The BFS Journal

The British Fantasy Society’s Journal, dated winter 2011/12, is now available. The BFS Journal, incorporating the previous individual publications Dark Horizons and Prism, is edited by Peter Coleborn (fiction), Lou Morgan (non-fiction) and Ian Hunter (poetry). For more information on Peter Coleborn and Dark Horizons, visit his blog.

Fiction in this issue, several using seasonal themes, comes from Allen Ashley, Julian Baxter-Cockbill, James Brogden, Ray Cluley, Alister Davison, Stuart Hughes, Ian Hunter, Andy Oldfield, Rod Rees and Deborah Walker. Non-fiction includes items by or on James Barclay, Mike Barrett, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Crowther, Jo Fletcher, Mark Morris and others.

The cover art is by Vincent Chong, winner of the BFS Best Artist Award, presented at FantasyCon in September 2011.

The BFS Journal is only available as part of membership to the British FantasySociety.

The 2011 Xmas issue of Estronomicon now available

Pop over to the Screaming Dreams website and follow the links to download for free the latest issue of Estronomicon, edited by Steve Upham. Included are stories by James Bennett, Peter Coleborn, Neil Davies, Jan Edwards, Matt Finucane, John Forth, Stewart Horn, Ian Hunter, Mark Howard Jones, Bob Lock, Marion Pitman, Neil Williamson and Stuart Young.

You'll also find links to other Screaming Dreams titles, such as Phantoms of Venice edited by David Sutton and Fearful Festivities by Gary Fry.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman. Canongate £10.99
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

I finally bought a copy of this book – it’s been on my wants list for a while. Although I’ve not read Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights series, I'm aware of the criticism he’s gathered due to their apparent anti-religious nature. The Good Man Jesus… is Pullman’s attempts to answer his critics – and to understand just how the Jesus myth could begin.

In this version, Jesus is born a twin – his brother is Christ. Jesus is the good, homely one, Christ the less comely son (but I think he's treated unfairly). As they grow older, Jesus finds himself at the forefront of the new religion. He gathers disciples and the crowds inevitably follow. But who documents all this?

It's Christ, of course. He's commissioned – he believes – by an angel to write the story, rather to write the truth of the story of Jesus’s teachings, not just the facts. Yet he – Christ – is duped. He thinks he's doing good but in the end it is he who betrays his brother and thus helps create the legacy of Jesus. I think that Christ is miscast as a villain; he isn't a scoundrel. He's a misguided, easily lead fool, lead by those with ulterior motives. I’ll let you extend the metaphor.

Overall, as much as I enjoyed the book, I was eager to finish it quickly rather because I got fed up with it and I began skipping chapters. It's not a bad book -- it's simply a reworking of the New Testament. Was there a need to seemingly revisit every incident and miracle?

I was, of course, reminded of that other famous and fantastical reworking of the Jesus legend: Michael Moorcock’s Behold the Man. If you want to read only one of these books, go for the Moorcock.

Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes vs Zombies

Victorian Undead: Sherlock Holmes vs Zombies by Ian Edginton and Davide Fabri. Wildstorm (Titan Books £14.99)
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

Yet more zombies! The undead are everywhere, it seems, breeding like flies. Do I really want any more? However, Sherlock Holmes vs Zombies is a jolly jaunt through Victorian London, a city besieged from within by the undead, created by a particular evil mastermind (guess who). Holmes and Watson are called to Scotland Yard to help solve a case, that of a man pronounced dead -- but now very much ‘alive’, a monster craving human flesh.

The secret service warns the great detective off but Holmes being Holmes… Well, you know that wouldn’t work. And so he and Watson climb down into the tunnels far beneath the city’s streets, only to encounter an army of revenants. They are rescued by that other great mind, Mycroft Holmes, and an elite contingent of the British Army.

And over dinner at the Diogenes Club the full story begins to emerge, about a comet and an earlier outbreak of the undead. And Holmes’ nemesis is still alive (well, sort of) and controlling an army of the undead. It is up to the fearless duo to re-enter the necropolis that was London and put an end to yet another evil scheme…

I was in two minds about buying this graphic novel. I had read the first issue of the monthly series on initial publication and dismissed the series. I was wrong to do so and I’m glad I bought the book. I love Ian Edginton’s script -- Victorian detective story, steampunk science fiction and, of course, zombie horror. The dialogue works well; you could easily imagine 19th Century gentlemen talking and acting as depicted, albeit in a subtly altered alternate reality. And Davide Fabri’s artwork illustrates it to perfection. It thankfully avoids excessive lingering details of death and destruction and zombie decay, using these images when necessary and thus causing greater impact. Full marks.

