Shawna McCarthyRecensioni

"How Interesting: A Tiny Man" by Harlan Ellison, an intensely Harlan Ellison story about a man who created a tiny man and then was persecuted about it for no reason, misanthropic and nevertheless compelling.

"Mister Oak" by Leah Bobet, about an oak tree in love with a human girl.

"The Demon of Hochgarten" by Euan Harvey, an extremely prosaic witch-hunter story. Vaguely misogynistic.

"Mélanie" by Aliette de Bodard, about young people preparing for university exams in a Paris where math is the only kind of magic that matters, but not the only kind that exists.

"The Unknown God" by Ann Leckie, a delightful incarnated-god story I read first in a reprint in Uncanny.

And the usual collection of reviews and essays - a piece on the film of The Lovely Bones, a lengthy (and very dry) essay on the Jack of folktales, a piece on Charles Vess, and some video game and adjacent book reviews.

This review and others posted over at my blog.

This book contains 17 sci-fi stories written by women. The subjects range from alien worlds, post-apocalyptic scenarios, advanced technology and adventures through space.

I initially purchased this book because my goddess Tanith Lee has a story in it and I finally picked it up thanks to Vintage Sci-fi Month. I didn’t dislike any of the stories, though I naturally preferred some over the others. I’m just going to highlight the ones I had the most thoughts about.

The Sidon in the Mirror by Connie Willis: This was a slightly trippy look at life in a small community on a mining planet. The world building was fairly complex considering the length, but I think I got a good taste of what Willis created. I enjoyed that characters had a local dialect. Overall it was sad and a little mysterious.

The Jarabon by Lee Killough: Killough created an interesting and compelling thief, as well as a unique form of space travel. I really loved where she went with this and would have loved for this to be a full-length novel. I wanted to know more about her badass thief-lady and her sordid past.

Belling Martha by Leigh Kennedy: This is a post-apocalyptic tale where food is scarce and winter might not end. A young girl has escaped a religious camp and made her way to the city to seek her father. This story was incredibly fucked up and a little gross, but believable. I was really into what was going on and this is another one I’d love a novel of.

La Reine Blanche by Tanith Lee: Tanith gives readers a fairy-tale-esque short about a widowed queen trapped in a tower and a magic raven who comes to see her. This had her classic atmospheric world-building and otherworldly characters, though it deals with some timey-wimey stuff so it was a tad confusing.

Miles to go Before I Sleep by Julie Stevens: Another tale set after some sort of apocalypse has hit the earth and created a divide between those who live in cities and those who fend for themselves in small towns. It had a sort of Mad Max feel because I got the feeling fuel sources were low and perhaps plant life as well? I really wanted a novel of this and I felt that just as I had an inkling of what was going on in this world, the story was over!

The Ascent of the North Face by Ursula K. Le Guin: Alright, I’m calling out this tale because I honestly don’t know what to make of it. There is a party of explorers climbing something, perhaps a mountain, except they refer to sections like the Roof and Chimney. I was confused as to whether these were tiny people scaling a normal sized house, normal sized people scaling a giant house, or if it was really just an oddly named mountain.

Blue Heart by Stephanie A. Smith: The main character in this is a sort of light house warden who can mentally connect to some sort of net that guides spaceships through her area of space. But she’s getting old and worried that she won’t be able to do her job much longer, so she’s looking into transferring her consciousness into a robot. I enjoyed the technology mentioned in this story and the general sadness it evoked.

Fire-Caller by Sydney J. Van Scyoc: This is a tale of slavery and warring peoples and a woman who can create fire from within herself when she speaks to the old gods. Another very atmospheric tale that I would have loved a full-length novel of. Just as I had an idea of what was going on and became attached to the characters, the story ended.

