musingaloud | Realms of Fantasy Feb 2009

My thoughts on the latest Realms issue -- Feb 2009

REALMS OF FANTASY - February 2009

"The Radio Magician" by James Van Pelt

I was utterly and completely enchanted by this tale of Clarence, a boy stricken with polio but not yet consigned to an iron lung, who spends his days and nights lying around with his legs encased in plaster, listening to the radio. His favorite was a magic show: Professor Gilded's Glorious Magical Extravaganza. One day, Clarence's mother decides to take his recovery into her own hands, and removes his casts. Possessed by a fever to see Professor Gilded and discover if somehow his magic is real, Clarence dons his metal braces and crutches and sets out for the radio station. It's a heart-warming story about a boy's fear for his own future and finding the bravery to move forward despite it. I can't say enough good things about this story. It sucked me in quick and kept me entranced and desperate for good things to come for our little hero.

"The Happiest Place" by Carrie Vaughn

Audrey is a college dropout and wannabe actress who plays Cinderella at the Happiest Place on Earth. The weight of the job wears on her when she leads the terminally ill kids around the park. They're so happy to be with her, so entranced by her pseudo-princessness, and their mothers write to her of how happy she made them. And Audrey feels like a fake. Then one day she finds a simple tiara in a her locker, with a note: I can't do this anymore. I pass it on to you. Drawn to put it on that night, Audrey finds she becomes a real fairy godmother: she sees wishes and can grant them. But the power and responsibility are heavy, and one day a wish comes from someone she knows. Something she has the power to grant. But she can't do it--can she? It means tragedy, no matter if she grants it or not. Definitely a bittersweet tale, but I still enjoyed it.

"Joy is the Serious Business of Heaven" by David D. Levine

This is a rather light-hearted look at how helping people can become weighted down by the minute details of bureaucracy--even in the Corporation of Heaven. In pursuit of market shares against the Competition, the angels are pushing pencils across far too much paper. Umiel tries to keep up with the duties of her new promotion from Research Associate to Researcher, but misses looking in on the mortal world. Can the angels find their way out from under their stacks of paper and e-pistles and get back in the business of Happiness?

"The River of Three Crossings" by Richard Parks

In which Lord Yamada, accompanied by the priest Kenji, tries to exorcise the ghost of the bandit "Tadeshi the Red" from the river crossing south of the Capital where his worst crimes were committed. But Tadeshi has other plans--and they don't include being sent across the Sanzu River to be judged by the King of Hell and pass into the afterlife. When Yamada discovers Tadeshi's 9-year-old daughter, Momiji, he hopes to find a way to exorcise Tadeshi and collect his reward. I've read other stories about Lord Yamada, but this was my favorite, probably because I'm a sucker for stories about children, and Momiji is a plucky and brave little girl who is determined to get what she wants from the deal with Yamada.

"Fossil Fuels" by Alan Smale

Rosalind Theaker, a Cunning Woman, enters a enters a coal mine in 1937 Yorkshire to find and kill Jack-the-Lad, also known as Jack-in-the-Green, Jolly Jack, Puck, Robin.... Her guide into the dark and dangerous tunnels of the mine is a boy named Peter. I thought Peter the most interesting character. He was a talkative, inquisitive lad. The final cat-and-mouse scene in total darkness kept me on the edge of my seat.