Galileo's Theme Park - Note from the Editor

For summer 2018, we have Galileo's Theme Park, a new collection of science fiction, space opera, dark fantasy, horror, and humor, in which twenty international authors write about how the universe has changed since Humanity took a closer look at the stars. We asked contributors to take us on a speculative journey to the lands beyond Earth revealed to us by Galileo and other space scientists.

Have you ever seen the moon? Recently columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. praised a video he'd seen describing how writer and amateur astronomer Wylie Overstreet had set up his telescope on the streets of Los Angeles and was amazed at the reactions from passersby as they looked at the moon. The exclamations of the many strangers who stopped to peek through his telescope reminded us of our common awe when witnessing cosmic events up close, such as last summer's total eclipse. "A New View of the Moon" was directed by Alex Gorosh and is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic. View the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV89qH9IGrA

Many of us wonder whether we are alone in the universe. The lonely astronaut in Alex Zalben's "And Yet They Move" is about to find out. And Erica Ruppert's protagonist in "Signals" keeps hearing music—is it of the spheres?

The power of prayer makes a lasting impression in more than one story here. In Neil James Hudson's "New Heaven, New Earth," an interstellar expedition seeks to find whether the god of an encroaching Ptolemeic universe will accept Humanity's petition.

What if these prayers were answered? In G. D. Watry's "First, They Came As Gods," a priest and a scientist debate whether the discovery of extraterrestrial life on Jupiter's volcanic moon Io will change our view of our place in the universe. A disembodied being from another of Jupiter's moons shows itself to Galileo's assistant in Dr. Jackie Ferris's "Vincenzo, the Starry Messenger."

But even if there is other intelligent life, is it so far away that we may never actually meet? Waiting becomes a theme in more than one story. Humanity's hope and patience finally pay off in Jo Miles's inspiring "And the Universe Waited."

Though Galileo's pronouncements got him in hot water with the Catholic Church of the 16th century, little did he know that his far-seeing telescope would become a thing of the past, as in Adrik Kemp's planet-towing grunts in "Titanrise." In a future where money buys everything, Ginger Strivelli's rich industrialists guide space exploration in ways that suit them best in "For the Love of Money." And Jemima Pett's tour guide tells the adventurous among us why "Titan is All the Rage."

For a touch of horror, Steve Toase offers an alternate history explaining how the Russians get to space first, in "The Kromlau Gambit." A recurrent theme in some "slipstream" science fiction is the ominous planet that seems inimical to human life, for example, in Elena Arsenieva's "A Birch Tree, A White Fox," or the new "A Quiet Place" movie, where anyone who speaks immediately dies. Justin Short's disturbing "Dispatches from the Eye of the Clowns" continues down that strange road.

Little green men from Mars do a creditable job of imitating "Tam O 'Shanter" (aka Scotland's version of "Sleepy Hollow") in Connie Vigil Platt's "Night on the High Desert," set in the Old West. In "The Beast and the Orb of Earth Deux," Wendy Nikel's podcasters expose a mysterious orb found in space.

Space opera is terrific when it involves a no-holds-barred space battle amid black holes, and that's what Eric J. Guignard gives us in spades, in "A Hard-Fought Episode at the TON-1 Black Hole."

Ultimately, we realize we are only small players in the cosmic circus.

We close our short story section with two touching tales of the end of the world as we know it: "Growing Smaller" by Jimmy Huff and "The Bright and Hollow Sky" by Martin M. Clark.

SCORE! We have some of the funniest writers around in our "Grins and Gurgles" (Flash Humor) section. Granted, a couple of their tales involve arms being ripped out of sockets, like Ville Nummenpää 's "No Encore" and Art Lasky's "Just Right Guy," but physical humor is the best, right? If slapstick's not your bag, there's plenty of amusement to be found in hobbies such as cooking and birdwatching. Look for Rachel Rodman's "Devouring the Classics: Ten Recipes" and Lisa Timpf's "Advice for the 2060s Birder."

Seven writers are making another appearance in a Third Flatiron Anthology, showing their versatility and popularity with our Readers. We are also excited that nearly half of our authors this time are women.

We hope people enjoy this excellent selection, inspired by the worlds opened to us by the great Galileo Galilei.

  

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