The Portal Plague - Dinesh Rao

Rangoli solution alternate worlds shutdown stay. 3.5 out of 5 http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/tuesday-fiction-the-portal-plague-by-dinesh-rao/

Words Beyond the Veil - Ian Sales

Death metal alien artefact network translation post-mortal communication trip. 3.5 out of 5 http://iansales.com/2012/05/24/words-beyond-the-veil/

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Orphan kid improves situation. 2.5 out of 5 http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/730

Wizard's Bane - Rick Cook

Computer programmer ending up in magical fantasy has to learn to adapt and put his talents to use. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.baen.com/library/0671878468/0671878468.htm

Spawn of the Comet - Otis Adelbert Kline

Or, flying tentacle jellyfish replicating from space. 3 out of 5 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173166

MacHassan Ah - Talbot Mundy

Engineering and fighting and sorta English. 3 out of 5 http://www.yamasster.net/index.php?b=MACHASSAN_AH

Curran - Ilona Andrews

The bloke's side of the story. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18799

War Killer Children and More: An Interview with - Paolo Bacigalupi

"Paolo: I was interested in political failure here in the U.S. The way we’re failing to work together to solve even our smallest problems, let alone the complex ones. We seem to have a fascination with deepening our political schisms for the sake of short-term partisan gains. Connected to that, I was interested in how our political punditry are rewarded monetarily to also deepen those hatreds. People like Rush Limbaugh are paid a lot of money to dump bile on his political opponents and to encourage his followers to do the same. For Rush, it’s a $38million/year business. That’s a powerful financial incentive to keep deepening our political dysfunction. At some point, you have to ask the classic science fiction question “If this goes on, what will the world look like?” For me, that looks like a civil war in a nation that long ago forgot how to plan or solve complex problems like global warming, or peak oil, or financial ruin, that are sweeping down on us." 4 out of 5 http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/05/an-interview-with-paolo-bacigalupi

The Malignant Entity - Otis Adelbert Kline

Skeleton professor eaten by creation. 2.5 out of 5 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173168

Fathers and Sons - Ilona Andrews

Of beatings of and beatings by partners, a la Curran. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.ilona-andrews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Curran-POV-Vol-II.pdf

The Soul of a Regiment - Talbot Mundy

Just the bloody colours. 2.5 out of 5 http://manybooks.net/titles/mundytalother07soul_of_a_regiment.html

Wirgman's Theory - Rafael Sabatini

Tracked down. 2.5 out of 5 http://www.rafaelsabatini.com/Wirgman.html

A Thousand Deaths - Jack London

Poison, electricity, freezing, all worth a shot. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.jacklondons.net/thousanddeaths.html

The Sword of Islam - Rafael Sabatini

Dragut the pirate leader suffers a few setbacks. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.rafaelsabatini.com/SwordIslam.html

Wake of the Bloody Angel 1 - Alex Bledsoe

"I picked up the chain. A locket hung from it, but I didn’t open it. “Nice jewelry,” I said. “A little pricey for a regular sailor, though. Was he a pirate?” “Not when I met him. But later…yeah.” Pirate. That was not a word I liked to hear. Back in my mercenary days, I’d crossed both paths and swords with the so-called “brotherhood of the surf,” and the thing that stuck with me most was the smell. Granted an army-for-hire that had been in the field for a while was no bouquet of roses either, but the odor of these sea vermin–a mix of sweat, salt, fish, and blood–impressed me with its organic rankness. They seemed a separate species, governed by laws so arcane and labyrinthine that even looking at one of them risked sparking a violent confrontation. I avoided them whenever possible." 3.5 out of 5 http://www.flamesrising.com/wake-of-the-bloody-angel-preview/

