The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, September/October 2018

A better than average issue with fun stories by Cassandra Khaw and Jonathan L. Howard, Jeremiah Tolbert, Yukimi Ogawa and Sarina Dorie. Susan Emshwiller's debut story was also interesting and continues her parent's involvement with the magazine.

• "The Memorybox Vultures" by Brian Trent: the story of a future where AI driven memories of dead people live on as 'posts from the dead'. But when one dead person's recorded videos of a politician's younger self abusing animals and others start to surface, it causes all kinds of scary conflicts between the living, the dead and a cult that 'worships' a dead musical group.

• "Shooting Iron" by Cassandra Khaw and Jonathan L. Howard: a fun and interesting story of a girl who possesses a curious and magical gun who had made it her mission to find and kill an evil boss (and his assorted minions). It is told as two separate, inter-related stories. One is set in the present, showing her confronting and hunting down one of the bosses top minions. The other is set in her past with her crashing into a town that is caught in a cursed existence by the boss, and she decides to make it her mission to bring the boss to justice to free the inhabitants.

• "The Men Who Come from Flowers" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam: a fantasy story about a woman who, as the title says, grows a kind of man from flowers. Flowers that aren't perfect are discarded but one day, she nurses one bruised flower into a man to become her companion, which is against the rules. Life looks good until the day comes when her secret has to be revealed and the final behaviour of all men who grows from flowers is known.

• "Powerless" by Harry Turtledove: an alternate history story where communism has taken over the US and on the West Coast, a family man ekes out a living running a grocery stall while silently grumbling about the state of the crumbling city and run-down economy. But one small act of defiance against the socialist party would lead to others, and to a realization that he may not be powerless in a one-party state. A nice story, but only works with the premise that a socialist state would be much poorer (both economically and politically) compared to a capitalist system.

• "The Gallian Revolt as Seen from the Sama-Sama Laundrobath" by Brenda Kalt: the old owner of a combination laundromat and bath unwillingly gets involved in a revolt on a planet when one of the rebels uses her place for a bath.

• "We Mete Justice with Beak and Talon" by Jeremiah Tolbert: a fascinating and exciting tale of a future where the mind of a bird and a man can 'meld' as they go in pursuit of an airborne drone that has just made an assassination attempt on a city politician.

• "Taste of Opal" by Yukimi Ogawa: an interesting fantasy depiction of a world where a young girl is 'milked' for her blood, which turns out to have strong medicinal (and addictive) properties. The story slowly reveals the details of the girl's world, her relationship with the 'merchants' who take care of her and carry her from client to client who use her blood. Then she is suddenly 'freed' by a stranger whose blood has other properties, and their relationship together in hiding will yield yet more details about this fascinating world. A worthwhile read.

• "Suicide Watch" by Susan Emshwiller: a disturbing, thought-provoking story about a man who enjoys (and gets emotional highs) from watching people commit suicide. He's not the only one, as the company at the heart of things links up suicide watchers like him with people who are committing suicide. But when his line of credit with the company runs out, he signs a new contract to continue his watching, only to learn that the contract ends with his own suicide. But he may have one last desperate plan to evade the company and deny the person watching his suicide from getting pleasure from it. (The author is the daughter of Ed and Carol Emshwiller, both of whom have long associations with the magazine.)

• "Emissaries from the Skirts of Heaven" by Gregor Hartmann: in a future, a poor girl struggles with her studies to enter a religious-based order to survive. As she rises in the religious hierarchy, we get a fascinating view of a future where a religious schism threatens to split humanity apart but, she believes, only she can prevent by looking for and finding out the truth behind her religious beliefs.

• "Impossible Male Pregnancy: Click to Read Full Story" by Sarina Dorie: a story that starts off with good humour about a man who is somehow pregnant and worried about how it affects his 'manliness'. But as the story develops, and he accepts his condition, the story suddenly turns serious and chilling when people start telling him that the 'baby' he harbours isn't what it seems to be. Now the question is whether the man believes them and what will he do about it. The ending is unexpected and chilling. The ridiculous click-bait sounding headlines that pop-up in the story enhance the plot and slowly reveal the truth.

• "Blessed" by Geoff Ryman: a woman on a pilgrimage to a cave system in Africa is suddenly plunged into a whole different world.