Archaeology and Science Fiction – Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I am intensely fascinated by anthropology and archaeology. And when they are combined with a great science fiction story by an excellent author… well, let’s just say that its better than Reece’s Peanut Butter cups!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Ever since Simmilgord was a little boy growing up among the brightly colored savannas of Majipoor he has longed to study the planet’s history and tell its story. After many years of school and hard study he and his friend are given the chance of a lifetime – to excavate the tomb of the first Pontifex of Majipoor! He starts off as a skeptical scholar, but as they make several exciting discoveries his skepticism melts away and the two friends revel in their work – that is until the Superintendent of Antiquities becomes aware of their dig and stops by to (ahem…) help them out. Can their friendship survive the snobbish intrusion? Or will everything literally fall to pieces?

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 13,708 (34 pages)
• Did you know that Robert Silverberg has written more than 580 short stories? Yep. You can learn more about this prolific writer at majipoor.com.
• "The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn" is part of Silverberg’s Majipoor series. If you like it be sure to check out some of the other novels and stories set on this amazing planet – beginning with the award winning Lord Valentine’s Castle.
• Special thanks to the excellent Variety SF for pointing me towards this awesome story!

Where To Find The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn

• This story first appeared in the Winter 2011 edition of Subterranean Online – where you can still read it for free.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Tomb of the Pontifex Dvorn" then you may also enjoy “Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge” by Mike Resnick – a story set in the far future when a group of anthropological aliens are studying the long and brutal empire of mankind.

It’s a Bunch of Stories!

This is a strange story… if you can even call it a story. It’s more like an article written by an alien researcher who is describing the views and beliefs surrounding star drives. It is cool though, and some of the ideas are truly unique ones that I have never seen before – and that is worth something indeed.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Mrithaya, Mother of the Conflagration, and her priests believe interstellar travel to be one thing. The Iothal, who bind forest chronicles, believe it to be something entirely different. The same goes for the Dancers, the Kiatti and the civilization whose star drive always kills them. That doesn’t stop any of them from traveling among the stars, though. Learn all about their strange and exotic beliefs in this short but fascinating piece by an excellent author.

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 1,966 (5 pages)
• You can learn more about Yoon Ha Lee by reading her author profile on Tor.com.

Where To Find A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel

• This short story first appeared in August 2011 on the web site Tor.com – where you can still read it for free.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel" then you may also enjoy another excellent story by Yoon Ha Lee: “Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain” – about an ancient woman who possesses a uniquely powerful weapon.

Chocoholic

Yes, I admit it – I am very nearly addicted to chocolate. It’s funny because I can resist pretty much all kinds of sweets… but put something chocolatey in front of me and my resolve weakens by the second! Mmm, mmm, mmm! Oh well, it is good to know that this delightful substance tempts not only Earthlings but people on other planets as well!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Romee is an inhabitant of the planet Notcid. It is a pretty easy going place, but now that the “traders” have been replaced by more concerned Earth people she is having difficulty purchasing her favorite Earth food: chocolate. So when she is given the chance to participate in a study on “response to environmental stimuli” she literally jumps at the chance – especially since she will make a load of money for doing it. The study turns out to be a little bit scary and frustrating, but her experience with it proves to be invaluable after she learns to apply it in truly dangerous situations. Now if she can just teach the others to learn these new ways they will have chocolate galore! Yum!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 6,857 (14 pages)
• Did you know that in the early 1970s Howard L. Myers was poised to become “one of science fiction’s top authors” when he suddenly died at the age of 41? Yep. You can learn more about this fantastic, yet nearly forgotten, author in the Preface to his book.
• Special thanks to Variety SF for pointing out this great story!

Where To Find Health Hazard

• This short story first appeared in the January 1973 edition of Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact – over a year after the author’s death.
• You can read "Health Hazard" for free online at The Fifth Imperium.
• It is also included in the book of Howard L. Myers short stories The Creatures of Man.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Health Hazard" then you may also enjoy “Finisterra” by David Moles – about an engineer from Earth who contracts out to help poachers on a distant world make their biggest kill yet.

