Opening with 'Strange Fruit,' A.C. Wise tells the story of the aftermath of a passionate affair between a plantation owner and a slave, contrasted with his loveless marriage and the odd child that it's produced. Wise's prose is as lush as the peach that Ceri the slave bites into, while the atmosphere of langour darkens nicely as the story crescendoes. It's an excellent start to the reading experience of this niche magazine.
Christopher Marlowe
Marie Brennan's story could be described as a counter-uchronia. For those unfamiliar with the term, a uchronia is parallel worlds story that has sprung from a different outcome to an historical event. But Brennan instead takes a known event (albeit of uncertain provenance) and instead looks at it through a kaleidoscope of possible time tracks funneling into why 'The Death of Christopher Marlowe' turned out the way it did. Highly recommended.
'Senor Hedor' by Nick Wolven tells of fighters fleeing the Spanish Civil War who shelter in a remote building and find it already tenanted by a dead man, whom they christen Senor Hedor (Mr. Stinky). The men are initially disdainful of the corpse but as the story progresses, their relationship with it changes. Wolven walks a thin line between slipstream and dark fantasy, but 'Senor Hedor' lingers in the memory.
David Sakmyster's 'Plastromancer' is set in ancient China and tells of a prophecy, its cost to the protagonists, and how they both cheat it and the further price that that levies on them. It's the most direct story in the book, and yet for all its blood and pain, for some reason its the least effective. Perhaps the imagery of parboiling turtles that gives the story its title is too strong a meat.
Civil War SF
David Erik Nelson's delightful 'Tucker Teaches the Clockies to Copulate' is by far the longest story in the issue, in which --in the grand tradition of Bring The Jubilee and much Harry Turtledove-- the (American) Civil War took a different turn, albeit of a highly unconventional nature.
In this story, Chinese-built mechanical men have fought for the South, and upon the Confederacy's defeat are left to wander the country, until settling amongst the Mormons of Utah. By turns filthy and laugh-out-loud funny, the bawdy humour gradually gives way to a deeper sadness. An outstanding story with which to end the issue.
Poetry and Non-Fiction
There's also poetry from F. J. Bergmann and Darrell Schweitzer, amongst others, and reviews of novels such as Susan Fraser King's Lady Macbeth, and of films such as The Other Boleyn Girl.
Much of the magazine's distinctive look is created by reproducing artwork by Aubrey Beardsley and nineteenth and early twentieth-century artist Giuseppe Signorini. Editor Christopher M. Cervasco has produced another fine example of what the independent press can provide to ornament both historical and the fantasy genres.
