Fantasy & Science Fiction: July 2007

The July issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a slight disappointment overall. The most enjoyable story, Lawrence C. Connolly’s “Daughters of Prime,” uses a tried and true motif. Cara has been sent to observe an alien species in its native habitat. When contact is made there’s a lot of language confusion. It seems they think she’s some sort of messiah. But how could they possibly have known she would come, and does she really have a responsibility to protect them from the creature lurking in the forest?

Connolly’s monster is fierce, his action scenes tense, and the problem of the aliens’ expectations for Cara is acute if not deeply explored. It’s a good story, even if the most interesting elements, the duplication and transmission of Cara and her equipment to the planet’s surface and what this technique means for her research procedures, are secondary.

There can be no questioning Lucius Shepard’s writing. “Stars Seen Through Stone” is as well crafted as must be expected, even if the story holds less interest for me than a classic like “The Scalehunter’s Beautiful Daughter.”

This new novella is quite a different animal, following an independent music producer as he struggles to keep a budding star from growing too cocksure or imploding in a squalid lifestyle. They inhabit Black William, a backwater Pennsylvania town which has a history as intriguing as its name.

This story consumes half the issue’s page count, and while I’d give my right foot to be able to write like Shepard I’m unsure of the ultimate payoff. The voice is pitch perfect and the characters and small-time music scene are tangibly real, though just as tiring as Shepard’s personal experience in the industry seems to have been. This is somewhat moderated by the sweetness of the ending.

Ray Vukcevich’s “Cold Comfort” is a concept piece (if it hadn’t worked I would call it a gimmick) about a freezer calling tech support and getting into an argument over which of them is human. I wanted more, and wish it was a full-fledged story.

I’m afraid greater appreciation for P. E. Cunningham’s “Car 17″ was impeded by my inability to think of it as more than the bastard child of KITT from Knight Rider and Stephen King’s Carrie.

The right suit can make the difference when you’re making a power play in the office. M. K. Hobson’s “PowerSuit™” takes it a step further with Graig, whose AIgent is actually hosted in his suit and gives him advice on what to wear, how to play politics, and whom to date. That’s a lot of power to give an article of clothing, with the inevitable question of who is riding whom?

Graig is a fun character, so obviously mismatched with his ambitions, and Buddy, his AIgent, is entertainingly exasperated. It’s a nice way to end the issue, and those who’ve ambivalently navigated the hierarchies of large organizations will savor it. Speaking as one who knows.