SOUTHERN LIGHTS SPECIAL 3.5

REVIEW

Review By Anon

Ashton Press 1987 - Card cover staple bound 75 pages

American adult zine with eleven slash stories, six straight, one poem and some cartoons. The stories vary from half a page to twelve pages in length.

"Journey's end" by Paula is an excellent Blake/Jenna story set in the Jabberwocky universe; I have come across this story in another zine but can't remember which. Jenna appears again in another well-written story, "I was so young" by Katrina Snyder and Susanne McGhin. Set immediately after Duel, it explores her feelings for Blake as she tells Cally about her first affair and the career that followed.

There are several Blake and Avon stories. "A Question of balance" by Northwest Smith takes place after the death of Gan. "Avon's law" by London Bates shows the antagonism and attraction between Avon and Blake very well. "Fugitives" by xBryn Lantry has the two of them camping out, the usual ambivalence of Ms.Lantry's prose and very good too.

"First person singular" by London Bates is difficult to follow. It's another male prostitute scenario involving Avon, Vila under another identity, and a mysterious character who may be Blake himself, a Blake clone, or someone completely different. Perhaps there's an earlier story which would clarify this one.

"Night Moves" by Branta Bernicula is an somewhat unoriginal straight encounter between Blake and a visiting female space commander. Another straight story is "Rain must fall" in which Avon shows his sensitive side with a young rebel. ( Will Avon ever find True Love and Happiness? Not if his fans have anything to do with it)

There are three Avon and Vila stories, all light-hearted. Julie Kramer's "Out with a Bang" is an amusing Orbit variation. "Poker night" and "If we play our cards right", both by Ingrid Montrose, cover pretty much the same ground. Other shorts are by Jane Carnall, Henrietta Street, Aislinn, and Susan Hall.

CONTENTS

Editor: Ann Wortham
Publisher: Ashton Press
Date: April 1987

Fiction:
Julie Kramer, "Out with a Bang, or, The Orbit We Never Saw" (A/V)
Jane Carnall, "Mental Health" (A/V)
Northwest Smith, "A Question of Balance" (A/B)
Ingrid Montrose, "Poker Night" (A/V)
Paula, "Journey's End" (B/J; Jabberwocky universe)
London Bates, "Avon's Law" (A/B)
Henrietta Street, "Pillow Talk" (orgy)
Jane Carnall, "A Saying in Broth Spoils the Thyme" (C/J?)
xBryn Lantry, "Fugitives" (A/B)
Aislinn, "Kindred Souls" (A/C)
Paula, "Affirmation" (epilogue to Renascence; A/B)
Susan Hall, "Those Lips, Those Eyes" (?/A)
Branta Bernicula, "Night Moves" (B/oc)
London Bates, "First Person Singular" (A/oc, A/V)
Katrina Snyder & Susanne McGhin, "I Was So Young..." (J/Brody; Hellhound universe)
?, "Rain Must Fall" (adult; A/oc)
Ingrid Montrose, "If We Play Our Cards Right" (A/V)
Poetry:
Diana Romero, "Silver Alpha"
Art:
Leah Rosenthal cover A, silhouettes, dragon
"Stanford" p. 7 A/B cartoon
p. 29 cartoon, B in shower
p. 75 cartoon, V in tub


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