MONAS HIEROGLYPHICA - £1.50 [J Spracklen]
58 Seymour Rd, Hadleigh, Benfleet, Essex SS7 2HL  email
Ish 11 of Jamie's eclectic ranged trad 2 po-mo fantasy mag incl fic by Robert McCauley, Dewi ap Dewi a Mererid (eh..?) also Storm Constantine (who also contribs Egypto myths article), Poppy Z Brite + 2 goth bands i/v'd, nonfic on tarot, Aztec gods, rev'w pgs, poem by Anthony Duncan, neat b&w art by Sandra Scholes. Content varied ok, but some text fonts XL so fills avail space when shd fit more in. At least gd read if vision poor.
   U also get free insert Marginalia, wi' smart pres poetry by Michael Pendragon, Gerald England, Steve Sneyd, Geoff Stevens, AC Evans, Richard Reeve, DJ Tyrer, Dee Rimbaud & others. Welcome sup'lmt but why cldnt lot B in main mag?

MOONSTONE - £2 [T Clare]
CH unit 2, Commercial Courtyard, Settle, N Yorks BD24 9RH  email
No frills poetry mag ed by Talitha C. # 79 has verse by Annemarie Cooper, Sam Smith, Maureen Braithwaite, Geoff Stevens, Joanna Wilkinson, Roisin Tierney, Dee Rimbaud, Richard Bonfield, Patricia Prime + omnipr'st Steve Sneyd. Clear pres text but lacks ambition cld do wi' some illos 2 liven things up.

NASTY SNIPS edited by Christopher C. Teague - £5.99 / $11.99
MT Publishing, PO Box 12, Maesteg, Mid Glam, CF34 0XG  website
Slim grisly art cov p/b anthol vari H fic by likes of DF Lewis, Ken Goldman, James S Dorr, Paul Bradshaw, Steve Lockley, Simon Clark, Mark McLaughlin, Darren Floyd, Stuart Hughes, Trevor Denyer + others. Some tales R short sharp shock type, others kin 2 ballsy ballad form. Most worth effort & ed Teague gets mucho cred 4 more hit than miss ratio wi' only 5 rpts. Among the Kat's faves here: Mike Watt's quik gory yule And To All A Good Night, Jack Fisher's shivery Spiders, excel Boxes And Bags by Gerard Daniel Houarner, not 2 mention whopper 15 Inches by Jason Andrew. COOL

THE NORTH - £5.50
Studio, Byram Arcade, Westgate, Huddersfield HD1 1ND  website
V smart design verse mag pub'd by Poetry Business (has Arts C fund). 29 poets in # 26 incl Paul Mills (PB compo win), John Killick Oliver Marlow, Virgil Suarez, Anna Adams, Brenda Lealman, John Arnold, Stephen Davies, Carole Bromley & many others + nonfic on fave poets, nifty intrig dialog-cum-i/v wi' Maura Dooley & Michael Laskey, also blind critics spot, revs sect'n. Excel gen poetry org, superb pres wi' wide grab o'stuff.

NORTH WORDS - £3
Stable, Long Rd, Avoch, Ross-Shire IV9 8QR  email
Artf'ly pres fic, poetry & rev'w mag, ed by Angus Dunn, offers view fr' N. # 23 has stories by Sheena Blackhall, Ron Butlin, Kirsty Walker, Colin Dunning, Stuart Allan + others. Verse by Brian Johnstone, Desmond Graham, John Miller, Colin Fisher, Donald S Murray, Stuart Conn & more. 9 pgs crit in XL sq-bd 64pp chapbk. Zine Kat's fave piece: Louise Welsh's karaoke bar tangent tale Voyage From Arcturus. COOL

ON SPEC - Can$5.95
PO Box 4727, Edmonton, AB, T6E 5G6, Canada  website
Extra smart digest size SF/F/H mag, ed by Jena Snyder. Sum '00 ish has fic by nov'lst LE Modesitt Jr, also less starry John Craig, Melissa Hardy, Vol Ranger, Holly Phillips, James Keenan. Verse by Mici Gold, illos fr' James Beveridge, Lar deSouza, Ronn Sutton, nonfic abt wri biz. 2 col layout bit cramp but not bad thru 110+ pgs. Zine Kat's pick: big-bug hunt SFnal Millipede Lessons by Terry Hayman. BOSS

OPOSSUM HOLLER TAROT - unpriced
5094 N County Rd 750E, Orleans, IN 47452, USA
Odd scruffy xerox poetry scrapbk fnz ed by Larry Blazek. # 557 (!?) Gods & Nature ish devoted 2 verse by Gavin Salisbury, incl Eygpto cycle. Sample: "nymph is/ eaten/ by the new design/ and dies quite empty." Glad 2 C slapdash collage not dead but is this art?

