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| Nectar [16] | ||||
| Asimov's Science Fiction (January 2004 - excerpt) | ||||
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By the end of the first paragraph you know you like Sarah, the protagonist of this story. She has worked out that she can use her parents' indecision to expand the horizons of her independence and this she does very well. In this future - the emortal one - people wear organic clothing which as well as providing protection from the cold and minor knocks, can filter out toxins and do lots of other useful things. Sarah takes the initiative to have her suitskin augmented with a tasteful rose, which puts out scent to attract hummingbirds and the nectar of the title to feed them. Eager to experience her first hummingbird visit, Sarah leaves her window open all night, but attracts visitors of a less attractive kind. Her investigations lead her to the seedy backroom of the Dragon Man and her first encounter with mortality. Brian has done several stories featuring young girls and boys learning something about the world around them. What Can Chloë Want? and The Facts of Life come to mind as similar rite of passage stories written for a teenage audience. To my mind, What Can Chloë Want? is still the finest of these and one of Brian's finest of all. However, Nectar is still a good example and I am a long way from being a teenager, so what would I know? |
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| Nephthys[1] | ||||
| Peeping Tom #13 1994 | ||||
| Fables and Fantasies, Necronomicon Press 1996 | ||||
| The story of a cruel, bitter African queen who, aware
of her fading beauty and beset with a cloying ennui, urges her wizards
to attract darker, more powerful spirits than is their custom.
The wizard Ghazafar manages to conjur Xhoris Alaquel, Lord of Change and Nephthys makes a deal with the demon. The Lord of Change doesn't renege on the agreement and that for Nephthys is the problem... |
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| Nobody Else to Blame [2] | ||||
| Redsine 7 (January 2002) | ||||