Letter from the Editors
Dear Reader,
We all love the wild wonder of speculative fiction--the strange new worlds, the magic and adventure, knights dueling with dragons and space marines duking it out with alien horrors. But what makes spec fic great is not necessarily the razzle-dazzle of fantastic action. It's the way spec fic allows us to explore important ideas within the infinite playground of the imagination.
In this issue, our authors have delivered a feast of thought-provoking and riveting stories. Here, you'll find insightful explorations of hope and despair, truth and illusion, isolation and connection, and what it takes to hold on to one's humanity in a hostile world. Six stories await your reading pleasure:
- "The Last Deal" by Sophia Alapati-- The best witch in San Francisco is a man with a big debt in his past, and he has only one chance to clear it... or pay the price.
- "Amber" by Clarissa Grunwald--What if you could make your worries, sadness, and fears disappear? What would be left of you?
- "Eye Contact" by A. C. Spahn--It's hard enough to be a painfully introverted artist. Then, a big eyeball appears in the studio...
- "Necropolis Waltz" by Glynn Owen Barrass--Even after an ancient god's moon-wrecking apocalypse, an unlikely band of survivors fights to preserve what's left.
- "King for a Day" by Ray Daley--A down-and-out spacer sets down on a planet with a unique tradition that might be the answer to his bad luck blues.
- "The Ring of Contradictions" by Allison Wall--In a strange little pub with a fighting ring where philosophies clash, truth is the grand prize.
Of all the many excellent submissions we received, these six stories were the ones that got us to think, made us feel something special, and stuck with us long after we read them. We hope you'll find these tales as compelling and enduring as we did.
In our Editor's Corner Nonfiction, we share a flashback review of a great science fiction series that stands the test of time:Otherland by Tad Williams.
In our Editor's Corner Fiction, we share an excerpt from Lesley L. Smith's new novella A Discovery, the beginning of her new series, The Perils of Tiffani.
Finally, we are happy to present our cover artist for this issue: Brian Malachy Quinn with "Dragon Kingdom."
Thanks for reading,
Lesley, Grayson, Candi, and the Electric Spec Team
