F&SF ON THE BEACH

Upshot, I'm going to write the column this time around. My first. For those of you who have asked, or wondered, if I am merely a persona, very pleased to meet you I am all too real....

Our usual method is for me to make notes, suggest pubs or stories for my "sections", and for Daniel to fix it all up with a bow, sometimes (too rarely if you want to know) he'll let me write a review from top to bottom, but never a full column, till now.

I just spent over a week in luxury beside the Gulf of Mexico, tasting exquisite crab, wine, shrimps, and scallops. Still got sand in my sandals and a tan on my normally white-pale skin, still smiling inside and out with a picture of the sea and sunset every time I close my eyes. Occurs to me that a lady is designed for leisure not labor -- but I've never been lucky in business or love, so I s'pose it's time to confess -- reviewing short SF is a 4 the luv labor and your presence is required (means you lucky readers!) for the act to have any meaning at all.

We're looking for a special class of citizen here in the column this time around. We want to know if any of you who read short SF don't write it. Appreciate it awfully much if you'd leave a post in the sfreader.com discussion Forums to let us know you're there. If you like reading short SF but don't aspire to create it, raise your hand and let us know what kind of short SF you love to read.

My beach bag was full of SF, of course, and though Daniel promised in the last column to review a couple of online pubs, there's been a change in plans. I toted five issues of THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, otherwise known as F&SF with me from condo to beach blanket and that much-lauded pub will now take the brunt of my first lone-critique.

What does a woman find in this most-high of SF print publications? Mostly stories by men about men -- in some cases, like the August issue -- a completely stag scene, not a woman in the crowd. Does this dispose me to alienation? Not entirely, but I think the gender-heavy roster of men here has something tangible to do with the stories and articles themselves, and something to do with the occasionally rather erudite and academic air of the pub, which at times is a bit off-putting. However, the content of F&SF is balanced out by highly accessible stories and great humorous stories, so on balance, it should appeal to just about any reader.

Now, Daniel would in all likelihood report quite another reaction to the stories, but this time around it's my chance to talk. I'm going to review a handful of stories from as many issues, some that grabbed me, some that didn't, and try to give an overall sense of my reactions, a general reader's reactions, and a woman's, to this prestigious print pub.

The August issue features a story by Charles Coleman Finlay called, "We Come Not To Praise Washington", that exemplifies the more scholarly side of F&SF. In that story, there is a line spoken by one of the minor characters , regarding the attitude of 'great men': "It ain't doing the thing that's important to them as to be seen doing it."

Darned if I didn't feel some of that attitude at work both in the Finlay story and in the contents of the pub in general. "We Come Not To Praise Washington" is an intensely well written story with quite a number of memorable turns of phrase, a surplus of historical detail, and a soulful patriotism that I quite appreciated. Problem is, I'm lost in all of the historical references, a bit dumbfounded by the shifting narrative POV and then, I kept waiting for the story to really get going.

When it did really start to move, it seemed Mr. Finlay backed away, and showed most of the action from a frustrating distance.

The story concerns an alternate post-revolutionary America. George Washington has died of yellow fever and Alexander Hamilton has usurped both his Presidency and his name, rather in the style of a Pope or Roman Emperor. Aaron Burr, who in actual history killed Hamilton in a duel, has come to assassinate the President, who admits he will not allow a free election when his term ends because America is at war with France (where Jefferson has expatriated), and there is a "rebellion" apparently underway within the newly created America itself.

There's plenty of irony implied through an inversion of moral bearing -- here the slave character, Gabriel, and the grizzled old veteran, Nathaniel, who share the main POV, display much more integrity and honor than Hamilton or Burr, and embody the best traits that we are likely to associate with the American Revolution: freedom for all men, courage, honor.

There's an awful lot going on in this story, it almost feels like a highly-condensed novel and maybe the theme and setting would have been more effective in a longer form. My main feeling, reading it, was that I should have a primer on American History nearby and I didn't like that feeling, though Finlay writes very stylishly and with true emotion. Bottom line, if you are well-acquainted with the history of the American Revolution and its personas, this story will be a treat, if you are, like me, under-read in said areas, it is possible you may feel frustrated and a bit inferior, intellectually.

Two funny stories by women are included in the way-back-in-April issue. Both of the stories are quite accessible even to a plain ol' reader like myself.

