one. The concept is also fascinating, with Edward creatively avoiding both world wars, waking up to the horrors of the Depression and to the machinations of his wife, who is getting steadily older even as Edward stays the same. The earnestness with which Cowdrey (and, since this is a "memoir," Edward does) gives the text an immediacy that makes the length of the story seem a lot shorter than it is. I found the story wonderful, and while Myra might be considered under-used, I thought she was perfect for the role she played: the viewpoint of someone from outside Edward's strange existence. Easily the best story.
"From the Mouths of Babes" - by Trent Hergenrader
What starts out as an apparent father-son stay at a motel and a flight of fancy from the boy becomes a bit more chilling when the truth is revealed about the nature of their relationship. The boy is not what he seems, and the father is actually more than a father. The boy senses somebody out to hurt them "in the tree" outside their room and Hergenrader reveals everything slowly, ratcheting the tension. As things reach a crescendo at the finale, I was entranced. I especially liked how every possible suggestion to get them out of their troubles gets shot down, until there is no other choice. And I especially loved the boy's reason for not saying anything ahead of time. Very human, for such a young boy. This story is a close second for my favourite of the issue.
"The Capacity to Appear Mindless" - by Mike Schultz
The human-goblin wars have ended and now both sides are at peace. Schools have been integrated and Boresnout Spinesnapper, goblin math teacher, has three humans in his class. Teachers have been instructed to treat the humans well with no stereotyping, but Boresnout finds that hard. He especially finds it difficult to keep his students in line, and he ends up harshly intimidating a young human girl, which prompts a seminar in tolerance from the principal of the school, who would like nothing better than to tear Boresnout limb from limb. This story just didn't work for me, though Schultz does effectively extrapolate the typical high school classroom into some rather disgusting goblin practices. Unfortunately, I didn't find that I cared for any of the characters and the goblin antics just seemed over the top. Yes, it may be making a statement about classroom integration in our own world, but the story just falls flat. There are a few amusing moments, but that's about it.
“Czesko” – by Elf Deal
This is a strange story, but it is quite effective. The narrator is called to a bar by an acquitance named Czesko, who insists on being baptized. However, he can't leave the bar that he's at, so the religious authority has to come there. When the narrator finds out the reason for Czesko's baptism and why he can't leave, the story just takes a turn for the surreal (or even more surreal, actually). This is actually an amusing story with quite the punchline at the end. The atmosphere is perfect, with the bar where nobody notices the strange duo in the booth and the two ministers (they try both Baptist and Methodist after the priest turns them down) are a hoot. The language used is quite earthy and intense, powering the narrative and making the story seem even more immediate. An excellent story.
"Intolerance" – by Robert Reed
It's unfortunate that this story had to end the issue, as it's a thoroughly unappetizing one. In a world where genetic engineering can add maturity to children and can also regress the body from adulthood, Cabe has done both. He's an arrogant a-hole, an apparent nine-year-old with an adult intelligence and the body of a two-year-old. He enjoys how uncomfortable it makes people, especially when he curses away. He meets a former classmate of his, who is in an artificially aged body, and the experience has harmful consequences for Cabe. I didn't find this story as repellent as some reviewers have, but I also didn't find anything even remotely redeeming in it. I didn't care for any of the characters, I actively disliked Cabe, which I'm sure was intentional. However, when the rest of the story doesn't have anything to recommend to it, liking the main character (or at least enjoying reading about him) would have helped. The ending is even worse, something that I can't imagine any woman doing, even for a son. This story ends the issue on a sour note, and it's a shame, as I usually enjoy Reed's writing.
The Articles:
"Books to Look For" - by Charles de Lint
Anansi Boys - by Neil Gaiman
The Colorado Kid - Stephen King
The Complete Calvin & Hobbes - by Bill Watterson
How Loathsome - by Tristan Crane & Ted Naiufeh
"Books" - by Robert K.J. Killheffer
The Hallowed Hunt - by Lois McMaster Bujold
Melusine - by Sarah Monette
Firethorn - by Sarah Micklem
"Films" - by Kathi Maio
A tribute to recent stop-motion animation, with reviews of The Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
“Curiosities” – by Gregory J. Koster
Wild Card by Raymond Hawkey and Roger Bingham (1974)
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