I’m thankful for Vintage Sci-fi Month because it prompts me to pick up some books that I probably would have left alone for who knows how long. This is a great collection for anyone looking for female voices, especially as all of these tales were written in the 80s, just as female writers were really starting to break into the genre and earn respect for their craft.½

My edition 17 stories, abridged," mm pb ISBN 0441778712.
A few stories were mildly interesting, but there's a heavy majority of dreary Earth-bound near-future post-apocalyptic. ?áI might look for other works by Sharon Webb, based on Shadows from a Small Template, and by Sydney J. Van Scyoc, based on Fire-Caller. ?áFans may want to note that Le Quin, Tanith Lee, and Connie Willis have stories in here, but none of those impressed me."

I didn't think I was going to like Realms of Fantasy, but I did. I don't think of myself as a fantasy reader: I think of myself as a science fiction reader. I've been reading a bunch of magazines and Webzines to reintroduce myself to the field after years of no pleasure reading and trying to decide which magazines I want to read on a regular basis.

RoF is a very pretty magazine: beautiful interior art. I miss interior color art from the days of Aboriginal SF. Unlike the other magazines in electronic form that I've been reading, RoF in PDF keeps its art: a big plus. I also very much liked the reviews and articles. For example, I found the Graphic Novels reviews much more balanced and less gushy than the ones in Intergalactic Medicine Show. And I especially liked that they had different review sections for Graphic Novels, for YA, etc. For the most part I enjoyed the stories: I read 3 of the 5 stories: I skipped the ones with a medievally setting (I find that I simply can't read those now, and it's not just this magazine), and enjoyed them all. I found that The Swan Troika had a weak ending, but otherwise what I read was good.

"Healing Benjamin" by Dennis Danvers was the only really interesting story.

A very average read. No really bad stories, but nothing very exciting either. The most entertaining story was S. P. Somtow's "Dr. Rumpole" which mixes Rumpulstiltskin with Hollywood screen-writing.

The Mid-December 1985 issue was the last of the three year reign of Shawna McCarthy as editor of the magazine, although she had been associated with the magazine for at least twice that number of years. It was an excellent finish including stories by James Tiptree Jr, Ian Watson and others, as well as the remarkable "Lord Kelvin's Machine" by James Blaylock. When Shawna took over she turned a rather pleasant little magazine into one that mattered, and published a large number of really excellent stories during her tenure. She really caught my attention and got me hooked on the magazine. Gardner Dozois followed Shawna, and turned into a formidable editor in his own right, but I really think Shawna McCarthy deserves the credit for putting it on the path of excellence. My only gripe is that she published those dreadful George and Azazel stories of Asimov's, which I don't think I ever found the least bit entertaining. But just about everything else ....

More interesting than other recent issues, but still only average.

"Spiderhorse" - Liz Williams 3.5/5
A dead girl rides with the Norse gods. Interesting.
"Light of a Thousand Suns" - James Van Pelt 3/5
A cult performs sacrifices to destoy nuclear weapons.
"Somebody Desperately Needed to Be Neil Gaiman" - Way Jeng 2/5
A man tries to write a Neil Gaiman story for his daughter. Not really a fantasy.

Nothing stands out in this issue.

"Lost Girls" - Jane Yolen 3/5
Peter Pan looks for new girls to be servants for the Lost Boys.
"Lustman" - Pat York 2/5
A maid falls for a celebrity hologram.
"Tithing Night" - Louise Cooper 3/5
A villiage has to sacrifice to the Lords of Chaos in exchange for prosperity.
"Fata" - Peni R. Griffin 3.5/5
Nice short-short vampire story.
"The Queen of Yesterday" - Sally McBride 3/5
Bat-creatures convert humans into long-lived servants.

Overall, a bland, forgettable issue.

"The Summer of Lucy" - Laurie Harden 2/5
In the 1930's, a woman adopts a helpful dog. Boring.
"Here's What I Know" - Dennis Danvers 4/5
A man meets the ghost of his father who shares what his life was actually like. Enjoyable.
"The Snake: A Story of the Flat Earth" - Tanith Lee 3/5
An evil magician plots to take over a kingdom. OK, but predictable.
"Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten" - Bradley P. Beaulieu 3/5
An ancient Chinese fireworks maker memorializes the memories of the dead in his displays.