ORBIS - £5.99
27 Valley View, Primrose, Jarrow, Tyne & Wear NE32 5QT
Real tidy int'nal poetry & prose ¼ly, ed by Mike Shields (who has tale of Girobank hor). Double ish # 108/9 Spr/Sum '00 incl verse fr' Jeff Wiscomb, Helen Kitson, Alan Hester, David Ford, Tom Vaughan, Richard Epstein, Steven Blyth, DA Prince, Vernon Scannell + others. Fic by Chrissie Gittins. Texts mostly well sorted 4 themes'n'such. Poetry scene news (compos, prizes, etc) & rev'ws (34 pgs), intrigo LOCcol wi' fun POVs. V hard 2 spot fave item but Ken Angus' Paracetamoule looks safe enuf. BOSS

PANIC! - unpriced
Brixton Poetry, PO Box 27811, London SE24 0AW  website
Poetry mag brdside ed by Jim Luchte, pub'd by Pinko Press. # 6 incl verse/prose by doz incl Li Min Hua, Lucy Bostock, Ray Scraggs, Wendy Sullivan, Maureen Scott. Format negates easy read wi' vari font texts black on color artwk incl paint & fractals. Words brace 4 impact on Brixton live, but mag needs 2 rethink design if wants 2 attract wider read'ship. PROTO

PHOENIX NEW LIFE POETRY - £3 [Universal Alliance]
Four Turnings Bungalow, Newtown, Fowey, Cornwall PL23 1JU  email
Int'nal NL & journal target/appeal Y2K poets ("eutopian... wholistic"), ed by David Allen Stringer, member of "Planetary Council" - by gum. Dense text sets out New Agers' agenda, manifesto - whatever in poetic mission statem't forms. Sample: "God is our Super-Server/ Of the Cosmic Internet" ok, yah. Such lofty aims, hard 2 take as other than serio-comic.

POETRY GREECE - price
c/o Wendy Holborow, Mitropolitou Athanasiou 10, Triti Parados, Garistsa, Corfu 49100, Greece  website
Team of 4 eds on this Anglo verse mag but none knows tiny fonts + dark yellow ink = eyestrain read. Still, this 2nd ish has friendly tone & Lit mind poems/ prose (some in Eng & Greek versions) fr' Jenna Woodhouse, Philip Mottram, Doreen Stock, Zefi Daraki, Haris Vlavianos, Eleni Fourtourni + others. Nonfic incl vari articles on poetry, i/v wi' Kiki Dimoula. 52pp A4, hvy card cover, but flawed by print pres.

POETRY INTERNATIONAL - $12
SDSU, Dept of English & Comp Lit, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA 92182-8140, USA  website
XL p/b mag pub'd by its state univ, ed by Fred Moramarco. 4th ish has intrig facet on 10 Israeli poets - yet all texts Anglo. Contribs incl: Cynthia Hogue, WS Di Piero, Alison Stone, David Hernandez, Alberto Blanco, Miquel Angel Bustos, Marge Piercy, Bonnie Minick, Eamon Grennan + many more. Albert Goldbarth's fused SFnal stuff is grt, yet as wi' so much academe sourced writ'g stuffy air runs this partic annual show.

POETRY IRELAND REVIEW - £5.99
Birmingham Tower, Upper Yard, Dublin castle, Dublin 2, Ireland  website
No end 2 p/b mags titled "Review" that pub actual Lit in place of nonfic crit. PIR # 66 (Aut '00) ed by Biddy Jenkinson serves up trim verse fr' Mark Roper, Deidre Carr, Tom MacIntyre, Michael D Riley, Rita Ann Higgins, Denise Blake, Giovanni Malito, Gary Whitehead, John O'Donnell, Ann Egan, Lisa Steppe, Iggy McGovern, Adrian Fox + many more. Altho' Eire bent std, wi' odd piece in Celtic, mag has int'nal flvr.

THE POET'S VOICE - £5
Dept English... Univ of Salzburg, Akademiestr, 24, A-5020, Salzburg, Austria  email
Slick prod verse p/b mag, ed by Fred Beake (in UK) + James Hogg & Wolfgang Görtschacher (Aus). 2 ish rec'vd: Aut '99 & Win '99 / Spr '00 incl contribs fr' Scott C Holstad, Rachal Hadas (also i/v'd), Richard Reeve, BZ Niditch, Virgil Suarez, Donald Ward, T Anders Carson, Dinah Livingstone, Michael Wright + many others. Latest ed'tn has select poems by Lithu'ns, prev ish incl noh play (Jap vari of Greek drama) by Simon Rees. TPV neat 100+pp sq-bd poem city.
   UK contact: F Beake, 12 Dartmouth Ave, Bath BA2 1AT

PRODUCT - £2.95
Red Herring Arts & Media, PO Box 23071, Edinburgh EH1 3YN  email
Buy what, what buy seems poke behind this glos counter-cult mag, as offers bi-mthly big time alt "pop art politics" 2 hype & hard sell in wasteland of mod media. # 3 + 4 rec'vd incl such brash Scot bouts as i/v's wi' SMP Tom Sheridan, Indian eco-act'vst Vandana Shiva. Also find fic by Alan Bissett, web-page grafix styled satire by Brian McCabe, think-tank item on jobs, view on asylum in UK, doubts abt Trek, Glasgow urban rejuv, arty b&w photos by Tricia Malley. Means well but stew's lumpy & satire shdnt B spud. MUTANT

PULSAR - £3 / $7
Ligden Publishers, 34 Lineacre, Grange Park, Swindon, Wilts SN5 6DA  website
Sleek 36pp A5 mag, ed by David Pike, has verse fr' Ligden Poetry Society. 23rd ish incl AC Evans, Geoff Stevens, Alan Marshfield, India Russell, Peter Wyton, Blair Ewing + others. Quite intrig here's fair crit of live reads & rival print mags.

