Albedo One Issue 36, Reviewed
Ireland's Leading Magazine of SF Fantasy and Horror, From Aeon Press
Oct 9, 2009
The first 2009 issue of Albedo One is as cosmopolitan as ever. Interviews and reviews from Irish, British and American authors sit alongside work German and Canadian authors, while the cover artist is Enaer, from Ceuta (a Spanish territory in North Africa) who provides a beautiful piece of cover art.
Aeon Award
The winner of the 2008 Aeon Award, Colin Henchley's 'Twinkle, Twinkle' opens the fiction. Judge Ian Watson has somewhat surprisingly selected a story whose plot for nine-tenths of it's length mixes Dennis Wheatley's The Haunting of Toby Jugg with a classic Twilight Zone episode, although this tale of a Lancaster bomber whose crew is stalked by a demon is far better than either of its forebears. It takes a wholly unexpected turn in the last three paragraphs, and the conclusion gives it an added resonance. Highly Recommended.
Similarly fascinating is Canadian Kurt Kirchmeier's 'Fragile Fathers, Shattered Sons.' Men are taken by aliens and replaced by glass statues until such time as they are returned. But despite the intriguing concept, there's a lack of substantiation to the characters' assumptions, giving the impression that they believe and behave as they do because it's convenient for the author.
'Grass Can Be Weeds Too' by Craig Saunders takes the everyday act of gardening and imbues it with a sense of horror that has timely echoes of Kaaron Warren's Slights. Recommended.
Mike O'Driscoll
Mike O'Driscoll is perhaps the best known of the fiction authors this issue. Best known as a columnist for Black Static, O'Driscoll is also noted for his atmospheric evocations of the South Wales coast. But in 'The Entire City' he takes the reader to the fictional city of Provenence. It's an apt name given that the same events unfold over and again, but with different outcomes - in one attack Snow kills Escovedo, while in another Escovedo survives at Snow's cost, all without proof. All while watched over by angels. What is the opposite of déjà vu? he wonders. Something done that never happened. Watch it again and see if anything’s changed after the moment of being. (p35) It's the longest story in the issue, and one of the best of the year.
D. T. Neal's 'Rotgut' takes the theme of alien infestation to its furthest extreme, and maybe beyond. A terrific story.
'Homeward Journey' by Frank W. Haubold (translated by Wilf James) is another prize-winner, this time the winner of the 2008 German SF Award for Short Fiction. It's old-fashioned and science-laden, with more than a hint of late-Campbell Analog, but curiously effective for all that. A scientist studying the barrier that's suddenly sprung up around his home town comes face to face with the investigator intent on proving that he had something to do with it.
F e a t u r e s
'The Ceremony of Transmutation Has Begun – a talk with Paul Di Filippo' is an extended interview with one of SF's most idiosyncratic practicioners by John Kenny, and even without the fiction would be worth the price of the magazine. Rounded off by 'Famous Monsters,' the review pages led by Juliet E. McKenna also contain reviews of di Filippo's Harsh Oases, Iain M. Banks Matter, and HARM by Brian W. Aldiss.
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