Subterranean Online Summer 2010 issue was recently examined by Gardner Dozois in his Locus column. The review is too long to print in its entirety, so here are some of the highlights:
On The Taborin Scale (Lucius Shepard):
“…we get to see both what would be referred to in comics terminology as Griaule’s ‘origin story’ and his cataclysmic and catastrophic death-which may in fact be part of the dragon’s hidden, sinister, and immeasurably subtle plan.”
On The Lady Who Plucked Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window (Rachel Swirsky):
“…follows a powerful sorceress who is bound by magic to return after her death to offer advice and magical assistance to those who summon her, and whose servitude stretches on for thousands of years, as the world around her and the people she serves grow increasingly alien and strange.”
On Amor, Vincit, Omnia (K. J. Parker):
“a enjoyable tale of an inexperienced wizard who must somehow find a way to defeat a magical opponent who is quite literally undefeatable; the magical system used here is ingenious, and quite different from those usually found in fantasy stories.”
On Dream of the Arrow (Jay Lake):
“…a look at a troubled boy at boarding school and his painful struggle toward maturity, a story good enough to suggest that Lake’s talents may be wasted working in the genre, as he has the literary chops to make it as a significant mainstream author instead.”
Find out for yourself if Dozois knows what he’s talking about: Subterranean Online
