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1994-01-02
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103 lines
STTS Mailbag
Copyright (c) 1994, Joe DeRouen
All rights reserved
[Each month, we'll pull a letter or two out of our mailbag and see what
we wind. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and space, of course.
All letters will be answered, though may not necessarily appear between
these electronic pages.]
Joe:
Well, it's about time I wrote you a note concerning SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE
SHADOWS. It's a good, solid entry into the world of electronic
magazines, and I'm not just saying that because you publish my work,
feeble as it is.
Thought I'd take some time to reflect on the December 1993 issue,
starting with "Yule," by Brigid Childs. Brigid does a great job of
explaining holiday symbols as derived from pagan times (her
"Halloween" article in the October issue was equally informative), but
I still find myself yearning for more. I would have liked a treatise
on *how* and *why* the early church incorporated the pagan symbols,
the historical hue-and-cry that arose from both sides over the
appropriation, and the present-day deniability that certain born-
agains, Pentecostals, and Holy Rollers (fundies, tonguies, and
rollies, according to a friend of mine) have attached to these self-
same symbols. But that wasn't the point, was it? I'm looking forward
to Brigid's piece on the vernal equinox, sure to appear in your March
issue, right? (Hint, hint.)
"State of the Art For Awhile": I started on VIC-20s, too, but never
got into the online community until my C-64 and its "blazingly-fast"
1200 baud modem. One point in your article that I'd like to pick at,
though: you state your wife's company bought her a Twincom 9600
modem, then a paragraph later you say that lightning paid a visit to
*your* Twincom 9600 (after you had appropriated it for the BBS).
Already taking advantage of Texas' community property laws, hmmmm?
Survey -- Movie reviews only placed sixth out of nine categories?
Maybe I need to spice them up, somehow . . . start reviewing adult
movies, perhaps, or .fli, .gl, and .dl files from adult BBSes. Wotta
ya think?
Movie Reviews -- Remind me to proofread, willya? Thanks.
CD Reviews -- Yer startin' ta sound like a PR flack, Joe. Gonna go
work for a record company soon? <grin> Wendy Bryson's review of the
Vince Gill CD was too short, though -- it gave me no real flavor for
the album.
Book Reviews -- Okay, you've given me a taste, but for some reason,
I'm not compelled to read JUMPER. Robert's piece, on the other hand,
has some meat to it, with something to say about STAR TREK books.
I'll disagree with him on one point, however: ST novels are regarded
as canon by some people who like the subgenre -- all you have to do is
visit any of the echomail ST conferences to see that many, many people
regard the novels (*and* the comic books) as canon. The same thing is
happening to STAR WARS -- a publishing industry has appeared, and the
Timothy Zahn books are being treated as canon, to the point that many
readers think the Zahn trilogy will be the basis for the next movie
trilogy, despite Lucas' repeated denials. Some people just carry a
good thing too far.
Poetry -- My favorite poems this issue are "Personal Notes in Black
Mirrors," by Michie Sidwell, for its layers within layers, and
"Mi'Lord," by Patricia Meeks, for its unabashed romanticism.
Fiction:
"Airborne," Robert McKay -- Fascinating idea of an alternate society,
but the story seems little more than a technical study in aircraft
repair and crisis management. I would have liked more about the
society itself, especially its economic structure. How did the
residential flyers pay for refueling and other dirt-based resources?
(And what happened to the "5 or 6 hours of fuel" the ship had left?
Could another tanker really have been topped off and rendezvoused
with them in time?)
"The Squirrels," L. Shawn Aiken -- An amusing little vignette. "Do
Not Mock The Suicide Attack Squirrels," indeed!
"The Caravan," A.M. Eckard -- I'm speechless. I never thought elecmag
fiction could get as good as this. Eckard has a talent for rendering
an "otherwhere" feeling that's almost equal to Ursula K. LeGuin, Jack
Dann, or Gene Wolfe. The simplicity of the prose (the sameness of
sentence structure is annoying, despite the effect Eckard is trying
for; another trip through the word processor would have helped) belies
the richness of idea and understanding of atmosphere that speaks to
Eckard's future publishing success. Next to Gage Steele (whose prose
is sorely missed this issue), A.M. Eckard is SUNLIGHT THROUGH THE
SHADOWS' most talented find.
Keep up the success, Joe!
Yer bit-buddy,
Bruce Diamond