A weak issue with noting of any real interest.

"The One Act" - A. M. Dellamonica 2/5
Exposure to magic causes a split personality.
"Lord Madoc and the Red Knight" - Richard Parks 3/5
A Welsh knight rescues his wife from some mystical opponents.
"Kaleidoscope" - Kate Daniel 2/5
A kaleidoscope allows visions of other possible lives.
"In the Land of the Bears" - K. D. Wentworth 2/5
A Native American girl seeks her grandfather who has gone to a spiritual land.
"Walter's Christmas Night Musik" - Susan J. Kroupa 3/5
Famous composers visit a record store clerk to hear modern versions of their work. OK, but predictable.
"Silver Apples" - Beverly Suarez-Beard 3/5
A woman seeks to defeat the guardians of the magical silver apples that can cure disease and bring immortality.

Not much that really caught my attention in this issue.

"Girl in Pieces" - Graham Edwards 3.5/5
Fun fantasy/private eye story that ends with a little too much technobabble.
"Gift from a Spring" - Delia Sherman 3/5
The powers of a magical spring in France are revealed. Not really my style.½

I found this to be a very weak issue.

"Drowned Love" - C. W. Johnson ***
A diver salvages the ship that his lover died on. Slow-paced and didn't really grab me.
"And Horses Are Born With Eagles WIngs" - Sherwood Smith *
Women battle fundamentalists over a music teacher. Too boring to finish.
"The Lady of Shalott House" - Tanith Lee ***
Ghost story about an abandoned lover.
"Leningrad Blues" - E. A. Johnson ***
A musician in the Soviet Union gets a mysterious lover. Interesting details about Soviet life.
"The Wolf Man's Wife" - Peni R. Griffin ***
Fable about a hunter who becomes a wolf at night. Nothing special
"Meadow Song" - William R. Eakin *
An old man has '60's flashbacks during a music festival. Not interesting.½

"Save Me Plz" - David Barr Kirtley ****
The line blurs between online gaming and reality.
"Roger Lambelin" - Ruth Nestvold & Jay Lake ***
A knight loses his love after being captured by the fair folk.
"Paper Cuts Scissors" - Holly Black ***
A man tries to retrieve his girlfriend who has made herself into a character in a book. Nice concept, but the story did not excite me.

Editor's Note (Isaac Asimov's Space of Her Own)by Shawna McCarthy
The Sidon in the Mirror • (1983) • by Connie Willis
The Sorceress in Spite of Herself • (1982) • by Pat Cadigan
Night of the Fifth Sun • (1982) • by Mildred Downey Broxon
The Jarabon • (1981) • by Lee Killough
The Horn of Elfland • [Pshrinks Anonymous] • (1983) • by Janet Asimov [as by J. O. Jeppson ]
• 96 • Belling Martha • (1983) • by Leigh Kennedy
La Reine Blanche • (1983) • by Tanith Lee
Ancient Document • (1982) • poem by Hope Athearn
Miles to Go Before I Sleep • (1982) • by Julie Stevens
A Letter from the Clearys • (1982) • by Connie Willis
The Ascent of the North Face • (1983) • by Ursula K. Le Guin
$CALL LINK4(CATHY) • (1983) • by Cherie Wilkerson
Heavenly Flowers • (1983) • by Pamela Sargent
Exorcycle • (1982) • by Joan D. Vinge
Stargrazing • (1982) • poem by Beverly Grant
Shadows from a Small Template • (1982) • by Sharon Webb
Packing Up • (1981) • by P. J. MacQuarrie
Blue Heart • (1982) • shortstory by Stephanie A. Smith
The Examination of Ex-Emperor Ming • (1982) • by Cyn Mason
The Crystal Sunlight, the Bright Air • (1983) • by Mary Gentle
Missing • (1982) • by P. A. Kagan
Fire-Caller • (1983) • by Sydney J. Van Scyoc