What’s in Issue 343

Novella	Brian and Karen are really falling for each other, but Sammy the cat is watching suspiciously, and the inscrutable Lord Max Nagual has his own plans for the couple. Brian turns for advice to Roger, a guardian angel: John W. Steele, Beyond the Island, chapter 20; chapter 21, part 1, part 2.
Short Stories	Andrea’s recurrent dream presages a recovered memory: Joseph Grant, Inside the Cage, part 1; conclusion. On the Internet, nobody knows if you’re a dog. And in big-bucks publishing, nobody knows if you’re not really Candy Nada or Kafka the Nietsche-quoting cat: Gary Inbinder, Nemo in the Literary Market. The Andromeda Strain was a wake-up call. Time to smell the coffee burning: R D Larson, Instinctive Fear, part 1; conclusion. New contributor Lee Morris depicts a healer’s dream of microminiaturization: Javelin Warriors. New contributor Mark Tomlinson has some fun with a revenge-fantasy fantasy gone awry: The Night the Listening Stopped.
Flash Fiction	New contributor Mel Lees portrays a memory that keeps an old man alive: Aurora Again. Sometimes a simple change of color solves a lot of problems: Julie Wornan, The Checkerboard.
Poetry	Ashutosh Ghildiyal, Step Lightly
Short Poetry	Arnold Hollander, The Battle of Words
Summary	What is the plight of a dissident in an authoritarian society? It’s hardly anything new: Henry F. Tonn, The Last Testament of Jean Meslier.

Departments

Welcome	*Bewildering Stories* welcomes Lee Morris and Mark Tomlinson.
The Critics’ Corner	Don Webb, What is “The Last Testament of Jean Meslier”?
Challenge	Challenge 328 Response: Mark J. Kiewlak writes about “Open to the Sky” Challenge 343 observes that You Can’t Get Here From There.
Letters	Joseph Grant asks What Are the “Hot Potatoes”? Will Gray writes about “On Slapton Sands”
The Reading Room	Danielle L. Parker reviews Talia Gryphon, Key to Redemption
The Art Gallery	A randomly rotating selection of Bewildering Stories’ art NASA: Picture of the Day Earth Observatory Picture of the Day

Randomly selected Bewildering motto:

Randomly selected classic rejection notice:

Bewildering Stories’ official mottoes:

“Poems are not made with ideas; they are made with words.” — Stéphane Mallarmé
Ars longa, vita brevis. Rough translation: “Proofreading never ends.”

To Bewildering Stories’ schedule: In Times to Come

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
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