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Realms of Fantasy
Studio : Sovereign Media
by Sovereign Media
Publisher : Sovereign Media
Availability : Usually ships in 2 to 4 months and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25.
Number of Issues : 6
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 13 reviews)
List Price : $23.94
Our Price : $14.95
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Product Description |
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Covers fantasy, Arthurian sagas, ancient myths, contemporary fantasy, and features fantasy artists, movie reviews, new computer games, board, card, and role-playing games. |
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Perfect Mag |
Every issue of this mag has a great cover and some excellent artwork within. I used to grab it at the supermarket but its circulation has decreased and I recently bit the bullet and went ahead and subscribed. I'm really glad I did; the issues seem to have only gotten better during the hiatus between the former abundance on shelves and my recent decision to aggressively track a subscription down.
Some of the best new authors are represented with excellent genre fiction and more established authors drop by regularly to contribute a short story or excerpt. All of the writing is very professional and imaginative and the featured interviews and movie close-ups are also highly informative and entertaining. I'd put it up against Analog or Asimov's for textual content anyday, and the production quality, color, art, and layout are decidely superior. I only wish fantasy fans would buy magazines like this one more readily so that we'd have more short stories to read on a monthly basis! Oh, the bygone days of pulp fiction, Wierd Tales, and Omni!
Like a previous reviewer said, this mag retains or even increases its value over the years like a comic book or Dragon Magazine, but if you're like me you probably will be loath to part with any of the issues! |
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Always something to enjoy with RofF |
Boy, looking at the reviews below this one, seems some folks really want INTERZONE covers on every page of their magazine.
Let's get real. Why do we folks who enjoy fantasy buy this--ie, why do *I* and some of my pals buy RoF? Because it covers a nice scope of the genre, so that every month you will find something that grabs you.
Didn't like the artiwork that month? You'll probably like it this month or next better. It changes. Don't like the artwork in stories 1 and 4 and 6. Well, the one on 2 and 3 rocked! Five was okay. Don't like the silly ads for role-playing outfits and games and erotica? Skip em, like I do.
What do I really, really like? The non-fiction stuff is terrific. I can't wait to get to the folklore section and see which topic they cover. I often go back and reread it for reference. A couple of days ago, I was re-reading the one on the subject of the goblin market, cause I want to have that element in my novel-in-progress. I also love the book reviews. I like seeing the covers of the novels in vivid color, instead of icky newsprinty paper and black and white. And I never fail to enjoy the art focus for the issue. But then, I collect fantasy art (the real thing), so I have a soft spot for fantasy artwork of almost all types. Then there's the fiction. I can count on one, at least, of the stories standing out and making me happy. One will always do the trick. Some issues give me more than one.
Shoot, I even enjoy the fiction advertisements. I've bought dozens of books on the basis of cool ads in RoF. The most recent: Firebirds Rising.
I discovered this magazine years ago when the name of one of my fave fantasy authors, Tanith Lee, was in big letters on the cover. I've bought it regularly since. I don't subscribe only because I have a puny-weenie apartment-in-the-city type mailbox, and my magazines always get crushed/bent/folded/messed up. This one is too shiny, colorful and pretty to risk damaging. So, I head to the newsstand for it.
I hope one of my stories ends up published in RoF someday. I would be proud to see it there.
What do I wish it offered that it doesn't? Speculative poetry. So many wonderful speculative poets go a-begging for markets that pay well (ie, beyond the 5 or 10 bucks most offer). Samantha Henderson. Mike Allen. Malcolm Deeley. Deborah Kolodji. Mikal Trimm. And on and on and on. It would be amazingly sweet to see at least one, preferably two or three speculative poems featured in RoF every issue. Sigh.
If you like fantasy, forget the whiny comments about ads and artwork below. Try RoF, read the non-fiction and fiction and check out the gallery focus (artist of the issue). That's what should win you over most of all, anyway.
The SF magazine that's given me a bigger thrill cover-wise is INTERZONE, which also has terrific fiction. But for overall satisfaction through a variety of topics, RoF still rules in my household.
Try it. |
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Not Bad |
I prolly would rate this around a 3, 3.5 but that would almost seem too low. The magazine has a lot of heart, but jeez is it ugly. The art direction throughout the magazine is horrible. Just look at the cover up above, does that speak "Realms of Fanatsy" to you. If you peruse any fanatasy book covers you'll find wonderously crafted art pieces that tell you something about what lay inside the book. The covers on most of these are down right ugly. The inside of the magazine looks like it was layed out by college students as well.
Depsite those flaws though the content is what brings it back up. It has some nice short stories, has lots of fantasy reviews, everything from movies to books to games, and some interesting articles, all fanatasy related. Unforteatly the magazine takes a ridiculously long time to come. I think I ordered this magazine around may if im not mistaken, possibly march, and I have only recieved ONE copy to date (November). I ordered Maximum PC at the same time and have recieved a total of 5 issues of that mag. I know it's published bi-monthly, but jeez. It would also be nice if the magzine had some dungeons and dragons content in it. Stuff on miniatures of game books. D&D is the fanatsy pillar and it's amazing how it doesnt have much pertaining to it.
It sounds like I'm really bashing it, but I just see a lot of potential in what could be a really great fanatasy magazine. From what I can see it has no competition so there's no reason for it not to shine. If anything, get REAL ARTISTS to design covers and images inside the magazine inside of an account exec with a copy of Microsoft Paint. That's the biggest glaring flaw I could find. But if you're a fan of fantasy then this is a great magazine being it's saving grace is content. |
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I would be embarrassed to be seen with this magazine |
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I think they try hard, but this is just a bad magazine. I read alot of science fiction and fantasy, and really enjoy fantasy artwork ala the Spectrum series of books. I ordered this magazine in hopes of some good reading and especially artwork. Not so much of either here. It comes about every two months, the short stories are amateur. the artwork is OK and once in a while they will have an interesting item or two, but overall not so good. The worst part of this magazine in my opinon is the advertising. Apparently alot of people who read what appear to be really bad erotic vampire fiction romances or something. With all the good fiction out there its somewhat odd to find a majority of the advertising in this magazine devoted to erotic fantasy books put out by small time publishers who specialize in that genre. I guess I can't blame them for needing advertising to stay afloat. In summary, poor stories, OK artwork but little of it, and a ton of erotic vampire/fantasy ads. In my opinon steer clear, its just not worth the money. |
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All Fantasy |
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For those of you who prefer fantasy over science fiction, this is the magazine to subscribe to. It has on average five to eight stories every two months with plenty of columns to read, such as book reviews, video games reviews, and folklore. A must have for writers of fantasy. |
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