A review by mary_soon_lee
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2017 by C.C. Finlay

The stories in this issue of F&SF range from time travel, to ghosts, to a clever extrapolation of the sleazy side of self-driving cars, to a space race round one of Saturn's rings. I liked all three of the short stories, liked Marc Laidlaw's novella "Stillborne" better, and liked R. S. Benedict's unusual, beautifully-written novelette "Water God's Dog" most of all. Benedict's tale reminds me that is long, long overdue that I read the "Epic of Gilgamesh." Not that "Water God's Dog" features Gilgamesh, but it is a Sumerian tale, and a very good one. The tone of the first-person narration is perfect: Ur-Ena is so accustomed to hearing a god's demands in his head that this reader accepted the fantastical premise without question. I note that I also enjoyed Pat Murphy and Paul Doherty's science column, and that I was very sorry to read in an endnote that Doherty died in August.

A fine issue from a magazine that deserves support. Subscribe! Give subscriptions to friends for Christmas!