While my editor swore blind that she gave this to me some years ago, I had no memory of seeing it and I had no record of receiving it. However, I recently found it hiding within a stack of convention programs that I had scanned for Arizona Fandom. That's because it's not a book; it's a zine and it's printed on letter-sized paper folded into two and stapled together, just like those programs. Now, I love zines, as I should, given that I publish one of my own, and I'm happy to review my first one. All that said, I should have reviewed this in 2020 and I didn't. That ridiculous delay is entirely my fault and I apologise to Will Dee and S&P Press, who kindly sent this in for review.

It seems to feature two separate short stories, as suggested by its tagline of "a collection of short stories and art collage". However, they seem to be both tenuously linked and incomplete, with one unique word repeated in the second story showing up in later 'Enduring Change in Dead Systems' zines, thus suggesting that there's a much bigger story in play and this is merely the beginning. It may or may not continue in 'Quarantine Town of Cincinnati', 'Dark Paths That Cloud the Eyes' and 'Path to Etiolqa', published thus far. Etiolqa is that unique word and I believe it's a location.

Whether 'A River's Edge' and 'Car Lot of No Return' are linked or not, they both vehemently flout conventional genre boundaries and trawl in a much broader range of material than we might find in a traditionally published form. But hey, that's one of the joys of zines. People can write without pandering to what is "supposed to be done" and create something new and intensely original. It's entirely possible to see that as a negative, but I see it as a positive. I want to hear unique voices. And with that said, let's dive in to see what's going on here.

Both these stories/setups are highly schizophrenic. They do one thing, entirely consistently, with a firm focus, as if that's the story. Then they shift on a dime to do a completely different thing that's just as internally focused. And so on and so on. It means that it's hard to grasp what's happening in the bigger picture, but maybe that's the point. Maybe Dee wants to give us a set of glimpses that wash over us in impressionistic fashion, with the intent of a bigger picture emerging at the end in a highly subjective fashion.

'A River's Edge' revolves around substantial masses of people gathering at rivers because they've been guided there by what appears to be a shared vision. It would feel acutely grounded as some sort of nascent thriller, especially given that such a gathering would seem to be illegal, except for the detail that some of the people gathering at the Hudson are wizards. The one that speaks and offers emotional support is described that way and certainly fits the bill, with a dark violet robe, a shaved head and an amulet hanging around his neck. Oh, and the shared vision explicitly features dragons.

So this is fantasy, right? Well, no. In between these passages are others about scientists analysing data from experiments. There are hints that we're in a future world where Command, presumably some form of government—and a president is mentioned—uses technical mass control techniques to keep their population in line. There's mention of sonic hypnotics and vapor concentrates, brain experimentation and quantum physics.

So this is science fiction, right? Well maybe, but we're left to figure out for ourselves if it’s utopian or dystopian. Are the scientists keeping the nation together and keeping us all safe by addressing the levels of PPZ plaques in our brains, whatever they are? Maybe the company of Cronos & Cronos, despite the connotations of that name, is on our side and it's keeping us healthy and sane. Or, on the other hand, are the people opting out of the public vid channels and sharing these visions the sane ones? Have they escaped a dystopian government's fist and will now reap the benefits at the rivers when the dragons show up?

Those are good questions but the answers aren't here. Maybe they're in later zines, if this story is continued within them. And is 'Car Lot of No Return' part of the same universe?

Initially, it seems to not be, given that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic landscape where a war has forced a civilisation to relocate underground. People from that civilisation are starting to dip their toes above ground and we join them as Demi starts her first mission on the surface, along with other single named characters: Axe, Jung, Lace. And a wizard called Yard. However, after the introduction, presumably featuring Demi taking a water sample from a pool, we shift completely.

Suddenly, we're watching pools of liquid flow in Etiolqa. This isn't about people any more, it's the inexorable flow of nature when people aren't part of the picture. The lead characters are a deer and a coyote. This isn't science fiction vs. fantasy any more. It's science fiction vs. something else entirely. It's weird fiction, set on a planet that's presumably ours but somehow has two moons, a dream trip, and vision combined, but not in the shared minds of people who have stopped tuning in to the public vid channels to have their brains plaqued.

All in all, this is quite the tease. The sheer range of material on offer within two short stories that may or may not be linked is extreme, shifting between fantasy, science fiction, technothriller, even metaphysics. There are substantial ideas here, but they're either not developed or not developed yet, given that I think they'll grow in future zines. There's some wonderful writing, with a vibrant phrase here and a tasty conjunction of descriptions there. However, there's also some truly awful writing, with crazy run-on sentences that shift sentence and subject often enough until we're not sure what they're talking about. There's also a weird duplication of three paragraphs at one point which has to be poor editing rather than poor writing.

And nothing is set in stone. Are we on Earth? Mention of New York City suggests that, but we have two moons now and I've never heard of anywhere called Etiolqa. The section without people aims for a Clark Ashton Smith vibe, suggesting that it's set on some farflung world with alien flora and fauna. Sure, there's a deer and a coyote, but what are alosaks and vulpits?

Clearly, I should seek out later zines, which float worldwide conflicts, interdimensional beings and totalitarian organisations, not to forget consistent characters. Maybe the answers will be there. ~~ Hal C F Astell