Greek Street volume 2 by Milligan and Gianfelice

Greek Street volume 2: Cassandra Complex by Peter Milligan and Davide Gianfelice. Vertigo $14.99
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

The comic’s title says it all: Greek Street. It involves characters called Furey and Dedalus and Medea. There are visions and vengeance and Oedipal crimes… You won’t need a second guess to work out that in this graphic novel Greek drama is heavily – and cleverly – interwoven: a tragedy repeated as a contemporary thriller.

The action centres round a strip club in Greek Street, Soho, London, run by the thuggish Fureys. Eddie is on the run from just about everyone. (In the previous volume he arrived in Soho searching for his mother. He found her, slept with her, and killed her – he insists that these last two events were both accidental.) Meanwhile, Lord Menon has his own issues: girls seduced and cast off, a daughter maddened with visions, murder, dark secrets – and a wife who apparently commits suicide.

Writer Peter Milligan and artist Davide Gianfelice have wrought a superb Greek tragedy, of discovery and loss – with references to the plays of ancient Athens. They obviously understand their source material but never overload the story with research. The plotting is tight and fast paced. There is little space for reflection or exposition, no long-winded explanations. You got to keep up. If you don’t have a good memory re-read volume one before embarking on Greek Street: Cassandra Complex. In fact, re-read it anyway – and saviour the complete story (although, annoyingly, the drama is not resolved by the end of this book).

Zombie Apocalypse! edited by Stephen Jones

Zombie Apocalypse! edited by Stephen Jones. Robinson £7.99
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

To be honest, I get bored with trends – very quickly. The rash of books all about vampires and werewolves and zombies tend to pass me by. So I was a little apprehensive at first when I obtained Zombies Apocalypse! Fortunately, I had no reason to be concerned. Zombies Apocalypse! was a joyride, from page one to the end.

With over 15 contributors one might expect an anthology. Wrong. This is a mosaic – an epistolic – novel, cleverly woven together by Stephen Jones. Michael Marshall Smith kicks off the saga. Here, a man writes a long missive to his mother, almost a suicide note full of loss and regret. It hints at the tragedy to follow. The entry by Christopher Fowler describes the source of the zombie plague: a church yard being redeveloped for a New Festival of Britain. There then follows a series of police reports, medical reports, diary entries, and so on, and the horror of the plague becomes clear – there is no easy solution (if, indeed, there is a solution).

It’s not obvious exactly when the events are set. Based on clues sprinkled throughout, I suggest 2013. It appears that London’s Olympic Games were a flop – or didn’t take place – and so the Government forces through plans for the New Festival. Picture the Millennium Dome. At the same time, surveillance and the militia-like police create a society of fear and unease. But that society needs something to be frightened of and the zombies fit that bill. The zombies are clearly a metaphor for today’s bogymen (your choice).

Does this mean that the Government deliberately released the plague? Or just try to take advantage of it? Whatever, they failed to control the situation and the end of civilisation becomes inevitable.

Besides Smith and Fowler, other the contributors are (in order of appearance) Mandy Slater, Paul Finch, Sarah Pinborough Jo Fletcher, John Llewellyn Probert, Jay Russell, Kim Newman, Lisa Morton, Tanith Lee, Paul McAuley, Tim Lebbon, Peter Crowther, Robert Hood, Pat Cadigan, Mark Samuels, Peter Atkins, and Scott Edelman. There is no contents page, so it takes a bit of detection to work out who wrote what. It’s fun to do so but not necessary: just get on and read the book. A few characters reappear over the length of the book, notably Sarah Pinborough's young girl writing in her diary about the death of her mother and father. It felt realistic -- very touching.

Zombies Apocalypse! is a mix of horror and science fiction, with added supernatural elements. There is an end, of sorts, but not a satisfactory conclusion to the plague. It’s a scary read, reminding me of The Andromeda Strain and other convincing post-apocalyptic novels. Highly recommended.

