Strange Horizons ForumApril to June, 2002
Alec Austin's "Quality in Epic Fantasy" was an interesting read. I do agree that all fantasy books inevitably get compared to Tolkien, but... <gasp!> Not all fantasy readers have read "The Lord of the Rings", and with the movie, sadly many will miss that experience. My fantasy introduction was "The Hobbit", and then "Rings". I admit that for a long while I too fell into that comparative mode. Nothing measured up, but eventually I learned to enjoy other books on their own merits. Writing styles aside, if the story captures my imagination it doesn't matter if the "formula" is familiar. Mainly because, as Alec pointed out, a lot of fantasy is basically good vs evil. That's okay for me. As a reader I think I expect that. Can't tell you why, but I do. Could be like he said, its comfortable. But I don't think that is a bad thing. Real life is too full of the opposite, and most people read fantasy/fiction etc... to escape. The "happy ending syndrome" has, for good or bad, become endemic to the genre. We have been exposed to this since our first bedtime stories, and as adults, I suppose we have come to expect it in what we read. Now granted, you will come across some "crap", but often you will find something you at least enjoyed reading. I have read books my friends thought fell into that category & vice-versa. But in the long run that is okay. On the point of language I will agree wholeheartedly. I have just recently read a fantasy novel and a historical fiction book that both used the F-word. This stopped the flow of the story right now! I stopped reading and rolled my eyes. It seemed to come from total left field. Took a while to get back on track afterwards. Well I have definitely rambled enough. I did find the article informative and agree with it, just not to the degree Mr. Austin does. When my book comes out, (someday), be kind! Take care!
All the best, Michael Michael Retherford <ark567@mindspring.com> 'Confounding Mr. Newton' was one of the most touching stories I've read of late. It takes a talented writer to blend thorny human issues and speculative fiction into a blossom that graces both.
Sarah G <seglen0@uky.edu> Sing it. I'm glad someone gathered up most of the things about fantasy writing that cause me to go off on a rant and talk about them more articulately than I usually manage to do. Perhaps this means that someday I will actually find more than one book on the shelves at the bookstore I want, and the pounds of seriesisms, one size fits all worldbuilding, and flat out bland stories will shrink. Or at least I can hope it will mean that. I prefer novels to product, and I'm getting mighty tired of product.
Chelsea Polk Alec Austin's essay on epic fantasy raises some challenges for both reader and writer alike. Austin asks us to rethink what we are settling for. He asks us to pursue quality, to, some might say, get our rocks off via quality fiction. The familiar or comfortable or easy road for some of us might be to avoid authentic, imaginative creation, including choices in character, narrative structure, language, and political or religious settings. Austin is encouraging us to stretch ourselves beyond that. Perhaps we could say, we are being encouraged to evolve or grow, in our writing and reading choices, tastes and skills; to learn to gain pleasure from work of a higher standard. Interestingly, many people think the lowest common denominator and low standards are interchangable and it's this that accommodates more readers, and sells more product. But this is only so when we allow it. We teach ourselves what to link pleasure to in large part by reinforcing, by creating habit. Austin asks us to move to a level of writing and reading better suited to our human intellectual and creative capacity - to raise that common denominator. Not only can we create and gain pleasure from choosing quality, but we also create new standards and expectations for our selves and our world beyond the page, based on collectively supported ways of being and doing. Choice. If our collectively supported ways of being and doing are set and reinforced at a higher level than in the past, our world is positively impacted. This practice is part of the human evolutionary or developmental process and occurs in all spheres of our lives. We are familiar with this idea or its effect in our economic lives, but less so in other spheres. Areas where we opt for (by active choice or by allowing default mechanisms to be established) the lowest standards create a retardant effect and see us treading water or moving backwards as a result. The alternative approach to our lives, to our fiction writing and reading, needs to come from individual desire. Individual desire enacted can create collective movement. And it is a great thing as an individual or as a culture to choose to inspire growth in ourselves and others.
R.T. Hag <rookbiz@yahoo.com> I keep meaning to add my voice to those praising Greg van Eekhout's wonderful gem of a story, "Show and Tell". I like Mike Jasper's favorite line as well, but my very favorite (the one I kept repeating, out loud, over and over) was " . . . and it's BOOM, BOOM, BOOM and whip-whip-whip for the next few minutes." An excellent story; keep up the good work!
