Are You a Fan of King Arthur?

I have always found the legend of King Arthur to be fascinating and fun to read. This easy-to-read and fun story provides a bit of a modern twist on one of the knights from that famous tale.

Non-Spoiler Summary

Sean is in big trouble. With only days before the committee arrives to evaluate his final survey report, the computers on Nemuria have contracted a nasty virus and are holding his data hostage. There is one small chance, however, and that is the small nanny robot which sometimes stores back-ups. But the virus has caused it to believe it is an Arthurian knight… and the only way to fix it is to provide the mythical “Questing Beast” so that it can capture it – then the virus will purge itself and Sean can get his report done. Or at least that is what he’s hoping for. He has to pull every string he has to get the beast made, but even that may not be enough.

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 5,241 (10 pages)
• Did you know that Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team? Yep. You can learn more about this creative team on their web site.

Where To Find Questing Beast

• This short story was first published in issue #23 (June 2006) of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.
• "Questing Beast" can be read (or downloaded in many formats) for free online at Smashwords.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "Questing Beast" then you may also enjoy “From The Lost Diary Of TreeFrog7″ by Nnedi Okorafor – about a team of jungle explorers who are searching for an ancient computerized plant.

Do You Have Arachnophobia?

Are you afraid of spiders? If you are then don’t feel bad because I have an older brother who is terrified of them too! I must confess that after reading this story I became a little jumpy at the sight of them. It is a great read though – especially if you already dislike the little buggers!

Non-Spoiler Summary

The leader, the gaunt man and the little man are chasing 3 fugitives on horseback when they happen on a great, gray valley. Yeah, it is a little bit mysterious as well as creepy – but that doesn’t stop the from charging into it. It is when they are past the point of no return that they start to notice weird things – like the mad dog that completely ignores them, and the increasingly jittery horses. But once they see the strange haze-balls blowing down the valley they start to get concerned… but will it be too little too late? Hmm – yeah, probably!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 4,153 (7 pages)
• Special thanks to the members of the Classic Science Fiction group – whose engaging discussion of this story made me want to read it!
• Did you know that H.G. Wells is often referred to as one of the “fathers of science fiction?” Yep. You can learn more about this classic science fiction author on Wikipedia.

Where To Find The Valley of Spiders

• This short story was can be read for free online at The Literature Network.
• "The Valley of Spiders" is also included in the anthology Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Valley of Spiders" then you may also enjoy “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs – about a family who discovers a magical talisman that grants 3 wishes.

Time travel stories have almost run their course: whether you’re reading The Time Traveler’s Wife or a classic by Jules Verne, it seems that man’s obsession with time travel has gotten tiring, if not overused. However, once in a while, there comes a story that makes you actually think: what if time travel was truly possible? What would happen? Where would you go?

In Tim Maly’s short Time, Again, we find ourselves looking at the world through the eyes of a man desperately in love, but confused in a world increasingly plagued by war. He is nameless, perhaps adding more to his believability. He loves a woman who travels through time, who loves the technology and is well versed in it.

Like The Time Traveler’s Wife, his likewise nameless wife comes back several times, and at different ages. She is young, full of life and brilliance; she is almost a child, but with wisdom beyond her years; she is his age, and his ardent lover. They make love, they kiss, they speak to each other as equals, she comforts him as she leaves.

However, unlike The Time Traveler’s Wife, Tim Maly’s story is short, succinct, and packed with emotion without going overboard. The story is not so much about the technology of time travel itself, but its impact. It is here where Maly works his magic with his prose: as the husband grieves and nurses his fears about the war, he struggles to remember the many times his wife returned, in different ways.

The past, present, and future tense all merge and interact, like a swarm of bees that is as incongruous from the outside looking in – but that forms a pattern that the reader/observer can easily follow. Maly’s prose is easy, and his imagery is vivid. He shows more, tells less, from the broken egg on the floor that rebuilds itself – a testament to a broken time machine and changed patterns of time – to his lead character’s eyes lingering over his woman’s body, even as she tries to preoccupy him with her knowledge of time travel.

The lead character is developed strongly, with an even pace. He comes off as a typical macho man who wants to control and understand everything, and yet who hides his broken heart. And yes, she does break his heart, in this story without end that travels eternally through time.

Maly’s story is surprisingly easy to follow, even with its jumps through tenses. His prose is his strongest point, as he shows how a brief tear in time changes lives completely.

You can read the whole story here http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TimeAgai.shtml

Inez Ponce de Leon has a background in molecular biology and science communication. She loves to write on a wide variety of topics, even Procera AVH.

Dr. Thorne has a great new machine – a Gene Code Reprogrammer. But the problem is that he has run out of funding, so he has turned to some questionable practices to get more money. Let’s just wait and see what happens, shall we?

Read Double Blind online for free.

Captain Branson has spent 100 years making the journey from Earth to New Terra. Now, as this historic journey is about to fulfill its long-awaited purpose he receives a message that is a quite dis-heartening… to say the least.

Read The Long and Short of It online for free.

Enjoy!

