Sci Phi Journal Issue 3, including Beyond the Mist chapters 4 and 5, is now available in printed form from Amazon:
Sci Phi Journal Issue#3
Sci Phi Journal Issue 3 now available in print!
Reply
Tag Archives: Sci Phi Journal
Sci Phi Journal Issue 3 now on sale!
Sci Phi Journal Issue 3, including chapters 4 and 5 of Beyond the Mist is now available at amazon:
And Castalia House:
Reviewer Praise for Beyond the Mist!
In the official review of Sci Phi Journal Issue 2 over at Castalia House, the reviewer had this to say about my contribution:
There were two standouts in the fiction category: “The Quantum Process” by David Hallquist, a frightening snapshot of a mind duplication procedure gone wrong, and “Beyond the Mist” by Ben Zwycky, a new serial with a mind-bending beginning that hopefully will keep getting better.
Read the first chapter of Beyond the Mist and see if you agree with the reviewer.
I have to agree with the reviewer about “The Quantum Process”, it was the most powerful and best-written fiction contribution in the issue in my opinion. For my work to be placed alongside is praise indeed. I also hope that the continuation of the serial, appearing in Sci Phi Journal Issue 3 in January, will live up to people’s expectations.
The Superversive
Apologies for the lack of posts, my old computer was having more and more crashes and freezes, so I replaced it with a new notebook and am still in the process of setting things up again. One of the first things I did on my new precious on Friday was to give a brief skype interview to Jason Rennie, editor of the Sci Phi Journal and host of the Sci Phi Show podcast. That will be broadcast sometime in January after the next issue of the journal comes out, I’ll be sure to let you all know when exactly that will be.
On a barely related note on Monday I went to the cinema for the first time in a long time to see Interstellar. I must say right now, if you haven’t seen it, go and see it, it is possibly the best film I have ever seen in my life. I daren’t go into any detail for fear of spoiling the experience for anyone who has not yet seen it, but I can say that it is spectacular, engrossing, insightful, inspiring, uplifting, a shining example of superversive art at its finest.
What is superversive art, you may ask?
Briefly, it is the opposite of subversive art, which seeks to tear down and undermine the values and structures of society in some way or another. Once society has been utterly subverted and its structures destroyed, there is nothing left to subvert, only to dig a deeper and deeper hole into despair and insanity. Superversive art aims to build over the top of the ruins, rebuilding the healthy values and structures, witnessing to deep truths and allowing glimpses at a higher reality far above the draining drudgery we have been told to starve our souls with.
The term in this meaning was coined by the ever awesome Tom Simon (author of ‘The Making of the Fellowship: Concepts of the Good in The Lord of the Rings’, in my opinion the highlight of Sci Phi Journal Issue 2, as well as many other excellent essays and books) back in 2003, but really took off this year with the advent of the superversive literary movement, headed by L Jagi Lamplighter, John C. Wright and other writers and creators far more talented and prolific than myself, sparked by this essay:
http://superversivesf.com/2014/11/27/art-courage-original-superversive-essay-tom-simon/
I hope that one day, some of my own work could be considered good enough to count as part of this worthy movement and play a small part in bringing fresh light to dark corners of this damaged but still beautiful world. Who’s with me?
Beyond the Mist: Chapter One
Chapter 1 – The Mist
Am I falling or flying? I thought to myself as the endless mist rushed past my face, feeling the buffeting ripples up and down my skin but hearing almost nothing. How long has it been – hours? Days? Months? Is this all there is? I asked myself, unable to remember anything. And who am I?
A small plastic packet of water drifted past, travelling slightly faster than I was, and I caught hold of it. A tube of some sort of food followed shortly afterwards.
Where do these come from? I silently asked as I consumed them, then allowed the empty wrappings to float away.
There was a faint light up ahead and I began to deliberately drift towards it.
“Dive away! Dive away! Avoid them at all costs!” cried out a voice behind me, and I leaned away from it. “That is a ledge placed there by our cruel overlords. If you hit one of those, not only will it hurt you more than you can bear, but it will also rob you of your freedom. Seek refuge in the mist.”
“A ledge? But what are they for?” I asked, turning to see who was speaking, but could see no-one, only a disturbance in the mist that indicated something was there.
“The overlords seek to lure us to our doom with promises of ‘truth’ and ‘life’,” explained the voice, spitting out those two words with disgust. “Do not listen to them, they only seek to hurt and enslave you. Here there is life, here there is freedom! Here they cannot touch us.”
