Editor's Note: SciFi To Go: Food for Thought

 After a long hiatus,Third Flatiron has launched its 34th short story anthology. "SciFi To Go: Food for Thought" features the work of 32 authors, some fan favorites returning, as well as others making their first appearance in our pages. The theme, while open-ended and speculative, showcases the important role food plays in our lives--and our thoughts. Here's a note from the Editor.

Hello, folks—

If you follow our anthologies, you know I mostly spend my time out front over there showcasing our favorite tantalizing treats, arranging them on a tray like a delicious dessert extravaganza beloved by all into a tangy lemon meringue custard made with meyer lemons and topped with fluffy golden egg white peaks resting atop a flaky buttery crenelated crust.

But sometimes, just sometimes, folks, I thumb through the pages of an ancient grease-soaked cookbook for something different and plunge into the chaos of untested recipes hoping to find something toothsome you can sink your teeth in sometimes brushing the fruit flies off some half-eaten overripe bananas from a nearby dumpster to create the heat-producing compost known as. . .

 

MEANWHILE

 

Meanwhile, we lead off with something "Devilishly Delicious" by Uncia Umbra, in which family magic plays a role in deciding what's for dinner tonight. Likewise, Emily Chanter's "The Dish That Takes Twenty Years to Prepare" gets out the slow cooker. . . ."

Meanwhile, sometimes it feels like you can feast on powerful memories, whether cybernetic or magical, as in Carol Mbugua's "Sweet After the Flood," Elizabeth Beechwood's survival story, "The Memory of Walnuts," and Michael H. Payne's "The Memory of Pie."

Meanwhile, whether you're a chef, a hacker, or a cop, food can play a part in the revolution. Check out these thrillers by Matthew P. Norman ("Long Noodles for a Short Future"), Mike Adamson ("An Elite Clientele"), and John M. Campbell ("A Just Dessert").

Meanwhile, ancient myth provides inspiration for tales by Rob Nisbet ("Chips with Everything"), Ney Alencar ("The God in the Pie"), and Sean O'Dea ("M.I.N.O.S."). Treats prepared for holidays such as Halloween may not strictly count as food, as in Henry Herz's "Explain Your Choice of Major."

Meanwhile, hilarious stories guaranteed to make you spew your coffee include E J Delaney's "Search and Replace," J. W. Wood's "FF>2450," F. Malanoche's "Meeting Grandma," and A. P. Sessler's satirical "A Tale of Two Windmills." Enjoy the Pratchett-style comic yarn, "Baker's Dozen," by DJ Tyrer. And as a reminder that melting a square of extra dark makes anybody feel better, regardless of species, there's Candice Lisle's "A Sweet Taste of Earth."

Meanwhile, while a bit of oil makes a dish moist, in John Leahy's "Regret and Citrus," there's such a thing as too moist. Weird. Perhaps try a side dish of absorbent mashed potatoes ("The Grease Stain on Time" by Adam Porkolab)?

Even if things aren't going your way nuclear apocalypse-wise, there's satisfaction in bussing your own cafeteria table, as in Shannon McDermott's "Lazarus." When it's eat-or-be-eaten, a forest Green Man-droid quests to reclaim long-lost human technology, in Paula Hammond's "Soul Food."

Meanwhile, haven't you always wanted a robot to cook the meals or a waiter who'll take your order at the diner? How about Andrea Doig's "Robotta Verdeux," or Tara McKee's "Fired?" They only aim to please, right?

Content Guidance: For this anthology, we asked authors to contribute speculative fiction stories to fit the theme, SciFi To Go: Food for Thought. That might help explain the preponderance of stories involving pie. We believe this is the most "international" collection we've ever produced, with a broad variety of viewpoints. Some space aliens also slipped in under the radar ("Nancy Renken's "The Transport" and Natalia Plos's "The Invasion is Called Off.") We learned that food can be a trap, as in Robert Bagnall's "Science Project." If you've seen the movie, "Alien," you know what we mean. . .

Meanwhile, as usual our book includes a flash humor section, "Grins & Gurgles," with some choice morsels including Zach Shephard's "The Life and Times of Killbot 61-D," Larry Hodges's "The Eye in the Sky of the Blueberry Pie," Lena Ng's "Sourdough Shoggoth," Bret Nelson's "Gather," and Kina Mann's rockin' "I Met Him at the Poison Store."

A summer blockbuster, you say? Our thanks as ever to Wulf Moon, whose Wulf Pack writer's collective contributed several enjoyable consumables.

So, please stay with us, folks. We'll be right back to serve up some tasty tidbits.

Juliana Rew, Editor, Third Flatiron Anthologies

(With apologies to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (much-missed)

Summer 2026

***The book's available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX9HTFQK

 

Review - The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

 "The Ministry of Time," the debut science fiction novel by British writer Kaliane Bradley, starts with a rollicking premise. New time-travel technology gives the opportunity to pluck people out of history. Only dying people are gathered, so the timeline is not affected. Or so it's believed.

 The unnamed protagonist is chosen to work with the Ministry to provide guidance for a year for one of the time "expats," an honor she relishes.

As a huge fan of the Dan Simmons novel, "The Terror," recounting the history of the ill-fated Franklin polar expedition, I was happy to see that her charge was Graham Gore, one of the lesser known members of the 1840s expeditions. The period of "adjustment" to late twenty-first century Britain was great fun, as the Victorian explorer was caught off guard by the changes in mores.

However, when she became infatuated, the explicit sex, racism, and colonization aspects of the book became heavy-handed, causing her to be regretful instead of hopeful. An odd conspiracy was introduced. The novel is a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award, but its twist ending suffered from what I consider to be "Jumping the Shark," time-travel wise.

The Bonnie Banks O' Glasgow WorldCon

The August 2024 WorldCon at the Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow, Scotland, was a treat for science fiction and fantasy fans, especially those escaping the heat and smoke of the U.S. summer.