Heather Shaw <gryffyn@there.net> Just wanted to add my appreciation for the story 'Confounding Mr Newton'. It was a delicately crafted portrayal of a family member with 'special needs', albeit in this case paranormal ones, and I found it deeply affecting and haunting. My commendations to Strange Horizons and to the author.
Caroline Hannon <cathouse55@hotmail.com> James Allison's "Confounding Mr. Newton" is a wonderful story. A complex and moving plot in orbit around a central fact of love. Beautifully done.
Sarah Prineas <sprineas@msn.com> Over the past few years, I've come to expect a high degree of excellence from James Allison, yet somehow he manages to keep outdoing himself. Thank you, SH, for continuing to support this new, powerful voice in science fiction.
Roger Eichorn <kynslock@attbi.com> "Over years of commercial exploitation, however, many elements of strangeness in fantasy have been used so badly they have come to seem mundane, and where once readers thrilled to tales of knights and dragons, they yawn at cover copy promising thrilling quests and look for something less tedious to read about." Oh, do they? It strikes me that the acres of shelf space and the near-overwhelming production of commercial epic fantasy would suggest the opposite. I agree with Alec's diagnosis, but not his prognosis. While Alec and I are bored with epic fantasy, it seems fairly obvious to me that the readers of epic fantasy are not, since they haven't stopped buying the books. Alec, in critiquing the genre conventions, just shows that his tastes and the tastes of commercial fantasy readers differ. He complains that commercial fantasy's use of a "hero's journey" plot ruins the possibility of genuine suspense. I'd suggest that that is a positive feature for readers of the form. Genre theory generally suggests that one of the essential effects of the genre is the offering up of the familiar and the safe as a respite from the real world, which often seems dangerous and arbitrary. Epic fantasy of the sort Alec describes is consoling. It comforts readers through the repetition of tropes like the young nobody ("Hello, gentle reader. Welcome to your own self-concept!") the prophecy ("Don't worry, this fantasy has been safety-inspected. Just keep your hands in the car") and of course, the Special Forces A-Team characters (the strong guy, the rat-faced criminal, the headstrong asshole, the babe and the older babe). The final conflict with the Dark Lord is less important than the Sunday drive to get there. And that's the way readers like it. And if a commercial fantasy manages to connect with its intended audience, it cannot truthfully be called a failure. Compared to science fiction, fantasy seems like it is no longer a subversive genre. SF proper is supposed to show the inevitability of change and to create a sense of wonder through that change and through the scope of the narrative. But before we get too smug, I'd contend that science fiction is no longer subversive (the reader isn't surprised) either. The readers that want gonzo stuff (Dick, Delany) often stick to their own, as do the Libertarian Party types, the warheads, the spacecases, the xenophiles, las feministas, etc. How many people really read across the whole corpus and allow themselves to be challenged, rather than simply negating the alien and valorizing the familiar? Not too many, I'd bet. Genre is all about enforcing and reinforcing one's own ego in the face of a large and overdetermined universe. The only difference is what our own egos, as readers, are made of.
Nick Mamatas <nillo@agoron.com> "Their little noses stop glowing a few minutes after they're dead, looking like cherries set out too long." Nice, twisted little story. So that's why there's only one Rudolph. :)
Michael Jasper <mjasper@nc.rr.com> "Christmas Season": Dear, oh dear! Oh deer, oh deer! I recall growing up in the rural Northwest where hunters went out & mostly shot one another every fall... puts a whole new meaning to the word "fall", doesn't it?
Anon <decline to state> If you're referring to the additional-fiction-guidelines page, you can get there by going to the main fiction guidelines page and clicking the link that says "additional guidelines page." Or you can follow the link here in this message. (The URL of the additional-guidelines page did change slightly, not long ago, but the link on the main fiction guidelines page has been updated and now goes to the correct page.) Jed Hartman <fiction@strangehorizons.com> I can't seem to find the "Additional Guidelines Page". What happened to it?
Robert Medcalf Jr <robmedcalfjr@earthlink.net> Greg van Eekhout's Show and Tell is a marvelous story, an example of what classy literate science fiction should be -- a combination of flair and heart and mind-blowing images. Highly recommended. :-) Vera
Vera Nazarian <vera.nazarian@sff.net> I've just got to say that Greg van Eekhout's story "Show and Tell" was marvelous, simply marvelous. Keep publishing him, willya?
