Articles tagged with fiction
The Man Who Downloaded The Internet
Idea Suggested by Vincent Summers in his article here. This is just a start to a possible story. Story Starts Vince screwed the last cover into place and stretched out his hand to flick the main switch. He turned off the torch on his head and stood in s
Review Science Fiction short Story: "Dead Giveaway" by Randall Garrett
Dave Turnbull has just returned to Earth from a year exploring Lobon. Back at his apartment, he receives a couple pieces of mail from his friend and mentor, Scholar Duckworth, that give him pause. The first, postmarked 21 August 2187, says that he believes
Review: Science Fiction Short Story : "Martians Never Die" by Lucius Daniel
This is a creepy little story, only that plays on greed and hatred. It is perhaps almost too subtle in some respects, but the ending is sad in more than one way. And there is a faint streak of misogyny. Beryl needs someone to take care of her. She
Science Fiction Short Story Review: “The One and the Many" by Stephen Marlowe
“There are some who tell me it is a foolish war we fight,” this story begins. One of those who believes the war is foolish is the narrator’s brother. But the brother is lame and good for nothing but drawing. He draws pic
Horror Short Story Review: “The Diary of Philip Westerly” by Paul Compton
According to his nephew, Philip Westerly disappeared and left nothing but a smashed mirror. His nephew has heard a lot of wild stories about what might have happened, but none of them are as wild as Westerly’s diary. He mentions that his
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Delegate from Venus" by Henry Slesar
When the reader first meets reporter Jerry Bridges he’s getting chewed out by his boss for getting a senator’s secretary drunk in an attempt to pump her for information. Bridges just knows something’s going on with all the couriers runnin
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Shepherd of the Planets" by Alan Mattox
The fuel pack on Captain Renner’s ship gave out. They’ll have enough power for some functions, but without a replacement, they’ll never fly to the stars again. It was supposed to last a life time. It has just enough juice to l
Science Fiction Short Story Review: “Old Rambling House” by Frank Herbert
Ted and Martha Graham are pretty sure they’re about to land a deal that’s too good to be true. A foreign-sounding couple wants to swap their old rambling house out in the boonies for their trailer. With the baby on the way, the Grahams are look
Review: Murdoch Mysteries
Binge watching a television series that revolves around the crime solving adventures of a Canadian-type #SherlockHolmes , “Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary”. Love it when he says that! It's how he introduces himself to othe
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Jameson Satellite" by Neil R. Jones
In this novelette originally published in 1931, Professor Jameson knows his time is at hand but yearns for some sort of immortality. He eventually decides that no means on earth will preserve his body the way he wants and takes the next logical step
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Tight Squeeze" by Dean C. Ing
This is good old-fashion space yarn opens with a conscientious (and just a bit nervous) safety engineer, Major Edward MacNamara, going through a thorough, piece by piece, system by system preflight inspection of the spaceship “Valier.” Ma
Science Fiction Short Story: "The Velvet Glove" by Harry Harrison
When the reader first meets Jon Venex, he is seen opening a hotel room door. He’s paid extra for a large room—the largest in the hotel, fully three feet wide by five feet long. Even if weren’t this big, he doesn’t dare c
Also Watched Dark Matter
It has been a while since there's been a Science Fiction show on television I could get interested int but Season 1 of DARK MATTER is now on Netflix and I've watched the first two episodes. We'll have to see how it goes, but I may become a fan. I
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Goodbye, Dead Man!" by Tom W. Harris
Orley Mattup is a guard at a reactor in Bayless, Kentucky. He and a friend of the narrator, Danny Hern, play a back country card game called high-low-jack. Mattup starts losing, despite all good luck rituals he performs. He’s a sore
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Keep Out!" by Fredric Brown
They were the first Martians, born on Earth, but bred and raised for Mars. Thanks to the drug daptine, given to their carefully selected parents before they were conceived, they could adapt to the cold and the thin atmosphere of Mars in ways Earthlings nev
