Review of Challenging Destiny
Number 3, July 1998

This review is by Ken M Ellison, from New Hope International Review. It appears here with the permission of the editor, Gerald England.

Challenging Destiny #3

A magazine of New Fantasy & Science Fiction. With rather more of the former than the later.

Dragons; who many believe should be confined, along with unicorns, to children's fairy stories, appear to be the mainstay of most of the stories here.

Of the two dragon free yarns I slightly preferred THE EIGHTEENTH VOW by Bonnie Blake to the more Boy's Own adventure type yarn ATLAS AND THE ALCHEMIST by R.A. Vanderwoude.

Of more interest, were the Star Trek orientated editorial by David M. Switzer, long may the force be with him, and the poignant account/review by James Schellenberg of one of S/F's great writers of the past the renowned Polish polymath Stanislaw Lem, where mention of that author's SOLARIS helped refresh my memory of that profound and powerful novel.

If only the fiction here had been anywhere near as good. Worth supporting though, with a strong editorial team and some good illustrators, the magazine can only improve.

Last modified: January 26, 2004

Copyright © 1998 by New Hope International