StoryHack Action & Adventure #7 (magazine review).
Storyhack is a genre fiction magazine for people who like slam, bang, action adventure with two-fisted heroes and heroines or four-fisted, depending on how many arms they have. In any case, the focus is on solid stories with tight plots and a gripping climax, but with good-quality writing as well. There are still a few of these publications around, if you know where to look. This one is widely available as an eBook, which is good, but the print version is only on Amazon. Anyway, here’s what you get.
Commander Sabyton is a high-ranking officer of the warlike Eifrez species, so he wrecks the surface of SolC3-7, the home planet of the Kadroic, without a qualm. Then, one of his scientists discovers a secret underground laboratory where the Kadroic studied captive alien species, one of whom was a human female. Sabyton is scaly, four-eyed, sharp-clawed, and deadly, but generally humanoid in shape. ‘Eyes As Blue As Metal’ by Dominika Lein is a tale of treachery with excellent descriptions of scenery and action and a female who will surprise you and Sabyton.
Erik Ruger works for the Department of Public Safety in Dracoheim, a big city with wizards and magic added to the usual cops and robbers. When his friend tells him that her friend’s necklace watch has been stolen but also that the very memory of ever owning it has been stolen, too, Erik investigates. A good, hard-boiled detective plot with added magical elements and solid characters makes for an enjoyable yarn. More adventures by Erik Ruger are available, and I’ve added that book to my wishlist, ready for the day when my ‘to read’ pile gets down to a reasonable height.
In ‘Song for Melienope’, a bard and a monk get lost in the dark forest and find a fine mansion full of beautiful ladies. Oswin, the bard, is the narrator, and Father Merle is his drunken, bawdy companion. They are fleeing shaven-headed Ultraists who have deposed the old king and plunged the country into civil war in a scenario similar to 17th-century England. The bard gets to sing for his supper with Melienope, who dwelled in the forest long ago. He grew on me as I read, and so did the story.
Reptilian Gaks and flying Zeetzeet unite to attack the city of Bero on a day when Berserker Furth is visiting the centre where the ruling class lives to make a special plea for his still-unnamed baby son. Furth is without his axe, Nightsplitter, ‘one solid piece of obsidian star metal from haft to head, with its single bearded blade faceted like an ancient tool and inscribed with symbols primaeval.’ Unarmed, he can’t do much to stop the attacking hordes, but he survives the initial onslaught and tries to make his way home to his family. Along the way, he meets the mysterious healer, Soria. ‘The Berserker’s Son’ by Michael DeCarolis is a terrific adventure story in a complex fantasy world that must be good for a few novels.
‘Golden Echoes’ by JD Cowan opens with Ronan Renfield torturing Jake Ronson with electric shocks. They both work for Raven, a madman, perhaps, who wants to use a Dimensional Partitioner to change the world. Renfield is secretly a Galactic Enforcer working undercover, but Raven is onto him. Can Renfield escape the base past human and cyborg guards even as his surroundings metamorphose from shining steel into a dark jungle and foil Raven’s dastardly plot? A solid, ripping yarn with plenty of action and that sense of wonder Science Fiction used to do in the pulps and still do in comicbooks. In fact, this would translate well to that medium.
‘Third Time Lucky’ by Mike Adamson takes us back to World War II and Spitfires versus Messerschmitts over the English Channel. It’s spring, 1941, so months after the Battle of Britain, but Johnny Carstairs and his RAF colleagues are still in danger as they escort bombers to Germany. One particularly skilled enemy pilot appears to be targeting him. The tale is written as an old man’s memoir and reads exactly like that: fact rather than fiction. Adamson clearly did his research. It’s a great story, and if it isn’t exactly true, there are many true stories just like it. I was transported back to childhood Sunday afternoons watching ‘The Dambusters’ and ‘633 Squadron’ in glorious black and white on our old telly. My favourite story in this issue.
‘Scylla’s Lair’ by Caroline Furlong is about a mermaid called Muriel who became human for the love of a sailor man and gave up her powers to do so. She might regret it now that an evil foe has captured her. It’s not a bad story, although I couldn’t vouch for its faithfulness to ancient lore. My general knowledge is good, but I’m somewhat ignorant of Greek mythology. It’s my Hercules ankle. Yes, I stole that joke.
‘The Tombs of Osiris Prime’ by Jason J. McCuiston is so like a tale from the 1930s that it almost reads like a spoof. The Last Star Warden travels to an archaeological dig on an ancient planet where they’ve turned up something deadly. There are hints of alien connections to ancient Earth civilisations. It was an enjoyable romp.
The last story felt like revisiting Heinlein’s ‘Red Planet’. It’s set on the old Mars of canals, sandy deserts, and live Martians. The gun-toting colonists rebelled against Earth and lost but continued their old ways. Our hero, Hamilton Becker, is in a relationship with Lovely Day, one of the triplets who grew up pretending to be one person, sharing memories by using the Martian canal water. It gets complicated when gangsters, outlaws, and Martians all want a treasure chest hidden in a cave. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen an earlier story in the series, but this one works okay as a standalone. It reads very much like mid-century Heinlein, which I think the author will take as a compliment, though for others, the former Dean of Science Fiction is now the devil incarnate. Times change.
Storyhack takes you back to the halcyon days of pulp. One wouldn’t want all magazines to be like this, but I’m glad there are a few. This issue doesn’t disappoint and will gladden the hearts of readers who still do it for fun. It’s two years old now and might be the last issue, as editor Bryce Beattie seems to be doing anthologies instead, but they are the same sort of thing.
Eamonn Murphy
February 2024
(pub: Storyhack, 2021. 237 page paperback. Price: £ 7.11 (UK), $ 9.99 (US). ISBN: 979-8-63261-837-3. Kindle: file size: 9519kB. Price: $ 3.99 (US), £ 2.82 (UK))
Check out website: www.storyhack.com/