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Monster" by Randall Garrett
When we first meet Fred Trent, newspaperman, he’s busy trying to talk Joan Drake into not forgetting their date that night. She’s out walking Brutus, Dr. Fenwick’s Great Dane. Or maybe Brutus is walking her. Trent
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Hawk Carse" by Anthony Gilmore
This is a hero/adventure tale set in the 22nd century chockfull of blood feuds and revenge. Adventurer “Hawk” Carse flies the fastest spaceship in space and is the quickest draw on his ray-gun. He pioneered Iapetus (a satellite of Saturn), esta
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Service with a Smile" by Charles L. Fortenay
Alice, Thera, Betsy and Marguerite survived the crash of their spaceship on this little planet. An atmospheric trap drew the ship down and a magnetic layer prevents a radio message from getting out. The women are trapped. Herbert, the robot se
science fiction short story review: "Tree, Spare that Woodman" by David Dryfoos
Ted Heckscher found his elderly neighbor Cappy dead. From all appearances, he seems to have died in his sleep, except that the tree-things now forming a ring around his cabin here on the alien planet of Mazda. The tree-things have blue trunk an
science fiction short story review: "The Eye of Allah" by Charles W. Diffin
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
The Certificate
FICTION Four Generations "I wish I had achieved something", the low voice came from the bed. "What do you mean Grandpop?", little Eddie said, wriggling on the seat between his mother and his grandfather, looking at his great grandfather lying in th
The Phone Call
Story prompted by a real incident I was walking through the village when an odd engine noise alerted me to a lorry moving slowly and weaving on the road. I realised the driver was texting and not paying attention to his driving, so got the compa
How Easy We American Women Have It Today
As I read my way through another free Kindle book, I’m reminded once again of how easy it is to live now, as compared to 150 years ago. The book I’m reading is An Untamed Land (Red River of the North #1) by Lauraine Snelling. It is a his
Science Fiction Short Story: "Waste Not, Want" by Dave Dryfoos
Eighty-six-year-old Fred Lubway wakes up with panic. He’s still not over using Tillie. He’s still not over the new place. Not that he needed a new place—this house full of gadgets that Tillie never saw. He was told at Tillie’s funer
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "They Twinkled Like Jewels" by Philip José Farmer
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The World Behind the Moon" by Paul Ernst
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Street that Wasn't There" by Clifford Simal and Carl Jacobi
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Stoker and the Stars" by Algis Budrys
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Radiant Shell" by Paul Ernst
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Power and the Glory" by Charles W. Diffin
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Nothing Equation" by Tom Godwin
Green was the third man to occupy the observation bubble, 10,000 light years beyond the galaxy’s outermost sun. A project of Earth’s Galactic Observation Bureau, it was positioned there to gather data that could not be made within t
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Memory of Mars" by Raymond F. Jones
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Man Who Saw the Future" by Edmond Hamilton
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review "The Hated" by Frederik Pohl
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review "The Eternal Wall" by Raymond Z. Gallun
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: “The Day Time Stopped Moving” by Bradner Buckner
All Dave Miller wanted was to commit suicide in peace. He was drunk. His drugstore was going under and he was doing nothing but drinking only more. His refinance scheme involves race horses. Now Helen was leaving him. Well, he would show her! So he picked
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Moon is Green" by Fritz Leiber
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Cosmic Express" by Jack Williamson
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "The Aliens" by Murray Leinster
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Vital Ingredient" by Charles V. De Vet
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Pandemic" by Jesse F. Bone
Research pathologist Dr. Walter Kramer is hiring another new assistant. It’s not his pipe that’s driving them away. Thurston’s disease has wiped out nearly one billion of the three billion people on the planet. It’s particularly har
