Realms of Fantasy - August 2008

In my neverending quest to learn to synopsize stories better, I give you a review of Realms of Fantasy, August 2008 issue.  As a whole, I liked the stories in this issue much better than previous issues.  I'm an old-fashioned fantasy reader.  I tend to dislike literary-style fantasy stories.  I want to understand what I read, to get the hidden meaning without having to strain my too-few feeble brain cells.  I love fairy tales, although I'm not a big fan of the re-telling of such.  I like my fantasy epic, and what most today would call trite and cliche.  But that's what I was raised on, it's what I cut my first fantasy-teeth on, and it's what I like.  And while this issue didn't have much in the way of high or traditional fantasy, I still enjoyed almost every story.  One was a little too grim for my taste. 

( Realms of Fantasy review behind the cut! )

Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction - August 2008

In exchange for agreeing to blog a review, I received a free copy of the August, 2008, issue of Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.  So, here's my take:
Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction - August 2008

 "An Open Letter to Earth" - This short short was my favorite story.  I found it really amusing.  I confess to liking to read shorter stories, as my "to-read" stack of books grows and my reading time shortens.  A five star rating from me on this one!

"The Political Prisoner" - This novella was a mixture of political thriller and SF, and I thought it succeeded quite well.  It was a richly developed off-planet world, full of intrigue and revolutions and uncertain moralities.  I especially enjoyed how the plot played out, clues dropped here and there, sparingly enough to keep the reader reading for more information.  Pam's rating:  5 stars (out of 5 possible). 

 "Childrun" - While I saw early on where this story was headed, it still had a few surprises here and there.  Apparently this is a serial character, and I'm intrigued to read more stories about him.  I do wish I'd been told more about his right hand and how it came to be made of polished black stone, but I suppose that is another story.   3.5 out of 5 stars.

 "But Wait!  There's More!" - I've come to expect stories in this vein to end with the protagonist losing his soul, but that was never part of Cullin's contract.  I was entertained by this story, although I never felt emotionally involved in the outcome.  Still, I'll give it 4 out of 5 stars.

 "Another Perfect Day" - This was my least favorite.  Time travel stories always make my head spin, so obviously I'm not a target audience for this story.  2 stars. 

"Bounty" - I thought the subject matter was brought forward without getting up on a soap box.  As far as the writing itself, that was above the ordinary.  I've a soft place for beautiful descriptive sentences, and this story has more than a few gems in it, and an outstanding use of strong and unusual verbs, which made the reading very interesting for me.  3 out of 5 stars.