Non-Spoiler summary:

Foster is a young boy, who only wants one thing for his birthday: a nuclear bunker. Everyone else in the neighborhood has one, you see, except for him. His friends keep telling him he’s gonna die when the Reds drop the bomb. His teachers constantly scold him for failing his nuclear readiness exercises. On the TV, the Reds keep coming up with new, deadlier weapons every week.

Well, Foster’s had enough. He’s tired of being scared. He’s gonna do whatever it takes. He’s gonna scream, he’s gonna cry, he’s gonna cuss and plead, till he gets that bunker.

My thoughts while reading it:

‘What the hell, that’s no way to talk to a kid!’ ‘You shove that bunker where the sun don’t shine, Mrs Carlyle!’ ‘The Reds made a WHAT?’ ‘Dude, buy the damn bunker, it’s for your own safety!’ ‘Yaaaay!’ ‘Aaaawww’

The technical stuff:

• Word Count: 7,000 words
• Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Go check your dad’s old stash of scifi books. The best ones are probably written by this guy.

Where you can find it:

• In his collected works anthology The Father-Thing (available in every online bookstore worth its salt)
• This story is currently not available online. Which means you’re gonna have to buy it. And trust me, this is a sound investment

By-Line:
Konstantine Paradias is a short story science fiction and fantasy writer, who has his own blog, called Shapescapes. There you can find a free novel, called Stone Cold Countenance as well as a series of sci-fi comic book reviews. For comments, requests or plain old contact, you can find him at kosparadias@gmail.com

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Ohree, a sort of deep space policeman, is patrolling the borders when he sees a vessel of an extinct species being attacked.  He decides to step in, and by doing so, not only does he dramatically change the fate of the survivors, he alters his own destiny.

MY THOUGHTS

Wow this was an amazing story!  The main character Ohree was fascinating, a shapeshifter of sorts, and as the story was told from his point of view it was fun to feel his tentacles change into legs, and suffer his pain as he grew a pair of lungs.  He interphases with the ship and downloads knowledge from the database.  But what was more appealing to me was the growth and change he made in his personal journey, the realizations he came to about himself and his own path in life.  All The Painted Stars is definitely one of the best science fiction short stories I have read!

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 6,529
• Page Count: 15
• Published: 2012
• About the Author: Gwendolyn Clare has a BA in Ecology and a BS in Geophysics.  She also has quite a list of short stories and poetry available on her website.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read All The Painted Stars for free at Clarkesworld Magazine.

Being Stranded Sucks!

Have you ever been stranded in the middle of no where? I have, and although it was interesting it wasn’t very much fun trying to get back to where I belonged. I ended up walking 20+ miles through the night just to get to a telephone where I could call my family! Whew, I’m glad that is over, but here is a story of a traveller who gets so stranded that even mundane little statistics become in-proportionately important.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Serena is a Grand Voyageur – a gigantic, robotic explorer / trader that travels between galaxies shuttling goods from one civilization to another. It is an interesting and fascinating life, and every once in a while she gets to meet up with others of her kind to swap stories. Now, however, she is truly and sincerely stuck. You see there was a malfunction and she has been deposited in the space between galaxies. She is so far away from anything that she can’t even tell if she is moving. She finally determines that she is closer to the center of the “bubble” between galaxies than she is to any one galaxy, and as she moves towards this mystical point she is extremely surprised by what she finds!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 4,403 (9 pages)
• Did you know that David Brin has a Ph.D. in Space Physics? Yep. You can learn more about this talented and brilliant author on his web site.
• Want to learn more about galaxies and the relationship between their sizes and the distances between them? Then check out this excellent page by the Hong Kong University’s department of physics.

Where To Find Bubbles

• This short story was first published in the 1987 anthology The Universe.
• You can read "Bubbles" for free online at Lightspeed Magazine.
• It is also included in Brin’s short story collection Otherness.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Bubbles" then you may also enjoy “Little Lost Robot” by Paul McAuley – about a huge robotic war machine that cruises the galaxy destroying all intelligent life forms it finds.

