Creative writing is not immune to information technology. The literary equivalent to music’s Ipod is the ebook reader and there are many portable devices into readers can download an electronic version of a novel or magazine. Alternatives to specific ebooks are PDAs, laptops and some mobile phones.

Fictionwise (http://www.fictionwise.com/) is a US website which formats books and magazines for web distribution to e book readers such as the ‘Amazon Kindle’ or ‘Sony Reader’. They take a file from the publisher and convert it to the multitude of formats needed to ensure all E book readers and many ‘mobile’ devices can display the text.

Fictionwise sell the files through their website though publishers can also do it themselves via their own, or retailer, sites.

‘MultiFormat’ ebooks are not encrypted and paying for one type of download format allows free access to other formats of that ebook. So customers who update to a new e reader or mobile device do not lose access to their library.

TTA Press’s (http://ttapress.com/) short fiction publications are Interzone, Black Static and Crimewave. The first two are magazines with original short fiction and non-fiction articles and the latter is a regular collection of short crime fiction. Crimewave 9 Transgressions has been on sale at Fictionwise since October 2007 and now Interzone magazine is available as an ebook.

Readers can purchase the magazine in single issues or as a one-year subscription here The e publication of the magazine began with the three most recent issues of Interzone: 211, 212, & 213. Future issues will appear alongside the publication of the print edition. At this time, there are no plans to offer any issues before IZ 211.

At present the e edition is not available direct from the TTA or T3A site.

If you’re not familiar with Interzone (shame on you!) then read past reviews and articles on Interzone.

TTA Press, publisher of renowned short fiction showcases Interzone, Black Static, and Crimewave, also published The Fix. The latter in its print incarnation, provided critical analyses and reviews of an extensive range of short fiction.

Now, The Fix has relaunched in a new, online format, once again providing a venue for critical coverage of speculative short fiction across the full spectrum of magazines, webzines, anthologies, and single-author collections.

Publisher Andy Cox predicts that The Fix will grow into the hub for aficionados and practitioners of short fiction to visit for news and commentary relevant to the community.

Managing Editor Eugie Foster, arriving to helm The Fix fresh from a distinguished career as managing editor of Tangent Online, plans to spotlight short fiction in all its myriad mediums: print, online, audio, and film.

In addition to its core content of short fiction reviews, The Fix will publish feature articles, exclusive interviews, and regular columns on writing, speculative poetry, audiobooks, podcasts, and short film.

Editors and publishers interested in sending material for review consideration in The Fix should go to: http://thefix-online.com/contact/

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Another large helping of dark and disturbing fiction arrives in the form of Dark Tales #11. The whole issue is entertaining and varied in contents, and looks and feels quite smart too.

The opening story this issue is A. Reader’s Half Life, which is the name of a drug that reduces the patient’s age by half. Sounds like miracle, but as is usually the case there are unforeseen and rather unsettling side effects. The story is well written, and does a good job of outlining the true horror of the situation, with a profoundly thoughtful ending. At least, I thought it was the end, only to find another few paragraphs over the page that I thought rather blunted the impact. So, choose for yourself which end you think best.

Niall McMahon recounts A Dream of Faces, the touching tale of a young boy’s encounter with a terribly scarred burns victim who touches his life for a while. His initial reactions, the subsequent development of their relationship and her ultimately profound effect on his life really are engagingly told. The feelings of both come across well and ensure that the story will stay with you.

Debt is a story of lycanthropy by Andrew J Oliver. It’s only short, so there’s no real development of the characters or motivations beyond a brief setting of the scene. It’s also written in the second person, which I always find a little odd, but that’s just a matter of taste. The confusion and disorientation are conveyed well, but no real explanation is given. The success of the story then depends on whether you like reasons for the strange goings-on, or whether you’re happier with the unexplained.

A man attempting to retrieve his lost wallet from an eccentric old woman is the setting for Davin Ireland’s Growing Season. There’s some good descriptive work of the decrepit house and the overgrown garden, with the old lady becoming more and more creepy. The tale develops well as bewilderment and frustration set in, slowly giving way to horror as the old lady’s true purpose becomes clear. I’m giving up gardening after reading this.

Seeing Red is a vampiric tale by Mel Wright, in which a young boy develops a taste for blood through a series of seemingly innocent incidents. The story becomes more and more disturbing, with a horrifying finale in an allotment that doubles my resolve to give up gardening!

An unsettling guest in a B&B provides the chills in Reception by Peter Hynes. He seems to be watching particularly gory horror films in the privacy of his room. When the proprietor finally learns the truth he quickly wishes he hadn’t. The creepy guest is developed well as the owner becomes more and more fixated on discovering the truth, but like Debt I was left slightly nonplussed at the conclusion.

In Prize Pelt Valentine Roberts describes a suitably creepy artist with a fur fetish. The man’s unusual tastes are revealed slowly and build up the expectation to round the story off nicely.

Tall Flowers by Mark Reece is similar in concept to Growing Season, but I wasn’t really sure whether to take it seriously or not. The main character, who becomes fixated with gardening, doesn’t act with any kind of logic, and neither does the librarian whom she meets. Admittedly she’s a bit eccentric, but the plot seemed to be rushing to its conclusion without much thought to how to get there.

The final story is also the strongest. David Robertson’s The Blackford Folly is set in a Scottish stately home in Victorian times, where two men investigate the disappearance of the Laird who lives there. There’s plenty of atmospheric description – the servants, the study, the folly itself, strange goings-on in the night. The Arthur Conan-Doyle style also adds to the flavour. A very enjoyable and engrossing tale to round out the issue.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Since issue #3, Fiction magazine has moved to PDF format, with the possibility of moving back to print in the future. I don’t find on-line magazines as exciting as having an actual printed magazine in your hand, but the editors are maintaining the standard of fiction established in their first two print editions.

The first and longest story is An Act of Mercy by Sarah Hughes. It’s a multi-stranded story that initially left me confused due to the similarity of character’s names in different threads (Ryan, Rayne, Reuben). This meant that I had to keep checking back , breaking the flow of the story. Several typos didn’t help too. Getting past these problems, it was an interesting story of viruses, nanobots, androids and a sprinkling of very diverse characters to add to the interest. I’m tempted to say it was almost too ambitious, introducing enough characters to sustain a much longer piece. The complex plot was entertaining though and the android characters were particularly well developed.

Gareth L Powell’s contribution is A Necklace of Ivy, a realistically rendered tale set against the backdrop of a mysterious alien plague sweeping through Cornwall. A young couple are making their way out of the county in advance of an army curfew, but make the mistake of stopping for one last break. The realistic dialogue and briefly sketched description make it a compelling little tale.

Andrew Knighton’s The Secret in the Sewers is great fun, a cross between Alan Quartermain and The Wild, Wild West in which two intrepid, presumably Victorian, explorers discover something unusual beneath the city of Venice. It’s written with flair and charisma and is very entertaining.

The old question of Artificial Intelligence and self awareness is given an intelligent outing in Bob Lock’s Do We Not Bleed?. A hung-over scientist is excited at the prospect of solving the aforementioned problem, but discovers something rather startling. Again the characterisation and dialogue are realistically portrayed and result in an intriguing story.

