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Good stories but nothing that made me go "Whoa!" As always got some good suggestions from the book recommendations and enjoyed the movie review
I'm glad I read the issue. Short stories were solidly in the middle of the spectrum- some pretty good, some very good. There were no stellar standouts, but not a single story was subpar, either. The story about Santa's elves was good seasonal fun.
Matthew Hughes was good as usual with "The Vindicator," a Raffalon story and sadly the last so I hear."Passelande" by Robert Reed was stupidly good. I loved the idea of vindictive garages punishing their owners for leaving them sloppy. Great characterization."Place of Bones" by none other than Gardner de Zois was also great.
7 • The Cat Bell • 23 pages by Esther M. Friesner VG/Good. Cook is disgusted that she has to feed nineteen cats and when a stray comes in she shoos it out before the master can adopt it. Fear not cat lovers, the rest of the characters in the story adore cats. Clever.30 • The Farmboy • 23 pages by Albert E. Cowdrey Very Good. Gold is discovered on Omega-Alpha. Anna, Guy and Sazonov plot together to find a way to smuggle it home. Anna's lover, Chuck, makes it a gang of four. Chuck may be dumb, but...
Another good issue. Noteworthy stories/novelettes (alphabetically by author) for me were those by James Beamon (a variation of the story about bluesman Robert Johnson's deal with the devil), Albert E. Cowdrey (about an exploration ship and a new colony), Kurt Fawver (who used an old cliché and made something new of it), Esther M. Friesner (who managed to make me enjoy a story about cats) and Matthew Hughes (whose story about Raffalon will make me want to read the others as well).The others stori...
I love this magazine. Fun, entertaining, unique and comfortable.
I encountered a number of good stories and two works that I absolutely adored: "The Cat Bell" by Esther M. Friesner and "Special Collections" by Fawver. I added those two to my awards consideration list.
There are eleven short stories and novellas in this latest issue. A good collection with some quality work, even one Christmas themed story. Overall rating is 4.1 out of 5. "The Cat Bell" by Esther M. FriesnerCook hated the cats that her employer insisted onadopting and feeding every day. She wanted nothing to do with them. So when a stray appears, she literally throws him out. While away on an enforced vacation, others who feed the cats fall into good fortune. A great twist on Puss in Boots, al...
My favorite stories were by Lilliam Rivera, Charlotte Ashley, and James Beamon. Some of the others were a bit broad or derivative for my taste, but the columns were uniformly excellent.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction started publication in 1949. According to Wikipedia, it was supposed to be a fantasy story version of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine as it was at the time, classic reprints mixed with new material of a higher literary quality than was common in the pulps of the time. Science fiction was added to expand the possible pool of stories. F&SF has managed to publish fairly regularly ever since, though in recent years it’s bimonthly. It has a reputation for liter...
Pretty decent collection this month, my favorite this issues is a toss up between Merry Christmas and Lord Elgin. The Farmboy was also very good. Cat Bell was good, except for the fact I hate cats.
Always a great feeling when I finish reading one of these magazines. This one had a lot of stories I have forgotten about because of the long gaps between reading. It got pretty beat up being carried everywhere I go. One story got me reflecting on how cynical I can be with certain things. Overall good. I look forward to writing in my book journal and moving on to the next issue in my backlog.
Qualité inégale des nouvelles.Quelques unes des meilleures nouvelles ne touchent que de loin aux littératures de l'imaginaire.The Cat Bell, d'Esther Friesner:Ton sarcastique, amusant, mais le personnage principal est antipathique, la fin est prévisible, il y a une cassure de point de vue obligée, mais maladroite, et la personnification du chat botté est trop près du chat dans "Shrek". 3/5The Farmboy, d'Albert E. Cowdrey:Progression peu crédible des personnages, les deux protagonistes féminins so...
review later
Nothing particularly exceptional. My favorite piece was the book review...
This wasn't one of the better issues. It has a couple of good stories, but nothing that I'd urge people to rush out to buy it for.Esther M. Friesner - The Cat Bell - 3 stars - Puss-in-Boots updated. A mean woman gets her just reward.Albert E. Cowdrey - The Farmboy - 3 stars - Planetary exploration meets human greed. This story read like something from the 50s.Lilliam Rivera - Between Going and Staying - 4 stars - This one reads well and touches your emotions, but doesn't surrender by giving you
An average issue with fun stories by Ester M. Friesner and Matthew Hughes; also fine stories by Lilliam Rivera, Charlotte Ashley and Minsoo Kang. And it's always a treat to read a Gardner Dozois story as opposed to reading stories edited by him.- "The Cat Bell" by Ester M. Friesner: a very entertaining light fantasy about a household for a famous actor run by a fussy, bossy cook who is secretly infatuated with the actor. However, there is one act she hates: feeding the actor's cats. When she giv...