A Thousand Faces 1 – Frank Byrns
A Thousand Faces 1 – Frank ByrnsThe website for this looks nice, and is easy to read, so they have the basics right. Unfortunately the fiction is below par (a 2.2 average), and the non-fiction part...
View ArticleRollerball – William Harrison
Rollerball – William HarrisonApart from the excellent titular story, the rest of this just is not any good. Not even the intro where he whines about falling standards, and even dislikes pinball, of all...
View ArticleCrucible – Frank Fradella
Crucible – Frank FradellaSuper powered conflict here between opponents. There are three editors/authors listed on this book. If they are taking it in turns to write stories here it wouldn’t surprise...
View ArticleCyber Age Adventures – Frank Fradella
Cyber Age Adventures – Frank FradellaBad. That would about sum this off. The majority of the writing in this book is not competent, let alone publishable. That is even publishable in a game supplement...
View ArticleEverything Is Broken Up and Dances – Clare O’Brien
Everything Is Broken Up and Dances – Clare O’Brienhttp://www.specusphere.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=31 Pointless pursuit. 1 out of 5
View ArticleFlav and Nero – Ryk Ekysteen
Flav and Nero – Ryk Ekysteenhttp://www.infinitas.com.au/Stories/FlavAndNero.php Ashy ruin. 1 out of 5
View ArticleClarkesworld 13 – Sean Wallace and Nick Mamatas
Clarkesworld 13 – Sean Wallace and Nick Mamatashttp://clarkesworldmagazine.com/issue_13 Here we actually get something approaching a magazine as opposed to all the past ‘two stories posted to a...
View ArticleHub 04 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart
Hub 04 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuarthttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/backissues.html# A review of podcasting master Scott Sigler’s Earthcore suggests it is a bit in the Resident Evil vein, so probably...
View ArticleHub 09 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart
Hub 09 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuarthttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/backissues.html Reviews here of Soon I Will Be Invincible, and Helix, by Eric Brown, which is apparently sort of Ringworld-Very-Lite,...
View ArticleDebt Of Bones – Terry Goodkind
Debt Of Bones – Terry GoodkindFirst wizard owes readers. 1 out of 5
View ArticleHub 18 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart
Hub 18 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuarthttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/backissues.html A review of a couple of horror novels, and apparently Edgewise by Graham Masterton is a Wendigo novel, so that sounds...
View ArticleHub 19 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart
Hub 19 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuarthttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/backissues.html A review of the third season of the 4400 and a Richard Laymon novel. Hub 19 : Ten Thousand Spaceships – Paul E Martens...
View ArticleCemetery Dance 57 – Robert Morrish
Cemetery Dance 57 – Robert MorrishThere are a few things that could be said about the fiction in this issue. Lame, poor, and complete waste of time are three that come to mind. The story average is a...
View ArticleIdeomancer 04 01 – Marsha Sisolak
Ideomancer 04 01 – Marsha Sisolakhttp://www.ideomancer.com/nw/march2005.htm A 2.30 average = woeful. One bright spot though in an interview with Jack McDevitt. You could scrape it up to 1.25 with that...
View ArticleLone Star Stories 08 – Eric Marin
Lone Star Stories 08 – Eric Marinhttp://literary.erictmarin.com/archives/Issue%208/issue_8.htm A solid 2.50. That isn’t good. Lone Star Stories 08 : The Heirs of Cenpa – Sandra McDonald Lone Star...
View ArticleLone Star Stories 18 – Eric Marin
Lone Star Stories 18 – Eric Marinhttp://literary.erictmarin.com/archives/Issue%2018/histories.htm Two shockers and perhaps the shortest issue of the lot I think, maybe the editor was in a hurry this...
View ArticleUnfinished Story 2 – Larry Niven
Unfinished Story 2 – Larry NivenUnknown why this is here. 1 out of 5
View ArticleHub 29 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Topham
Hub 29 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Tophamhttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/images/Hub_29.prc A short review of a Dalek Empire audio production. Hub 29 : Nightmare Man – Jeremy C. Shipp Peanut...
