"The Butterfly Man" by Steven Popkes is a gritty Contemporary Fantasy with interesting characters. Eduardo Steinmetz is a doctor with a psychic talent to see the souls of babies in a woman's womb. He meets a pregnant teenage prostitute, Linda Metzger, at the clinic. When he sees her, his mystic guide the Butterfly Man shows him her baby. It has no brain and he sees no soul present. He tries to help the tough Linda, but ends up with problems of his own. The story revolves around Eduardo, Linda and his wife in a tough, but touching story of people with problems trying to cope with life.
Alan Dean Foster is present with a descriptive, evocative story with "Wait-A-While." Michael Covey is a writer visiting Queensland, Australia. He is there in search of inspiration to help his writing. Hearing a story of a mother and daughter living in the trackless Daintree rain forest, he hires a guide to take him into the forest. Michael hates everything about the adventure especially the crazy guide. When he meets the women, things change for him in unexpected ways. Mr. Foster mixes wonderful images, the Australian Dreamtime and intriguing character to create a memorable story for readers.
The land of Oz is not the same for Dorothy in Lois Tilton's "Giants and Ogres and Trolls." Dorothy meets a little man in the forest with his mouth sewn shut. After Dorothy helps Sly, he agrees to help her find the wicked giant of the North. She can't go home until she brings the giant's ring to the wizard. Sly takes Dorothy on a wild, humorous journey that ends in a different way. Readers will enjoy this twisted, entertaining story of Oz.
Dragon hunting is a major part of "The Slayers" by David Lee Summers. It is the coming-of-age tale of Rado. He joins a flying ship where in this world they hunt dragons for resources like we hunted whales. Mr. Summers creates a wonderful adventure tale with likable characters and a strong message against over exploitation of living creatures.
There are several regular columns of interest for readers in this issue too. This month's Folkroots article is by Gregory Frost. He writes about the history of the "Arabian Nights." The Gallery article is about how the artwork about the King Arthur legend influenced Victorian society. Lastly, the movie review column gives us an excellent preview of the upcoming "Mists of Avalon" miniseries.
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