Author Archives: Gerry Huntman
Edition 3: Book Review: Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Reviewed by Mysti Parker
Books about boy wizards will be compared to Harry Potter. Likewise will a teen dystopian novel be compared to The Hunger Games. Just like Katniss, young Alex in Mike Mullin’s Ashfall is thrown into an unspeakable life and death situation.
But that’s where the similarity ends.
Edition 3: Ring Finger by John Claude Smith
In the wilderness, you do what it takes to survive. Cammie knows that better than anyone. But what that means you will have to read on to find out. SY
Cammie sucked hard on the rolled cigarette, the smoke threatening to warm her frigid innards, but failing.
The sky was bright and white and vast—infinite—though charcoal curled the distant edges.
Winter came and owned their souls. Took root in the marrow. Froze their dreams like arctic lakes that never thawed.
Ragged threads scratched spider-like at her fingertips, the home-made fingerless gloves meant to deter calluses on the palms, but the grip of flesh, of strong fingers, was deemed necessary to swing the axe.
Edition 3: The Observer by Hansen Hovell Holladay
From the other side of the glass, it always pays to be detached. What do you do when you feel for the object of your observation? A flash piece by Hanson Hovell Holladay gives a small insight in The Observer. SY
Gazing into the monitor’s screen, the Observer suddenly becomes uneasy. The woman below always rises with the sun, watching it grow in brightness throughout the morning hours. Only on this morning she does not appear. Those that encircle her life stir and pace about as though the day seems just as any other. Where is she? He thinks to himself. What’s wrong?
On the nearside of the planet’s natural satellite, invisible to the people that dwell below, the Observer scans the numerous monitors before him. Looking, he can see everyone and all they have created over time—everyone but her. She had been crying the day before, having emptied her sadness in isolation. With every tear she struggled to breathe, until exhaustion carried her into a deep slumber. He knows that she suffers from inner pain. What can I do? Why do you hurt? So much time thinking.
Edition 3: Notes From the Editor
No one ever tells you that when you begin work how many decisions you are going to have to make every day. It also isn’t revealed how hard those choices are going to be.
When Gerry asked me to head up this e-zine (and its predecessor SQ Magazine), I didn’t realise that I would be making tough decisions on fantastic stories all the time. It is agony sometimes to take only a selection of the shorts that come through to the submissions page. As the quality keeps improving, it only gets harder.
You will find this edition has a definite bent towards horror and supernatural themes. It is interesting how a run of a particular speculative fiction theme will be sent to us, from all over the globe. In SQ Mag 3, we have authors from the US, the UK, Ireland and Italy. We have stories of creatures of space, long-held bitter feuds, love, loss and murder. We all have really enjoyed putting this group together and hope you will appreciate them too.
Edition 4: Book Review: The Court Of The Air by Stephen Hunt
Reviewed by Sophie Yorkston
Stephen Hunt’s novel, The Court of the Air, is set in a steampunk world built on gas and steam with a very Victorian flavour. It is the first in a series set in this world, beginning with this novel in 2007. The latest, From the Deep of the Dark, was published in February 2012.
Edition 4: The Mermithergate Grin by S. Marston
There is very old magic in Africa that only the isangoma know. Lloyd, in his quest for science, discovers viruses can create astounding influence when used in a particular way. Lloyd’s work begins in pure curiosity, but even the best of intentions can be perverted. SY
Part 1
Before the NASDAQ and the dollar; before the Dutch took their first wind; before credit, paper, gold; this currency was traded and it was old even then.
In Africa, a ten dollar bill as the last page in your passport will get you across a border, but it will not sway the darkness. The original darkness. That one that was on the face of the abyss, at the beginning of all of this; for that entity, there is only one thing with which to trade. Now a goat’s blood will suffice as the price to remove a wart, or cure cramps. But for the big ticket items, for life or wealth, love or freedom, it won’t be a goat bleeding at your feet. The price takes the form of an organ. A small piece of someone. And that object, the soft tissue in itself is not the issue, but rather the act, the means, the bleeding. As was the lesson taught to Shakespeare’s merchant.
Edition 4: Interview with Daniel I. Russell
After donating his great story “Creeper” to us for SQ Mag 2, we got to pick Daniel’s brains on his career, horror, association membership and what editors are looking for in a story. SY
Interview by Sophie Yorkston
copyright Daniel I Russell, reproduced by permission
SQ: How long have you been writing horror and what was your first successful breakthrough?
DIR: I started writing in 2004, beginning with short stories that developed into novels. While I’ve not been as prolific as perhaps I could have been, I feel I’ve been pretty constant throughout that time, with something always on the go be it my own stories or editing the work of others.
Edition 4: Halo In The Sky by Gerry Huntman
To raise his station, Nigel Taylor takes to the stars with the army. He returns a glorious hero, lauded by his countrymen. But will it win him the hand of the woman he loves or were his discoveries for naught? Many thanks to Gerry for donating this story, as we would love more steampunk, but we have not caught the attention of the market yet. SY
Three weeks following her return journey through the Alpha Centauri halo, the HMES Indomitable entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Slowly and precisely she exposed her antigravity coils, causing a reduction in the rate of her descent, allowing the ether ship to gracefully approach terra firma. The London-Berkshire region was covered in slate-grey rain clouds; the moisture gathered and glistened on the teakwood and brass finish of the giant ship in her approach for landing. Many of the Indomitable’s thick, glass portholes contained eager faces peering through them.
The giant conical ship silently descended towards the drenched green fields of the Sandhurst Military Etherdrome, her eight landing pads impressed upon the grass with a heavy thud. As the enormous weight of the ship settled on the pads, and the thick steel springs absorbed its enormous kinetic energy, the antigravity coils were fully covered with lead shielding, followed by the shutting down of power systems.
Edition 4: Interview with Jay Lake
We had the opportunity to get to know Jay Lake a bit better, and we really appreciate him taking the time to chat to us. We talk about steampunk, writing and his brave battle with cancer. SY
Interview by Sophie Yorkston
SQ: Jay, you have written many steampunk stories and several of your novels are based on a clockwork world you created. What would you say are the strengths of this genre and why do you enjoy writing it?
JL: The great strength of steampunk as a genre is that it is hugely entertaining, and likewise it is nearly purely entertainment. Steampunk isn’t on a mission, doesn’t have a manifesto, and in my opinion doesn’t really even qualify as a literary movement in any deep sense. It’s a style, or a skin. So where cyberpunk, for example, was infused with cultural critique, and the New Wave was infused with political critique, steampunk is just messing around for the sheer joy of the thing. That’s precisely why I love writing it.
Edition 4: Down In The Ship Mines by Jay Lake
A great science fiction short by renowned writer Jay Lake. The women of the world once lived among the stars, but have been worn low by their unwanted masters. Their stories tell them their way back, but do they have the strength and knowledge to make their way back. SY
We work the ship mines like our mommas did before us. After we’re gone, our girls and grandgirls will be at their turns. We break our backs, a line of women stretching far across the fallen years, to keep something alive under the evil that lives in the night sky.
That something is hope.
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SQ Mag 