RAGE BEFORE CROQUET - £2 [E Kirbyson]
PO Box 56, Pershore, WR10 1ZL  email
Nifty fun-zine mag, ed by Rob K, wi' dark com'strip charm + lotsa silly 'toon illos. # 2 has only Rob's self-pub'd art. This man's sick but in jolly nice sorta way. Among targets: Hull + emu, prunes, Batman, manta rays, UFOs, hare vs tortoise, grated cheese. No.3 kicks off smartly wi' Phelan's classic South Park gag & has summat 2 offend just abt all U lot. Swipes, flips & rags on HM C&E, masons, X-Files, royals, kebabs, music, dinos, $6 mil man. New contribs mean gtr vari. Caption compo + jokes cont'd fr' prev ish add twist. COOL

RAIN DOG - £3.50 [Panshine Press]
PO Box 68, Manchester M19 2XD  website
V neatly prod poetry mag, pub'd twice-yrly, ed by Jan Whalen & Suzanne Batty. 50pp A5 format, gets NW Arts aid. 2nd ish has verse by Kerry Andrew, Ann Egan, David Hart, Sarah Corkhill, Liz Kirby, Steven Waling, Emma-Jane Arkady, Joanna Ashwell, Clare Shaw + others. No spud bash stuff here, brd mix tr'fic stuff. Hitch is price. MUTANT

ROADWORKS - £3 / $8
Immediate Direction (see above)
Trevor Denyer's flagship mag of tales fr' "hard road". 2 ish's rec'vd. # 9 (Sum '00) incl fine fic by Laren Halkon (also i/v'd), Steve Redwood, Roz Southey, Paul Bradshaw, Simon Logan, Richard Reeve. Poems fr' Brad Evans, Craig Ferguson, Richard Douthwaite, Lloyd Michael Lohr. Excel illos by Russell Dickerson + bril'nt round-robin soapbox item abt sml pres & such wi' intel input fr' likes of DF Lewis, Rhys Hughes, Jeff VanderMeer & Marni Griffin. No.10 delivers imagino stories by mag's wri compo win'rs. Marni Scofidio Griffin (1st prize) & she's also i/v'd, Jame Burr (2nd), Rosanne Rabinowitz (3rd) + more fic by Allen Ashley, Emma Lee, Alec Worley & others. Also incl verse by Brad Evans, Peter Tennant's scorn lite views on H fans. At 100+ A5 pgs per ish, RW has legit claim 2 best value UK genre title.

THE ROSWELL INCIDENT ALTERNATE THEORY ANTHOLOGY - $9.95
no address supplied  website
Mag coll alt spec fic abt 50-yrs of Roswell UFO mythos, ed by S Jo Popek. Incl generic skits fr' Douglas Toussaint, Diana DeLong, BR Beardon, prose by Louise Norman, stories by Von Bourland, Greg F Gifune, Jeff Berkwits, Dale R Atkinson. Texts R wins of JoPop Pub's themed wri contest & tho' some wit evid't here, orig ideas bit scarce (yet what's 2 B expected after so long?). An intrig SF magnet but v pricey 4 such slim fnz.
   Also avail: coll of flash fic wi' crap title, incl quik fic of 100 wds or less by ukn contribs.

THE SANDMAN COMPANION by Hy Bender - £8.99
Titan (see above)
Splendid illo'd trade p'b guidebk 2 Neil Gaiman's masterly wri Sandman comics series. Study forms things ukn, dreams come true, megatext surreal tales whisk frothy F wi' darkest H & wild SF alt past, mellow frights, Shak'sprn remix, myth echo, univ'sal forces, Endless' family, secret games, mirror fables, mere-cats, magic library et al. Verily, feast of many courses fr' blank pg orig 2 world's end, incl full monty Gaiman i/v texts. Simply must 4 all U Sandman, Gaiman, comix fans. ROCKS

SCARLET STREET - $6.95
PO Box 604, Glen Rock, NJ 07452, USA  website
Slick prod bi-mthly mystery & H movie mag, ed by Richard Valley. # 38 exams Lugosi's Dracula on dvd, Paramount hor in '40s, also i/v's wi' Kasey Rogers, Anne Jeffreys, Robert Sterling, Kathleen Freeman, select tape, dvd, bk rev'ws, LOCcol. All this + Forry Ackerman star contrib. Tho' pg layouts gd, wi' well repro film stills/posters etc, mag has few 2 many cont'd on pg... probs that flaw its design. Intel focus on older trad genre pix & trivia stuff still exemplary. BOSS

SCAVENGER'S NEWSLETTER - $2.50
833 Main, Osage City, KS 66523-1241, USA  website
No.197 (Jul '00) of Janet Fox's ever handy genre wri guide mag. Has story by Patricia Russo, poem by David C Kopaska-Merkel, updates & GLs 4 wide vari sml pres titles (mostly US based, but does incl top UK mags), Jim Lee's rev col, f'dbk fr' actual scribes sets Scav apart fr' most such wri mags wi' its int'actv role. Does 4 yanks land what Zene does in UK. ROCKS
   Avail in UK via: BBR distro  website

