[DL] Science Fiction & Fantasy [REVIEW: CIVIL WAR FANTASTIC EDITED BY MARTIN H. GREE

["Heivilin, Jim" <banzai@missouri.edu>]

Looks like this one may be of interest to DL players and marshals. 
Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: TipWorld [mailto:tipworld@boing.topica.com]
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 10:59 AM
To: tipworld-scififan@topica.com
Subject: Science Fiction & Fantasy [REVIEW: CIVIL WAR FANTASTIC EDITED
BY MARTIN H. GREE


T I P W O R L D 
http://www.tipworld.com   
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S C I E N C E   F I C T I O N   &   F A N T A S Y 
October 13th, 2000 
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TODAY'S TIP: REVIEW: CIVIL WAR FANTASTIC EDITED BY MARTIN H. GREENBERG 
 
 
Civil War Fantastic 
Martin H. Greenberg, editor 
Daw Books (320 pages) 

Battlefields are full of ghosts. War is full of inexplicable events. 
And America is full of Civil War buffs. Bring these thoughts together 
and the result is an anthology, "Civil War Fantastic" (2000), full of 
happenings and hauntings behind both the Yankees' and the Rebels' 
lines.  

Alternate-history treatments of the Civil War abound, but this book's 
approach is different. Few of the stories here show history being 
changed. Instead, editor Martin H. Greenberg provides a spectrum of 
bizarre events--tales that would never have made it into war 
dispatches even if they had occurred. Gettysburg, with its 40,000 
casualties, is the site of several. Two stories set there are among my 
favorites: Nancy Springer's "Martial," in which the ghost of a noble 
battle horse spooks a plodding pinto gelding; and David Bischoff's 
"The Last Full Measure," which attempts to show the unseen influences 
upon Abraham Lincoln as he writes the Gettysburg address. 

In James H. Cobb's "Hex 'Em John," a back-country conjure man 
"liberates" some rifles for his ill-equipped company, then plays 
things his own way until he meets his match on the other side. "Loose 
Upon the Earth a Daemon," by Tim Waggoner, features reserve troops 
built out of animated corpses. Catherine Asaro and Mike Resnick show 
war's aftermath in the West with a haunting at "Boot Hill." "News From 
the Long Mountains," by Gary A. Braunbeck and Lucy A. Snyder, bridges 
the time-space gap between Antietam and Vietnam with an encounter in a 
foggy no-man's land. 

As one would expect from an anthology focusing on the bloodiest war in 
American history, many of the included stories will make readers 
shudder. But others have hopeful endings, and a touch of humor even 
surfaces in a few. Whichever outlook you prefer--and regardless of 
your ancestors' allegiance--there's likely to be a story here that 
speaks to you. 

"Civil War Fantastic" 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0886779030/tipworld 
 
 
 
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