If you swapped minds with your dog, what would you do? Go to the mall, sneak into locker rooms, or chase cats all day? Now, what if you swapped minds with a duck? A cat? Or worse, a toaster?

This is the quandary faced by a nameless professor in Matthew Grigg’s short story, Professor Panini. The story starts when a self-made man, now a professor and researcher, works on exchanging the minds of a cat and duck using a machine. There are no details about how the machine works or what it looks like; suffice it to say that the experiment doesn’t go as planned, and hilarity ensues.

The professor has become a helpless, though intelligent toaster. In his immobile state, he starts looking for help in a myriad ways that the reader might not even imagine. Tossing toast, reprogramming the toaster, and even giving orders over the phone after a Rube Goldberg-like sequence of events all lead comically and slowly to a fun finale.

Will the professor escape the life of a stationary toaster, or will he forever be shooting out SOS bread messages through his apartment window?

Grigg’s prose is simple, sometimes too simple that you wonder if the lead character is actually a professor or some science enthusiast gone mad. However, this also bucks the trend of the jargon-spouting scientist who has nothing to talk about except science, making the short story a much easier read.

There are very few descriptions of the professor’s whereabouts, which might be disadvantageous, since the story could have profited from some descriptions that would allow us to exclaim, “Yes, let’s try the oven/window/fridge so we can get out of this mess!” along with the professor. Nevertheless, the professor’s thoughts and observations about his state allow us to glimpse another angle of the short story: one where an introspective life is necessary, since there is no other option but to think.

Without being weighed down by jargon, much less by conventional characters, Professor Panini becomes funnier and even more believable. It’s easier, after all, to imagine a professor eating his breakfast while starting up his experiment than it is to imagine a researcher stuck in a lab and electrocuting everything in sight.

Professor Panini does not have a dull bone in its short body. With only one character trying to shuttle between brilliant humanity and mere technology, you’ll find yourself thinking: if this is possible, how would I get out of the toaster?

You can read the whole story here http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/ProfPani724.shtml.

Inez Ponce de Leon has a background in molecular biology and science communication. She loves to write on a wide variety of topics, even Procera AVH.

The End of the Whole Mess is a post-apocalyptic short story by Stephen King, as told from the view point of Howard Fonroy, the older brother of one of the smartest (and few remaining) men on the planet.

Non-Spoiler version in a jiffy:

Howard Fonroy is a moderately successful writer, who has lived his entire life in awe (and fear) of his Lex Luthory-type genius of his brother, Robert. During his talks with Robert, the reader realizes that things have indeed taken a turn for the worse and that the world is teetering at the edge. Drastic measures are required, or else mankind will end up destroying itself pretty soon. Thus, Robert dedicates his life to finding a way out of this, convincing his brother to follow along with a madcap plan that actually works. In a surprising twist, not only does he make it, but everyone also lives happily ever after with nobody dying.

Hahahahaha…no. That’s not what happens at all.

My thoughts on the story:

Say what you will about Stephen King, but the man can write a wicked backstory for his characters. In the story’s few pages, you actually get emotionally invested in both characters and you end up loving the infuriatingly intelligent Robert. However, the story does seem to suffer from comic book logic syndrome, with an oversimplified solution and execution, which might put some of you hard scifi guys out there off. As for me, I absolutely loved this story and its ending sent chills up my spine.

Specs:

• Word count: 10,000 words
• The story was first published in Omni Magazine in 1986, and later published in the Nightmares & Dreamscapes collection (1993) and Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (2008).
• Stephen King is a world-renowned author. You’ve probably seen at least one movie version of his book. If you’ve never heard of him before, then welcome to earth, ye mighty alien overlords!

Where you can find this little gem:

• In the short story collection Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse (2008), which I highly recommend
• And here (http://www.scribd.com/doc/17129794/The-End-of-the-Whole-Mess) for free.

Konstantine Paradias is a short story science fiction and fantasy writer, who has his own blog, called Shapescapes (shapescapes). For comments or plain old contact, you can find him at kosparadias@gmail.com

Molly Who?

Have you read Neuromancer? Did you like it? If so then this story will probably be right up your ally – in fact the opening line plays off that famous novel and one of its most memorable characters!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Mulan Rouge is an interesting woman, if you can still call her a woman, and her body has been altered quite a bit. She is dangerous too – ever since she got her first taste of controlled violence she has wanted more. She has worked for some shady characters, but the most shady has to be her current boss and his entourage of deadly toads. Now as she tries to protect him on a train ride to Laos she suddenly becomes suspicious of everyone else on the slug powered train – and that turns out to be a good thing… well, for her boss anyway!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 4,684 (10 pages)
• This story has some explicit sexual scenes – so stay away if you don’t like that kind of stuff.
• You can learn more about science fiction author Lavie Tidhar on his web site.

Where To Find The Night Train

• This short story was first published in June 2010 on the web site Strange Horizons – where you can still read it online for free.
• It is also included in The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Eighth Annual Collection.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked "The Night Train" then you may also enjoy “The Shangri-La Affair”, also by Lavie Tidhar – about a special agent who travels to Southeast Asia to find a unique virus engineered to bring peace.

