August 2023 (Issue 159)

We have original science fiction by Scott Edelman (“The Letters They Left Behind”) and Lowry Poletti (“In the Nest Beneath the Mountain-Tree, Your Sisters Dance”). We also have two terrific flash pieces: “The Things You Can Maintain Yourself” by Benjamin C. Kinney and “Monopticon” from Dani Atkinson. Plus, we have original fantasy by Sloane Leong (“The Blade and the Bloodwright”) and David Anaxagoras (“The Boy Who Ran from His Faerie Heart”). We also have a flash story (“All the Colours of the Death Knell”) from Russell Hemmell, and another (“You Will Not Live to See M/M Horrors Beyond Your Comprehension”) from Isabel J. Kim. All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team. Our ebook readers will also enjoy an excerpt from Katy Rose Pool’s new novel, Garden of the Cursed.

Cover art by Tithi Luadthong (aka Grandfailure) / Dreamstime

August 2023 (Issue 159)

Editorial

Editorial: August 2023

by John Joseph Adams

Be sure to check out the editorial for a rundown of this month’s terrific content.

Science Fiction

The Things You Can Maintain Yourself

by Benjamin C. Kinney

Jill wiped xylem from her gloves and closed her car’s leafy hood. She’d kept Snapdragon on the road for almost twenty years, and if the world would leave her alone, she could keep him alive for five more, easy. It wouldn’t, and she couldn’t.

Fantasy

The Blade and the Bloodwright

by Sloane Leong

Author spotlight

The soldiers slit the woman’s throat every evening before bedding down so they can sleep without worry. She mocks them but never fights the knife coming to her. Two of the men still take turns watching her in case she heals before the rest of the cadre wakes.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Sloane Leong

by Laurel Amberdine

I drew on Hawaiian history, specifically the story of Kamehameha and how he unified the islands with an armada of war canoes and soldiers. I haven’t read many stories that draw inspiration from my culture and wanted to try my hand at expanding it.

Science Fiction

The Letters They Left Behind

by Scott Edelman

Author spotlight

My dearest Evie: I am so terribly sorry, my darling daughter, but by the time you read this letter, I will be gone. I wish I could have delayed my departure long enough to attend your high school graduation as I always promised I would, but the timing was outside of my control.

Fantasy

All the Colours of the Death Knell

by Russell Hemmell

What is the colour of pain? In the growing carmine tide that creeps in her heart-mind, Mathilde would swear all that hurts is red, like her scratched hand, her wounded wrists, her slashed ankles. It’s the blood trickling from her fingers.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Scott Edelman

by Laurel Amberdine

Because I create stories by poking and prodding at the concept in my journal, asking myself endless questions. Some of the questions I scribbled during the week after those earlier entries above were: “Why did the mother go into space? Was she a scientist?”

Nonfiction

Book Review: Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

by Arley Sorg

Arley Sorg recommends a new anthology stuffed with exciting dark fiction: Never Whistle at Night, edited by Shane Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Science Fiction

Monopticon

by Dani Atkinson

I am thinking of a word. I will not tell you what it is. I will tell you a few other words. The words you were looking for, though not all the words you were hoping for. Some of the words you were hoping for, I’ll let you have. Such as these: You were right. Doesn’t that feel good?

Fantasy

The Boy Who Ran from His Faerie Heart

by David Anaxagoras

Author spotlight

Here is a boy, barely thirteen, broken, lying in the road, twisted metal around him, twisted metal in him. Here is his heart, pierced by the shrapnel of the truck, a truck no longer, now a confusion of tangled wire and torn steel and glass pebbles.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: David Anaxagoras

by Laurel Amberdine

I really did spend most of my lunches in middle school by myself on the loner bench. Some days I had lunch in the library when even the loner bench didn’t seem safe. One day the vice principal really did try to reach out to me by complimenting my shoes.

Nonfiction

Book Review: The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

by Aigner Loren Wilson

Looking for an intriguing and enthralling science fiction novel? Then check out Kemi Ashing-Giwa’s debut, The Splinter in the Sky. Aigner Loren Wilson explains why.

Science Fiction

In the Nest Beneath the Mountain-Tree, Your Sisters Dance

by Lowry Poletti

Author spotlight

Dr. Nirwater Leera only agreed to study Mr. Girat because he is supposed to be dead. Tomorrow, they will meet in person for the first time. But today, Leera wastes time by staring at a cellophane bag full of Girat’s vomit.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight: Lowry Poletti

by Laurel Amberdine

I love bugs. The first species I really fell in love with were European honeybees, but after staring at bees for hours and hours every day to collect data, I realized most bugs aren’t so bad (see, I used to be afraid of them). Wasps are particularly unfairly maligned.

Fantasy

You Will Not Live to See M/M Horrors Beyond Your Comprehension

by Isabel J. Kim

SETTING: The adyton at the Temple of Delphi. Smoke rises from a vent in the floor, partially obscuring PYTHIA, who is sitting on a high stool carefully positioned behind the smoke. ACHILLES stands, supplicant. Behind him, the CHORUS looks at their phones.

Nonfiction

Book Review: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

by Chris Kluwe

Do you like heist stories? Do you like romance? If so, Chris Kluwe has the perfect read for you: Wole Talabi’s Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon.