My overall take on Jim Baen’s Universe was quite positive. I think I can safely say that every story had its strong points to think on, and every story engaged me as a reader. Most the stories went well beyond that feeble praise, however. I’ll not belabor this point, since I have already reviewed each story, and instead just link to the stories’ individual revews and move on with the big picture.
Jon Skovron and Jason D. Wittman
Barbara J. Ferrenz and Edward M. Lerner
S. Andrew Swann and Gregory Benford
So there are the story reviews. The overall illustration quality was good, and often excellent. I was a little surprised to find that several of the illustrators and all three of the newly introduced writers had little or no internet presence. Of course, if they had a common name it is possible that I missed them. If that’s the case, feel free to put a note in the comments and I’ll add the link.
I used the download (pdf), and found it clear and easy to use. One nicety, given the size of the zine, was the page numbering. Not only at the bottom of the page, but also on the tool bar, so I could take note of the page I wanted to come back to, then move the cursor up and down (for instance, if I wanted to see the ToC), and slide the cursor along the tool bar to the page number I wanted when I was finished. Very nice.
In fact, this is the highest concentration of web-based content I’ve taken in, as I usually prefer to read on paper, and I found the experience much better than I could have guessed. Great magazine, good content, I’ve added them to my blogroll and I’ll enjoy recommending the zine to friends and family.
