Letter From The Editor - Issue 31 - November 2012
Welcome to Issue 31 of IGMS. I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving turkey, and I also hope
you saved a little room for an IGMS-style desert.
Our cover story, "Inside the Mind of the Bear" by Rahul Kanikia, is a look at a bear bent on
global domination, presented in the form of a scientific paper. I know, I know, you see this kind
of thing all the time. But I promise you, this one really is different from all the other scientific
papers about Godzilla-sized grizzlies.
Next up is Kevin Jewell's "The Probability Flatline." A robot programmed to work in a daycare
who is about to permanently run out of electricity gets a second chance at life, but the ever-shifting odds of achieving that extended life just might cost the lives of the very children she is
designed to care for.
"The War of Peace - Part One" is the first installment of a novelette by Trina Phillips, part two
of which will appear in Issue 32. When humans plant their new town atop the birthing grounds
of an alien race who have planted their offspring seedlings below that same ground, something
has to give.
Speaking of two-part stories, this issue also brings you part two (and the conclusion) of Orson
Scott Card's excerpt of his new novel The Gate Thief, sequel to his popular novel The Lost Gate.
The Gate Thief isn't due to be released until March of 2013, but you can read the excerpt "Flying
Children" right here in IGMS now.
Doubling as our audio feature for this issue, "The Flittiest Catch" is tongue-in-cheek look at the
perils of fairy fishing in the open skies. Written by Robert Russell, the audio version is read by
the appropriately gruff-voiced Stuart Jaffe.
And last but certainly not least, we once again bring you a pair of short-shorts. Since they're
both under 1,000 words we decided two was better than one, to ensure everyone got their
money's worth. Both - "The Postman" and "Always There" - are written by fan-favorite Ken
Liu, who is also the subject of this month's InterGalactic Interview, brought to you by guest-interviewer Jamie Rubin.
So what are you waiting for? Time to dive in and start eating . . . er, reading.
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.
http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=issue&vol=i31&article=_fromeditor
