The Zin Letters are a semi-professional 'zine from The Kalikos Society - The Finnish Glorantha Society. Finland has, for a long time, had quite a significant attachment to Glorantha and the related games that have been published with that setting; I remember being quite unsurprised to discover that there was, for example, an edition of third edition RuneQuest published in Finnish, which is hardly what one would consider a widespread language (although I was quite delighted and amused to discover its use in East Timor). With my knowledge of said language sadly lacking, it is indeed fortunate that the publication is available, and written very competently I may add, in English.

I was provided two copies of The Zin Letters, issues 2 and 3, for review which came in at a good size (44 and 52 pages, respectively). The saddle-stapled 'zine came with colour gloss covers and a good stock matte paper in black and white. The layout is normally two or three column justified with a serif font for text and sans-serif for headings. The artwork is semi-professional, by which I mean perspectives are often a little odd and, in the second issue at least, sometimes lacking in detail. This said, some of the artwork is certainly at the quality of that found in professional publications (especially that by Juha Makkenon) and shows an improving talent; I particularly liked the cover (front and back) of the third issue, featuring Orlanth and the mountain Kero Fin (I think). Another aesthetic element of note are the various maps which are of good quality.

The real strength of The Zin Letters however is the content. With a consistently collection of well-written articles of just the right length on Gloranthan settings and themes, a GM or player of said setting with find a wealth of information and inspiration which are clearly orientated towards actual play. For example, the second issue, in dealing with the theme of the conflict between ideals and reality in Glorantha, provided articles on three disparate locations within this common issue; the city of Lur Nop in Kralorela, the only place that allows foreigners., the troubled state of chivalry in Loskalm, with detail on the province of Easval, the City of Ease, and the order, the Brotherhood of Siglat's True Light. In comparison the third issue concentrated entirely on Far Place, where small Orlanthi communities exist between regions controlled by Sky Gods and Darkness Gods. Whilst dealing with a fairly grim setting, there is also a light-hearted - although, again detailed - treatment of Orlanthi sweat lodges.

Whilst my Gloranthan expertise is by no means perfect, I did not detect any glaring contradictions between what was published in the two issues and what counts as official Gloranthan history. Besides, as Greg Stafford invariably introduces any discussion on the matter: YGWV (Your Glorantha Will Vary). This said, the content does not deal with material of earth-shattering import to the Gloranthan milleu; the target, quite evidently, is to provide modest but extremely useful contributions to the shared universe.

Overall, I am fairly impressed with The Zin Letters. It is a worthy addition to a long history of quality Gloranthan-based 'zines including Wyrms Footnotes, Tales of the Reaching Moon etc. If I do have a significant criticism it is that subscriptions to the 'zine are not available in PDF form, which in this day and age is very influential for anyone on the other side of the world when considering a subscription. Nevertheless my overall impressions are good, and I look forward to hearing how future issues develop.