Galaxy's Edge Magazine: Issue 30, January 2018

by Orson Scott Card, Lois McMaster Bujold, Joe Haldeman

Overview

A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy

ISSUE 30: January 2018

Mike Resnick, Editor

Taylor Morris, Copyeditor

Shahid Mahmud, Publisher

Stories: Nick DiChario, Laurie Tom, Joe Haldeman, David Afsharirad, George Nikolopoulos, Kij Johnson, M. E. Garber, David VonAllmen, Mercedes Lackey, Sean Patrick Hazlett, Eric Leif Davin, Orson Scott Card

Serialization: Daughter of Elysium by Joan Slonczewski

Columns by: Robert J. Sawyer, Gregory Benford

Recommended Books: Bill Fawcett and Jody Lynn Nye

Interview: Joy Ward interviews Lois McMasterBujold

Galaxy’s Edge is a Hugo-nominated bi-monthly magazine published by Phoenix Pick, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Arc Manor, an award winning independent press based in Maryland. Each issue of the magazine has a mix of new and old stories, a serialization of a novel, columns by Robert J. Sawyer and Gregory Benford, book recommendations by Bill Fawcett and Jody Lynn Nye and an interview conducted by Joy Ward.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612423968
Publisher:	Arc Manor
Publication date:	12/25/2017
Pages:	114
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Any discussion of Orson Scott Card's work must necessarily begin with religion. A devout Mormon, Card believes in imparting moral lessons through his fiction, a stance that sometimes creates controversy on both sides of the fence. Some Mormons have objected to the violence in his books as being antithetical to the Mormon message, while his conservative political activism has gotten him into hot water with liberal readers.

Whether you agree with his personal views or not, Card's fiction can be enjoyed on many different levels. And with the amount of work he's produced, there is something to fit the tastes of readers of all ages and stripes. Averaging two novels a year since 1979, Card has also managed to find the time to write hundreds of audio plays and short stories, several stage plays, a television series concept, and a screenplay of his classic novel Ender's Game. In addition to his science fiction and fantasy novels, he has also written contemporary fiction, religious, and nonfiction works.

Card's novel that has arguably had the biggest impact is 1985's Hugo and Nebula award-winner Ender's Game. Ender's Game introduced readers to Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, a young genius faced with the task of saving the Earth. Ender's Game is that rare work of fiction that strikes a chord with adults and young adult readers alike. The sequel, Speaker for the Dead, also won the Hugo and Nebula awards, making Card the only author in history to win both prestigious science-fiction awards two years in a row.

In 2000, Card returned to Ender's world with a "parallel" novel called Ender's Shadow. Ender's Shadow retells the events of Ender's Game from the perspective of Julian "Bean" Delphinki, Ender's second-in-command. As Sam to Ender's Frodo, Bean is doomed to be remembered as an also-ran next to the legendary protagonist of the earlier novel. In many ways, Bean is a more complex and intriguing character than the preternaturally brilliant Ender, and his alternate take on the events of Ender's Game provide an intriguing counterpoint to fans of the original series.

In addition to moral issues, a strong sense of family pervades Card's work. Card is a devoted family man and father to five (!) children. In the age of dysfunctional family literature, Card bristles at the suggestion that a positive home life is uninteresting. "How do you keep `good parents' from being boring?" he once said. "Well, in truth, the real problem is, how do you keep bad parents from being boring? I've seen the same bad parents in so many books and movies that I'm tired of them."

Critical appreciation for Card's work often points to the intriguing plotlines and deft characterizations that are on display in Card's most accomplished novels. Card developed the ability to write believable characters and page-turning plots as a college theater student. To this day, when he writes, Card always thinks of the audience first. "It's the best training in the world for a writer, to have a live audience," he says. "I'm constantly shaping the story so the audience will know why they should care about what's going on."

Card brought Bean back in 2005 for the fourth and final novel in the Shadow series: Shadow of the Giant. The novel presented some difficulty for the writer. Characters who were relatively unimportant when the series began had moved to the forefront, and as a result, Card knew that the ending he had originally envisioned would not be enough to satisfy the series' fans.

Although the Ender and Shadow series deal with politics, Card likes to keep his personal political opinions out of his fiction. He tries to present the governments of futuristic Earth as realistically as possible without drawing direct analogies to our current political climate. This distance that Card maintains between the real world and his fictional worlds helps give his novels a lasting and universal appeal.

Hometown:

Greensboro, North Carolina

Date of Birth:

August 24, 1951

Place of Birth:

Richland, Washington

Education:

B.A. in theater, Brigham Young University, 1975; M.A. in English, University of Utah, 1981

Website:

http://www.hatrack.com

Table of Contents

THE EDITOR’S WORD by Mike Resnick 3

OF LOVE AND OLIVES by Nick DiChario 4

KITE DANCER by Laurie Tom 10

GRAVES by Joe Haldeman 18

SEE A PENNY… by David Afsharirad 22

FROZEN MOMENTS, STOLEN OUT OF TIME by George Nikolopoulos 27

THE BITEY CAT by Kij Johnson 28

AFTER THE STORY ENDS by M. E. Garber 31

AN UNFAMILIAR FACE by David VonAllmen 36

A TAIL OF TWO SKITTYS by Mercedes Lackey 38

THE GODHEAD GRIMOIRE by Sean Patrick Hazlett 45

A SONG FOR CHARON by Eric Leif Davin 51

CAROUSEL by Orson Scott Card 53

RECOMMENDED BOOKS by Bill Fawcett and Jody Lynn Nye 63

A SCIENTIST’S NOTEBOOK (column) by Gregory Benford 67

DECOHERENCE (column) by Robert J. Sawyer 75

THE GALAXY’S EDGE INTERVIEW: Joy Ward Interviews Lois McMaster Bujold 77

SERIALIZATION: DAUGHTER OF ELYSIUM by Joan Slonczewski 81