Forgotten Worlds #9 Review

As the months passed and no further issues of Forgotten Worlds appeared I began to fear the worst. Then all of a sudden issue #9 arrived in the post, bringing another varied selection of stories that fill this 56 page A5 magazine to capacity.

Read my review at UK SF Review.

UK SF Review is no longer on line. The review is republished here:

As the months passed and no further issues of Forgotten Worlds appeared I began to fear the worst.  Then all of a sudden issue #9 arrived in the post, bringing another varied selection of stories that fill this 56 page A5 magazine to capacity.

 We start the magazine with the entertaining Flotsam Jewel by Fraser Ronald, a story of mysterious jewels, wizards and guilds.  What’s particularly interesting about this story is the setting in the floating suburb known as Flotsam – a shanty town of old boats and shacks built on rafts that constantly moves with the swell of the tide.  The setting is an integral part of the story rather than just a gimmick and along with the well-developed central character it gives the whole story a solid basis.

 The Box is a truly unnerving tale by Neil Davies, in which a desperate man with a secret decides his new neighbour’s large wooden box could be very useful.  It’s very well written, building the suspense while also surprising you with unexpected developments.

 There are some excellent concepts in Graeme S Huston’s  The Unregistered Daydreamer:  Bold technological concepts, a humorous relationship with an alien, nightmares breaking out into reality.  It’s all tied together well, until the pacing picks up towards the end.  I got the impression that had the piece been longer the ideas would have developed better, rather than the rushed impression that I was left with.  The character of the unregistered daydreamer himself is a great idea though.

 Another Day on the Job: Meet Lucious is the third of Chris Silva’s very short pieces about an enigmatic thief.  The previous two stories left everything rather unclear, but put together they start to build an interesting concept.  Whether it will be rounded further in future issues remains to be seen.

 V Anne Arden gives us a coming-of-age story in Hunter, the tale of a young girl’s journey into the desert on her first hunt and her struggle to find her place among her tribe.  The interplay between the various characters comes across well and the fabulous creatures encountered are described with realism rather than coming across as fantastical.  It makes for a well-paced and pleasant story.

 Ian Brazee-Cannon seems to share my wry sense of humour as an heroine in leather armour heads off on her first mission to fight the forces of evil.  Renee and the Sacred Order of Our Lady of Bloody Vengeance is set in a modern English town, just to throw you off balance, and manages the humour well, dealing with ridiculous situations without descending into farce.  The conclusion particularly made me smile.  There are an unfortunate number of typos, which is a shame as I didn’t notice any in the rest of the magazine, but you just have to ignore those to enjoy the story.

 Rounding off the issue is G D Penman’s satirical A Party Political Broadcast, in which none other than Mothra makes a fairly convincing plea for our votes in the next general election.  The worrying thing is he sounds as plausible as any other politician!

 So as with previous issues an interesting and varied selection, maintaining a decent standard of fiction with something to appeal to everyone.

End.