Better Than The Movies

Do you remember all those “Earth gets destroyed by an asteroid (or comet)” movies in the 1990′s? I do. “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” come to mind. Some of them were good, some not so much. This story is, to me anyway, more proof that writing is always better than cinema! Yay – go written SF!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Captain Robert Singh is part of the crew that has been sent to the asteroid Kali. Their job is to build the thrusters that will alter Kali’s course enough to avoid collision with Earth. It has taken a long time, lots of money and plenty of politics to get to this point, and now that they are ready to start the burn that will push Kali out of its current orbit, the crew is about to discover that things don’t always go as planned. What’s that saying about the true measure of a man being shown when he is under pressure? Well, Captain Singh and his crew are about to find out what they are really made of – and all the people on Earth are hoping it’s the “right stuff.”

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 4,458 (8 pages)
• Did you know that Arthur C. Clarke spent some time as chairman of the British Interplanetary Society? Yep. You can learn more about this giant of science fiction literature at Wikipedia.
• This short story was the basis for Arthur C. Clarke’s 1994 novel also titled The Hammer of God.

Where To Find The Hammer of God

• This short story first appeared in October 1992 in Time magazine.
• You can read "The Hammer of God" for free online at the web site of Lightspeed magazine.
• You can find this story in many anthologies, including the prestigious book The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Hammer of God" then you may also enjoy another of Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s stories: “The Star” – about a Jesuit astrophysicist aboard a starship that is investigating the Phoenix Nebula.

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Harry Morgan and Jack Latrobe have worked together as asteroid miners for a long time. It is a brutal and unforgiving job, but one which the citizens of the Belt Cities rely on to get their oxygen. The two men have become friends and learned to trust each other. So it is no surprise that when Jack goes missing on a trip to Earth that Harry wants to find out what happened to him. As Harry travels there he begins to unravel a deep corporate desire – but more importantly the big wigs on Earth begin to learn a few dark secrets about the citizens of the asteroid belt too! Mwa ha ha ha!

Interesting Tidbits:

• Word Count: 9,767 (22 pages)
• Did you know that in 1999 Randall Garrett won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History Special Achievement for his Lord Darcy series? Yep. You can learn more about this fascinating author at Wikipedia.
• Special thanks to Variety SF for reviewing this excellent short story and making me want to read it!

Where You Can Find Thin Edge:

• This story was originally published in the December 1963 issue of Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction.
• You can read (or download) a free version of “Thin Edge” at Project Gutenberg.
• It is also included in the book The Second Science Fiction Megapack: 25 Modern and Classic Tales by Masters.

If you liked “Thin Edge” then you may also be enjoy “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick – about a man who desperately wants to go to Mars but can’t afford it, so he gets vacation memories implanted instead.

NON SPOILER SUMMARY

Lvov, an atmospheric scientist, and Cobh, a pilot, crash land on Pluto, and luckily both women survive.  Cobh immediately checks the damage, sets up life support systems and sends a message requesting a “pickup”.  Lvov is more concerned with the icy environment she finds herself in, and the reader has the very picturesque experience of seeing a distant planet through her eyes.  It’s beautiful.  And through her explorations, Lvov discovers something that may be considered as life on Pluto.

MY THOUGHTS

I loved that I couldn’t decide which way this story was going to go: Unique, amazing discovery of life on another planet?  Or nasty flesh eating aliens emerge to kill the crash landed scientists?  It was written with a good deal of suspense, even though the author may not have intended that.  It was also written by someone who seems to know his stuff about the technicalities of space and outerspace.  My only complaint is that at times, it was a bit too technical, and therefore, distracting.  However, for me it was easy to skim the big worded paragraphs and delve into the intriguing story line.  And I was very pleased with a great surprise ending that I should have seen coming!

INTERESTING TIDBITS

• Word Count: 6,091 Words
• Page Count: 18 Pages
• Published: 1995
• About the Author: Stephen Baxter has degrees in both math and engineering, (yep, all that technicality is making sense…).  He has published over one hundred short stories!  Read more about this talented author at his website.
• Be sure to read the Author Spotlight for Gossamer at Lightspeed Magazine.

