Fantasy & Science Fiction - September, 2004 (reposted from Epinions)

Stories:
"Rain from Another Country" – by Mark W. Tiedemann (Short Story) 21 pages
"Designing With Souls" – by Robert Reed (Short Story) 13 pages
"Sergeant Chip" – by Bradley Denton (Novella) 45 pages
"Falberoth's Ruin" – by Matthew Hughes (Short Story) 10 pages
"Peter Skilling" – by Alex Irvine (Short Story) 13 pages
"Gasoline" – by J. Annie MacLeod (Short Story) 11 pages
"I Am the City" – by Richard Mueller (Short Story) 18 pages

The September issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is finally here, and I gobbled up the stories as quickly as I could. It was a little late this month, and I wanted to make sure I had this posted in plenty of time for you to pick up the issue if you so desired. Unfortunately, you may not want to. As always, it was worth it for the articles and some of the stories were really good. This is the first issue since I started buying it, however, which had two stories that I did not enjoy.

The September issue has seven stories with a nice mixture of science fiction and fantasy. Unfortunately, there are too many political overtones in the issue. I know science fiction is supposed to make us think about society in the here and now, but this was just a bit too obvious for my taste. It even mars some of the better stories in it. One thing that did make it worthwhile, however, was the savaging of Van Helsing by Lucius Shepard in the "Movies" section. He spends five pages ripping it a new one. Of course, if you liked Van Helsing, it may be 5 pages that make you angry. But like Roger Ebert, Shepard has a wonderful turn of phrase when he's blistering a bad movie. Also, Michelle West talks about three books that I may have to pick up some time. Her description of A Scholar of Magics really intrigues me.

I'm still glad I picked it up, but I hope the next issue is better. It's the 55th anniversary double issue, so it should be. Below are my story reviews. See if anything catches your eye.

The Stories
"Rain from Another Country" – by Mark W. Tiedemann A dead woman has made arrangements for things to be taken care of after she dies. This includes a bequest to the man she loved, who had moved to Tau Ceti to fulfill his dream of being in the wine-making business. The woman would not move off of Earth, for reasons unknown, and they broke up. Now, she has paid to have her personality grafted onto another woman temporarily in order to make things right. But are the wounds too deep? This is a sweet story with an interesting science-fiction premise. What if personalities could be overlaid onto another person? The story is much more than that premise, though, being about a relationship and the pitfalls when neither side of the relationship is willing to give up their dream. The conversation between Ann's overlay and the woman whose body it inhabits was a bit confusing at times (italics are used for both the woman's thoughts as well as the Overlay's statements to her), but otherwise, this was a great story. Tiedemann capture the uncomfortableness of the whole situation perfectly. Willem doesn't know what to do with this woman who has just appeared after seven years. Not a classic, but extremely tender and moving.

"Designing With Souls" – by Robert Reed This story is a delightful take on the whole Home Improvement television show genre. Madame Zane is a home designer with a twist, who not only provides a new house, but also the souls to haunt it. Called "remnants," these souls are the main draw to the show. This time, however, Madame Zane has met her match. The Lynches want Grammie Dawson to inhabit their nursery, but Grammie has issues with Madame Zane. A contest of wills between the dead and the living happens, with surprising results. Reed does an excellent job with the characterization in this short story. Madame Zane is suitably haughty and arrogant, enjoying a reign of terror not only over her crew but also over the spirits she drags into the houses. The interplay between Grammie and her is wonderful. Beneath it all is a subtext showing us how inherently silly some of these programs are. Probably the best story in the issue.

"Sergeant Chip" – by Bradley Denton Our good sergeant is actually a dog, Chip, who seems to have a psychic connection with his master, Captain Dial. He is the best at what he does; able to tear the throat out of any enemy soldier that threatens the men in his unit, D Company. In a war that seems to be a combination of Afghanistan and Iraq, Chip must deal with the ultimate adversity. Torn between his orders to protect Captain Dial at all costs and Dial's orders to protect a civilian family, Chip becomes much more than a sergeant. He becomes the last hope for a native family. The story is told by Chip, in a letter to the leader of a group of soldiers who attacked the hut he and his charges were hiding in. Denton captures the relationship between Chip and Dial perfectly, but I didn't find the story as interesting as it could have been. Unfortunately, the story was a bit predictable, and at 45 pages, it dragged because of that. Still, it's a nice story that makes a good point about the conduct of war and how sometimes even the good side isn't necessarily that good.