THE SCIENCE OF THE X-MEN by Link Yaco & Karen Huber - £15.99 / $22.95
Simon & Schuster (see above)
As wi' lotsa brain food bks on hard/soft sci guides 2 tech & psych of Trek univ, this h/b exams theory behind mutant heroes of Marvel comics + Bryan Singer's admirable movie. Fr' ET visitors 2 next stage evol'tn: sapien - super. Prof X psi waves, Magneto force, body power of vari combat modes. Fun waffle-fest grab of many SFnal ideas, themes + exotic quantum notions. Even vague study of X-Men finds bizarre weird stuff, far 2 eerie & wacky 4 com'sense, yet bks like this may aid new superhero comics folks get handle on power aspects.

SCRIPTOR - £3.50
2 Chambers Cott, Underlyn La, Marden, Tonbridge, Kent TN12 9BD  email
3rd ish John Dench's coll (biennial freq) of poetry, fic + essays fr' S-E UK. Stories by Frances Gow, Peter Durrant, Caroline Price, LM Whiley, William Wood + others. Verse: Seán Russell Friend, Eric Treppass, Pat Jackson, SR Langley & many more. Nonfic on astrology, diet, brands, etc. Natty clipart illos help liven plain texts like in Tony North's old Rattler's Tale, but altho' pres std is gd enuf, qual of material is quite varied wi' some clunky stuff among better writ'n pieces. PROTO

SEE NO EVIL - £15.95 / $25.95
Critical Vision, PO Box 26, Manchester M26 1PQ  website
Headpress' nonfic film/media study, hefty p/b abt banned films & video censorship, by Davids Kerekes & Slater. Expertly dissects issues, myths, hype & lies wrap'd in tabloid rot abt sex'n'H movies. Rant free pov on DPP's blacklist flicks, inner world of BBFC, truth on cut scenes, fame shame rage scandal thru 80s' VRA + 90s' CJB extras. Illo'd wi' b&w stills, vhs box art, sundry news cut'gs. Authors' in-depth research gives full expo weight 2 casebk of devil-in-detail events. ROCKS

THE SENTINEL by Arthur C Clarke - £9.99
iBooks, Simon & Schuster (see above)  website
Rpt of '83 SF coll by genre master, wi' art by Lebbeus Woods. Neat trawl thru Clarke's short fic incl Guardian Angel (led 2 Childhood's End), Refugee (Brit royal in orbit), seminal Wind From the Sun, Clarke's last story (B4 focus on nvls) A Meeting With Medusa + title tale, SF legend as seed 4 that space od'sy thingy...

SHENANIGANS by Noel K Hannan - £6.99
Pendragon Press, PO Box 12, Maesteg, Mid Glam CF34 0XG  website
Coll of vari themed SF/F fic, intro'd by Ian Watson. Whole slew of genre tropes here fr' cyber, gene-mutant, moral fable, urban noir, 1st contact, war dystopia, that mix chills, noble wonder, shock marvels wi' dose of tech argot fun. Zine Kat's fave here is The Brightside and Monger War curio bewitchy romance across enemy lines that smart, poignant & wise. ROCKS

SHOGGOTH CACCIATORE And Other Eldritch Entrees - $5
Delirium Books, PO Box 338, N Webster, IN 46555, USA  website
Live-wire coll of genre fic fun by Mark McLaughlin, pub'd in time 4 Halloween, intro'd by Simon Clark. Plunders weird monster mash Cthulhu lore, shucks off last hint trad Lit sense 2 revel in po-mo excess & wild SFnal hybrid skits, pretzel plotline euphoria verges, psychotronic movie style. If U enjoy wholly manic impulse tales & fancy play on HPL mythos - quest over. Here's gross plateful fr' dark star of US sml press scene. BOSS

THE SMALL PRESS GUIDE 2001 - £9.99 / $18
Writers' Bookshop, Remus Ho, Coltsfoot Dr, Woodston, Peterborough PE2 9JX  email
6th ed'tn of handbk of UK sml press & poetry mags, ed by Kerrie Pateman. 325pp trade p/b incl brief GLs + contact info on most Lit titles in A-Z format. If U wanna contrib on regulo basis 2 wide range of bi-mthlys, annuals, chapbk pub's etc then SPG's must-buy & moreso if U R new 2 writ'g & Brit sml pres scene. Details here sent in by indie mag eds so its likely most accurate data resource avail off-line.

SPANNER - £5
14 Hopton Rd, Hereford HR1 1BE  email
Lit journal, ed by Allen Fisher. # 38 has Pierre Joris' curio text "Towards a Nomadic Poetics", seems 2 B agenda dump prog plan hint clue ref chart 4 kind of multicult/ethnic Lit opt by Burgess in Clockwork Orange. Dunno 4 sure, much of note wk is fairly vague/opaque, lead dense as if gist/import sheath kevlar.