Art by Sara Felix

An early morning stroll before the day's schedule was an opportunity to hobnob with celebrities such as Gareth Powell and Nnedi Okorafor. We walked through Georgian-style neighborhoods to the vast Kelvingrove Park, spying bagpipers practicing in the wild. An evening concert of science fiction themes by the WorldCon orchestra soothed our musical souls, while we got wardrobe fashion ideas from the spectacular Masquerade event. I wonder where I can get some elf ears like those worn by Princess  Zelda. Entertainment was by Ada Palmer's Sassafrass group, who explained Norse mythology a cappella. Anyone up for filking? I'm still practicing "Song of Time" on the ocarina.

Fans lined up for table talks, readings, and author signings. A reading by Edinburgh native Charlie Stross could only be described as kind of ...(fun? weird? addictive?). Having read several of Adrian Tchaikovsky's recent books, I finally sprang for a print copy of his Arthur C. Clarke Award winner, "Children of Time." The art exhibition showed the best of the best, and featured work by Artist Guest of Honor Fangorn  (Chris Baker).

As is customary at WorldCons, the  Free Library  was giving away books and games in the exhibition hall, and I was happy to leave off some copies of my short story collection, "Twelve All in Dread: The Twelfth Witch and Other Stories."

My favorite panel was a presentation on the ten "defining principles" of life (hint: viruses aren't alive) by  Sam Scheiner, who heads the U.S. National Science Foundation Biological Sciences Directorate, entitled "All of Biology in 60 Minutes or Less." Free download is available at FoundationsofBiology.com.

View of Scotland from space (Glasgow SSC)

We were lucky enough to meet up with our Scottish relatives, who took us and the grandkid to the Glasgow Science Centre right next door along the River Clyde. The huge number of educational science exhibits were aimed at kids and adults alike.

The highlight of every WorldCon is the presentation of the Hugo Awards. I held my breath as they announced the finalists of the best novel category, and cheered for the winner, "Some Desperate Glory," by Emily Tesh. The competition this year was especially strong, and Tesh's triumph was well deserved. A near-scandal in which some fans tried to stuff the Hugo Award ballot box was detected early, and the bogus votes disqualified.

Sadly, we've returned home, but the privilege of living in Colorful Colorado is some consolation.

Review - Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

 This novel, Tesh's first, is tremendous, in the sense of being huge, wide-ranging, and astounding.  At first glance, it appears to simply be a space opera starring a human teen, Valkyr, who has been bred for warfare. Only a few humans remain after the destruction of Earth, and she's being trained to wreak revenge on the civilization that destroyed our planet. A common starting point for a sci-fi adventure novel, but it becomes so much more, not just touching on common tropes, but venturing into important societal issues, such as gender, sacrifice, religion, power, loyalty, and love. Although the protagonist is a teen, this is an adult novel in every way.

The novel is a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award, and it is my pick for the best of the bunch, edging out other worthy entries (including this year's Nebula winner, "The Saint of Bright Doors"), for its incredible world building, despite a claustrophobic setting in a hidden colony within an asteroid, where desperate humans hide and plot.

I think fans of the late Iain M. Banks will find a worthy successor in Tesh. The alien race that has defeated Earth is governed by a powerful artificial intelligence called the Wisdom, and although Valkyr at first seeks its destruction, she and her alien counterpart ultimately undergo multiple dimension and time shifts in order to "get it over with."  They learn from their mistakes about who to trust and how to make the world a better place, but suffer so many heartbreaks.

After the novel's end, Tesh offers a reading list that includes books explaining topics such as fascism, authoritariansim (e.g., North Korea), and quasi-religeous movements such as Scientology, and how these take hold in society. I always find it interesting when authors cite their inspirations in a reading list. I'm thinking of Alastair Gray's "bibliography" for his SF masterpiece, "Lanark." Tesh even mentions the Lord of the Rings and the battle against evil.

Offshoots: Humanity Twigged Anthology - Editor's Note

 

It's hard to believe how quickly twelve years have passed, and another Third Flatiron anthology, our 33rd, has launched. Offshoots: Humanity Twigged showcases 24 authors, nearly half of whom are returning, as well as others making their first appearance in our pages. Wulf Moon challenged his writing group to submit stories to us, and they did—in a big way. We're grateful. Our theme, while open-ended, seeks to envision some speculative future directions for humanity.

 We were saddened to hear of the recent death of Catherine Weaver, who completed her time-travel story shortly before passing away. Her story, "Another Day, Another Me," in which a woman runs into herself at the beach, leads off the anthology, opening up a world of possibilities.

A number of stories in the anthology concern the rise of artificial intelligence and its ramifications. "Software" by Evan A. Davis speculates that artificial intelligence employed by competing nations might ultimately help us avoid war. Yet although we are becoming increasingly dependent on the benefits of artificial intelligence, we humans need to treat the home appliances with a bit of caution, warns Curtis James McConnell in "Smarthouse Revolution." Jesse Back introduces us to an agreeable android caretaker, in "What Would You Do for Me."

We've all heard author Arthur C. Clarke's famous saying, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." M. Richard Eley's AI decides to investigate the veracity of that statement in "The Magic of AI."

Utopias can be in the eye of the beholder, as a future gardener feels he gets no respect in John A. Frochio's "Rogue Garden, Rogue Gardener." But living in virtual reality may hold considerable charms, as in "Monad" by Jackson Willis and "Messiah in the Machine" by Yelena Crane.

Other stories concern the evolution of the human race. Enjoy Robin Pond's poetic parable, "Ginger," for a sweet treat. In contrast, see how it feels to be judged, in Edward Barnfield's "A Kid with Six Arms Wants to Kick My Ass."

As humans evolve, they may find themselves living alongside other, uplifted, species, formerly considered vermin, as in "The Missing Music in Milo Piper's Head" by David Hankins. A lesson in humility.

Tired of Earth's problems? Space exploration's pros and cons are featured in "Our Foul Ancestors" by Neil James Hudson, "In Search of the Twinkle Toad" by E. J. Delaney, and "What Remains of the Rainbow" by David Cleden.

