Free Stories!
Obsidian by Phillip Taylor – FREE STORY
Forcibly pressed into government service, a minor scientist/university professor must investigate an alien species. He stumbles onto the one connection he makes with that alien. Coming upon your 20th year teaching experimental psychology, you succumb […]
Karl’s Moon by Joshua Mertz – FREE STORY
An explorer makes the discovery of his lifetime…an alien ship. The explorer saves the ship, and the ship saves the explorer. As it should be. The tiny moon was just a dark dot at the […]
Residual Effects by Nicholas Samuel Stember – FREE STORY
We pollute the Earth, we leave a mess, only we seem willing to soil our own nests. When you read this, you might change your ways, for the Earth might just be getting its revenge… […]
Popcount Zero by Ralph Benton – FREE STORY
The society explored here wants everyone to be happy. Everyone must be happy. Or else…the penalties can be life-changing. This society sees caring people as obstacles to happiness, and there’s a price to be paid. […]
Narcopia by Winifred Morris – FREE STORY
This computerized age reveals more and more items the average human being can monetize…opinions, talents, cast-asides, and more. This time, here is something new you could monetize…just remember… I wake in a panic, only bits […]
News
Time Machine: October 11, 2026
Matt’s Reviews: Living In Fire by Antoine Volodine 457 – STEVE’S STUFF – 467 – REVIEW – SPIDER NOIR (TV SERIES) What Happened to JOE from MIGHTY JOE YOUNG? The Big Idea: Tim Pratt The […]
Time Machine: October 4, 2026
Some notes on rereading The Two Towers. Matt’s Reviews: We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan STEVE’S STUFF – 456 – MOVIE REVIEW – RESIDENT EVIL (2026) The Big Idea: James Patrick Kelly What Happened […]
Time Machine: September 27, 2026
AMAZING NEWS FROM FANDOM: September 27, 2026 Quick Review: Tim Kirk’s NIGHTMARES TO COME illustrations from The Last Dangerous Visions Matt’s Reviews: The Dream Master By Roger Zelazny STEVE’S STUFF – 455 – MOVIE REVIEW […]
OpEd
445 – THE COMING DEATH OF AM RADIO
AM radio was the birthplace of media science fiction (unless you count the comics). Before there were blockbuster SF movies, there were radio shows that dramatized SF and fantasy stories. Because there were no pictures, people had to use their imaginations to see wondrous things. And now it seems, AM is on its way out. Or is it?
Dean Wesley Smith: Traditional Publishing Is Dead. Long Live Indie Publishing
Kristine Kathryn Rusch highlights Dead Wesley Smith’s response to the question: what kind of traditional publishing contract would you need in order to earn 40k per year? Scott Edelman queries – what about authors who […]
Nevala Lee Takes On Asimov’s Legacy of Books and Bottoms
In “Asimov’s Empire, Asimov’s Wall” on Jstor, Alec Nevala Lee (Astounding: Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction) takes on Isaac Asimov’s full history […]
MRM Titles Remain Non-Qualifying Markets On The Submission Grinder
Non-Qualifying Markets are markets for fiction, nonfiction and poetry that do not meet SFWA’s minimal pay rates and contractual requirements – while it implies nothing about the quality of the contents, though, in general, “good […]
Amazing Stories: The 100th Anniversary Issue Now Commemorating Ted Whites’ Passing
Fifty years and a couple of months from now – IF “now” was fifty years ago to the day (May 21st), I would be receiving the following issue of Amazing Stories in the mail: and […]
Science Fiction
Matt’s Reviews: Living In Fire by Antoine Volodine
Publisher : Univ Of Minnesota Press Publication date : October 13, 2026 Language : English Print length : 160 pages ISBN-10 : 1517919770 ISBN-13 […]
The Big Idea: Tim Pratt
There’s the safe way to write a novel, and then there’s Tim Pratt’s way to write a novel. Abandoning any worries of appealing to the masses, Pratt hit the gas on all of their most […]
Obsidian by Phillip Taylor – FREE STORY
Forcibly pressed into government service, a minor scientist/university professor must investigate an alien species. He stumbles onto the one connection he makes with that alien. Coming upon your 20th year teaching experimental psychology, you succumb […]
The Big Idea: James Patrick Kelly
Humans have been fascinated by robots for as long as the idea of a machine with a heart has existed. Hugo award-winning author James Patrick Kelly is no exception, evidenced by his newest collection of […]
Karl’s Moon by Joshua Mertz – FREE STORY
