Scan barcode
snood's review
4.0
Normally, ads are an inescapable nuisance, but I was both surprised and disappointed by how few there were in this magazine. Ads from decades ago are a lot of fun to read since it gives you a unique view of the publication year. Unlike its sister magazine Galaxy, this had no articles either. The stories themselves were quite good though.
Although lacking the minotaur shown on the cover, Sine of the Magus was a fun detective story revolving around a coven of witches and warlocks.
The Afterlife of Reilly is an entertaining but not particularly memorable take on utopias.
Heads You Lose is a weird dream-logic kid’s story that sticks out in the collection, but is cute.
High Man Low Man is my favorite story purely on the grounds of the climax being linguistic bickering between a suicidal businessman and a badger-man psychiatrist. Who comes up with these ideas?
Illogistics is the first of three unrelated takes on the “be careful what you wish for” archetype. It manages to be my favorite of the three by how charming the relationship between the protagonist and his fellow townspeople is.
I’d Give a Dollar has a bit different of an ending than most, but is otherwise a standard monkey’s paw story.
Bottled in Russia, despite its stereotyping and really dumb ending, manages to be really fun due to the chemistry between the protagonist and genie.
Unlike most collections I’ve come across, there are no outright bad stories. The worst it offers is mediocrity.
Although lacking the minotaur shown on the cover, Sine of the Magus was a fun detective story revolving around a coven of witches and warlocks.
The Afterlife of Reilly is an entertaining but not particularly memorable take on utopias.
Heads You Lose is a weird dream-logic kid’s story that sticks out in the collection, but is cute.
High Man Low Man is my favorite story purely on the grounds of the climax being linguistic bickering between a suicidal businessman and a badger-man psychiatrist. Who comes up with these ideas?
Illogistics is the first of three unrelated takes on the “be careful what you wish for” archetype. It manages to be my favorite of the three by how charming the relationship between the protagonist and his fellow townspeople is.
I’d Give a Dollar has a bit different of an ending than most, but is otherwise a standard monkey’s paw story.
Bottled in Russia, despite its stereotyping and really dumb ending, manages to be really fun due to the chemistry between the protagonist and genie.
Unlike most collections I’ve come across, there are no outright bad stories. The worst it offers is mediocrity.
More...