New SF, Fantasy, and Horror magazines seen, 1 - 30 April

• Fiction consists of novelettes by Lloyd Biggle, Jr. — latest in the "Interplanetary Relations Bureau" saga that began 35 years ago with "The Still, Small Voice of Trumpets" — Charles E. Gannon, Edward M. Lerner, and Ben Bova (a new Sam Gunn story); short stories by Henry Melton, Michael F. Flynn, Pete D. Manison, and Ken Wharton; and a Probability Zero vignette by Don D'Ammassa.
• Science fact, by Kyle Kirkland, is about "Personalized Drugs".
• In Departments, Jay Key Klein's Biolog profiles Kyle Kirkland. Stanley Schmidt editorializes about the over-testing of students, which makes them afraid to participate in classroom discussions. Jeffery D. Kooistra's "The Alternate View" continues a discussion of what used to be known as "cold fusion", now termed "low energy nuclear reactions" (LENR). And Tom Easton's Reference Library reviews books about AI, robots, and extraterrestrial life, plus novels by Kress, MacLeod, and Bear, and collection by Jack Dann.
• (Tue 29 Apr 2003)

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• First issue seen by Locus Online of a new Australian fiction magazine, recently recipient of several Ditmar nominations and one win. The subtitle on the cover reads "Australia's PULPIEST Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine".
• Fiction is by Monissa Whiteley, Sue Bursztynski, Wendy Laharnar, Patrice E Sarath, Kirstyn McDermott, Angela Boord, and Sue Isle; plus John Borneman with five related vignettes, "Dr Susan Lee Research Notes". There's also a poem by Lucy Cohen Schmeidler.
• Features include as essay on the Columbia tragedy by Robert Hoge; interviews with Prof. Michael Fellows, Jennifer Fallon, Dion Hamill, and Cathy Buburuz; an article about Clarion South by Robert Hoge; book reviews, and pieces by Les Petersen and Peter Shaw about the January 2003 brush fire that destroyed the Mt Stromlo Observatory in Canberra.
• (Tue 15 Apr 2003)

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• Novelettes in this issue are by John Varley, James Patrick Kelly, and Tom Purdom; short stories are by Jack Skillingstead, Cory Doctorow, Lawrence Person, Daniel Abraham & Susan Fry, and David Marusek. Poems are by Mario Milosevic, Sandra J. Lindow, and Robert L. Nansel.
• Varley's story, "The Bellman", was written in the '70s and originally sold to Harlan Ellison's The Last Dangerous Visions, which has never been published. (A scheduled Table of Contents for what was then planned as a 3-volume anthology appeared in the June 1979 issue of Locus.)
• James Patrick Kelly has had a story in every June issue of Asimov's since 1984.
• Departments include Robert Silverberg's reaction to the Columbia disaster in his column "Reflections"; assorted book reviews by Paul Di Filippo; and a convention calendar by Erwin S. Strauss.
• (Sat 19 Apr 2003)

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• Fiction is by Tom Piccirilli, Randolph Cirilo, Thomas Tessier, Stanley Wiater, Patricia Lee Macomber, and Harald August.
• There are interviews with Tom Piccirilli, Nancy A. Collins, and Michael Garrett & Jeff Gelb.
• Regular features include columns by Bev Vincent (news, mostly about Stephen King), Paula Guran (book reviews), Michael Marano (media), Thomas F. Monteleone (writing), Charles L. Grant ("Ramblings from the Dark"; this is his final column for CD), and John Pelan (collecting); plus additional reviews by various hands.
• (Wed 2 Apr 2003)

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• The cover memorializes the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. Headlines cover Harry Potter news, the Nebula final ballot, publishing changes, etc. The Newsnotes and Authors & Editors section include many other items about awards, contests, websites, sales, foreign rights, etc.
• Features include "Tips for a Dramatic Reading" by Nick Pollotta; a UK Report by Tanya Brown; a Columbia "Eulogy" by Marianne Plumridge; Jeff Rovin's SF Cinema report; short fiction reviews by Steve Sawicki; Alan Dean Foster's film review column (covering "Taken"); an editorial by John R. Douglas (recommending Wired); book reviews by Don D'Ammassa; letters (including a clarification from Harlan Ellison about his recent traffic accident); obituaries; and a convention listing.
• This issue appeared in bookstores a couple weeks before some subscribers (e.g. Locus) received their copies. The magazine's website, as of this posting, displays this issue's cover and TOC.
• (Sat 19 Apr 2003)

