Southern Seven/Issue 012

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Southern Seven is a long-running gen Blake's 7 anthology of art, fiction, and poems.

See more at Southern Seven.

Issue 12

Southern Seven 12 was published in May 1998 and has 193 pages.

cover of issue #12, Laura Virgil, color version, the black and white version was in v.5 n.2 (1989)

The art is by Laura Virgil (front cover), Leah Rosenthal, Karen River "Kye Birkell" (HH ocm played by Kiefer Sutherland), Whitby27, and Adrian Morgan.

• Book Nine of the Log of the Hellhound by Katrina Larkin and Susanne Katz:
  • Just Like a Woman ("Blake's group learns that the Federation has managed to perfect a new Ingellan laser and they set out to steal the ship and its unbeatable weapon.") (4)
  • The Gates of Hell ("Servalan sends Rakhiel Travis on a mission to survey a frontier planet for signs of a missing rebel ship. While there, Travis finds a colony of apparently peaceful farmers...but appearances are deceiving and Travis is finally forced to make a firm commitment to either the rebellion or the Federation.") (32)
  • So Close and Yet So Far ("An Auron ship is missing and its computers contained information that could be used in the fight against the Federation. Berengaria and Niall enlist Blake's aid in tracking it down before the Federation can find it and destroy the records.") (54)
  • The Prince of Darkness ("The time is finally right for Kye Birkell and his people on Downside to break with the Federation. Avalon and Kadrach enlist Blake's aid in taking the illicit drug trade away from the Federation.") (76)
• Campo Santo by Vickie McManus ("Another one of Vickie's alternate universe tales where the crew of the Liberator are switched in gender. This one is a short little story where we learn how Kiera Avon was captured by the Federation.") (137)
• A Cold Dish Turns Sour by Marian Mendez ("A story dealing with the aftermath of the "Orbit" incident and its ultimate effect on the whole Scorpio crew.") (140)
• No Allegiance by Misha ("A post-Gauda Prime story. Avon has reason to doubt not only his sanity, but the very nature of reality itself.") (156)
• Breaking the Chain by Michelle R. Moyer (169)

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 12

I'm kinda sorta cheating here, since I haven't finished reading this zine-- I'm only halfway through "Hellhound" and will go back to it shortly, after I send this. But I've read all the other stories and can report that they are all good, too. As usual with Southern Seven, very nice layout and art; this issue's cover is especially droolworthy.

"Breaking the Chain" is a direct sequel to a noteworthy story in #10 in which Vila, after Avon's death, finds himself starting to resemble Avon more than he likes. Here, he's pushed into a closer relationship with Tarrant when the young man suffers a dreadful misfortune. This story cries out for a slash sequel! Oh, puh- leeze, Michelle!

"Campo Santo" is a new story in Vickie's cross-gender alternate universe, in which Vialle gets Kiera drunk and hears the tragic story of how she wound up on the London.

Another unusual item is Misha's "No Allegiance," a PGP told from the POV of Avon, who's hallucinating much of the time. We don't quite know what's real and what's not, but that makes perfect sense under the circumstances, because neither does he. This seems to call for a sequel-- I definitely want to read more!

"A Cold Dish Turns Sour" is not only an alternate-post-Orbit story, but also, in a way, an alternate PGP. We've seen lots of stories in which someone else is on that shuttle with Avon instead of Vila, or in which Blake struggles with whether to forgive Avon for GP. Well, here it's Avon struggling with whether to forgive Vila for what Vila did in the wake of Malodaar. And it makes full use of certain aspects of B7's futuristic technology that are often forgotten. The ending is optimistic.

Hellhound, of course, is in a class by itself. If you're a Hellhound fan, you've probably acquired this zine already. If not, I do recommend it very strongly, but Book IX isn't the place to start; this saga definitely has to be taken from the beginning. Some feel that this gonzo space opera with its Miami-Vice-like sensibilities is too far from canonical B7 to be enjoyable in a truly fannish way; but many, including me, love it and consider it one of our all-time favorites. Try it and see for yourself.

And now I'll hasten back to reading the latest installment.