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SciFiwise Magazine
July 2023
In this issue:
  • James Patrick Kelly
  • Nancy Kress
  • Robert Silverberg
  • John Kessel
  • David Langford
  • Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  • Ken Liu
A woman on a spaceship sees her future self in a window reflection.

Breakaway, Backdown by James Patrick Kelly (Science Fiction)

You know, in space nobody wears shoes.

Baby with one glowing eye.

Someone to Watch Over Me by Nancy Kress (Science Fiction)

My screen showed somersaulting kittens made of light, seen from Becky’s perspective as the camera behind her cornea sent its images to the receiver.

Chip Runner by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)

What I want is to disappear. I have to be weightless in order to get there. Where I am now, it's only a beginning. I need to lose all the rest.

Frankenstein gets married

Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel (Science Fiction)

"Mary gasped, and pulled Kitty toward her. A great peal of thunder rolled across the sky. She saw, beneath the trees not ten feet from them, the giant figure of a man."

A man surrounded by an infinite number of clocks

On “Who Put Back the Clock?” by E.H.B. by David Langford (Science Fiction)

Author Note: “This looks very like a book review but conceals a guilty secret to be revealed in the afterword comments.”

A futuristic capsule dissolving in a glass of red wine

Always True to Thee, in My Fashion by Nancy Kress (Science Fiction)

“Come on, Cade, try the feelings on.” But he only went on looking trou­bled, holding the pills in his long-fingered hand.

A dark figure stands on a Roman sundial.

The Dark Man by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Science Fiction)

The Organization of Strange Phenomenon Ancient and Modern was paying for everything, including the tiny, expensive bottle of Coke resting damply in her right hand.

Abstract: A man and woman and digital book being written by AI.

The Perfect Book by Ken Liu (Science Fiction)

He glanced at the display on the dock. “I see there’s a bit of Woolf, a bit of Joyce, and a lot of this new author from Taipei, Annie W. She’s popular. Very malleable prose, I understand, adaptable to lots of books.”

A young woman, eyes closed, covered in red spider webs

Cocoons by Nancy Kress (Science Fiction)

The “spiders,” which were not really spiders, had done more of their work. A thin, filmy web of very fine, dull red filaments was being spun over her naked body.

Trilobite cooking in a pot over a fire

Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)

Gripping time travel tale of a penal colony located in the Cambrian period. Fraught with political overtones, this critically acclaimed story is one of Silverberg's personal favorites.

Blue trees with scales and creature with single pogo stick leg.

When We Went to See the End of the World by Robert Silverberg (Science Fiction)

A couple at a dinner party explain their latest excursion.

Preston Sturges in his better days circa 1941

The Miracle of Ivar Avenue by John Kessel (Science Fiction)

“Nevertheless. I’m a talent scout. I work for the future equivalent of a film studio, a big company that makes entertainment. In the future, Hollywood is still the heart of the industry.”

Futuristic spaceship control room with a man looking at an image of a red haired woman on a screen.

The Propagation of Light in a Vacuum by James Patrick Kelly (Science Fiction)

My imaginary wife and I are much happier these days, thank you. We’ve come through some tough times and we’re still together. So far. But we still have a way to go. Exactly how long, I’m not sure. When you attempt to exceed 299,792.46 kilometers per second, here and there are only probabilities. Relative to you, I am no place. I do not exist.