What’s in Issue 139

Story Contest	Voting ends midnight (GMT -5) Thursday 17 March in *the First Bewildering* Story Contest** ! Welcome & Rules \| Contest Entries to Date
Novels	Ian Dihn, lord of Nomen, suffers a grievous loss in an ambush. His steward Argenal comforts him after a fashion by revealing much of the Nations’ magical history gleaned from a book of ancient lore: Julian Lawler, Battle Seer, chapter 17: Steward Argenal, part 1; part 2. ‘Toni plays another stunning part, and Raymond risks sacrificing everything in exchange for Mireille's safety. Quo is very grateful, and probably quite impressed! Then things start to shape up rather nicely’: Michael E. Lloyd, Observation One: Singing of promises..., chapter 19: Brussels, Belgium, part 2.
Novellas	Jack discovers that his scariest ghosts are the ones he didn’t know he knew: Jeff Brown, A Wave from a Chimney, conclusion. Jim Blunt, on a secret mission, prowls at night through the dank streets of the Asp capital Fzil towards the temple of the mad god Lziren. He’s given a lukewarm welcome: Danielle L. Parker, The Thief of Joy and Light, part 2.
Short Stories	Y’say that car doesn’t run and makes crazy noises, Eckert? March right up to Bart Grabinson’s heap of rust, look under the hood and... On second thought, don’t do that; “crazy” can be contagious: Byron Bailey, Yanks, part 1; part 2; conclusion. New contributor Gareth Jones takes us a step beyond nuclear weapons, to the Reality Bomb. How can you defuse it if you’re not sure what it — or you — will look like next? Fluctuations. How can a dark-winged angel overcome foul-smelling witches straight out of a horror story? The Infant knows. His way to victory is sure but never easy: R D Larson, A Benign and Archaic Afterthought.
Flash Fiction	The lure of a great height tempts those who feel compelled to jump. But a guardian who knows the affliction also knows the cure: Jörn Grote, The Edge of the World.
Poetry	New contributor C. Meton begins our first poetry serial, a humorous epic: The Orkeldor, part 1.

Departments

Welcome	Bewildering Stories welcomes Gareth Jones and C. Meton.
Challenge	Challenge 139 looks at two of our stories in terms of Signs and Symbols.
Letters	Joel Gn writes about moving ahead. John Olson writes about his reception.
The Reading Room	Danielle L. Parker reviews Laurell K. Hamilton’s Cerulean Sins.
Editorial	Jerry Wright, A Mixed Bag

In Times to Come

News briefs: Voting in the story contest has had to be extended to Thursday night. In a two-day battle, Ye Editor Jerry Wright vanquished a Net worm that laid siege to Bewildering Stories’ server on Monday and Tuesday. Beginning at some time on Friday, the current voting page will be replaced by one on which entries are listed alphabetically by author. We hope to have the results ready for a special Contest page in issue 140.

Ian Arbuckle and Danielle Parker deserve thanks for their work “behind the scenes” as review editors for both the contest and the regular issues. And we thank Mike Lloyd for posting the weekly issue announcements to the Analog and Asimov’s discussion forums. Bewildering Stories needs all three of you now more than ever!

Issue 140 — Novels: Julian Lawler, Battle Seer, chapter 18 “Mystery of the Two Notes”; Michael E. Lloyd, Observation One, chapter 19 “Brussels, Belgium” part 3 and chapter 20 “Amsterdam, Netherlands.” Novellas: Danielle L. Parker, “The Thief of Joy and Light” part 3; Norman A. Rubin, “Hallelujah” part 1.

Short stories: Deep Bora, “Mars Accelerates”; new contributor Paul McManus, “Change of Perspective”; Thomas Lee Joseph Smith, “The Da Vinci Cough.” Flash fiction: Jörn Grote, “Blind Justice.” Poetry: C. Meton, “The Orkeldor,” part 2.

Title riddle: Michael E. Lloyd wins again as the only reader to recognize the title of issue 138 as a play on E = mc². No more fat pitches: this issue’s title is a knuckler. You may hit it if you happen to go back more than 95 years. And that’s all the help you’re getting!

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
Please write!

Return to top

Return to the issue index