View ArticleHub 40 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Topham
Hub 40 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi TophamQuick, name all the 5 star really short short stories you have read? Right, I thought so. No idea why a new publication with an obviously...
View ArticleIdeomancer 07 01 – Marsha Sisolak
Ideomancer 07 01 – Marsha Sisolakhttp://www.ideomancer.com/pdf/Ideomancer-08-03.pdf Easily the worst issue of this I have seen, I think. By far the best bit is the interview with John Joseph Adams....
View ArticleTen Years Ago – Max Beerbohm
Ten Years Ago – Max BeerbohmIf an author has written a completely irrelevant note short short piece about what he thought a painting might be AND hidden it behind the painting so no-one can find it,...
View ArticleHub 54 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Topham
Hub 54 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Tophamhttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/images/hub_54.pdf Ramsey Campbell and dodgy Lucy Liu horror movie reviews. Hub 54 : Chapiesky – A J Brown Drowned. 2 out...
View ArticleHub 55 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Topham
Hub 55 – Lee Harris and Alasdair Stuart and Trudi Tophamhttp://www.hub-mag.co.uk/images/hub_55.pdf Someone get confused between prose and poetry somewhere? Reviews of Doctor Who, and what would appear...
View ArticleMen Martians and Machines – Eric Frank Russell
Men Martians and Machines – Eric Frank RussellThe very bad and cheesy misadventures of a mixed planet crew on various planets. Men Martians and Machines : Jay Score – Eric Frank Russell Men Martians...
View ArticleOut Of This World – Murray Leinster
Out Of This World – Murray LeinsterAn related trio of stories about a physics savant and various atomic issues. This one is dated and not worth bothering with at all. Out of This World : The Gregory...
View ArticleClarkesworld 29 – Sean Wallace
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/issue_29 An interesting interview with Jeff VanderMeer, an article about a yankee christian loony book, and a poll. Fiction, however, very disappointing. Clarkesworld 29...
View ArticleBeneath Ceaseless Skies 11 – Scott H. Andrews
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/toc.php?s=all Two stories, not good. Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11 : Silk and Shadow – Tony PiBeneath Ceaseless Skies 11 : Preservation – Jonathan Wood Mother of...
View ArticlePlanet Stories 01 – Malcolm Reiss
The very first issue of the Planet Stories magazine, and unsurprisingly, it is very bad. The Golden Amazons stories has a couple of moments, and the best space pilot in the Solar System is a woman,...
View ArticlePlanet Stories 45 – Jerome Bixby
This only comes out at 2.36, even Kuttner is bad. The best here are Brown’s Star Mouse, take two, and Holden’s effort, a character therein who would get along famously with Poul Anderson’s Dominic...
View ArticleFlame Tree Planet – Roger Elwood
I have read that because of a lot of books this guy put out, bad things happened to the anthology market. If they are as shite as this one, I am not surprised, because if one of these was the first I...
View ArticlePlanet Stories 48 – Jerome Bixby
Nothing of any interest here, beyond the Schmitz, really. Planet Stories 1951 05 : Captives of the Thieve-Star – James H. Schmitz Planet Stories 1951 05 : Blind Play – Chan Davis Planet Stories 1951 05...
View ArticlePlanet Stories UK 03 – Anonymous Anonymous
Less than a 2.5 average for this particular mag, and won’t be any surprise the Bradbury is the best. The Coppel story is like a different writer than the bloke who wrote ‘The Rebel Of Valkyr’ – so...
View ArticleThoughtcrime Experiments – Sumana Harihareswara and Leonard Richardson
Extremely bad. A very odd idea. Find stories that had been rejected, or even better, multiply rejected, and publish those. The editors point out that there is an oversupply of stories. That is...
View ArticleDire Planet 1 The Stasis Loop – Joel Jenkins
“Her footsteps crossed the cracked stone dais, leaving no impression in the fluorescent blue moss that covered the time-weathered stone like a cushion. Long, pale hair fell about her shoulders in a...
