What’s in Issue 97

Bewildering Stories News

Novels	In Tala Bar’s Gaia, Dar and Nim reach a turning point in their adventure with the jungle folk. Suspicion of foul play ruins three youths’ initiation rite; Dar’s relationship with the Healer begins to change; and the people’s society itself seems somehow at risk. Even so, there’s still time to party, and Nim is very much into the swing of things... Installment 5 concludes chapter 2, part II, while part III is a transitional episode pointing Dar and Nim toward further adventures in chapter 3. Ian Donnell Arbuckle’s Made It Way Up finds Essa trying to deal with Bernard in the wake of Lane’s death, and Kelly seems to be mirroring in her own way what is going on with all the adults: part 20: Essa; part 21: Kelly.
Serial	Michael J A Tyzuk begins another Tamara Tomson adventure. It’s part of a series that began with “Remote Control” and continued with “Rude Awakening.” This time, Tamara is up against a kind of galactic vampire in “Soul Hunter.”
Short Story	New contributor Kristen Tracey takes the reader month by month through a year marked by a series of mysterious telephone calls. The subject is love and death, but the callers never quite seem to connect. Or do they...? “Words and Colors No Man Can Understand.”
Poetry	Steven Utley is on a roll with his humorous poetry. “Electrical Difplay” accounts for the sudden disappearance of a style of hats. Meanwhile, “Pure Gas” explains indirectly the origin of the term “noble gases,” who seem to take the old Oxford abbreviation s.nob. just a little too much to heart.
Essay	Steven Utley summarizes the poet’s dilemma: being a Poet is a high calling; on the other hand, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Caught in the dictionary between much less desirable choices, would the Poet really give himself — at the age of 17 — the advice he says? Only a Poet would know for sure. At least he can say it “Starts with a P.”

Departments

Welcome	Bewildering Stories welcomes Kristen Tracey
Challenge	Colors and Poetry
Letters	Deep Bora sends us a cheerful letter about Election Day in Assam. Just another election day? No, Deep finds himself on a front line in the struggle to preserve civilization.
The Reading Room	Jerry Wright reviews S. M. Stirling, Conquistador.
Editorial	To Be or Not
News	A retrospective on our second year needs your help! There’s A Look Back Up Ahead

In Times to Come

In issue 98, new contributor Euhal Allen helps fill our erstwhile short-fiction gap with a short story. Ian Donnell Arbuckle brings Made It Way Up to a close. Meanwhile, Tala Bar sends Dar and Nim out in a new direction in Gaia. Steven Utley expresses, in a pair of poems, the sense of frustration a poet is sometimes prone to and asks readers for advice in something that’s a combination of essay and letter. And Michael J A Tyzuk will be back with the further adventures of Tamara Tomson!

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
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