Jon Hansen <jon@logicalcreativity.com> I loved Greg Van Eekhout's "Show and Tell" -- it fills me with a sense of wonder that so many other modern sf stories fail to inspire. It's funny and sweet and short and wonderful. Thanks for publishing it!
Jenn Reese <jenn@sff.net> Greg Van Eekhout's "Show and Tell" is marvelous -- my favorite science fiction story Strange Horizons has published yet (which means it must be very good indeed).
Tim Pratt <timpratt@sff.net> "...well-written, gramatically sound, with no spelling mistakes." Ouch! It was a good story, but for other reasons than that. Also enjoyed reading the Karin Lowachee interview. Best wishes,
Charlie Finlay <ccfinlay@excite.com> Greg Van Eekhout's story is well-written, gramatically sound, with no spelling mistakes. And the story is fun. I look forward to seeing more of his writing.
Alex Grant <agrant@nonphotoblue.com> Greg van Eekhout's "Show and Tell" made my day. What a nifty tale of the world's most old-fashioned grandpa! Lots of fun details in this one. Great work. My favorite line -- "There's a thing he often says at home that I hope he does not say now: If I'd known I was gonna spawn monsters I woulda never shtupped Irene, God rest her soul." Great story.
Michael Jasper <mjasper@nc.rr.com> Freedom, Spiced and Drunk Yet another brilliant, vivid, and well written story from MCAH. As always, it's so very easy to fall into her world... -hsr
hyanan <hyanan@tampabay.rr.com> Demographics. I like straight white men, mostly. Especially if they have most of a brain intact & like F& SF. The species is a little rare around here. Sort of straight is as close as we seem to get. Not at all straight, the white part is negotiable is more and more the Bay Area offerings for males. Yours, a SWF F&SF reader.
Cenizas <www.angelfire.com/ab4/doclezlie> Wonderful story. Nice tension between apathy and passion, disappointment and hope. Thanx.
forrest mericle <fmericle@hotmail.com> Wonderful story. Well written. Had me hooked.
Pam <pcrompton32@hotmail.com> The Illuminated Dragon is one of the best stories I've read. I love it and I hope Rafe and the dragon go off, strengthen, and return to defeat the Men of Truth!
Laura <eggusmajorus@yahoo.com> Impact Parameter is going on my list as one of my ten favorite of all time. Mr. Landis makes his characters alive and believable, while making the science understandable and accessable. Great stuff, I heartily recommend it.
George L. Sulea <geovoice@yahoo.com> Freedom, Spiced and Drunk was wonderful. Maggie has dealt with a hugely difficult situation in a sensitive, thought provoking manner. And although I don't believe one should run from difficulties, no matter how large, I was happily surprised at what came from this within the story. Her statements on how truly important relationships are and how we sometimes need, or don't need others was very satisfying. This is one of your best, Maggie.
Mike Raabe <marram@foxinternet.com> M. Hogarth's Jokka are an amazing creation. I enjoyed this story, "Freedom, Spiced and Drunk", as much as I have enjoyed the others of hers that I have been privileged to read. The questions asked in it are hard, the choices not always clear - thought they may seem so at first, and the answers clouded... but the best stories are ones that challenge your preconceptions about things you had taken for granted. Great work again, Maggie.
P. Shoudy-Roberts <paxnirvana@compuserve.com> I am so moved by the yearning for beauty, freedom and life itself in Hogarth's writing... Thanks for another of her stories.
Mey <mdealarcon@aol.com> M.C.A Hogarth's stories about the Jokka continue to intrigue and and fascinate me. I've loved all the art she's done of them, and the stories are just as good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she eventually finds a publisher for _Worth of a Shell_. In the meantime, these short stories are a tantalizing glimpse into a very original world!
Karena Kliefoth I'm delighted to see a magazine picking up Maggie Hogarth's Jokka stories. "Freedom, Spiced and Drunk" is an intense, haunting story that ends with a note of hope. I love it as much as "Money for Sorrow, Made Joy." I hope Strange Horizons will continue to run more of the Jokka stories -- and I second the vote for one set in a bustling city. For those of you who attended WisCon over Memorial Day weekend, I mentioned Kediil on my "Gender Is a Lie!" panel which featured a lively discussion of sex and gender issues. The Jokka stories are among the best fiction I've found for exploring that territory.
