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threemonkeysFirst impression of ASIM 21. Two pages were printed on thicker paper than the others. Why is that? It has been occupying my attention even though the answer is probably very mundane.
There is also an interview with Barbara Hambly where she mentions New Zealand. It is part of out national insecurity that any mention gives us a thrill. Actually I remember Barbara on her visit to a con in Dunedin in '94.
As always there are lots of good stories which I enjoyed reading as individual pieces. But for some reason, I didn't come away with that overall buzz that I have from other issues. ASIM aims at being pulpy and humorous, but I don't think the difference this time is the balance of overtly funny to serious. I think that the editor (Monissa Whitely this time around) has selected for a different tone.
My gut feeling is that it is to do with the interpretation of "pulp". The definition going back to the heyday of the SF magazines (i.e. the pulps). ASIM might pay homage to the style and aims of those older times but it does it with a modern sensibility - a blending of old and new if you like (and can handle the cliché). But issue 21 actually feels much closer to the original pulp style. By original I mean around the '60s, before the new wave hit. Well that is my interpretation and I'm sticking to it.
I'm too lazy to look at individual stories, but since he may be reading this I can reassure Stu that I really liked The Clockwork Soldier - very well executed with a timeless quality that would have made it at home in the pulps in any era.
There is also an interview with Barbara Hambly where she mentions New Zealand. It is part of out national insecurity that any mention gives us a thrill. Actually I remember Barbara on her visit to a con in Dunedin in '94.
As always there are lots of good stories which I enjoyed reading as individual pieces. But for some reason, I didn't come away with that overall buzz that I have from other issues. ASIM aims at being pulpy and humorous, but I don't think the difference this time is the balance of overtly funny to serious. I think that the editor (Monissa Whitely this time around) has selected for a different tone.
My gut feeling is that it is to do with the interpretation of "pulp". The definition going back to the heyday of the SF magazines (i.e. the pulps). ASIM might pay homage to the style and aims of those older times but it does it with a modern sensibility - a blending of old and new if you like (and can handle the cliché). But issue 21 actually feels much closer to the original pulp style. By original I mean around the '60s, before the new wave hit. Well that is my interpretation and I'm sticking to it.
I'm too lazy to look at individual stories, but since he may be reading this I can reassure Stu that I really liked The Clockwork Soldier - very well executed with a timeless quality that would have made it at home in the pulps in any era.
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Date: 2006-02-04 06:15 am (UTC)