aside: Hard copy of Shimmer 16

Recently I received an email requesting a copy of Shimmer #16. Because I collect periodicals and because I like to keep a copy of anything I review, I am not willing to give mine up. The issue is sold out over at shimmerzine and other than suggesting The Book Depository and other online vendors, I am absolutely of no help.

Anyone with any ideas on how to obtain a copy, or willing to part with their copy, feel free to drop me an email.

Shimmer #18

VanderMeer, Ann, Shimmer Number Eighteen, Salt Lake City: Shimmerzine Press, February 2014

Shimmer website
Shimmer 18 at Goodreads

Overall rating: 7/10


Guest-edited by illustrious editor Ann VanderMeer, the eighteenth Shimmer is to this date my favourite, featuring an eclectic octave of superior modern genre fiction. As though taking my comments on Shimmer 17 into consideration, its follow-up features the diversity in story content and writing I felt was absent in recent issues, as well as the lengthier stories I was suggesting. Eighteen also includes more graphic violence, though in appropriate context. This includes back-to-back stories featuring splitting heads, which works nicely alongside two stories that employ the word "fragments." There is less fantasy in a good sense, and instead a healthy combination of fantasy, science fiction and psychological horror.

Add to this a great cover (and related back cover) by Kurt Huggins.


In the Broken City by Ben Peck     7/10
In the Broken City our narrator is waiting to be released from the hospital after voluntary amputation of a healthy leg. Here he meets and quickly falls for nurse Lily. In the Broken City inhabitants are incomplete without actually being debilitated. The mystery is neatly wrapped up, and the Broken City looms large, as though it were harbouring other tales itching to be told.


The Birth of the Atomic Age by Rachel Marston     6/10
A fourth person telling of atomic tests in the (Nevada) desert and its mutative effects. A neat semi-apocalyptic fiction set in the recent historic past.


Psychopomp by Ramsey Shehadeh     5/10
While recovering some souls, a semi-wayward, comparatively sensitive demon has his age-old morals challenged by a challenging young soul. While I like fuzzy morals, the characters, demonic and mortal, are not interesting enough, and unlike "In the Broken City," the narrative invests too much in its world rather than allowing its characters to bring their world to the foreground. (In all fairness, though, "Psychopomp" is dealing with two worlds.)


Introduction: The Story of Anna Walden by Christine Schirr     6/10
Dealing with stark loneliness and offering some disturbing images, this pseudo-psychological study with footnotes manages nonetheless at times to charm and amuse. This is the almost genreless psychological satirical horror story of the bunch. The pseudo-academic story with footnotes is not uncommon (comes to mind is Ashley Stokes's great "A Short Story about a Short Film" from Unthology 1).


Anuta Fragment's Private Eyes by Ben Godby     7/10
Anuta is an office head cleaner, particular about the cleanliness she affects at work, while her employers are particular about how she "cleans" other situations, since Anuta is also a "cleaner" in the sense of an assassin. Unaware of what she does, she is being secretly engineered to be the perfect killing machine. A strong story not just in terms of its plotting, though definitely suspenseful, but also in its depiction of Anuta, allowing the reader to sympathize with this oversized killer. While the play on "cleaner" is neat but obvious, the title is a nice bit of fun too.


Unclaimed by Annalee Newitz     6/10
Private Investigator Leslie Tom left the police force following a monstrous and violent encounter, and finds herself investigating the disappearance of author J.J. Coal, whose penned series The Scorpian Diaries has since become a major franchise backed by Pixar-Disney. A PI mystery set half a century in the future, it is highly entertaining though the resolution is obvious from the start. The story toys with franchises along the lines of The Scorpion King and the hoped-for franchise of Disney's John Carter (neither of which I've actually seen) whose creator Edgar Rice Burroughs might still be working in an underground lab somewhere. Like "Anuta Fragment," this story features violently splitting heads.


Fragments from a Note by a Dead Mycologist by Jeff VanderMeer     5/10
Hit-or-miss tale of love and death. Not a bad piece of writing but a story I could not get into. I do appreciate its inclusion in the name of diversity.