SPECTRUM SF - £3.99
PO Box 10308, Aberdeen, AB11 6ZR  website
Plain wrap design SF p/b mag, ed by Paul Fraser, No.1, 2 & 3 rec'vd. Feb '00 ish incl fic by Alastair Reynolds, Keith Brooke, Garry Kilworth + others. Apr ed'tn has Stephen Baxter, Barrington J Bayley, Stephen Palmer et al. July's mag boasts Eric Brown, late Keith Roberts, Charles Stross, Jack Deighton. Std of genre tales here is v high & it's grt 2 C new venue 4 genre shorts, the Kat's sadly mad 2 read that adm 2 ranks is by invite only. Closed shop tactic won't endear this 2 many fans, esp'ly tyro genre scribes. Last thing Brit SF needs is extra clique. COOL

STAR*LINE - $15. for 6 [SFPA]
SFPA, 1300 Kicker Rd, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404, USA  website
Bi-mthly NL mag of genre poetry assoc, ed by David Kopaska-Merkel. Sep/Oct '00 incl Rhysling win info. Verse by Bruce Boston, Ian Watson, Charlee Jacob + usual news, rev'ws, LOCcol. Nov/Dec ish: poems fr' Steve Sneyd, Darrell Schweitzer, Karen R Porter, Nancy Bennett, some rev'ws but tails wi' "New Constitution" of SFPA. S*L is often v gd read 4 select hi-qual of its poetry & intel Lit crit pov expr'sd. BOSS
   Mem'ship enq: J Nichols, 6070 Bellevue Dr, N Olmsted, OH 44070, USA

STAR TREK: Aliens & Artifacts - £14.99 / $22.95
Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster (see above)
Fanboy's guide 2 ETs + props used in vari Trek shows, fr' orig TV classic - Voyager. Gary Lockwood's silvery eyes 2 Data's spare head, McCoy's tricorder 2 Capt Proton's ray-gun. Spock's ears, rocky Horta, Picard's stint as Borg, Quark's teeth, Odo's mask, Borg queen etc. Smart glos p/b focus on backrm boys like Michael Westmore, wi' more pix of BEMs than U ever want 2 C. Final pgs offer hints & tips on DIY makeup fx.

STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE COMPANION - £16.99 / $27.95
Pocket Books (see above)
Huge 720pp XL p/b by Terry J Erdmann + Paula M Block pres mass backgrd info & detail abt 2nd TV Trek spinoff DS9. Episode guide thru 7 seasons + design sketches, PR photos, sets expo, model wk, portraits & action shots but all pix R in b&w. Gd 2 read abt the Kat's fave Trials And Tribble-Ations, timewarp story, much fun as Sisko leads his team bk 2 era of Kirk's alien-plagued Enterprise. Well done ad'itn 2 range of Trek nonfic vols.

STAR TREK: Preserver by William Shatner - £12.99 / $23.95
Pocket Books (see above)
His name's on front, face on back but how much of this orig nov did old Bill wri? Co-authors Judith + Garfield Reeves-Stevens only get col'brtr credit. Lively story ends trilogy of prev Spectre & Dark Victory bks, abt alt univ despotic Kirk.
   Also avail: Star Trek New Frontier - Excalibur: Restoration by Peter David (#11 in series) - £12.99 / $19.95 incl updated "minipedia" info abt backgrd 2 New Frontier.

STAR TREK: Stardate 2001 Calendar - £6.99 / $12
Pocket Books (see above). Visit Star Trek website
Smart boxed pg-per-day desk cal'dr wi' dif colr pic fr' vast Trek archive of TV & movie images. Nifty bit sci-fi lore by yr PC or Mac, if boss lets U!
   Also avail: 5 x 2001 wall calendars, 60s stalwarts Kirk & Co, Picard's Next Gen champs, Sisko's DS9 heroes, Janeway's lost Voyager spacers & "Ships of the Line" grand w/s star-craft layout. All ft-sq format wi' orig centre poster starship art & only - £6.99 / $12 ea. Confuse y'family Trekker in 2001, give 'em full set 5 & then watch 'em run outta bedrm walls!

STEAM ENGINE TIME - unpriced
60 Bournemouth Rd, Folkstone, Kent CT19 5AZ  website
Spiffy new SF fnz ed by Maureen Kincaid Speller, Bruce Gillespie, Paul Kincaid. # 1 (Apr '00) has keen nonfic - crit & laud on Olaf Stapledon, Cordwainer Smith's "Instrumantality", Pat Barker, Iain Banks' Wasp Factory, RA Lafferty, brief history evol'vg genre, rev'ws, lists & plenty other intel stuff. Tho' U get 2 much wri done by 3 eds, they do invite new contrib pov & std of text's v gd. Besides what wi' Critical Wave demise few yrs bk, UK fandom badly needs an indie pub'd nonfic mag.
   SET o/s: B Gillespie, 59 Keele St, Collingwood, VIC 3066, Australia

SUBWAY THROUGH TIME - unpriced
Malfunction Press, Rose Cottage, 3 Tram La, Buckley, Flints CH7 3JB  email
Curio SFnal Lit mag, ed by Peter E Presford. Mix of fic prose/poems by Richard Reeve, Gregory Santo Arena, John Lindley, Steve Sneyd, Giovanni Malito, T Daley + others. 2 doz A5 pgs, odd patch clumsy layout but gen'rly well done.

