(about serials, biographical sketches and bibliographies)
Julian Lawler’s hero Addigo brings his son Moseley into sinister, magic-blasted Sydowen forest on a trek toward the City. The forest is haunted, and wolves lurk about. The two wayfarers find that those are the least of their perils in chapter 10, “The Forest and Shadows.”
Ya’el (in issues 74-78) is the story of young women coming of age at the dawn of recorded history; now, once again, Tala Bar brings powerful women to life. “Sibyl” weaves them into the Biblical story of Saul and Jonathan.
P. J. Lawton’s hero will have the fate of the galaxy in his hands... if he can just get his hands on it before the enemy masses its fleet for conquest in the conclusion of “A Good Day to Die.”
Bewildering Stories is pleased to feature four new contributors in our “Short Stories.”
Ian Donnell Arbuckle turns a surrealistic twist on work and dreaming in a story that might have been inspired by the title of the song “A Hard Day’s Night”: “The Busy Life.”
Fran Jacobs has a cautionary tale for socially awkward teenagers: heed carefully those ancient legends; they might come true if you don’t watch out. And sure enough, one does, very graphically, in “The Cat.”
Troy Morash is in a position to know whereof he speaks in his satire of an alternate-future Soviet Union. The KGB seems rather down at the heels as it comes looking for the last unarrested person in “The Knock.”
Dominic Winkelman takes us back to one of science-fiction’s favorite settings: the grocery store. Dominic’s is all automated and up to date with the latest computer hard- and software. “All in a Day’s Work” will make you nostalgic for those old-time shops with aproned clerks and long poles.
Poetry appears again in this issue after a long absence relieved in issue 86. New contributor Susan M. Gibb has a very pretty and allusive poem: “Recycling.” And Thomas R. takes a cue from Franz Kafka for the third poem in his Lenten cycle: Fasting.”
Welcome: Bewildering Stories welcomes Ian Donnell Arbuckle, Susan M. Gibb, Fran Jacobs and Troy Morash.
Challenge 87: “In the house of Ashtaroth”
Letters: Eric S. Brown tells us where to find his first science-fiction novella on line.
The Reading Room: Jerry Wright reviews Jack McDevitt’s Chindi and Omega.
Editorial: Thanks, Bob Silverberg
Tala Bar’s novel Gaia will begin in issue 88. In addition, our next issue will bring you two more new contributors: Jason Earls and David Holub. Meanwhile, Julian Lawler’s The Prophet of Dreams will come to an end, and Ásgrímur Hartmannsson will give us a mysterious beginning to a story, one that’s perfect for a Challenge. We’ll also officially welcome Mark Koerner, who reviews Robert A. Heinlein’s rediscovered novel For Us, the Living in the light of Heinlein’s politics and long literary career.
Readers’ reactions are always welcome. Please write!
Copyright © 2004 by Bewildering Stories
