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This is the 4th issue of Sybil's Garage and it continues to be a very different magazine. These are mostly mood pieces or character studies, not much on plot and difficult to summarize. I liked all the stories and the whole issue was very well packaged. I like the magazine's custom of recommending specific music to read each story by, even though I did not take advantage of the suggestions.

The 4th issue of Sybil's Garage is much like the last one, mostly mood pieces or character studies. I liked all the stories, but they are an acquired taste. They are all short but they must be read slowly. The issue starts off with "Seas of the World" by Ekaterina Sedia, a sad tale of Jillian & Rick who mourn the loss of their son who wanted to imitate his father. Leah Bobet's "After the War" deals with a soldier who is haunted by his time at war. "Translucence" by Rowena Southard follows a butterfly and insect collector who finds a woman wrapped in a blanket and frail. He cares for her and it changes his life.

"Jetsam" by Livia Llewellyn is the story of a woman set adrift by a disaster in her life. John Bowker's "Pairings" gives us a woman who, in mending her husband's black socks, finds a thread that doesn't match. In "An Appetite for Love", Cat Rambo tells us of a woman who goes too far to please the man she loves.

"On Death and the Deuce" by Richard Bowes is actually a story reprinted from 1992. It's a good one, though, dealing with the efforts of a man to become sober by leaving his past behind. In "Means of Communication" by Barbara Krasnoff, a simple individual finds a way to communicate with aliens that more learned people miss. The issue concludes with a story by veteran writer, Steve Rasnic Tem. In "Strangeness", a woman's life becomes more and more remote to her, until it seems to unravel completely.

If you like "alternate" science fiction, then this is for you.