Number 5, January 1999

Cover illustration by Alfred L. Jones

Reprint

Mark Leslie's "Browsers" appears in the collection One Hand Screaming from Stark Publishing.

Honourable Mention

Tangent Online ran a poll for the favourite magazine cover of 1999. The Challenging Destiny Number 5 cover didn't finish in the top 10, but it was an honour to be included in the poll.

Reviews

Jim Bennett, on the New Hope International Review web site, says "The whole magazine is a good read and a visual treat."

Greg L. Johnson reviews this issue on the Tangent web site. Here's what he says about "The Red Sled" by D. Sandy Nielsen: "The story does a good job of revealing its mysteries piece by piece, leading the reader through a situation that is at first comic, then farcical, and finally tragic."

D. M. Yorton, in Writers Hall (May 1999), says "This zine is one of the classiest zines I have ever got a chance to look at... The stories were a strong mixture of science fiction or fantasy... Another big thumbs up."

Here are some sneak previews of the stories you'll find in the fifth issue of Challenging Destiny:

The Red Sled by D. Sandy Nielsen illustrated by Anne Kushnick	Ever since the change, Jules Klausman has driven his rig along the endless roads, stopping only to eat, sleep, and make his deliveries. It's a lonely life, but he tries to make the best of it. And he tries not to think about why...
The Lost Japanese Years of Antonio Stradivari by Anne Louise Johnson illustrated by Chris Jouan	Oita and her brothers and children are happy living in the homes that Master Antonio builds for them. They feel the singing of the strings, and they eat the mites and rosin dust to keep their homes clean. But one day Master Merchant from America takes them away against their will...
In the Land of the Free by Carol W. Berman illustrated by Laramie Sasseville	Trishi is proud of her father, a renowned civil rights attorney who had proven that robots were capable of consciousness. When her dog Springer runs away, he is found by X-T 380, a client of her father's. X-T 380 brings Springer back, but he has some startling news about the dog...
The Dragon of Thistledown by B. R. Bearden illustrated by Craig Jennion	The people of Thistledown had never seen a dragon before. So when one arrives at their village, they are understandably afraid. Except for Tawny, who boldy marches up to meet the huge creature. It turns out that the dragon is friendly, and has been wounded by a knight who's on his way to finish him off...
illustration for The Dragon of Thistledown by Craig Jennion
Browsers by Mark Leslie illustrated by Janet Chui	Browsing in a used bookstore is a favourite pastime of many book lovers. They can browse for hours, and may or may not make some purchases at the end of that time. But there's one store where things don't work that way...
Night on Bear Mountain by Hugh Cook illustrated by Jason Walton	Roy Pajelva is a teacher at Clean Start House, and jumps at the chance to take some of his big-city students hiking at a virtual mountain. Nothing can go wrong, because they're not really there. But one of the students impossibly gets hypothermia, and there's no way out until morning... Read the complete text here.
illustration for Night on Bear Mountain by Jason Walton
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2001 and All the Years After review by James Schellenberg	The year 2001 has been associated with Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey since 1968. Clarke and Kubrick's unique collaboration produced one of the most famous science fiction novels, and the movie that all SF movies would look to for the next quarter-century. Everyone knows HAL's last speech: "Stop, Dave. What are you doing?" But what does it all mean? James reviews the four novels, two movies, and the short story "The Sentinel."
Interview with Robert J. Sawyer interview by James Schellenberg & David M. Switzer	Robert J. Sawyer has published ten novels, and won many awards, including the Nebula for The Terminal Experiment. His books have been published in several languages, and movie rights to two of his novels have recently been purchased. He was recently the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and his latest novel is Factoring Humanity.
So What If Apes Can Use Language? editorial by David M. Switzer	Experiments with great apes using sign language have been conducted since the 1960s. Dave gives some examples of these experiments, and asserts that they have been a success -- the apes have indeed learned a language. He then explores the implications of this -- should the great apes have more rights than they currently do?

Last modified: December 2, 2001

Copyright © 1999 by Crystalline Sphere Publishing