Uploaded September 23, 1996 -- Updated January 18, 1997
Here is the list of stories in this issue. If you have any comments or reviews, send them to jbailey@sff.net. Please indicate which issue and/or story you're referring to in the subject line, and try to keep comments for different stories separate in you letters so I can place them properly.
"A Chicago Dinner Party, Sometime After"
by W. Gregory Stewart [10/4/96]
"Saddle Point Dreamtime" by Stephan
Baxter
"The Lady Vanishes" by Charles Sheffield
[1/17/97]
"Strings" by Maureen F. McHugh [1/17/97]
"Fire Born" by Storm Constantine
Miscellaneous Comments (on the magazine as a whole, editorials, columns, etc.)
Maureen F. McHugh: 9/29/96
I found this story both affecting and oddly puzzling. I'm not sure that there aren't details in the body of the story that contradict the ending. Particularly the paragraph that says, "You wish you have been strong enough to let go, then, instead of weak enough to let go, later on." This seems to be about a relationship.
The story is a bit of an O'Henry story, and I am usually impatient with gimmicks, but as I said, I found this story terribly affecting and I keep returning to it, trying to puzzle it out.
Maureen F. McHugh
mcq@en.com
http://www.en.com/users/mcq
Heather: 10/3/96
Who are all these people???
I really liked this story, but I have no idea why they were there!! Anyone have a clue?? I think I understand the main character and his story, but I don't know how the rest fits together...like Maureen said, it is both affecting and puzzling...I can't seem to get it out of my mind.
Jim...have you read it yet???
Heather
Jim Bailey: 10/4/96
Yep, I read this story during a break from entering the data on it. Puzzling is a good word for it.
There's no doubt that the writing and style drew me into this story. The immediacy of the second-person viewpoint worked well with the rhythm of the words (the poetry influence?), and the shifting focus was well played with both the main character, Douglas, and one of the other "guests," Rhonda, at the party. Although it seemed like random tidbits at first, the continual return to the interaction between these two characters points to the central issue.
The question then becomes one of payoff. Does the ending support the stylistic workings of the setup? I don't know. That's part of what's intriguing about the story, I'm not sure what to think about the end. Does Douglas' change of heart make sense given the true nature of his situation?
In a way, though, that may signal a failure by the author. Are the questions left in the reader's mind the ones he wished to leave? Again, I don't have the answer, just more questions.
Jim Bailey
Note: This is a series of three linked stories, "Dreams of Ancestral Fish," "Icosahedral God," and "Triton Dreamtime," presented together in this issue.
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Geoffrey A. Landis: 1/17/97
An interesting riff on "The Invisible Man", a puzzle story of why did the "lady vanish", how do you find an invisible lady -- and what do you do when you do find her?
Geoffrey A. Landis
Ohio Aerospace Institute at NASA Lewis Research Center
http://www.sff.net/people/Geoffrey.Landis/
Geoffrey A. Landis: 1/17/97
A character-oriented story set in a distant society; I found little details in the story to be very strong, and the main character quite engaging. Well recomended.
Geoffrey A. Landis
Ohio Aerospace Institute at NASA Lewis Research Center
http://www.sff.net/people/Geoffrey.Landis/
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