MIND MELD: Is SF Still The Big Idea Genre? - J. P. Franz

"In fact, those people who are doing the “big visionary ideas about the future” SF are mostly doing so in a vacuum of critical appreciation. Greg Egan’s wonderful clockwork constructions out of the raw stuff of quantum mechanics, visualising entirely different types of universe, fall on the deaf ears of critics who are looking for depth of characterisation, and don’t realize that in his SF the structure of the universe is the character. On Hannu Rajaniemi’s brilliant The Quantum Thief — I have yet to see a single review that even notices the fact that this is the first hard SF novel to examine the impact of quantum cryptography on human society. (That’s a huge idea, but none of the reviewers even noticed it!) And there, over in a corner, is Bruce Sterling, blazing a lonely pioneering trail into the future. Chairman Bruce played out cyberpunk before most of us ever heard of it, invented the New Space Opera in Schismatrix (which nobody appreciated for a couple of decades, until Al Reynolds built a pyrotechnic career atop a more accessible parallel vision of its Mechanist/Shaper future), co-wrote the most interesting hard-SF steampunk novel of all, and got into global climate change in the early 90s. He’s currently about ten years ahead of the curve. If SF was about big innovative visions, he’d need to build an extension to house all his Hugo awards." 4.5 out of 5 http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012/05/mind-meld-is-sf-still-the-big-idea-genre/

Whippleshield Books a guest post by - Ian Sales

"I didn’t intend to set up my own small press. I had this science fiction novella which I thought was good enough to be published, but every small press I approached had a couple of years’ worth of material scheduled. I didn’t think a magazine would publish the novella because it has an extensive glossary – and the glossary is important to the reading experience. And, to be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced editors would actually like my novella. I hadn’t written it in a science fiction mode… though it’s set in an alternate 1980s, is about astronauts stranded on the Moon, and makes use of an unexplained Nazi “Wunderwaffe”. But it’s not the sort of science fiction you see each year on the Hugo and Nebula shortlists. Besides, my novella was also the first of a quartet, and I’d sooner have sold all four as a single package… even though I hadn’t written the other three." 4 out of 5 http://keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/whippleshield-books-a-guest-post-by-ian-sales/

Turbulence - Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Flight now scary.


3 out of 5 http://kriswrites.com/2012/05/21/free-fiction-monday-turbulence/

Q&A with Sci-Fi Writer - Chris Roberson

"Q: Further: Beyond the Threshold blends humor, space opera, and hard science. What stories inspired you to combine elements that are often not brought together in one book? A: My tastes are fairly catholic, in the sense that I like a lot of different kinds of things, and the stories that I tend to enjoy the most are those which combine as many different interests of mine as possible. So it’s only natural that those are the kinds of stories that I tend to write, as well. Most of my work, both in prose and in comics, tends to combine and blend elements of multiple genres and subgenres. As for the decision to include humor in the mix, I guess I just like it when things aren't always quite so serious and dour!" 3.5 out of 5 http://www.kindlepost.com/2012/05/chris-roberson.html

The Server and the Dragon - Hannu Rajaniemi

Made for each other. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.starshipsofa.com/2012/05/16/starshipsofa-no-238-hannu-rajaniemi/

Footvote - Peter F. Hamilton

Footvote - Peter F. Hamilton
Exodus rules. 4 out of 5 http://mos.futurenet.com/digital/sfxspotlight/Footvote.pdf

Guardians of the Dawn - William King

Kill orcs, trolls, worse monsters - and stupid humans that don't believe innocents and torture them. 3.5 out of 5 http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/78354

Death's Angels - William King

In a world with a couple of sentient races - The Terrarchs and humans a soldier and his mates (one Barbarian, one Weasel) end up part of a group trying to help an ancient sorceress stop a crazy sorcerer from summoning a spider entity worse than an Elder God. To add to the slightly Lovecraftian bits they also have a musket level of technology. 3 out of 5 http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/72152

Mercury Theatre: Orson Welles Meets - H. G. Welsl

Discussion between the two re: War of the Worlds and Citizen Kane.


4.5 out of 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUdghSMTXsU&feature=youtu.be

Alpha 1 - Greg Rucka

"Mario Vesques was sure he was going to make it, right up until he saw the knife in the dog's hand.

He had no idea where the blade came from; what he did have was just enough time to realize he was in trouble, and then the cartoon animal was lunging at him in a way that Vesques recognized, had seen before, but yet couldn't immediately place. Only as he got his left forearm up for a cross-block, felt the tip of the knife nicking skin as it split his sleeve, did it click.

Modern Army, as taught at Fort Benning, Georgia, courtesy of the United States Army; and through the adrenaline rush he saw the irony that he and whoever was wearing the Pooch suit shared the same pedigree. The absurdity of it all—Vesques in his maintenance coveralls and this man in his dog suit, right paw missing to reveal a Caucasian hand and the blade it held—that they had shared, at some point, the same masters, perhaps the same history, perhaps even the same instructors. That they might've, somewhere, sometime, stood together as brothers in arms."


