Review By Nova

On the whole, this zine positions itself at the light-hearted end of B7 slash and adult fiction, sandwiching limericks and parody snippets in between the longer pieces. Although it seems to be a multi-author zine, the basic approach of the stories is remarkably consistent. Most of them are heavily dialogue-based and written in a fairly breezy style, even though rape, either actual or potential, is crucial to all but two of the longer stories. I found this aspect of the zine a bit off-putting - while I'm not opposed to rape stories in principle, the breeziness seemed inappropriate - and at the same time, despite being an out-and-out romantic, I found the more romantic episodes in the stories too sugary for my taste.

Pandora LeCarre - "Dressed to Kill." (A/C) A charming romance, full of back rubs and yearning flirtation and a magic shimmer dress that intensifies emotion and, in the process, renders Cally and Avon completely unrecognisable. (To this reader, at any rate.)

Jill Grundfest - "Celebrate Life." (B/J) Blake, drugged and imprisoned, rapes a young woman, who forgives him. He then confesses this to Jenna, who forgives him too. A story that raises serious issues but never really engages with them.

Lilith - "A Favour from an Enemy." (A/B) Avon, conditioned by Servalan to fall for the next person who walks through the door, is rescued by Blake. As he follows Blake round the Liberator, the author comments, "Not only had Blake never seen this shy, innocent side of Avon before, he'd never even suspected that it existed." Neither had I - and Lilith's extended account of their idyllic relationship left me unconvinced.

Caroline Dare - "Force and Deception." (A/B) A reworking of Terminal, where Servalan rapes Avon while programming him to believe that he is being raped by Blake. This story, by one of the Oblaque writers, came closer to my sense of the series characters, although Dare's Avon is uncharacteristically keen on expressing his feelings and a potentially fraught situation seems to sort itself out rather too easily.

Salmacis - "A Little Hope." (A/V) Avon and Vila in a prison cell, fending off rapists, escaping and forging a new alliance. Tougher and more psychologically complex than the rest of the zine.

Tenaya - "A Little Tryst Between Friends." (V/So) Soolin rescues Vila from a beating and gets the traditional knight errant's reward. A gender bender, which is nice, but the sex mostly takes place off-stage, which seemed a pity ...

Anon W.A.W. (Anonyomous Was A Woman) - "When the Barriers Break." (A/V) Avon has sex with Vila in a drugged state and is furious about it afterwards, until Vila draws out Avon's memories of being raped by a prison guard. An unexpected and refreshingly downbeat ending, although I wished the story had been placed earlier in the zine, because by this time I was yearning to read a story that wasn't centred around rape.

MAGNIFICENT TAILS (adult and slash)


Publisher: Pony Press
Date: February 1988 (reprinted with permission by Bill Hupe)

Fiction:
Pandora LeCarre, "Dressed to Kill" (A/C)
Helig Benedict, "Flash" (Flake's Seven slash)
Jill Grundfest, "Celebrate Life" (B/oc, B/J)
Helig Benedict, "Flash (Take Two)"
Lilith, "A Favor from an Enemy" (A/B)
Helig Benedict, "Flash (Take Three)"
Caroline Dare, "Force and Deception" (A/Se, A/B)
Samy Rue, "Menage a Trois" (Mary Sue, humor)
Salmacis, "A Little Hope" (A/V)
Kim Wigmore, "Decisions, Decisions" (Mary Sue, humor)
Tenaya, "A Little Tryst Between Friends" (So/V)
Anon W.A.W. (Anonymous Was a Woman), "When the Barriers Break" (A/V)

Non Fiction:
Kim Wigmore, Holly Hutchinson, Alicia Ann Fox, Kim
Kindya, & Pam London, "Slash Stories We Never Want to See"

Poetry:
Dyana, "Expectations" (A/B)
Dyana, "Possession" (A/B)
Dyana, "Repercussion" (A/B)
Dyana, "Mixed Emotions" (A/B)
Dyana, "Simplicity" (?/?)
Erica Leonard, limericks

Art:
Salmacis, cover and borders (clip art)
Helig Benedict, cartoons

MAGNIFICENT TAILS TOO (adult and slash)


Publisher: Pony Press
Date: February 1989 (reprinted with permission by Bill Hupe)

Fiction:
Caroline Dare, "Victorian Erotica" (based on 19th C. work; A/J)
Tamara Verbande, "The Joining" (A/C)
Erica Leonard, "A Helping Hand" (A/Ta)
Robin Goodfellow, "Challenge" (A/B)
Helig Benedict, "Flash: In the Pan"
Dorian Gale, "Interlude" (A/So)
Dragon Lady, "Reghr's Tales" (B/J, A/C, V/oc)
Louisiana Bailey and M. Toyten Banks, "Love in Bloom" (A/B)
Erica Leonard, "Lady in White" (V/oc)
Tashery Shannon, "Private Amusements" (A/?)
Aurora Borealis, "And Another Fine Mess" (A/D)
Sean Charles, "Bargain" (A/Se)
Jade Drofsny, "Dark Dream on Gauda Prime" (A/V)
Tamara Vermande, "The Conspiracy" (A/C, J/V)
Caroline Dare, "Manhunt" (A/V; expurgated version)
Helig Benedict, "Flash: In the Fire"

Poetry:
Dyana, "Chains" (A/B)
Dyana, "Notions" (A/B)
Dyana, "Tempting Fate" (A/B)
Dyana, "There Be Dragons" (A/?)
Dyana, "Precognition" (A/V?)
Dyana, "Speechless" (A/B)
Dyana, "Seduction-- Seduced" (A/B)
Dyana, "Don't Touch" (A/B)
Limericks (Erica Leonard?)

Art:
Adrian Morgan p. 126 A-Se, illo for "Baragain"
p. 131 illo for "Bargain"
Helig Benedict, cartoons


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