2006-04-08 · in Books, Interzone · 166 words

Another issue of the SF magazine. I liked "The Unsolvable Deathtrap" (Jack Mangan) and the continuation of "After the Party" (Richard Calder; which really ought to be a full novel), and thought "The Last Reef" (Gareth Lyn Powell) was pretty good if a bit short on proper ending. "Sundowner Sheila" (F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre) was interesting but didn't feel polished enough; "The Macrobe Conservation Project" (Carlos Hernandez) was just downright creepy, if at least competently so.

The other content's a bit of a mixed bag: the book, film and manga reviews are good -- not least for a not-very-positive review of "Serenity", with which I largely agree -- but the Terry Pratchett article is a great example of how not to do an interview. I do wonder why they chose large format and glossy paper for the magazine; it does make the text rather hard to read (particularly when it's 11pt, in fully-justified columns six inches wide, set in purple on a dark brown background).

Available from TTA Press.