The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2017

A better than average issue, with pretty good stories featured in general. Stand-outs would be R.S. Benedict's tale of a strange creature living in our midst and Leah Cypess's tale of a kid who likes to paint cats being involved in a war because the drawings can come to life.

• "A Thousand Deaths Through Flesh and Stone" by Brian Trent: set in the future after a devastating war, a soldier is sent to execute war criminals. But things get dicey when the target has copied herself into more than one body, and the soldier himself has copies. And all the soldier wants is to stop fighting.

• "Witch's Hour" by Shannon Connor Winward: an interesting tale of a woman with magical powers working as a cook in a castle. But she has a dark past, as revealed by a ghost who haunts her. Her attempts to get rid of the ghost become more urgent when the new King takes an interest with her, leading to a decision to use more magic. But as always, unless used carefully, magic has a way of backfiring on you.

• "Dirty Old Town" by Richard Bowes: a light, urban fantasy tale about a boy being bullied by another boy not only physically but mentally by having images projected into him. Then he is taught a magical skill to fight back and the relationship between them changes. Many years later, they meet again and, as usual with age, come to a new understanding about each other's abilities and gifts.

• "The Prognosticant" by Matthew Hughes: a light-hearted fantasy tale of two henchmen of a wizard sent to obtain a magical helmet. But as it the case of magical devices, the helmet has a mind of its own and prefers one of henchmen, leading to interesting discoveries about dimensions, space and time and his possibly illustrious background.

• "The History of the Invasion Told in Five Dogs" by Kelly Jennings: a tale of woe, hunger, survival and, perhaps, hope as the Earth is invaded as told in five parts involving dogs.

• "What the Hands Know" by Gregor Hartmann: a story about fighting that could be set anywhere, except for a twist: the fighters wear a non-newtonian fluid type of suit that hardens at the point of impact for protection. This affects both attacking and defensive moves.

• "The Woman with the Long Black Hair" by Zach Shepard: a short-short about a woman who goes around asking people about a mythical person and, based on the story told, performs an act of kindness or violence on the person.

• "My English Name" by R.S. Benedict: a fascinating story about a 'life-form' (even it doesn't know what it is) which can fit into human-like skin that has been living among us, changing skin from time to time. This tale focuses on it wearing the skin of an Englishman living as a teacher in China who gets involved with a citizen. The tale weaves together the desire to want to fit in (and yet can't) and the emotional attachment it feels. The story makes you think about the time you may have seen a person that doesn't quite fit it.

• "The First Day of Someone Else's Life" by John Schoffstall: in this story about a future where countries have broken up and enclaves are being run based on different social constructs, a man wakes up not knowing his past and hearing a voice in his head. A tale of corporate espionage, mind downloads and the desire to be with the person you love, even if it is not the same body.

• "Neko Brushes" by Leah Cypess: an interesting tale set in feudal Japan about a samurai who discovers a child with the ability to draw a picture that can come to life. As the child undergoes training in drawing and making things come alive in the samurai's household, we get background information on an ongoing conflict and how the drawing of a certain weapon could end it. But will the child, who just loves to draw cats, be a willing party to the conflict?

• "Rings" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman: feeling like a fragment of a longer tale, this story tells a day in the life of a woman in a world where men are slaves and owned. In this case, it is an off-world man who later reveals his previous life off-world, leading the woman to re-evaluate her relationship with him.