Tebo is a Christian writer of magical stories full of excitement, grit, and a few laughs as well. She seems to gravitate toward romantic comedy retellings of popular fairy tales; and Issue 1 is a nice sampling of this genre.
Her indie publishing venture is T Spec Fiction and this quarterly e-zine contains clean, speculative fiction for YA and MG readers (though adults will enjoy the stories as I did, I'm sure).
I was given a free copy of the zine so that I might share a review here and on Goodreads and Amazon. Here are my thoughts on each of the 7 stories in this issue.
* Rendezvous - a
cute vignette (a slice of a larger story) featuring a defector's accidental
escape from custody. The writing is wry and succinct. Not a bad bit of flash
fiction. Has a steampunk feel to it.
* One Last Shot -
also a short scene (not a full blown story), featuring another escape but this
time done with ingenuity and bravery against a robot guard. Would like to know
more about this space opera world; how the protag got involved with her new alien
friend whom she helped break out of prison.
* The Queen’s Cure –
a bit longish ‘fantasy world vs modern machines’ story, where the traitor to
the kingdom advances his science against the realm’s reliance on the Fae. Quite
tragic and thematic. The queen employs a long forgotten remedy to save her
people, but at what cost?
* Treachery Aboard The
Nautilus – probably my favorite story, a pastiche of what happens right after
Nemo’s victory over the giant squid in 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea. Imaginative, well written, with a nice resolution. A
new story in a familiar world is a risk for a writer, but this one works.
* Seven Strong – A
fairytale reimagining of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in a steam punk,
robotic, business conglomerate world. Had a hard time getting into this one,
but maybe because I never particularly cared for the original story and the
re-told setting was just too unusual a mash-up for me.
* Night Raid On The
Zone, Part 1 – I have to admit I skimmed this one knowing it was the
initial installment of a serial novel and is to be continued in future episodes.
I usually want to read a novel as is and not one chapter at a time over time. The premise looked interesting, though.
* The
Trent-Featherstone Journals: Episode 1 – This, too, is a serial but this first
episode is intriguing. “Victorian ladies fending off hungry dinosaurs on the
planet Venus” is how another reviewer put it. I like it. Steam punk, sci-fi,
fantastic adventure. If this ever develops into a full novel, I’d probably want
to read the whole thing.
So, five stories and two continuing stories make up this
first issue. Great concept, overall. Clean and mostly wholesome (PG’ish) with
some tragedy, tension, and thought-provoking themes. If you want to support
indie projects, this is a good one to look into.
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