4 out of 5

http://www.facebook.com/GregRuckhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa/app_103130443159039

The Rush of the Wind and the Roar of the Engines and the Call of the Open Road - Lavie Tidhar

Transforming a Hasbro planet.


3.5 out of 5

http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/lavie-tidhar/the-rush-of-the-wind-and-the-roar-of-the-engines-and-the-call-of-the-open-road

Going Under - Brian Keene

There's a monster out there kids.


3 out of 5

http://www.chillertv.com/news/article/2012-04/going_under_ghoul_prequel_part_two_0

The Age of the Warrior - Hank Reinhardt

The Age Of the Warrior - Hank Reinhardt
Ducal, grey, but still deadly.


3 out of 5

http://www.baen.com/AgeOfTheWarrior.asp

On Existence Google’s Project Glass and the transformative power of science fiction - David Brin

"AG: At the centre of EXISTENCE is the discovery on an alien artifact – leading to First Contact. You’re an active member of SETI and have written non-fiction on the “Fermi Paradox” or Great Silence – the question of why we seem to be alone in the cosmos. Was writing EXISTENCE perhaps a way to explore this paradox through fiction?

DB: It’s the Big Question. There are billions of stars older than our sun. Many sapient species may have preceded us by eons and at least a few should have left clear signs of their passage. Why does the sky seem so empty of voices, then? Why was Earth apparently never visited? (And we would know, if it had been.)

Does something “filter” down the numbers? Just in the last brilliant decade, we’ve learned that planets are common and life seems likely to erupt almost anywhere with molten water. So what makes us rare? Intelligence? Technology? Or the fact that we figured out how to advance a bit, without nuclear war? The range of possibilities is daunting. I tried to give most of them a nod . . . amid a much broader plot about our near future."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.orbitbooks.net/2012/05/16/david-brin-on-existence-googles-project-glass-and-the-transformative-power-of-science-fiction/

The DisinfoCast with Matt Staggs: Episode 08 - Warren Ellis

"Legendary comics author and novelist Warren Ellis joins me on The DisinfoCast for a conversation about the future that was, artificial intelligence, the Singularity, aliens (ancient and otherwise), the legacy of Hunter S. Thompson, porn and even a little bit about comic books. Tune in."


4.5 out of 5

http://www.disinfo.com/2012/05/warren-ellis-on-the-disinfocast-with-matt-staggs/

The Clown Killer - Jeff Mariotte

Makeup poison.


3.5 out of 5

http://mistydahl.com/2012/05/07/the-clown-killer-jeffrey-j-mariotte-2/

Creeping Hemlock Press Team Up to Kickstart New Horror Magazine - John Joseph Adams

"Tell us how the idea for Nightmare Magazine came about.

In June 2010, I launched Lightspeed Magazine, an online magazine that focused exclusively on science fiction. In March 2011, I took over as editor of Fantasy Magazine, an online magazine that focused exclusively on fantasy. It was around that time that I first started thinking about launching a horror magazine as well. While editing both Lightspeed and Fantasy, I often came across stories that were horrific in nature, and while I did publish a fair number of those, I did encounter a number of stories I thought were great, but felt like they would be more appropriate to publish in a horror magazine.

My desire to edit a horror magazine also stems from my experience working as an anthologist; my biggest success in that realm has been in horror, with my anthology The Living Dead, which came out right around the time the zombie craze was cresting. Many consider it to be the definitive zombie anthology, and it was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. I also did a vampire anthology called By Blood We Live, then a sequel to The Living Dead (The Living Dead 2), and many people consider my post-apocalyptic anthology Wastelands to be horror. All of them—especially The Living Dead—sold very well, but other than those three (or four) books, all of my other anthologies have been science fiction or fantasy. Ever since I edited those books, I've wanted to find a way to keep my fingers in the horror market—and a magazine seemed like http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa great way to do so."


4.5 out of 5

http://www.fearnet.com/news/interviews/b26342_john_joseph_adams_creeping_hemlock.html`

Results - Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Results - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
http://escapepod.org/2007/10/11/ep127-results/

Child breeding decisions.


3 out of 5

http://kriswrites.com/2012/04/30/free-fiction-monday-results/

SFFWRTCHT Interview – Author Michael F. Flynn

"SFFWRTCHT: How much and what type of research do you typically do before writing or as you write?

