Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #200 by Scott H. Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The four vividly imagined worlds in these four fantasy stories are populated by characters on journeys through time and space, their loyalty to existing systems sorely tested, similar in their resolve to see their way through, but different in the complexities of their own unique personalities and how they forge ahead.
The world-building in each story is stunning. “The Limitless Perspective of Master Peek, or, the Luminescence of Debauchery” is set in 17th Century Europe, yet causes the reader to contemplate modern privacy and surveillance. The vaguely alien and technological realm of “The Judgment of Gods and Monsters” complicates the aftermath of hard-fought-for peace. The rugged mountains and snows of “Shadow’s Weave” provide setting for a tale of stormy, dedicated love. The scarcity of water in “Laws of Night and Silk” leads to armies on battlefields led by wizards and their most precious weapons.
At the end of each story, sometimes resolved and sometimes not quite, the created world and their extraordinary people linger. What an incredible magazine!
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