Southern Seven/Issue 011
Southern Seven is a long-running gen Blake's 7 anthology of art, fiction, and poems.
See more at Southern Seven.
Issue 11
Southern Seven 11 was published in 1998 and has 194 pages (147,000 words). The art is by Laura Virgil (front cover), and Leah Rosenthal.
- Letters of Comment (3)
- Dead Reckoning by Marian Mendez ("A post-Gauda Prime tale. The reunited group of Avon, Soolin, Vila, Tarrant and Dayna have further adventures as they attempt to recover from the events on Gauda Prime. Soolin, Vila, Tarrant and Dayna hope to have their memories of what happened on Gauda Prime restored, while Avon searches for a way to overcome the debilitating condition he is suffering due to his time in Servalan's hands".") (sequel to "Pilot Program" in Rebel Destinies #1) (7)
- Thief's Gold, poem by Jane Mailander (43)
- Descent into Shadow, poem by Jane Mailander (44)
- Sculpture by Judith Proctor ("After Gan's death, Avon remembers a mission gone wrong and the time he spent alone with Gan while they waited to be rescued ... or to die.") (45)
- Eccentric Orbit by Marian Mendez ("An alternative universe version of the episode "Orbit," with Tarrant taking Vila's place on the doomed shuttle from Malodaar.") (51)
- Agent of Ruin by Alice C. Aldridge ("Cadet Tarrant meets Space Commander Travis at the Space Academy and learns a few hard truths about the Federation.") (56)
- Airlock Sealed by Misha ("Avon, Tarrant and Vila try to make sense of their apparent captivity together in this alternate reality tale ...") (69)
- It's All In the Cards by Susan Cutter ("Vila demonstrates the use of fortune telling cards to his crew mates with some interesting results.") (78)
- La Belle Mort Sans Merci by Liz A. Vogel ("A Kill the Dead tale. Parl Dro learns that his connection to Myal is stronger than even he ever imagined.") (This fic was originally supposed to have been in Ghyste Mortua.) (81)
- Tears of the Sun by Susannah Lucci ("A mission seems to be Vila's dream come true ... until he learns the price he will have to pay!") (83)
- Tidings of Comfort and Joy by Rebecca Ann Brothers--A Blakes 7 Christmas tale as Avon remembers his past and discovers many truths long forgotten.") (133)
- Wolf in Wool by Alicia Ann Fox ("Another alternate universe version of the episode "Orbit," where the outcome is a bit different from the aired version!") (reprinted from Threads Through Infinity) (178)
- The Wolf Unleashed by Alicia Ann Fox ("A sequel to "Wolf in Wool." Vila Restal makes his way to Gauda Prime where he meets up with a very different Roj Blake.") (179)
- Fragments by P. R. Zed (181)
- What Doesn't Kill You by Michelle R. Moyer (187)
- Bedtime Story, poem by Jane Mailander (194)
Reactions and Reviews: Issue 11
This one is a must for Vila fans, and highly recommended for everyone else as well.All the stories are good, but the high point, IMO, is the longest one, the novella-length (50 pp.) "Tears of the Sun." This is extremely juicy h/c, and the Beautiful Sufferer, for a change, is Vila. He, Dayna, and Tarrant are temporarily stranded on a planet whose natives appear to be very friendly-- but there's a catch, of course. Incredibly lush, beautiful descriptions make it easy to visualize the setting; I would have loved to see illustrations, too.
If you liked "Path of Thorns" in Liberator Fantasies, and you enjoy gen as well as slash, give this story a try too.
A very different Vila appears in Vickie's wickedly funny "Wolf" stories. In "It's All in the Cards," Vila tries his hand at Tarot, with worrisome results. And in "Airlock Sealed," he, Avon, and Tarrant are stuck with each other in very unpleasant circumstances- - an interesting and disturbing story! In "What Doesn't Kill You," Vila, Blake, and Avon must all come to terms with what has happened to them.
"La Belle Mort sans Merci" is a short Kill the Dead story, fitting the theme of the color cover.
Other characters get their turns too, of course. "Dead Reckoning" continues the adventures of the reunited Scorpio crew. I especially like the bit about disguising Avon as Dayna's elderly uncle, and the scary-but-touching scene when he encounters what he thinks is the ghost of Blake.
Judith's "Sculpture" explores Gan's relationship with Avon. Judith, is this story set in the same universe as "A Berth on the London" in The Aquitar Files? I thought it might be.
"Eccentric Orbit" puts Tarrant instead of Vila on the shuttle with Avon and considers the results. "Agent of Ruin" is another Tarrant story, also involving a (somewhat) sympathetic Travis.
In "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" Avon encounters an alien shapeshifter who has read Dickens, and who gradually steers him in a direction that may, it is suggested, avert the unpleasant future that otherwise awaits him. In the hands of a lesser writer this motif could have been smarmily sentimental; but here it is handled very well, I thought. I found this story reminiscent of many of Sheila Paulson's stories, with their optimistic but believable endings.
"Fragments" is a sad pre-series story of the young Avon.
All of the stories are well-written, and the zine is very nicely produced. I had one quibble about the art in this and #12-- it has been scanned in, and so the quality of reproduction is not ideal; it's a little grainy. However, I changed my mind when I heard more about it. Apparently the originals of all those Virgil and Rosenthal goodies were sold years ago at cons; all that the artists still have is photos or photocopies, which were used as the basis for the scanned-in illos. Now that I know these are recovered treasures, I'm not going to quibble over the quality of reproduction-- I'm thrilled to have a chance to see them at all, even at third hand.
Now, if only I had a time machine to go back to some of those old conventions myself... <sigh> At any rate, it's nice to see that top-quality zines are still coming out. [1]
- ^ from Sarah Thompson at Judith Proctor's Blake's 7 site