I should start this review of the May/June 2010 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction off with a little background information. First, while I love science fiction movies, television shows, video games and comics I’ve never really been one to sit down and read the genre in novels. The occasional one, sure, but nothing regularly. Second, I could say even less for the fantasy genre. I really enjoyed The Lord of the Rings movies though. Does that count?
As a whole, I really enjoyed this issue. I can’t say that I liked every story, but there were several that really stood out and I would consider reading more by those authors.
By far, my favorite of the bunch was “Seven Sins for Seven Dwarves.” Mr. Hilary Goldstein’s sense of humor is right in line with my own – absurd and most definitely not for children. This is, without a doubt, the best retelling of Snow White ever written. Seriously. They should make a movie out of this version. Hell, I’d even see it in 3D, and that’s quite a feat.
Next would be “The Real Martian Chronicles” by John Sladek. This story was perfect. The intro description mentioning Philip K. Dick signaled that I was in for a treat and was I ever. This is what science fiction is for me – exploring new worlds and the like – and I can’t wait to read more of Mr. Sladek’s work. Anyone have any suggestions?
“The Crocodiles” by Steven Popkes rounded out the top three. All I need to say is zombies. Done. Awesome. Found it a little predictable, but strategic World War 2 zombies are enough to defeat that.
The remaining three stories that I thought should be mentioned are “Why That Crazy Old Lady Goes Up the Mountain” by Michael Libling, “Dr. Death Vs. The Vampire” by Aaron Schutz, and “Silence” by Dale Bailey. All were fantastically written and a pleasure to read. That’s not to say the other stories were bad, I’m certainly not implying that. They just weren’t my cup of tea. To be fair I am pretty picky.
All of these stories along with the book and film recommendations/reviews makes F&SF a fantastic collection and one that I will continue to look at in the future for more incredible works of fiction. You’ve converted another one science. Congratulations.
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