(Art) The Dark Gods of Andres Rios

Mexican artist Andres Rios sculpts dark gods, both old and new (including several Aztec deities). While some are divine, others are machine. All are tortured and immortal, their skulls bared or barely covered by masks, and they walk among us dealing death and punishment in the name of whatever dark faith animates and perverts them. …

(Fiction) The Score

Esmeralda Gonzales was more pregnant than any woman had a right to be. She carried a baby and a load of bad news and bore both with grace and good deal of pride. She was going to be a mother, and she was going to be happy, even if she had to do it alone. …

(Sunday Thought) Two Temporal Paradoxes

The second installment of the SCIENCE CRIMES DIVISION series involves a murderer who remembers the future instead of the past. As I've been working through the plot, which is tricky, it occurred to me that there are at least two kinds of temporal paradox. The first we'll call a hard or cut-loop paradox. This includes …

(Art) I’ve got big balls

No, it's true. Six dozen of them, in fact, by nearly as many artists, which is why this is one of those rare times I won't credit them all. (If you want to know the origin of any of the images, ask in the comments.) I can barely speculate as to why giant balls have …

(Art) The Sci-Fi Megatech of JC Park

Korean artist JC Jongwong Park imagines giant tech, from the ever-popular enormous spaceship to behemoth alien architectures. The large scale of his creations creates a sense of awe and power, even as they are contrasted with the mundane, such as the giant robot being moved on a highway or a restaurant overlooking planet earth, reminding …

The Future is Strange.

The bus pulled onto the shoulder to report the bleeder on the side of the highway. A car had clipped the man’s leg, which bent awkwardly to one side. His hands had frozen into fists and his feet were limp, and they wobbled over the asphalt as he dragged himself forward on his elbows, one …

(Fiction) Agencies

“Is it moving?” Quinn asked the helicopter pilot. He had to shout into his headset to be heard over the noise. It was a small copter, and the blades were not far above the wide canopy. “Outward, about 1500 meters an hour in all directions,” the man shouted back. “More toward the east.” Quinn moved …

(Fiction) They’re Coming

NOTE: One of the cooler things I did with this story is have the ladies rescue the guys at the end, not for any big political reason. Just because it was fun. John settled into the manual wheelchair, now locked and immobile. He grimaced through another spasm. Were they bothering him less these days? Hard …

(Fiction) The Red King

Anders Benet had murdered his mother in the womb. He had no memory of this, nor could he say he intended the woman any harm. Indeed, it wasn’t until his fourteenth year that he killed anyone intentionally. That was the year his middle-aged gym teacher learned, just before she died, what a mistake it was …

(Art) The Retrofuture Noir of Tim Razumovsky

"Aurora Noir" is a retrofuturist image series by Tel Aviv digital artist Tim Razumovsky. With art deco robots, cyborg private detectives, an automaton jazz orchestra, and monumental public works, it's like Blade Runner if Blade Runner had been written in 1930. Find more by the artist here.