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Issue 118 Volume 12 February 2008

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

Editorial

Dan L. Hollifield

The Senior Editor's usual rants about whatever…


Serials and Novellas

The Strategy
By Janusz Cyran
(Translated from the Polish by Iwona Michalowska)
From the translator, Iwona Michalowska "The story The Strategy (original title Teoria diabla, literally Theory of the Devil) was published in "Nowa Fantastyka" in July 2006. Like most of Janusz Cyran's work, it deals with trying to make sense of religion in the light of the 21st century science."

Best Long Fiction of 2007

Listening To The Words
Part One | Part Two
Joseph Jordan
Tony wants to get David to the space station for a life-saving procedure. David wants to see outer space before he dies. A story about second chances and last wishes.

The Blind Collaborators
Lee Alon, Nathan J Kailhofer, Iain Muir, TaoPhoenix, and Gareth D Jones
When things start going wrong on the orbital habitat Astropolis, the only people who can help are the ones who know nothing about it.

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Short Stories

Facelift
Rob Hunter
Gearbox Barsoomian (a.k.a. Rachel Mae Welding) had her work cut out for her if she wanted to earn an instant upgrade from gawky teenager to curvaceous superhero…

Honeycomb
K. C. Stapleton
Webster's life was going downhill fast. He was stuck doing hack work on so-called graphic novels with content and layout that belonged in the Tin Age of Comics, and even that job was about to be yanked away. The weirdness that started happening in his apartment seemed like more of an opportunity than a threat.

How Could They Do That?
William Brently
The Chandian came in with devastating injuries, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with the array of advanced prosthetics the medic had available. There would be time to ponder the implications of using technology to save an anti-technology cult member later…

Running With The Dead©
D. Thomas Mooers
Bill Reisen had avoided running through the cemetery until one day he did it by accident — and found that he liked the relative peace and quiet. But then he found that it wasn't nearly as quiet as he thought it would be…

The Game
N. J. Kailhofer
The police psychologist and the detective didn't know what to think about Jack Davidson. He had turned himself in and said he was responsible for multiple murders, but he seemed completely unconcerned about the consequences if they took him seriously.

The Twelfth of Never
T. Richard Williams
When the asteroid struck, Theo was as ready as it was possible to be — ready enough to survive the initial blast and the storms that devastated the surface. Now came the hard part: figuring out what to do next.

The Wrong Princess
Richard K. Lyon
The wizard Thoth Amon thought he had the perfect plan to achieve wealth and power: kidnap Princesses, kill and rob the Princes who came to rescue or ransom them, repeat as required. But he really should have paid more attention to his choice of Princesses to abduct.

Time Is The Best Healer
Michael Goldberger
Leda had to watch while her clan starved in the unnatural cold that gripped their village for month after month, and friends and family succumbed to a strange illness one by one. But she could never have imagined the source of all their troubles was thousands of years in her future…

Best Short Stories of 2007

A Study in Silicon
McCamy Taylor
(This story received more nominating votes than any other piece from 2007. Congratulations, McCamy!)

The Periambulant Oracle
Frederick Rustam

Hollow
Frank rns

World Without Boats
Michael J. Martineck

Whitechapel
Martyn Taylor

The Zeitsev
Michael Hart

A Pocket Filled With Posies
Michele Dutcher

Flight of the Dragon
Tara McFadden

Chef
Coffee Anderson

Walking the Cobblebones
Jaimie L. Elliott

The Moonborn
L. J. Geoffrion

The Organist
Stephen H. Wallenfels

Audience of One
John Hickman

The Ouroboros
S. H. Hughes

Inside Out
E. S. Strout

Results of Forum Flash Challenge for January 2008

Congratulations to G. C. Dillon, author of the favorite entry in the January 2008 Forum Flash Fiction Challenge. Check out Serendipity Is a Happy Accident? and three more snack-sized morsels of time-twisting (after reading our new stories, novellas, and poetry, reviewing our "Best of 2007" selections, and checking to see if there's anything good on TV (there isn't much, since the WGA is still on strike…) Check the Fun and Games folder of the Forum for another impossible mission in the Flash zone!

But wait! There's more:

2007 Forum Challenge Winners

Click here to read the winning entries from the 2007 Aphelion Forum Monthly Flash Fiction Challenges. Eight months, eight challenges, ten bite-size stories for your reading pleasure!

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Poetry and Filk Music

Blackwater And Friends
Richard Tornello

Hardwick Village.
War Memorial 1914-1918

Jon Stocks

Implant
Christian Ward

Intergalactic Getaway
Richard H Fay

When My Computer is Not Happy
Richard Tornello

The Best Poetry of 2007

The Critics
Gary William Crawford

Ghost Runner
Thomas D Reynolds

Cheney, Cheney, Lying Might
Richard Tornello

Horrorku
Richard H Fay

The Compliance Officer
Daniel C. Smith

We Build Our Captors Here
John Kuhn

Beneath The Floorboards
Aurelio Lopez III

Pest Control
Stuart Sharp

The Raven's Deliverance
James Matthew Byers

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Articles and features

The Best of 2007

With Great Boyfriends Come Great Responsibilities
Becky Kletnieks
Some words of advice for anyone considering a romantic entanglement with a costumed superhero.

The Listening Room: Stars Fall Home
Rob Wynne
Rob reviews Seanan McGuire's debut studio album.

Writing On The Edge of the Wood: The Fool's Journey
Gwen Knighton
In this essay on writing, Gwen considers the virtues of eccentricity.

The Idiot Box: Flash Gordon
Terence Chua
A look at the new Flash Gordon series

Myth Conceptions: Mythic Masculinity
Jaimie L. Elliot
Jaimie examines how shifting societal perspectives change the way we frame stories from mythology.

Space Policy In The 21st Century: The New Commons vs. A Sky Full of Enrons
Daniel C. Smith
Daniel examines the future of manned space travel.

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