Maybe a helping hand will reach out with a fix, as in Juliana Rew's "Dreams of Rain: Probability of Precipitation," or Robert Stahl's "How Billy Adams Destroyed Humanity but Then Found a Way to Make It Right Again."

Fantasy worlds are often quite different from our own, but some themes are universal, such as the importance of fashion, as Scott M. Sands explains, in "Fashion, Darling, For an Untamed World." We also think a perfectly reasonable future for humanity would include a partnership with pixies. So: Theme achieved! Check out Wulf Moon's fantastic "Pink Pickled Pixies."

We conclude with a cautionary note. Humans haven't always been on their best behavior. Not all of these stories foresee a positive future. If things don't work out, the evolutionary tree might need a bit of tweaking, as in Jennifer R. Povey's admonitory tale, "When to Nurture, When to Prune."

Delight in our expanded flash humor section, Grins & Gurgles, with "In the Nick of Time" by Henry Herz and Jason M. Hough; "Ten Easy Steps to Boosting Your Civilization's Kardashev Rating" by Pauline Barmby; "They Eat Plants!" by Esteban Raposo; and "Purrfect Intuition" by Elizabeth Spencer Spragins.

We hope you find these new stories to ring true as much as we did at Third Flatiron. Slàinte!

You can obtain the anthology in Kindle and paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0D8CVYDMY

 

Juliana Rew, July 2024

After the Ren Faire?

 There's currently a documentary series showing on HBO about the largest Renaissance Festival in the U.S., and how its aging creator is fighting advice to retire. I can see how he's loathe to leave behind his greatest creation. After all, as Mel Brooks's Louis XVI in "History of the World" said, "it's good to be the King."

I've admired people who had multiple talents. Tonight Show host Steve Allen was a well-known "Renaissance person," a skilled raconteur, comedian, writer, and musician. Plus, he made it clear he loved his wife and supported efforts to uplift humanity. He didn't really want to be the king. These days, despite a plethora of "influencers" and talking heads in the media, real Renaissance role models are in shorter supply.

For the past dozen or so years, I've tried to help speculative fiction authors by providing a venue to express their ideas, as the editor and publisher of Third Flatiron Anthologies. I gained skills as a science editor and writer from my years with the Geological Society of America and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and these transferred easily to the field of publishing. I didn't see myself so much as "the Queen" as a facilitator. With a lot of hard work, and help from my friends (aka First Readers, artists, and podcast voice talent), Third Flatiron saw steady growth, and we became Affiliate Members of SFWA. I nominated our writers in award programs and readers' polls, and they even won some.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. That, plus more advertising emphasis on live media such as Instagram and TikTok, seemed to put the brakes on, or to at least move us over to the slow lane. Twitter tried to make me pay to claim that I am a real person. In order to "give back" to readers, I even produced an anthology, "Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses," and am making it free on Smashwords. After all, a venture is not a failure simply because it fails to make money. At least the authors got paid.

A true Renaissance person has other interests, right? I certainly do, such as my own fiction writing, reading, music (did you know a mandolin is a form of lute?), and travel. I've written several novels and am active in a critique group. However, my writing, while well reviewed, seems to have gone down the same rabbit hole as my publishing business. (Or maybe a parallel universe rabbit hole?)

It's not as though I wasn't warned. David L. Felts, who encouraged us early on, closed his anthology run after about 10 books, moving to an online review site at SFReader. We've all heard that 90 percent of small businesses never make it, nor do 99 percent of writers. But I'm noticing a renaissance of new publishing ventures, some run by authors starting their own imprints using Kickstarter campaigns. Hope springs eternal.

A marketing expert advises bosses (including, I assume, editors) to keep their eye on the priorities, instead of constantly putting out small fires and pulling out bindweed. And instead of trying to do all the marketing (support our Patreon!), I should hire one of them. Well... ok...

A recent episode of Shankar Vedantem's "Hidden Brain" podcast about the search for happiness hints that although it's important to be seen as useful and helpful, trying too hard can backfire on you.
But I would add that being sustainable requires a lot of hard work.

So, that's our story to today. How's that renaissance thing working out? Hard to say for sure. Maybe it's time to go to YouTube and take a jazz lesson from Steve Allen. (Oh, and don't miss the Third Flatiron Anthologies video trailer.)

Note from the Editor: Rhapsody of the Spheres

     Greetings, speculative fiction fans!

My company, Third Flatiron Publishing, has released its summer-fall collection, Rhapsody of the Spheres, a collection of SF, Fantasy, space opera, and hopepunk short stories.

 The dictionary defines a rhapsody as “an effusively enthusiastic or ecstatic expression of feeling.” In ancient Greece, a rhapsody was also part of an epic poem of a suitable length for reciting. Edie Brickell waxed rhapsodic about a smile on a dog, and Queen and Liszt gave us their musical Bohemian and Hungarian rhapsodies, respectively.

Our authors have given us their opinions of fictional what-ifs that might make us happy, and we're even including a bit of epic poetry. We're proud to point out that all of our authors claim to be people rather than AI, so the human connection is very real here.

Space opera is one of those genres that some might say verges on the operatic, while exploring the mysteries of the universe. For real-life amazement, we recommend a science news article in The Atlantic Magazine about how gravity waves pass through us all:

"Scientists Found Ripples in Space, and You Have to Buy Groceries," by Adam Frank (June 30, 2023) https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/06/universe-gravitational-waves-nanograv-discovery/674570/

 Jendia Gammon's space opera, "Opal World Frolic," anchors Rhapsody of the Spheres, in which a cyborg soldier meets all sort of beings on a planetary system quest. Brian Trent treats us to a space opera/fantasy mashup about a space colony with unauthorized trees, complete w/ dryads, "And Lifts Her Leafy Arms to Pray." Akis Linardos's AI protagonist builds a Dyson Sphere to protect humanity, in "The Day Luna Swallowed the Sun." Mike Adamson's astronauts enjoy the sun from afar as they visit a newly discovered dwarf moon in "Sunrise on Eris." Visits from advanced aliens take the stage in Bev Vincent's "Grand-Pere's Last Transmission," in which humans receive an invitation, and Liam Hogan's serendipitous "Discordia," in which aliens reveal that Earth's origin may have just been a "happy accident."