I still like my magazines to arrive in the post though.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Unlike most of the other magazines I’ve read recently, Midnight Street contains a varied mixture of interviews, reviews, and articles, as well as a sprinkling of poems interspersed among the fiction. It’s an A4 magazine with coloured illustrations on the cover and black and white within.

We start with The Ice Horse, an intriguing story by Mark Howard Jones in which an unfortunate captive is imprisoned inside a giant sculpture of a horse. Why he’s there isn’t entirely clear, partly due to his half-frozen state. The background character of the artistic genius who created the sculpture adds an interesting dimension too as the freezing captive tries to figure out an escape.

An unstable man who suffers from gaps in his memory, among other things, goes Shoplifting in Chris Ward’s story that alternates between humour and pity. As his character becomes more paranoid and desperate, unsure whether he stole the clothes he’s wearing, his situation becomes more and more pitiable. It’s a story well told, aside from the use of profanity that I thought over the top, being used in the narration as well as by the shoplifter. Sorry, alleged shoplifter.

The something in Ken Goldman’s story There’s Something in Autumn Palms Lake quickly turns out to be an alligator. I’m not spoiling the story by telling you that. The reason it’s there, told in flashback, and the final scene, make what seems to be a fairly predictable story into something much more interesting.

I like to experiment with unusual story formats, and Peter Straub’s Lapland, or Film Noir certainly is unusual. It’s written as though part of an essay on the film noir genre, with bits of story strung together and interesting observations thrown in. At first the style was a bit off-putting, but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Allen Ashley’s contribution And I, The Footman is a nostalgic reunion for three old college friends. Their weekend in an old country house is haunted by memories of the suicide that took place last time they were there and the mixed feelings of guilt they have harboured ever since. The mystery is maintained through the story as reality and imagination are dreams are blurred and the truth finally comes out at the well-crafted end.

Bliss is a futuristic story by Peter Loftus in which the world has been struck by a deadly virus and only the ‘lucky seven’ percent are immune. The desperation of the situation comes through as one man looks for a high-tech way to end it all. It’s a well-written story, but unfortunately I’d read a very similar tale in Forgotten Worlds #5 last year so it lacked a certain impact this time.

Sharon Bidwell’s Degrees of Sickness suffered from a similar lack of impact and left me feeling that perhaps I’d missed some deeper meaning. A sick woman lies in bed, suffering from delirium and not sure what’s happening to her. I wasn’t sure either, so maybe that was the point. It also suffered from following on from Bliss where a sick man lay dying in bed. I can only take so much depression.

A trip to Tokyo is next in store in John Paul Catton’s Flowers of Edo. The story is told in two different time frames: WWII, when Tokyo is set aflame by bombing raids, and the present day where mysterious fires continue to break out. The war scenes are particularly moving, and the interweaving of Japanese culture adds an extra dimension to this intriguing tale.

My favourite story of the issue is Roz Southey’s Spin-Off Merchandise, a story set in a future that reminded me of Blade Runner. It’s a society where celebrity and conformity have both gained such importance that almost everyone has gone under cosmetic surgery in order to imitate their favourite star. The few who don’t conform are fiercely persecuted and the mission of one woman to make her way unnoticed through the city streets was both entertaining and thought-provoking.

The final story is the nauseating Dreams of Elvis by Donna Taylor Burgess, in which a massively obese woman finds herself stuck on the bathroom floor after a fall. As she succumbs to hunger and thirst she begins to hallucinate, and have nasty thoughts about her kittens. It’s definitely an attention grabbing tale, but inconveniently placed after two other stories of ill people lying about helplessly, so I wasn’t really in the mood for it by then.

So it’s a magazine with a wide variety of both stories, articles and other items to keep you entertained, and the only magazine I’ve come across so far to be published three times a year. I’m a couple of months late with this one, so issue #10 should be out soon, and I’m looking forward to receiving it.

Read to the end for a subscription offer.

Cover Art: Science fiction imagery from a South American perspective by Argentine artist Osvaldo Gonzalez who now works from Florida.

Fiction:
Feelings of the Flesh Douglas Cohen’s novelette is this issue’s debut story. Its theme is the conflicts between desire and instinct for individuals, and society, when change is necessary. Douglas is single, almost 30, and has a BA in English from Hofstra University, Long Island. His day job in New York City involves organizing medical conferences for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc. He lives an approximate 40 minute rail commute away in Valley Stream, NY. This is his first published story. Illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

Ack-Ack Macaque is Gareth Lyn Powell’s second Interzone story and he has sold a novel and a collection on the strength of his first appearance last year. Illustrated by SMS.
On the strength of his original publication in Interzone Gareth has progressed to two book deals; one for a novel (Silversands - Pendragon Press due 2009) and the other for a collection of short stories (Distant Galaxies Colliding - Elastic Press due August 2008). This second story features a one-eyed, cigar-smoking monkey wreaking havoc in Gareth’s home city, Bristol. There’s an interview with Gareth here.

A Handful of Pearls by Beth Bernobich. Beth is new to Interzone but she is making a name in the US magazines. Illustrated by Jesse Speak.
Beth is an author, software engineer and mother of a teenage boy. She studied in Heidelberg and Virginia and now lives in Connecticut, PS will publish her novelette Ars Memoriae as a limited-edition chapbook in 2009 and she has featured in Asimovs Magazine and Strange Horizons.

Dada Jihad by Will McIntosh, author of Soft Apocalypse in IZ 200. Chris Nurse illustrates.

The Algorithm by Tim Akers. After Toke in IZ 210 comes Tim’s fourth Interzone story. Illustrated by Warwick Fraser-Coombe

Non Fiction:
Ansible Link David Langford’s news and gossip

Editorial by our new book reviews editor Paul Raven (that’s Mr Velcro-City to you and me)

25 IZ: celeberating the 25th anniversary of Interzone with contributions from James Lovegrove, Mike Ashley, Sean McMullen, Chris Roberson, Karen Fishler, Daniel Kaysen, Peter Crowther Andy Mills, Andy Sawyer, and from Interzone’s original editorial team Alan Dorey.

Mutant Popcorn: Nick Lowe’s film reviews.

Laser Fodder@ 500 RPM: Tony Lee reviews DVDs

Scores by John Clute’s book reviews.
Bookzone: lots more book reviews

Charles Stross interviewed.

Podzone: Paul S. Jenkins British SF in podcast form.

25th Anniversary OFFER FOR SCIFI UK REVIEW Readers!

Running through the whole of 2007 SCIFI UK REVIEW readers can obtain 25% extra issues on a 12-issue subscription (that’s six months worth) from the Interzone Subscription Site. (That’s three whole issues, free!)

Remember to include ’scifi.uk’ as your Shopper’s Reference so they know to include your extra free issues!

The Official Interzone Site.

The INTERACTION Interzone / TTA Press Forum.

Read past reviews and articles on Interzone, it will give you an idea of the content and how it has transformed into the sensewunda it is today.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

This is my first experience of Dark Tales, a glossy A5 magazine that’s filled, predictably, with stories of a dark slant. It advertises itself as a magazine of fantasy, horror and SF, but disappointingly for me contained little in the way of SF. Still, reviewers can’t be choosers, as the old saying goes.

