Simmer - Volume 1, Issue 3 - Spring 2006
Table of Contents: Fiction: Dog Thinks Ahead by Clifford Royal Johns * Drevka's Rain by Marina T. Stern * The Dealer's Hands by Paul Abbamondi * Melancholix by Joseph Remy * Litany by John Mantooth * Rubber Boots, Mr. President by Bruce K. Derksen * Paper Man by Darby Harn * A Warrior's Death by Aliette de Bodard * The Little Match Girl by Angela Slatter Non-Fiction: Review: Larry Niven's The Draco Tavern by John Joseph Adams

Published 4 times a year by Beth Wodsinki, PO Box 58591, Salt Lake City, UT 84158-0591

Shimmer is a nice little small press magazine with a very good group of stories by new writers. First is "Dog Thinks Ahead" by Clifford Royal Johns. In this one, man's best friend is even more helpful than usual. "Dervka's Rain" by Marina T. Stern is a magical tale of a woman who wants to keep her lover with her but this has consequences for her neighbors. In "The Dealer's Hand", Paul Abbamondi tells a chilling little story about two boys who buy the wrong thing from a shady dealer. "Melancholix" by Joseph Remy is an cute one-page comic strip that is an amusing allegory on unemployment. In "Litany", John Mantooth tells a haunting little story about a man's guilt.

"Rubber Boots, Mr. President" by Bruce K. Derksen is tragic tale about an unusual kind of war veteran. "Paper Man" by Darby Harn is a wonderful little horror story about a blind girl's very unique talent. In "A Warrior's Death" by Aliette de Bodard, we get an unusual story about an Aztec-like culture. A disgraced warrior is asked to investigate the death of a man who was to be sacrificed to the War God. How this concludes is very clever. Last, "The Little Match Girl" by Angela Slatter is a very different variant on that title.

I very much recommend this magazine.

(Source: Beth Wodsinki)