(VanderMeer is partner to issue editor Ann VanderMeer, a fact amusingly owned up to in the introduction. Mr. V is the author of much fiction, including the very fine "At the Crossroads, Burying the Dog," from the excellent anthology Dark Terrors: The Gollancz Book of Horror (edited by Stephen Jones and David A. Sutton, London: Vista, October 1996) which I should have reviewed a while back.)


The Street of the Green Elephant by Dustin Monk     8/10
Young Auw works in her father's illegal (peyote-like) tea shop at a time when the Sotiriraj are ruling over of the Pbenyo. Auw is a half-breed, and through this tale of revolution, fire and flood, we learn a great deal about the world she lives in, just as she learns a great deal about human nature and grows to cultivate culture and tradition. An excellent story, Monk manages to create a distinct and believable society, with its people and its customs and its politics and its geography in a mere twenty pages. This is a world worthy of more stories.

Monk is the author of the also good "What Fireworks" from Shimmer 15.

Shimmer Number 17

Tobler, Catherine E., Shimmer Number Seventeen, Salt Lake City: Shimmerzine Press, September 2013

Shimmer website
Shimmer 17 at Goodreads

Overall rating: 6/10

With Shimmer's latest, expect the usual shimmery fiction: fantasies with quiet, strong prose, a positive and often sentimental approach to a varied set of ideas. While Shimmer is consistent with its style and good quality writing, as well as with its authors, personally I feel the zine can do with a little noise, some straightforward, less poetically abstract imagery, and often more subtle and ambiguous approaches to its varied ideas. I would also like to see some longer stories included, but that's for personal taste, not general aesthetics.

Shimmer Seventeen features a little sci-fi, some nice ghosts, as well as more than one second-person narration, several unsympathetic mothers and three Canadians, all tossed to the far-end of the collection. My favourites are those by Alex Dally MacFarlane, Yarrow Paisley and Kim Neville.


The Mostly True Adventures of Assman & Foxy by Katherine Sparrow     6/10
Two women attempt to escape their lives by taking a road trip in search of a travelling freak circus. A bittersweet story that works despite the Thelma and Louise pair being so distant from the narrative and reader.


How Bunny Came to Be by A.C. Wise     5/10
Lifeguard Phillip Howard Craft suffers a traumatic experience involving a tentacled sea creature and the preventable death of a man and his dog on the beach. Scarred and in existential crisis, Craft changes his name to Bunny and scours the beach in search of his foe. The story makes obvious allusions to Howard Phillips Lovecraft, most obviously via our protagonist's name and the Cthulhu tentacles. Wise is the author of "Tasting of the Sea" from Shimmer 16.


The Moon Bears by Sarah Brooks     6/10
A town has become famous for its moon bears: docile and dream-like white bears that appear randomly throughout the town. Lives change, and the town and its residents undergo an organic transformation. I quite liked this surreal story, another that challenges the stagnant nature of modern life.


Sincerely, Your Psychic by Helena Bell     5/10
A series of correspondence from a psychic to a man, focusing on his failing relationship with his wife and the daughter he gave up for adoption years ago. A good build-up and a promising story that falls short in its final sequence. Bell is the author of the better "In Light of Recent Events I Have Reconsidered the Wisdom of Your Space Elevator" from Shimmer 16.


Out They Come by Alex Dally MacFarlane     7/10
What does the fox Say? In reality, being part of the canid family, foxes bark. The foxes in "Out They Come," however, are utterly silent. Like the voiceless, victimized protagonist Stey who lives in a shack in a town and vomits foxes who take vengeance on those who have bullied her in the past, or were aware of the bullying and did not care. I liked this story more than I thought I would after the first page or two. Protagonist Stey (a stey is the steep portion of a hill, but I think that's only a coincidence), is silent and passive, and as the townsfolk begin hunting her foxes, she becomes vengeful and even a little bloodthirsty. Not great therapy and the bloody vengeance verging on becoming out of control weakens my sympathy for Stey, but I like the story nonetheless. I suppose such is the consequence of being mean to the meek.


Love in the Time of Vivisection by Sunny Moraine     4/10
A woman narrates through her meticulous vivisection. Metaphor for a failed romance? Not my thing; the narrative is too abstract and the voice too calm, as though recounting something in the distant past which the recounter has growing bored of.


Fishing by Lavie Tidhar     5/10
A dreamy sketch of a man fishing through his window in Laos. Not a story but a well written sketch.