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• Second issue of a new horror magazine subtitled "Urban Tales of the Grotesque", edited and published by Dave Lindschmidt in Seattle WA.
• The feature fiction this issue is "DeFortuna" by Brian Hodge; other fiction is by Ernest Scribbler, Patricia Russo, Harry Shannon & Gord Rollo, O'Neil DeNoux, and Brian Knight.
• Elizabeth Massie is interviewed by Christina Kiplinger-Johns.
• Plans for Issue #3 include a full-color cover, and an interview with Ramsey Campbell. The magazine's website includes subscription information.
• (Fri 11 Apr 2003)

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• This January issue (having belatedly arrived in Locus Online's mailbox--the war, perhaps?) contains fiction by Paul Di Filippo, Mat Coward, Chris Butler, Zoran Zivkovic, Michael Bishop, Juliet Eyeions & Paul Brazier, and Brett Davidson.
• Features include readers' letters, David Langford's "Ansible Link" column, Nick Lowe's film reviews (covering the second Harry Potter film, among others), an essay by Gary Westfahl re-examining Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics; book reviews; and books received.
• Claude Lalumière reviewed this issue in his overview of current UK magazines, published here in March.
• (Sat 26 Apr 2003)

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• A special Barry Malzberg issue, with a new essay by Malzberg about his work in publishing, "Tripping with the Alchemist", and reprints of two 2-page vignettes, "A Short Religious Novel" and "A Clone at Last" (the latter written with Bill Pronzini). There are also tribute stories by John Kessel, set in the writer's heaven of several Malzberg stories, and Daniel P. Dern.
• Other stories in the issue are by Paolo Bacigalupi, Bill Vaughan, M. Rickert, Jack Cady, and David D. Levine.
• Departments include book reviews by Charles de Lint and Elizabeth Hand, film reviews by Lucius Shepard (focusing on Left Behind II: Tribulation Force), and a Curiosities page by Bud Webster.
• (Wed 9 Apr 2003)

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• Stories are by Teri Pilcher, Susan Taylor, Robert Anderson, and Travis Perry.
• Also in this issue is "A Tribute to Columbia" by Brad Linaweaver--an essay about Columbia's first launch in 1981, sold to Elinor Mavor for Amazing but never published until now.
• (Sat 26 Apr 2003)

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• Special 2002 Nebula Awards Issue, distributed to attendees of SFWA's Nebula Awards weekend in April, with brief biographies and statements from all the nominees on this year's ballot. Eileen Gunn contributes a brief tribute to Author Emeritus Katherine MacLean, and Vonda N. McIntyre writes about Grand Master recipient Ursula K. Le Guin.
• Other features include an essay, "The Hole in a Hole: A Theory of Science Fiction and Fantasy", by Gregory Feeley; a guide to Worldcons for new writers, by Brenda W. Clough; and other essays by Sheila Finch, Lois Tilton, and Rachel R. Harman. Regular columns are by Steve Carper, Mike Resnick & Barry Malzberg, Robert Metzger, and Laura Resnick.
• (Sat 19 Apr 2003)

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• Stories in this issue are by Beverly Bonnie O'Neill, Jeff Carlson, A.R. Morlan, Terry McGarry, Bayard, Jeffrey Goddin, and J.W. Donnelly.
• Poems are by Mary Soon Lee, Jill Bauman, Jack Fisher, Charles A. Payne, Katherine Hasell, Jennifer Crow, Corrine de Winter, Mario Milosevic, Roibeard Ui-Neill, Eric Myford, and Lucy Cohen Schmeidler.
• Thomas Ligotti is interviewed by Matthew Lee Bain.
• (Sat 19 Apr 2003)

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