“Fantasy & Science Fiction”

Ed by Gordon Van Gelder

Format: Paperback, 242 Pages

Oct/Nov 2008 Issue

Congratulations to Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine on their 59th Anniversary Issue, that’s right 60 years of publishing which adds up to 1000’s of speculative fiction short stories and articles. This issue is an all-star anniversary Issue and I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy. This is a magazine which I have read occasionally in the past, it’s often hard to find in the UK (as are most speculative fiction mags) but on the basis of this copy it’s well worth seeking out (of course you can make life easy by subscribing here).

The first thing that strikes you is the excellent cover image “New Beginning” by Max Bertolini, it may be called new beginning but to me it epitomises the traditions of SF, harking back to the best of Astounding Stories and the likes but without being old fashioned, much like the entire magazine as it turns out.

The content is the usual mix of short stories (14 of them), book reviews and news along with movie reviews and an excellent science article (Rocks In Space) and all this for the $5.99 cover price. Of course, as with any short story collection there is going to be variation in quality, genre, length and style and this is no exception and of course your preference will undoubtedly be different from mine but I can almost guarantee there will be something here you will like, the range is so broad I can’t believe any speculative fiction fan wouldn’t find something that would delight them here.

My favourites ranged from “Inside Story” by Albert E. Cowdrey which somehow managed to combine the pathos of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath with an excellent and in places very funny mystery tale. “Private Eye” by Terry Bisson a risque love story with a twist was intriguing and “Sleepless Years” by Steven Utley absorbing. These reflect my taste to some extent being more traditional but for way out experimental speculative fiction try “Days of Wonder” by Geoff Ryman or ”Dazzle Joins The Screenwriters Guild” by Scott Bradfield both of which are bizarre reading experiences but memorable ones!

Of course there is one name here that will probably sell loads of copies of the magazine all on it’s own, yes folks the master… Robert Reed! Oh and there is some guy called Stephen King in there who’s story, “The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates” suggests he might have some talent for writing.

So congratulation to F&SF on reaching this milestone and may they continue to expand all our horizons for years to come, on the evidence of this issue both in terms of quality and variety (not to mention sheer volume) the magazine has a bright future and at least one new subscriber.

Rating 4 out of 5