Mad Scientist Journal: Autumn 2012 by Dawn Vogel

Mad Scientist Journal: Autumn 2012 Reviews

• 
  Lys

  Thank you to Making Connections and the author for providing me witha free copy of this book to read and review.
  
  I put off writing this review for a long time, just because I wasn't really sure how to convey my reactions. The book is a mixed bag - it is fantastically varied, which is excellent for a reader but sad for a reviewer.
  
  I have a hard time reviewing anthologies. Do I take about each work individually, the piece as a whole, the author I loved or the story that "sold" it for me?
  
  As a whole, this is a brilliant compilation. The concept is fun and the layout "sells" the idea. Reading about the author (both functional and non) at the end of each segment was one of my favorite parts. The whole of the story was quirky and fun.
  
  Also, look at that cover. That's an amazing cover. It made me want to read it the moment I saw it.
  
  When I read the first article, "Financial strategies for innovative researchers" I thought, oh. This is going to be fun. It set a nice standard. It wasn't laugh out loud funny, but ti was amusing in that quiet giggle that doesn't actually escape as noise.
  Two stories later, "Coda" had a completely different vibe, a little creepy and somewhat "mad" and violent - and thoroughly enjoyable, despite being very different. It was followed by another of similar (but lessened) creepiness and I thought, well, maybe I was wrong about the "mood" of the piece. But then there was "The Perils of Self-Mummification" and the "Turkey of Frankenstein" which brought back the humor of the early impression but kept that off-kilter creepy feel. The whole of the book was like this. It developed and built on itself. It was everything one expects from mad scientists - humor, madness, creepiness, occasional violence, some bumbling, some genius, some sociopathic behavior, and some thought-provoking and dismal truths. Mixed bag. A beautiful, multi-faceted mixed bag.
  And funny. And sad. And creepy. And brilliant.
  
  For me, it took a while to read, because of the shifts in mood and subject matter. It seemed like the kind of piece one would want to read in segments, in between things, as a breather rather than try to power through.
  
  It was a fun read. I'll definitely be checking out more of these.
• 
  Cobwebby Eldritch Reading Reindeer

  Review of Mad Scientist Journal Autumn 2012
  5 stars
  
  The same winning tongue-in-cheek humour of the first issue of Mad Scientist Journal (Summer 2012) is present again in this issue, a truly delightful set of perspectives on Fringe Science, from the inside looking out. I even laughed out loud throughout some of the “articles,” particularly “Financial Strategies for Innovative Researchers” (reader, do not be fooled by the title: this is a hilarious essay on how “innovative researchers”-read fringe scientists and inventors-can find appropriate financing) and “On the Perils of Self-Mummification” (or, how far will a scientist go in the pursuit of revenge?). “Turkey of Frankenstein” is another hilarious entry, which must be read to be believed and properly enjoyed.
  
  This issue offers in addition to the fringe sciences, science fiction (for example, “Heart of the Warrior”) and sci-fantasy (“Military Applications of Magical Beings” and “Doctor Edmund Huntsfee’s Perilous Expedition into the Heart of the Flood Plains”) plus an advice column (“Ask Dr. Synthia”) and those truly wonderful and delightful Classified Ads, for all those items Innovative Researchers and Fringe Scientists just can’t be without.