Elizabeth Barrette <ysabet@worthlink.net> Hi, Conrad! I'm glad you liked the story. As Jed mentioned, there is one novel already, The Worth of a Shell, but it's currently making the rounds. In the mean time, the thought of setting a Jokka story in a city is a fascinating one. I'll have to let that one simmer.
M. C. A. Hogarth <mcah@stardancer.org> Glad you like the Jokka stories, Conrad. We do, by the way, run illustrated stories, but we can only illustrate one story a month, so we have to make difficult decisions about which stories to have illustrated. We can run only one illustration for a story, too, so the Cheldzan Jokku art gallery is probably a better way to view pictures of the characters from both stories anyway. As for novels about the Jokka, I believe at least one (The Worth of a Shell) has been completed but is not yet published -- but I'll let the author speak for herself about that.
Jed Hartman <fiction@strangehorizons.com> Freedom, Spiced and Drunk is another touching Jokka story like her Money for Sorrow, Made Joy story; I only wish that Strange Horizons's format allowed stories to be illustrated, because it would be lovely to see M. C. A. Hogarth's stories with her evocative art. Though the Cheldzan Jokka link at the bottom of the story allows one to see some of her art, of course, it's not quite the same. I wonder if M. Hogarth will ever visit a Jokka city, replete in clan politics and intrigue, in the span of a novel? Cities fascinate me more than lonely wilderness.
Conrad Wong <lynx@lynx.purrsia.com> Marvellous! Very imaginatively conceived and sensitively told! Loved that sad little note about the gravediggers at the end...after ambrosia, can wine exhilarate? Encore!!
subroto mukerji <subroto@britannicain.com> quigs, yips, boog -- help! Normally, I can decipher unknown terms from the context, but not this time. I think you had a good idea there, but the terminology left me on the outside, looking in. Maybe a little more explanation would help those who aren't "in" on your scenario ... Jim
Jim Cue <synergy@chorus.net> Strange Horizons, indeed. Comparing Conrad to Cummings (sorry, cummings) is pointless. Why not live a little and just find what you like and leave the rest. Clearly the editors of this ezine and the publishers of his forthcoming Frank collection think that the Frank poems are poems. No one mouth is big enough to speak the whole truth. Or breathe softly into an envelope before the jukebox says it all for you.
Crystal Bacon <bacon@snip.net> Subroto? that's a very interesting name. your comments were fun. yes, e.e. cummings, he's not so very obscure really, we all know who he is. i guess there's no real way of understanding what you meant. i'm also assuming you're referring to the FRANK poems in the latest issue? not sure really. the thing i always find fascinating about art critics --hope you don't mind me calling you a critic-- is that there's often so much effort put into putting others down. others being those who fearlessly spend their time creating and turning the world over and over to hear and feel another suggestion of life my experience with critics who are negative is that they tend to be folks who are in a rut and not really DOING the art that they have dreamt about DOING and that makes me sad i'm sure you have a wealth of talent in you i'm sure you are FILLED with new ideas for the world i'm sure you are capable of MORE than merely quoting cummings i'm sure you will find out just how valuable you are to us you know a good deal about cummings? then you may already know that cummings had critics firing bullets at him in a constant stream as did and does every poet who has spent their precious time elvaluating this planet with something new in mind something new in the heart new things are never easy to introduce people don't like new they say they like new when new is already old really if you were alive in cummings's time, i wonder where you'd stand? where? i hope you'd stand with him he was an amazing force that will continue to shape this world long after we're both gone what are you doing to help shape and reshape this world? attacking others doesn't really do it in fact, i'd strongly suggest you read cummings who would ALSO suggest you take up a talent other than mere petty attacks how do you feel when you attack an artist? what does it do to you? is there a RUSH when you submit an attack? lightheaded, are you lightheaded? there's so much time being wasted by critics. does this world really need critics? are we all capable of deciding what we want for ourselves? don't we all have hands to pick it up or not? what a fantastic world this is Subroto. i hope you reach out to it one day. hope you begin to feel better soon. all my best, CAConrad
CAConrad <CAConrad13@aol.com> THAT'S poetry?? Who's gonna tell them that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes? And will you listen? For your information, THIS IS POETRY ..... [e. e. cummings's poem "since feeling is first" was here, but we deleted it for copyright reasons. --ed.] subroto mukerji <subroto@britannicain.com> You're STUPID! -Peace!
James Garner <Jimbroni16@hotmail.com> Faith Justice's energetic review of "The Second Sex and Science Fiction: A Women's Liberation" convinced me to find this book and read it.
