Rise Reviews

Nothing has made a big of a splash in speculative fiction these days as flash fiction. Be it the influence of the internet, short attention span, or limited funds for editors; most of the publications in the market are not only open to flash fiction but some publish it exclusively. K C Ball is the [...]

Amanda Givens is a white witch who lives a quiet life in the woods of Canaan, Connecticut with her familiar, a cat named Amadeus. Amanda is still grieving the loss of her husband, Jake, who recently died in a car accident. Although Jake was aware of her powers and didn’t mind them, Amanda keeps her secret from her friends and the people in town.

But when an evil cult, lead by Rachel, a black witch from the past, begins tormenting the town and its citizens, Amanda knows she must do everything in her power to help. Especially when the cult kidnaps and harms her best friend Jane’s little boy. But the townspeople only see her powers and think she’s evil.

For those of us tiring of steampunk and utterly burnt-out on cyberpunk, there is a new punk in the science-fantasy section: Biopunk. Growing Dread (C. Dombrowski, editor) is a dark anthology of tales in which our hubris invariably gets the better of humanity. We come to our complicated – and often messy – end knowing that we brought this catastrophe upon ourselves. But all is not lost; in our pride, we always weave a little of ourselves into whatever future remains of life on Earth. Our genetically engineered creations may surprise and conquer us, but in a way that reflects our nature more than anything else. Humanity proves indelible, particularly in the consequences for our failures.

Hail Caesar: Creative Commons and the Small Press “It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.” – Julius Caesar 1. Write story 2. Get said story published 3. Profit! Karma! I believe short fiction is important. The small press magazine I edit (Fantastique Unfettered, aka FU) uses [...]