If I had seen Shimmer in a store, I would have snatched it up right away, because I am a book snob, and, to my shame, am too easily seduced by gorgeous cover art. However, had I indeed picked up a copy in a fit of unmitigated passion for its prettiness, I would not have been disappointed; this is an excellent magazine with high editorial standards, a tight, sure vision of what it seeks to accomplish, and a degree of success with that goal that’s decidedly gratifying.
See what SF Revu has to say about our Winter 2006 issue.
This is the second issue of Shimmer that I’ve read and the high quality of the stories continues… Shimmer is an attractive magazine with some nice illustrations and a good interview with Ellen Datlow. I very much recommend it.
Editor Joy Marchand’s story “The Sympathy of Five” garnered an honorable mention in the next Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Datlow, Link, and Grant.
Stop by Tangent Online and read what they have to say about the Winter issue of Shimmer.
Here’s a brief teaser:
I missed the premier issue of Shimmer, but found this second issue a joy to read. It was like opening a box of mixed chocolates. Although I like some of the fillings better than others, all were delicious and I couldn’t stop eating (er…reading) until all were consumed.
Available in both electronic and physical formats, Shimmerzine is a nice-looking publication with some nice-reading stories.
Headlining the issue is Dario Ciriello’s Valley of the Shadow, a zombie story with a difference. Complex, subtle, and powerful, one man makes his way in a world where the dead walk again. These zombies aren’t eating brains, though. They walk with us, watch us, silently reproaching the living.
This is characteristic of the other material in Shimmerzine: contemporary fantasy with a dark edge, from capering death clowns to predators among sheep-like shoppers. The lightest piece here is a fun little take on the rapture.
By way of non-fiction: John Joseph Adams reviews John Twelve Hawks’ The Traveler.
The premier issue of Shimmer seems to have a lot going for it: numerous well-told stories by many unknown names, wonderful artwork weaved into each story, a pleasing and original layout, and a book review by the Slush God himself, John Joseph Adams, of F&SF fame.
