The Readers’ Guide
What’s in Issue 623
| Novel |
Tartarus and Raom declare a kind of truce. Rodney has to face Tartarus and finally decide what to do. John W. Steele, The Chronicle of Belthaeous |
|---|---|
| Short Stories |
New contributor Arthur B. Cover depicts what might happen when Elvis inadvertently trades places with his evil twin in an alternate universe: Elvis at 50, part 1; part 2; part 3; conclusion. New contributor Jason A. Feingold introduces Sam Dupinski, a graduate student in English. Sam is a born private eye, and he finds himself embroiled in an eerie, madcap world of hard-boiled detective fiction: Grad Student Detective, part 1; part 2; conclusion. New contributor Amanda Krenicki shows how Shax O’Connor, a long-lived incubus, might find fulfillment as well as disappointment with two great authors: As Exquisite and Unsatisfying as a Cigarette, part 1; conclusion. |
| Flash Fiction |
You think living is expensive? Just try dying. Strange creditors may come calling: Charles C. Cole, Neighbors at the Gates. |
| Prose Poetry |
Lana Bella, Cruel Intentions |
| Short Poetry |
Mike Acker, Nature’s Program: Fine Dining |
Departments
| Welcome | Bewildering Stories welcomes Jason A. Feingold and Amanda Krenicki. |
|---|---|
| Challenge |
Challenge 620 Response: Bertrand Cayzac discusses “The Glass Jar Present” Challenge 623 says beware of Spiked Casseroles. |
| The Art Gallery |
Richard Ong microphotographs Galena City. 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: [The ancient] gods did live in stories, and they lived there very well, because they were so very like human beings. [...] In Christian times, [God] gradually became immortal, omniscient and omnipotent. Science fiction writers long ago discovered that the rules of all stories collapse when [a character] doesn’t live by the rules. The character becomes boring and the story goes off the rails. Before he knows it, the storyteller is trying to explain predestination to a skeptical congregation. — James J. O’Donnell, Pagans, ch. 4, "What Is a God?"
Randomly selected classic rejection notice: The author of this book is beyond psychiatric help. — (for J. G. Ballard’s Crash)
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!