View ArticleBeneath Ceaseless Skies 18 – Scott H. Andrews
Sort of applies to the next issue, too, before getting to Richard Parks – classic examples of tedious no good second world fantasy, wolves, knights, swords, clean, duchesses, making you want you to...
View ArticleBeneath Ceaseless Skies 20 – Scott H. Andrews
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 20 : The Land of Empty Shells – Caroline M. YoachimBeneath Ceaseless Skies 20 : The Bone House – James Lecky Turtles, all the way down. 3 out of 5 Many Terrible Words. 2 out of...
View ArticleBeneath Ceaseless Skies 23 – Scott H. Andrews
Definitely back to considerably inferior this time. Beneath Ceaseless Skies 23 : Between Two Treasons – Michael J. DeLucaBeneath Ceaseless Skies 23 : Oil Fire – Kate MacLeod Fighting centaurs is...
View ArticleThe Black Wolf 1 – Calvin Daniels
“Black Wolf hung back in the shadows, letting their familiar darkness wrap him in secrecy. It was the place he was most at home. Watching from the shadows ready to strike when the time was right, and...
View ArticleBeneath Ceaseless Skies 24 – Scott H. Andrews
Beneath Ceaseless Skies 24 : Sorrow’s Blade – Rita Oakes Beneath Ceaseless Skies 24 : Father’s Kill – Christopher Green Bold swording. 2 out of 5 There’s a wolf in there. No bears, though. 3 out of 5 1...
View ArticleAnthonology – Piers Anthony
Very bad is the word for this at 2.74. You know how some author introductions can be interesting? Well, these are anti-interesting. In fact, tosser would the description for the author of such I...
View ArticlePlanet Stories 44 – Jerome Bixby
Overall this issue is bad, except for the Coppel story, which I like a lot. 2.69 only. Abernathy next best and then probably the Anderson is a little over the 2.5 mark. Planet Stories 44 : The Rebel of...
View ArticleSuper Science Stories 2 – Frederik Pohl
Many writers of note here, but can’t really say the same about the stories. Notes on starting branches of the ‘Science Fictioneers’ club too. Super Science Stories 2 : Let There Be Light – Robert A....
View ArticleClarkesworld 47 – Sean Wallace
Clearly one of the worst issues so far. Nothing of interest in any of it. Clarkesworld 47 : Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time – Catherynne M. Valente Clarkesworld 47 : Messenger – Julia M Sidorova...
View ArticleApex Magazine 17 – Catherynne M. Valente
This would certainly seem to not be a SF/horror mag anymore. Apex Magazine 17 : Apex Magazine 17 – Catherynne M. Valente Apex Magazine 17 : Still Life (A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale) – Ian Tregillis Apex...
View ArticleSacrifice of the First Sheason – Peter Orullian
Left behind. 1 out of 5 http://www.tor.com/stories/2010/11/sacrifice-of-the-first-sheason?start=7
View ArticleClarkesworld 53 – Neil Clarke
A poor pair of stories, with an interview and an art article. You can happily skip this one. Clarkesworld 53 : Diving After the Moon – Rachel Swirsky Clarkesworld 53 : Three Oranges – D. Elizabeth...
View ArticleThe Smell of Magic and Other Stories – Mike Lewis
A multi-genre collection of mostly worse than average stories. Smell of Magic : The Smell of Magic – Mike Lewis Smell of Magic : Cooper’s Creek – Mike Lewis Smell of Magic : First Through The Post –...
View ArticleTrue History of the Kelly Gang – Peter Carey
This is terrible. Read The Kelly Hunters or something else instead. A truly horrible attempt, and pretty much unreadable right from the start. As the spousal unit agrees, it was a good thing we were...
View ArticleDavid Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Excruciating. At least reading the book doesn’t involve the actual physical punishment undergone by the title character. Of course, as a guidebook on how to do harsh things to young boys, it probably...
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