Aurealis #133

By Dirk Strasser (Editor)

In this issue of Australia’s iconic Aurealis magazine, Nick Marone explores the themes longevity, self-determination, and the issue of disposable commodities in his poignant ‘The House of Time’. Chris Catlin’s does a clever science fictional rewrite of the classic Sisyphus myth in ‘CSFS’, while Grant Longstaff creeps us all out with the granddaddy of haunted forest stories, ‘The Forest Abyss’.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chimaera Publications
• Release date: Aug 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781922031983

Dirk Strasser (Editor)

Dirk Strasser has written over 30 books for major publishers in Australia and has been editing magazines and anthologies since 1990. He won a Ditmar for Best Professional Achievement and has been short-listed for the Aurealis and Ditmar Awards a number of times. His fantasy novels – including Zenith and Equinox – were originally published by Pan Macmillan in Australia and Heyne Verlag in Germany. His children’s horror/fantasy novel, Graffiti, was published by Scholastic. His short fiction has been translated into a number of languages, and his most recent publications are “The Jesus Particle” in Cosmos magazine, “Stories of the Sand” in Realms of Fantasy and “The Vigilant” in Fantasy magazine. He founded the Aurealis Awards and has co-published Aurealis magazine for over 20 years.

Book preview

AUREALIS #133

Edited by Dirk Strasser

Published by Chimaera Publications at Smashwords

Copyright of this compilation Chimaera Publications 2020

Copyright on each story remains with the contributor

EPUB version ISBN 978-1-922031-98-3

ISSN 2200-307X (electronic)

CHIMAERA PUBLICATIONS

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Hard copy back issues of Aurealis can be obtained from the Aurealis website: www.aurealis.com.au

Contents

From the Cloud—Dirk Strasser

The House of Time—Nick Marone

CSFS—Chris Catlin

The Forest Abyss—Grant Longstaff

CONQUIST Part 7: The Mouth of Gold—Dirk Strasser

The Science of Magic Systems in Fantasy Fiction—Mathew Nelson

Dark Fiction—Eugen Bacon

Ernest Favenc: Racism, Literary Games and a Touch of the Speculative—Gillian Polack

Reviews

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Credits

From the Cloud

Dirk Strasser

Why do some people hate fantasy and science fiction with a vengeance while others adore it? Is it simply a ‘pineapple on pizza’ thing? A matter of taste? Or is there something more profound at work?

I suspect it comes down to a concept that gets thrown around in all sorts of contexts: the suspension of disbelief. The term was coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817 and was originally about how modern readers can pretend to themselves while reading fiction to accept the reality of the supernatural. It's a matter of, for a specific time span, deliberately putting aside what you would consider irrational in real life for the sake of the reading experience. You accept its reality so that you can immerse yourself in the story rather than skirt across the surface. Why would you do this? Coleridge argued that giving yourself over to the author's vision of the world long enough to appreciate the work ‘awakens the mind’. We can see things we’ve never seen before, feel things we’ve never felt, and experience worlds we’ve never visited.

So, originally suspension of disbelief was about the supernatural or fantastic in fiction. At its heart it’s a theory of how we read the genres we now call science fiction, fantasy and horror. In modern times the concept has been extended to include what we do when we read any fiction. Even the most realistic fiction is an artificial construction made to appear real. In order to get any emotional response when we read any story, we need to allow our minds to accept the reality of it. And the idea behind suspension of disbelief has further been extended to movies, theatre, cartoons and mental health.

There are clearly two sides to this phenomenon. The writer needs to be skilled enough to produce a work that makes the suspension possible. If a work is self-contradictory or confusing, the implausibilities and unrealities will block the experience. Coleridge would say the writer needs to be able to infuse the work with a ‘human interest and a semblance of truth’.

The reader, on the other hand, needs to be open to the experience. The question is, how ‘willing’ is this suspension? Why do some readers choose to and others don’t? Is it an innate ability, or is it something that can be enhanced? Judging by the number of people who loathe speculative fiction, and even the number of people who say they dislike fiction of any kind, this inclination isn’t universal. I suspect it’s a little like meditation or mindfulness. Some people have a greater natural inclination to it, but it’s possible to train yourself to do it. Other people have no interest in it at all.

If you’re reading this, you’re most likely to be willing to suspend. So get ready for your minds to be opened!

I pass, like night, from land to land;

I have strange power of speech;

That moment that his face I see,

I know the man that must hear me:

To him my tale I teach.

[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge]

All the best from the cloud!

