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Paradox [magazine]

Entry updated 19 February 2024. Tagged: Publication.

1. Romanian magazine. See Romania.

2. US Semiprozine of historical and speculative fiction, published by Paradox Publications, Brooklyn, New York and edited by Christopher Cevasco; 13 issues, Spring 2003 to Spring 2009, twelve as print issues, letter-size on good quality but non-slick stock, plus issue #4 (Spring 2004) only downloadable online. The magazine sought to bring together what might at first seem to be the two disparate fields of historical fiction and speculative fiction – the latter encompassing science fiction, fantasy and horror. Both Cevasco's editorial in the first issue and Greg Beatty's article "Models of History in Science Fiction" (Spring 2003) sought to show what a close relationship the two fields share (see History in SF) both directly, in terms of Time Travel or Alternate History but also in terms of the iconography of Mythology particularly in the imagery of King Arthur, for example, or the ancient Greek myths and legends (see Mythology). The first issue had a wide range of examples across the spectrum, from straight historical fiction to an episode of Arthurian myth ("Grail Knight" by Wendy A Shaffer) to exploring the impact of ancient artefacts on the present ("The Chalk Giant" by Ian Creasey) to raising questions about the real nature of history versus memory versus reality ("The Mnemosyne Deviation" by James C Stewart). Each issue, usually adorned with a classic painting as a cover, explored history through myth, fantasy or alternate history, questioning how much of history is of our own construction. Contributors included Cherith Baldry, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Charles Coleman Finlay, Eugie Foster, Darrell Schweitzer, Brian Stableford and Carrie Vaughn, and there were also articles about or Interviews with Bernard Cornwell, Robert E Howard, Harold Lamb and Connie Willis. Paradox was an attractive and original magazine that considered re-interpretations of history. However, it failed to raise enough financial support to continue. [MA]

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