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The Necromancers of London [33]

Tales of the Shadowmen 7 ed. Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier, Black Coat Press, November 2010
Frankenstein in London, Black Coat Press, December 2010

Nectar [16]

Asimov's Science Fiction January 2004

Review by Ian Braidwood

By the end of the first paragraph you know you like Sarah, the protagonist of this story. She has worked out that she can use her parents' indecision to expand the horizons of her independence and this she does very well.

In this future - the emortal one - people wear organic clothing which as well as providing protection from the cold and minor knocks, can filter out toxins and do lots of other useful things.

Sarah takes the initiative to have her suitskin augmented with a tasteful rose, which puts out scent to attract hummingbirds and the nectar of the title to feed them. Eager to experience her first hummingbird visit, Sarah leaves her window open all night, but attracts visitors of a less attractive kind.

Her investigations lead her to the seedy backroom of the Dragon Man and her first encounter with mortality.

Brian has done several stories featuring young girls and boys learning something about the world around them. What Can Chloë Want? and The Facts of Life come to mind as similar rite of passage stories written for a teenage audience. To my mind, What Can Chloë Want? is still the finest of these and one of Brian's finest of all. However, Nectar is still a good example and I am a long way from being a teenager, so what would I know?


Nephthys

Peeping Tom #13, 1994
Fables and Fantasies, Necronomicon Press, 1996
Beyond the Colors of Darkness and Other Exotica, Borgo Press, July 2009

Review by Ian Braidwood

The story of a cruel, bitter African queen who, aware of her fading beauty and beset with a cloying ennui, urges her wizards to attract darker, more powerful spirits than is their custom.

The wizard Ghazafar manages to conjur Xhoris Alaquel, Lord of Change and Nephthys makes a deal with the demon.

The Lord of Change doesn't renege on the agreement and that for Nephthys is the problem...


Next to Godliness [8]

Celebration ed. Ian Whates. Newcon Press, 2008 (abridged to 6000 words)
The Golden Fleece and Other Tales of the Biotech Revolution, Borgo Press, March 2012 (unabridged version)

1985; or, The Tower of Babel Mark II; or, God Works
in Mysterious Ways and We Should All Do Likewise
[1]

Bar Trek (fnz) #3, November 1977

Nobody Else to Blame [2]

Redsine #7, January 2002
An Oasis of Horror: Decadent Tales and Contes Cruels, Borgo Press, January 2008

The Brian Stableford Website