One Dream Job Coming Right Up!

This story evokes a setting that I would die for: being one of the first explorers on a newly discovered planet! Honestly, how cool would that be? It would be rough, but it would still be my dream life. This is a very cool story with descriptions that reminded me of both Hyperion and Chasm City – and that is a good thing indeed!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Cord is a teen-aged boy with the Colonial Team on the outback world of Sutang. There is a lot of work to do and very few people to do it, which is why Cord often gets in trouble for doing some exploring on his own. In fact, Cord’s local leader wants to send him back to his home world, but Cord doesn’t like that idea at all. Lucky for him the Planetary Regent is coming to visit, and she wants Cord to accompany them while riding a local life form. This is Cord’s big chance to impress the people who control his destiny – but can he be both chivalrous and safe at the same time? He is about to find out… because a big test is heading his way!

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 8,935 (15 pages)
• Special thanks to Tinkoo at Variety SF for recommending this great story!

Where To Find Grandpa

• This short story was first published in the February 1955 edition of Astounding Science Fiction.
• You can read a free online version of “Grandpa” at Baen eBooks.
• It is also included in the anthology Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

If you liked “Grandpa” then you may also enjoy “The World That Couldn’t Be” by Clifford D. Simak – about a farmer who tries to save his crops by hunting a very dangerous alien beast.

Still Life With Apocalypse by Richard Kadrey is a post-apocalyptic fiction short story (about 3,000 words long) that is essentially the memoirs of a man in the ruins of the world, after it has been torn to pieces due to inexplicable reasons.

Non-Spoiler Summary:

The nameless protagonist starts by depicting a horrifying scene that completely immerses you into the short story. It is sufficiently disturbing without resorting to gorror imagery. Without missing a beat, he then goes on to describe the way everyday life is in the ashes and gives you just enough information about himself to make you both despise and pity him at the same time.

My thoughts:

My motto concerning science fiction short stories, has always been this: a good short short scifi story is like a swift, hard elbow thrust to the teeth. It makes you go reeling, stumbling back, grasping at the mess of your mouth, trying to pick up your teeth off the floor. Still Life With Apocalypse does just that. It grips you from the moment you start reading it and then suddenly lets you go reeling, feeling somewhat diminished and you just know you (and your dentist) will never stop thinking about it.

Despite its very, very strong selling points, the story does have a weak premise concerning how the Apocalypse came about (a series of events that somehow caused a chain reaction which in turn destroyed society as we know it), but it still flows excellently.

All in all, it’s a short and great read that feels like a nightmare (in a good way).

Writey-whimey ooblie-jooblies

• Word count: 2,900
• Richard Kadrey is a San Francisco-based novelist, freelance writer, and photographer. Kadrey’s novels are Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, Aloha from Hell, Metrophage, Kamikaze L’Amour, and Butcher Bird: A Novel Of The Dominion. Other works include collaborative graphic novels and over 50 published short stories

Where you can find Still Life With Apocalypse:

This short story has been printed in the short story collection Wastelands (edited by John J. Adams). It’s a collection of post-apocalyptic short stories which has a number of excellent pieces and I highly recommend it. If you want to read it from free, you can find it here (http://www.infinitematrix.net/stories/shortshorts/kadrey22.html).

By-Line:

Konstantine Paradias is a short story science fiction and fantasy writer, who has his own blog, called Shapescapes (shapescapes). For comments or plain old contact, you can find him at kosparadias@gmail.com

I Love Strange Futures!

I do like stories that deal with the future of Earth and the human race – especially thousands of years from now. I have read several, but here is one with a few unique twists – like how future societies might latch on to one piece of our current popular culture and alter it to suit their needs. Some fascinating ideas in here, and a very enjoyable story to read!

Non-Spoiler Summary

Jeremy is cheating on his girlfriend Roberta by being with Tara. He is kind of fickle, however, and when he goes back to Roberta Tara calls the TV show Infidelity Squad to expose him in front of millions of viewers! He is touched by Tara’s feelings for him, so he decides to give her another try. Anyway, this is all well and good but the amazing thing is that this episode of Infidelity Squad gets picked to be preserved in the Museum Of All Media – 500 years in the future! Well, that only makes the story more popular and as the years go by it gets re-told thousands of times in many slightly different ways. The main idea stays the same, though, and that ends up causing big problems for opposing factions 2000 years down the road.

Some Interesting Tidbits

• Word count: 4,014 (7 pages)
• Have you seen Charlie Jane Anders web site? It is very strange and cool at the same time – I guess it depends on how you look at it. See for yourself.

Where To Find Source Decay

• This short story was first published in January 2011 on the web site Strange Horizons – where you can still read it for free.

Craving More SF Stories Like This One?

Charlie Jane Anders is fast becoming one of my favorite authors, and if you liked "Source Decay" then you might enjoy “The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model” – which she also wrote. It is about a couple of aliens who are searching the galaxy for dead-but-profitable civilizations.