MFF: One of the features of the Spiral Arm series is the future and blending of various cultures, so one of the things I research is different languages. There are a couple I can handle myself. For others, like Tamil or Arabic, I rely on friends and acquaintances. For still others, like Ibo or Hungarian, I have grammar books and vocabularies in my library. So I’ll look up words and so forth, then apply some phoneme shifts. The same goes for personal names and such.

For the science and technology, I rely on speculative science articles, such as those by Dr. John Cramer in Analog. That was where I read about Krasnarov tubes – subway tunnels in space – and some noodling around would give me a bit more detail. I was also receiving summaries of technological announcements by various research groups, which is where I learned about self-repairing materials, invisibility cloaks, and so forth. Most of this research was not done specifically for any particular book, but was gathered magpie-like in passing and kept in a notions box in the back of my head."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.raygunrevival.com/sffwrtcht-interview-author-michael-f-flynn/

Talks 2312 and saving the planet - Kim Stanley Robinson

"How would you introduce 2312 to someone unfamiliar with your work? What kind of ideas sparked it off?

I guess I would say it is a science fiction novel set in the year 2312, which attempts to give a portrait of human civilization at that time, which is postulated to be complex, and spanning most of the solar system, while still very much centered on Earth.

The idea that sparked it had to do with the central story, a romance between two people, one from Mercury, the other from Saturn (with matching personality traits). I needed a solar system-wide culture to make it possible for people to be living in those two places, and it grew from there."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/kim-stanley-robinson-talks-2312-and-saving-the-planet/

Incompatible - Will McIntosh

Power places wrong.


3 out of 5

http://www.starshipsofa.com/forums/topic/starshipsofa-no-236-will-mcintosh/

Tricentennial - Joe Haldeman

Tricentennial - Joe Haldeman
SETI success spurs space dwellers to sneaky space mission.


4 out of 5

http://traffic.libsyn.com/starshipsofa/StarShipSofa_No_237_Joe_Haldeman.mp3

Grim Tides 08 Meet Elsie Jarrow - Tim Pratt

"“Her name is Elsie Jarrow,” Dr. Husch said. “She is easily my most troubled patient.”

Nicolette gave a long raspberry, spraying spittle. “Please. She’s so far beyond ordinary notions of sanity that calling her ‘troubled’ is like calling cancer psychopathic.”

“If cancer were sentient,” Dr. Husch said, “it would be psychopathic. Speaking of cancer… I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Jarrow’s body died some months ago. She was absolutely riddled with tumors – she had been more cancer than clean flesh for years, of course, but her own mastery of chaos magic kept her physical form in more-or-less working order. Unfortunately… she tried to escape, as I think you know, this past winter, and she expended the last reserves of her power when she attempted to break through the wards on the Institute’s walls. She had precious little strength left for life support, and couldn’t control her own decay. I was unable save her physical form.”"


4.5 out of 5

http://marlamason.net/grimtides/?p=88

Houseflies - Joe Pitkin

Whipping up some cloned swallow hearts.


4 out of 5

http://torbooks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/If-at-First.pdf

Exisence The Shelter of Tradition - David Brin

"As for the rest of visual reality, the textures, colors and backgrounds? Well, there were a million ways to play with those, from covering all the building walls with jungle vinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifes, to filling the world with imaginary water, like sunken Atlantis, to giving every passerby the skin tones of lizard-people from Mars. You name it, and some teenager or bored office worker or semi-autonomous cre-AI-tivity drone must have already fashioned an overlay to bring that fantasy cosmos into being.

Mei Ling wasn’t trying for any of those realms. Instead, she tried simply stepping up through the most basic levels, one at a time — first passing through the Public Safety layers, where children or the handicapped could view the world conveniently captioned in simple terms, with friendly risk-avoidance alerts and helpful hands, pointing toward the nearest sources of realtime help."


3.5 out of 5

http://www.tor.com/stories/2012/05/existence-excerpt

The Prisoner of Zenda - Anthony Hope

Ruritania royalty-napping decoy diversion shenanigans.


2.5 out of 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner_of_Zenda

Tom Sawyer Abroad - Mark Twain

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn fail to go Around the world In Eighty Days.


3 out of 5

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/91