What’s in Issue 345

Novel	Mr. Lucifer, CEO of Hades, Ltd., needs George Pike’s negotiating experience to head off a cataclysm threatened by a parallel Earth. Time is of the essence in the race to prevent a severe shortage of high-quality souls in the Third Dimension. George will have expert assistance from two of the corporation’s veterans: a certain Niccolò Macchiavelli and Attila T. Hun: Gabriel S. Timar, The Hades Connection, chapter 3, part 1; part 2; chapter 4.
Novella	Lord Max Nagual reveals himself as well as Brian’s and Karen’s real origin and destiny: John W. Steele, Beyond the Island, chapter 24; conclusion.
Serial	Molly has struggled all her life to contain her magical talent, but circumstances finally force her to use it: James C. G. Shirk, Green Thumb, part 3; part 4; conclusion.
Short Stories	A cat, a snake and a mysterious settee combine to haunt a museum collection of the ancient occult: Nükhet Barlas, The Abyssinian. A woman out for a walk meets a boy in the flow of the continuum and in the conceptual nature of reality made symbols: Tantra Bensko, The Boy Who’s a Floating Flower. Time travel offers the wonderful opportunity to go back and correct mistakes. But what if time travel is itself a mistake? How can it correct itself? Lynn Mann, The Assassin, part 1; conclusion. New contributor Lorraine Nevin tells a story about African history. It bears the moral ‘Beware of false prophets’. And it raises a cautionary question: How far are we from superstition? The Water Carriers, part 1; conclusion.
Flash Fiction	Sometimes, on a very ordinary day, the ring of a doorbell will announce an unusual visitor: Ron Van Sweringen, The Icebox. Next time you wonder where your e-mail went, just ask... Julie Wornan, Cookies in Cyberspace.
Poetry	Francine Schwartz, Soul Mate
Short Poetry	Ashutosh Ghildiyal, The Old Story Arnold Hollander, Light and Dark

Departments

The Critics’ Corner	Mark Twain, Effective Prose Style or “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses” Discussion: What Was Mark Twain’s Real Target? with Bertil Falk, Gary Inbinder, and Don Webb
Challenge	Challenge 345: Sagas of the False Gods Challenge 345 Response: Bill Bowler writes about “Beyond the Island”
Letters	John W. Steele reminisces in Looking Back at “Beyond the Island”
The Reading Room	Danielle L. Parker reviews Paul di Filippo, Harp, Pipe & Symphony
The Art Gallery	A randomly rotating selection of Bewildering Stories’ art NASA: Picture of the Day Earth Observatory Picture of the Day

Randomly selected Bewildering motto:

Randomly selected classic rejection notice:

Bewildering Stories’ official mottoes:

“Poems are not made with ideas; they are made with words.” — Stéphane Mallarmé
Ars longa, vita brevis. Rough translation: “Proofreading never ends.”

To Bewildering Stories’ schedule: In Times to Come

Readers’ reactions are always welcome.
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