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
More fantastic new fiction, wonderful art and insightful non fiction. Plus reviews!
Read extracts
Edited by
Stephen Higgins
From the Cloud
For some reason, I have started writing a lot. Actually, resigning from teaching does free up a lot of time and a lot of brain space. Funnily enough, the transition to being a writer again has rekindled my speculative fiction reading as well. For ages, I have tried to find new writers to read, and quite often I have failed, and I’ve been forced to return to old favourites. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with that, but I was really looking to inject some fresh ideas into my reading.
And then I discovered some of the many SF YouTube channels that review books. This led me to a ton of blogs that discussed SF books, and then I had a huge list of new writers that others had deemed worthy of my interest and away I went. My problem now is that I have too many new writers and new books to investigate. Of course, there are always very good reviews in Aurealis itself and I do read through them to find new stuff as well. However, this does seem to be an ongoing problem for me. I know I have written about this problem before in my ‘From the Cloud’ pieces but it did get particularly concerning this time and I thought maybe I had lost that ‘sense of wonder’ forever.
Anyway, this problem also highlighted the fact that I was concerned about people finding my own fiction. I am terrible at ‘working’ social media and making it a tool for promotion, and every guide you get advises to use it to market your books, but I am just not good at it. I have used social media to promote my music for years and it doesn’t seem to have any impact. Last month, I released a collection of short stories and articles, and I am going to try and get news about it out on social media, plus I am sending off review copies in the hope of gaining some traction.
Fortunately, I do get to read a lot of work from new authors, simply by being involved in Aurealis. I know that some of these writers go on to full and productive careers and it’s nice to think that we’ve had some small part in the professional lives of those authors. This has always been a major part of our plans at Aurealis. We love finding new writers and it’s a particular thrill to publish the first story by a new writer. One of the joys of editing this magazine is sending off an acceptance and hearing back from a very excited new writer.
This is my first editorial for the year. For those who have been with us for a while, you will know that we share the editorial duties around and this is the start of my stint. As I’ve mentioned, it’s a bit of an honour to edit Aurealis and it is also a joy. We really do appreciate the fact that so many people support the magazine by subscribing to it, as this really helps us to keep finding and publishing new fiction, as well as the nonfiction and reviews we publish. If you’d like to help us even further, please do follow us on all of the usual social media channels and don’t forget to like and repost!
All the best from the cloud!
Stephen Higgins
From A Hole in the Earth
He didn’t talk about this in the article but, when we pulled Alan out of there, he was almost catatonic. His eyes were bloodshot and wet, his hands kept grasping at the air and his face was covered in sweat and mucus. He was shaking and he had—there was vomit on the front of his shirt. It was the full package, you know? And, I’ll be honest, it scared the hell out of us. We tried to get him to drink some water but he wouldn’t swallow. He looked like he wanted to scream but—yeah, he was weak, you know? He just kept shaking his head like an infant and spitting all over himself. So we took him back to the hotel and one of us—uh, Mark, you know Mark—he stayed with him. Watched to make sure he was okay and all of that.
Actually, the next day Alan seemed fine. He told us that… What was it? Yeah, that he’d panicked because it was so dark and cramped in the well. Apparently, it’s a common response if you’re not a—like, a spelunker or whatever. Even if you’re not usually claustrophobic, if you’re in a tiny space where you can’t move and you can’t see and you can’t hear… You’re going to freak out. It’s a, like, what’s the word—a survival response, right. The body just assumes it’s suffocating, is what he said.
From The Cloth Wall
He walked in a state of undress in a crowd that wanted him dead. Sir Roger Faintree’s saving grace was that his new companions did not know this. They had materialised from every horizon, from trees, hills, and rivers, people seizing their chance to come home as the English forces resettled into a deeper position around Ypres.
They trudged across the countryside, and Sir Roger trudged with them. His armour, worth more than the homes of any who walked with him, was left at the camp to be weighed and measured by would-be thieves. He was dressed in only wools and linen, and never had any knight felt so naked. When they first spoke to him, he replied in French, and they took him as a messenger come to Ypres to send word of aid. If they knew the truth, they’d beat him to death with whatever was at hand.
From The Sea In The Darkness Calls
Determined, Chol-lo flopped his scavenged net outward. For a moment it floated, a frozen breath that hovered over the waist-deep water of the Taedong River. Gravity eventually prevailed. The web of tensile fibres slapped down, tucked in, and burbled to the bottom. He treasured the myofilament weave—which, through some baffling technology, never tangled.
Only up close could anyone tell that his net was punishable South Chosŏn contraband. If caught with the technology, Chol-lo would be put on public trial for being seduced by a foreign culture and ultimately ruining his country’s future. Breaking the loyalty law carried a sentence of hard labour in the re-education camps if the local Assessor felt generous, or a death sentence if he did not.