A variety of essays, book reviews and a few very clever cartoons with ten stories of fiction, plus a bizarre bit of something I don't know how to describe. The book reviews by Elizabeth Hand and Charles de Lint are quite literate and are something I look forward to with this magazine. This 16 year old issue is among the best that I can recall reading in many years.

The first story by Harlan Ellison, the cover story, in itself is a collection of 26 very short stories, one for each letter of the alphabet. In my opinion this unusual piece is not among Ellison's better works, but it does have some clever moments. I wasn't fond of "Fish Story" by Harvey Jacobs - it started well enough but just didn't satisfy. "Queen of Thieves" by Michael Thomas was a well done small look at a future of the haves and have nots. We follow Rachael who is a kind of 'Artful Dodger' working with a bunch of lost children on the streets. "Under the Lake" by Garth Nix was a very well done dark and different spin on the the lady of the lake, Excalibur and the grail with a small bit of Merlin. "Moorina" was a selkie story that was less satisfying than some of the other stories here, but an interesting read nonetheless. "Red Flowers and Ivy" is another well done story and finally got us off planet and well into the future with a story of an explorer trapped on a dangerous planet who is trying to stay alive until a rescue crew arrives.

My co-favorite story here is Albert Cowdrey's "The King of New Orleans" set sometime in the 60's I think, in, obviously, New Orleans. It is a mashup tale of a Ward run by a little boss who along with the mayor and police and a cast of characters run a lot of dirty operations. Then they got big problems when something arrives and announces it wants to be King. The King and what happens is the scifi/ fantasy part of the story and I thought this part was not the best after the highly stylish and literate first part of the the story where I was being taken for a ride and feasting my eyes and brain on some great writing.

The final three stories complete this excellent issue with very different sort of stories. When I think of this collection, only Ellison's tale and the "Fish Story" disappointed me, and neither is a bad story. Frederic Durbin's "The Place of Roots" had some hints of the Japanese literature I have read recently in the way things are described in depth. It is a journey story following a death. Short and complete at only 6 1/2 pages, just enough to make one want much more. Carol Emshwiller has proven herself to me a number of times as an excellent writer and she does not disappoint here with "Foster Mother." I'll say this was my co-favorite story. It is a very emotionally grabbing piece with dark overtones with a foster mother caring for and raising a child in an isolated place.

The final story, "To Kiss The Star" by Amy Sterling Casil was nominated for a Nebula award and will remind some readers a bit of various brainship stories from years past. The idea of a human brain piloting future starships is not a new one, but this is a really disturbing, and yet touching story of who might be a candidate for the job and what that person might face. Excellent fiction.

The included fiction stories are:

From A to Z, in the Sarsaparilla Alphabet • novelette by Harlan Ellison
Queen of Thieves • short story by Michael Thomas
Fish Story • short story by Harvey Jacobs
Under the Lake • short story by Garth Nix
Red Flowers and Ivy • short story by M. Shayne Bell
Moorina • short story by M. Rickert
The King of New Orleans • short story by Albert E. Cowdrey
The Place of Roots • short story by Frederic S. Durbin
Foster Mother • short story by Carol Emshwiller
To Kiss the Star • novelette by Amy Sterling Casil ( )