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1998
MAGAZINES ARCHIVE

 

Profiles of March 1998 Issues

New York Review of Science Fiction March 1998
Ideological wars: a provocative piece by Brian Stableford (which will probably upset Gary Westfahl) outlines the relative virtues of the American, French, and British SF traditions, and issues a manifesto for what serious science fiction should be about. • Brian Evenson explores the term 'magic realism' and distinguishes between such flavors as metaphysical, anthropological, and ontological. • Editor David G. Hartwell reflects on Verne's recently rediscovered novel Paris in the Twentieth Century. • Reviews of Iain M. Banks, Tim Powers, and others.
(posted 26 Apr 98)
Interzone March 1998
Gary Westfahl again: The 'greying' of fandom isn't a subject for concern because it succeeded -- sf permeates our culture. The greying of the readership and writership is something else again, as evidenced by the recent popularity of ''the puerile and pointless sub-genre of alternate history''. • In a book review essay, Paul Di Filippo (who's written his share of them) considers aesthetic standards for alternate history stories, and praises Byrne & Newman's Back in the USSA. • A story by none other than Uri Geller is about a brilliant physicist whose demonstration of spiritualism blows science apart; wishful thinking, perhaps. • Nick Lowe finds the film treatment of Starship Troopers remarkably faithful to the spirit of Heinlein's novel. • In fiction, Paul Di Filippo imagines a Hollywood pitch for the movie version of novels by Olaf Stapledon. • Editor David Pringle realizes that Interzone is probably the last surviving English-language fiction monthly in the world (all the major US sf magazines having gone to 11 issues a year).
(posted 15 Mar 98)
F&SF March 1998
Notable fiction by seldom-seen Mark J. McGarry, newcomer Stefano Donati, and old pro Ben Bova. • Paul Doherty and Pat Murphy's science column describes simple experiments that seem to defy Galileo's principle that objects fall at the same rate. • Mike Resnick's ''Forgotten Treasures'' column recalls works by Fredric Brown, Poul Anderson, C. M. Kornbluth, Italo Calvino, and others.
(posted 15 Mar 98)
Science Fiction Age, March 1998
A novella by Robert Silverberg expands the aliens-conquer-Earth scenario that began with last year's ''Beauty in the Night''. • Science columnist Geoffrey A. Landis queries a panel of experts about whether Mars or the Moon should be the next goal for space exploration. Robert Zubrin has the last word: Mars. • Karen Haber profiles the art of Don Maitz. • Games columnist Eric T. Baker is impressed by Blade Runner. • In other fiction, Stephen Dedman offers a Star Trek-like scenario about advanced space travelers and planetary colonists from an earlier age; Cory Doctorow analyzes alien psychology by way of rummage sales and antiques auctions; Ernest Hogan colorfully describes a lunar ex-con who's the pawn of invading aliens; and S. N. Dyer goes time traveling.
(posted 15 Mar 98)
Asimov's March 1998
Norman Spinrad asks ''Who Will Resurrect Science Fiction?'', charging that the potential audience for genuine science fiction has been sold out by Sci-Fi, Inc -- Hollywood, and publishers, in service of the bottom line. He considers what current books by Niven, Bear, and others, say about the state of the genre and their authors' careers. • Robert Silverberg describes the surprising latest ambitious plan for colonizing the moon: a business venture by the Japanese, whose elaborate plan is called Escargot City. • In fiction, Tony Daniel visits a smokey east European bar, Howard Waldrop consorts with far future bugs, Mary Rosenblum does aliens, and David Marusek considers helpful personal technology.
(posted 12 Feb 98)
Analog March 1998
Editor Stanley Schimdt describes reader reaction to articles about 'fringe' areas of science and outlines the reasons the magazine publishes them. And then publishes one: Duncan Lunan's follow-up to a 1974 Analog article about strange radio signals identified with the star Epsilon Boötis. Now Lunan finds connections to Stonehenge, galactic geometry, and the Egyptian pyramids. • Stories include Ben Bova's Sam Gunn engaged in a space tourism scam, Wolf Read's planetary colonists beset by asteroids and tsunamis, and Michael F. Flynn's future soldiers fighting anarchy. • Jeffrey D. Kooistra's ''Alternate View'' explains why robots can never be as effective, or even as cost-effective, as human explorers in space. • Among letters, Poul Anderson pits chaos theory against psychohistory.
(posted 12 Feb 98)
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