Saturday, 31 March 2012
Reactions to ST 21
... have been fairly positive so far. Praise has been heaped on the authors and the general standard of stories is regarded as high by those who've made their opinions known. This is of course a classic case of the self-selecting sample. Also, people who find they don't like ST are hardly going to subscribe to it. But I'm hearted by the obvious pleasure the magazine brings to readers. Without the reader, the writer is a voice crying (drunkenly, I'll be bound) in the wilderness, and the editor isn't looking too clever either. So keep those responses coming. You might want to comment here, get a debate going, that sort of thing.
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Issue 57 - Winter 2024/5
Cover illo by Sam Dawson, for Steve Duffy's story 'Forever Chemicals', which offers an interesting take on the London of the e...
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Some good news - Helen Grant's story 'The Sea Change' from ST11 has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. This follows an inqu...
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Go here to purchase this disturbing image of Santa plus some fiction as well. New stories by: Helen Grant Christopher Harman Michael Chis...
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Cover by Paul Lowe illustrating 'Screen Burn' Steve Duffy's latest collection offers the discerning reader eight stories, five...
14 comments:
Adam Golaski's stories don't make any sense!
That's exactly the sort of thing I didn't have in mind.
I thought it was a top-notch issue. There genuinely wasn't a story in I didn't like, and a good number I thought were right there in the 'great' column.
I'd already read stuff by Iain Rowan and Adam Golaski before so was expecting to very much like there contributions; what was nice was to find other equally good stories by authors new to me.
I'll be putting a review on my blog at some point.
Thanks, James, that's nice of you.
Let me make a two comments that aren't (intentionally) inane, with the hope of starting a dialogue.
Steve Duffy's story stood out to me because of the uniqueness of the narrator's voice. The supernatural element is her Cassandra-esque curse (to know the future but to be unable to change it). On its own, that would be of little interest to me, but in the case of Duffy's narrator--a woman whose economic and political status strips her of any power--it's a fine metaphor.
I thot it worth noting that two of the other stories in ST21 ("On the Edge of the Map" and "Virpus") hinge on functions of the Internet and the way it can isolate people (thus making them into potential victims).
One thing that stood out to me, and made it such an interesting read, was that whilst all the tales were indeed of the supernatural, only maybe half seemed to me 'horror' - as in written to scare.
Not that that isn't a fine reason to write a story, but some of those in ST21 seemed to me more elegiac, surreal or have some social commentary behind them rather than being horror (or as well as, maybe).
I'm sure people who read the mag have moved beyond the lazy shorthand of supernatural = scary, but still it was nice to see such a fine refutation of such simple thinking.
I've put a review up on my blog too, if anyone cares. I normally don't review magazines because there's always at least a few stories I don't care for. But that wasn't the case here, which is genuinely impressive.
Thanks, James, that's much appreciated. ST doesn't get a lot of reviews, but it's gradually building a reputation as a decent mag.
I vote for sam Dawson's "The Last Fight" as best story from this issue. I found it heads above the rest, which all were good tales. Personally, I have a preference for stories with a complete, well defined plot. i recognize that this is no longer often in fasion.
Thanks, Brian - vote noted.
Great issue, David! I thoroughly enjoyed all the tales, but, if were forced to choose, would have to single out Iain Rowan's as my favourite. Well done, everyone.
Thanks, everyone. Good to have some comments that aren't offering 'nude celebs', which is what the spam filter finds on a daily basis.
Thanks for that comment, Brian. Good of you to say so.
I will cast my vote for AGA.
Sam
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