4. Fantasy & Science Fiction January 2008

This was a very solid issue. My favorite story was Alex Irvine's "Mystery Hill." Light science fiction, with good humor, and a fun mystery. Goofy characters. The kind of thing I would like to be able to write well from time to time.

"The Twilight Year" by Sean McMullen-- a well written short story, not exactly full of fantastic elements, almost historical fiction really, but I enjoyed it. A very unusual Arthurian tale. Full of nice telling historical details that synced up with what I knew about the period, and informed as well.

"Pride and Prometheus" by John Kessel was my second favorite in the issue. A literary mash-up of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley. Frankenstein meets Mr. Darcy. I'm not even really an Austen fan, but I caught on to what was going on here. Sarah is sitting beside me reading it right now, and I bet she likes it even more than I did. From the little bit of Austen I have read, he really captured the writing style and voices of those characters.

"Mars: A Traveler's Guide" by Ruth Nestvold had a clever concept, and was short enough that it didn't wear it out, but it almost did. I skipped the infodumps several times, because the story was really between the lines here. A tough thing to manage, but mostly succeeded for me.

"It's a Wonderful Life" by Michaela Roessner was a time travel story that didn't really take off for me. I didn't really understand why people weren't coming back. And I didn't finish "The Quest for Creeping Charlie" by James Powell. It just didn't grab me in the first couple of pages.

Usually, I skip about half an issue of F&SF, so this was a pretty good one. February is next.