I didn't much care for the long story that makes up #3, in which the Liberator crew encounter a dear little blonde girl who says remarkably precocious things. But there is some good stuff in #2. My favorites were two Tarrant stories: "Fade to Black" by Marilynne Cromarty, in which Tarrant comforts Avon after Rumours in a very believable, no-nonsense Alpha way; and "Sojourn" by Daniel Murphy, in which Tarrant has a brief encounter with Jenna. The Avon/Anna poems by Marilynne Cromarty were nice too.
At last I have seen #1 of the Australian zine =Gambit=, which preceded the well-known American zine of the same name.
This is a pretty good zine, worth keeping an eye out for. Interestingly, it has a number of positive Tarrant stories, perhaps due to the influence of Tarrant fan Monica Mitchell. (BTW, I'm still in search of her novel =Thomas Wolfe Was Right=, aparently a pre-series story involving an ocf, Travis, and Jarvik. I'd particularly like to know whether it's gen or adult.)
I was very taken with the illo on p. 2 showing Tarrant being tortured, but the story it accompanied wasn't particularly wallowy; it was more a semi-comic treatment of the disappointment of the torturer when his victims all escaped.
Fiction:
Erin Warelle, "Time's Winged Chariot" (S3)
Robin Walker, "Third Time Lucky" (S2, post-Hostage)
Monica Mitchell, "Happy Birthday" (S0; Se)
Monica Mitchell, "About a Natural Man" (S3, post-Harvest; Tarrant)
Theresa De Gabrielle, "After the End" (alt-S4, A-B)
Monica Mitchell, "An Image Passing By" (S3; Ta-Deeta)
Pat De Voss, "The Reason" (S3)
Anonymous, "Dementia, by two of its victims" (S3, humor)
Daniel Murphy, "Pitfall" (S2, post-Weapon)
Beth Lange, "A Different Kind of Freedom" (alt-S4; A-B)
Poetry:
Jenny Stewart, "Ode to a Fanaticist" (Bayban)
Carolyn Hughes, "Mutant"
Lynda Hortley, "Avon's Thoughts"
A. E. Walker, "Musings of a Super-Computer"
Robin Walker, "Gentle Persuasion" (A-V)
Monica Mitchell, "And There'll Be Silence Ever After"
(S3, Deathwatch; Max-Deeta)
Nonfiction:
Theresa and Robin, Editorial
Art:
Greg Franklin cover A, B, Liberator
p. 2 Ta; illo for "Time's"
p. 8 Liberator
p. 66 B
p. 69 B-A; illo for "A Different"
Mike Champ p. 5 V-ocm; illo for "Time's"
p. 32 spaceship
p. 58 avocado & aardvark; illo for "Dementia"
p. 68 illo for "A Different"
Harvey A. Kong Tin p. 15 J
p. 19 A
p. 20 V
p. 40 Liberator
p. 54 A
Esther Mace p. 28 Se
p. 30 Se
p. 52 A
Robin Walker p. 17 B
Fiction:
Jenny Stewart, "Not For Thy Faults, But Mine..." (S3, pre-Rumours)
Cathy Lynn Goodwin, "All Things Equal..." (S2; A-B-ocm)
Justine Webb-Eliott, "Flake's Seven Strikes Back (or Nearly)" (S3; humor)
Moira Dahlberg, "The Long Past" (S3; past A/Se); later
reprinted in THE STAR CHANGE (AU, 1983?)
Robin Walker, "The Truth of the Matter" (S0; Tr; humor)
Marilynne Cromarty, "Fade to Black" (S3, post-Rumours; A)
Cathy Lynn Goodwin, "Unguarded Moment" (S2-S3; A-B)
Daniel Murphy, "Sojourn" (S3; Ta-J)
Poetry:
Monica Mitchell, "Born Without Love" (A/C)
Linda Mitchell, "Freedoms" (Z)
Jenny Stewart, "A Fool's Tirade" (A-V)
Yvonne S. Hintz, "Orac"
Marilynne Cromarty, untitled (S0; A/Anna, Anna's POV)
Marilynne Cromarty, untitled (S0; A/Anna, A's POV)
Daniel Murphy, "Out-take" (f, Windmills of Your Mind; S1; humor)
Art:
Mike Champ cover C, J
p. 4 V
p. 22 space battle
p. 40 A-Se-ocf; illo for "The Long Past"
p. 47 pursuit ship
p. 55 A sleeping
Harvey A. Kong Tin p. 2 C
p. 33 C
p. 43 Se
Bug p. 6 C
p. 45 O
p. 52 graphic border; Anna
p. 56 graphic border; A
Yvonne Hintz p. 8 A-B-ocm; illo for "All Things"
p. 10 illo for "All Things"
p. 58 B
p. 59 A
p. 60 Ta
Greg Franklin p. 15 cartoon illo for "Flake's"
p. 17 A-Se; cartoon illo for "Flake's"
p. 19 A; cartoon illo for "Flake's"
p. 50 cartoon illo for "The Truth"
p. 62 cartoon illo for "Out-take"
Publisher: New Horizons (club; Victoria, Australia)
Date: September 1982
Format: A4, [2] + 66 pp., white card covers, side staples
Art, all by Mike Champ, all illos:
cover Liberator, landscape, ocf
p. 4 A fighting ocm (full page)
p. 10 Ta-D
p. 16 V-ocs
p. 19 A-V
p. 27 Liberator
p. 28 landscape (full page)
p. 31 Ta-D; illo (full page)
p. 35 Liberator (full page)
p. 44 A-ocs
p. 51 O
p. 54 C-ocf
p. 66 ocf-Liberator
Last updated on 20th of March 1999.