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    Aurealis #46
    Aurealis #46
    Aurealis #46
    Ebook94 pages1 hour

    Aurealis #46

    By Dirk Strasser (Editor)

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Aurealis is the Australian magazine of fantasy, science fiction and horror. It has been publishing continuously since 1990. This second electronic edition includes an absolute ripper of a hard science fiction story by Greg Mellor and a zombie tale with a difference by Andrew J McKiernan, as well as an interview with Felicity Pulman, news, reviews and more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChimaera Publications
    Release dateOct 30, 2011
    ISBN9781922031006
    Aurealis #46
    Author

    Dirk Strasser (Editor)

    Dirk Strasser has written over 30 books for major publishers in Australia and has been editing magazines and anthologies since 1990. He won a Ditmar for Best Professional Achievement and has been short-listed for the Aurealis and Ditmar Awards a number of times. His fantasy novels – including Zenith and Equinox – were originally published by Pan Macmillan in Australia and Heyne Verlag in Germany. His children’s horror/fantasy novel, Graffiti, was published by Scholastic. His short fiction has been translated into a number of languages, and his most recent publications are “The Jesus Particle” in Cosmos magazine, “Stories of the Sand” in Realms of Fantasy and “The Vigilant” in Fantasy magazine. He founded the Aurealis Awards and has co-published Aurealis magazine for over 20 years.

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      Book preview

      Aurealis #46 - Dirk Strasser (Editor)

      AUREALIS #46

      Australian Fantasy & Science Fiction

      Edited by Dirk Strasser and Carissa Thorp

      Published by Chimaera Publications at Smashwords

      Copyright of this compilation Chimaera Publications 2011

      Copyright on each story remains with the contributor.

      EPUB version ISBN 978-1-922031-00-6

      CHIMAERA PUBLICATIONS

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the publisher and authors, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by the publisher and Aurealis authors. Thank you for your support.

      Hard copy back issues of Aurealis can be obtained from the Aurealis website:

      www.aurealis.com.au

      Contents

      From the Cloud – Dirk Strasser

      Heaven and Earth – Greg Mellor

      Love Death – Andrew J McKiernan

      Interview with Felicity Pulman – Crisetta MacLeod

      Reviews

      Carissa's Weblog – Carissa Thorp

      What do you think?

      Next issue

      Credits

      From the Cloud

      Dirk Strasser

      There's no doubt that we are witnessing the dawn of a new age of publishing. But whose dawn is it? Some people are claiming it's the rise of the self-publishers. There was a buzz at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair about self-published superstars like Michael J Sullivan and Amanda Hocking. Technology can launch some amazing transformations. There's a lot of talk these days about how individual authors have been empowered by epublication. No longer are they dependent on publishers for production, distribution and marketing. Writers can just go ahead and do it all themselves. Technology has freed them to publish what, how, and when they like—the world is their audience.

      Right?

      Maybe.

      All of this may be true of the odd author, but I'm not sure if it's going to work out across the board. Authors need copy editors and proof readers. They need artists and designers. Most need help from marketing professionals. I'm not sure if too many authors are realistically able to replace what the multi-national publishers have done in the past.

      We've all heard the stories of self-publishers who have made a lot of money out of epublications, but we have no sense of how exceptional or commonplace this experience will become in the future. Individuals have had extraordinary success in all sorts of areas. It's not easy to tell whether they the exception to the rule, or the sign of a significant trend.

      My view is that it is far more likely we are witnessing the rise of the small press publishers rather than the self-publishers. With the advantages of epublication, small, passionate teams of people, with the love of specific genres, are in the position to achieve large scale success. They provide the expertise, the filter, that self-publishing doesn't provide. They can bring together people with editing, designing and marketing skills. I think the real transformation that is happening is that small press publishers will be able to compete more successfully with the big boys, punching well above their weight.

      So, have a look in this issue of Aurealis to see how we're doing.

      We open with an absolute ripper of a hard science fiction story by Greg Mellor—one with both hardness and heart. The second story is a zombie tale with a difference by Andrew J McKiernan.

      All the best from the cloud.

      Back to Contents

      Heaven and Earth

      Greg Mellor

      -Prologue-

      The neutron star filled the prison cell with bands of crimson light and long shadows.

      Daniel woke and pressed his palms against the diamond wall. Were he able to reach out, his hands would be crushed into kilometre long filaments by the intense gravitational field. He had never contemplated death, but the instant destruction that lay just beyond his fingertips now beckoned him, filling his mind with a disturbing sadness.

      It is forbidden to love humans…of any kind.

      Varden haunted him still, an unwelcome ghost in this lonely hell.

      Daniel had ignored his father and the collective opinion of the Carvers at his own peril. His voice was one against a million.

      We were human once. We still are. We left humanity a long time ago.

      The hypocrisy of the collective was palpable: deny your heritage, pretend you are different, and live the new values, untouchable. Bigotry was alive and kicking, rebadged and repackaged for a smart but gullible generation.

      Not that long ago, father.

      Time makes all the difference, Daniel. You will learn that eventually.

      Varden had sealed the diamond cell then with a glyph, dipped it into the exotic matter furnaces, and shunted it on a secret trajectory into the galaxy.

      Daniel's thoughts drifted. The residue of the collective clung to his mind like a phantom limb, a collage of random memories. As the pain of disconnection grew weaker each year, so his hatred and anger grew stronger, building into a crescendo of rage. A mournful sound ripped out of his lungs and he cursed the crimson sky. He slammed his fists against the wall, splitting his knuckles open and spattering blood across his black skinsuit, until he slumped to the floor, exhausted.

      He closed his eyes and dreamt of Idona walking ahead of him along the beaches of the Mirha Sea. He called to her, but his voice was drowned out by the roar of the surf, then he tried to catch her, but with each

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