Posts Tagged ‘Non-Fiction’
by Paul Marlowe
FOR AS LONG AS WE’VE SOUGHT to understand and manipulate the world there has been magic. It could be the painting of animals’ images on cave walls to control or placate them. It could be the plotting of the stars’ motions and the tracing of their effects on earthly events. Or just ways to win friends and influence people. And for as long as some have looked for occult power, others have condemned that power, real or imaginary. Two trials show how far attitudes towards magic can change with different times and circumstances. |
From Issue 13 (Sept 2011) |
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by Joe Vaz
All four of this issue’s stories are never-before-published original fiction. |
From Issue 13 (Sept 2011) |
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by Joe Vaz
The fact of the matter is, nothing is more terrifying to us than experiencing a nightmare from which we cannot wake. Total, all encompassing fear where some part of your brain is flashing red warning claxons telling you “it’s just a dream, stupid” but we’re paralysed. |
 From Issue 12 (August 2011) |
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by Mark Sykes
Jim: Hi folks, this is Jim Dandy and Chris Mascake welcoming you to the End-of-the-World Supreme Devil Face-Off, here at the Arena of Doom, just a few minutes drive out of Bloemfontein. It’s the End Times, and the day has come to decide which actor best portrayed the Devil in cinema and TV in the last hundred years. These are the final few, who have all come through the initials heats to battle it out in their respective teams today. We’ve a great assortment of Lucifers and Satans, and a handful of portrayals that are somewhat open to interpretation. |
From Issue 12 (August 2011) |
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by Joe Vaz
We have some awesome fiction for you this month, starting off on the 4th of August with "The Devil’s Advocate" by Ivor W. Hartmann. This is followed on the 11th of August with "Happiest Amongst Mortals" by Glen Damien Campbell. On the 18th we have "No Longer Alone" by Brian Kirk. And we close off the issue on the 25th of August with a novelette by M. Scott Carter about "The Bayside Incident". |
From Issue 12 (August 2011) |
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Mark Sykes's Sixth Sense Of Humour
THE THING ABOUT BLOOD-spattered machetes and rusty straight razors is, at least they’re unambiguous. You know they’re bad, bad things, and you know it’s not personal. But the distinction between friendly things and evil things isn’t always that neat. It’s pretty safe to assume that the guy with the hockey mask and the machete is probably not chasing you down for a romantic sushi dinner, but you’re safe with that cuddly little teddy bear with the cute little button eyes. He’s your bestest bedtime buddy. Right?. |
 From Issue 11 (July
2011) |
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by Ivor Hartmann
IN TODAY'S MODERN SOCIETY, Artificial Intelligences are nearly all-pervasive. The odds are that you personally interact daily with some form of AI, be it a call centre program, automatic car transmission, video game, Google search, email spam filter, or a computer of any type - are pretty high. However, the realisation of a true AI, in terms of matching, and exceeding, human intelligence and characteristics such as emotion, creativity, and social intelligence, etc., would seem to be as far away as we are to living on another planet. |
From Issue 11 (July
2011) |
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by Joe Vaz
| We start the issue off with “The Silver City and The Green Place”, by Abi Godsell, which tells the tale of a breakthrough scientific experiment in artificial intelligence. Next up is “Unstitched Love” by Michael Bailey, which is all about a little girl making a teddy bear for her rather annoying sister, needless to say things don’t quite turn out as planned. “Sky Painter”, by Michael John Grist is an epic fable about a fallen king and the love he left behind, and we close of the issue with a virtual reality noir murder mystery entitled Alpha & Omega by “Paul Marlowe”. Our feature interview for this month is with SL Grey, who is actually the pseudonym of Louis Greenberg and Sarah Lotz (remember Sarah? She won our debut issue Short Story Competition). | From Issue 11 (July 2011) |
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