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Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 2004
- GenresFantasy
164 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
9 people want to read
About the author
Michael Shea
75 books18 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 20, 2024
8 • Nimitseahpah • 17 pages by Nancy Etchemendy
OK. The Pahpocket mine had been abandoned for many years when Kezzie first visited it on a picnic with her husband. She saw a large statue positioned in front of the entrance as if watching to make sure no evil escaped. They asked her to be the new school teacher which she accepted. Some of the students picked on one of the students who was different, spoke with a French accent, one day going so far that the boy felt he had to retaliate.
36 • Confessional • 19 pages by Sheila Finch
OK/Good. Father Jose "Joe" O'Connor is contacted by his old college roommate from before the gulf war. With the two sides at peace perhaps they can be friends again. Joe is haunted by a confession he heard, kept it private, but it led to deaths. Now Ahmad is doing the same thing to him (Were they ever friends?) telling him he has plans to continue the war with his own statement.
55 • Welcome to Justice 2.0 • 3 pages by George Tucker
OK. Gimmicky. A court case run by software.
58 • The Growlimb • 34 pages by Michael Shea
Fair+. Carl Larken senses a presence around him. A subtle warning when he was in Vietnam, a split second before his partner tripped a land mine he heard the trip wire go and was able to plant himself on the ground saving his life. After years of marriage, he gave that up, for what he now sensed as a god. He now does his job, but Marjorie feels he's not quite present even when carrying on a coherent conversation.
97 • The Seal Hunter • 22 pages by C. C. Finlay
Good/VG. The seven hundred people on this satellite are eking by. Equipment breaking down, waiting for a ship from Mars (if it comes at all), it doesn't sound inspiring. Broadnax meets Sue-sheila while retrieving a tool. Offers to take her on a shuttle ride to the garbage dump. Surprisingly she shows up. She has been on a simulator, but now it's real fuel being used. On the way back they go seal hunting.
128 • Heart's Desire • 8 pages by Garth Nix
Good. Nimue has been studying with Merlin, now it's her turn to become a full fledged magician. The catch when capturing a star is that although it will give you what you want, the cost is what you most desire. What she most desires is all encompassing magical power, which is what she is asking for.
136 • Serostatus • 26 pages by John Peyton Cooke
Good/OK. Tom has been mildly depressed since Eric died of AIDS. On the way home from the movies a man, who he'd have liked to hook up with when he was twenty, was making moves on him. He talked with Edwin, another survivor, the next day. Tom kept seeing ghosts. Then someone real, then the ghosts again. Pretty good representation of how Tom came to be. Years of caring for a sick lover before eventually losing him. Not sure what the ending told us.
OK. The Pahpocket mine had been abandoned for many years when Kezzie first visited it on a picnic with her husband. She saw a large statue positioned in front of the entrance as if watching to make sure no evil escaped. They asked her to be the new school teacher which she accepted. Some of the students picked on one of the students who was different, spoke with a French accent, one day going so far that the boy felt he had to retaliate.
36 • Confessional • 19 pages by Sheila Finch
OK/Good. Father Jose "Joe" O'Connor is contacted by his old college roommate from before the gulf war. With the two sides at peace perhaps they can be friends again. Joe is haunted by a confession he heard, kept it private, but it led to deaths. Now Ahmad is doing the same thing to him (Were they ever friends?) telling him he has plans to continue the war with his own statement.
55 • Welcome to Justice 2.0 • 3 pages by George Tucker
OK. Gimmicky. A court case run by software.
58 • The Growlimb • 34 pages by Michael Shea
Fair+. Carl Larken senses a presence around him. A subtle warning when he was in Vietnam, a split second before his partner tripped a land mine he heard the trip wire go and was able to plant himself on the ground saving his life. After years of marriage, he gave that up, for what he now sensed as a god. He now does his job, but Marjorie feels he's not quite present even when carrying on a coherent conversation.
97 • The Seal Hunter • 22 pages by C. C. Finlay
Good/VG. The seven hundred people on this satellite are eking by. Equipment breaking down, waiting for a ship from Mars (if it comes at all), it doesn't sound inspiring. Broadnax meets Sue-sheila while retrieving a tool. Offers to take her on a shuttle ride to the garbage dump. Surprisingly she shows up. She has been on a simulator, but now it's real fuel being used. On the way back they go seal hunting.
128 • Heart's Desire • 8 pages by Garth Nix
Good. Nimue has been studying with Merlin, now it's her turn to become a full fledged magician. The catch when capturing a star is that although it will give you what you want, the cost is what you most desire. What she most desires is all encompassing magical power, which is what she is asking for.
136 • Serostatus • 26 pages by John Peyton Cooke
Good/OK. Tom has been mildly depressed since Eric died of AIDS. On the way home from the movies a man, who he'd have liked to hook up with when he was twenty, was making moves on him. He talked with Edwin, another survivor, the next day. Tom kept seeing ghosts. Then someone real, then the ghosts again. Pretty good representation of how Tom came to be. Years of caring for a sick lover before eventually losing him. Not sure what the ending told us.
December 29, 2022
“Nimitseahpah” by Nancy Etchemendy takes us to an abandoned silver mine in 1905, where a disaster took 150 lives. Local Paiute indians placed a carved gargoyle as a protection against an evil in the mine, but a schoolyard bullying incident causes the evil to once again be unleashed. After a war two ex-roommates, one now a Catholic priest, the other a minor sheikh, reunite but the Arab’s desire for vengeance forces the priest to an action which may ruin his chances for a bishopric in Sheila Finch’s “Confessional”. Charles Coleman Finlay gives us “The Seal Hunter”, who tracks his strange prey, the vacuum seals (a pretty broad pun) across space, while Garth Nix takes on a little known part of Arthurian legend. Nimue is a young woman who wishes to apprentice to Merlin and through persistence does so, but her ultimate test is that she must give up her “Heart’s Desire”, of which she is woefully unaware. The last story is the most powerful and memorable, although only peripherally genre. 50yo Tom is struggling with the death of his AIDS-afflicted partner when he starts to imagine he is seeing sexual partners from his youth. Are they real or has he crossed a deadly mental boundary? “Serostatus” by John Peyton Cooke is a story you won’t soon forget.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews