Puss Reboots: Blog: March 2008: A Ten-Pound Sack of Rice

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Book Reviews:

Bleach Volume 9 by Tite Kubo.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Marakami.
The Boarder by Alexander Jablokov.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry.
Count to Ten Piggy Wiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox.
Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen.
Exit Strategy by K. D. Wentworth
Forgive Me by Amanda Eyre Ward.
The Four Ugly Cats in Apartment 3D by Marilyn Sachs.
Flush by Carl Hiaasen.
Frogs by Martin Schwabacher.
He Rents, She Rents by Richard Roeper and Laura Viera.
Hotel Cat by Esther Averill
Immortal by Traci L. Slatton.
The Ka of Gifford Hillary by Dennis Wheatley.
Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes.
Leadership Brand by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood.
Lorna Doone (Abridged) by R. D. Blackmore
Lost Pilgrim by Gene Wolf.
The Magnificent Mummy Maker by Elvira Woodruff.
Manhattan is Missing by E. W. Hildick.
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes.
Mommy Hugs by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
The Overseer by Albert E. Cowdrey.
Park by Pierre Pratt
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle.
Q & A by Vikas Swarup
The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association by Loren D. Estleman
Rumple What? by Nancy Springer
Sea Turtles by Emilie U. Lepthien.
The Second Descent by Richard Paul Russo.
Stanley in Space by Jeff Brown and illustrated by Scott Nash.
Take a Stand, Rosa Parks! by Peter and Connie Roop.
Tall by Jez Alborough.
Trucks and Diggers by DK Publishing.
Women & Self-Esteem by Linda Tschirhart Sanford and Mary Ellen Donovan

Miscellaneous:
Kirby Went to the Beach by Sean Sammis

Previous month

A Ten-Pound Sack of Rice: 03/14/08

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The final story in the March 2008 issue is an interesting WWII inspired story called "A Ten-Pound Sack of Rice" by Richard Mueller.

Richard Mueller took his inspiration from the heroic service records of two men: Jefferson de Blanc and James Swett. Combining their lives together and adding in some supernatural events, Mueller tells the story of Nathan Roullon and his interview with the Devil.

As Nathan observes in the middle of the story, "A Ten-Pound Sack of Rice" is like A Christmas Carol except with visits from an old friend, a talking cat and the Devil. Like Marley, Satan offers Roullon a chance to better his life. He isn't looking for a soul in return, just an interesting man. Unlike Scrooge, the change comes not in the present, but in the past. The closing glimpse of Roullon implies that the Devil got his wish.

To learn more about the story, please see the interview on the magazine's blog.

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