98 Ianthe by Robert N. Lee     5/10
A science fiction story among fantasies, "98 Ianthe" is an asteroid and a band, as well as a second person story about the temporariness and the permanence of music. It's also about conscience and perception. Some nice cynicism from an aggressive narrator breaks up the similarities among the other narratives, unfortunately it also usurps story.


The Desire of All Things by Jordan Taylor     5/10
A young adept thief promises to steal her older sister's boyfriend back from the forest faeries. Interesting that the faerie queen is willing to use the boy as the wager for the competition, since he was already in her keep, thereby having nothing to gain by taking on our little heroine. Otherwise a clear straightforward read, also breaking the all-too consistent tone of the magazine.


The Metaphor of the Lakes by Yarrow Paisley     7/10
The ghost of a girl and her brother, now a cat, live in the house of Mr. Menders and Mr. Scatt. A highly enjoyable tale (tail) with refreshingly no straightforward explanations. Certainly the most entertaining story in Shimmer 17.


Romeo and Meatbox by Alex Wilson     5/10
A theatre skit featuring the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliette, only with Romeo as a brain-craving zombie. Conscious of Shakespeare, we have Signet editions formatting and attention to wordplay, though not enough to make it truly worthwhile. And again the male lover looks upon the woman as a mere object. Even in death we do not change.


Like Feather, Like Bone by Kristi DeMeester     6/10
Having lost her son and husband, a woman meets a young girl feasting on a bird, and succumbs to a symbolic death. Effective little story.


Girl, With Coin by Damien Angelica Walters     6/10
Olivia suffers from a rare condition that prevents her from feeling physical pain, making life quite dangerous. She grew up with an uncaring mother, and has grown into a successful body artist, revealing her condition to the public via Crucifixion and other painless stunts, while internally she suffers from having been abandoned by ma. Despite the narrator feeling a little too sorry for herself at times, I did like this piece which comes across as emotionally real.


River, Dreaming by Silvia Moreno Garcia     5/10
Narrator searches for her lover in a river of ghosts.


The Fairy Godmother by Kim Neville     7/10
The fairy godmother is made all-too human, with excellent results. We are treated to the difficulties in the life of someone who can materialize just about anything. Enjoyable and even touching.


We Were Never Alone in Space by Carmen Maria Machado     6/10
Narrative moves backwards as the reader, through the life of Adelaide, learns about the nature of birth and death, and how it is all connected to Mars. A surprisingly good read. (I snuck the word "surprisingly" in there since the opening did not grab me.)


The Herdsmen of the Dead by Ada Hoffman     5/10
Second person is instructed through the valley of dead. Or perhaps across the river Styx, seeking the herdsman and his daughter, instructions narrated by his wife. Interesting, but I would have liked the story more had it been less poetic: when giving instructions you want to be as clear as possible, not to confuse, particularly when the instructions receiver is only half there to begin with. Reminds me of Tom Waits's excellent "Potter's Field."

Shimmer: Number 16

Tobler, E. Catherine, ed., Shimmer #16, Salt Lake City: Shimmerzine Press, April 2013

Number 16 presents us with thirteen shorter short stories. There are some unfortunately weak entries in this volume, mingling with some effective ones. Despite a few good tales, the consistent tone and consistent shortness of these stories makes for a somewhat average read, an entirely different experience from Shimmer #15. I think I would prefer the magazine if it included greater variety in style, tone and in the case of this issue, length. The shorter stories make for a choppy, interrupted read, and the similarity in tone unfortunately fails to bind. Something longer? Something wilder? I don't think it would harm.

I do like Shimmer quite a bit, but do feel it can be better than it is, a feeling emphasized when reading a weaker entry. A quote on the magazine's back cover and included on its webpage opines that the magazine features stories "built on fresh ideas or at least interesting twists on established ones," and that fantastical elements pervade each tale either overtly or via "the mere shimmer of possibility..." While true with most tales here, a few fall astray of this definition. There are a surprising number of stories that have no fantastical element, though they do imply fantasy and I suppose that is the "shimmer of possibility."