Merlins Pool is a story about fishing by Trevor Hicks. That makes it sound dull. It’s actually very atmospheric and with a sense of the mysterious that makes it quite a satisfying read.

John Morgan’s Still Life is a very short piece that shows what lengths some people will go to for art. Like all good flash fiction it gets to the point quickly, and that point is nice and sharp.

Sophie Duffy’s heroine in Hot and Cold is a lonely woman haunted by memories of her twin sister who went missing on the way to school over 20 years earlier. Now an estate agent, she feels strangely drawn to a creepy old house. There’s a nice balance of suspense being built, then shaken off as the woman dismisses her fears, that build to an over all emotive tale.

In The Model Colin Leonard gives us another troubled artist. this one blind and under the seemingly beneficent influence of a mysterious woman who has served as his muse. The story is told from the artist’s viewpoint, rather cleverly considering his blindness, and you really come to appreciate his dark world. I may have missed something at the end though. Although it built to a dramatic climax, I didn’t quite see what it was. Ironically enough.

Caroline Bates’ traveller from another village brings Another Cautionary Tale to his eager listener’s crowded into the local tavern. He weaves a dreadful tale of death and destruction, sketching the background characters and audience with just enough detail to bring them to life and get you involved. It’s a story very well told, both by the man in the bar and by the author.

Dennis Michael Skeet provides another piece of flash fiction in Escape. Being so short I can’t say much more than it’s an alternate history tale about Hitler. Or is it?

The Binding is a somewhat gruesome tale from Paul Neads in which an actor has discovered some ethereal way of binding a group of other worldly creatures to himself. It’s divided up into scenes like a screenplay, to tie in with the main character’s occupation, a character who comes across as convincingly disturbed.

A property developer recounts his terrifying ordeal at an old mansion in The Blue Room by A.J.Humphrey. I didn’t find it particularly terrifying though as it was told in the first person, thus ensuring the narrator’s survival. There were a couple of nice little twists, but not the drama of some of the other stories.

The Lady, Eve presents Priya Sharma’s tale of another tortured artist, this one a man who seemingly binds up his models’ very essence in the sculptures he creates. The dialogue and relationship between his wife and his latest model / mistress are very well written, and although we never actually meet the artist, his sorrowful tale is very involving.

A Winter’s Tale by Alison Theaker is the story of a betrayed woman’s revenge and her plan to do away with the evidence. Although it’s competently written, I didn’t get a sense of emotion or tenseness to really draw me in.

So it really is a volume of dark tales, with a mixture of mystery, humour, and chills. But no science fiction.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

As the months passed and no further issues of Forgotten Worlds appeared I began to fear the worst. Then all of a sudden issue #9 arrived in the post, bringing another varied selection of stories that fill this 56 page A5 magazine to capacity.

We start the magazine with the entertaining Flotsam Jewel by Fraser Ronald, a story of mysterious jewels, wizards and guilds. What’s particularly interesting about this story is the setting in the floating suburb known as Flotsam – a shanty town of old boats and shacks built on rafts that constantly moves with the swell of the tide. The setting is an integral part of the story rather than just a gimmick and along with the well-developed central character it gives the whole story a solid basis.

The Box is a truly unnerving tale by Neil Davies, in which a desperate man with a secret decides his new neighbour’s large wooden box could be very useful. It’s very well written, building the suspense while also surprising you with unexpected developments.

There are some excellent concepts in Graeme S Huston’s The Unregistered Daydreamer: Bold technological concepts, a humorous relationship with an alien, nightmares breaking out into reality. It’s all tied together well, until the pacing picks up towards the end. I got the impression that had the piece been longer the ideas would have developed better, rather than the rushed impression that I was left with. The character of the unregistered daydreamer himself is a great idea though.

Another Day on the Job: Meet Lucious is the third of Chris Silva’s very short pieces about an enigmatic thief. The previous two stories left everything rather unclear, but put together they start to build an interesting concept. Whether it will be rounded further in future issues remains to be seen.

V Anne Arden gives us a coming-of-age story in Hunter, the tale of a young girl’s journey into the desert on her first hunt and her struggle to find her place among her tribe. The interplay between the various characters comes across well and the fabulous creatures encountered are described with realism rather than coming across as fantastical. It makes for a well-paced and pleasant story.

Ian Brazee-Cannon seems to share my wry sense of humour as an heroine in leather armour heads off on her first mission to fight the forces of evil. Renee and the Sacred Order of Our Lady of Bloody Vengeance is set in a modern English town, just to throw you off balance, and manages the humour well, dealing with ridiculous situations without descending into farce. The conclusion particularly made me smile. There are an unfortunate number of typos, which is a shame as I didn’t notice any in the rest of the magazine, but you just have to ignore those to enjoy the story.

Rounding off the issue is G D Penman’s satirical A Party Political Broadcast, in which none other than Mothra makes a fairly convincing plea for our votes in the next general election. The worrying thing is he sounds as plausible as any other politician!

So as with previous issues an interesting and varied selection, maintaining a decent standard of fiction with something to appeal to everyone.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Darker Matter is a UK based webzine that promises to be ‘the high quality online science fiction magazine so many worlds have been waiting for’. It provides artwork with each story and also has a continuously-updated list of the top-ten ranked stories so far. The font on the main page is not the easiest on the eye, but the stories are laid out nicely.

True History is Jason Stoddard’s far future tale of humanity who’s minds are connected by the Grid. It’s the kind of story that Greg Egan might have written, a clever concept of how man could develop technology too far and change what it is to be human. A thought provoking piece that makes you wonder.

A much lighter tale is provided by Sue Lange with Peroxide Head, a story about a hairdo rather than the end of civilisation. Thinking about it, to a woman both issues are equally serious. :~D There are some interesting ideas on alien civilisations and clever comparisons with our own to make it an enjoyable little piece.

From Hank Quesne we have Sponsored by… , a satirical story of corporate sponsorship, war games and innovative ways to get rid of unwanted social groups. The thing that makes it special is the principled central character, and his idealistic thinking, right up to the ironic conclusion.

You wouldn’t normally expect an alien invasion to consist of deer, but in Jerry Oltion’s Starlings the forests are being taken over by a mysterious new species that has everyone puzzled. It’s an enjoyable story that explores different attitudes and weaves a satisfactory tale.

My favourite story of the issue is Young Love on the Drowned Side of the City by William D McIntosh. It’s a post-apocalyptic tale of youngsters left to fend for themselves in a ruined city while the adults struggle to cope with their own trauma. The society is well realised and the relationships between the characters make it a troubling but heart warming tale.

To round of the issue I.E.Lester provides an article about generation ships. It doesn’t go into vast technical detail, but is a nice introduction and summary of the subject. Read the stories; add your votes. It’s a strong selection and fulfils the editors aim of high quality.

Update: It appears, sadly, that Darker Matter has tanked. You can read the full story on Darker Matter’s Blog.

It seems to be a very unusual ‘zine that makes it into double figures…

On and impluse, I did a search for old Interzone covers on google images, and came back with this site which holds most (if not all) the covers of Interzone from Issue 1 to Issue 199, which strangely enough is exactly where I started subscribing to it.

