Aphelion

Astrogator

This one took me back to my child hood. Comic books, space heroes, bullies, evil queens. They are as much a part of my life as they are of Bucky's life.

Astrogator

It appears to me that the quality of the short stories that appear in this web-zine are superior to those that came in when I was working here. When I started my time in the barrel Dan gave me this advice: "Never reject anything, just ask for revisions. Most of the time, you will never hear from the...

Astrogator

This story really grabs the reader and delivers with a satisfactory conclusion. Don't miss this one.

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2024/07/DarkSalvation.html

Astrogator

Well, I didn't see that coming!

This little scenario is quite an enjoyable ride. I will say no more because I do not want to spoil it.

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2024/07/ARavensKiss.html

Astrogator

The story grabbed me, but the ending baffled me. I think there is a typo near the end where Ted becomes Thomas, but even if I change Thomas back to Ted, I still do not understand Peter's reaction. That is no reflection on the quality of the story, of course. My bad; but I wish someone would explain ...

Astrogator

This story digs deep into a dystopic vision of a future where the distinction between man and machine becomes blurred. It evokes the question "What is man?" Ultimately, one is led to wonder what the meaning of life may be. Oh well. Lift to me the parting glass and peace and joy be to you all. http:/...

Astrogator

Not too bad, although I should confess I am not a fan of the horror genre. The story pulled me in and held my interest until it turned weird at the end. I would suggest dialing back the adjectives and making the descriptive passages as spare as possible. Finally, the Bulwer-Lytton opening paragraph ...

Astrogator

It's a good read.

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2023/05/AGoodDeath.html

Astrogator

At the end of The Good Folks, I felt like I had awakened from a bad dream, only this one made more sense than most of my dreams.

I liked the ending which seems to suggest that there is hope for something better.

GoodFolks.html

Astrogator

An intriguing tale indeed. Spoiler Alert: Read the story first. After reading this entry, I googled towns named Jacksboro and only two came up, Jacksboro Tx and Jacksboro Tn. From the description of the terrain, it appears that Valhalla is probably in Tennessee. Old Dan seems to be at peace with Chr...

Astrogator

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2023/03/Lincolin.html I am not a horror fan these days, but there is a problem with this story, in that it violates one of main the rules of horror fiction writing and that is while evil and strong thrive, the very good or the very strong survive. Only the weak...

Astrogator

This is in the February issue:
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/poetry/2023/02/Coyolxauhqui3000.html

Astrogator

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http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2023/03/Sacrifice.html

This story takes you into a world where the old gods war with the new. For awhile,
you may revel in betrayal, violence, and cruelty, but when judgment comes, your gods will not protect you.

Astrogator

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http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2023/03/JewelleryBox.html

This story shows how dreams can be revealing, as long as you have the appropriate artifact. Perhaps the things we cherish carry a part of us with them into the future beyond our own lives.

Astrogator

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2023/03/DoctorsPet.html This is good hard science fiction in my book and I like the realistic tone. I can identify with the obsessive behavior of the main character. Like most science fiction, it is a warning of the dangers that may wait for us out there and t...

Astrogator

Withal methinks a worthy effort. Let none gainsay him who has not walked the trodden path.

Astrogator

Very interesting. I could not help but wonder if this story was written by an AI (artificial intelligence) pretending to be a human, or a human pretending to be an AI.

Astrogator

Perhaps science fiction is over.

Science fiction is about the future, but what is happening now in our lives is more incredible than anything we can imagine.

Astrogator

It's a good story. Not really SF or Fantasy; more of character story.

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2022/08/Lance.html

Astrogator

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2022/08/Reflection.html

A clever, old school tale. Awesome.

Astrogator

The link to "rules for writing good" is broken so I posted the rules here. 1. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent. 2. Just between you and I, case is important. 3. Verbs has to agree with their subjects. 4. Watch out for irregular verbs which have crept into our language. 5. Don't use no doubl...

Astrogator

You might want to save this link:

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https://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/humor/rules.html

Astrogator

<a=href"http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2021/12/TheZooShip.html">Zoo Ship</a>

I am not sure Aphelion should publish stories like this one. Its too good. Might give the rest of us an inferiority complex.

Astrogator

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http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2021/12/Exile.html

I was disappointed, but not bored. Thumbs up!

Astrogator

http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2021/07/ChandraMedical.html Margaret Karmazin has an impressive resume, I must say. The present offering reminds me of how much science fiction has changed over my lifetime. There is a tongue in cheek quality to "Chandra Medical" which seems to be set in a kin...

Astrogator

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http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2021/06/Bellus.html

Good, imaginative psychodrama. Not sure if qualifies as Sci-Fi or Fantasy, but that's not important.

Astrogator

After the big crash last year, I was forced to use microsoft edge (shudder) to log in to the forums. I was surprised to learn just now that Firefox works once more. Hallelujah!

With the fading of the pandemic and the change of administrations, life is slowly becoming worth living again.

Astrogator

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http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/shorts/2021/03/KittysAtomicCatClub.html

Very good.

Astrogator

Good visual story telling, but although I could see what was happening, I did not really understand it. Was Katie exploiting the ghosts or were they exploiting her?

Astrogator

A good ride for fans of first person shooters. The tale does build
suspense and achieves an exciting climax.

Aphelion

Search found 31 matches

The Further Adventures of Captain Rogers by Randolph Stuart

Re: The July 2024 issue is now live!

Dark Salvation by Jonathan Snyder

The Raven's Kiss by Richard D. Asplund Jr.

Ted And The Time Capsule by Thomas Wm. Hamilton

Droids and Deliberations by Gregory Cioffi

The Fixer by Damir Salkovic

A Good Death by John E. DeLaughter

The Good Folks by Robert Pettus

Old Dan by Dan Hollifield

The Lincoln Homestead by Robert Pettus

Re: Coyolxāuhqui 3000 by Juan Manuel Perez

Sacrifice by Borut Slokan

The Jewellery Box by Samantha Brooke

Doctor's Pet by David Smith

Far Down Trodden Paths by Luke D Evans

The Last Philosopher by David Baresch

Re: The forum and the Aphelion

A Man Named Lance by George Michael Brown

Reflection by Adam Ostaszewski

Rules for Writing Good

Rules for Writing Good

Zoo Ship by K.A. Williams

Re: Exile by Jakob Angerer

"Chandra Medical" by Margaret Karmazin

Bellus, by Meg Smith

Re: The June 2021 issue is now live!

Kitty's Atomic Cat Club by Meg Smith

The Black Melody Journal by Travis Walsh

Peach Clobber by William Joseph Roberts