Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Benjamin Cooper

Benjamin is from the Chicago area and has studied creative writing at the University of Iowa. He writes short stories and novellas.

“Manning the Cannon” tells of poor Roberto, who undergoes lengthy and arduous training to become a gunner on an interplanetary warship. After long, tedious hours in his cramped bubble reminiscent of those on WW2 bombers, he finally sees some action. And within a few minutes he’s killed.

The story might be a chapter in a longer work, one that explains what the space war is all about and who the combatants are, not to mention what the Big Awakening is and why Roberto’s family will be proud of his death rather than heartbroken.

It might also explain why a spaceship would have guns that are visually sighted rather than computer-targeted, even if a human gunner is needed to pull the trigger. But readers need not be too picky: the technology is a clear advance over Star Wars, where the space action resembles nothing so much as the air war of 1916-1918.

Benjamin Cooper’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Benjamin. We hope to hear from you again.