For those into hard scifi, we think you'll enjoy "Dog's Body," Edward Barnfield's tale of bioscientists working on an isolated island lab to clone domestic animals in preparation for a related secret project. We offer an imaginative time travel tale from Stetson Ray ("An Autograph").

Or should we call it RAP-sody? Many of the stories we received involved music and its power to change the world. Our anthology leads off with Jenny Perry Carr's "The Solution to Everything Is Disco," about a discouraged lab researcher who experiences a eureka moment when she lets the beat drop. Anne Gruner's "Museum of the Multiverse," imagines an eternal species that loves the music of the long-extinct human race. We direct you to Robin Pond's tale, "Celestial Notes," about a scientist who assembles a dissonant musical performance to save the world from climate catastrophe. Jeff Reynolds describes "One Last Night at Benny's Magic Fantastic Cabaret," for the jazz lover in us all. Even immortalized rock legends can undergo some ch-ch-changes in Bruce Golden's "Let Sleeping Rock Stars Lie."

Epic poems and mythology: We mentioned that epic poetry is sometimes called a rhapsody. Emily Martha Sorensen took up the challenge to write her poem about the origins of the Trojan War, "The Arbitration of Beauty." Happiness sometimes needs a bit of help from the goddess, in Maureen Bowden's "Euterpe." In Neethu Krishnan's "Dream Bones," a sleepwalker swims into the world of dreams to enlist as a dream keeper.

Fantasy and magic are always good to lift our spirits, right? A princess brokers a détente between humans and dragons with her song, in David Hankins's "The United Flamemakers of Ravalli." If you're a scientist, you might have wished you had magical powers to get to the solution, or at least to have your hard work recognized. Check out M. A. Dosser's "Peer-Reviewed Spellcasting." Monica Joyce Evans's "Physics for Witches" paints an artistic picture with quantum mechanics.

Family matters: Family can be both a challenge and the source of the greatest happiness, as shown in Brandon Case's futuristic social media foray, "The Stellar Instrument." Motherhood is strange and wonderful in Douglas Gwilym's "Matryoshka." Sharon Diane King's psychedelic "A Touch of the Grape" brings us family nostalgia at its best.

Then, there's always hope: 'Lor' willing and the creek don't rise' is an old Appalachian expression that things are bound to get better with enough focused intention. Lovely hopepunk stories that ring true (but weird) include Taylor Dye's "Changing of the Guard," in which two supernatural beings are on a mission to save a sick child, and "Lost and Hound," featuring M. R. Abbink-Gallagher's trippy tale about a telepathic dog who thinks deep thoughts.

As usual, our Grins & Gurgles flash humor section offers a chuckle, in "The Art of Music Surfing" by Lisa Timpf, as well as an ironic look at the last days of a butterfly, in Julie Biegner's "The Last Viceroy."

 

At one time, dozens of paddle steamers plied the rivers and canals of Scotland. The seagoing Waverley, pictured here, remains a tourist's delight, referred to by some as a "Hebridean Rhapsody." We hope you enjoy the many meanings explored in Third Flatiron's Rhapsody of the Spheres anthology.

 

My New Fantasy Collection

 My new collection of fantasy short stories from Sophont Press, Twelve All in Dread,  is now available in ebook for preorder at amazon.com, with paperback soon to follow.

It includes a dozen stories, six from my "Twelve Witches" series as well as a number of medieval-inspired tales for readers interested in sword and sorcery. "The Twelfth Witch" introduces us to the youngest and most powerful of The Twelve All in Dread, Tesseracta Rowan, as she quests in search of her powers and family origins, while other fantasy stories, such as "Rage, Rage, Against the Dying of the Age," return us to the age of Arthurian mystery and romance. The collection concludes with a dash of Cthulhu mythos, in "Blood Moon."

Alternately hilarious, heartbreaking, and chilling, Twelve All in Dread presents a dozen fun and original fantasy stories filled with action and magic.

ISBN # 978-1-7362848-7-2

Copyright 2022 Juliana Rew, Cover by Keely Rew

Return of the SciFi and Fantasy Cons

 

It is great to see the Cons returning to more in-person meetups. We enjoyed going (fully masked) to MileHiCon 54 in Denver and serving on three panels. I was especially interested in the panel on the growing popularity of stories set in the multiverse. On another panel, we had a spirited "discussion" about what can be done to fix the climate and the role the "hopepunk" scifi genre might play to offset today's preoccupation with dystopia. The audience for our panel on writing short stories and flash fiction was enthusiastic and ate up all of our advice, inadequate as it probably was. An event I love at MileHiCon is the "Slush Read," and my entry seemed to be well received. There's nothing like a little *constructive* criticism to keep you on the path to stardom.

Guest of Honor Ken Liu gave a talk about how science fiction does a terrible job predicting the future, so our work’s cut out for us to do better. Another GoH, Travis Heerman, showed us his first written, directed, and produced film, “Demon for Hire.” Only 8 minutes long, it’s a hoot. The trailer's available on his blog at http://travisheermann.com/blog/2022/07/13/trailer-demon-for-hire/

Last but not least, artist GoH Charles Vess lists among his credits illustrating Book III of Neil
Gaiman’s “Sandman” series. Of course, I caught a cold while returning from Scotland, so my filking chops were missing in action.

We managed to sell a few books at the author table, and Third Flatiron recently contributed books and ebooks to the World Fantasy Convention, to take place in early November in New Orleans. We'll be attending virtually, but are glad that's now become an option.

I'm going to try mightily to work on my new novel during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writers' Month) next month, and am hoping to publish my fantasy short story collection, "Twelve All in Dread," featuring the young witch Tesseracta Rowan and her evolution toward "All Things Understanding."