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Foundling on Venus" by John and Dorothy De Courcy
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Missing Link" by Frank Herbert
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Short Story Review: "La Pulchra Nota" by Molly McNett
The 14th century world of the narrator, music instructor John Fuller, is ordered by god. The good things, the perfect things such as the beautiful song of the bird he heard as child can come only from god. The bad things also come from god, for purposes hu
The Care and Proper Feeding of One's Websites
I've been running personal and commercial websites for just about 20 years now - I started my first sites back in 1995 when I was in graduate school, just some silly fan pages for my favorite TV shows and for #fanfiction, that sort of thing. I cut my teeth
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "McIlvaine's Star" by August Derleth
This is one of author August Derleth’s stories involving newspaperman Tex Harrigan. In this, Tex is relating an odd story about an old man he came across, Thaddeus McIlvaine, one of the “lost people or strayed, crackpots or warped geniuses.&rdq
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Lease to Doomsday" by Lee Archer
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "The Indulgence of Negu Mah" by Robert Andrew Arthur
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Hex" by Laurence Mark Janifer
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review – Brian Aldiss – No Gimmick
Spoiler alerts. The Friday Project. Another 1950’s classic from Aldiss, this time with a dark totalitarian theme. A science fiction author has been arrested and imprisoned in a cell by agents of a near-future fascistic government. H
Short Science Fiction Story Review - Brian Aldiss – Judas Danced
The Friday Project – spoiler alerts Another 1950’s classic from Aldiss, with a unique spin on posthumous pardons for executed murderers. The hero is about to be executed a second time for the second time he has murdered the same man.
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Four Miles Within" by Anthony Gilmore
Professor David Guinness, along with his daughter Sue and engineer Phil Holmes is about to descend in a digging sphere to a radium deposit about four miles beneath the earth surface outside Palmdale, California. It’ll probably get warm on the way dow
Science Fictions Short Story Review: "The Guardians" by Irving Cox, Jr.
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Review Science Fiction: "Divinity" by Joseph Samachson
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Dead World" by Jack Douglas
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Dead Ringer" by Lester del Rey
Journalist Dane Phillips is not so sure about his fellow man—some of them anyway—because they don’t seem to be staying dead even after they’re buried. His editor doesn’t believe him. No one seems to believe him. Eventually he
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Cully" by Jack Egan
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Blind Spot" by Bascom Jones, Jr.
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Review: Science Fiction short story: "Beyond Lies the Wub" by Philip K. Dick
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Short Science Fiction Story Review Brian Aldiss The Shubshub Race
Spoiler alerts – 1957 A brilliant science fiction fable in the style of a Hans Christian Anderson fantasy fairy story but with scientific explanations for its magical happenings. A king on Earth is very ill, and plans a long recuper
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Earthmen Bearing Gifts" by Fredric Brown
Dhar Ry is anxiously awaiting the earth rocket, due to land 1000 outside the single remaining Martian city. The Martians know this because their telepath teams have been reading the thoughts of the earthmen for centuries. The rocket is expected to allow ea
Raiding My Cousin's Book Shelf! - BOOKS - Category Challenge
so i went over to my cousin's place and borrowed his 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' collection. he has all the books and is currently reading through it. apparently, he has this habit of reading one book at a time but the rest of the books should be with him
review: science fiction short story: "Accidental Death" by Peter Bailey
The story opens with howling wind blowing ice crystals. A figure lies in a furrow in the snow, beginning to move. The man comes to grips with the idea that he’s still alive. He knows it will be a while before he’s found—if he is, indeed,
Review: 'Rose Gold' by Walter Mosley