Linda Addison <nytebird45@aol.com> Just finished reading Alan DeNiro's atmospheric & spooky "Shepherd's Calendar" -- what a chilling ending! Brr! Is it intended to be a response to Spinrad's "Void Captain's Tale"? Why is sex in space always bad news? Spacers need love too. Good'un, Alan -- again!
Harry LeBlanc <hleblanc@bitstream.net> "Bringweather and the Portal of Giving and Taking" is a delight! By turns hilarious and touching. Well done, Barth.
Harry LeBlanc <hleblanc@bitstream.net> Barth Anderson's story is delightful! Bravo!!
Rachael i simply love the poem "Gravemaid!" the imagery is daunting and the rhythm/flow of the poem itself is excellent! keep writing, i say!!!
anastasia clark <goldenrush59@aol.com> I really loved "priscilla" that was just so great n original. thanks for that story, everyone!
Kundan <saraswati@emailaccount.com> Great run of stories in the past few weeks, folks! From the cool Alex Irvine story to the excellent "Priscilla" tale by Ruth Nestvold, to the kicking SF tale by Alan DeNiro, and now this week's Dumpster-punk story by Barth Anderson, y'all are doing a bang-up job. Detailed reviews of the stories are up at www.tangentonline.com. Thanks, all! Mike
Michael Jasper <mjasper@nc.rr.com> Tom Doyle's article "Christian Apocalyptic Fiction" puts into words a number of things that I have felt as both an author and reader of apocalypic fiction since the mid-90s. Further, his article issues this suggestion, which I now take as my own personal challenge: "It would be interesting if Christian apocalyptic fiction confronted scientific hubris in the world as it is.... Little attempt is made to confront science in a way that would even by analogy translate effectively into our (apparently) Ark-less world." In the words of the bearded Spock from "Mirror, Mirror": "I shall consider it."
Rob Roy Jones <letmewrite4u@nospam.yahoo.com> Further to a comment a couple of days ago which referred to my plagiarism of Tom Waits in a story I had published some time back on SH, I'd like to deny all charges as a mere coincidence. I'd like to, but I can't... I have to hold my hands up... the phrase did indeed come from "Hold On". The whole story was originally written with Mr. Waits in mind; and a whole bunch of songs of his from a whole lot of albums and I acknowledged that fact very clearly when it was critiqued on Critters website. I left that one direct quote in as a 'tribute'. There are a few one or two word expressions in there that Mr. Waits has used in songs, not directly quoted but no doubt recognisable to Waits fans. Unfortunately between putting it up on Critters and publishing it on Strange Horizons I completely forgot to 're-acknowledge' the source which I absolutely should have done. I would like to offer my apologies to the editors at SH, readers who feel misled, and indeed Tom Waits (who writes a damn sight spookier story than I ever could, and even manages to put them to music). It was genuinely meant as a tribute to my favourite singer/ songwriter not as plagiarism. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
Simon Bewick <bewick_simon@hotmail.com> I read with interest Peter Jekel's article, "The Ghost at the Edge of the Solar System." I have a couple of questions. First, since Pluto is about 40 AU away from the Sun on average, shouldn't the Sun appear 1600 times dimmer than it does from the Earth? That is only 8 magnitudes, and since the Sun has an apparent magnitude of -26.8 or so from here, it should have an apparent magnitude of about -18 to -19 as viewed from Pluto--several magnitudes brighter than the full Moon. (Not to mention that all that light would be squeezed into a tiny dot only a little more than a hundredth of a degree across. Quite uncomfortable to look at, I would guess.) Secondly, although Pluto does have a low surface gravity, my understanding was that Pluto's atmosphere is in more danger of freezing out onto its surface than it is in escaping into space. At ordinary room temperature, its gravity would be insufficient to hold onto a substantial atmosphere, but at only 40 kelvins, Pluto's gravity is (I am guessing) enough to do the job. That is, I believe, the reason for a certain sense of urgency, among some planetary scientists, to get an exploratory spacecraft out to Pluto before its atmosphere does in fact freeze over. Again, a very entertaining article, which I'll return to read again, I'm sure.
Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu> I really enjoyed Tim Pratt's poem "Laughing Blood." It's fun to get an inside look at how a monster becomes a monster--and to see that monster as a sympathetic character. A lovely piece of mythic poetry. I hope we get to see more of his Bestiary poems.
