Part seventy-six in my ongoing retrospective as I read the fiction to the back issues of Realms of Fantasy and offer my thoughts, right up to the present. This time around I’ll be discussing the April 2007 issue.
The cover to this one features the artwork of Victoria Frances, which marks her second illustration in the magazine.
A rundown of this issue’s nonfiction is as follows:
In the movie/TV column, Resa Nelson covers the movie, 300; in the folkroots column, Midori Snyder discusses the ancient roots of the masked comic theaters; in the books column, Gahan Wilson reviews Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends by Avram Davidson, The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror by John Clute, The Salon of the Fantastique: Fifteen Original Tales of Fantasy, edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, and Paul Witcover reviews The Orphan’s Tales, Volume I: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente, Dragon Avenger by E.E. Knight, Pictures from an Expedition by Alexander C. Irvine, and Three Days to Never by Tim Powers; in the YA Books column, Michael Jones reviews Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce, Spirits That Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce, Cupid by Julius Lester, Fangs 4 Freaks by Serena Robar, Larklight by Phillip Reeve, Water Song by Suzanne Weyn, The Salem Witch Tryouts by Kelly McClymer, and Laura Cleveland reviews Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen; in the artist gallery, Karen Haber covers the art of P. Craig Russell; and in the games column, Eric T. Baker reviews World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Gears of War for the Xbox 360, the RPG, Neverwinter Nights 2, the D&D module, Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, and Mage Knight Apocalypse for the PC.
On to the fiction …
The lead story is “A Touch of Hell” by Richard Parks, which marks his twentieth appearance in the magazine, making him the first author to have twenty stories appear in RoF. This is another story about his far eastern samurai detective, Lord Yamada, the third such story to appear in the magazine. In this one, Lord Yamada is pressed for cash and accepts an assignment to deal with an ogre that has killed a young women and is causing trouble along an important path, but as is often the case, this assignment proves to be far less than straightforward. Art to this one was provided by Tiffany Prothero, and the artwork was nominated for a 2007 Chesley Award for Interior Illustration.
Next up we have “The Rope: A New Tale of the Antique Lands” by Noreen Doyle, which marks her fourth appearance in the magazine. In this one, there is a rope-charmer of considerable skill and something of a mystery about him. For whenever the young boys climb up the rope that he causes to rise into the sky, they seem to vanish. Finally, a young woman endeavors to work with the rope-charmer and solve the mystery of where this rope leads. Well, wherever it goes, Rich Horton must have appreciated the location, because this piece was included in his anthology, Fantasy, The Best of the Year, 2008. Art to this one was provided by Paul Lee, which marks his fourteenth illustration in the magazine.
Then we have “Stephanie Shrugs” by Josh Rountree, which marks his fifth appearance in the magazine. In this urban fantasy, we are introduced to a young rock n’ roller who has dreams of stardom. Before his career takes off, he receives a visit from a beautiful and mysterious woman who seems to know more than she should and who ends up setting him along the path he has been dreaming of. Over the years, she shows up again and again at crucial points in his life. She might be his muse, but she might be something else entirely. Music lovers should get a particular kick out of this one. Art to this one was provided by Eric Fortune, which marks his fourth illustration in the magazine.
After this we have “Black Jack Davy” by Trent Hergenrader. In this Wild West fantasy, a newly made widow struggles to find happiness on the frontier while the ghost of Black Jack Davy haunts the land, stealing young women away with a method that seems more in keeping with the fey than with any sort of frontier shootout as you might first imagine based on the milieu. Art to this one was provided by Brian Horton, which marks his fourth illustration in the magazine. I will also humbly point out that Trent’s story marks my tenth slush survivor to appear in the magazine.
Following this we have “Red” by Jackie Kessler. This is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. The big twist? Well, if Little Red befriends the Wolf, would that qualify as a big enough twist for you? Yes? I thought so. Art to this one was provided by Jada Fitch.
Next up is “Bottles” by Samantha Henderson. In this dark fantasy, a single mother is struggling with her recent divorce, her repressed anger, and the psychic abilities she’s been repressing since adolescence. Things become even more convoluted when she discovers that her daughter, early into adolescence herself, has developed the ability to remove the souls of living beings and store them in glass bottles. This story can be best summed up by two words the author uses quite effectively: never assume. It’s also interesting that I reread this story when I did, because some months back this story was adapted into a twenty minute independent film. It’s since been making the indie film circuit and has been doing quite well for itself. Sam was kind enough to send me a copy of the film. I suspect this was a thank you for the part I played in helping this one get into print. While Sam’s story isn’t a slush survivor, suffice it to say this one took a rather unusual and circuitous journey before finally making its way into the magazine’s pages, and I ended up playing some small role in making this happen. As to what exactly happened, I believe this is a story best left off the web, but if you ask Sam really nicely, maybe she’ll tell you some time. As to the film, I ended up watching it right after I reread the story. As I told Sam, I think she should be very pleased. There were obviously some changes made to translate this into another medium, but overall I thought the film stayed very true to the original story. Art to this story was provided by Tony Shasteen.
Finally we have “The Tao of Crocodiles” by Euan Harvey, another of my slush survivors. At the time Euan wrote this he was living in Thailand, and he does an excellent job of painting the picture of what this land is like for the readers, making it feel truly exotic. As to the story itself, a woman’s dead lover is haunting her dreams in the form of a sexual crocodile. Yeah, pretty dark, and things just get darker when they try to get rid of the ghost. Art to this one was provided by Rob Johnson.
So that wraps up this issue. Next time around, yup, you guessed it. I’ll be discussing the June 2007 issue. Until then …