New Anthology, "After the Gold Rush"

At Third Flatiron, we're now celebrating 10 years with our latest outing. Over the years, we're honored to have featured the work of more than 350 authors, and have podcasted more than 50 of their stories. We're also proud of the mix of Colorado and international writers. This all-original SFFH anthology has the theme, "After the Gold Rush." We asked contributors to explore themes related to complications of booms and bubbles, including effects of accelerated culture; ecological consequences caused by human over-expansion, such as climate disasters; and economics (for example, resources and commodities).

We are especially grateful to Wulf Moon, who leads the "Super Secrets" workshop. He encouraged writers on the Writers of the Future Forum to submit to our latest call, and by our count, seven "Wulf Pack" authors of the twenty-one in this anthology are new to our pages.

So, what have we got in store for you this time? Here is a peek at what's in the anthology.

Love all the new tech? We might get more than we bargained for as the latest gadgets accelerate and overtake us. We lead off with James Tager's "Past the Projections," a creative—and creepy—story in which AI robotics come to life in virtual reality. The intelligent drone "bees" in Tim Borella's "To Vanquish Other Blooms" repeat the adage, it's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

We offer a number of instructive "what-if" stories about corporations that corner valuable resources, such as sunlight and real estate. With ingenuity and valor, ordinary people might still find ways to come out on top. Such a story is Robert Bagnall's "Sunrunner," an affecting story, about a rebel sunlight thief. We cheer Julie Biegner's teens as they try to take down the VR monopoly that's become a fascist state in her story, "Amphibios." Also, check out "Reassessed Value," by David Hankins, about a farmer who discovers a corporate loophole to save his land.

After climate change: Are we hearing the strains of the orchestra playing "Nearer, My God, to Thee?" In "Moving On," by Andrew Wright, Cape Cod is now an island, and it's Harry's job to check on houses and gardens before another storm arrives.

A gold rush theme means there's always room for a weird western, right? On the boomtown planet of Proxima B, when a samurai lawman is called to investigate a death, he discovers an ancient Mexican cult, in "Showdown at Sueño Hueco" by Wulf Moon.

"Earth's Last Immortals," by Erin Cullen, is the story of a future where life-extension technology has made it possible for humans to technically become immortal, but at what cost?

In a world where the world has retreated into virtual reality, a man searches for people who will return to "real" reality. "Facing Reality" by Yelena Crane.

In "Last Light in the Dark" by Shannon Fox, an actor on a far-future planet decides a change of pace is in order when his family's line of work starts to deviate from his personal values. While other stories about the after-effects of gold rush "bubbles" are usually sad, we find a nugget of hope.

It's hot. Damn hot. In Edward Barnfield's, story, "Live from the Troll Factory," hackers toil away in a post-internet apocalyptic sweatshop. It reminded us a bit of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake—only with computers.

Not all is gloom and doom, however.

There's evidence there was once a lot of water on the moon, so there may be a future call for explorers to find hidden reservoirs. Enjoy David Cleden's "Down on the Klondike," as a young man buys a stake on the Moon with his mother's credit card and runs into disaster almost immediately. In "The Front of the Pack," Lauren C. Teffeau's satirical story, this captured prisoner is not an arms dealer, he offers a scarce service—he's a regulation evasion provider.

Bon Voyage: In "Last Bite at the Klondike," by Liam Hogan, we meet an asteroid miner who opts to test the "interstellar progress paradox" rather than return to Earth.

We loved the movie, "CODA" (Children of Deaf Adults). If humans ever make first contact, it'll be important to find what we have in common. "All Our Signs Align" by Eve Morton, introduces a translator who teaches aliens American Sign Language (ASL).

"Unwinding the Clock" by Brandon Case, tells the satirical story of a grandma hacker who codes a scam app and sends the proceeds to a deserving recipient

Like William Wallace said in "Braveheart:" Freeeedom!! "The Last of the Gen Xers" by Angelique Fawns, is the story of a guy with an outlawed gas-guzzling Cadillac.

As usual, we conclude with our flash humor section, "Grins & Gurgles," with a "Currency Change Announcement" by Elizabeth Davis; "Amore for Life" by Cray Dimensional; "Genie in a PET Bottle" by Daniel M. Cojocaru; and "Goldberry" by Tom Easton and Jeff Hecht.

We hope you enjoy After the Gold Rush. It's available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3V48HWK

 

Juliana Rew

July 2022

 

 

 

Editor's Note: Things With Feathers: Stories of Hope Anthology

As inspiration for Third Flatiron Anthologies' latest theme, we put forth one of Emily Dickinson's poems, "Hope," in which she characterized it as "a thing with feathers." We reprint "Hope" inside for you to savor. Many of the contributors to this anthology agreed with Dickinson, while others expanded the ideas and symbols of hope.

 

 We open with Nemma Wollenfang's "Dream Eater," a truly transformative steampunk fantasy that shows us how a little kindness can reap rewards beyond your wildest dreams. While Cayce Osborne's "Yin-Yang" is indeed a ghost story, it is also a story of redemption.

Is there hope for us all? In P. A. Cornell's "Shiny Things," humanity's future is in doubt, as aliens return the planet to nature, until an intelligent bird pleads our inventiveness. Conversely, we depend heavily on math and technology, but sometimes it can become an obsession, as in David Cleden's "Ephemeralities."

Some of our stories call on the hopeful lessons of mythology, magic, and religion, such as F. T. Berner's "The Ones Who Made the Crossing," Sharon Diane King's "The Sorcerer's Appendix," and, for a touch of the weird, Nicholas Stillman's future-origin story, "Yes, Sadly." Barton Paul Levenson uses "Elf Magic" to show us how we could get along with others who aren't like us.

Still others draw hope from the wellspring of the supernatural, as in Bruce Arthurs' "The Best Damned Barbershop in Hell," and Paula Hammond's "Adventures in the Spiritual Lost-and-Found."