The Unwritten 2 by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

The Unwritten 2: Inside Man by Mike Carey and Peter Gross. Vertigo $12.99

Review by Peter Coleborn

This is volume two in Carey and Gross’s clever story arc, about Tom Taylor who may be the model for Tommy Taylor, hero of a children’s fantasy series. Or is he, in fact, the caricature himself? But Tom has disgraced himself, it appears. He’s imprisoned for several murders (see volume 1). Even in prison he’s not safe from the people who want him dead, and somehow he escapes. Perhaps he is magical, after all. Tom and his two companions find themselves in alternate realms, one a Nazi-like world.

It’s clear that the borders between Tom’s ‘real’ and ‘fantasy’ worlds are thin, that things are not as black and white as the words on the pages in the Tommy Taylor books. Inside Man ends with Tom and friends preparing to meet his long-dead (he believed) father.

This is an intelligent tale, about stories within stories, with plaudits from USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Paul Cornell and Eisner Award nominations.

Hellblazer: India by Peter Milligan

Hellblazer: India by Peter Milligan and others. Vertigo $14.99
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

"Why does the newborn baby cry?" asks the priest of his flock. "It cries because it has been separated from God," he continues. Then John Constantine enters the room and the priest? He says "Oh fuck, no!" And that is why I so like the Hellblazer comics/graphic novels. Peter Milligan’s writing creates a sense of verisimilitude, of the sleazy magical world in which Constantine lives. The subtle artwork by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Landini only helps to further effect that sense of unease.

Constantine is in India, looking for purity -- he is trying to bring back to life his dead lover. He hopes Charles -- the aforementioned priest -- will help. However, Charles is imbued in something dark and evil: a demon stalks the streets of Mumbai preying on beautiful young women. But did Constantine travel to India voluntarily or was he summoned to destroy that demon? Tied in with this arc there are several strands that deal with love, lost and forfeited, and with duty and responsibility.

The second story in the book is "No Future", which links Constantine with his punk days, when he fronted the band Mucous Membrane. Here, a bunch of dead Conservatives/demons are making plans to usurp the British Government. Naturally, Constantine becomes embroiled in the sorry events, dealing with punks and thugs with his usual armory: sarcasm and sleight of hand. This story was also written by Milligan and embellished with Simon Bisley's dark images.

As ever, Hellblazer is an excellent graphic novel that's aimed for readers who want complex illustrated stories of black magic and cynicism. Recommended.

Hunter Prey: film review

Hunter Prey, directed by Sandy Collora
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

There may be a few plot spoilers in this review, so be warned. After their space ship crash-lands on a barren desert planet, four bounty hunters chase after their escaped prisoner. For the first twenty minutes the hunters wear protective gear against the planet's climate, a costume that's part knight in armour, but mostly Boba Fett. During this period it's difficult to distinguish which of the hunters is talking. That is, until their bodies adjust to the external conditions and they can remove their headgear. And this is when we get the first 'shock' -- assuming you haven't already deduced it. The bounty hunters are the aliens, the fugitive the human.

One by one, the fugitive picks off his pursuers until there's only one alien left. For some reason, the man does not kill this lone bounty hunter when he has ample opportunity. Is he the noble savage in a strange land? And (you've guessed) they develop a kind of a bond, albeit one based on distrust and laced with lies. It turns out that the man is the last human being after his world was destroyed by these militaristic aliens. He must be captured alive so he can be persuaded (tortured) to divulge the co-ordinates of a space ship headed to their home planet, a ship that is, essentially, a world-destroying bomb.

Enough of the plot. What about the characters? The aliens possess little facial characteristics and so come across a bit emotionless. The man is more convincing. Some of the dialogue is corny: it seems that alien military uses the same sort of terminology, and is staffed by the same belligerent folk, as is ours. So is there any real difference between us and them? Probably not.

This movie takes its influences from a host of SF films, Star Wars in particular. It also is, of course, a huge nod and a wink to the John Boorman film Hell in the Pacific, starring Lee Marvin and Toshirô Mifune. You could say that Hunter Prey is a collage of homages. Did I enjoy the film? Once into the story, after confusing beginning was past, I found it strangely engrossing for the rest of its 88 minutes. Hunter Prey is released on DVD on 6 September by Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.

Ultimate Avengers by Mark Millar

Ultimate Avengers: The Next Generation by Mark Millar and Carlos Pacheco. Marvel £12.99
Reviewed by Peter Coleborn

I stopped reading Marvel comics long ago, when cloning became common place in order to bring back a killed-off hero or villain – that and introducing alternate versions of characters and, worse, their pretending to be dead. It led to sloppy story telling; it irritated me that there were no consequences to actions. Then Marvel introduced the Ultimate Universe and started to tell the stories all over again, more-or-less from scratch. Unfortunately, these tricks have appeared again. I just wish that when someone has been killed, they stay dead; I wish the writers would learn to live without certain characters.