In the style of Mr Men and Thomas the Tank Engine (with a bit of Douglas Adam’s style reality) comes Alien Characters, a monthly series of science fiction short story ebooks for Kindle for children aged 6-10. Separate titles include Alien Bob the house grower, Alien Hamish the star mover and intergalactic navigator, Alien Robert the robot technician and child care worker, Alien Christine the crystal energy technologist and healer, Alien Tim the Time Minister, Alien Vince the air recycling plant and environmentalist, Alien Carla the Galactic biological communications channeller, Alien Rex the parallel reality trade specialist, Alien Amanda the galactic immigration minister, Alien Nathanial the electromagnatheric energy and First Contact specialist, Alien Anneke the galactic flash relocation accountant, and a number of other residents of the Large Magellanic Cloud. From series 2 most characters are somewhere on board the ship The Celestial Breeze along with its Companion Planet, collecting more Alien Characters before leaving for their journey to the Milky Way Galaxy.

Each short story focuses on a new Alien Character and whatever problem they need to solve on the way. For example, in Alien William, he decides to move some of his millions of descendants to multiple alternate realities where his race doesn’t exist so they can spread throughout infinite levels of reality, but is told by the consciousness of the galaxy that her other parallel selves won’t allow it, so he needs to find another way.

A few of the stories are available on Kindle with pictures. Most are available as text-only Kindle ebooks. These may be released with pictures by 2013. A new Alien Character story is available every month.

Find out more at www.AlienCharacters.com.

I Should Have Joined the Circus!

When I was 16 I won the state talent show with my mad juggling skills. Afterwards I was invited to go backstage at the circus – where I was eventually offered a job! I was sorely tempted, what with all the talented people and weird freaks… but I turned them down. After reading this story (and working all day at my office job) I sometimes wonder what life would have been like had I become a carnie. Probably a never ending stream of good times, right? Right!?

Non-Spoiler Summary

Merton D. Kamal always wanted to be a clown – and he still does even though he recently lost his circus job. Now that he has moved back in with his mom and has no job prospects he decides to follow her advice and ask for work from a former high school sweet-heart. That does the trick (in a round-about way) and he finds himself transporting a drugged monkey to New Mexico. The problem, however, is that the monkey wakes up early and its “unique” abilities give Merton a hilarious fright!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 3,636 (12 pages)
• Did you know Ken Scholes spent time working as a sailor, soldier, preacher and musician? Yep. You can learn more about this fascinating author at his web site.
• If you liked this story be sure to check out Ken Schole’s short story collection Long Walks, Last Flights & Other Strange Journeys.

Where To Find Making My Entrance Again With My Usual Flair

• This short story first appeared in January 2011 on the web site Tor.com – where you can still read it for free.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Making My Entrance Again With My Usual Flair" then you may also enjoy “In The Pound, Near Breaktime” by Kent Brewster – which explores what the world would be like if unwanted pets, strays and pesky animals were intelligent enough to talk.

Only A Little Bit Outdated!

I get a kick out of reading older science fiction stories like this one. It is fun to see the possibilities that are imagined for our solar system – even if we know better today. There were a few parts in this story that I was like “What?” – and then I remembered that is was written almost 80 years ago, so I just relaxed and went with the flow. It was much more fun that way!

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

The great thirty-fourth century astronomer Phobar has made a disconcerting discovery: he has found several new stars in the past week, and each of them is getting closer and closer to Earth! It doesn’t take him very long to figure out that something is on its way to visit our planet. As this object gets closer it begins to disrupt the orbits of the outer planets, and even affects the sun. Something needs to be done, and when Phobar is given an amazing but short opportunity he definitely makes the most of it. But will it be enough against such a powerful foe?

Interesting Tidbits:

• Word Count: 8,030 (16 pages)
• Did you know that Donald A. Wandrei was a friend and protege of the famous author H. P. Lovecraft? Yep. You can learn more about this accomplished write at Wikipedia.
• Special thanks to QuasarDragon for pointing me towards this fun story.

Where You Can Find Raiders of the Universes:

• This story was originally published in the September 1932 issue of Astounding Stories.
• You can read (or download) a free version of “Raiders of the Universes” at Project Gutenberg.
• It is also included in the book Colossus: The Collected Science Fiction of Donald Wandrei.

