The Speculative Edge

by Shane R. Collins (Editor-in-Chief), Joe Jablonski (Contributor), Ron W. Koppelberger Jr. (Contributor)

In our May issue, we feature several short stories that range from space science-fiction to creepy-crawler horror. We have several poems, a reviews of a new Netflix show and a self-published novel you need to check out.

82 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2013

About the author

Shane R. Collins graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a BA in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. He has been featured or is forthcoming in OG's Speculative Fiction, Aoife's Kiss, Foliate Oak, Residential Aliens, Golden Visions, The Copperfield Review, Sex and Murder, Down in the Dirt, Haggard and Halloo, Jabberwocky and The Blackstick Review. His short fiction will also appear in three upcoming anthologies: Caught by Darkness by Static Movement and two by Pill Hill Press: 2013: The Aftermath and Wretched Moments. He was nominated to appear in the Dzanc Books' 2010 Best of the Web anthology. He is applying to MFA programs across the country and seeking an agent for his science fiction novel, Battle Group Epsilon. He is also finalizing a literary roadtrip novel and writing the first drafy of an epic medieval fantasy. Most recently, Shane has become an editor for Static Movement. Speculative Long Fiction is now available and other are forthcoming...

...Read more at Shane's website.

Reviews

[Robert Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ordered The Speculative Edge for Jeff Suwak's story, The Big Show, and my rating/review apply to it specifically. SPOILER ALERT. This is the second Suwak work I've enjoyed and I was happy to find that the moral ambiguity of his outstanding novella, Beyond The Tempest Gate, is alive and well in this gem of a short story. Life ain't black and white and the longer you (or a civilization) live(s), the less chance you've got of claiming 100% righteousness. Do the best of intentions vindicate you if you're wrong? Does the devil always lie? Jeff Suwak isn't interested in mindless, idealistic jaunts: he's focused on taking a milieu, honing in on where the proverbial rubber meets the road, and then following the "hero" as he does what he thinks he has to do. Is action always better than passivity? Do you have the right to risk others' existence to "save them?" Read The Big Show. It is a compact, skillfully crafted parable co-opted by reality.