Black Gate

The July/August issue of Britain’s longest running science fiction and fantasy magazine has new fiction by Julie C. Day, Tim Casson, Michael Reid, Eliot Fintushel, Chris Barnham, and Andy Dudak, plus David Langford’s Ansible Link, film reviews by Nick Lowe; book reviews, and columns by Jonathan McCalmont and Nina Allan. Here’s Robert L Turner III, writing at Tangent Online.

Michael Reid’s “If Your Powers Fail you in a City Under Tin” is set in a future where magic has returned to the world after the God Beast tore a hole into this dimension. Jun, a portalist with control problems and a haunted past, starts to panic when his lover, Riel, disappears while fighting for the UN. As a week passes without word, Jun finally discovers how to control his abilities and makes an attempt to rescue Riel…

Eliot Fintushel creates a world in which people are partnered by genetic match in “Chubba Luna.” Sweeney, the protagonist, lives in a chaotic world where society has almost broken down and due to NPJ, Non-Punitive Justice, there are few consequences for any actions. He, Mo, Sheila Mo’s paired partner, and the Bartender gather together to argue, drink and decide what to do with their lives and partners…

“When I Close my Eyes” by Chris Barnham is the story of the first manned expedition to Titan. Darlo, one of the team, becomes trapped in an ice cave and has to make his way out while dealing with visions of his dead wife. When he discovers that there is life on the moon and that it seems to dislike his light he has to rely on faith in his hallucinations to save him. The story, an explorer facing a hostile environment is a common one, but Barnham does a good job of mixing the psychological elements to add depth to the piece…

Professor Turner’s complete review is here.

…

Read More Read More

The July/August F&SF features fiction by Gardner Dozois, William Ledbetter, Marissa Lingen, and many others. Here’s Victoria Silverwolf from Tangent Online with the lowdown.

Leading off the magazine is its only pure SF story, “In a Wide Sky, Hidden” by William Ledbetter. Human beings have explored many worlds throughout the galaxy by transmitting their minds into artificial bodies created at the point of arrival. The protagonist is one such explorer. As a child, his older sister, who designed vast, technologically sophisticated works of art, disappeared with a promise that she was going to create her masterpiece, and a request that her brother find her. Many years later, after journeying to multiple planets, he discovers what became of her. This a fine story, written with grace, clarity, and imagination. It balances sense of wonder with empathy for its characters.

Readers familiar with classic science fiction will recognize a tribute to Robert A. Heinlein’s 1941 story “—And He Built a Crooked House—” in “There Was a Crooked Man, He Flipped a Crooked House” by David Erik Nelson. Not only are the title and the theme of the story similar, but a minor character, mentioned only in passing, has the same name as a major character in Heinlein’s story. In modern Detroit two men who work for a fellow who buys abandoned properties in order to sell them at a vast profit are sent to examine his latest acquisition. It turns out to be a beautiful old mansion in immaculate condition, despite the fact that it is located in one of the worst places in the city. The moment the narrator enters the front door he winds up in the back yard. Other dimensional paradoxes abound. Once a way into the house is discovered, things take a darker turn…

Read Victoria’s complete review here.

Here’s the complete Table of Contents.

…

Read More Read More