I particularly liked the way the cover changed slightly from Issue 1 to Issue 2, the total eclipse of the sun moving off centre and the colour changing. Very effective, if simplistic.

You can see how the artwork progressed, and the way in which ’sf’ is being portrayed through art is changing.

It’s also amusing to see how the Interzone logos change over the years, of which I prefer the newest. Although that’s not to say the older ones weren’t ‘cool’ in their day - they just look kind of dated now, which isn’t really true of the artwork itself, it’s stood the test of time.

My favourite is Issue 16 as it reflects the kind of stories I rate high on my list - a world which is similar to our own on the surface, but strange when examined closely.

Looking at the covers, quite a few names jump out. Most notably, J.G Ballard, Christopher Priest, Jonathan Carroll (which I never realised had written for Interzone), Ian Watson, Kim Newman, Greg Bear, Bruce Sterling,, Greg Egan, Eric Brown and William Gibson, to name but a few. Which goes to make an impressive lineup.

A great archive, which covers the covers of the world’s best, British and longest running, sf magazine, although, sadly, the names of the artists are missing.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Fiction returns with its 2nd issue, this time with a glossy cover to improve its air of professionalism, and the same informal, enthusiastic mix of reviews and comments. The fiction this time maintains or even improves the high standard set by issue #1.

The Gate is a fabulous story by Rhian Chapman. It’s the emotive story of a star ship pilot who uses wormhole-type gates to transport cargo across the galaxy. The transit is beautifully described and the emotional highs and lows of the life of a pilot are truly involving.

Noah Chin’s Last Wave on the Shore is an excellent piece of ironic story telling. In the far future composers struggle to write any music that hasn’t been heard before, and it’s left to two disillusioned men to give the bad news after analysing each submission. There are hints of well developed backdrop to the story that give it a nice perspective.

I don’t really read horror, so I’m not a good judge of Steven Deighan’s Feels Like Stephen King. It starts in familiar territory though – an aspiring writer receiving his manuscript back in the post. In this case the publisher is more creepy than the manuscript; perhaps a salutary lesson for us all!

Unusually there are two stories by the same author in this issue. Noah Chin’s second offering is Echoes, a futuristic war story where the jaded soldiers discover what life could be like. Again the irony comes through, and like his first story the prose is excellent.

Finally, the longest and most riveting story of the issue: Russ Jackson’s City of Flesh. It’s told in the first person, which confused me when the viewpoint shifted in the 2nd section. It’s a classic ‘aliens walk among us’ conspiracy, and the various protagonists offer different slices of insight into what’s happening. The Day of the Triffids came to mind among other things, and I was gripped to the end.

Fiction is now promising to be bimonthly, but still with plans to go monthly at some point. If the fiction maintains the same high standard it will certainly be a magazine to look out for.

Reviewed By Gareth D Jones

Since switching from print to on-line publication, Hub has presented a new story, along with reviews and articles, every Friday. June also saw the first ‘Special Issue’, so along with issues 9 to 13 there were six stories to read during the month.

First off The Boy at the Gate by Barry J House is the creepy tale of a man plagued by the dream of a boy who wants to be followed somewhere. It’s a mystery that goes back to the traumatic events of childhood, and the unsettling air is maintained throughout to make a compelling story.

Mur Lafferty does an excellent job of avoiding paradoxes and the confusion that is all to common when writing a time-travel story. In Looking Forward to Remembering You a time travelling escort agency guarantees to provide just the experience you missed out on when you were younger. It’s written with great feeling and is convincing enough that there’s no need to worry about the mechanics of time travel. Very enjoyable.

The Blue Parallel is a cleverly inventive story by Jessica Reissman that explores a world where reality is not solid and precautions are necessary against the chaotic work of ‘patterners’. It’s one of those stories that could be SF or fantasy, but it doesn’t actually matter as you are caught up in her marvellously crafted world.

I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy Jeff Cook’s Man for a Moment. Not that it wasn’t competently written, but the subject matter was rather too brutal to make it enjoyable. Evisceration, bestiality, babies being killed – all the things submission guidelines usually tell you to avoid are there if you like that kind of thing.

Special issue 1 is a reprint of Alasdair Stuart’s Connected to mark it’s nomination for a BFS award. It’s a creepy tale of how modern technology can be more trouble than it’s worth. It’s very short, but very effective.

Finally January Mortimer gives us More than a Butterfly. It’s a story of genetic manipulation, fashion, butterflies and one woman’s passion for her work. There are some nice touches that help to flesh out the main character, showing her to be a complex person while hinting at the complexity of the subject without getting bogged down in technicalities. It came across with great feeling.

Altogether the magazine is maintaining a high standard of fiction and a consistency of publication that is every magazine’s dream. With news that it is now receiving Arts Council funding (and that one of my stories will be appearing in November!) it looks to have a secure future.

* ‘The Story Shall Be Changed’: Tales and Re-tellings in the Short Story
* Saturday 21st July 2007, Edge Hill University

The short story is a protean form, encompassing myth, fable, anecdote, tall tales, yarns and literary experimentation. Rooted in oral tradition, storytelling has a special affinity with popular genres such as science fiction and tales of the supernatural.

In this second one-day conference on the short story at Edge Hill, we focus on this multiplicity of forms and genres. We also consider the re-imagining of familiar narratives, themes and imagery; and the invention of new ones. How is the short story being transformed in the twenty-first century?

The conference is linked with the inaugural presentation of the Edge Hill Prize, for a published single author collection from the British Isles. The winner will be announced on the eve of the conference, and it is hoped that writers from the shortlist (announced May 2007) will take part in the conference reading.

Confirmed speakers include:

* Professor Alan Wall (Richard Dadd in Bedlam and Other Stories)
* Andy Sawyer (Science Fiction Foundation, University of Liverpool)
* Cecilia Morreau (Leaf Books)

Call for Papers

Proposals for 20 minute papers are invited from all those writing and researching the short story, whether as practitioners or literary scholars (or both). Practice-based presentations are welcome. Suggested topics:

* Genre and sub-genre – crime – horror – the ghost story – fantasy – science fiction – gothic – erotica – autobiography – online writing – multi-media – hybrid genres.
* Intertextuality – myth and symbolism – image-based fiction – the epiphany – adaptation - oral storytelling - modernism and postmodernism.
* Individual authors – re-readings and reworkings – writing in translation - postcolonial fiction – experiment and innovation – novellas – story sequences – flash fiction – anthologies.

This is the second annual conference hosted by the North West Short Story Network, supported by Lancaster University, Liverpool Hope, St Martin’s Lancaster, University of Chester, Bolton University, Salford University and Manchester Metropolitan University (Cheshire).

Following last year’s conference, The Short Story, a selection of papers, including A.L. Kennedy’s opening speech, will be published by Cambridge Scholars Press in 2008.

Booking Fees: £55/£30 (students, unwaged).

