INTERACTION

I really hated Stoddard's earlier near-future stories in the mag because of what I saw as their polemical anarcho-capitalism. I have to eat some of my ruder words now because this is really good, [...]

In addition, I’m working on what might be considered a sequel to the novella Softly Shining in the Forbidden Dark, upcoming in Interzone 208. I say, “considered a sequel,” because it’s set about five thousand years ahead of Softly Shining, though it does carry over at least one character (or a convincing simulacrum thereof).

Just finished Paul Meloy's 'Islington Crocodiles' and absolutely loved it. Looking forward to his collection of the same name.

I thought "Empty Clouds" was good too. "Islington Crocodiles" was impressive for most of its length, but I thought the supernatural element a bit clunky and over the top (the magical children - who will save the world because they have wonderful powers - in particular). But I look forward to reading more from Paul Meloy.

Really enjoyed 'The Star Necromancers' - interesting ideas here. Made me think, though, about identity and whether the notion of the individual would persist in such a culture of disposable bio-engineered avatars and an omnipresent data-space. Mind you, it'd be quite hard to drive fiction without the idea of individual agents, I'd imagine!

Well, I posted a VERY quick review on the Doctor Who forum I normally frequent, and frankly can't be arsed to re-write it, so here's my thoughts:

***

‘Softly Shining in the Forbidden Dark’ by Jason Stoddard mixes an alien first contact story with the concept of shared consciousness, as both the linked human explorers and a stubbornly introspective alien species find themselves under attack from a vast subsuming hive mind. Initially a little baffling in it’s dense world-building, and the method of defeating the hive mind seems to come out of nowhere, but this is still a vivid piece of science fiction that lives up to the ‘sensawunda’ premise of the issue.

‘Empty Clouds’ by GD Leeming is a brief but colourful look at a Chinese police inspector’s life in a future where a Star Wars-style missile defence system has gone mad. Good stuff.

‘Where the Water Meets the Sky’ by Jay Lake uses Native American Indian mythology to shine an oddly positive light on the usual dystopian Western ecological future – another short but sweet piece.

'Islington Crocodiles' by Paul Meloy is the issues outright fantasy piece, very much in modern fantasy/horror style of Clive Barker or Neil Gaiman, as god-like beings from a higher realm descend into the life of a petty criminal to wage war. Some startling imagery here, but I'm always a little offput by those stories that strap their characters into immovable plot-lines of some great pre-ordained 'destiny'.

Finally 'The Star Necromancers' by Alexander Marsh Freed tells of a group of interstellar travellers who re-ignite dying suns - a great SF concept with some nice alien world-building, and easily my favourite story in this issue.

All in all no outright stinkers, and well worth a look for anyone who wants to support grass-roots British SF.

***

All I'll add to that is that I didn't realise that 'Islinton Crocodiles' was a sequel to anything until I read some of the other reviews linked to on this site. Maybe if I had read the previous stories it might have seemed less forced...

Read "Empty Clouds": fantastic story, though one niggle - the protagonist is described as wearing a green uniform, though the artwork has him wearing red.

One thing that did confuse me (about "Crocodiles") was midway through the story the main character asks the girl he fancies for her phone number, she says something like "you'll be lucky" and goes off. Then, next paragraph, he's ringing her up. Either I missed something (maybe he is lucky, so she gave him her number!), its an error, or its a subtle way of showing the main character is delusional (and so the rest of the story can be seen as a descent into wish-fulfillment fantasy).

My only slight quibble was the use of a simile where layers of coloured light were compared to sheets of silk. Would that be a term of reference that the narrator (the gardener) would've used? It rang slightly false to me - but that's really a minor quibble. Other than that, an excellent story.