A common linchpin seems to be how much family plays a pivotal role in giving us hope—even more so over the past year. The wisdom of grandparents and devotion of grandchildren take center stage in Emily Dauvin's "The Soul of Trees," E. J. Delaney's "Zeno's Paradise (with redheads!)," Shannon Brady's "The Wonders of Yesterday," and Raluca Balasa's "Vanishing Act").

In time for the winter holidays, we have Arthur Carey's heartwarming alien encounter, "The Black Marble," a story that lets us reflect on the good things that we have and how they might continue to be.

Enthusiastic hope, aka "the Tinker Bell effect": Remember how we all clapped to bring Peter Pan's pal back to life? We want to believe that Alicia Cay's astronaut will survive in "The Girl Who Built Worlds." Melissa Mead's "Stella" catches a falling star and puts it in your pocket—ready in case you need it. Brian Rappatta's "The Warrior Rides into Battle, Sword Held High," rides along with characters who live their dreams of a better future as they take the daily bus to work.

Those of you wondering whether you're brave enough to attend a science fiction convention in person this year, there's encouragement to be found in Danielle Mullen's "One Last Thing." You might meet someone truly inspiring.

Worried about the sentient AI in your refrigerator? Anchoring the anthology is a hopeful post-singularity tale about intelligent buildings who love their customers, in Wulf Moon's "Sophie's Parisian Stationery & Parfumerie Magnifique."

As usual, we include our humor section, "Grins and Gurgles." As a ginger native of the mythical Colorado town of Plumbum, I can attest to the findings in Bonnie McCune's "Final Report from the Land of Red-Headed Children." And there's fairies! Art Lasky asks whether fairies could bring back "The Summer of Love." When a tsunami threatens, James Dorr's "The Wise Sister" helps us plan for disaster without the need to overpack.

Finally, we feature an essay, "What Hope Might Ask," in which Gerri Leen lets loose with flights of fancy regarding our fine feathered friends. Luckily, we hear wild birds have been doing better during the pandemic. We also recommend an Atlantic essay on hope by Arthur C. Brooks.

We do hope you enjoy reading "Things With Feathers." It's available from Amazon for Kindle and print paperback.

 

Review: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

  As a Coloradan, I often look forward to the work of horror writer Stephen Graham Jones. His latest, The Only Good Indians (Gallery/Saga Press), is a worthy entry that brings us into collision with the natural world. And anyone who’s tried to debug an electrical problem in the house will immediately be sucked right in.

Ten years in the past, a group of Blackfeet teens stumbles upon an elk herd that is easy pickings. They slaughter many, even though it’s an illegal kill and they haven’t a way of bringing all that meat home. Now the vengeful ghost of a pregnant cow comes back to harrow them.

As bad goes to worse (think "Cabin in the Woods"), Jones’s book touches on many issues, both historical and scientific.

I was reminded of the Magnetic Fields song, “Fear of Trains,” with its haunting litany of difficulties faced by Native Americans throughout our history

We are also reminded to coexist with wildlife. I just came across an ongoing study by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to study survival rates of calves under a year old among herds across the state, focusing on how human recreation may be influencing the behavior of elk. There’s a weird but fun story in the Colorado Sun about transporting pregnant elk via helicopter!

If you’re in Colorado in the fall, a real treat is to admire (from a remote, respectful distance) the “bugling” of the elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, as the rutting season begins.

At Third Flatiron, we featured a great story about mass hunts from trains in our weird western themed Principia Ponderosa anthology. The author of that story, “The Hunt,” Salinda Tyson also invoked a Servant spirit that preserved the balance between the human and the natural. If you liked Jones’s story, check out Tyson’s story here.

The Only Good Indians is a finalist for the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction and is available on Amazon.

Racism Is Not a Family Value

Originally published November 2009

 

My daughter, a recent graduate in Cultural Anthropology, praised in particular a course on Zora Neale Hurston, an American folklorist, novelist, and authority on black culture, taught by Professor Lorecia Kaifa Roland of the University of Colorado Boulder. Raised as I was in lily-white suburbia, I had never heard of Zora. She was "rediscovered" by Alice Walker. But it turns out that one of Zora's best friends was Fanny Hurst, another famous novelist writing about black life. Hurst's novel, "Imitation of Life," was one of the defining "experiences" of my life, even though I never read the book. During your life, if you have children, you try to share your values and reasons for those values. I had shared the story with my daughter that I had joined the YWCA, one of the oldest women's organizations in the United States, not because I was a Christian, but because one of their basic tenets was to get rid of racism. Somewhere along the way, the YWCA felt this goal was no longer necessary and dropped it from their principles and practices. At the time, I was very upset about this and felt it was premature. I'm happy to say that it is now back (http://www.ywca.org/site/pp.asp?c=djISI6PIKpG&b=284783). My daughter and I didn't know we had these inspirational novelists in common, but for me it was exciting to see her discover and internalize an experience so different from her own privileged upbringing yet so important to our society today. "Imitation of Life" was made into two films, one in the late 1930s and another in the 1950s. I saw the 1950s version first. The story involves a black woman raising her light-skinned daughter while working as a servant for a strong white woman entrepreneur. The daughter, even as a young child, wants to be white and denies that she is "colored." When she grows up, she abandons her mother and gets as far away from her as possible, passing herself as white. She lives in constant fear of being discovered. Her mother is resigned, even comfortable, with her identity and never understands why her daughter rejects her race and her mother's love. There have been many other fantastic stories about mother/daughter betrayal, notably "Mildred Pierce" and "The Piano," but "Imitation" contained the double edges of blood kin betrayal and racism, a potent combination that I found life-changing.

Editor's Note: Brain Games: Stories to Astonish

 Life's become something of a shifted chessboard, hasn't it? My gang has worked hard to put together the Fall/Winter 2020 edition of Third Flatiron Anthologies, a huge issue with 27 short scifi, horror, and fantasy stories. The theme of Brain Games: Stories to Astonish focuses on puzzle solving and ingenuity, inverted tv tropes, inventions (clockwork, practical, or Rube Goldberg), masterful creations, mythology, and social commentary. A number of these tales cross over to the dark side, in keeping with the season, and our final short story ushers us into the winter holidays. (Note the young Santa at work on the cover.)

