Furthest North Reviews Special - Steam Victorian
Niall MacConaill
Furthest North Reviews Special #3: Steam Victorian #1
(#1 was Refractions 1, #2 was Yarf! #24)
Edited by Zjonni Perchalski, Greyfox Graphics & Publishing, PO Box 160040,
Cupertino CA, 95016-0040, Spring 1993, $5 + $1 postage, 48 pages, 8.5 x 11,
B&W cardstock cover.
First, a word from the editor on what Steam Victorian (SV) is about:
"SV is NOT a shared world, rather it is a shared concept. Anything
19th century and dependent upon fascinating technology is applicable. I draw
some lines, of course (one of them is that while you can 'advance' technology
a bit, I don't want to see anything more deadly than WW I technology, no
nukes, jet engines, chainguns, etc.)." (Zjonni Perchalski, from an email
message, used with permission)
Another quote from the editorial of the zine: "Rather than Victorian hard
science-fiction, Victorian soft science fantasy."
A vision of of zeppelins, ornithopters, wild designs for flying machines of
all sorts, all in the Jules Verne, HG Wells, Conan-Doyle style.
That is the purpose of this magazine.
And it aims for quality. It asks of the accepted contributors that they give
the best work they can. Does it succeed? We’ll answer that later. First, a
little rundown of the contents.
Four stories, two of which are illustrated by the writer (Conrad Wong and
Jordan Greywolf), and two other stories by Jeffrey Young and Gerald Perkins,
both illustrated by Baron Engel (who made a remarked entrance in furfandom at
the ConFurence 4 art show, winning best of show). There are also spot illos
by Will Faust, Dave Bryant and a few others.
Many people associate the Victorian Age with England. While it is true that
Queen Victoria was in Merry Ol’ London, her empire’s influence was felt the
world over, and this magazine reflects this, with stories in barely-past-
feudal Nippon, France, over the jungles of South America, with a closing
piece back on the old soil.
“The Kabuki War” by Conrad Wong is a good example of the spirit of the
Victorian Age over the image of English Victorian, simply set in the time of
the late 19th Century. The time was between the old age of the Warriors, and
the new age of Technology, this time clashing much sooner than in our own
history. Plentily and well illustrated for the most part, it is a story of
intrigue and political games, instead of straight action. The transitions
between the action of the kabuki plays and the actual story are well done,
sometimes blending the two and giving us a good indication of the confusion
the first person narrator experiences at times. A well crafted story.
“Stop the Presses” by Jeffrey Young is a short story about the life of an
English reporter in France, and how all the new technology appearing at those
times affects his life -- suddenly closer than he wants. The detailed
descriptions of how France is changing is what makes this story, as well as
the mindset of the populace, visible through the dialogue. Another good
story.
“Tezcatlipoca’s Mirror” by Gerald Perkins is by far the longest piece,
filling nearly a third of the zine. The only story without a first person
narrator, it is the one using the most of the old-century New Technology
(zeppelins, ornithopters), and the most detailed in the treatment of the
different civilizations encountered, of the British Explorator mindset, and
of the various animal species used in the story - not too surprisingly,
having the most room in which to “stretch its legs”, and considering it will
be continued in the next issue. Gerald Perkins is known for his Ironhand
stories from Furkindred, and does not decline in quality here. The
expressions and emotions of the various protagonists are very well portrayed,
and the clues to the mystery of a vast electrical powersource in the South
American haut-plateaus are few and far between, even when standing right on
said technology, and I do mean right on it! Nicely illustrated by Engel, who
gives accurate visual representations of some of the more obscure
topographical descriptions, it is, for me, the key of this issue.
Ending the zine is “Inspector Jeffreys & The Case of Professor Shillings’
Flying Machine”, by Jordan Greywolf. This one is set on British soil, in an
old British manor, with an old and respectable British Family, and concerns
the investigation by said inspector of said professor’s death aboard the
maiden flight of said flying machine which he had constructed. This story,
alas, is not quite of as high quality as the other ones; not to say that it
is of bad quality, either, or else it would not have been accepted in the
zine. It is a murder detective story, and proceeds along as a murder
detective story does: suspects are known of, investigated, and ultimately we
find out who did it. A little traditional, but not inheritently bad, as I
said. And nicely written, too: I did not figure out the whole story until
the end, and it had more than a minimum of plausible suspects.
A personal aside: in this story and the previous one, written seperately
and, as pointed out in the beginning of this review, not under any “writer’s
bible” or anything, there are mentions of a somewhat well-spread sentiment of
discrimination (“specism”) towards cats, especially spotted cats. Gee, why
is it that people are always blaming us spottycats? Sheesh... :-)
So, does this magazine indeed succeed in its aim for quality?
I think so. It looks good, and promises for even better. I hope it
delivers. I will be waiting.
Serval
--
Niall MacConaill
ab...@freenet.carleton.ca
sig withheld, dragged away kicking and screaming, vowing revenge...
Fuzzy Fox
--
----- David DeSimone ----- Fuzzy Fox ----- f...@netcom.com ------------
^^ Note new E-mail address ^^
"Statistics show that most of the people are in the
majority, while only a few are in the minority."
Steve Arlow
>What is an ornithopter?
Technically, a craft that flies like a bird, by flapping its wings.
The craft in Jordan's story is technically not an ornithopter, as
is explained by the professor's daughter.
--
Griffy: "We must NEVER let down Steve Arlow, Yorick Software Inc.
our vigil against 39336 Polo Club Dr. #103
ANTHROPOMORPHISM!" Farmington Hills, MI 48335-5634
Zippy: "Woof." s...@ais.org
Greywolf
> maiden flight of said flying machine which he had constructed. This story,
> alas, is not quite of as high quality as the other ones; not to say that it
No argument there. For the record, this is my first story published anywhere.
=) But the fact of the matter is that it's little more than taking my plot
outline and fleshing it out just enough to be called a story. I haven't really
done much at all to develop any of the characters, or to, as Watts Martin told
me (and I paraphrase horribly since I have to rely on my fallible memory) to
"show us the story rather than just telling it". Hopefully my next story,
"Onionskin", will be an improvement, though I've found myself having to go back
and rewrite sections where I only hit all the "main events" in each episode and
failed to interject any real feel for the setting or the characters.
Anyway, a tip of the hat to Serval for finally being a little more critical in
his reviews. It's far more helpful than gush. ;)
--
-Jordan .. PEACO...@iscsvax.uni.edu
.OO. Jordan Greywolf (Jordan Peacock)
O/\O 1610 Parker
~~ Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Radical right-winger fundamentalist ultra-conservative religious fanatic
student/programmer/doodler/writer/SwordTagger/mecha & old car enthusiast
Greywolf
An entirely unlikely and inefficient (except within the confines of
"Victorianesque fantasy" =) ) aircraft that flies by flapping its wings.
Incidentally, the craft in the story, while referred to as an "ornithopter"
within the story in places, is NOT one...