Specials
by : Jennifer Stevenson
Eight stories about death, resurrection, and the messes in between.
The Bundle
Solstice
The Benefit of Counsel
Tragesangre
The Riddle Curse
Microprosopos
An Interactive Lecture on the Magical Planet Saturn
I Remember You
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Jennifer Stevenson is capable of getting serious, honestly.
by : Brenda W. Clough
What do you have to give up, to live forever?
In the 22nd century, American democracy is stable at last. DiDem, the incorruptible voting system, means that the will of the people is expressed accurately every day. But Edwin Barbarossa has a Syndrome: eternal life. And now it’s up for a vote. Don’t you want to live forever too? Why don’t we take him apart to see how it works?
But Edwin isn’t fighting for his life on DiDem. Instead he’s up to his elbows saving live theater with the help of Marty Duiker, a refugee from AI entertainment. The plan is to stage the first live musical theater in fifty years. Because that’s where real immortality is: in song and story.
REVIEWS
… Deeply-thoughtful, and yet sometimes way-fun trippy, Off the Screen takes you to a future that’s much better than today. That is, if our kids can save it… and then keep it.
– David Brin
Brenda Clough’s OFF THE SCREEN is an especially timely novel, for all that it’s set about 150 years from now. I love an author who sees our current state of political chaos and corruption and dares to have her characters reboot American democracy. Her solution involves complicated tiered online voting on “Preferendums,” which cover everything from government policies to sociocultural issues.
But that’s not all. In 2026, we’re well aware of the growing influence of AI in culture and society. Clough extrapolates AI’s presence in entertainment to the near extinction of live performances. So her intrepid characters set out to reinvent the musical, which I heartily endorse because, dang it, I do not want a future with no musical theatre in it. The fictional musical (complete with scenes and songs, brava!) she devises also has subtle parallels to the political and personal plots, and its progress from concept to opening is both hilarious and harrowing.
Connecting everything is Edwin Barbarossa, who first appeared in HOW LIKE A GOD. Since he has the gift of immortality, he’s lived through decades of turmoil and change. He’s now writing the score for that musical, with a perspective unlike his colleagues, who grew up in an AI-saturated world. Ed saw Broadway productions as far back as 1981; he met Paul McCartney; he was there at the creation of the Artificial Intelligence Productions. He’s happy to be involved with the musical, except for one thing…the new Preferendum calling for his vivisection to replicate his immortality.
Don’t miss this one, readers. Highly recommended
– Laura Frankos Turtledove, author of BROADWAY REVIVAL
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Brenda W. Clough has been a finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula Awards. She writes SF, fantasy and historical fiction.
Some wizards have staffs, wands, or mediums. Chickpea Del has a tree…
The Kingdom of Embarcadero is under siege. King Elvis wants to steal its secrets, mysterious outsiders want to expel its citizens, an ancient and sinister Force threatens to devour their souls. Salvation rests on the slender shoulders of a young wizard named Chickpea Del and his unlikely allies — a red-haired Chinese girl, a ghostly tribe of Mission Indians and a small fir tree named Doug.
Chickpea Del’s story was first published as a novella in Amazing Stories magazine. My agent so loved the world and the characters, that he asked if I could write an entire novel about them. Well, duh.
I first met Chickpea in a dream, saw him sitting in a window embrasure in quiet company with the Fabled Tree (aka, Doug). Just a boy and his fir sapling.
I first heard his very distinctive voice as I was driving home from work one day down a winding mountain road and he began telling me his story. “Hello, I’m Chickpea Del,” he said, “and this is my story: You see, Lord E Lordy wanted the Wiz. That’s where the Last Little War got started.”
I kept Del talking until I got home and was able to write down everything he had to tell me.
No, I am not kidding. And I am not alone in this. The late and much loved Ursula LeGuin would tell you that this sort of thing happens to writers all the time.
In a very real sense, I did not write this novel alone. My collaborator’s byline is in the title.
— Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Revealed! The final days of Edgar Allan Poe!
A short story from the collection The Girlfriends of Dorian Gray & Other Stories, by Gregory Frost. Illustration by Jason Van Hollander.
by : Patricia Rice
Be wary of what you wish for. . .
In Regency England:
The descendant of adventuring—dead—aristocrats, Clarissa Knightley supplements a modest inheritance by writing gothic novels that cost more than they earn. Upon learning that she has mysteriously inherited a share of an earl’s estate, she rashly travels to remote Gravesyde Priory, dreaming of a safe haven and welcoming family who will welcome her and her young nephew.
Instead, she finds a drunken American army captain, his African servant, and ancient, surly caretakers. Terrified, prepared to flee, Clarissa is lured to linger by the prospect of secret diaries, hidden jewels, and an increasingly intriguing man. Then a killer strikes.
The manor’s baffling history offers fodder for Clare’s horror novels for years to come—if only she can survive real-life madmen and a spectral murderer who may want the jewels for himself.
Gravesyde Priory Mysteries Book 1
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With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today’s lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice is one of romance’s hottest authors. Her emotionally-charged romances have won numerous awards and been honored as RITA® finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories. She is thrilled to be expanding into mystery and urban fantasy.