 

We open with an odd space mystery, as asteroid miners try different theories about who stole their Earth shuttle. Brian Trent gives us "Theft, Sex, and Space Pirates."

Further bending our minds, Geoff Taylor gives us "Killer dApp," software scifi that presents a completely evil yet plausible way to take advantage of anonymous cryptocurrency (hey, kids, don't try this at home). Jetse de Vries dishes out Japanese AI warrior scifi, with embedded poetry.

With the coronavirus playing havoc with people's smellers, it could be important to keep our noses in tip-top health. Two of our stories disagree on what space aliens smell like. Alyce Campbell is pretty sure they smell garlicky ("Kwatt Games"), while Brenda Kezar speculates that they smell like patchouli ("US Portal Service"). Maureen Bowden dips into "The Sweet Smell of Sheep" to tell the story of the Trojan War from Paris's ex-wife.

As we are encouraged to stay in our homes and socially distance ourselves, mail delivery becomes an even more important daily service, not to mention that postal service is a pillar of civilization. We're not so sure a quantum portal would be a good replacement. Rebecca Fung posits that Santa might agree with us, as he gets all his toy ideas from kids' letters, in "The Greatest Toymaker in the World."

Artificial intelligence, androids, and robots seem to be on a lot of people's minds. That is, do they have minds like us? Henry McFarland describes some "Perfectly Rational Gamblers," and their frequent visits to casinos, while C. J. Peterson writes the code that would determine whether two supercomputers have achieved self awareness (hilarity ensues). But could we be living in a computer simulation? In Paula Hammond's "All Your Bases Yada-Yada," a woman discovers what seems like a glitch in the pixels on the way to work. It's a bittersweet symphony. Although they didn't have 3-IN-ONE oil back in Medea's day, she helps out Jason and the Argonauts against a giant robot that's prone to rust, in Jenny Blackford's "A Bronze Giant to Guard Her."

For you players of games: A cop in training gets too comfortable living in virtual reality in Jess Hyslop's "Softlock."

Intelligence different from our own may arise from Nature, as Ellen Denton reminds us, in "Minds Unseen."

We hope to rely on good old-fashioned human ingenuity to get us out of scrapes like deadly viruses. Let's see what the Nobel Peace Prize address in "Stockholm, 2066" might be, as told by Joseph Sidari. And we wonder what Graham J. Darling is referring to in his comical postapocalyptic tale, "The New Season." Is it the new flu season, or the election season? And which is scarier?

Lisa Timpf shows us it's possible to do our shopping without all of today's "helper technology," in "The Disconnect."

Halloween season wouldn't be complete without some horror tales. Eleftherios Keramidas's sorcerer just can't resist applying the latest technology to outsmart a deadly magical book, in "Toxic." Monica Joyce Evans's "Forced Teaming" discusses the cons of a job holding the digital copies of dead human personalities. For some Frankensteinian steampunk, Dennis Conrad's "The Incredible Machine" sucks the life out of us. Otherworldly calls come in through a village's outdated switchboard in David Rogers's ghostly "Numbers." In M. Richard Eley's "Bad Connection," a hacker gets his just comeuppance when he Zoom-bombs the wrong meeting.

To spice things up, Justin Short offers "Mock Me Amadeus." (It's a graveyard smash.) Dominick Cancilla recounts the adventures of "Joey and Rue," a riotous mashup of demons and Rube Goldberg, while M. K. Hutchins writes an empathetic tale about getting on the Grim Reaper's good side in "Upcycling Death."

As usual, we conclude with the flash humor section, "Grins and Gurgles." If you're fed up with the constant pillow guy commercials, Steve Zisson tells us how to DIY your own. Aidan Doyle channels his lovable evil villain to lecture his minions in "To All the Creatures I've Hid from Ethics Committees," and Lauren Lang's lingerie model suffers the discomfort of outer space to find "The Best Bra for the Boobs."

Brain Games: Stories to Astonish is available in eBook on Amazon (free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers), and there's a paperback edition.

Science Fiction Goes Virtual

 Or, at least all the conventions seem to be…

It's 2020.

WorldCon 78 this year was supposed to be in New Zealand, but the fans and volunteers did an awesome job of converting the whole shebang to a virtual convention after the spread of coronavirus mandated social distancing. The amount of work this took is unimaginable (I'm trying...). We enjoyed seeing George R.R. Martin give the opening speech, even if it was from his living room in New Mexico.

I loved moderating a panel via Zoom about favorite off-the-beaten track SFF tv shows. Fellow panelists were Shaun Duke (brains behind the Hugo-nominated Skiffy and Fanty podcast), Stina Leicht, Christine Taylor-Butler, and Sarah Gulde (editor of Star Trek Quarterly). We each gave our favorites (mine were "Devs," "Dark," and "Russian Doll"), and had the privilege of "collecting" the massive number of suggestions coming from chats going on in the background. Plenty of great new fantasy coming too, like "Cursed," and older shows worth digging up from obscurity, such as "UltraViolet." Folks could move offline via Discord to continue conversations.

A highlight, of course, was the Hugo Awards and the re-named Astounding Award (formerly the John W. Campbell).  As a big filk music fan, I clicked on over and was treated to a living room concert by author Ada Palmer (Terra Ignota series) and her band, Sassafras. My husband and I then packed in as many short SFF indie movies as time permitted.

The Scottish Connection

It's great to see Glasgow lobbying to be the host city for WorldCon in 2024! Follow the bid on Twitter @Glasgow2024.

Following WorldCon, I attended another recent virtual reading night sponsored by the Edinburgh magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, with authors Ada Palmer, Jo Walton, Rachel Plummer, and Jane Yolen.  Thanks to editor Noel Chidwick for bringing these ladies back for an annual reunion (even if for the Americans it had to be virtual instead of in Scotland).