"The Copywriter" , by Alison Bowman, is a hilarious short piece satirizing the American obsession with "style over substance" and acquisition at any cost. Basic premise: slimy aliens approach a copywriter demanding a "brochure" to enable them to overthrow the earth. The copywriter complies and the story chuckles its way through a variation on the old "How To Serve Man" Twilight Zone gimmick, right on through to a stupendously funny ending in Margaritaville. I loved this story and laughed out loud so much I started to get peculiar looks from other sun-worshipers, some of whom, no doubt, were ad executives, or possibly aliens....

The other female authored story is a novella set in Texas, "Just Another Cowboy", by Esther M. Friesner. The language here is top-notch, inspired, and rib-crackin' funny. Friesner dishes out colorful dialect and homespun adages through the POV of Sam, an aging ranch hand on the Cottonwood ranch, who has more than a simple worker's loyalty and attachment to the "spread". When an "Easterner" and her son arrive on the scene, claiming to be the inheritors of the Cottonwood, Sam and the other ranch hands must find a way to keep the intruders from selling off the ranch. The story, does, finally turn on a fantastic or speculative element, but that aspect of the story is marginal, though intensely funny. This piece is a rip-roarin' celebration of narrative style and will tickle your funny bone as well as surprising you more than once or twice along the way. Very highly recommended.

From the June issue comes another intellectually demanding (and perhaps obscure) story, "The Black Abacus", by Yoon Ha Lee. My brain is still reeling from this one. There is a "class" of quantum-physics students, a "test", a rivalry between pupils, a war between the rivals conducted through alternate realities, and a narrative structure that is both fragmented and daringly original. I mention this story because it represents the more challenging type of material that one may encounter in F&SF.

The problem I had with it was not so much my absolute ignorance of the quantum theories or the techno language that seemed to obscure the pace of the story. My problem was with the characters, who are really only sketches and thinly drawn counterparts, or vessels, for the author to fill past the brim with her obviously thorough knowledge of an abstruse science. The air of intellectualism in this one, from chess allusions, to the almost impenetrable science here stifled my enthusiasm to say the least. Still, there is a poetic beauty to the flow of the story, a decent plot that, in my opinion, would have been more interesting if there had been as much depth to the people of the story as its theoretical and scientific background. Nonetheless, it is an inspired and inventive tale.

The last story I want to mention is a novelet by Chris Willrich from the July issue, "King Rainjoy's Tears".

This story is a moody and highly romantic adventure recounted in poetic prose. The protag, a poet named Persimmon Gaunt, and her sidekick/lover a thief named Imago Bone are wonderfully drawn characters whose quest to return King Rainjoy's compassion -- sacrificed through a wizard's intrigue -- is a colorful and exquisite story. King Rainjoy's last three tears have been transformed by the wizard, Spawnsworth into living beings. Now Rainjoy is the "Stone Faced" King, devoid of compassion, and his betrothed, the princess of Eldshore, will not marry him so long as his capacity for emotion and sadness is gone. So, a war with the land of Eldshore is threatened unless the poet Gaunt and her thief companion Bone can find the tears and return them to the King.

I was deeply moved by the language of this story. More than that -- I was highly entertained by both the characters, who are original and flamboyant, and the setting which is painted in moody watercolor tones. Fans of Fantasy fiction will devour this tale and immediately set out to find more of Willrich's fiction. According to the lead-in bio-sketch, there is at least one other Gaunt and Bone tale, "The Thief with Two Deaths", which appeared in F&SF June 2000. This is the best Fantasy story I've read all summer and I tip my starry wizard's cap to Chris Willrich's brilliance and creativity.

F&SF is a thrilling and often very humorous pub. The carefully balanced content is sure to please just about any reader who would happen upon a typical issue. Lying on the beach in the Florida sun may be an ideal setting for reading, but I would be happy to have this pub with me whether I was waiting for a subway, taking a stroll through my local park, or just relaxing at home with a cup of tea. I recommend all SF fans to order a subscription, and add that there is much more range and variety to the magazine than I was able to describe in a single column.

For free fiction this bi-week I recommend, "Dream the Moon", by Linda J. Dunn, available at STRANGE HORIZONS. This is one of the stories that sparked a heated debate over at the Tangent newsgroup. Daniel has commented on its so-called anti-romantic theme and poetic language. I couldn't disagree with him more and find this piece to be a passionate homage to the dreamer and the working class woman who refuses to let the reality of her harsh existence stamp out the flame of inspiration and hope. An excellent story -- and free for the taking.

Next column, Daniel will return. I'll refrain from giving out a GF Brand this time because I don't want to argue with Daniel once he's no longer stuck in bed.

Thanks for tuning in.

Lady E.

Firebrand Fiction Reviews: all content © 2002, Daniel E. Blackston