The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2019

An interesting set of stories in the issue by Michael Libling, Matthew Hughes, Gregor Hartmann and Marie Vibbert.

• “How I Came to Write Fantasy” by Michael Libling: an interesting story that starts off as a conversation between two waiters that later turns fantastic as one is revealed to be an immortal looking for his true love through the ages, while the other has a revealing gift (or curse). It is only towards the end that the reason they got together is shown, but with a twist involving the women they love.

• “Rejoice, My Brothers and Sisters” by Benjamin Rosenbaum: in a strange future, a man enters a closed-off area, hoping to document the lives of its inhabitants. But things goes wrong: his contact with the outside is cut-off and his interactions with the people in the area reveal how closed off it is, and their struggle to get out into another different kind of world.

• “The Joy in Wounding” by Charlotte Ashley: a tale of three sisters chasing after a floating house, which is the former home of one of the sisters who was forced to marry a god. As the house settled over a farmhouse, numerous violent events caused by the house would take place that would change their lives as well as the lives of the farmer, whose own marriage to an unusual person would be one of the sources of violence.

• “A Geas of the Purple School” by Matthew Hughes: next in the series of tales of a wizard's henchmen, this one has him and his partner investigating the murder of the messenger for the daughter of the Duke of the city. As they dig further, they discover that the diary of the daughter may prove to be the key behind the whole matter, if they are brave enough to open it and face the consequences of exposure to the magic in the diary.

• “Evergreen” by M. Rickert: a variation of the usual tale of ghosts seen around Christmastime, this one has a woman who sees ghosts of people from her past and learning to find joy in the present despite the miseries of her life.

• “A Hand at the Service of Darkness” by Gregor Hartmann: on a frontier world, a police officer is assigned a job with a Secret Service agent she does not like. They are to look for and take out a revolutionary who has committed a terrorist act. Going into the heart of a lawless place would need all her skills, but it is only with the target in sight does her loyalties to her world kick in, and she would have to make decisions that could change her life.

• “Bird Thou Never Wert” by James Morrow: the story of a writers' meeting where people read and criticize manuscripts among themselves. But at this meeting, a magician makes a writing offer one cannot refuse, for the offer would make a writer write like a genius. But the price of the gift of genius would have to be paid in blood and in other old fashion ways, like when humanity is offered a gift from the gods.

• “It Never Snows in Snowtown” by Rebecca Zahabi: a story that starts off as a paid journey through a snowing town turns chilling when strange graffiti appears warning about the snow and the young child-like tour guide begins to exhibit un-childlike behaviour, and we learn that the young may have to pay a price for the town to remain as it is: forever snowing.

• “Knit Three, Save Four” by Marie Vibbert: an unusual story of a stowaway on a spaceship that turns out to be in danger of running out of air as a space station refuses to let it dock due to hull integrity issues. But it will turn out that a hobby by the stowaway might be a way to hold the ship together; that and lots of cable.

• “The Vicious World of Birds” by Andy Stewart: an uncomfortable family gathering during the holidays would turn into an unusual one when an unusual bird starts attacking the family. The story also includes the thoughts of one member, who compares his family members to various kinds of birds.

• “Shucked” by Sam J. Miller: a story of a young man and woman who are approached by another man who asks for the company of the man for an hour. When the man returns, the woman gradually starts to notice small changes in his behaviour. But it is only later that she comes to a startling conclusion that something unusual has happened to the man. But does the conclusion hold?