“Reach out for your life, find the truth and save yourself,” called a different voice from the light as it came rapidly closer.
“Don’t listen to him! Dive away! Dive away! Don’t let him reach you!” screamed the first voice as the light flashed past. “That was close, despicable creatures.”
“So you know them?”
“I know what they are,” replied the first voice, full of bitterness, “I have heard the stories, they speak of ‘truth’ and ‘light’, ‘right and wrong’, ‘responsibility and self-control’, it is nothing but lies to ensnare and enslave you. The mist is life, the mist is safety, here we fly! Here there is no failure or shame, duties or consequences, here we are kings!”
“How can there be lies if there is no truth?” called the second voice from a distance. I looked back to see a light approaching.
“It is one of them!” screamed the first voice, “Cover your ears, dive away! Dive away! You will not enslave us!”
The second voice spoke with an authoritative calm as it gained on us. “To lie is to knowingly deny the truth. How can there be lies without a truth to be denied?”
“Stay away from us!” shouted the first voice. Continue reading
Sci Phi Journal Issue 2 now on general sale
Chapters 1-3 of Beyond the Mist appear in Sci-Phi Journal Issue 2, which is now available at amazon:
smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/487869
or Castalia House:
http://www.castaliahouse.com/downloads/sci-phi-journal-2/
If you are on facebook, you can meet with some of the contributors to the Journal at the Sci Phi Journal Discussions Group, and discuss the various stories and articles, as well as other philosophical and sci-fi related topics.
You can also tell me what you think of Beyond the Mist by commenting here.
Sci Phi Journal Issue 2, featuring Beyond the Mist, now on early sale!
Due to an agreement between the Sci Phi Journal and Castalia House, Issue 2 of the Sci Phi Journal can now be bought there before the official release date on the 1st of November. If you can’t wait to get your hands on it, head over there and shop away!
Sci Phi Journal Issue 2, Including Beyond the Mist, Now Available for Pre-order!
Sci-Phi Journal Issue 2 is now available for preorder at amazon,
smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/487869
or castalia house:
http://www.castaliahouse.com/downloads/sci-phi-journal-2/
the issue itself becoming available on the 1st of November.
The first three chapters of Beyond the Mist appear towards the end of the issue and the cover above is based on the story. This will be the first paid writing commission of my career, and I hope you’ll all enjoy it, and that this worthy journal becomes a successful venture.
Beyond the Mist in Sci Phi Journal Issue 2 and beyond
I’ve been a little overloaded with work this last week, so haven’t managed to finish this week’s poem. However, I have just been paid for the first installment of Beyond the Mist. The first three chapters will appear in issue 2 of the Sci Phi Journal, with another two chapters appearing in the issue after that, with more to follow in later issues. Whether there are any later issues of the journal will depend on how well the first three issues sell, so please give it a chance to succeed. For those of you who haven’t seen it, here is a preview of the cover art for issue 2, based on my story, painted by the Australian artist Cat Leonard.
In my opinion this is my best work, certainly the best opening to a story I’ve ever written, and I’m really excited to hear what you’ll all think of it once it’s available.
I’ll be sure to let you all know when issue 2 of the journal is available for preorder, this is going to be a very interesting ride.
How to write a good long Sci Phi Story?
A question was asked over at the Sci Phi Journal website.
I was wondering if anyone out there could shed some insight onto the following question: How do you make a serialized series that intends to go on for at least two decades, have large epic plots that still manage to make cogent philosophical points?
I ask because it seems that most tales that do make cogent philosophical points most seem to be one-shots. Even the Twilight Zone, as chock to the brim with far more insight than both recent live-action Star Treks combined as that show was, was an anthology, or a collection of one-shots with little to no serialization.
Though I love to make philosophical one-shots and read such one-shots, I must admit that my heart lies in making tales with long plot-threads, as it was such shows like, everything in the DC Animated Universe, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Avatar: The Last Airbender that got me into wanting to be a writer in the first place.
I think that it’s not impossible, as those three things I mentioned above somehow managed to do it, but I’m just curious as to how one accomplishes such a thing and how difficult it really is, because I seem to be finding it’s mighty hard.
Short answer, yes it is very hard. Long answer below: Continue reading
The Zwyckyverse 