If you liked “Raiders of the Universes” then you may also be interested in “The Colour Out Of Space” by H.P. Lovecraft – about a meteorite that falls from the sky in the 1880′s and the devastating consequences it has upon the people in a rural New England town.

Find out what happens when people start being polite and start getting real — in space.

Non-Spoiler Summary

The story is told through the exchange of two postcards, sharing the different perspectives of a husband and wife involved in an intergalactic TV wife swap among species. In typical fashion for these television reality shows, the husband and wife each have very different experiences during their swap, which ultimately reveal more about their individual personalities and beliefs.

My Thoughts

This is a fun bit of flash fiction told in a unique format. With the strict word limitations on the form, experimentations with narrative can add another layer to flash fiction, and this author chooses a great narrative device to add meaning. In a short amount of space, this author gives us a rich story that involves religious beliefs, prejudices, sexual politics, questions about marital relations, and commentary on our culture’s obsession with fame.

Interesting Tidbits

• Word Count: 284
• Published Online: 2008
• This story is an example of flash science fiction.

Where to Find This Story

• You can read Reality TV Intergalactic Wife Swap for free at the blog of online author Rob Hopcott.

 Bio:

Erinn Stam is the Managing Editor for campus visits at nursing schools. She attends Wake Technical Community College and is learning about online DSN programs. She lives in Durham, NC with her lovely 4-year-old daughter and exuberant husband.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Derek is coming home to visit his family – you know, one of those awkward visits after a rebellious child has been away for a long time. Yeah, and to make matters worse Derek has had a lot of changes since the last time he was home. For one he has altered his throat so he can speak with the alien Phoeng. Oh, and there is the little matter of him getting married to not one but two aliens! And to top it all off he is carrying their baby! I wonder how his conservative Catholic family will handle all his strangeness – not too well I think.

Some Juicy Tidbits About This Story

• Word count: 5,225 (9 pages)

Where To Find Join

• This short story first appeared in the September 2011 edition of Lightspeed Magazine – where you can still read it online for free!

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Join" then you might also enjoy “Blood Child” by Octavia E. Butler – about an alien world run by a race of insect like creatures called the Tlic who use humans as hosts to lay eggs inside them to reproduce.

Anyway, I just wanted to trumpet announce let you know that one of my SF short stories has been published in the latest (September 2011) edition of the web magazine Aphelion.

"Jane and the Queen" is a SF / Fantasy story that takes place in a world where werewolves are captured and allowed to return to their human state gracefully. But one werewolf is different from all the others, and her case worker wonders if that may have something to do with the alien space ships that recently landed on Earth.

If you are so inclined you can read "Jane and the Queen" for free at the Aphelion web site.

Okay, we now return you to our regularly scheduled programming…

-Rusty

Non-Spoiler Summary

Many, many years after an alien vessel crashes on Earth, the site is uncovered in an archaeological dig. That is all fine and dandy, but it inadvertently unleashes “the alien” on human kind. This alien is one of those multiple biomass shape shifting kind – you know, the kind that can break itself into pieces and disguise itself as human. When it tries to “commune” with humans they become angry and do what humans are notorious for doing: they try to kill it. This is a story told from the alien’s point of view, and describes how humankind is so strange and different from the other life forms in the galaxy. The question is will this alien succeed in teaching humans how to overcome unimaginable loneliness, or will it be destroyed by them? Good luck suckah’s!

Some Juicy Tidbits About This Story

• Word count: 6,836 (12 pages)
• Did you know that Peter Watts has “a bunch of degrees in the ecophysiology of marine mammals?” Yep. You can learn more about this science fiction author (and scientist) on his web site.
• This story was nominated for a bunch of awards. It was a 2011 Hugo Award Nominee, 2010 BSFA Award Finalist, 2010 Shirley Jackson Award Nominee, 2011 Finalist: the Locus Award for Best Short Story and 2011 Theodore Sturgeon Award Nominee. Whew!

Where To Find The Things

• This short story first appeared in the January 2010 edition of Clarkesworld Magazine – where you can still read it online for free.
• You can also find "The Things" in the recent short story collection The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, 2011 Edition.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Things" then you may also enjoy “Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge” – about a group of anthropological aliens who are studying the long and brutal empire of mankind.