For further information please contact:

* Dr Ailsa Cox, Department of English, Edge Hill University, St Helens Rd, Ormskirk L39 4QP
* Email: coxa AT edgehill.ac.uk

Short Story Programme of Events

9.30 am
Arrival and Registration (Management Centre Reception)

10.00-10.45
Opening Panel (MC8)
Professor Alan Wall (Richard Dadd in Bedlam and Other Stories)
Andy Sawyer (Science Fiction Foundation, University of Liverpool)
Cecilia Morreau (Leaf Books)

10.45-11.45
SESSION 1 PARALLEL PAPERS

Panel 1: Re-Readings (MC4)
Dr Peter Killick, Cardiff University: Allan Cunningham and Folklore in the London Magazine
Dr Jacqueline Phillips, Modernist Chekhov: Master of the Short Story
Kym Brindle, Edge Hill University: Authentic Illusion: Author[ity] and New Frontiers
Chair: Dr Rob Spence, Edge Hill University

Panel 2: Re-inventing the Form (MC5)
Ursula Hurley, University of Salford: Less is more - how miniature fictions are asking some big questions.
Dr Paola Trimarco, The Open University: Completing Narratives in Flash Fiction
Dr Helen Newall and Karen Hay, Edge Hill University: This is what it sounds like
Chair: Dr Ashley Chantler, University of Chester

Panel 3: Impossibilities (MC6)
Dr Alison Kelly, University of Reading: 9/11 and the Annihilation of Narrative

Dr Brian Baker, Lancaster University Iterative Architecture: the Short Story and the Ballardian Text

Lisa Ratcliffe, Edge Hill University:
Chair: Dr Ailsa Cox, Edge Hill University

11.45-12.00
Tea and Coffee

12.00-1.00
Reading: The Edge Hill PrizeEADING

1.00-2.00
LUNCH

2.00-3.00
SESSION 2 PARALLEL PAPERS

Panel 1: Intertextuality (MC4)
Dr Rob Spence, Edge Hill University: Shakespeare, Cervantes and Sophia: Intertextuality, Parody and Pastiche in the short stories of Anthony Burgess
Dr Maithrie White, Sri Jayawardenepura University, Sri Lanka: Fragmented Fillets of Fantasy: Fantastic Humorous Chaos and Its Postmodern Imitators
Victoria Adams, Newcastle University: Origins
Chair: Dr Helen Newall, Edge Hill University

Panel 2: Metamorphosis (MC5)
Phil Nichols, University of Wolverhampton School of Art & Design: Re-telling Tales - Ray Bradbury’s short stories in adaptation
Shirley Jones, Liverpool Hope University: Mythical Beings - Narratives of Desire, Change and Transformation in Kate Atkinson’s Not the End of the World.
Carol Fenlon, Edge Hill University: ‘Jimmy’s Discovery’: A Story of Myths and Monsters
Chair: Professor Linden Peach, Edge Hill University

Panel 3: Changing Perspectives (MC6)
Chaturvedi Divi, University of Wales Bangor: ‘The Flower Vase’
Roy Gray, Independent Scholar: (From Interzone)
Dr Ailsa Cox, Edge Hill University: A Short Walk Round a Story
Chair: Ursula Hurley, Salford University

Panel 4: Natural and Supernatural (MC8)
Sally Harvey – University of Wales, Bangor: ‘The Raven’
Dr Mari Hughes-Edwards, Edge Hill University: ‘ “A modicum of blood, shed with deliberation”: Fear, Form and the Ghost Stories of M. R. James’.
Paul Houghton, Staffordshire University: Writing Gothic Fiction.
Chair: tbc

3.00-3.15
Tea and Coffee

3.20-4.30
Reading: Celebrating the Short Story

* David Evans
* E.A. Markham
* Sarah Salway
* Dave Swann
* Alan Wall

4.30
Farewell and Close
Additional Information

* All sessions take place in the Management Centre
* There will be a bookstall during registration and lunch
* The Campus bus leaves for Ormskirk and station every 15 minutes
* For an Ormskirk taxis call 01695 575757

Interzone 211 (July/Aug 2007)
Cover Art: Interzone’s striking new cover design starts with Richard Marchand’s ‘Lunar Flare’ and leads with news that Interzone 211 is a special edition featuring Michael Moorcock, the writer described by the late Angela Carter as “a lord of misrule, whose work is the nearest thing we have in English to a never-ending carnival.”

Contents
Moorcock’s name will trigger a host of associations for SF and other readers. In his half century spanning career he has given us the albino warrior Elric of Melniboné; the multiverse-traversing trickster-victim Jerry Cornelius; the genre-bending voyages of the Von Bek dynasty; a masterful secret history of the twentieth century related by the self-deceiving Colonel Pyat; an unforgettable examination of the impulses for faith and martyrdom in Behold the Man; the exploits of steampunk time traveller Oswald Bastable; and the book IZ co-editor Andy Hedgecock would take to a desert island if Kirsty Young allowed him just one – Mother London, the magnificently mythic, affecting and optimistic celebration of life in the city.

Unmentioned as yet: the Hawkmoon books, the Dancers at the End of Time cycle or his, partly satirical, response to the works of J.R.R. Tolkein, The Chronicles of Corum.

And, as editor of New Worlds (1964 - 1971), Moorcock strove to encourage sf with greater narrative and linguistic complexity and to shift its focus towards the way we were living at the end of the twentieth century – towards an examination of our morality, our psychology and our sexuality.

A never-ending carnival indeed. But there’s a lot more to Michael Moorcock’s work than its variety. And while David Pringle, Interzone’s former editor, was spot-on in calling Moorcock “the consummate professional entertainer”, what makes Moorock unique is his ability to combine dazzling, compelling and accessible storytelling with relentlessly challenging moral exploration.

In 1999, Alan Warner (Morvern Callar and These Demented Lands) chose Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius Quartet as one of his ‘essential classics for the next 100 years’, saying: “… no other contemporary English writer seems to capture the moral dilemmas around us with such wry good humour, vigour and style in such a richly modernist way.”

The moral focus Warner talks about has always been a defining aspect of Moorcock’s work, but it has become more concentrated, more intense as he has honed his craft over the years. In 1982, as Interzone began publication, Moorcock was entering a new phase of moral engagement with his searing examination of sexual obsession, escapism and alienation, The Brothel in Rosenstrasse. Since then we’ve had the final three quarters of the Pyat quartet; the wonderful ‘Mother London’, an angry but hilarious outing for Jerry Cornelius in ‘The Alchemist’s Question’; the savagely satirical fable King of the City; and an underrated but, for some, hugely influential polemic, The Retreat from Liberty.