SUN POETIC TIMES - unpriced
10362 Sahara Dr # 2208, San Antonia, TX 78216, USA  website
Slim but hip Lit & art mag, ed by Rod C Stryker, 2 ish's rec'vd. P'rps Rod makes up ish no's 4 fun, but Sum '00 ed'tn mrkd vol.7 # 11 while other l'bld vol.12 # 2 so dunno which most up 2 date. Anyway, 1st has pencil, ink illos & photos by E Keyser, Sophie Caldewey, Kenneth Cooper + verse fr' Amee Shah, Barry Ballard, Nancy Beaulieu, Jordan Green, Peter Thorn, Sarah Owen. 2nd incl prose: Bill Brown, Jack Bathke, Brett Axel, Rebecca Spears Schwartz. Images: Xavier San Miguel, Alina Vilenkin, Kenneth Cooper. Smart pres quite sim'lr feel & style 2 Xib (what hap'nd 2 that mag?). Qual reverie matter.

SUPERFLUITY - £2.25
Scribbled Publications, PO Box 6234, Nottingham NG2 5EX  email
What seems 2 B ¼ly poetry mag, ed by Peter Larkin. # 1 (Apr '00) incl verse by Vincent de Souza, Brendon McMahon, Richard Wonnacott, Joseph Rye, Neil K Henderson, Rowena M Love, Jamie Leigh Mead, Dane Lavrnja + others. 2nd ish, dated Jul '00, incl Kathleen Atkins, Marina Jenkyns, Neil Leadbeater, D Parrot, David Floyd, Christopher Burke, Rosemary Fisher, Albert Russo & more. Got off 2 bad start - wi' pay 4 contribs, then stop'd that. Sml pres birth trauma aside, mag's links 2 Cherrybite may lead U 2 suspect this has top qual stuff, yet it fails there, esp'ly in awful rhymed poems. Must improve.

TEARS IN THE FENCE - £5 / $7
38 Hod View, Stourpaine, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 8TN  website
Poetry, prose & nonfic in Lit mag, ed by David Caddy. # 26 has most dreary 2 tone grey cover, wi' nigh lost-in-fog masthead & price, etc. At least stuff inside boasts fine Lit'ry read. Contribs incl: John Mingay, Lindsay Still, Grace Gauld, Karen Eberhardt Shelton, Jeffrey Skeate, Claudette Bass, Mary Taylor, David Heminway + many others, all do poets' thing, while Nigel Jarrett, Martin Hubbard, Dorothy Schwarz, Norman Lock supply tales. U get intel if select revs + article on gen wri. Neat 112pp sq-bd A5 format.

TENDELÉO'S STORY by Ian McDonald - £8 / $14
PS Publishing, Bridgewood, 22 South Dr, Harrogate, N. Yorks HG2 8AU  website
SF nov'la chapbk, intro'd by Robert Silverberg, fr' range of genre tales, ed & pub'd by Peter Crowther. This excel 1st contact romance deploys solid female African teen character of title against mutoid-alien wonders of author's Chaga & Kirinya bks. Lotsa keenly obs'vd detail + sense of place & intrusion of bizarre. U may feel compel 2 buy McDonald's nvls after read, so wary ad'ctive qual of eerie milieu.

THE THIRD ALTERNATIVE - £3.25 / $5
TTA Press (see above)
1 of main events on Lit world's calendar, new ish of Andy Cox's superb fic mag means top qual at fair price & if U don't like at least some stuff here get new brain op. No.24 line-up incl vari size marvels by Christopher Kenworthy (also i/v'd), Paul J McAuley, Charlee Jocob, Alexander Glass & others. Douglas Coupland i/v'd, Fellini's in cine spot, regulo col by Allen Ashley, bk rev'ws, all neat wrap in excel b&w grafix design that boasts art spot by Joachim Luetke. # 25 is yet more. Stories: Tim Lees, Sten Westgard, Lunda E Rucker, Conrad Williams + others. China Miéville i/v'd. Czech animator Jan Svankmajer profiled. Usual mixed bag of revs. TTA's bloody grt wri by any mag's std. Brave lope thru no-man's land genre SF/F/H X-fire, emerge safe fr' crit shitstorm, wears kevlar com'sense. If U can find better fringe weird tales regulo... nah. Don't believe that.

THE THIRD HALF - £3.95 / $10
KT Publications, 16 Fane Cl, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 1HG
Double ish chapbk in "Kite Modern Poetry Series" has 2 colls in # 31 - Naked by Andrew Detheridge (14 poems) + Yesterday's Sun by Tom Kelly (28 poems). Here's quik taste fr' both sets: "house burned like a lettuce lantern" (Wind Or Fire III, AD). "locked in time,/ somewhere between the silicon chip/ and glass values." ( The Big Five-0 TK).