Side-note: Shimmer has some entertaining author and staff profiles and little photos in their backpages which I genuinely enjoy. In fact, it makes me feel badly when I write less favourably about a particular story. This review, hence, makes me feel badly three times over :( My favourites are those by Leunig, Ginoza, Gardner, Jablonsky and Bell. (Sounds like a law firm.)

Shimmer website
Review of Shimmer #15

Overall Rating: 6/10


Ordinary Souls by K. M. Szpara     6/10
A man continuously attempts to reunite with his lover via magic, ignoring the suspicions that the practice has some unwanted consequences. Somewhat reminiscent of Robert Silverberg's very good novella, "Born with the Dead." As the quote on the magazine's back and its website suggests, an old(ish) idea presented in a fresh form.


Goodbye Mildred by Charlie Bookout     4/10
Aged serial killer reminisces about serial killer wife, Mildred. Brief piece and not very good. Little actual characterization prevents me from caring, despite the obvious attempt at pathos. There are several problems with the narration: husband is too poetic at times to be believable, and tells the story second person to Mildred with such basic linear plot detail as though she has no idea what they'd done together. Contrived and certainly not what I would call shimmery, as per the previously stated quote.


Opposable Thumbs by Greg Leunig     7/10
"Opposable Thumbs" is a first person narrative that slowly reveals itself, and I think I was a little slow to catch on. Among the stronger stories, it follows the thoughts a person who... but that would be giving it away. Notions of identity and purpose from one in an unusual position.


Word and Flesh by Dennis Y. Ginoza     7/10
In a post-apocalyptic setting, a baby is sold to the local church and is transformed into the word made flesh. A powerful and captivating little piece that projects extreme religious fanaticism onto the future, on a society more concerned with preserving the word of God than preserving the outside world. My favourite story in the collection.


The Revelation of Morgan Stern by Christie Yant. 6/10
The letter-journal of a woman traversing the desert amid the apocalyptic presence of killer angels in order to find her loved one. A well written and interesting story that falls apart a little at the end. Unfortunately I couldn't take the explanation of those angels too seriously, non in such a non-metaphorical guise, which unfortunately weakens the piece.


The Binding of Memories by Cate Gardner     7/10
In a world where memories are collected and released after one's death, in order that they may retrieve them in the afterlife, a woman must contend with her aunts while two men are stealing the memories of others. Dreamy and unique, a good concept well delivered, and a story that well represents the shimmery quote from above.


The Death and Life of Bob by William Jablonsky     7/10
After having clinically died, Bob re-awakens and returns to work. At first wary and afraid, his colleagues soon accept him once they realize what a kind and refreshing soul he is. Things are complicated, however, when one person believes he is a zombie and that God hates zombies. A strong story, both amusing and effective. Our narrator is the collective we, the workplace colleagues. The story deals with people looking for a saviour and those for a sacrifice. Miracles are looked upon selfishly, as in how we can individually benefit rather than how we, as a society, can be made a better place. Prejudice abounds.


The Sky Whale by Rebecca Emanuelsen     5/10
Hitomi and her mother are headed to see family when the little girl sees a whale in the sky. This subtle, well written story deals with the loss of a parent during the recent devastating tsunami in Japan. A nice fragment of a story, where the whales, obviously seen in Hitomi's imagination as a coping method for the loss of her father. The story, technically, is not a fantasy, since the whales aren't really there.


Tasting of the Sea by A. C. Wise     4/10
A clockmaker builds hearts for sorrowful orphans. Nice prose, much of the time, but the abstract quality and lack of characterization makes for unremarkable reading.


Lighting of the Candles by Laura Hinkle     3/10
A sketch of a succubus named Unicorn who picks men up at bars. You might think she is a vampire, but the "you dream of me" nonsense alludes more to succubi. The myriad candles of the title seem to represent her numerous victims. Unfortunately the sketch is quite bland.


Gemini in the House of Mars by Nicole M. Taylor     5/10
A tale of twins, both seemingly evil, and the question of whether twin Lora was indeed killed by a cuckolded husband. Flows nicely but story-wise not too interesting. Taylor's Shimmer 15 entry, "The Undertaker's Son," is a superior story.


