What’s in Issue 163

Novel	The Galactic Council and Tunnel Worlds strive to form a new government, and they have a planet for their new capital. But they also need a new attitude. Meanwhile, the Qwell’Na tie off the loose end of the Qwell’Di — or so they think: euhal allen, The Bridge, IV, chapter 6: The Grand Union, part 1; part 2; part 3.
Short Stories	If you have trouble regulating the heating in your house, you just may be in for a hell of a day: Jonathan Bishop, A Cold Draft Coming from the Window. After a UFO crash, the captured “space alien” turns out to be both more and less than one might expect: Robert M. Blevins, Hole Card. New contributor Harry Lang reveals the mind of a terrorist who has second thoughts — and then third thoughts: Wham Bam! New contributor Denise K. Leblanc portrays a pretty, young, overworked nurse named Lily. Now, Lily has no trouble in getting a date with “Mister Right”; getting a date with Mister Dead Wrong is something else again: Him. Rhiannon, princess of New Dyved, contends with the plight of hopeless women and broken families. And yet there is some consolation... from Beyond: Rachel Parsons, The Words of the Dead Are My Only Comfort, part 1; part 2; conclusion. What’s a housebound husband to do when his wife and daughters are out on a shopping spree and he feels a ghostly chill? Drink, with the dread of doom: L. Roger Quilter, The Happening.
Flash Fiction	New contributor Shi Kejian shows a bereaved widow and mother and what her keepsakes mean to her and to humanity: Can Even the Dead See This and Forget to Weep?
Poetry	Whose home is the house painted the color of spring? Mary King, Lilac House.
Essay	A lyrical essay on writing and the imagination: Prakash Kona, Extrapolate, part 1; conclusion.

Departments

Welcome	Bewildering Stories welcomes L. Roger Quilter, Shi Kejian, Harry Lang, and Denise K. Leblanc.
The Critics’ Corner	Don Webb salutes Roberto Sanhueza’s epic fable in A Hail and Farewell to Katts and Dawgs.
Challenge	Challenge 163 examines Thermostats, Dogs and Flowers.
The Reading Room	Jerry Wright reviews Alastair Reynolds’ Century Rain.
Editorial	Jerry Wright, Storm Warnings Don Webb, “For when things go wrong”

In Times to Come

In issue 164

Novel: euhal allen, The Bridge, IV : Epilogue “Into the Shadows of the Stars”
Short stories:: Tammy Cox, “My Demon Spawn”; New contributor Michael Douglas, “Death in the Mind’s Eye”; New contributor Brian Grisham, “Petals on the Path”; Mary King, “Your Mother Knows”; D. A. Madigan, “Electronic Submission”; Mary B. McArdle, “The Ice Rink”
Flash fiction: Tala Bar, “Passages”
Poetry: Mary King, “Poltergeist”
Review: Danielle L. Parker, Rudy Rucker’s Frek and the Elixir

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
Please write!

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