THIS IS... - £3.50 + 95p P&P [Writing Space]
PO Box 16185, London NW1 8ZH  email
Slick prod themed ish Lit mag, ed by Carol Cornish. # 1 subtitled Lost Love & has fic by Peter Fleming, Rebecca Bush, David Evans, Jocelyn Chaplin, Esther Regenwetter, Deborah Leese, Sean Bland + others. Verse fr' Lisa Pickard, Mark Goodwin, Chris Lethbridge, Michael Tolkien & many more. Best illos: Dominic Franklin. 2nd ish has The Poisoned Chalice legend wi' tales fr' Conrad Williams, Charles Lambert, Ashley Stokes, Bernard Moss, Anna Burns, Jane J Hunt & others. Poems by Pauline Suett Barbieri, Michael Horovitz, Richard Aronowitz, SC Crawford, Marion Mathieu + more. Mag began ¼ly but now seems 2 B irregulo pub'd. Glos A4 pres reeks style & hi-qual but some of fic bit gone, easy forgot, kinda heckles at finer more potent texts on show. Hopeful future tho'.

THUMBSCREW - £3.50 / $10
PO Box 657, Oxford, OX2 6PH  website
Neat pres A5 sq-bd South'n Arts b'kd poetry + nonfic mag ed by Tim Kendall. # 15 has verse by Charles Simic, John Fuller, Giovanni Malito, Virgil Suarez, Elaine Feinstein, Annemarie Austin, Mike Barlow, Tony Curtis (t'other 1!), Helen Johnson, Matthew Barton & others + essay on John Berryman in Dublin, in-depth Lit rev'ws. No.16 incl poems Paul Groves, Andrew McNeillie, Sheenagh Pugh, Alan Brownjohn, Lee Harwood, Paul Look, Andy Croft, Ruth Ling, John Greening, Thomas Kretz + many more, essays, rev'ws & usual LOCcol. Tho' mag fails 2 i/v poets in its focus spot, layout shuffles rev stuff wi' verse pgs 2 give crit laud equal status instead of dump'g all at end like most. BOSS

TITANS: The Heroic Visions Of Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell - £20
Paper Tiger (see above)
Lavish h/b batch superhero paint wks by king + queen of magic muscles incl: Spiderman + archenemies, Marvel icons old & new Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Hulk, Avengers, of course, wi' film out plenty X-Men (partic focus on X-women Rogue, Jean Grey, Storm. Also get sml select DC champs past/pres. Text by Nigel Suckling. Cash in vol would make grt Xmas box 4 film fan.

THE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR - £9.99 / $16
iBooks (see above)
Past, present & future dino tales ed by Robert Silverberg, mix theory essays by paleo'gts etc wi' spec fic so lends extra cred 2 SF coll. Fic by likes of Charles Sheffield, L Sprague de Camp, Michael Bishop, Harry Harrison, Gregory Benford, Poul Anderson, Connie Willis, Harry Turtledove, Ray Bradbury + others. Besides cynical pop-cult cash-in shame TUD is curio anthol as sharp irony is that fact/info'md theory/truth often more amazo than genre stories.

UNHINGED - £2.50 [PJ Lockey]
PJL Press, PO Box 279, Keighley BD20 0YG  website
No mes'ng "Sex & Death" ish of Paul's DF/H genre fic mag. Tales of lust, fear & grue by AC Evans, David Ratcliffe, Adena Graham, Simon Logan, DJ Tyrer, Martyn Blake + others. Illos fr' Gerald Gaubert. Grt value sq-bd chapbk format but tad plain design wise (print via TTA Press) so it looks like clone of 'Roadworks'. Zine Kat's faves: Snuff by Andrew Richardson, Mark West's Dead Skin, both grim fun.

UPSTART! - £6.95
Upstart! Press, 19 Cawarden, Stantonbury, Milton Keynes MK14 6AH
Arts funded Lit mag, ed by Carol Barac & Alison Woodhouse. No.4 incl fic by press' compo win'rs Peter Ryde, Mike Parker, Penny Feeny, others. Prose by John Hartley Williams, verse fr' JPV Stewart, Lindsay Sill, Christopher Allan, Peter Gilmore, Liz Atkin, Sean Burn, Antony Nicholls. 150pp sq-bd ish also incl nvl start by Nick Sweeney, chpt in ongoing saga by Lydia Chant, arty b&w fotos as illos. Zine Kat's faves incl David McVey's Drongo (snares Scot dialect in dialog v well), Norton Hodges' poem Feng Shui for Cats.

URTHONA: Art & Buddhism - £3
3 Coral Park, Henley Rd, Cambridge CB1 3EA  email
Glos mag 2 rouse imagino, ed by Shantigarbha & Ratnagarbha. # 13 incl story compo win tale by Ceridwen Edwards, haiku pg, arts scene news, nonfic on Jap cinema, top 20 CDs, photo-art of Hiroshi Sugimoto. Zen flautist Ronnie Nyagetsu Seldin, poet Linda France R both i/v'd. U also get ph'lsphy slant rev'ws of vari: American Beauty + sax man Jan Garbarek's Rites 2 CD set. Brio cov'age of dance, music, paint, sculpt etc & tho' gen hi-brow tone, serio try 4 catch net aim 2 serve wide read'ship. Excel pres in slick 60 x A4. COOL
   Mag's eds shd've website online by Xmas/Jan '01 at: urthona.com

