Bewildering Stories welcomes...

Paul G. Chamberlain

Paul lives in a haunted house on the shore of British Columbia. He is on the faculty at the University of Victoria and writes short stories and poetry, which have appeared in literary journals and an anthology. Paul’s primary interst is in magical realism.

“The Long Hand of the I Ching” will surely intrigue readers with its speculative examination of the role of coincidence in history. It falls into the category of alternate history where scenarios isolate causes and effects. “What if such or so had or had not happened at the right or wrong time or place?”

In this story, an Italian mountain-climber is due to return home for a celebration of a notable success. On the way, he has a vehicular accident in the Alps and unknowingly upsets a German general’s plot to assassinate Hitler. Ordinary events suddenly turn into mysterious coincidences, of the kind that shape history. And the imagery underscores the events’ importance: a report doesn't arrive; it falls onto a desk “like a Stuka dive-bomber.” A car wheel doesn’t spin idly; it rotates like a Swastika.

The story opens questions, such as: Was the failure of the assassination plot a bad or good thing? What of the failure of the actual assassination attempt in 1944, when a bomb intended for Hitler was accidentally moved off-target under a table? What is the role of the I Ching? What is coincidence: a natural or an artificial construct? Is existence itself more than a bizarre chain of events that results in equally bizarre entities such as authors and readers?

Paul G. Chamberlain’s bio sketch can be found here.

Welcome to Bewildering Stories, Paul. We hope to hear from you again soon and often!