What’s in Issue 102
| Novels |
Roberto Sanhueza brings Katts and Dawgs to a riotous finish. Literally. Just about every character in the novel and all the Sentient Peoples meet in the Kannis city square for the trial of Phydo and Rover. And what is the key to enlightenment and progress? Why, the Sacred Cheaze, of course... You’ve got to see it to believe it! “Dawg on Trial,” installment 2, followed by the Epilogue.
Tala Bar has taken her two heroines, Dar and Nim, out across a lake in a rowboat with their new-found acquaintance, Nunez. Gaia started with ecological catastrophe, and it does not seem to have quite subsided yet. Hang on for dear life in chapter 4, “The Lake,” the conclusion of part II. The going gets rough, and it will take some very unusual turns! |
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| Novella | In euhal allen’s “The Bridge,” ominous, symbolic events close out part II. Even Jonkil Et Sharma doesn’t know quite what to make of them. |
| Serial | Gregory Hansen entertains us with a comic short story that’s a little too long for one issue. It’s about an interstellar insurance salesman who’s down on his luck and desperate to make a speedy shekel. But not so fast there: if the deal seems too good to be true, it certainly is. Adverse Selection, part 1. |
| Short Story |
New contributor Bill Turner poses an interesting problem: what if you had a “wild talent” where things you say have a way of coming true. You’ve become quite accustomed to this paranormal ability. And that’s the hitch: other people haven't, and they want your Statements of Fact to tell them things they think they want to know... |
| Flash Fiction | New contributor Simon Owens has sent us something really new: a screenplay. It’s quite short, has only one character, and is reminiscent of the style of the “silent movies.” It raises a question, though: what is the meaning of the titles in His Lasts? |
| Interview | Bewildering Stories concludes our interview with Steven Utley, who offers sound advice to young writers. |
Departments
| Welcome | Bewildering Stories welcomes Bill Turner. |
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| Discussion | Ásgrímur Hartmannsson also inaugurates a new genre with a free-form essay in formal literary criticism. It has to do with “an archived poet.” Part 1 deals with themes and tone; part 2, with form. Now, does that look dry enough to you? Veteran readers of Bewildering Stories know when they see Ásgrímur’s name that it’s anything but! |
| Challenge | Challenge 102 asks What’s Not in a Title? It may be your own philosophy of life. |
| Letters |
Allen Lester has a nice word for euhal allen’s “The Bridge.”
Steven Utley recently acquired some cutting-edge technology! And now he’s beginning to think about what it means to a writer when he puts a Scanner in the Works. |
| The Reading Room |
Jerry Wright reviews Cecelia Dart-Thornton’s The Ill-Made Mute: The Bitterbynde, Book 1 |
| Editorial | What's Going On? |
In Times to Come
We bid a fond farewell in this issue to Roberto Sanhueza’s Katts and Dawgs. We hope mightily that they’ll be back! It’s a story we’d like to see well-illustrated, available on library shelves, and in the hands of eager young readers.
I wasn’t joking about Gaia: Tala Bar will give it a very unusual and unexpected turn, one we have not seen before. Meanwhile, euhal allen has already taken “The Bridge” into a semi-mystical realm. There’s more to come in both stories as well as in Gregory Hansen’s “Adverse Selection.” Our next issue will have some really amusing short stories.
And, hey, no fair that Ásgrímur should have all the fun! In issue 103, Don Webb will join the party and fling himself with abandon into the deeper, hidden meanings truly bewildering side of Bewildering literature. And remember that our Second Anniversary Retrospective for issues 53-60 is beginning to take shape. Please put your oar in and help us row the boat ashore!
Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
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Copyright © 2004 by Bewildering Stories