Talking of polemics, read Michael Moorcock’s Guest Editorial, ‘The March of the Whiteshirts’. It’s a fascinating dissection of the deadening effect of cultural stasis and conformity over the past four decades, and a plea for a vibrant counterculture to challenge the domination of the ‘Whiteshirts’. It makes an inspiring start to a cracking Moorcock special:

Michael Moorcock:
Guest Editorial: The March of the Whiteshirts
The Affair of the Bassin les Hivers (short story)
Lovers: A Memoir of Mervyn and Maeve Peake (extract from work in progress)
London, My Life! or The Sedentary Jew (extract from novel in progress)
Interviewed by Andrew Hedgecock: Staring Down the Witches (with unpublished photos)

In the rest of Interzone 211:
Original Fiction
Exvisible by Carlos Hernandez
illustrated by Fraser Warwick-Coombe
Deer Flight by Aliette de Bodard
illustrated by Stefan Olsen
Elevator Episodes in Seven Genres by Ahmed A. Khan
Knowledge by Grace Dugan
illustrated by David Gentry

Non Fiction
25 IZ: Celebrating 25 Years of Interzone, with contributions from John Picacio, Jason Stoddard, Paul Di Filippo, Eric Brown, Gwyneth Jones, Jamie Barras, Peter F. Hamilton, Ian R. MacLeod, Stephen Baxter.
Ansible Link by David Langford: news and gossip.
Mutant Popcorn by Nick Lowe: film reviews
Laser Fodder @ 500 RPM by Tony Lee: DVD reviews (NEW!)
Scores by John Clute: book reviews
Interview Richard Morgan on Black Man/Thirteen, by Andrew Hedgecock

Bookzone: more book reviews
Mangazone by Sarah Ash: manga reviews
Coming soon with double page spreads, and… for subscribers only, a bookmark!

Overall, 4 more pages than usual, at 68, matt art paper, plus gloss sealed cover and printed in full colour throughout.

Oh blimey, that artwork and font is cool!

25th Anniversary OFFER FOR SCIFI UK REVIEW Readers!

Running through the whole of 2007 SCIFI UK REVIEW readers can obtain 25% extra issues on a 12-issue subscription (that’s six months worth) from the Interzone Subscription Site. (That’s three whole issues, free!)

Remember to include ’scifi.uk’ as your Shopper’s Reference so they know to include your extra free issues!

The Official Interzone Site.

The INTERACTION Interzone / TTA Press Forum.

Read past reviews and articles on Interzone, it will give you an idea of the content and how it has transformed into the sensewunda it is today.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

This is the latest issue of Forgotten Worlds, and the last of the magazine to be issued monthly. They have now switched to quarterly, which I’m hoping isn’t a euphemism for ‘indefinite hiatus’ as it has been with many other small press and web ‘zines.

The first story this time is Heather Jensen’s Reciprocity, which needs some practice to pronounce correctly, and is a clever tale of life forms adapted to live under a dying sun. They survive by spreading themselves to single-cell thickness and absorbing energy wherever it can be found. The description of how this works is intriguing, and the story develops to a satisfying conclusion.

Little Runner Girl is a whimsical tale from Bruce K Derksen, the story of an old woman who is transported back to her youth by an enigmatic artist. It’s an engaging piece and whether or not you find the ending disappointing really depends on how whimsical you are.

Teenage angst takes on another dimension in Joshua Babcock’s Angst and the Armageddon, in which a mysterious boy plans to bring about the end of the world as the ultimate revenge. It has a pleasantly unusual style of dialogue, and an overall fairytale quality that make it stick in the mind.

Another Day on the Job is the sequel to last issue’s All in a Day’s Work by Chris Silva, both brief accounts of a figure who steals the essence of people’s lives (or something equally mysterious). Again it’s quite atmospheric and enigmatic.

The Mud Men of Tower Tunnel is Paul Marlowe’s Victorian tale of a creature that emerges from the mud while a tunnel is being excavated under the Thames. The Sherlock Holmes type speech and manners are captured well and make for an entertaining and thoughtful story.

A world perpetually grey and cloudy is the setting for Color Dance by Jessica E Kaiser. The story is set in a world of magic and fantasy where man has with nature without understanding the consequences. It’s a nice twist on a modern ecological disaster.

What would you do if you came home to find a dinosaur in your flat? Lane Adamson’s story Free to Good Home provides a light hearted answer as an alcoholic decides it’s a good way to make some money. It’s an enjoyable story and does a good job of suspending disbelief.

Empathy by Jill Knowles is not an easy read. An empath is called in by the police to help track a murderous paedophile. The tortured emotions that assail the empath are written so well that you can almost feel them yourself. The subject matter means it’s not my favourite story, but it’s certainly the most accomplished.

In Journal Krishnan Coupland gives us much emotion and atmosphere as a young recruit awaits the final exam to enter a mysterious agency. The writing itself is excellent, but ends rather precipitously. If you like suspended endings it’s great; if you don’t then it’s just good.

See previous reviews of Forgotten Worlds.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Forgotten Worlds continues to bring us a varied selection of SF, fantasy and horror and his been remarkably regular for its first seven issues. As usual the wide variety of tastes means there’s something for everyone, but each reader won’t necessarily like everything. It’s a balance that has to be made when producing a cross-genre magazine.

A space ship from an ancient culture cleaning up the biological contamination their ancestors left behind is the setting for The Garbage Men by Drew Arrants. The contamination in question is, of course, life on Earth and humanity’s future hangs in the balance while they decide what to do. The ship has arrived coincidentally at the time of a significant historical event, but unfortunately the author has gone along with a common misconception of the incident which rather ruined the whole point of the story for me. Fortunately it is a common misconception, so most people won’t notice the error and can instead enjoy the entertaining interplay and character development aboard ship.

Jarra is a fantasy tale from B.A.Barnett about a young woman’s attempt to free herself, and her people, from tyranny. While the plight of the woman is well-developed in the brief space afforded, the mechanics of her powers are not sufficiently explained. This leads to my problem with magic: you can use it to solve anything. More attention to that aspect would have made for a more well-rounded story.

The relationship between human and faerie forms the basis of Fran Jacobs’ Ume’s Lament, with an ancient cursed castle the setting. The writing is solid and the situation nicely developed.

All in a Day’s Work is a very short story by Chris Silva. It’s quite atmospheric, but so brief that the point of the story is not entirely obvious. There’s an equally brief sequel in issue 8 that begins to build up the picture.

Law Yihua is the featured writer who’s story Seize the Lightning is fabulously bizarre and my favourite of the issue. A warrior king is determined to defend his kingdom against an ancient sentient robot in this tale that could be fantasy or science fiction but is probably both. There’s also a man with a bowler hat thrown in for good measure. It’s a fast paced story, the prose not entirely smooth, but the dialogue and action combine to produce a very unusual and enjoyable tale.

A janitor at a museum has quite a surprise when he discovers that a stuffed bird has come alive in Mark Rigney’s The Mynah. The how and why are never explained, but the mynah’s slow development and the janitor’s struggle with his conscience make this steady story a compelling read. Other characters – the wife and the vicar – and glimpses of the janitor’s family history all add to a well-realised story.

The final tale is a slice of horror from Dylan J Morgan. The Mind Creatures deals with a creature that feasts on people’s minds to absorb their experiences. It’s brief and to the point and ends the magazine with a shiver.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

While issue 5 contained predominantly science fiction stories, this edition leans a lot more heavily toward fantasy. This makes my review more difficult to write as I’m not really a fantasy fan, but nonetheless this is still a collection of varied and, for the most part, well-written stories.

Now, while I don’t really read fantasy, I do like dragons, so Chris Kastensmidt’s Even Dragons Dance is a good start. A fearless knight heads off to heroically slay a dragon and is somewhat bemused that his princess bride is not overly impressed. He has to learn what all of us learn the hard way eventually – women are more impressed by flowers than heroic deeds. It’s a pleasant and heart-warming story to open the collection.