Erin Donahoe <erin@sff.net> I thought Ruth N.'s story "Princes and Priscilla" was quite amusing and extremely well told. Let her know. As co-editor of romantasymagazine.com we hope to get her vintage of stories there. Lots of Kudos to SH and Ruth. Good luck. AT
Ann Townsend <jirrah@rocketmail.com> Alan DeNiro's "Shepherd's Calendar" is a wonderful story. Far future setting, completely alien, surreal and scientific and mystical all at once. Stories like this one are rare. Thanks for publishing it.
Chris The reason it reminds another reader of a Tom Waits song could be that the phrase "charcoal eyes and Monroe hips" is plagiarized word-for-word from Waits' song "Hold On". That's not "what Johnny used to say", it's what Tom said.
Errrum. <billgates@microsoft.com> Tim Pratt writes a lot of terrific poems, and "Poor Bahamut" is no exception. I look forward to reading the rest of his bestiary.
Greg van Eekhout <greg@sff.net> Regarding "Miss Parker Down the Bung" by Kate Bachus (3/25/02).... Great story line, engaging, well-rounded characters (even the supporting players), interesting style. Miss Parker is a woman with fiber. I will be looking for more, much more, from Ms. Bachus. Thank you! Rich Brown
Rich Brown <RKBCO@AOL.COM> Form Follows Function! I enjoyed Ruth Nestvold's quirky, challenging "Princes and Priscilla" very much. Anyone who likes postmodern retellings of old fairytales should have a look.
Sarah Prineas <sprineas@msn.com> Bless you, Greg Beatty, for the first part of your thorough award guide. We all need stuff to dream on.
Tom Doyle <tmdoyle2@compuserve.com> Curse you Tom Doyle! You wrote the article I've been wanting to write on Christian SF, and you did it well enough that I don't have to. Hey wait a minute--I should be thanking you. I did enjoy it, and agree with it. The one point I would have loved to see examined is how characterization and dialogue are handled; I find common threads of simplification running through the characters in these books. Sometimes the source is clear; the authors are writing for readers who share an ideological understanding of how people work. Other times, it is less clear. But I enjoyed it. Greg
Greg Beatty <gbeatty@earthlink.net> Piece of Bamboo by Derek James Ran across your Strange Horizons site in a random search for Bamboo. Curiosity reigning, I began Derek's "light" techno peasant story. I very much enjoyed the change in time frames, and the underlying concept of simplicity and the basics of life. Simple, not a lot of wasted descriptors, I enjoyed it. thank you Derek.
Craig I'd just like to add a link to my own commentary on the "Nightwalker" series. WARNING : Major Spoilers. Thanks, Vega. http://www.angelfire.com/anime3/dustymoth/nw_vega.htm
Vega <arkaidy@hotmail.com> While I have not read any "Christian Apocalyptic Fiction", I can't really comment on the genre, but the editorial was right on the button about the views that fundamentalists have given to me. These books have not held much interest to me because, from my own reading of the Bible, I can't see where they get the idea that they will miss out on the tribulation. "We All Fall Down" will be on my reading list after your editorial. One more thing, I very much enjoy getting and reading "Strange Horizons".
George Kraft <nebvap@webtv.net> I'm a keen Zelazny fan - the analysis of the first series of Amber books as a metaphor for, or comment on suburban life is an interesting one - valid, as far as such things go - the injection of reality into fantasy is as satisfying as the vice of the versa. How does the second series tie in then?
Chris Lemoh <chrislemoh@hotmail.com> Born and raised in Detroit myself, I enjoyed the baseball writing in that story, but it's very choppy to read and follow--some serious editing would help!
S.L. Garcia <slgarcia@yahoo.co.uk> Nice timing for the Alex Irvine story about baseball, "Agent Provocateur." I liked it a lot, especially the details of baseball in the old days, and the ravenous hot-dog-eating hunger of a young boy. And some of the spy stuff made me think of Tim Powers' _Declare_, in a good way. I also read Kate Bachus' "Miss Parker Down the Bung," and while I was frustrated at first by the unfamiliar words, I kept reading to see what had happened to Jenkins, and it paid off in the end. Keep up the great work. Mike
Michael Jasper <mjasper@nc.rr.com> January to March, 2002, Comments October to December, 2001, Comments July to September, 2001, Comments
January to March, 2001, Comments
September to December, 2000, Comments
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