INTERACTION

Another good issue. My personal picks would be Will McIntosh's "None had sharp teeth" and Gary Couzens' "Served cold" (which I suspect could just as easily have been a Crimewave story). For my money, those two were the best of a very decent bunch.

_________________
http://www.scan-tech.co.uk/mikealx
http://www.myspace.com/veldtmusic
Folder printing high quality presentation folders

First review (that I know of) at Highlander's Book Reviews:-

http://www.highlandersbooks.com/2009/06 ... static-11/

_________________
http://trumpetville.wordpress.com
http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/casenotesblog/

Well I'm just going to walk brazenly straight into the room, tip my hat and say good evening, my name is Ilan - heck, we've all got to start somewhere.
I'm a relatively recent convert to Black Static and Interzone. Thoroughly enjoyed this issue, with my personal standouts being 'None had sharp teeth' and 'Off with the furies'. I thought Daniel Kaysen's story in particular was extremely good. Written with a tremendous economy of style and apt to make you quite dizzy.

Hello and welcome Ilan. Thanks for your encouraging comments.

Colin Harvey on Black Static 11 at Suite 101.

Sam Tomaino at SF Revu.

I loved Mike O'Driscoll's piece about J G Ballard. A giant. What about a whole issue devoted to him?

I loved None Had Sharp Teeth.

And Served Cold...blimey!! (in a good way...)

Ali

_________________
http://www.alisonlittlewood.co.uk

BS #11 is wonderful issue and BS is still the best designed magazine in the genre. I'm proud to be a part of it!

Al Robertson's "De Profundis" was gripping and chilling. I loved None Had Sharp Teeth which reminded me of the delight on McIntosh's previous "Circus Town". Gary Couzens's "Served Cold" was stunningly - numbingly - unpleasant. And "Off With The Furies" by Daniel Kaysen a real tour de force. Brilliant.

I thought De Profundis the best. Al Robertson is becoming excellent writer and I'm looking forward for his new stories. But I agree with mr. Volk completely about other stories. Excellent issue.

The best things in this issue are the Lawrence Conquest story and the feature on Steve Mosby. Not before time! His novels are superb. The Gary Couzens story must be the worst I've seen in the mag for ages, which is really saying something. It's like a reject from Nasty Piece of Work. Sorry!

"...which is really saying something..." Ouch!

Just finished this issue - the non-fiction is all brilliant as usual - the depth and quality of the reviews are excellent, and the columns really add to the magazine. No filler material here.

Stories:

"De Profundis" - excellent story, evocative, intiguing, and whilst a little info-dumping at the end, none the worse for it. Probably the best story this issue.

"None Had Sharp Teeth" - I really like Will's stories ("The Fantasy Jumper" being one of my favourites from last year), but this left me cold. Too comical and easy for my liking.

"The Likeness" - not keen on this immediately, the prose seemed too dense with too many descriptions, but it grew and the nature of the 'sleeping sickness' was a revelation. Quite original, ultimately.

"Served Cold" - too graphic for me, and must agree with Paul Bradshaw on this one; seemed a bit of a step backwards. Technically proficient, but this kind of story has had its day.

"Off With The Furies" - another strong story from Kaysen, I'm not surprised a collection of his work is forthcoming.

"Red Ribbons" - a good story but not for my personal taste. I wasn't exactly sure what happened at the end either...

Overall another enjoyable issue. Now straight onto #12 as I've caught up...

_________________
www.andrew-hook.com

"Served Cold".... Andrew, I don't know if I agree "this kind of story has had its day" any more than I believe the horrific things that human beings inflict on each other, and the banality thereof, should ever be out of date as a subject for fiction. I deplore torture porn and I ahte stories with grpahic violence for the sake of it but I think here the depiction, setting, characters, were original enough to earn its place in BS... (its presence certainly shocked me - in a good way...) even if the story might not be to every reader's taste.

In terms of "Served Cold", for me, it was very reminiscent of a lot of stories which were published in a magazine called "Nasty Piece of Work" back in the mid-90s (as referenced by Paul earlier). For the record, it was an excellent magazine (I had three stories in it myself), but mostly veered towards the extremely graphic end of the market. Historically, for me, "Served Cold", falls into that camp and feels dated because of it, without the depth in story that other pieces in Black Static usually develop. Having said that, maybe its overtness and the effect on me illustrates just how good it was. This reflects my personal preference of subtle over explicit horror, of course, and certainly nothing against Gary's writing (I published a collection of his with Elastic Press so I usually like most of his fiction!)

_________________
www.andrew-hook.com

Thanks, Andy. I agree... I much prefer subtle to explicit. But it's nice to be shocked occasionally!