1990 - Year in SF&F: Reviews

THE WONDER TIMELINE: SF&F RETROSPECTIVE Read other issues here ---------------------------------------------- Gardner R. Dozois "Apres Moi" © OMNI, Nov 1990 Geodesic Dreams, 1992 --short story : 1991 Locus /20 --/ cool sf story --/ style award Very stylish, bittersweet story that I remember fondly. Omni truly was an awesome market for short fiction in the 1980s and early 1990s. It was really sad to see this market disappear. And... I can never get enough of edgy, yet lyrical and deeply romantic stories by Gardner R. Dozois. "Apres Moi" is a statement of style, and a very soft experience. ---------------------------------------------- K. W. Jeter "The First Time" © "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990 --short story : 1991 Locus /4 --/ fourth place dark f story --/ shock value --/ rare find This is very effective, shocking tale - see if you can come out unaffected on the other side; K. W. Jeter notes that he modeled the story's atmosphere and environment from the US-Mexican border towns. Absolutely professional, great "blockbuster" treatment of the shadowy side of growing up among the aliens - bad, lusty aliens, at that. ---------------------------------------------- Richard Christian Matheson "Arousal" © "Alien Sex", ed. by Ellen Datlow, 1990 --short story : Locus Poll --/ shock value --/ rare find Very subversive, subliminal, sexy story - that tackles a taboo subject matter with astonishing clarity and daring. Very sincere, laconic, "rousing" prose. ---------------------------------------------- Lewis Shiner "Scales" © "Alien Sex", ed. by E. Datlow, 1990 Love In Vain, 2001 --/ fourth place f story --/ emotion award --/ shock value --/ rare find I was simply enchanted by the quiet, very sensitive storytelling of Lewis Shiner in this story: significantly different from his edgy cyberpunk offerings: in fact, he writes from the viewpoint of a woman, trustworthy wife who encounters a sex vampire stealing her husband and her daughter... great treatment of an age-old subject, very high quality prose. Lisa Tuttle "Husbands" © "Alien Sex", ed. E. Datlow, 1990 Memories of the Body, 1992 --short story : Locus Poll Award (7) --/ cool sf story --/ idea award --/ rare find Can genders and gender lines be re-invented, re-drawn, re-implemented? What defines gender in our imagination (as opposed to, in the reality, where we do not have any choice in the matter?). Lisa Tuttle has been successfully exploring gender desires and transformation in her cycle "Memories of the Body" - a recommended treat for everyone willing to question and entertain realities of their sexual identity. ---------------------------------------------- Return to the Wonder Timeline

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