My apologies for not getting March and April’s issue reviews up. I will be doing them in the near future.

The Stories
"The Great Caruso" - by Steven Popkes (short story) 18 pages
"The Golems of Detroit" - by Alex Irvine (short story) 11 pages
"Born-Again" - by K.D. Wentworth (short story) 14 pages
"The Imago Sequence" - by Laird Barron (novella) 54 pages
"The New Deity" - by Robert Reed (short story) 6 pages
"I.D.I.D." - by Robert Thurston (novelet) 30 pages

The May issue has a delicate balance of light and dark stories. Funnily enough, the dark is all covered by one story, the novella “The Imago Sequence.” The rest of the stories are quite light, making for a very even issue overall. The quality is also quite high, as the only story that I didn’t enjoy was Robert Thurston’s “I.D.I.D.” While one could always hope for an issue with no “bad” stories, I’ll take this one in a pinch. The fact that a horror story managed to grip me makes up for the clunker. I was not looking forward to a novella-length horror story, but Laird Barron’s story is the high point of the issue. Well-recommended.

The stories
"The Great Caruso" - by Steven Popkes
An old woman refuses to give up her cigarettes, no matter how much her grown son tries to convince her to do so for her health. In an attempt to get him off her back, she decides to try a new brand of cigarettes that are supposed to be better for you. Instead of lung cancer, she develops something else, something artificial, something that can enhance her life. But what will the ultimate price be? I’ve enjoyed Popkes’ writing ever since stumbling upon him in one of the various Year’s Best Fantasy collections, and he doesn’t disappoint here, either. Norma is well-realized, and even her son is to an extent, which is pretty good considering he’s not a major player in the story (more of a catalyst then anything else). What’s happening within Norma’s lungs is very interesting, and the effect that it has on her is imaginative. For once, a story featuring smoking is not an anti-smoking message. It just uses it as a vehicle to tell a simple, yet fascinating tale.

"The Golems of Detroit" - by Alex Irvine
It’s World War II, and Jared Cleaves is working late on the golem manufacturing line in Detroit. He’s just discovered his wife is pregnant and that’s what a lot of the talk on the line is about. These golems are being manufactured to go off to war in Europe, so they’re vitally important, though not so much to Jared now that he has other things on his mind. Unfortunately, one of the cardinal rules of the line appears to have been broken, as a piece of metal makes it through the clay-sifting process, causing the golem created from that clay to go on a rampage. I haven’t had a lot of luck with Alex Irvine’s stories, as they never seem to appeal to me. This one has an intriguing premise, but it’s part of an upcoming novel by Irvine, and thus the story itself seems unfinished. There’s a lot of backstory given that will probably be important in the book but makes the story drag a great deal. I think it was a bit of a waste as far as a story goes, but it served its purpose as it may just entice me to read the book.

"Born-Again" - by K.D. Wentworth
Taking DNA from the Shroud of Turin, a huge market has grown for Jesus clones. A young girl’s mother has invested in one that’s in the process of growing up. Just what the world needs: a teen-aged Jesus who’s trying to find out his purpose in life. He’s trying the typical Jesus tricks: turning water into wine, creating loaves of bread, that sort of thing. It’s when a gang of clones get together to try out their ability to raise the dead that things get a bit out of hand. The idea of cloning Jesus is a fascinating topic, but Wentworth goes for the comedy more than the deep introspection. The story is quite funny, with the interplay between Jesus and the two young girls being especially entertaining. I also enjoyed the Jesus Group, where clones get together to talk about what miracles they’ve accomplished (or almost accomplished). While entertaining, though, so much more could have been done with the concept. What we do get is a light, frothy story that is worth the time to read it.

"The Imago Sequence" - by Laird Barron
Marvin is an ex-con, one of those brutish, wrestler types who is usually employed as hired muscle. Having gone straight, he still does the odd job for friends. One of those friends, Jacob Wilson, enlists his help in tracking down the second and third photographs in a sequence of which he has purchased the first, as well as his missing uncle. The photographs are quite disturbing, and not just in the aesthetic sense. As Marvin goes on his search, the image of the first photograph continues to haunt him, making him almost unable to sleep. What he ends up finding may make it so he never wakes up. Barron is the author of February’s “Proboscis,” which I didn’t really care for. I’m not much of a horror fan, so I know this story didn’t affect me as much as it would a fan. However, it hit me a lot harder than “Proboscis” did, and I found the entire story very intriguing. Barron indulges in a bit of philosophy along with the horror, as Marvin gets involved in what could be considered a cult. Barron also describes the various photographs in the story quite vividly, disturbing the reader almost as much as Marvin. It’s a powerful story that will keep you riveted throughout its rather long length. It’s even worth a re-read to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

"The New Deity" - by Robert Reed
Down south, the local college football coach can be seen as almost god-like. I’ve been around when a coaching change has been made, and so, obviously, has Reed. In this story, Reed transposes this whole sequence into a city firing its local deity and trying to hire a new one. There’s not much plot to describe in this one. If you’ve seen the hiring of a football coach, then you’ll know exactly what happens in this story. If you haven’t, then the story will probably not be as interesting to you as it was to me (though it will still be pretty good). For me, it was hilarious. Reed is one of the most prolific short story writers out there, and he’s always entertaining. While certainly not his best (or his most accessible), it’s still worth a read.

"I.D.I.D." – by Robert Thurston
A female scientist is on a remote island studying the two aliens who have crash-landed there. However, Congress is threatening to cut the funding, so she goes back to the mainland to testify at hearings. She makes the time to see her cousin while she’s there, and she discovers that society has taken a turn for the worse while she was gone. Everything is overly politically correct, everything from language to parking to social status has changed to where she doesn’t recognize it. This story did almost nothing for me. I found it unbelievable (I don’t think she was on the island long enough for all of these changes to be new to her) and the aliens seems to be superfluous. I didn’t like any of the characters. The idea that a society would evolve so that every group (whether ethnic, gender, or what have you) will use outside ways of identifying itself, whether hair style, clothes, or whatever, is mildly interesting, but the story completely failed to grab me.

The Articles:
"Books to Look For" - by Charles de Lint
Speaking in Tongues - by Neil Gaiman
Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar - Neil Gaiman
Hawke’s Harbor - by S.E. Hinton
The Spirit Catchers - by Kathleen Kudlinski

"Books" - by Elizabeth’s Hand
A Handbook of American Prayer - by Lucius Shepard
Tijuana Straits - by Kem Nunn
There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale - by Sean Astin with Joe Layden
The Devil in Design: the Krampus Postcards - by Monte Beauchamp

"Films" - by Lucius Shepard
A profile of some Korean science fiction and action pictures.

"Plumage From Pegasus" - by Paul di Filippo
Moody’s Angels – where a young author who has sold all of 700 copies of her book is visited by a group of female writers who have all had the same problems. Much in the vein of Charlie’s Angels, these literary secret agents show the young author how she still win awards for her books despite not having the public fall in love with them. “Poor sales are not an indicator of quality!” is their manifesto. Quite entertaining, and very short.

"Curiosities" – by Steven Utley
a small article on Space Western comics from 1952-1953.