An explorer makes the discovery of his lifetime…an alien ship. The explorer saves the ship, and the ship saves the explorer. As it should be. The tiny moon was just a dark dot at the […]
Quick Review: Tim Kirk’s NIGHTMARES TO COME illustrations from The Last Dangerous Visions
Say all you want about Harlan Ellison (though you might want to be circumspect when you’re saying it to me) but all you can say about Tim Kirk’s LDV illustrations is – PHENOMENAL (look it […]
Matt’s Reviews: The Dream Master By Roger Zelazny
Publisher : Science Fiction Book Club Publication date : July 1, 2004 Edition : First Edition Language : English Print length : 179 pages […]
The Big Idea: David Ebenbach
Sometimes it feels like the world is being rapidly overtaken by AI, but author David Ebenbach is here to remind us that this a world of humans, not robots. In the Big Idea for his […]
Fantasy
Matt’s Reviews: Living In Fire by Antoine Volodine
Publisher : Univ Of Minnesota Press Publication date : October 13, 2026 Language : English Print length : 160 pages ISBN-10 : 1517919770 ISBN-13 […]
457 – STEVE’S STUFF – 467 – REVIEW – SPIDER NOIR (TV SERIES)
Although Nicholas Cage’s Spider Noir isn’t exactly like the comic versions, it stands up pretty well on its own. If you’re a fan of old b/w “noir” movies, I think you’ll like this (although you can, if you wish, watch it in colour).
Matt’s Reviews: We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan
Publisher SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE Publication Date July 28th, 2026 Pages 352 Binding Hardcover ISBN 9781665958332 Author Sophia Hannan We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan is a YA horror story about a group […]
STEVE’S STUFF – 455 – MOVIE REVIEW – GHOSTS OF WAR
This movie appears to be a ghost story set in WWII France. It’s got all the appurtenances—a pentagram, mysterious noises in the night, all the right stuff for a patrol in 1944 France sent to occupy a mysterious mansion until they’re relieved. Is it haunted, or something else? The ending is nothing you will guess.
Novedades de Agosto 2026
En primer lugar, mil disculpas. Entre problemas familiares, inicio del trabajo y una gripe que no me deja, pues me atrasé demasiado. OBITUARIO Este mes hubo muchas pérdidas. En México murió Vicente Quiriarte, , escritor, […]
Science
NASA’s Mission To Save The SWIFT Space Telescope
In a first for NASA, a robotic salvage vehicle will be launched sometime in the next few days to rendezvous with the SWIFT space telescope, grapple on and boost the satellite to a higher orbit. […]
Matt’s Reviews: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Publication date: February 11, 2014 Language: English Print length: 336 pages ISBN-10: 0805092994 ISBN-13; 978-0805092998 Author: Elizabeth Kolbert The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert is a very interesting […]
One Step Closer To Belters and Singleships: Psyche Prepares for Mars Slingshot
JPL offered up this interesting video about the Psyche spacecraft’s upcoming Martian slingshot maneuver, which will send the probe on the final leg of its mission, an encounter with the metal rich asteroid Psyche, in […]
Matt’s Reviews: How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
Publisher : Mariner Books Publication date : January 14, 2010 Edition : 1st Language : English Print length : 320 pages ISBN-10 : 0547247990 ISBN-13 […]
Matt’s Reviews: The Small BIG by by Steve J. Martin, Noah Goldstein and Robert Cialdini
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing Publication date : September 9, 2014 Language : English Print length : 288 pages ISBN-10 : 1455584258 ISBN-13 : […]
Matt’s Reviews: Superforecasting – The Art And Science Of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner
Publisher : Crown Publication date : September 13, 2016 Edition : Reprint Language : English Print length : 352 pages ISBN-10 : 9780804136716 […]
Matt’s Reviews: Multiple Quick Reviews (Pretties, The Municipalists, Broken Place Outer Spaces, Great by Choice)
I’ve been reading too many books lately, plus trying to find time to write my next novel (follow me here if you want to see when that comes out), and I haven’t been finding the […]
Sun Fires Blast Straight at Interstellar Object Cruising Through Solar System
The interstellar object dubbed 3I/ATLAS has been fascinating astronomers since its discovery in early July.The object, generally believed to be a comet, is screaming through the solar system at around 137,000 mph, and is expected […]
