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Welcome to Issue 49 of IGMS!

I know what you're thinking - I don't recognize this guy's voice. Surely he is an impostor. And hey, that was a pretty conspicuous application of the dreaded exclamation point at the end of that introductory sense.

You are correct on all counts. To introduce myself, my name is Chris Bellamy and I am, indeed, an impostor. But the completely superfluous use of exclamatory punctuation was a simple reflection of my excitement to be here, serving as guest editor for the new issue. I hope I've done the magazine justice - and that you enjoy the issue as I much as I enjoyed reading (and re-reading) all the stories and working with the authors and artists.

What I'm excited about is the wide variety of genres, tones and styles we were able to put together for this issue. No story is like the next, and I love them each for wildly different reasons.

First up is Anna Yeatts' fantastic cover story, A Love Story, Told in My Monstrosity, which is romantic, erotic, mysterious, primal and unusual (which I mean in the best imaginable way) - and expressed with equal beauty by Scott Altmann's cover art, which retains the abstract, enigmatic and metaphorical qualities of the story.

Then there's Sofie Bird's Into Dust, with its grand sense of mythological purpose and its sense of curiosity and wonder as it describes its unique world and the strange, scary, awe-inspiring reality that envelops its characters - all brought to life visually by Nick Greenwood.

Next, our issue takes a turn toward artificial intelligence with Aurelia Flaming's thoughtful and funny Souls Are Like Livers, which, through the eyes of a young girl, makes an examination of A.I. autonomy playful, personal and political. Also, a cat is involved, and you love cats probably. There's even a cat in Andres Mossa's illustration, so that's reason enough right there.

And you can't miss A. Merc Rustad's dark fantasy offering, ...Or Be Forever Fallen, an extravagantly moody and dreamlike piece whose vivid imagery - ghosts, shadows, fog, violence - is captured perfectly by Tomislav Tikulin's artwork.

There's certainly nothing else in this issue quite like Jennifer Noelle Welch's Going Green, which so deftly darts between sardonic humor and subtle dread, impressively ramping up the stakes in an increasingly absurd and twisted battle of environmental one-upmanship. Artist Anna Repp brings a wonderfully bold surrealist touch to the accompanying artwork.

And finally there's our terrific audio story, Kelly Sandoval's The Soul Mate Requirement, which is fascinating, sensitive and emotionally raw in equal measure - a terrific work done justice by reader Emily Rankin.

Beyond that, our issue also features the latest edition of our At the Picture Show: Extended Cut column, written by Chris Bellamy (no relation*), this time focusing on HBO's The Leftovers and its revealing approach to humanity's (and audience's) neverending pursuit of answers.

* OK, this is a lie.

And we have something of a showcase for Hugo- and Nebula-nominated author Lawrence M. Schoen, who gets the InterGalactic Interview treatment (courtesy of Darrell Schweitzer) and offers us a sneak peak into his new novel, Barsk: The Elephants' Graveyard, as well as his story Yesterday's Taste, our newest Vintage Fiction selection.

All in all, this is another issue to be proud of and a great start to 2016. If you'll forgive yet another exclamation point ... enjoy!

Chris Bellamy
Guest Editor, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show

http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/cgi-bin/mag.cgi?do=issue&vol=i49&article=_fromeditor