VIDEOSCOPE - $4.95
Phanmedia, PO Box 216, Ocean Grove, NJ 07756, USA  website
Lively genre movie mag, ed by famed "Phantom...", tackles drive-in & tape junkie forms pop/cult entrtnmt. # 35 (Sum '00) has Joe Dante i/v (pt.1), lowdown on Fincher's Fight Club, 'Joan of Arc' films, anime, Robot Monster retro, art ho focus, HG Lewis' blood trilogy, MST3K update, whole bunch of new US vhs stuff rev'wd, website info, ads 4 stores & online retail. VS is grt fun read wi' cine-literate contribs & writ'g that's well info'd but demos keen wit. BOSS

VOICE & VERSE - £3.50
Robooth Publications, 7 Pincott Pl, London SE4 2ER  website
No frills ¼ly poetry mag, ed by Ruth Booth. Sum '00 ish has verse by Neil K Henderson, CJ Heyworth, Barry Tebb, Andrew Mayne, AK Whitehead, David Wilcox, Jan Price, Joy Saunders, Idris Caffrey, Dave Seasan, Elaine Day, Helen Buckingham + others. U also get few news items & rev'w col in v thin 20 x A4 (no pg #'s) that makes V&V dear at ½ ask'g price. Needs more pgs & better select poems. PROTO

WASCANA REVIEW - $5
Dept of English, Univ of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Twice-yrly pub'd contempo Lit mag, ed by Kathleen Wall. Fall '99 ish incl fic by JD Taylor, Peter Clemments, Donna Gartshore & others. Poetry fr' Lyn Lifshin, Sean Johnston, Vic Cavalli, James Roderick + more. full-on crit rev of Martha Ostenso's Wild Geese. 90pp sq-bd trade p/b sized vol, smart pres. David J Snyder's witty My Brother The Bomb is standout story. COOL

WATCHING TREES GROW by Peter F Hamilton - £8 / $14
PS Publishing (see above)
Murder mystery wi' genre twist of immortal family in alt world timeline, wi' intro by Larry Niven. Go fr' Oxf'd & NYC in mid-C.19th 2 sol space thru C.20th + stars in C.21st. If U liked Highlander film idea but pref SF vari, this nifty wri drama shd fit bill.

WRITE & SELL YOUR NOVEL - £9.99
How To Books, 3 Newtec Pl, Magdalen Rd, Oxford OX4 1RE  website
Bud'g authors' guidebk by Marina Oliver tells U what where when why & how best 2 set out on path as nov'lst. Study wri craft & bks' mart, check gram'r + dialog, plot pts, pace & style, submi'sn 2 pub's or find agent, col'abs, rights, law, tax & exp'ns, useful info & links. No instant joy is main tip, but does mark card abt odd stuff many tyros miss. COOL

WRITERS' FORUM - £3 [Writers International]
PO Box 3229, Bournemouth, BH1 1ZS  website
Excel gen wri mag, pub'd bi-mthly, ed by John Jenkins. 3 #'s rec'vd ea has plenty gd advice & handy info 4 both novice + semi-pro, esp'ly strug'lg fre'lncrs. Aug/Sep '00 incl Barry Cryer i/v, tips on travel/hols nonfic sales, QWF's Jo Good on Black Lace bks, SoA's wri pay survey, i'net notes, Delia Smith i/v, digi-cam prod test, bks rev'd, story compo win fic by Katrina Crosbie, Petra Kenney poetry awds, wri col'ab via email, lotsa regulo cols. Oct/Nov ish has Alan Ayckbourn, Carol Anne Davies, John Hegley all i/v'd, sel'g fic 2 sprmrkt mags + nonfic 2 web, foto-journo ideas, prize story by Maureen Stenning, hints on writ'g 4 kids. U also get free bklet on Lit compos. Dec/Jan ed'tn Barbara Taylor Bradford, Elizabeth (Wombles) Beresford, Jed (Cardiac Arrest) Mercurio & Fay Weldon all i/v'd, wri 4 OAP mags, ISP choice + free software tests, flash fic mart, story by Tangen Warren, poetry cols. Hi-glos mag in color/b&w wi' lotsa ads, but some info is handy aid, & LOCcol can B intrigo.

THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO RESEARCH - £9.99
How To Books (see above)
Marion Field guides U thru haz'ds of whys, where4s & what hell of get-info-stage 4 nonfic bks, nvls & mag items. Prep topic, scout sources, ref lib'ry use, trawl web, set up i/v, vital attn 2 detail, obvs locale, tour diary, biogs, textbks, edit'g & rev'sn. Case study eg's help U sum'ry pts. Yet 'nthr nifty p/b fr' this self-help pub'rs wide range.

ZENE - £2.50
TTA Press (see above)
Last but not least, Andy Cox's mighty useful genre wri guide mag, aims 2 info blitz sml press contribs wi' GLs 4 A-Z of Brit, USA/Can & web mags. # 23 incl news fr' Planet Prozak, QWF, Sci-Fright, This Way Up, VideoVista, Delirium, On Spec, Mindkites. If U ain't heard of these, here's info. ½ mag's 3 doz A5 pgs is wide scope rev'w of poetry, genre tales & anthols, wri nonfic etc. Also cols by Bernie Ross + Antony Mann. Smart pres cogent pov on indie SF/F/H scene wi' update of contact details that's 2nd to none.