Odd Jack, King of Monsters, by Claude Lalumiere

Claude Lalumiere's “Odd Jack, King of Monsters” has a fun reveal at the end, one which I certainly did not see coming, at least not until just before it happened. The story tells of an old man named Jack who is older than perhaps the world, though he isn’t a God. He befriends the monsters before the gods divided the world up and this short-short tells the story of the world and of Jack in short paragraphs that leads up to a fun ending.

Odd Jack, however, was not pleased with the gods. Suddenly, all of his friends were gone, and just because of a whim of some high-and-mighty, hoity-toity gods? Odd Jack wasn't going to accept that. So he went to see the gods, and he gave them a piece of his mind.

Well worth the read of fewer than 1000 words.

Short Fiction 'Zines

In light of the Short Fiction discussions I have come across recently, here's a glimpse of what I'm reading.


Actively Read:
Subterranean Online
Strange Horizons
Lone Star Stories
Chiaroscuro
Clarkesworld
Weird Tales (subscription)
Heliotrope


Single Issue Pick Ups:
Steampunk Magazine # 1 (not so good)
Subterranean # 4 (the John Scalzi SFF cliche issue...it’s good, just not as great as the Online edition)
Electric Velocipede # 11
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet # 20
Rabid Transit: Long Voyages, Great Lies (solid anthology of four stories)



I will definitely pick up more print editions of Subterranean. I really love this small press. I fully expect to order more from the Rabid Transit line of chapbooks. I still need to read EV and LCRW (still need to receive LCRW for that matter), so opinions forthcoming for those zines. I imagine I will purchase a chapbook or two from EV, though. I am very interested in the just published William Shunn chapbook.

I hope / intend on purchasing some One Story, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and perhaps Jim Baen's Universe at some time in the future.

What is readily apparent here is that I only subscribe to one magazine and that’s just because they had a great discount / deal for the subscription. Otherwise I probably would not subscribe to Weird Tales. I would love a similar offer for Asimov's or F&SF. When we're talking $5 (or so) at a time, it is easier to budget in a single issue of a zine. Pulling a subscription fee at any single time is a bit tougher and questionable if the value is there. For markets that only publish a couple of times a year, one at a time is a decent value and gives me a chance to see if this is something that is worth an additional investment. I don't know that I have that option with an Asimov's.

I know there are other free markets out there, but for whatever reason the Actively Read ones are the ones I have focused on before I decide to try to branch out again and find some more.