Aurealis #105
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Aurealis #105 is full of new fiction, articles, art, reviews, and even a bit of humour.
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- From the Cloud — Stephen Higgins
- Upgrades — Emma Lomman
- Winder’s Cleaning Services — C H Pearce
- Flesh Crash — Barry Charman
- Neuroscience in science fiction — Claire Fitzpatrick
- Crossing Genre: Exemplars of Literary Speculative Fiction — Eugen Bacon
Those who can remember the last editorial will know that I have developed an interest in astronomy. To be honest I should say I have developed an ‘active’ interest in astronomy as, like many other readers of science fiction, I have always been a bit interested in what is going on upstairs. A recent major birthday (don’t ask) has delivered a lovely flashy telescope. It is in pieces in my study. I didn’t drop it or anything I just haven’t put it all together yet. Normally I would have had it put together ASAP but given the appalling weather we have been enduring, I decided there was no need to rush.
In lieu of actual stargazing I have made do with reading about it. There seems to be a lot going on, but then with that much material it is no surprise that there is a lot of events in the night sky… and the day sky too I suppose. It’s funny how one simply doesn’t think about the stars and planets and everything when they aren’t visible. All of this has led me back to a sub-genre of writing that I haven’t read for a while and I am getting stuck into a fair bit of Space Opera as a result. I enjoy the times that my general life interests are supported by my reading interests. I suppose I should be thankful I have not been a huge fan of horror.
I have since thought that it is weird how I move back and forth between sub genres in my reading. I also move back and forth from mainstream to genre fiction and from fiction to non-fiction. I do the same in music. I can be heavily into earthy dylanesque obscure folk music one day and then spend weeks listening to nothing apart from electronica for a week or two. I suppose it is one of those ‘variety is the spice of life’ things. I have spoken to a few people who read this magazine about this as I wanted to find out something about people’s reading habits. Some people just read the stories in one issue all at once. Some said they jumped around from issue to issue, reading stories that seemed linked thematically. Others said they only read the fantasy stories or the SF stories. We do try to mix it up a bit to cater for all tastes, so I hope you get your fix of whatever works for you in this issue. And if you don’t, flick back through all of the other issues from this year and even from further back. There are tons of fantastic stories waiting for you.
All the best from the cloud.
Stephen Higgins
From Upgrades by Emma Lomman:
Prime Fleet’s brand-new prototype was certainly a beautiful ship. She was glittering jet-black, all slick curves and low-friction surfaces. Only the clearance lights made her visible in her secretive little corner of the spaceport that night.
From Winder’s Cleaning Services by C H Pearce:
I follow the hungry-looking man who is following the woman down the dimly lit street, which reminds me that, of the three of us, I am the exceptionally clever one. We are briefly made bright in sick electric yellow light thrown from apartment windows.
From Flesh Crash by Barry Charman:
Cody studied the crime scene dispassionately; the shatter pattern of two broken hearts, and the pooled residue of genetic recoil.
From Neuroscience in science fiction by Claire Fitzpatrick:
Despite all the recent advances in cognitive and neurosciences, there is still an extraordinary number of things we don’t know about the brain. Consciousness, personality, perception, the purpose of sleep and dreams, how we store and access memories, the cognitive ‘veto’ of free will, our ability to control movement.
From Crossing Genre: Exemplars of Literary Speculative Fiction by Eugen Bacon:
Crossing genre is blending writings, subverting the reader’s expectations. It is writing differently, stepping out of your comfort zone. Genre bending allows experimenting with unfamiliar genres, for example taking paranormal fiction and turning it into a whodunit.