The Haunted Jalopy Races by M. Bennardo     6/10
Another story that borrows from recognizable fare to deliver something a little different. Two feuding ghosts of feuding boys who were killed during a race in their souped-up jalopies meet on the anniversary of their death to continue their rivalry, as witnessed by the gal they both had the hots for. A little predictable but some nice sentence shaping helps to elevate the story.


In Light of Recent Events I Have Reconsidered the Wisdom of Your Space Elevator by Helena Bell     7/10
An enjoyable ambiguous tale of apocalypse (?), innocence and imaginative story-telling, along with a dash of childhood cruelty and a great title. I also very much enjoyed author Bell's author profile.

Shimmer Magazine Screwed Up

Shimmer Magazine website
My review of Shimmer 15


It was when I received their last newsletter, featuring their latest volume, Shimmer 16, that I suspected an oversight. While others were raving about the issue, I was without a copy. As a subscriber I felt I should have had my copy in hand, but knowing that in this chaotic post-modern age nothing is reliable, I was prepared to be patient and gave myself one week before inquiring. During that week I considered possible reasons why my issue was not in my hand.

Perhaps it was due to that heavy snow storm wreaking havoc along the Canada-US border. Perhaps Montreal, foreign soil as it is, lies legions away from Salt Lake City, and the shimmery carrier pigeon was too worn out to make it to my mailbox on time (the two are 3,119 kilometres, or 1938 miles, apart). Maybe it had to do with the Canadian dollar once again falling below that of the US. Or maybe, just maybe the shimmery staff simply forgot about little insignificant me.

A week passed and I wrote them a polite (I am Canadian) note, kindly inquiring about the delay. This was a Friday. On Monday I received this reply.



It looks like we screwed up your address when we entered it in our database -- so your copy has been returned to us. Woe!

I'll put another copy in the mail right away -- meanwhile, here's the electronic edition for you to read while you wait for it to arrive. I'll also extend your subscription by an issue to make up for the inconvenience!

I'm so sorry.


The term "screwed up" was theirs. A little harsh, I think. Excellent customer service though, particularly that "I'm so sorry" at the end. Something about it, either the "so" or its position at the bottom somehow managed to touch my cynical heart. I'm prepared to renew my subscription on the strength of this prompt response alone. I still have a couple of issues to go, however, and in the meantime I can only hope that the fine people at Shimmer screw up again.

You can support Shimmer Magazine via their subscription page.

Shimmer: Number 15 (September 2012)

Shimmer: Number 15 (September 2012), edited by E. Catherine Tobler, Salt Lake City: Beth Wodzinski, September 2012. 82 pages

Cover by Sandro Castelli

Rating: 6/10

What a nice little publication. I've been meaning to get a subscription to this respected quarterly, and as soon as I subscribed online I received an e-promise from publisher Beth Wodzinski that she'll drop it in the mail shortly. A week later I had my copy. Service like that alone deserves a subscription.

Overall the issue was good; a nice quick read. I didn't feel there were any stand-out stories, though at the same time there was not a single piece that wasn't worth a read. Most stories were well written ("The Bird Country") and well structured ("The Undertaker's Son") yet some perhaps could've used some more authorial editing ("A Cellar of Terrible Things"). I also wouldn't have included both "The Undertaker's Son" and "A Cellar of Terrible Things" in the same issue, for while they are quite different, their basic elements are too similar.


The Undertaker's Son by Nicole M. Taylor. 7/10
Albert sees dead people. They hover around him at his home, some threatening, others ambivalent. Their presence is linked to Albert's dad's profession as the town's undertaker, yet Albert is the one who sees them post-funeral. Soon he begins to engage with one of them, and the story takes a turn toward its central ideas on human relationships and responsibilities toward others as well as towards oneself. The story is well constructed, opening with glimpses of Albert's ghostly housemates, to a brief sequence with his father teaching him to not be afraid of death, to Albert's encounter with three specific ghosts, each one coming closer and closer to his heart. The ending, which I won't discuss, is genuinely touching.

(It's not at all A Christmas Carol, though Dickens's work does feature a guide and three spirits; here it's Albert showing the ghosts the way.)