The Fallen Angels of Jude by Terry Bramlett takes an entirely different and much darker tone and is probably the strongest story in this issue. It’s set somewhere in the backwoods of America where strange creatures with glowing red eyes live in the woods and kill any strangers who enter. Rather than focus on horror and gore though, the mystery of the creatures is explored through the family who have owned the land for generations and have come to an understanding with the tribe. Are they aliens, throwbacks to an earlier age or possibly the fallen angels of Jude? It’s well worth taking the time to find out.

David Downing gives us Vilkatis, the story of a traveller on a mission to slay a werewolf that has been terrorising a village. This is one of a series of stories apparently, and you do get the impression that the hero has a bigger and more interesting background than your standard wandering vigilante. This background and the brief details of village life make it an engaging read.

H.S.Sheik’s very short Proper Magic is an account more than a story, of a tourist’s visit to stall selling allegedly magical items. The stall holder is a great character and his anecdotes amusing, but I was left feeling a bit disappointed. The story was probably quite realistic, and the atmosphere was conveyed well, but I was looking for something a bit more fantastic. Hypocritical of me, I know, but you can’t please everyone.

Jason Sizemore is heralded as the ‘featured writer’, and his story The Sleeping Quartet is certainly a fast-paced and attention-grabbing tale. It deals with the horrific goings-on in a sleep disorder clinic where maniacal staff have the four patients at their mercy. The central character is obviously very nervous about being there, maybe even paranoid. The problem is that the set-up means that you don’t really know whether he’s dreaming it all, which ruined the tension for me. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether or not it avoids the Alice in Wonderland cliché.

Finally Cat Rambo has written what I would think of as a typical fantasy tale in Alkyone’s Journey. Correct me if I’m wrong as I’m probably misled by my own preconceptions. A young girl is going into the forest on her ‘mage journey’ to come of age and become a mage. She’s under pressure to succeed from her mother, and has magical encounters with woodland animals and mysterious characters who appear from the dark. It’s a nice enough story, and perhaps others would appreciate it more.

So a good collection for fantasy readers, not so good if you’re more into SF. Perhaps more of a balance between the genres would give it more appeal. This issue marks six months as a monthly magazine, quite an accomplishment in such a tough market. You may be aware that Forgotten Worlds has since switched to quarterly publication, a development that, while sad, can only lead to an ever stronger publication.

Plus read other articles and reviews on Britain’s longest running SF magazine.

Abiding With Sturgeon: Mistral in the Bijou. Harlan Ellison’s, 10,000-word, revealing, funny and deeply moving tribute to Theodore Sturgeon centres on the episodes when Sturgeon stayed at Ellison’s house.

In the SF community Theodore Sturgeon (1918 –1985) is famed for his short SF the first of which appeared in 1939. He is an American science fiction author who is considered a powerful and liberating influence in mid 20th Century US SF. His most famous, and award winning, novel More Than Human (1953) was a ‘fix up’ of three shorter works. In the 60’s he wrote TV scripts for Star Trek and later some of his stories were filmed or made into TV dramas.

Harlan Ellison (born 1934) is a controversial character in the USA and a multi award-winning writer of short stories, novellas, scripts, essays, and criticism. His most celebrated short fiction was published as genre SF. Whenever Ellison feels producers or studios have corrupted his creative work, he insists the pseudonymous ‘Cordwainer Bird’ takes the credit.

In Interzone 210 Ellison writes of his friendship with Sturgeon and their time together, “It was 1966, ’67, and at various times I think it was for a full year, at other times memory insists it was longer, but separate inputs staunchly declare it was only six, eight, ten months. I can’t recall precisely, now more than forty years later, but it seemed to go on forever.”

They’d known each other well before then, since 1954, probably, and remained friends right up to Sturgeon’s death. The essay in here is an extended eulogy that Ellison had promised Sturgeon he’d write, and a kind of apology to Sturgeon that the original eulogy, written immediately after Sturgeon’s death, was so short. He ends by saying that he’s kept his promise, in full. It’s very touching. And is full of funny anecdotes but is still a very honest account of the man and the writer.

In the rest of this issue:

Original Fiction
The Final Voyage of La Riaza by Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Heartstrung by Rachel Swirsky
Tearing Down Tuesday by Steven Francis Murphy
Dr Abernathy’s Dream Theatre by David Ira Cleary Preachers by Tim Lees
Toke by Tim Akers

Non Fiction
Guest editorial from author Geoff Ryman announcing Interzone’s special ‘Mundane SF’ issue for 2008 and calling for story submissions.

David Langford’s Ansible Link: news and gossip.

25 IZ: continuing the celebrations of Interzone’s 25 years, with contributions from Bruce Sterling, Dominic Green, Ken MacLeod, Brian Stableford, Terry Pratchett, Paul McAuley, Adam Roberts, Edward Morris, Ellen Datlow, Sarah Ash, Mercurio D. Rivera (current readers’ poll winner), Douglas Sirois.

25 Film: continuing the series looking at the last 25 years of other media, this time with IZ film reviewer Nick Lowe choosing his top ten SF and fantasy films.

Interviews: This is The Modern World: novelist Steph Swainston. Also Stephen Baxter talks about his Time’s Tapestry series.

Book Reviews: include John Clute’s regular ‘Scores’ column.

A new series, Podzone, with Rev-Up Review podcaster Paul S. Jenkins on short stories for your iPOD, SF & F podcasts.

Mutant Popcorn: Nick Lowe’s regular film review column this time: Sunshine, The Science of Sleep, TMNT, Ghost Rider and Inland Empire.

Overall, 8 more pages than usual, at 72 plus cover.

Review By Gareth D. Jones

Farthing - Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror is a shiny, digest size magazine that is published quarterly, and has already made an impact after the cover to issue 2 was nominated for a BSFA award. I spoke briefly to the editor Wendy Bradley at Eastercon several hours before the awards were announced. Sadly I left before that happened so as yet I don’t know whether they won.

I have to say that I enjoyed every story in issue 5. The first on offer is Christopher East’s Divining Rod and the Countess, which initially gave the impression that the two title characters were going to be some kind of super-cool superheroes. They both have special gifts – one can find anything, one can count anything. The story is much more interesting than that though. The pair basically make a living by charging money for answers, until they come across a particularly eccentric rich man who tries to make them think what else they could be doing with their talents. It’s a somewhat ironic story, with a nice touch of humour.

Transition is a dark tale by Steve Vance, dealing with a widow’s attempt to cope with her grief by literally loosing herself in her music. The awkward relationship with the friend who tries to help makes for a slightly uncomfortable but effective read.

Passing the Test by Anna Feruglio Dal Dan remained with me for a long time after I finished it. I have to say it’s the best story I’ve read this year; admittedly it’s still early in the year, but a story that powerful is going to be hard to beat. It deals with a refugee’s attempts to return to Earth from one of the colonies, a very topical subject in the UK, and the test of humanity that he is obliged to take. The man’s desperation to bring himself and his daughter to safety really involve you in the story and his struggle against the seemingly indifferent authorities grips the emotions to the end.

