Aphelion Issue 292, Volume 28
March 2024
 
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Issue 220 Volume 21 August 2017

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Archives Editorial Serials and Long Fiction Poetry and Filk Music Short Stories Flash Fiction Features Series

Editorial

Dan L. Hollifield

The Senior Editor's usual rants about whatever…


Serials and Long Fiction

The Xugslith
Rod Clark
Just when Abbie Kryler was convinced that her life couldn't get any worse—it didn't!

The Best Long Fiction of the First Twenty Years

Weregild
Kristen Lee Knapp
A sword and sorcery story about a woman seeking revenge against the man who murdered her father.

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Short Stories

At Mayfaner House
Eoin O'Neill
Will George Mayfaner III make the same mistake his grandfather did?

Dark Sister
Susan Anwin
An outsider takes on the role of an outcast.

Escape from Shadow Town
Vincent Lakes
How do you prove your worth when you’ve been branded a traitor?

Military Precedent?
Thomas Wm. Hamilton
Fwedd makes an exciting discovery that could change warfare.

Monstrous Potential
Annie Percik
Theobold the medieval monk becomes a superhero.

Remission
Charlie Fish
What are you willing to sacrifice for your job?

Revs
Chris Bailey
Linda is disturbed her daughter’s new friends.

Sacrificial Lambs, Positronic Programs, or The Joys of Parenthood
Gregory Cioffi
Phillis and Isaac worry about their only child. A nice homage to a classic tale.

The Orphan Hunter
Lou Antonelli
Bob Tully picks up a helpful hand when scavenging for abandoned vending machines.

Tough Town
Jon Stubbington
It’s a tough town, and Arton Yuar knows what it takes to survive.

Transitions
Andrew Massey
Does the Prime Directive apply to changing the past?

“Under the Blossom that Hangs on the Bough”
Stephen M. Davis
Barron sees his panther.

Wintering Ground
Damien Krsteski
Saol learns to survive in a harsh world.

The Best Shorts of the First Twenty Years

2009

The Glass Cage
James Lecky
Ulphia's beauty was legendary. No man could resist it. To preserve it, she would pay any price…

Faux Pair
Patrick Welch
Apprentice thief Brendell was elated to be given an important assignment the moment he arrived in Perlenz. There was, of course, a catch — no one who had attempted the job in the past had returned.

One With the Stars
Steele Tyler Filipek
Cowrie's people wandered the stars at will in their "planetoids", sentient machines that could cross interstellar distances in an instant. But for her, the prospect of her grandfather's imminent demise outweighed all the wonders her world could offer.

2010

In a Time Past
J. E. Deegan
Cleo and her beloved dog, Joe — or at least their spirits — visited their graves every year, remembering the lives they had led and the events that had ended their brief lives. But this year would be different…

Is There Something in the Attic?
Belinda Rees
The storm brought a blackout, and something else: something that moved around in the attic, frightening the woman and her two small children. She had to see what it was, and deal with it — that was part of the job of being a mother.

Basilisks and Brian (and a Very Bad First Day)
Stuart Sharp
Brian Northington had stumbled into a world he had never suspected right in the heart of modern London, a world where magical – and sometimes dangerous — creatures really existed. As new jobs went, dealing with them on behalf of P. Edgeborough and Co. was — interesting.

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Flash Fiction

American Holocaust
C.E. Gee
History is written the winners. But sometimes, there are "revisions…"

A Time With You
Joey To
Relationships can be so complicated…

Not Anymore
Ray Prew
Things fall apart, times change, and who is to blame?

Ouroboros
Florin Purluca
A soul of silicon may yet feel…

Where Fudge Is Made
Stephen Faulkner
Every culture seems to have some sort of "delicacy" that other cultures wouldn't want to try…

The Aphelion Flash Fiction Contest

We run a monthly flash fiction contest in the "Fun and Games" folder in Aphelion's forum. In the contest we post a challenge with a specific theme and genre and participants write a flash story based on the challenge guidelines. The contest is a great place to hone your writing skills, meet some fellow writers, receive some feedback, and possibly win a prize. New participants are always welcome. Submissions for the contest are done through the forum. Flash stories from all of our previous contest challenges are archived in the forum as well.

Over 500 stories are included in our archive. To start reading some of these great flash stories, check out either Index 1 or Index 2.

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Poetry and Filk Music

Aftermath (After the Fall)
Jean Jones

Scaifaiku
Kelly Sauvage Angel

No Ticket Needed to Travel Between Moments
by Charlotte Ozment

Search Party
Denny E. Marshall

The Burned Cabin
Ron Larson

Haves
Sebastian Popescu

Poets in Mordor
ayaz daryl nielsen

What I Call It
Ndifreke George

The Best Poetry of the First Twenty Years
2009-2010

The Patient Suitor
A. K. Sykora

Two Dimensional Visitors
Richard H. Fay

Around The Campfire
E. J. Tett

Just Call Me Joe!
John Erickson

Orion's Belt
Ben Cooper

Contagion
Dave Weaver

Motto of the Gnomish Postal Service
Stuart Sharp

Once Upon a Time
Richard Tornello

The Cyborg
J Davidson Hero

The Guest in the Attic
John Grey

Antiquity
Will Conway

Your Dewy Throne
J. B. Hogan

Howling on the Moor
Richard H. Fay

A Warning
Bruce Whealton

Afterlife
J B Hogan

Cigar
Lester Curtis

Metaphysics 101
Richard Tornello

Bones In The Tiles
Lee Eric

Chainsaws Sharpened Here
Thomas Reynolds

Siren's Song
Heather Kuehl

Ride a Broomstick
Richard Tornello

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Articles and features

The Best Mare Inebrium Tales from Our First Twenty Years

Sociology Experiment
Wishbone
"I was only trying to get an idea for my thesis on Non-terran sociology…' A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Where Angels Fear to Tread
Bill Wolfe
When a gathering of Gods found that they needed advice, they knew to ask a bartender. They usurped the bodies of a handy group of Abvarnan farmers and marched them purposefully into the Mare Inebrium on the busiest holiday of the Bethdish year. Fortunately for the Devine, Larrye was the one who took Their order…

Sheffield’s Eleventh
Jeff Williams
"Mr. Grym… gives you this challenge. Virtually all of City of Lights is…'open'…shall we say. To the enterprising entrepreneur, there is an entree into virtually every business, every bank, every shop, if the cards are played right and if the man or woman is quick, smart, and intelligent. Every building is transparent to your skills and talents under the right circumstances. Every building, that is, except one… The Tower, my friends- The one building that has never been burglarized beyond petty drunks stealing petty bags of petty peanuts. Nothing more than the occasional ashtray or shot glass. Nothing of any consequence besides bathroom towels. No one in this room, indeed, no one in the history of Bethdish has ever broken into the Mare Inebrium Tower and stolen anything of value."

Liar’s Bar
Iain Muir
"From the dizzying height of her full 5’2", the waitress looked down at the heap of lace and embroidery on the floor, an earth mother figure in a peasant blouse and gypsy skirts. Hooped gold earrings peered out from under her dark curled hair. She was carrying four two-litre beer steins easily in each hand. She nudged his head with one slippered foot."

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