(Review excerpt from Cyber-Psychos AOD #6.)
BACK BRAIN RECLUSE #22
Ed: Chris Reed (PO Box 625 Sheffield S1 3 GY UK/Anne Marsden 31192 Paseo Amapola. San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675-2227) £3:50/$10 PB/94pp/Standard
Please note the separate order addresses for the US & UK. I tend to prefer the more psychological literary magazines, & England is always a good place to find them. &, among those, Back Brain Recluse is one of the best that I've come across. Uncle River's Mogollon News is in every issue, these ones are about finding firewood in the Fall & compromise, bias & the remains of a Yule ritual, & swapping neighbors. There are so many good stories packed in here that I'll really only have the space for mentioning a few. A Heart For Lucretia by Jeff Vandermeer is a post-apocalyptic fable in which a man & his Flesh Dog must try to bargain a human heart (for his dying sister) from anthropomorphic meerkats. Of course, as a fable, it has a moral, & that's for you to learn upon reading this. The Way Out by Don Webb is a creepy tale of trickery, of the magick & danger in pursuing the reality of your dream states. In Mud Puppy Goes Uptown by Paul Di Filippo, Mud Puppy is originally a mudskipper until his bravery impresses beautiful Octavia & she sets him through a transformation to anthropomorphism. His adventures with humans lead him Uptown, & back to Octavia, but not for that happy ending of a fairy tale. Other fiction writers in this issue are Mark Rich, David Kerekes, Stratford Kirby, Lizbeth Rymland, Brooks Peck, Darick Chamberlin, & Tim Nickels. There is also news & an endless supply of reviews here. Definitely worthwhile. -Jasmine Sailing
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