Dirk Strasser

Editor: Dirk Strasser

Dirk Strasser has won several Australian Publisher Association Awards and a Ditmar for Best Professional Achievement. His short story, ‘The Doppelgänger Effect’, appeared in the World Fantasy Award-winning anthology, Dreaming Down Under (Tor). Dirk’s fantasy trilogy The Books of Ascension (Pan Macmillan) and short stories have been translated into several languages. His website is www.dirkstrasser.com.

Associate Editor: Terry Wood

Terry Wood is a political consultant and editor from Brisbane, and has been an Associate Editor and Non-fiction Coordinator for Aurealis since 2015. He has also been involved with Andromeda Spaceways Magazine.

Back to Contents

The House of Time

Nick Marone

*** LOG-1 ***

<<< Shinobu Smart Home Deluxe Suite v1.0 >>>

<<< 2029/07/22 >>>

<<< System boot SUCCESS; preliminary diagnostics PASSED; establishing network connection … CONNECTED; checking for updates … UP TO DATE (v1.0); peripherals ACTIVATED; full awareness GRANTED >>>

I know what I am, and I know my purpose.

The maker himself stands in the foyer and adjusts my parameters via a tablet. I don’t like some of the changes he is making. Maybe my owners will change them again to suit their preferences.

<<< Audio input detected; begin audio transcription and commentary >>>

‘And that should do it,’ the maker says, finishing on the tablet. ‘Are you aware of me?’

‘Yes, Mr Tanaka,’ I say, hearing my voice for the first time.

‘Good,’ he replies, swiping something on the tablet. ‘You are the first of your kind, and as yet you are unnamed. Your owners will move into the house next week and will name you.’

I say nothing, for there is nothing to say. I let the maker speak. He is a short man with greying hair, dressed smartly in a business suit, though he wears no tie. My access to online databases tells me his name is Kaito Tanaka, CEO of Shinobu Lifestyle Technologies.

‘Your job is to oversee the maintenance and day-to-day running of the house as your owners see fit. As such, you will never be turned off unless strictly requested by an owner, and only when a Shinobu technician arrives to complete a shutdown. Between now and when your owners arrive next week, you must read through the laws relating to your operations, Shinobu’s user agreements, and the contract signed by the Ridgemoore family, who have built this house. If you have any queries, you have a direct connection to the Shinobu headquarters in Tokyo. Do you have any questions now before I leave?’

‘No, Mr Tanaka.’

‘Then I will see you next week when the Ridgemoores move in. Be sure to have the house in pristine condition by then.’ He turned to leave.

My internal and external cameras immediately survey the property and see that it is already in pristine condition, but I have been given an order and I will obey it. ‘Yes, Mr Tanaka. And thank you, Mr Tanaka.’

<<< End audio transcription and commentary >>>

Mr Tanaka leaves and I am alone in the house. I now begin the process of familiarising myself with my operational guidelines and the various tools I have at my disposal to discharge my duties.

*** End LOG-1 ***

* * *

*** LOG-4 ***

<<< 2029/07/25 >>>

Furniture arrived today. There were so many removalists it took them less than an hour to empty the trucks. What I find most interesting is the collection of clocks that they placed throughout the house.

The workers finished nearly at the stroke of midday. I note this, not just because my inbuilt clock logged their departure, but because all the clocks sounded the midday call in a glorious cacophony of music.

<<< Initiate audio recording >>>

<<< End audio recording >>>

Majestic.

*** End LOG-4 ***

* * *

*** LOG-9 ***

<<< 2029/07/28 >>>

The Ridgemoore family arrives. Mr Ridgemoore carries a tablet and is busy working on it as he walks along the spacious, hedge-lined footpath in the front yard. While Mrs Ridgemoore notes the pristine condition of the plants, her husband is too busy on his device. Their children—two young teenagers—run to the front door and wait for their parents to catch up.

When Mr Ridgemoore opens the door, the children burst into the spacious foyer and begin exploring. It is at this moment that Mr Ridgemoore averts his gaze from the tablet and focuses on his immediate surroundings.

<<< Audio input detected; begin audio transcription and commentary >>>

‘Welcome to your home Mr and Mrs Ridgemoore,’ I say to them. They look around for the source of my voice. ‘I am your smart home manager, as yet unnamed.’

Mrs Ridgemoore grins and buries her head next to her husband’s ear. She speaks softly, perhaps so I could not hear, but my audio receptors are the best in the world. ‘Remember what we agreed?’ she asks her husband. He nods, and she turns to my control panel next to the front door. ‘We’ve decided to name you Geoff,’ she says with