The Readers’ Guide
What’s in Issue 1150
| News |
Bewildering Stories’ extensive author list has attracted correspondence aimed at extortion. The Internet will be flooded with AI-generated fake images and texts upon your Managing Editor’s failure to pay a protection fee, presumably an initial one. Considering the Editor’s and his spouse’s astronomical age — 23×10+32−2 — the money will be needed for medical care and funeral services in the foreseeable future. The unidentifiable mailer recommends in ungrammatical English that passwords be changed frequently to prevent the kind of email hacking it represents. Yet one may wonder if the advent of AI will make it difficult to prevent such shakedowns from affecting just about everybody in the current and coming years. |
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| Short Stories |
Living in the forest canopy of a planet orbiting binary stars, Eshe grieves the passing of his friend Kide and vows to seek the key to immortality in an ancient artists’ workshop in a partially flooded city. He discovers there that immortality distinguishes between past and future. Jules, Bones of the Earth, part 1; conclusion How closely related are cousins? Sisters? Twin sisters? Twin cousins? Might genetic research account for the history of Debby’s and Diane’s family discomfiture? David Margolin, More Than Cousins A retired detective unjustly denied promotion displays how observation combined with a knowledge of physics and, especially, opera can contribute to retrieving vital evidence in a crime. Mike Rogers, The Attraction of Crime, part 1; conclusion |
| Flash Fiction |
When the nature of a good deed becomes obvious, the revelation may offer an opportunity to extend its benefits. Huina Zheng, A Shared Second Chance |
| Poetry |
Bruce Ducker, Moonings Robin Helweg-Larsen, How Will the Singularity Feel? |
| Short Poetry |
Oonah V Joslin, Imagined Towers Michael Wooff, Scarbo, the Poltergeist |
| Drama | In the families of high officials of the Third Reich, who could possibly be redeemed? Haim Viktor Olosoroff visits the late Magda Goebbels and reveals a vision of the future. Marina J. Neary, Too Lovely for the World |
Departments
| Challenge | Challenge 1150 finds that poems and stories in this issue depict a number of different Second Chances. |
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| The Art Gallery |
Channie Greenberg, Aftermath John D. Connelley, Funny Money Alison McBain, Toddler Times, 1150 A randomly rotating selection of Bewildering Stories’ art NASA: Picture of the Day Sky and Telescope, This Week’s Sky at a Glance |
Randomly selected Bewildering motto:
Randomly selected classic rejection notice:
Bewildering Stories’ official mottoes:
“Poems are not made with ideas; they are made with words.” — Stéphane Mallarmé
Ars longa, vita brevis. Rough translation: “Proofreading never ends.”
To Bewildering Stories’ schedule: In Times to Come
Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
Please write!
