Fiction

Bruce Gehweiler & C.J. Henderson bring us the conclusion of “The Hardest Glory” a two part story, set in the shared-world of Byanntia. — ed. N.E. Lilly

Not all Space Westerns are bang-bang shoot’em ups. Some are about broken men with forgotten pasts seeking the answers to life on back-water planets. — ed. N.E. Lilly

A standard Western trope is the one where an outsider rides into town, fixes a problem, and rides off into obscurity. Captain Ayers fills the role admirably. — ed. N.E. Lilly

The majority of the stories in Space Western fiction are male dominated or from a male point-of-view. I’ve put out a call for more female oriented work, and have received some response. Here’s a quirky little tale that’s neither here nor there, and yet both places at once. — ed. N.E. Lilly

Amanda Spikol brings us this story of a world-weary hired gun just out to finish a job, and ask some old friends for one last favor before she retires. — ed, N.E. Lilly

I can only imagine the awful loneliness that overpowers some people living on the frontier. How much worse would it be when home is over 200 million miles away? — ed, N.E. Lilly

After the American frontier closed, wild west shows traveled the world bringing the myth of the West to the rest of the world. Many ringmasters found themselves performing for unconventional audiences. This story first appeared in Science Fiction Trails (#1), edited by David B. Riley and published by Pirate Dog Press. — ed, N.E. Lilly

Why is it always horses? Billions of planets, and yet the major mode of transportation always seems to be split between a horse or some alien beastie that may as well be a horse. Kudos to Shauna Roberts for thinking outside the box. — ed, N.E. Lilly

Robert Collins brings us another story of Captain Ayers. This time the good Captain is prevailed upon to help settle a dispute between rivals factions on the colony world of Waconda. — ed, N.E. Lilly