James Sarafin, "In the Furnace of the Night" (Asimov's 5/97) Suspenseful, dramatic tale of hunting genetically-enhanced tigers in near-future India.

Brian Stableford, "The Black Blood of the Dead" (Interzone 1-2/97) Sequel to "The Hunger and Ecstasy of Vampires"; now Oscar Wilde journeys into the far future.

Bill Johnson, "We Will Drink a Fish Together…" (Asimov's 5/97) A security man for alien visitors resigns to attend a family funeral in the hills of South Dakota, where the humans are stranger than aliens.

Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman, "Fall of the Kings" (Bending the Landscape) Two men fall in love at medieval university, with exhilarating, tragic consequences.

Stephen Baxter, "Moon Six" (SF Age 3/97) A set of alternate history moon landings strands an astronaut in a 1960s Florida he never knew.

Ragnar Kvaran and S. J. Beadle, "The Hotel Vivienne" (tomorrowsf volume 1, online) A westerner succumbs to native forces on a remote Indian Ocean island.

Rand B. Lee, "The Pearl" (F&SF 3/97) A gay black hustler commits suicide and recapitulates his life as a ghost.

Tanith Lee, "Old Flame" (Realms of Fantasy 2/97) Ornate tale of two star-crossed lovers and a cursed candle.

Darrell Schweitzer, "Refugees from an Imaginary Country" (Interzone 2/97) An underground comic-strip artist claims the grotesque world he draws is real.

Charles Sheffield, "What Would You Like to Know?" (SF Age 3/97) A new computerized library query system offers natural language answers to absolutely anything.