Contents

20 April 2009

[Column by Susannah Mandel]

(Column)

COLUMN: Revisiting the Canon with Susannah! Wolves, Winter, and the Wild Men of the Woods: Travels with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part 2, by Susannah Mandel

Gawain made a pledge to the knight, formally, in the presence of everyone in Arthur’s hall: in exchange for striking the Knight with his ax, he accepted the Knight’s terms, which were to come find the Knight in one year’s time and bare his own neck to the ax. Whether Gawain thought he would ever actually have to fulfill his half of the bargain is irrelevant; since the Knight, improbably, survived their first encounter, Gawain is now honor-bound to perform what he has promised to do.

FICTION: As He Was, by Kit St. Germain

My Malcolm dollie, I kept in the best condition. I would kiss it and hug it. Sometimes I would put it in a bean can and I would tell it, "You are in invisible armor, my only love. Nothing gonna touch you." I know how crazy that sounds—but where are 'Phonse and Woody Pike and Jerry Rasmussen that signed up with Malcolm? Malcolm came home because of me.

POETRY: Four Years Later, by Chris Szego

When I watch over the cradle, our daughter, so perfect, / I see the subtle traps ahead:

REVIEW: This Week's Reviews, posted three times a week

Monday: Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente, reviewed by Matt Denault
Wednesday: Fathom by Cherie Priest, reviewed by Sara Polsky
Friday: Eclipse Two: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Jonathan Strahan, reviewed by James A. Trimarco

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