Of course, Rosebud isn't the only literary journal to have included genre fiction in 2002. Bard College's journal Conjunctions had a special speculative fiction issue in 2002, guest edited by Peter Straub. Of course, they couldn't hint that it contained SF or fantasy. No, they subtitled it, "The New Wave Fabulists", whatever the heck that's supposed to mean. I have heard that is has quite a few good stories in it, though, which I'll be getting to eventually.
The best short story so far in this year's reading was "A Book, By Its Cover" by P.D. Cacek in Dreamhaven Books' 25th anniversary anthology Shelf Life. Set three months after Kristallnacht, it's a story about a young Jewish boy, an enigmatic bookstore owner, and some strange things going on at his shop. Can't really say more without spoilers, but it's an extremely well-written little tale.
On to the summary:
- Excellent
- Cacek, P.D."A Book, By Its Cover". Shelf Life (Dreamhaven Books).
- Garcia, Victoria Elisabeth. "Anthropology". Polyphony 1 (Wheatland Press).
- Cacek, P.D."A Book, By Its Cover". Shelf Life (Dreamhaven Books).
- Very Good
- Tempchin, Sheryl. "The Japanese Fan". Rosebud #24.
- Tempchin, Sheryl. "The Japanese Fan". Rosebud #24.
- Good
- Branseum, John E. "Mississipeans". Rosebud #23.
- Grallo, William. "Tangled Up in Blue". Rosebud #23.
- Ramasastry, Saira. "Two Dreams and One Fate". Rosebud #24.
- Shawl, Nisi. "The Beads of Ku". Rosebud #23.
- Warshow, Douglas. "Surrogate". Rosebud #24.
- Branseum, John E. "Mississipeans". Rosebud #23.
- Average
- Elliot, Kandis. "Cross of Eve". Rosebud #23.
- Garcia, Ramón. "La Llorona: Our Lady of Deformities". Rosebud #24.
- Goldstein, Hilary. "Even Swamp Creatures Get the Blues". Rosebud #24.
- Vukcevich, Ray. "Dead Girlfriend". Rosebud #23.
- Elliot, Kandis. "Cross of Eve". Rosebud #23.