"Falberoth's Ruin" – by Matthew Hughes Yay!! Henghis Hapthorn is back! Last seen in the August issue, this time Henghis has to deal with a thoroughly evil man. No, not as an adversary, but as a client! Yes, the universe's foremost freelance discriminator (and no, I'm not sure what that is either) is enlisted to discover who might be trying to kill Torquil Falberoth. All he's required to do is discover who would have the means, motive, and opportunity to do it, and get that list to Falberoth's mechanical integrator. Unfortunately for Falberoth (but fortunately for the rest of the universe), things don't quite go as planned, and Henghis has to solve something else. This is another delightful tale by Matthew Hughes. Henghis is a wonderfully arrogant yet interesting character. The cool thing is that he's intelligent enough to have earned that arrogance. As he often says, he is never wrong. The story is too short for much characterization other than Henghis, but Hughes is the master at getting characters summarized in a few sentences. We see just what an evil man Falberoth is. The story is light and funny, and perfectly placed after "Sergeant Chip." Count me among Henghis' biggest fans (not that he would ever acknowledge me, of course).

"Peter Skilling" – by Alex Irvine Peter Skilling wakes up in a hospital room, unsure how he got there. A robotic orderly tells him that it is now 2103, and Peter died falling into a subglacial stream on Mount McKinley. Thankfully, he was preserved in pristine condition, to finally be rejuvenated and revived 98 years later. Peter finds himself in a world gone mad, with laws dating back to the time of his death reaching up to bite him. Security is the watchword, and everything in the United States is being done in the name of it. Peter finds that it's gone farther than even he had believed possible. From the wonderful and light "Falberoth's Ruin," we are dropped into the depths by a political sledgehammer. Irvine's story has a point to make, and damn it, it's going to! While science fiction in nature (the rejuvenation process), the story is thoroughly soaked in modern sensibilities and comes directly from current events. There is no allegory, just heavy-handed commentary. I am a conservative, and yes, the point of this story is completely opposite my point of view. However, I know that if this story was told the same way but actually reflected my views, I would still find it to be a bludgeoning bore. If I wanted to read a political piece, as opposed to a story that actually makes me think, I would read a political tract. This is just too much for words.

"Gasoline" – by J. Annie MacLeod This is a simple story about the transformation of a young girl to adulthood (or close to it, anyway). Viola is a witch who has taken Jo under her wing and shown her magic. The ultimate magic is the ability to change shapes, and now that Jo has had her first period, Viola is able to go through the ritual to turn Jo into a wolf. As they travel to the place where Viola can do this, they discuss what is to come. MacLeod gives Jo a nice country attitude, where getting close to the "big city," is almost more important than the transformation itself. It has good imagery and a nice theme of the transition between childhood and adulthood. Unfortunately, that's about it. It's not really that interesting, and I found the interaction between the two of them rather dull. Viola insists that Jo has to have told her everything about her sexual history or the spell could end up with Jo dead. They argue some about keeping your body in good shape (Viola doesn't have to be as diligent because she's now used to the change), but I just kept looking at my watch. With the story being only 11 pages long, that's not a good indication.

"I Am the City" – by Richard Mueller The issue ends on a great note with this one. We open with Dave McNary, being held by the American authorities in a dingy prison, asked by a soldier and an obviously CIA civilian to repeat his story yet again. Dave tells us about his meeting with the hot new actor, Jack Rackham, and how this meeting drives Dave to Baghdad and a city in flames. There's something wakening in the bowels of Baghdad, wakened by the war, and if it comes fully awake, everybody will regret it. This is a delightful story that ends with some great Japanese monster movie imagery. With the way it starts, I almost groaned that we were going to be getting yet another political commentary. But Mueller makes his points well and he coats them in a fun story, giving us a dose or two of opinion and then moving on to the other stuff. He also uses a pantheon of gods that aren't used much in modern fantasy fiction, giving us a chance to see some new folks in action. Dave is a great character, and the enigmatic Jack is simply wonderful. A nice story to go out on.