Why you can trust GamesRadar+
Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
Author: Kelly Link
Publisher: Harper Perennial
286 pages • £7.99
Article continues below
ISBN: 0-00724-200-X
Jeremy's father is a novelist and recreational shoplifter. He writes about spiders and murdered poodles, and one of the problems with being around him is that he always guesses the end of TV programmes. Jeremy’s mother was raised by feral silent movie stars. Well, possibly… At least, that’s what Jeremy’s father says.
Jeremy’s friend Elizabeth sits on the roof with Jeremy, watching stars and trying to spot the constellations. Jeremy can’t remember if he invited her or she invited him, or even if he’s meant to be kissing her, or if they’re just friends.
Life’s complicated like that.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Although it’s less complicated than the plotline for Fox, a pirate post-Buffy series that shows up randomly on those cable channels usually found full of static and fuzz. Watching episodes of Fox is what draws Jeremy and his friends together. And Fox is serious, particularly now Prince Wing has been turned into a porcelain teapot by magicians, smashed to pieces and buried inside a cigar box in the Angela Carter Memorial Library…
Magic For Beginners is a collection of short stories, and you’ll either love it or really, really hate it. Dogs are turned into handbags. A horror fan breaks into a writer’s house and leaves a novel about the Titanic, written from the iceberg’s point of view. People win Scrabble with the names of countries that might once have existed. And while it’s okay for a girl to fool around with some guy, she really shouldn’t spend the night, because a hundred years might have passed when morning comes.
This is fiction as... what? Cross-cultural lash-up? Insane zombie video mix? If so, why is it so coherent when it meshes pop TV, urban American life and European fairytales? God knows, but you need nerves of steel to write this well. A frighteningly original collection of stories from a frighteningly original voice.
SFX Magazine is the world's number one sci-fi, fantasy, and horror magazine published by Future PLC. Established in 1995, SFX Magazine prides itself on writing for its fans, welcoming geeks, collectors, and aficionados into its readership for over 25 years. Covering films, TV shows, books, comics, games, merch, and more, SFX Magazine is published every month. If you love it, chances are we do too and you'll find it in SFX.