What Fireworks by Dustin Monk. 7/10
An island, along with its town and inhabitants, is slowly dissolving. This surreal tale touches on notions of history, culture and their retention, as we focus on specific characters, most notably a town curator who is concerned with dissecting the island's origins and a journalist from the outside world attempting to document its dissolution. These charters give glimpses of town-life, theories on the nature of this unusual island, all with a surreal yet distinct backdrop of a world on the edge of being forgotten. Overall quite effective;


Signal Jamming by Oliver Buckram. 6/10
Escapee M.Q. Bukka is loose on a prison ship, and wreaks havoc on its internal communications. This short piece is structured along a series of one-sided correspondence from a ship's officer to its commander. A comedic piece that manages to be amusing and to have some good, simple fun.


Harrowing Emily by Megan Arkenberg. 6/10
Zoe is depressed when lover Emily returns from the dead. Emily's approach to life is different now, and Zoe is having trouble coping with the newly established paradigm. A good, emotionally weighted story filled with flawed characters easy to sympathize with. (Too bad about that glaring lay/lie error.)


The Bird Country by K. M. Ferebee. 6/10
"Childer killed a boy during the night," the story opens. A striking opening for such a quiet story. Childer is a loner living at a small, unyielding farm. One morning he encounters a silent angel lying in the yard, and tries, in his slow and quiet way, to interact with it. The prose is tight and the story is properly atmospheric, yet while it's often the quiet stories that yield greater impact, I was left with a lukewarm feeling at the end. I felt Childer was a little evasive, his character not defined enough for me to consistently believe he is both the angel watcher and the killer of teenage boys.

Not the best story of the bunch but the best written story in the issue.


A Cellar of Terrible Things by Mari Ness. 6/10
Neraka and her three housemates share their temporary aged village house with seventeen ghosts. These ghosts all live in the cellar, and though they are four it is Neraka's duty to go to the cellar and fetch the potatoes and turnips. While there she must endure the constant whisperings of the ghosts. The story is constructed around several short vignettes, which alternate primarily between Neraka and the ghosts, focusing on each of their daily routine. Yet also incorporated amid these scenes are the village and its inhabitants as well as the history of these once living.

The story is quite good, dealing with a village that is simultaneously clinging onto its horrible past yet denying responsibility. Neraka too is in denial, as she's forced to work in that town and live in that house and can only handle those ghosts by pretending they aren't there. They are, however, too present in the cellar and in her thoughts, so that her game of denying them and her own sense responsibility nearly consume her. Neraka/Naraka is the Hindu hell, a dark pit where the dead receive punishment for their sins. The protagonist's connection to Neraka is not always clear and the name might have been incidental.

A good story, it would be much better with some tightening. There is awkwardness in its construction, particularly at the beginning with some needless repetition and the lack of a cohesive focus. The oddly-constructed sentences don't help either. For instance: "It is a wonder the cellar is not even more filled with ghosts" should read "It is a wonder the cellar is not filled with more ghosts." It's possible Ness wanted to create an image of canned sardines pressed together, but these are ghosts, ones we're told early on pass through objects, so no matter how many ghosts there are the cellar can never be filled to capacity, as there is no capacity.

The second half reads far better. The story should be shorter, though, many of the vignettes unnecessary. I'd recommend a re-working and hopefully see it in re/print .


Soulless in His Sight by Milo James Fowler. 7/10
A father and son (known as Fatha and Boy) live alone in a post apocalyptic town. With his crossbow Fatha dispatches anyone who comes by, telling his son that he's searching for a soul for him. Things become complicated when Boy meets an outsider he tries to befriend.

Despite a note of the sentimental and a weak opening I quite liked this story. The language is consistent, as are its thematic points. The characters are not terribly likeable but their world is in such ruin that the reader pushes conventional notions of sympathy aside. Few words are wasted on the apocalyptic backdrop; the story succeeds in generating a character-driven narrative that the details of bombs and fallout are unnecessary. The atmosphere and crumbling setting are enough to hint at the basics, and in this case the basics are all we require.

My problem with the opening is the unnecessary violence. The fact that Fatha is killing everyone who comes by is enough to portray a violent future bent on survival, and the splattering blood is, pardon the pun, overkill. Besides, narrator Boy has seen this form of violence since birth and has grown accustomed to it the way we, in this humble age, have grown accustomed to watching someone smoke a cigarette. I wouldn't describe the act of smoking in detail, just as Boy wouldn't bother with the details his father's bad habits.