"Rose Gold" offers the reader not only a complex mystery to be solved by private investigator Easy Rawlins, but also an up-close and personal glimpse into a Los Angeles of nearly fifty years ago. So smooth are the seams between the two that the reader neve
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian Aldiss - The Ultimate Millennium
The last of the Millennium quartet also known as Galaxies Like Grains Of Sand. As the universe itself begins to disintegrate a space voyager running low on oxygen makes a desperate effort to land on a planet hoping to find air there. He dies, but
review: science fiction short story: “A World is Born” by Leigh Brackett
Mel Gray is a “volunteer,” a world-builder on Mercury, toiling for the father and daughter team of the Moultons, who’d organized the destitute and desperate veterans of the Second Interplanetary War. But Mel’s had enough unselfish
'Sorry Dave' - WRITING Category Challenge
Another short story from yours truly. Been dabbling at writing fiction... at least what passes for one. LOL! Would love to read everyone's comments, rants, and otherwise violent reactions to this piece. ===== 'Sorry Dave. We did what we can. The tumor
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian Aldiss – The Dark Millennia
1957 – spoiler alerts An Earth traveller, eons in the future, meets a mysterious naked man in the woods on Earth. The man, Ishrael, claims to be the stranded admiral of an alien fleet, who has been exiled to Earth by his enemies. In
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian Aldiss – The Sterile Millennia
1957 – Spoiler alerts A bold look at the aftermath of an Earth war in the far flung future. Race war has exterminated the white Caucasian peoples, leaving black people the only survivors until one man gives birth to a white girl. Al
Diary – Thursday 12th February 2015
It was a great relief not to have to get up and go to the farcical call centre job which wasn’t paying staff any more. I got a pleasant lie in for the first time in weeks. Later in the day my job brokers sent me details of a new job, with a supermar
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian Aldiss – The New Father Christmas
Spoiler alerts – The Friday Project Press A rather anti-Christmas story, in its utter bleak vision of a future Yule in a mechanized hostile World ruled by artificial intelligence. Many SF stories predicted robots as the saving grace
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian W Aldiss – Outside
1955 - Spoiler alerts Six people have been trapped for many years in a strange house from fear of the World outside, and even wondering if there is a World outside any more. Life in the house is dull but pleasant, though every move is clo
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian W Aldiss – Pogsmith
1955 - Spoiler alerts Aldiss is often darkly serious in his story-telling but he could also let his hair down to write something shamelessly silly, as with Pogsmith. Here, a bickering married couple win tickets to visit an interplanetary
Science Fiction Short Story Review: "A Question of Courage" by Jesse Franklin Bone
“I smelled the trouble the moment I stepped on the lift and took the long ride up the side of the Lachesis,” Lt. Thomas Marsden tells the reader as he assumes his new position aboard the scout spaceship. As Executive Officer, he’s pleased
Diary – Thursday 22nd January 2015
I had to report to two separate welfare advisors today. Initially the appointments clashed but I was able to move the second mandatory meeting back a few hours. The first was just to sign on, where they check my job searching activity is on-going.
Science Fiction Novella Review – Brian W Aldiss – Equator
1958 Various editions – Spoiler alerts Also released as Vanguard From Alpha One of the most action packed SF stories, crime drama, spy story, comedy thrillers I have ever read and one screaming out for turning into a
Short Science Fiction Review – Brian W Aldiss – Conviction
1955 – The Friday Project – Spoiler alerts Poor David Stevens is just an average kind of guy who is suddenly picked randomly to represent Earth before a tribunal of God-like overlords of the Universe. He has been given just months to p
Science Fiction Review: "The Chronic Argonauts" by H. G. Wells
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian W Aldiss – Our Kind Of Knowledge
1955 – Friday Project – Spoiler alerts. A very weird story from Aldiss, in which a group of monks visiting the North Pole discover a spaceship there. Examining it, they inexplicably end up taking off in it, though barely able to steer
Review: Science Fiction Short Story: "Zen" by Jerome Bixby
