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-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
Henry Holt was ashamed
was pleased to see John Clute's review of Karen Joy Fowler's fine story collection, Black Glass, in your Aug. 24 edition, and I was particularly pleased to note that he made an issue of an omission which had also bothered me greatly: that of the copyright acknowledgments page. I remember getting the book, looking in front for the nice list of original publications (if only to figure out the placement of the stories in her writing career!), and then looking in the back: nothing. And I came to the same conclusion Clute came to: Henry Holt was ashamed that these fine "fictions" they were publishing came from such down-market sources as Asimov's and Interzone.
It's not as if stories like "Letters from Home" would be out of place in your average mainstream magazine either. But it is SF that has, if you will, nurtured Fowler. And as Clute points out, much of her work is in "conversation" with other genre work, even as it works magnificently by itself.
By the by, if Mr. Clute wishes to know the sources of the stories which were new to him: "Shimabara" (1995) comes from Full Spectrum 5, "The Brew" (1995) comes from Peter S. Beagle's Immortal Unicorn, "The Black Fairy's Curse" (1997) comes from the anthology of "new" fairy tales Black Swan, White Raven, and "Go Back" and "The Travails" as far as I can tell are new to Black Glass.
Mr. Clute's review was perceptive and sensible, rightly identifying and also helpfully describing Fowler's voice as fundamental to her appeal. (Though, to nitpick, I'd have placed the temporal adventuress of "Game Night at the Fox and Goose" as Russ-derived, rather than Moorcock, but then I'm not terribly conversant with Moorcock. Also, that story seems to be in a conversation with There Are Doors by Gene Wolfe.)
Richard R. Horton
rrhorton@concentric.net
Blade may be better than Batman
've recently saw the movie Blade. In one word, excellent. It is by far the best superhero movie done by Marvel ever. In fact it could give Batman a run on being the best of all time. I recommend seeing the movie for anyone who hasn't yet. You won't be disappointed.
Clyde Reid
972@hotmail.com
There's lots of SF to choose from
have read with interest the ongoing debate over Armageddon vs. Deep Impact. People seem to need dichotomies. My personal preference is good science coupled with good fiction (though that is a rare occurrence in all
genres, I think). I enjoyed both movies for very different reasons, though
I would never try to defend Armageddon as having redeeming social value,
artistry, realism or complexity. It appealed to the 14-year-old adolescent
male in me. Deep Impact, on the other hand, affected me emotionally because it explored how individuals might react to imminent, inescapable
destruction of not only self but everything anyone might hold dear. For me
it was the far superior film despite its flaws.
I am an unregenerate fan of all things SF, very patient with dreck if
it has at least one interesting element, including stunning special
effects. I know it may be deplored that we fans support with our dollars
the bad science and the bad fiction represented by so much that is produced--movies, telefilm, books, stories, games. Yet never in my middling-long life has there been so much SF available, including even the excellent. Even though I am annoyed every time a spaceship screeches as it makes a physically impossible turn in space, I keep watching and reading and hoping for better and enjoying what I can. Criticism is good, discrimination is
good, lots to choose from is really, really good.
S. Garcia
sgarciax@succeed.net
Likes the Alien Voices Invisible Man
read the review of The Invisible Man. I'm glad it got a good review. I read the story as a kid, not entirely liking having to page through such a long thing. (I now know that the thing was small.)
Now, I recently heard the Alien Voices production, and I thought it was good. I thought it didn't deserve such a bad review. You might have wanted to note that the thing wasn't made for detail, it was made for a radio voice version of it. And the story, and how it was presented, didn't exactly require a lot of detail. You might have wanted to find out what the creator's intentions were before branding it as poorly detailed.
Erik Hollender
erik@hollender.com
