Welcome to Issue 36 of IGMS, my favorite number for any issue we've ever published.

Our cover story this issue is "Escape from the Andromedan Empire" by Ian Creasy. "Escape" is a smart SF extrapolation of the current digital piracy landscape, projecting the theft of not just an author's work, but of authors themselves -- in a digital sort of way.

"The Saltwater Wife" by K.C. Norton continues the theme of very personal kinds of theft, except this time the story is dressed up in the garb of fantasy (both literally and figuratively) and explores not just the theft itself, but questions of identity.

John Murphy's "At the Old Folks Home at the End of the World" takes a brief but deft look at the pros and cons, the light and the dark, of mortality, but turning it inside-down and upside-out.

In "Once More to Kitty Hawk," Greg Kurzawa also explores the theme of end-of-life, but in a quieter way, fading to almost nothing . . .

"The Light Crusader's Dark Deserts" is a rollicking adventure through the lands of many kinds of death, right up to the point where the protagonist has to sit down to dinner with his deceased wife and child, which answers several necessary but unpleasant questions.

We also have several bonuses for you this issue. First is an audio production of "At the Old Folks Home at the End of the World," read by none other than Orson Scott Card. We're always tickled when we can get Uncle Orson reading our stories.

Second, we have an additional audio production, "The Sturdy Bookcases of Pawel Oliszewski," written by Ferrett Steinmetz and performed by Philip Powell. "Sturdy Bookcases" is a sneaky story that repeatedly asks the simple but compelling question, "Are you interested now?" There's only one way to know what it all means: Read the story. Or else listen to it. You decide. "Are you interested now?"

And be sure not to miss Darrell Schweitzer's InterGalactic Interview with author John Hemry, who you may know better by his nom de plume, Jack Campbell.

Plus the next installment of our newest feature, an article by our regular film critic, Chris Bellamy. Be sure to check out his satirical breaking-news report on the future of holiday filmmaking.

Issue 36, chock full o' goodness, as befits the issue featuring my favorite number.

Edmund R. Schubert
Editor, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show

P.S. As usual, we've collected essays from the authors in this issue and will post them on our blog (www.SideShowFreaks.blogspot.com). Feel free to drop by and catch The Story Behind The Stories, where the authors talk about the creation of their tales.