WHERE TO FIND THIS STORY

You can read Gossamer for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

"Lulungomeena" by Gordon R. Dickson

Page Count: 24

The story

The setting is Frontier Station 563 just beyond Sirius. But the title is named after another place: Lulungomeena on the planet Tarsus, the native home of Clay Harbank. The conflict is between Clay and The Kid. Clay is a reformed gambler; and The Kid, an active gambler, wants his considerable savings. The story is from the perspective of Mort, a Dorsai warrior on an odd assignment who observes The Kid’s relentless needling of Clay. All the characters are aboard Frontier Station for a contract of 10 years, working and living together on the back side of, literally, nowhere. The story develops in the presence of a Hixabrod, an unerringly truthful species, settling a bet on a question of sentiment … with all-or-nothing stakes.

Excerpt

My take

I find this story deeply moving, illustrating as it does the bond of male friendship and the casual confidence that comes with age. Certainly Mort is a born warrior and Clay is a recovering gambler, but they both have their impulses under control and out of that strength emerges a mutual respect and a mutual disdain of youthful arrogance and impetuosity. This story could have happened on any outpost, not only in space, but on Earth, in some remote place where people are thrown together and forced to play out their relational skills in a pressure cooker. Anyone who has ever worked in such an environment recognizes the dynamic immediately.

This story introduced Dickson’s Dorsai culture, predating the Hugo nominated book Dorsai! by years. It does not fit neatly into the Childe Cycle he developed in conjunction with the writing of Dorsai!, but it maintains, for the most part, a consistency with the philosophy of the framework. Mort comes across as the kind of warrior one expects from the Dorsai: big, strong, controlled, experienced, with an inexplicable aura of unconquerable command. The only sharp contrast I can find between the story and the books is in the universal assumptions of life. Where “Lulungomeena” presents us with alien races, especially the Hixabrod, the rest of the Childe Cycle seems to ignore the possibility of alien life.

The Good:

Read Lululomeenga for the relative gentility of the story. It lacks overt violence, though the possibility lies just below the surface and bubbles up a couple of times. I love it when strength can be demonstrated in character and without a bloodbath. Also, the feeling (I am told) of “home” is universal. Most people will be able to identify with Clay and even, in this way, with the alien Hixabrod.

The Bad … ish:

Ok, not so bad, but the characters do have a strong resemblance to some classic wild-western stereotypes. That’s ok when you remember when the story was written and the type of audience forming the story’s primary readership. It’s also ok, because those characters can be fun.

Hunt for the Story

This story is relatively hard to find. It was originally published in Galaxy Science Fiction, January 1954. It was anthologized by Robert Silverberg in Deep Space (1973); paperback 1977.

Luckily, for posterity, it was dramatized for the 1950s radio drama X minus One and is available for free download. The dramatization is reasonably faithful to the original. You will note that X minus One spelled the title of the story differently than Dickson.

If you like this story…

…you’ll love the Dickson story “Warrior” which is much more readily available in Lost Dorsai. Also “Brothers” is available in The Spirit of Dorsai. Both can be found in The Dorsai Companion. The Award winning and nominated books Tactics of Mistake and, of course, Dorsai! are both part of the same SF framework.

Thanks to Tim for this providing this article. You can read more of Tim’s stuff on his blog: The Darling Virtual Mind.

More Alastair Reynolds

Last week I reviewed the first story in Alastair Reynolds “Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days” book, so this week I thought I would review the second story: "Turquoise Days". It is another great story, and is completely different from "Diamond Dogs". Give it a try, I think you will like it.

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Turquoise is one of a handful of planets that is home to the strange aliens known as the Pattern Jugglers. People (or other aliens) who swim with the Pattern Jugglers often have amazing experiences – such as their brain patterns and memories being recorded in the vast ocean network – and sometimes the Jugglers re-wire the swimmers’ brains with outstanding new abilities. Sounds cool doesn’t it? That’s what Naqi and her sister think, which is why they spend their lives doing scientific research on the Pattern Jugglers. All is going well until two things happen: her susceptible sister decides to throw caution to the wind and swim with the Jugglers, and a large spaceship enters orbit around Turquoise. The first event proves extremely sad, but it ultimately helps Naqi as seemingly benign visitors from another world slowly reveal their dark intentions. The question is will Naqi’s swim with the Pattern Jugglers help her solve her world’s greatest problem? Only Naqi (oh – and the few million recorded individuals) can tell.

