EVASIVE MANEUVERS - edited by Tashery Shannon

Review by anon

Edited by Tashery Shannon. 1994 129 pages 15.00 pounds (or thereabouts) Comb bound, glossy card cover.

Evasive Maneuvers is an adult zine printed on good quality paper. Apart from the cover, which shows two men in regency dress (not un-dress, you can safely read this one on the bus) there is no artwork. Presumably the men are Avon and Blake as one is dark and the other has curly hair, but the resemblance is minimal. It is primarily B/A, and contains one long B/A story by Ms Shannon, five medium length and four short stories, and four poems. Nine of the stories focus on the relationship between Blake and Avon, one being a vampire tale, and two being alternative story lines arising from Duel (a genzine story but the feelings are implicit) and Orbit. There is one A/C and one A/T. The zine concentrates on interrelationships rather than on action adventure. The emphasis is on the feelings evoked and while some of the content is explicit there is no violence.

Apart from two very short jokey piece, I enjoyed everything in this zine. All the stories are perceptive and well-developed, and the characters recognisable. In particular Tashery Shannon's long story "Remembrance" is one of the finest - and bleakest - B7 works I have read. It is subtle in its language and captures a very complex relationship with real insight. I was so gripped by its intensity that I just had to read it three times before moving on to the next page, and I'm not particularly a B/A fan. Equally bleak is the A/T story Hide and Seek by Kate Singer, an exceprt from a novella in progress but it reads perfectly well on its own. I felt quite moved by this one, despite the fact that I usually find Tarrant very tiresome. The only straight story, if you discount Ms Shannon's second story featuring Avon as solo artiste, features Avon and Cally after Anna's death. Both these and all the other stories are excellent. If you like anguish, this is a zine for you. My own favourite in B7 is Vila, who makes a negligible appearance here; nevertheless this remains one of my favourite zines. What more can I say?

Contents

Fiction:

Tashery Shannon, "Remembrance" (A/B)
Marie Blackpool, "Cindervila" (A/V AU)
Catherine Salmon, "Death Duel" (gen)
Alicia Ann Fox, "To Darkness and to Me" (A/C)
Vanessa Mullen, "For Nothing" (A/B)
The Satanic Twoba, "Assassin's Assignation" (A/Se, humor)
Catherine Salmon, "The Power of Love" (A/B)
Kate Singer, "Hide and Seek" (post-A/B A/Ta)
Tashery Shannon, "Private Amusements" (A/?)
Marie Blackpool, "Apogee" (A/B)

Poetry:

Amethyst Lane, "Look at Me" (A/B)
Robin Hood, "Burnt Soul" (A/B)
Robin Hood, "Fragile Perfection" (A/B)
Robin Hood, "Island of Time" (A/B)


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