Son And Foe 1 and 2
01/03/2007 . Source: Joules Taylor 
e-download and website. Pub: Son And Foe. Price: £3.00 (UK) per download issue although free to read on-line. check out website: www.sonandfoe.com www.sonandfoe.com
The review CD contains both issues one and two and it's a thoroughly entertaining if mixed bunch of...things: short stories, reviews, mp3s, mpgs, and even a 28 chapter novel.
There are a LOT of stories in issue one, 460 pdf pages of them. I read a few at random and was impressed with the quality. I particularly enjoyed Megan Crewe's 'The Alien And The Tree' and 'East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon' by Von Carr, poignant and beautiful stories both. Michael Canfield's 'Super Villains' had me chuckling wryly. Then there's the extraordinary 'A Buildup Of Days' by Tina Connolly. There's something here to appeal to all tastes and I shall be going back to read the rest in the very near future.
The idea of including samples of the music or visual work being reviewed is very good, even if only so the recipient can disagree with the reviewer! Although I did rather like the two 'Thee More Shallows' sample tracks.
I didn't enjoy issue two quite as much. Most of it consists of the novel, 'The Spriggan Mirror', and I only read a few pages of the novel before giving up, it being simply not my sort of thing. Not that it's not well-written. It is. But wizard fantasies just don't appeal and a story where the perfectly ordinary provider of wizard supplies is approached by a mysterious woman and asked to go on a quest doesn't have enough originality to grab my attention, even if it is to the other side of the world. Maybe it became more exciting further in, but I didn't get that far.
There is a great article in this edition, though. '100 Movies You Should Have Seen'. The introduction itself is amusing: 'I have a large number of friends that are odd. Some of them are just plain weird, some of them come from backgrounds like mine which left them far-removed from the normal realm of experience, and some of them just ignore the world around them because they're spacey like that. For whatever reason, I often find myself talking about movies and being blindsided by a simple statement that seems to keep cropping up: "I haven't seen that."'
The list includes everything from 'The Princess Bride' through 'Akira' and 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' to 'Tremors' and 'Hellraiser'. The writer isn't claiming that these are the best films, just implying that your education is somewhat lacking if you haven't seen at least half of them. (I've seen nearly all of them and have quite a few on DVD.) Well worth a look!
There's also a series of mp3s, tracks from The Light Footwork's album 'One State Two State'. I can't really comment with any authority (I'm a Muse/Spinal Tap/Rainbow/Beethoven sort of person) except to say that it's pleasant enough, tuneful, has what sounds to me like a Country and Western feel to it. It will no doubt appeal to people who like that sort of thing. (Unfortunately C&W is one of my least favourite musical genres, so I don't.)
The pdf and multimedia formats won't suit everyone. I'm not fond of pdf files, personally, though they're used very well here and anyone using an old computer may find the load times lagging annoyingly. Overall, though, 'Son & Foe' is really excellent value for money. Exciting, thought-provoking, funny and occasionally shocking. I'm particularly pleased that the website offers samples, so you have some idea of what you're getting before you buy (which would have saved me buying issue two, had I been buying in the first place!) The cover art is beautiful, as well. Heartily recommended for just about anyone.
Joules Taylor
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