 

Here in Denver, we are ramping up to hold a virtual con for MileHiCon52  from October 23-25. Glad we've been able to get a little experience under our belts and hope to see you there.

 

 

 

Case Files of a Spirit Talker by Lela E. Buis - Review

Lela Buis has released a new collection of her tales of Anna Detroyer, private eye and Black Seminole spirit talker.

Anna follows cases into the dark corners of Japan, Mexico, Kenya, Miami Beach, the Florida Everglades, and Alaska, and she usually gets her man, god, or demon (pick your pantheon), with a little help from her friends in the Native American supernatural world. A puzzle lurking in the background is the developing rift between her and her longtime partner, Paul Angstrom.

Author Buis does a great job of describing the various locales, so you feel like you are traveling with her. Highly recommended for readers who like their fantasy shrouded in mystery and romance. The book's available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089FN3XJT

Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses - Note from the Editor

 

We are all feeling shut in during the C-19 coronavirus pandemic, so Third Flatiron wants to reach out to our many friends and readers, to give back a little of the support we've received over the years. We will be offering the ebook of Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses free during this period to help anyone whose discretionary reading funds might be tight. Pick your own price over at Smashwords.

The theme of this science fiction and fantasy anthology is "the future we'd all like to see." This doesn't mean it all has to be rainbows and balloons, but some optimism and brightness don't hurt a bit. Besides returning authors from previous anthologies, we are pleased to feature three stories by Colorado authors, as well as first publications by new writers.

Weird is wonderful: We lead off with Robert Bagnall's "The Thirteenth Floor," a fascinating trip to an invisible world that's sitting right in front of us. (Probably.)

A little help from our friends: Artificially intelligent creatures designed to serve humanity begin to realize that social distancing is not their thing, as in Alexandra Seidel's "We Make Life Beautiful Again." Patrick Hurley's police constable becomes a crime-solving whiz when augmented by his AI partner in "The Centaur Detective and the Vanishing Man."

Pokémon Ultra: Several of our contributors this time delved into future cyberpunk. Some of their characters use augmented reality and implants to play games, as in Koji A. Dae's "SoulShine," while others just use VR to blot out a crumbling world, as in David Cleden's "All Fuzzed Out and Fractal." Either way, it may be costly to your soul.

Anywhere but here: To some, a best possible future might be Heaven on Earth, but others look to quantum mechanics for something even better, as in Eneasz Brodski's "Give Me My Wings."

Taste l'Arc en Ciel: A boy's family helps reintroduce giraffes to their native African home in Gustavo Bondoni's "Such Sweet Sorrow." (See? Rainbows and balloons.)

To see a loved one again: A grieving mother and daughter (and the dog and the goldfish) find that their new life is "Just Like Living with Dad," as told by Jenny Blackford.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a "Catcher in the Sky" to remove carbon from the atmosphere, asks Paul A. Freeman. And Liam Hogan's alien visitors treat a young vlogger to a tour of their "Lighter Than Air" cities.

The best rock concert ever, and you're there: After the apocalypse, join the Battle of the Bands in Angelique Fawns' "The New Mutants."

A fresh start: A young girl survives a ski accident, and has her clone to thank for it in Emily Martha Sorensen's "Tabula Rasa."

Hey, Aquaman: Earth's oceans shelter humanity from the ravages on land in Christopher Muscato's underwater adventure, "Living As You, Our City a Garden."

To the Stars and Beyond: When the first of the pioneers aboard a colony ship die, a young descendant learns the meaning of "Ashes to Ashes," in Chloie Piveral's touching story.

For the good of all: Though not everyone agrees that geoengineering the climate is a good idea, Mike Adamson's straight-shooting space warrior does her level best to ensure the return of "The First Day of Winter." And though most of future humanity has learned the value of peace, as in Neil James Hudson's "War's End," we might want to hold a little in reserve, just in case…

. . .

Grins & Gurgles: To close the anthology, we proffer a bit of lightness in our flash humor section.

Wordplay: "Lexophile" describes those that have a love for words, such as "you can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish," and "To write with a broken pencil is pointless." Mariev, Erie Matriarch, cracks us up expertly with "For Mom: Standup Cosmic Comedy."

A bit of common sense wins out in Matt Tighe's "The Plumber."

Stiff upper lip: Ville Nummenpää's "Interview with a Zombie" starts out well, until everything falls apart.

 To see ourselves as others see us: A colonist has a little "Night Chat" with some tiny Martians in this fun story by John Kiste.

Enjoy! Thanks for reading, and stay safe.

A Little Hatred - Review

Betwixt a Sword and a Hard Place

Joe Abercrombie's A Little Hatred gets off to a slow start. This appears to be the beginning of a "Game of Thrones"-size, multibook grimdark epic littered with dozens of characters (and requiring frequent consultation with the appendix).

At first glance, some of the major characters are downright despicable, such as the money-hungry businesswoman Savine dan Glokta, whose factories exploit the workers. (Savine is certainly no Daenerys Targaryen, more like Cersei Lannister.)  Or Leo dan Brock, aka "The Young Lion," who seems to be a spoiled ne'er-do-well of a knight not worthy of our respect, and the enormous and cruel henchman Pike (guest starring in the role of The Mountain). Rikke, a young woman of the North with the "gift" of the Long Eye, has trouble getting her shit together in between chillingly prescient visions.

But after about 100 pages or so, things begin to pick up, as the worlds the characters inhabit begin to congeal. Abercrombie's creation is a blend of medieval history, Viking mythology, and 18th century industrial revolution. When it veers into the medieval, in a Battle of Hastings-like showdown, for example, pages began to turn. Not that I like arrows in the eye, or duels to the death, of course, but it is pretty exciting to try to figure out who to root for and worry whether they are about to die. Abercrombie knows how to write a thrilling climax.

The book's long, though. It's lucky that our local library shut its doors for social distancing and forgave all late fees. Or, you can buy it on Amazon.com.

Recommended.