Southern Seven #8

Mini Review By Sarah Thompson

This issue and #9 were really a kind of double issue, since they were published simultaneously.

There's another mystery illo in this issue-- a nice portrait of Vila, on p. 57. I wondered whether it might perhaps be by the author of the story it accompanies, "Face from the Past," since sketches of Vila are mentioned in the story.

In addition to Vila's tragic past romance in "Face," he gets a current romance in "Lady's Choice," complete with a very romantic illo. Avon is paired off with an original female character in the two stories by Annita K. Smith. I had the feeling that the first of these was itself a sequel to some other story, but I can't remember seeing such a story anywhere.

Vickie's cross-gendered stories are among the special features of this issue. Also noteworthy is Jane Mailander's "Avon Underground," which manages to utilize all of the story contest illos from the previous issue by presenting them as the hallucinations of a drugged Avon. Very ingenious! This author, BTW, is another of the fan writers who's in the process of going pro; I know she's had some SF stories published, although I don't have the details.

I was rather struck by "Ripple Effect," a PWB in which a young lady with an unrequited crush on Avon summons up a demon to curse him with a terrible life. This sounds rather silly, but the emotions that the story evokes are very powerful.

I also especially liked Angela Reese's filk, "The Andromedan War Anthem," to the tune of "Memory." It's such a different POV.

"Bipeds!
Your appearance disgusts us!
Such a primitive life form
You do not deserve life."

etc.

Contents

Editor: Ann Wortham
Publisher: Ashton Press (Altamonte Springs, FL)
Date: May 1994

Fiction:
Roberta L. Brown "Ripple Effect" (S0; uc A/ocf)
CarolMel Ambassador, "Candidate" (S0; B)
Shoshanna, "Yet Another Garden Paradise" (S2;
crossover with song "Little Fuzzy Animals" by Frank Hayes)
Peggy Hartsook, "Wilderness Sojourn" (S2)
Beth Masterson, "Face from the Past" (S1?; V's daughter)
Alicia Ann Fox, "History Will Teach Us Nothing" (S1?; "an exercise in cross-gender casting")
Alicia Ann Fox, "Free for All" (S1?; "a story concurrent with 'History Will Teach Us Nothing'")
Amy L. Hull, "The Paths of Glory Lead But to the Grave" (S2; Pressure Point; C)
Rebecca Ann Brothers, "A Womb of One's Own" (B/J)
Leokadija, "Lady's Choice" (S1; V/ocf)
Joelle Augustine, "A Terrible Thing to Waste" (A/C)
Kaye Dunham, "The Starborn" (S3)
Jane Mailander, "Avon's Adventures Underground" (S4; alt-post-Orbit)
Dana Morez, "All That Glitters" (S4)
Sophia Mulvey, "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream" (S5-S0; A)
Roberta L. Brown, "Probability Factor" (S5; HHGG crossover; humor)
Annita K. Smith, "Precious Vengeance" (S5; A/ocf)
Annita K. Smith, "The Treasure Outside the Door"(S5; A/ocf; sequel to "Precious Vengeance")
Melody Clark, "The Best Is Yet to Be" (S5)

Nonfiction:
Letters of Comment
Kaye Dunham, "Blakes Seven Test"
Fellina Archer, "All I Needed to Know About the Universe
I Learned from Blake's 7" (quotes)
Kaye Dunham, "Dome Shopping Club Catalogue" (humor)
Sophia Mulvey, "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream" (S5-S0; A/Anna)
Ann Wortham and Leah Rosenthal, "Quotes from 'It's Howdy Duty Time!'" (humor)

Poetry:
Jacqui Topp, "Half a Soul"
K. Avon, "Rebellion on Their Minds" (f, Too Much Heaven on Their Minds, from Jesus Christ Superstar)
Jacqui Topp, "Somewhere"
Kathryn Andersen, "Extermination"
Jacqui Topp, "A Sound Like Thunder"
Sharyn Sobel, "Searches" (f, Is Anybody There, from 1776)
Angela Reese, "Hiding Scared" (f, Be Prepared, by Tom Lehrer)
Angela Reese, "Wake Up, C'mon Vila" (f, Wake Up, Little Susie)
Rebecca Ann Brothers, "Eternal Champion"
Angela Reese, "The Andromedan War Anthem" (f, Memory, from Cats)
Rebecca Ann Brothers, "Non Omis [sic] Moriar (I shall not wholly die)"
Rebecca Ann Brothers, "An Idealist Appeals to a Cynic"
Angela Reese, "Avon by My Side" (f, Take Me Home, Country Roads, by John Denver)
Jenny Hayward, "A Blake's 7 Alphabet"
Angela Reese, "Decisions, Decisions" (f, Silver Bells)
Jane Mailander, "Hunter and Prey (For Two Voices)" (A-V, Orbit)
Jacqui Topp, "The Game"
Jane Mailander, "White Rebel, or Terminal Trip" (f, White Rabbit, by Jefferson Airplane)
Jane Mailander, "Vila's Condemnation, or The Price for Not Asking the RIght Question"
Jacqui Topp, "Journey's End"
Kathryn Andersen, "DSV"
Rebecca Ann Brothers, "Be All My Sins Remembered"
Jane Mailander, "Merrit" (f, Challenge, by Julia Ecklar; Last Stand universe)
Rebecca Ann Brothers, "Knight Tarrant"
Teresa Ward, "The Pilot's Prayer"

Art: Leah Rosenthal front c. C-V; color
p. 4 Bart Avon cartoon
p. 8 Sopron cartoon
p. 118 A as croupier cartoon
p. 177 PGP cartoon (A,B,V,Ta)
Mariann Howarth p. 3 V as angel cartoon
p. 33 V and eyes
p. 112 V, A with pie in face
p. 116 A & cat
Jane Mailander p. 9 Bloom County cartoon
p. 11 Bloom County cartoon
p. 138 Bloom County cartoon
p. 144 Bloom County cartoon
Melody Rondeau p. 15 Mad Tea Party cartoon
p. 122 (another) Mad T. P. cartoon
? p. 57 V
MaryAnn Jorgensen p. 74 C
Leigh Motooka p. 91 V/ocf; illo for "Lady's"
p. 120 A-Ta
Adrian Morgan p. 107 V
Judith Kitzes p. 41 V; illo for "Wilderness"
p. 45 A-B; illo for "Wilderness"
p. 148 A; illo for "Precious"
Samantha Hayman p. 93 V napping
Todd Parrish p. 65 J
p. 175 D
Kathryn Andersen back c. A


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