Oct. 2024 (Issue 173)

We have original science fiction by Ai Jiang (“Ashes Like the Leaves of Tea, Lava Like Honey”) and Russell Nichols (“Autonomy of a Murder”). We also have two terrific flash pieces: “The Life You’ve Given Me, Rusty” from P.A. Cornell and “Hot Hearts” by Lyndsie Manusos. Plus, we have original fantasy by Kenneth Schneyer (“Winding Sheets”) and writing duo Philip Gelatt & JT Petty (“Sully the God”). We also have a flash story (“Zekelo’s Barterhouse & Emporium”) from Patrick Hurley, and another (“Caesura”) from Ashlee Lhamon. All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team.

Cover art by Solarseven / Shutterstock

Oct. 2024 (Issue 173)

Editorial

Editorial: October 2024

by John Joseph Adams

Be sure to check out the editorial for a rundown of this month’s terrific content.

Fantasy

Ashes Like Tea Leaves, Lava Like Honey

by Ai Jiang

Author spotlight

Mother whispered to us about the beings on Earth she regretted creating; the ones whose only merits are their minds, but their minds rot so easily. They are not like you, children; they cannot see so clearly. We asked if the eyesight of humans is poor. Mother only chuckled. Her laughter now carries in the wind, wraps around our bodies—water in the clouds, flames in the lava.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Ai Jiang

by Phoebe Barton

One thing I find interesting is the cyclical nature of humanity, of repeating pasts and histories, of being unable to move forward somehow even as time passes, at the way we always seem to be causing our own destruction even when what we truly desire is peace. Injustice is something that has persisted throughout human history, and it is something that seem as though it will always be prevalent.

Fantasy

Zekelo’s Barterhouse & Emporium

by Patrick Hurley

The two children regarded Zekelo with solemn eyes. If they were intimidated by the twisting horns jutting from his head or his obsidian claws, they gave no sign of it. “Hello, young ones. Welcome to Zekelo’s Barterhouse & Emporium, the finest shop in all Limbo. Here, we offer phylacteries, nostrums, and rare antiquities from every plane of existence.”

Fantasy

The Life You’ve Given Me, Rusty

by P.A. Cornell

You’ve only ever had one rule: never cross the stream that divides the wastes and the green land. That’s where the robots are, and the robots are our enemies.

Nonfiction

Book Review: Heir by Sabaa Tahir

by Melissa A Watkins

Looking for your next cozy weekend read with lots of great worldbuilding? Melissa A Watkins recommends Heir by Sabaa Tahir. Find out why!

Fantasy

Winding Sheets

by Kenneth Schneyer

Author spotlight

Gallam didn’t look at the clothes the family provided until he had already prepared the body. “Prepared” was putting it mildly: the man was covered in wounds—blade wounds? Bite wounds? Gouges, rips, punctures, slices. At first, Gallam wasn’t sure the corpse would actually hold together for burial.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Kenneth Schneyer

by Mayookh Barua

Embalming is clearly a set of tools that achieves remarkable results in the preservation of bodies, but of course its intention is a communication—either to ourselves or to the gods—of our feelings about death and eternity. C. S. Lewis said (I’m paraphrasing here) that we are animals, and therefore live in time, but that we are also partially divine, and therefore contain an awareness of eternity.

Fantasy

Autonomy of a Murder

by Russell Nichols

Author spotlight

I’m not telling you this to convince you of my innocence. The verdict has already been reached, the seal of my fate has been affixed. In about twenty-three minutes, I will be forcibly escorted to a certain maximum-security prison, where I will begin my life sentence without parole. Against my will. But in these final moments, an irresistible impulse compels me to present my perspective.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Russell Nichols

by Mayookh Barua

During the writing process, I discovered this was a story about control. Before Roger Abbott was convicted, he was a jaded man. Pessimistic and hopeless. A disgraced journalist who lost his family and found himself in a pit of disillusionment. But he wanted to share his story. His whole truth.

Nonfiction

Book Review: Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris

by Chris Kluwe

Chris Kluwe says that this month we’re heading to early nineteenth-century France for a mysterious tale of ghosts and goblins, werewolves and witchy women, magic and mayhem and the occasional rat in lipstick and eyeshadow (applied humanely, of course). That’s right, we’re reading Strange Beasts, Susan J. Morris’ debut novel!

Fantasy

Caesura

by Ashlee Lhamon

When a human head hits a road at the right speed and the wrong angle, the asphalt will take off an ear like a belt sander. Dogs and bears and chimpanzees rip ears off during attacks. People rip off ears during attacks; in domestic disputes, drunken brawls, and reason-defying misadventures, people relieve each other of their ears like they’re tearing off stubborn pieces of bloomin’ onion.

Fantasy

Hot Hearts

by Lyndsie Manusos

Dallas gazed out the viewing window of her ship, beheld her planet, and despaired. She’d anticipated something more. Better. She’d studied the worst-case scenarios. She’d read about the lost causes. But she’d never really believed one would be her first. Why had the program given her a shell? Dallas shivered, recovering from her travel hibernation.

Nonfiction

Book Review: Sinophagia, edited and translated by Xueting Christine Ni

by Arley Sorg

Arley Sorg has a new anthology recommendation: Sinophagia, edited and translated by Xueting Christine Ni. Get all the juicy details here.

Fantasy

Sully the God

by Philip Gelatt and JT Petty

Author spotlight

An excerpt from the unfinished memoirs of Sullivan Kingsley. Text was dictated to and recorded by a Kvasir Scrivener™. Any poetic editorializing can be assumed in accordance with the spirit of Mr. Kingsley’s intentions, as interpreted by a conjured instance of the severed hand of Kvasir, Norse god of poetry, peacemaking, and beverage production.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Philip Gelatt & JT Petty

by Alex Puncekar

There’s the old saw about sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic; I think we were playing with the notion that magic in the hands of human beings would eventually be indistinguishable from technology—including the lifecycle that takes it from genuine awe-inspiring discovery, to commercial adaptation, to profit-maximizing iteration, to a climate-destroying tool for focusing wealth.