Tomorrow Sage

One of the more challenging areas of writing today is cross-genre speculative fiction, where (as one example) elements drawn from both fantasy and science fiction come together in a single story with a contemporary setting. Not only must an author create internally consistent fantasy elements (such as a dragon), those elements also must mesh seamlessly with the science and society of our modern world. Thus when an author succeeds at making everything work together in such a cross-genre piece, the payoff can be great.

Dragon Fountain Rue St. Michel, Paris

Sean McMullen’s¹ newest story, “The Art of the Dragon”, is one such successful genre-melding work. The story appears in the Aug/Sept 2009 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF). From the very first sentence, the reader is likely to be hooked: “I was there when the dragon first appeared — and ate the Eiffel Tower.” (more…)

1. Australian Sean McMullen has written both science fiction and fantasy. His debut novels — Voices In The Light (1994) and Mirrorsun Rising (1995) — were rewritten and combined for a publication in the US as Souls In The Great Machine (1999). More recently, McMullen has written a number of fantasy/cross-genre novels in his Moonworld Saga, including The Time Engine which was published in August 2008. McMullen also appeared in the April/May 2009 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction with the story “The Spiral Briar”. McMullen’s official web site can be found at: http://www.seanmcmullen.net.au/ [↩]

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF), currently in its 60th year of publication, is one of just a few remaining US-based magazines/digests in the genre.¹ A look at the upcoming Aug/Sept 2009 issue shows that even after six decades, F&SF is still a solid publication for science fiction and fantasy readers.

Cover of F&SF Aug/Sept 2009 issue Artwork by Cory and Catska Ench

It’s probably been 15 years since I read an issue of F&SF from cover to cover,² so the launch of TomorrowSage.com seemed a great excuse to reacquaint myself with the magazine.³ Overall the magazine matched my fond memories from years past, with over 200 pages of well written, thought provoking stories. Reading this issue of F&SF reminded me why I fell in love with science fiction and fantasy in the first place.

What Works
One of the things I most enjoyed about F&SF when I was growing up was the balance the magazine struck between columns and fiction pieces. That balance still feels right in this new issue — there are roughly 225 pages of fiction and 28 pages of nonfiction “Departments” as the magazine calls them. The bottom line is that if I’m buying a magazine of science fiction and fantasy, I want the vast majority of that magazine to consist of fiction. (more…)

1. Asimov’s Science Fiction and Analog Science Fiction and Fact are the other long surviving digests that immediately come to mind. Realms of Fantasy, which previously announced it was ceasing publication after the April 2009 issue, was recently purchased by Tir Na Nog Press and is scheduled to resume publication in July. [↩]
2. This is a scary admission from someone who claims to be both a reader and writer in this genre. [↩]
3. Disclosure: The F&SF circulation manager provided a complimentary copy of the Aug/Sept 2009 issue for review. [↩]