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Acting Class: Take a Seat by Milton Katselas
All in Fun by Jerry Oltion
The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson Braun
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Dance of Shadows by Fred Chappell
Diary of a Dead Man by Walter Krumm
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Forgive My Trespassing by Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson
A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seed by James Fenton
The Illusion by Tony Kushner and Pierre Corneille
Jimmy Buffet: The Man from Margaritaville Revealed by Steve Eng
The Little Lame Prince and His Travelling Cloak by Dinah Muloc Craik
Mojo Hand by Greg Kihn
The Monopoly Man by Barry B. Longyear
Nana Volume 2 by Ai Yazawa
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
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Rising Waters by Patricia Ferrara
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Sea by John Banville
Seafarer's Blood by Albert E. Cowdrey
Shadow on the Stones by Moyra Caldecott
Signatures of Grace edited by Thomas Grady and Paula Huston
Silence is Golden by Penny Warner
"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly" Said the Sloth by Eric Carle
The Tall Stones by Moyra Caldecott
The Temple of the Sun by Moyra Caldecott
Tsunami by Gordon Gumpertz
Written on the Knee by Dr. Theodore Electris and Helen Electrie Lindsay (translator)

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Dance of Shadows: 01/11/09

Dance of Shadows

This month's online reprint at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is "Dance of Shadows" by Fred Chappell. They've posted it because the February 2009 issue has a new story from the same world called "Shadow of the Valley." I will be reviewing it in the near future.

In the meantime, "Dance of Shadows" is a world where shadows are a valuable commodity. They can be used for art and sometimes be art all by themselves. In the middle of this, a shadow stealer hears of a woman who casts no shadow. The rest of this long story is set around figuring out the mystery of the lady.

The ending is cute but it was a chore to get there. I had to re-read a bunch of lines here and there because the story never really grabbed my imagination. I didn't connect with any of the characters either.

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Comment #1: Saturday, January, 10, 2009 at 19:34:44

Carl V.

That sounds like a very fun story. More like a fantasy than a science fiction story...I say that because I am a dog owner and lover and believe me, they aren't smart enough to take over anything. LOL!!!

I was sad for the magazine owners/contributors that the magazine is going bi-monthly but after thinking about it for awhile it actually made me glad that they are actually making an effort to keep the magazine going as opposed to folding altogether. I hope that the day will come when things are financially viable enough for them to go monthly again.



Comment #2: Saturday, January, 10, 2009 at 20:43:44

Pussreboots

Which ever genre you want to put it in, it's still a humorous story. I'm also hoping that someday F&SF can go back to its old schedule of publishing. I'm glad though that they are doing what they can to stay afloat during these tough economic times.



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