Review:

2010

December

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 -- Albedo One Magazine (Issue 39)

Albedo One Issue 39 (cover)Ask any twentieth-century reader of speculative fiction what they'd expect to find in an SFF magazine, and they'd probably describe something that would look a lot like Irish magazine Albedo One: a print magazine featuring a selection of SF and F stories, a non-fiction article or author interview, and some book reviews.


Monday, December 13, 2010 -- The Apex Book of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar (Part 2 of 2)

Apex Book of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar (cover)Introducing this anthology, Tidhar writes, "Languages come and go. But stories stay." Fantasy, of which SF is (arguably) a sub-genre, has certainly proved resilient over the millennia.


Monday, December 6, 2010 -- The Apex Book of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar (Part 1 of 2)

Apex Book of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar (cover)According to author James Gunn, in an essay in World Literature Today, Volume 84, Number 3, May/June 2010, "To consider science fiction in countries other than the United States, one must start from these shores. American science fiction is the base line against which all the other fantastic literatures in languages other than English must be measured."


January

Monday, January 25, 2010 -- A Decent Ransom: A Story of a Kidnapping Gone Right by Ivana Hruba

A Decent Ransom (cover)Phoebus is a good, simple-minded backwoods kid who idolizes his big brother Kenny. Kenny, not much brighter, is full of spunk, full of himself, and full of plans. His plans generally revolve around getting away from the small town he grew up in and "being someone". His father (but not Phoebus') was a small-time crook, and Kenny dreams of being more, of pulling off something "big".