Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction march/april 2017

I finished reading this issue of F&SF
and then I realised I'd mostly have to read the contents list to remind me what I just read.

The two memorable ones:

( Read more... )

The book review section that started and ended with the reviewers reaction to the US election was also a bit memorable, though I can't remember what it said about the books.

It also means there's like six months between deadline and me reading stuff. I forget that paper has such a long lead time.


The rest of the magazine:

Ten Half Pennies
I found the protagonist deeply boring, so the story was too.
Also he finds out about someone using magic for rape, which is illegal even in the wizard guild, and all he does is use the knowledge for blackmail.
Also also it's the kind of story where characters are men and objects they do stuff to are women.

so much for that.


The Avenger
The basic problem with this is we're meant to sympathise with the rich guy who doesn't give his half brother a half share of his inheritance. I mean, the story sets up the brother to be a violent thug, but that's part of the problem. Who needs magic to punch down like that? Being rich means they've got all the options and yet chose to hire a magic hitman.
Everyone is extremely unpleasant and boring.


The Toymaker's Daughter
Girl has magic, girl is exploited economically for her magic, girl loses father and stops talking or doing or apparently thinking, until boy comes along to get her attention.
Sod that? How about, girl has thoughts of her own, doesn't need saving by guys?

A Green Silk Dress and a Wedding Death
A nasty corner of economic hardship is escaped by shagging wrong guys until she meets a magic one.
... really?

Miss Cruz
Can't remember this without reading the story again...
oh, it's the one where he discovers he can control minds and does awful things and then decides to stop. that's the whole story.
magic is used from powerless to authority, this time
but a lo of the wrapping seems entirely extraneous and didn't come together in my head to be interesting.

Daisy
A PI is hired to go look for a pet octopus.
Not bad, but I felt like it didn't have any possibilities other than the one that turned out true, and then spent the whole story telling the thing I guessed up front.
Which guess was cued by the bit in italics above the story. ( Read more... )

No more twists left.



So, issue didn't wow me, in whole or in parts.

Maybe next month.

Torchwood: Zone 10

Today mum helped me go to argos to take back the games thing that turned out to be boring
and while I was there I bought a £25 CD player 'boombox'
because I'm sure there's easier ways if I can figure out assorted whatsits but since I haven't I just want to play my CDs without the TV.
The sound quality is what you'd expect at the price
but it does indeed play CDs
so I am quite content.

Torchwood: Zone 10
is an interesting adventure for Toshiko Sato.
The other voices have 'Russian' accents and I had to work to hear them, which made them a bit boring.
Tosh is on her own for an adventure, and it's a bit about how she's given up everything for Torchwood.
I was a bit puzzled by her being allowed to go to Russia on her own for an adventure given how she was recruited to Torchwood, but okays.
I think I liked it okay but it never quite grabbed me.


And now the bin men are doing their thing outside, so I'll think of something with no audio to do while they're loud.

Doctor Strange

That was... thin. Or perhaps flat. For something that talks so much about dimensions...

( Read more... )

Empty signifiers and no roots.

Too busy to no good effect.





I'd rather watch The Librarians.

Star Trek Beyond

Without a bus ride between the closing credits and trying to talk about it
all I can say about this movie is
gets me right in the feels.

I mean I'm fed up about Star Trek being whoosh boom at the same time as finding that some very satisfying whoosh boom. And stuff Kirk says about having to let the war be over. And the final demise of that guy who thinks 'struggle' can only mean armed conflict, and the way it was unity that beat him, and just the way the crew clicks an everything works. Feels!

... and then reality feelings, because it's not just Spock and Chekov
and wow am I overload now.



... and now I'm feeling more sympathetic about the Doctor Strange bad guy, because death sucks, and you would want to bring everyone you care about with you if you found the out. But the out is not to get rid of time. Stuff happens an we make choices and become. Hating that it ends doesn't mean it's worth giving that up. Look at what they did.

One day humanity is going to go into space and take these movies with them, the heart of their mythology.

... or, you know, we'll all go boom and die, but Star Trek makes me believe in a future, and that's pretty damn hard some days. Together we'll make it.

(no subject)

Also, and with less to do with feels, I have found some useful buttons on the new tv.
I turned off some kind of auto picture adjustment that was making it do a dark light dark thing as far as I could tell
and I found the button to turn off the picture and leave the sound on.


... which if I'd found it yesterday I wouldn't have bought the CD player.


It was three layers deep in on screen menus under key words I would not have thought of. I was looking to see if it had a button to raise the letterbox picture highr so subs are entirely under it. I still don't know about that one. But I can turn the picture off if I'm only listening. So that's grand.