This is another in the series of “It Came from the Pulps!” where I review science fiction short stories that were originally published in the pulp magazines of mid-20th century. Many of these have become available in electronic form as free dow
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian W Aldiss – Not For an Age
1955 – Friday Project Press – Spoiler alerts A rather scary precursor to Groundhog Day, which wouldn’t be filmed for decades after this Aldiss take on the idea of living a single day over and over. The hero, Rodney has l
Science Fiction Limericks
A friend challenged me to come up with science fiction themed clean limericks. The first is self-contained. The second is a two parter in limerick form. Enjoy. Harry Android dreamt Of Electric Sheep After counting them while trying to sleep Insp
Short Science Fiction Review - Brian W Aldiss – The great Time Hiccup
1955 – Friday Project Press – Spoiler alerts Some time in the future time itself will stop running smoothly and in its neat linear pattern. It will be a minor hiccup for the cosmos, but for humanity, the consequences of being thrown da
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian W Aldiss – Breathing Space
1955 – The Friday Project Press – Spoiler Alerts A short story that Aldiss used to explore themes later developed in more detail in his brilliant novel, Non-Stop (published in 1958) The premise has a similar Plato’s Cave
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Brian W Aldiss – Criminal Record
1955 – Spoiler alerts Another early gem from Aldiss, again involving aliens causing problems for people who go shopping. This time, the main hero finds what he believes to be a rare collectible music recording on Vinyl, and rushes home with
Silly Fantasy Story - Thump Thump Thump
Our experiments on the International Space Station told us that there was extremely little chance of life existing on other worlds beyond our own. Leaving Fraja on the station, Terry and I were returning to Earth in the three seater supply ship wit
Short Science Fiction Story Review – Chris Beckett – Rat Island
2013 Newcon Press – Spoiler alerts A sad tale of the last days of life as we know it as all our efforts to go green, recycle and save the environment prove to be too little, too late. A young man reminisces on his childhood, with ph
Ravado Towers, a Modern Tale of the English Aristocracy Episode 1 An Introduction
It occurred to me that, in the light of the global popularity of Downton Abbey, a serialised account of the contemporary life of a member of the English Landed Gentry, Lord Ravado, Earl of Slough would go down well here on Persona Paper. Being an En
Some Brief Thoughts on A Place Behind the World by David Hazard
I should known better than to read anything but escape literature while I'm still in my post-surgical haze of pain and medications, but I'm trying to clear paper #books off my shelf, and A Place Behind the World looked about the right size to tackle (187 p
Review: 'Elizabeth Is Missing' by Emma Healey
This first novel of professional book binder, Emma Healey, "Elizabeth Is Missing," reveals incredible insights into the minds and hearts of those in varying states of dementia and in those who care for and about them. It leaves me wondering what more might
Review: 'Dead on the Dance Floor' by Heather Graham
I must be one of the last readers in the world to have discovered the novels of Heather Graham, a prolific novelist and a "New York Times" bestselling author. Ms. Graham has written not only under her maiden name of Graham, but also under her married name,
Review: 'A Corpse at St. Andrew's Chapel' by Mel Starr
The second novel in the Hugh de Singleton, surgeon, series by author Mel Starr, seamlessly picks up where "The Unquiet Bones" left off. Still, if "A Corpse at St. Andrew's Chapel" is the first book you read of this series, you will soon be brought up to sp
Review: 'The Unquiet Bones' by Mel Starr
The first in the Hugh de Singleton chronicles, 'The Unquiet Bones' is both historic fiction and mystery -- a delightful, if unusual, combination of the two. There's enough of each to satisfy an aficionado of either genre. Set in medieval England in the 14
NaNoWriMo: The Ultimate Writing Challenge
As strange as it may seem to try writing an entire novel in only a month, NaNoWriMo (so called because "National Novel Writing Month" is quite a mouthful) must be working for some writers. NaNo is in its sixteenth year in 2014, and in each of the preceding
Sudo Makes Sandwich
Going right through it. This is a part of the story that I'm currently writing right now. Here it goes... ===No one knew how or why it started... some say it was God's wrath... others say it was the Earth's way of healing itself... others say, it was alie