A.H.Jennings gives us Maggie Doll a kind of creepy adult version of Noddy Comes to Toyland. A bean toy arrives in a village populated by dolls and teddies after escaping from the liquorice men. He is tended by a giant doll, the only one able to sew and repair the other toys. It’s all a bit surreal, but the vague background that is sketched makes it a disturbing and engaging concept.

Loose Drawers is an amusing little tale by Charlie Allery, whom I think I saw in passing at Eastercon. It’s a first-person account by a tool box about what life is like in a garage and is surprisingly good at putting across a very unusual viewpoint.

Craig Wolf’s story Seeing Is expounds the moral that sometimes it’s best not to know. A young boy is offered an insight into everyone’s sordid little secrets by a mysterious eyeball. The temptation to capitalise on this for blackmail purposes is weighed against the loss of respect for everyone he knows. It’s a good ending.

David Taub provides a fun piece of space opera in The Secret of the Squick, the sorry tale of a tax collector banished to a world of jellyfish-like aliens to collect lumps of goo as their tribute. The poor man’s plight is endlessly entertaining and kept me smiling to the end.

Helen Keeble has created one of the most unusual concept I’ve come across for a long time in After the Reformation. The fact that it’s subtitled Selected Extracts probably explains why the reason behind it is a bit unclear. The story consists of interviews with various people who have, somehow, been turned into words in a book, then transformed back into people. They now live their lives as part of a sentence, bound by an innate sense to the other people that make up their book. It’s a mind-bending idea and one that I’d really like to see expanded in further works.

So, a varied selection, all entertaining in their various ways and another fine addition to the UK magazine market.

25th Anniversary OFFER FOR SCIFI UK REVIEW Readers!

A bit more information on this offer.

It is running through the whole of 2007.

SCIFI UK REVIEW readers can obtain 25% extra issues on a 12-issue subscription (that’s six months worth) from the Interzone Subscription Site. (That’s three whole issues, free!)

Remember to include ’scifi.uk’ as your Shopper’s Reference so they know to include your extra free issues!

The Official Interzone Site.

The INTERACTION Interzone / TTA Press Forum.

Read past reviews and articles on Interzone, it will give you an idea of the content and how it has matured into the beast it is today.

This is a bit belated: Interzone (and Crimewave and TTA) now have a new forum.

So if you’re even a little bit into SF, whether you’re a writer, reader, publisher, director, actor or just plain inquisitive, click over and say hello.

You’ll be able to discuss pretty much anything about the genre, discuss all things TTA Press, and have a generally interesting time!

Read what Interzone is all about, and see previous articles and reviews.

Electric Velocipede has a wide spectrum of story type, from spine chilling terror to completely weird, with plenty of SF thrown in. This is issue ten, so twice a year publication without fail makes it the fifth year it’s been running, which is quite an achievement.

Comprising of an eye catching, yet simple, black and white, bold front cover, it is fifty-five pages long with two novelettes and four short stories.

Novelettes
A Walking Of Crows: Tim Akers
A strange, yet enticing story of a young man who tries to discover the truth behind his father’s death. Contain’s some great imagery of man and clockwork metal fused. It’s a tale of someone searching for truth, but doesn’t degenerate into tears.

Jacket Jackson: Richard Bowes and Mark Rich
Blimey, talk about smokin’ something. It’s a jacket, a sentient jacket, a sentient jacket which travels around time, utilising people as it goes; and it’s made of leather. This is weird; I had to read it a couple of times just to see if there were multiple layers. Like I said, I think the author(s) were smokin’ something. Seems to include time travel. Possibly. And it’s surreal, and messes with metaphysics. Overall, it seemed to jump from one scene to another without links throughout, so it was somewhat difficult to work out what happened when. Probably intential to add to its weirdness.

Short Stories
The Way He Does It: Jeffrey Ford
Ah yes, my kind of story. Minimal, in the sense that the narrator goes a long way to explain the way he does it, but never actually says what the it is. A fascinating read.

Il Duca di Cesena: Alistair Rennie
This piece read like a letter to a sixteenth century priest (which I believe it is), but even so I found it difficult to complete, simply because I find this style of writing annoying. That said, once I did complete it, I appreciated the story as a whole. Philosophical and somewhat disturbing.

The Naval Of The Universe: Andre Oosterman
A simple, short story, which is somewhat predictable. The protagonist is a researcher for a drugs company, looking into old wives tales, or mystic treatments for staying alive longer, staying younger. He ends up travelling to a distant country to track down an elixir of life. And he does.

Travels Along An Unfurling Circular Path: Robert Freeman Wexler
Another of my favourite kinds of stories. A story of a lead character who journeys through various states of emotion, only to come back to his original emotion, mirrored by his location. Neat piece which resonates deeper interrigation.

Overall
With only a few adverts and just one page of non-fiction (which is the contributors page), it is an excellent ‘zine of stories, most of them strong, all worth reading.

Subscriptions and information (including some excerpts of stories) are available at Electric Velocipede.

See other reviews & articles on Electric Velocipede.

Interzone’s Silver Anniversary

1982: Margaret Thatcher, her son Mark missing in the desert, Falklands War, a Republican President (Reagan), Isreal invades Lebanon, a princess (Grace) dies in a car accident in France (Monaco), bombings in London, and Interzone is launched. Doesn’t it all seem a lifetime ago?

So Issue 209 (March/April 2007) celebrates the 25th birthday of Britain’s longest running science fiction and fantasy magazine. It still contains superb new SF and fantasy stories.

This issue features M John Harrison, who appeared in Issue 1, Gwyneth Jones, and Alastair Reynolds, who made his reputation in IZ in the 90’s. Additionally rising stars Hal Duncan (also interviewed), Daniel Kaysen, Jamie Barras, Edward Morris (his novella available for free download from the IZ website) and ‘Afterlife’ creator Stephen Volk’s top ten TV programs from the last 25 years make this a bumper package.

Other features include David Langford’s Ansible Link (news & gossip); Nick Lowe’s Mutant Popcorn (film reviews); book reviews; more interviews (Kim Stanley Robinson); views from Arthur C Clarke, Bruce Sterling, Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan and many others on Interzone.

Top it off with an original Jim Burns painting as cover art is and story illustrations by Richard Marchand, Jesse Speak, Stefan Olsen, Pamelina H, Chris Nurse and David Gentry. How can you resist? Subscribe now and, for the 25th anniversary, if you order a two year, 12 issue, subscription you will get fifteen issues. A 25% birthday gift from IZ.

Fiction:

The Whenever at the City’s Heart by Hal Duncan
illustrated by Richard Marchand

Rumpled, stumpy, the old watchman ascends on the clockwork spiral of escalator, steel scales grating underfoot, gyring up into the ticks and talk of turning gears and sproinging springs, the whirl of mirrored cogs and jam of hammer-and-bell that should be knelling, telling time in rhyme and reason, chimes and seasons…but is not. The pendulum that stretches down the whole height of the watchtower, hung on wire as thin as a dimension, snicks and cocks and rocks this way and that still, but it seems it’s marking off one second to midnight, one long second to midnight, one drawn out and stretched second to midnight, time and time again.

So, with his tools ajangle on his belt, the watchman clambles up the ringing rungs of ladders, raises a trap door overhead, and huffs himself up in