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Page Count: 150
• "Turquoise Days" placed 9th in the 2003 Locus Poll for Best Novella.

Where You Can Find Turquoise Days:

• This story was first published as a Chapbook in 2002.
• You can read "Turquoise Days" in the book Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days.
• It is also included in the amazing collection The Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels.

Craving More Science Fiction Short Stories?

If you liked "Turquoise Days" then you will probably also enjoy Oceanic by Greg Egan – about an ocean dwelling man living on the planet Covenant, and how the events of his life take him from religious zealot to non-believing academic.

Thanks Big Brother!

Over the years I have come to like certain types of stories and novels, and those are the ones I usually seek out. A lot of people recommend books to me that they think I will like, but often the opposite is true – I do not enjoy them. However, my brother hit a home run when he recommended Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space books! I have only read a handful, but I have really liked all of them, and that is pretty unusual for me. Anyway, when I learned that Mr. Reynolds had written some shorter pieces set in this wonderful and strange universe I just had to jump in and see how they compared to his outstanding novels. As you will see I was not disappointed… not at all!

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Richard Swift has lived for many years in the spectacular Chasm City, and has recently discovered that his childhood friend, Roland Childe, is still alive. Roland invites Richard to his home where he has assembled a strange group of gifted people including a math genius, an infiltrator, an Ultranaut captain and a cyberneticist doctor with a horrific reputation. Why this team of misfits? Because Childe’s space probes have discovered an alien tower on a distant planet – not just an ordinary tower mind you, but one which methodically slaughters all who do not play by its rules. Childe persuades the group to make the long journey across space and attempt to solve the puzzle of the artifact – which he has aptly named the “Blood Spire.” Once they arrive, and witness the carnage about the tower, it becomes clear that each team member’s talent will prove extremely useful. The team assembles and enters the Blood Spire only to discover that it contains a series of difficult mathematical puzzles which must be solved before continuing on. Every team member contributes something useful, but it is when they get the puzzles wrong that Dr. Trintignant’s strange talents are put to use. The question becomes: how much will the team members put up with before deciding that enough is enough? Quite a bit, it appears, and maybe even a little bit too much.

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Page Count: 163
• "Diamond Dogs" was nominated for the 2002 British Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction.
• Did you know that Alastair Reynolds earned a Ph.D. in astronomy? Yep. You can learn more about this amazing author at his web site.
• Special thanks to John for reviewing and recommending this story.

Where You Can Find Diamond Dogs:

• This story was first published in the 2002 anthology Infinities: The Best of British SF.
• You can also read "Diamond Dogs" in the book Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days.

Craving More Science Fiction Short Stories?

• If you liked "Diamond Dogs" then be sure to check out more of Alastair Reynold’s awesome Revelation Space books – I highly recommend them.
• If you want a little taste of Alastair Reynolds style before committing to these longer stories, take a look at my review of his free story A Spy in Europa.

Not Quite Flash Fiction

I was going to include this story as part of my Flash Fiction Friday series – but it really was too long so I decided to make it a self-contained review instead. And anyway, I figured having the physics of Santa Claus’s sleigh explained to us deserved its own review!

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

When a physics teacher is called to investigate a crash at an English airfield he is surprised to learn that it is Santa’s sleigh that has crashed! As he discovers the high-tech gadgets Santa uses to deliver presents all over the world he makes a startling discovery – two of them actually!

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Page Count: 2
• Word Count: 1,698
• You may enjoy this story a little bit more if you have some knowledge of brane cosmology and the Planck constant.

Where You Can Find Harnessing the brane-deer:

• This story was originally published in the December 25th, 2008 issue of Nature magazine.
• You can download and read “Harnessing the brane-deer” for free from the very merry Concatenation web site!

Do you like Christmas themed science fiction stories? I have reviewed several of them.