In the preceding arc, Magneto reversed the Earth’s polarity leading to catastrophic weather conditions, including a tidal wave in New York that killed thousands, if not millions. Among the dead were members of the X-Men and some of the Ultimates (aka The Avengers in the regular Marvel Universe). Giant Man died. The Wasp died. Wolverine died. The Black Widow had also died in an earlier story, killed by Hawkeye.

Now, another menace appears and a new team of heroes is required. Not the remnants of the Ultimates, but another team – so enter The Avengers. Nick Fury, who’s trying to redeem previous antics of his, leads this group. And in his team are new versions of The Wasp, The Black Widow, an alternative Iron Man (Tony Stark seems to be permanently drunk; and there’s also Stark’s brother: did you know he had a brother?) … and a cloned version of The Hulk (who has Banner’s brains and the monster’s brawn).

(After the wave, Magneto was killed – wonder how long it is before they bring him back.)

The new menace? The Red Skull. In this version, he is the— No, that would be telling. The Skull has purloined the Cosmic Cube from the ruins of the Baxter Building – which is, potentially, the ultimate weapon. So The Avengers must retrieve the Cube and arrest Captain America, who has gone berserk when he learns the Red Skull’s secret.

You probably get by now that I’m not a big fan of the replication process (however it’s done). But once I got my head past that, I have to say that Mark Millar has written a dynamic script, embellished with clean lines and colours by artist Carlos Pacheco and colourist Justin Ponsor. The graphic novel appears to have been inked by a team of people. Okay, I’ve discovered that I am still a soft touch for super-hero comics (well, the graphic novels, anyway). I enjoy their brevity, their speed, their excitement – for all their faults. This volume comprises issues one to six of the monthly title.

Madame Xanadu -- Review

I have said so before: “getting into” many of the better (ie, more intelligent) comic books is very difficult; you really have to start at the first issue. Even subsidiary arcs within a greater saga can be hard to break into. Take Madame Xanadu (Vertigo $12.99) for instance. Quite a few months ago I bought a couple of issues of the monthly comic. I liked what I saw, but could make little sense of it. So I waited for the graphic novel version instead. This I have now read and I must say: Wow!

Madame Xanadu is a tour de force of magic and history – from the time of Merlin, when Nimue is cursed by the old codger until mid-20th Century USA. Nimue is a nymph, a creature of good, in contrast to her sister of Morgana, mother of Arthur’s son. We know the story of Camelot – and it isn’t important if you don’t because there are so many interpretations. Arthur’s kingdom is destroyed. Merlin releases a demon into the world. And Nimue, as said, is cursed.

Time moves on and Nimue, now Madame Xanadu, is in Xanadu, the court of the Kublai Khan. There’s palace intrigue and Marco Polo. And Madame Xanadu flees for her life. And again, time passes and at the court of Marie Antoinette and King Louis she is once more at the centre of events. In Victorian London she is powerless to stop Jack the Ripper. And so on to 1940s USA, the time just before the age of superheros…

All her long life Madame Xanadu struggles to do what is right. Yet she is also fixated on a figure that appears at important junctures in her history: the mysterious Phantom Stranger. She thinks him callous and uncaring. In the end she entraps him, to force him to act for good. But Xanadu blunders in ignorance.

Interspersed in the book are references to other DC characters: the Green Lantern; the Spectre; Zatara… Maybe others. But it doesn’t matter if you know nothing of these.

Madame Xanadu is a DC character who’s been around for a long time. She was/is a mystic, someone with magical abilities. I don’t know anything of her earlier incarnation and adventures. And it just doesn’t matter. This is because Matt Wagner (writer) and Amy Reeder Hadley and Richard Friend (artists) have created a story that is self contained, that works within its own context. The writing is intelligent and passionate. Wagner makes you believe in Madame Xanadu. Couple with the beautiful artwork, which has an air of innocence about it, it is so easy to feel sympathy and empathy for our heroine. The stories are engrossing and at times edgy – especially the Ripper chapters. This collection is highly recommended, and I’m sure will appeal to fans of Fables, Books of Magic, Lucifer…

© Peter Coleborn, July 2009