Dirk Strasser’s historical fantasy novel Conquist (Roundfire Books) was published on 1 September 2024. See what all the fuss is about.
This time they invaded a new world that refused to be conquered.
In this issue
Stunning fiction, engrossing non-fiction, brilliant internal art, informative reviews, a treasure trove of Speculative Fiction!
Read extracts
Edited by
Michael Pryor
From the Cloud
Indulge us, for a moment, if you will, as we meld into nostalgia and reminisce about formative SF experiences, the early reading that turned us onto the genre, ushering us into the world of imaginative possibilities.
And here we must give all praise to libraries, the facilitators of reading, the gateways to a thousand worlds. When thousands of books weren’t available at one’s fingertips, a well-stocked library was a treasure trove, and the particular library that was important in this instance had hardback copies of a few children’s SF novels, what were called ‘juveniles’ in some quarters.
The eye-opening wonder of Heinlein’s books for younger readers (Red Planet, Citizen of the Galaxy, Star Beast and others) were exhilarating, while the thoughtful interspecies explorations of Andre Norton were mind-expanding.
One SF writer for younger readers who is almost forgotten these days is the British author Hugh Walters, the pen name for teacher Walter Llewelyn Hughes, 1910 –1993.
Walters’ British take on the future was a welcome balance to the USA approach, especially when his first book (Blast off At Woomera, 1957) had a large chunk set in Australia at what, then, promised to be the Commonwealth’s answer to Cape Kennedy.
Full of high adventure, but with a solid grounding in astronomy and space science, the book followed the adventures of young Chris Godrey and U.N.E.X.A., the United Nations Exploration Agency, as they explored the planets of the solar system and beyond.
Walters wrote twenty books in the series, as his young hero banded with a laudably cross cultural crew (one of his best friends was Russian!) and sallied into challenges, trials and ordeals. Great fun all round.
Hugh Walters, an overlooked but important influence on a generation of readers.
All the best from the cloud!
Michael Pryor
From Farmhouse of the Lost and Found
Between metabolic suspension rehabilitation, gravity acclimation and intense MemoryGram induction sessions, what little time I had left to myself I spent in Santa Ana’s observation lounge, gazing down at this marvellous world and daydreaming about the future.
From Goes the Way of the Seabird
The heat-hush is deepening as the three wanderers reach the old highway, their day’s first landmark. Abandoned Colony vehicles line the scattered gravel of the road. The synthetics of their tracks are warping, disintegrating, and it’s difficult for Zeldji to remember how the vehicles would have moved.
From The Sound Your Soul Makes When It's Happy
‘It’s just three valves and a bit of brass, babe,’ Ray Poocho said to the woman watching him get set up as he knelt on the stage of the Metronome, one of the few remaining bars with a jam session worth a damn in town.
From The God Pan and English Fantasy
These are men intrigued by the pagan heritage of England and looking to it for inspiration, but cleaving to the real, the sensible.
From Exceptions to Reality—An Interview with Alan Dean Foster Part 1
Alan Dean Foster is my favourite author. Without a doubt. Without exception. From the moment I stumbled upon Spellsinger (1983) as a 16-year-old, I was hooked.