Scan barcode
mal_eficent's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I found a scanned copy of Alice Glaser’s short story from this collection (The Tunnel Ahead), was enthralled, and had to see if I could find the whole magazine - obviously I did! (Archive.org has a scanned copy available which you can download as a pdf or epub.)
The magazine starts with a brief discussion (/argument) on what constitutes science fiction, and then gives you a short blurb before each short story or essay.
All of the stories had some pretty interesting ideas, although the reviews didn’t catch my attention too much, and only a couple were downright boring. Of those, Faq’ was the worst (maths = perfection = God, so this village must count and that’s somehow haunting?); Through Time And Space With Ferdinand Feghoot: X1V was almost shorter than its title and was just a joke about Native Americans (?); and Green Sunrise was about the time travelling adventures of the most self centred, horny man to exist.
That said, it’s a good collection if classic sci-fi/fantasy is something you enjoy! Of the bunch, the ones I’d recommend downloading the collection just to read are:
The Interplanetary Cat - The writing has a children’s bed time story style rhythm to it, and it was adorable. It keeps surprising me how much cat fiction is out there!
The Tunnel Ahead - The concept is morbid but excellently explored, and despite being so short (8 pages) it conveys so much character and world building. There’s a short Norwegian film (The Tunnel, 2016) based on this you can view on Youtube if you’d prefer.
Mustang - A stream of consciousness story about cowboys catching a mutant mustang. Somehow this was really endearing.
Dethronement - Asimov’s essay. I only really recommend this because Asimov is really funny when writing in his own voice.
Naked to the Stars - Despite coming in at chapter 7 and ending at 14 the recap at the beginning made this pretty understandable. I enjoy this kind of take on ‘hard army man trying to do the right thing’ that has a bit more nuance than historical interpretations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Murder and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Mental illness and Racial slurs
More...