Thank you for the enlightenment regarding Vulcanis Argens 
One last note, since we expect Sub Rosa #16 in the next couple of days (we had an artist enter twilight on us, but all good now!) and there are still two free copies of Sub Rosa available to anyone willing to review Sub Rosa #15!
Why not share your thoughts on this issue and get the next issue free? Heck, for $4.50, you could potentially end up getting every issue of Sub Rosa we put out from now until we quit-- for free! All you have to do is review the issue!
-Ben.
.. You'd have to repeat the review process for each new issue though, right? Because what that sentence looks like is a warning that Sub Rosa will end soon, and I really hope that's not the case?
Sub Rosa is not ending.
You would need to review each issue as it came out.
Trust me. I want to run Sub Rosa to at least issue #24.
-Ben.
And way beyond that, I hope. 
Well, 16 is out any time now, so let's take 24 as the next big milestone and see where we go from there. Just getting to 24 will probably take a few years, although I suspect issues 17 through 24 won't be quite as big or complex as 16 turned out to be.
I really thought I had reviewed it but it appears that I didn't.
So here is my review for those who care :
Under the rose: a classical review of books. Since I hadn't the chance to own any newer supplement from Contested Isles, I'm sad i couldn't more understand the praise to Faith and Flame.
From the line editor: well it's a bit more centred on a IRL event (grand tribunal UK) so I was not concerned. Since it also speaks of a new book I do not own I'm curious. Sadly my store in Belgium doesn't sell anymore Ars Magica products and the french amazon has no new book 
. (And with the french translation of Ars Magica, which I'm not really interested in, i'm not sure it will have it ever...)
SG handbok: cattle raid as a story: It is primarly about the Contested Isle book but well with a bit of imagination, we can adapt it to other tribunals. I'm not sure I will use it in our current IRL saga, but anyway it gives clear prospects about it and answer some questions (why, what, how, how to get away, etc.) you could have forgotten when writing a story.
Always good to have at hand if any need occurs.
Covenant finances: an alternative : even if I didn't use it, and if for hermetic book trading I had started my own thing with its manual (but stopped 3 years ago... already 3 years...) I'm always interested in reading other players vision on the "finances" part of a covenant.
From the journal of Vulcanis Argens is the story continued. As usual, it gives a story from which ideas for scenarios can be brought to your mind. Names, places, interactions... it's like the old tale you could use to create your next intrigue.
Rats Magica apparently the main focus of this issue. So I read it with pleasure... and it was delicious. An abandoned covenant peupled by rats with the Gift, due to an ancient accident, what a wonderful idea, I like that a lot. It gives a lot of story opportunities. Maybe the theme (parody/comic) may not suit all saga, but it is definitely worth the reading. I loved Socrates!
The second Lineage : explorers of time and space following the first lineage in issue #14, it explains new bonisagi magi from the creation of the Order. I may be blind but I never found what was "magic realm magic" breakthrouhg. Maybe it is the RoP:tM magic or nother thing. Anyway, the magi are all interesting. You may not use them according to your saga tone, but they have flavour, like that magi who will write about ALL, but will ever write HORRIBLY, thinking he will one day write the most beautiful book ever.
NEw heresis : fixed arts Interesting collection of house rule. My alpha SG will not use any of them, but I enjoyed the reading. I'm not sure I approve of it, but is worth the time because the author clearly thought about his idea through the end. I liked the premise but I think the way of doing it is too restrictive. IMO i would have said 2 arts at +12 for a specialists, 4 at +6 for a semi specialist and 8 at +3. Of course, I could do it my way in my saga, but it was just to say.
The body in the bog is a story to play. I must say even if I have nothing against the story, it's the kind of story which I would have a hard time using. Indeed, I like to place all my stories on a red line which will be the common final endgoal of my saga as beta SG, and that story is too disconnected from the grand stories I usually have in mind that I can't use it as is. I should have some work to bring it. As a standalone scenario it is interesting because it can use magi and companion. Too often are the scenario for magi only or where magi have no interest to take part (except the always valid "let's play a game !" meta reasoning). Here, a spirit threat is more likely to bring them in the game, with their servants (companion) already in it.
The intangible assassin : following Hermetic projects idea, the authors looked into the matter. I like what they write, which rejoin what I thought (flawless magic miam!)
Mythic bloodlines: more than the founders : I think i read a post or another article in a previous ars magica fanzine with the same idea: presenting many mythic bloodlines for the magi wanting to use mythic blood major virtue. Good ideas here. I will never use that major virtue, but for NPC, always fun to have at hand.
Mappa mundi : centered on the provençal region. Did I mention I do not have faith and flame? anyway, interesting names of locations, to look for on the web.
And that's it folks!
I'm glad you liked the Rats, Exar!
DId you get the "rats" idea by playing with "arts" word?
The original inspiration was "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh", which I first saw when I was a boy and later read. The rightfully-famous SF short story "Flowers for Algernon" provided the name for the lineage of Aux Gernon; when I found out that means "with whiskers" I about died laughing. The rat-themed horror movie "Willard", its remake, and its sequel "Ben", provided some names. I did name it Rats Magica as a partial anagram for Ars Magica but also because it makes more sense that way. Many have referred to it as "Ars Ratica," which makes no sense to me. (They're magic rats, folks, not the Art of Rats or the Rat Art.)
The whole article really came together near the end, when I realized that the accelerated lifespan I had given them made the rats perfect for magical experimentation. In other words, they really are magical lab rats, in the Hermetic sense. At that moment, I realized I had done something right. Some have dismissed the article as purely funny or comedic, but I don't see them that way at all. There is a very distinguished body of literature with mouse and rat protagonists (the stories at the top of my post are just the tip of the iceberg), and that's because mice and rats are the ultimate underdogs. They are completely powerless, and that makes them fantastic protagonists (often literally so).
If I ever get the chance to run Ars Magica for kids, I am totally going to run it as a Rats Magica campaign.