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The Gates of Polished Horn: A Collection of Stories
What happens when you’re face-to-face with a truth that shakes you?
Do you accept it, or pretend it was never there?
Award-winning author Mark A. Rayner smudges the lines between realist and fabulist, literary and speculative in this collection of stories that examines this question—what Homer called passing through The Gates of Polished Horn.
We discover the cruelty of creating synthetic consciousness. A woman is worried that her husband is having an affair but discovers it's much, much worse. A time traveler uncovers a reality-bending fact while observing the death of Socrates. Waldo, of Where's Waldo fame, has an existential crisis. A traveling salesperson is killed on the highway, and this is just the start of his journey through the gates.
Infused with comic insight and tragic vision, this collection invites readers into new realities that
touch on our shared humanity.
“Mark A. Rayner’s formidable storytelling is on full display in this thoughtful and diverse collection. He’s a fine and creative writer whose characters and storylines are quirky, inventive, and often very funny. Bravo!”
~Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
Do you accept it, or pretend it was never there?
Award-winning author Mark A. Rayner smudges the lines between realist and fabulist, literary and speculative in this collection of stories that examines this question—what Homer called passing through The Gates of Polished Horn.
We discover the cruelty of creating synthetic consciousness. A woman is worried that her husband is having an affair but discovers it's much, much worse. A time traveler uncovers a reality-bending fact while observing the death of Socrates. Waldo, of Where's Waldo fame, has an existential crisis. A traveling salesperson is killed on the highway, and this is just the start of his journey through the gates.
Infused with comic insight and tragic vision, this collection invites readers into new realities that
touch on our shared humanity.
“Mark A. Rayner’s formidable storytelling is on full display in this thoughtful and diverse collection. He’s a fine and creative writer whose characters and storylines are quirky, inventive, and often very funny. Bravo!”
~Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour
220 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2025
2 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Mark A. Rayner
13 books169 followersDon’t panic, it’s only Mark A. Rayner, award-winning author of satirical books, absurd fiction and the occasional screed on the problems with time travel novels. When he’s not writing about the infinite universe theory and manic pixie aliens, Mark teaches at Western University in Canada, which definitely doesn’t have a beaver problem.
Connect with him on Mastodon at @markarayner@mas.to.
Even better, if you want early reads, beta reads and other goodies, then slip into the Raynerverse by subscribing to his newsletter. You can get a free book if you do!
Connect with him on Mastodon at @markarayner@mas.to.
Even better, if you want early reads, beta reads and other goodies, then slip into the Raynerverse by subscribing to his newsletter. You can get a free book if you do!
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 16, 2025
I write this review as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team (author, check here if you are interested in getting your book reviewed) and thank her and the author for this opportunity.
For those in a hurry, let me summarise my opinion and tell you that I loved this collection of stories. They are all beautifully written and make one stop and think. Best savoured slowly, and you should give them time to sink in.
Stories:
1. Socratic Insanity. Imagine being able to travel back in time and witnessing historically transcendent events. Here, Grant is present when Socrates’s death sentence is implemented. The more he tries not to interfere, the more he is dragged into the situation. The premise is fascinating, and so are the characters.
2.Wormageddon. A beautifully observed vignette of a youth’s life, as remembered by his older self.
3. Love’s Lacuna. What seems to be an everyday scene about a marriage past its best becomes something totally different. A twist you might not see coming.
4. The Covert. A moment of communion between human and animal. Very moving.
5. Serving Celebrity. This story reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone, although with a twist. This is one of those stories that would have seemed extreme and impossible a few years back, but now it gives one pause.
6. The Height of Artifice. A story of unrequited love in Prague, where one of the protagonists feels unknowable to the other. It contains interesting reflections on modern life and provides many clues as to the person telling the story.
7. The Infinity Effect. What is proportional and fair when it comes to crime and punishment? Who is in a position to decide, and what would be the worst punishment you could imagine?
8. Close to the Wind. AI has got us all thinking, but what would artificial consciousness look like? And what would it cost us to recreate it?
9. After the Internet. If it is becoming difficult for us to imagine a world without the internet and not being connected, imagine how difficult it would be for somebody who’s never experienced such disconnection to comprehend what it would be like a few years from now (not too far away in the future).
10. Hounding Manny. A Young Adult story about fitting in and how we sometimes have to go very far to find a place where we feel at home.
11. This Ambiguous Miracle. How would a love story be in a future where everything is constantly changing? A different kind of love story, but a good one.
12. System impermanence. A brief vignette about what memories and human connection might look like in the future.
13. The Consolation of Victory. An alternative history. A different world order. And a man who finally goes beyond the theory and takes decisive action, even if it costs him.
14. The Gallant Captain Oates. A story about a known and tragic past event, where heroism comes with a twist.
15. Under the Blue Curve. Will stories and storytellers as we know them remain interesting or even exist in a fully connected future? A love story and a story about storytelling in a future where humanity is divided into those connected to the datasphere and those who are not.
16. Courage Translated. Who decides what is real courage? Whose opinion do we care about? In a future where big money and big corporations make all the decisions, is there a place for love? What behaviour can be considered ethical, and which side do we want to be on?
17. The Little Mother with Claws. A beautifully written story about a pretty extreme way of trying to deal with the end of a relationship.
18. The Real Primo. I want to leave readers to explore this one on their own. I’ll just share the first sentence of the story: ‘Would you believe me if I told you Buddha had the set-up all wrong?’ And I’ll add, Groundhog day.
19. Empty Space Times Two. A wonderfully nostalgic story about manual typewriters, a good old-fashioned romance, and second and even third chances.
20- Why’s Wally. Yes, ‘that’ Wally. Just imagine what it would be like to be ‘that’ Wally. A pretty wacky story with a touch of philosophy and plenty of humour.
Apart from the stories, the book also contains an afterword where the author explains how he started writing short stories and how this collection came to pass. As is usually the case, it is worth a read, especially because it comes from a writer who has published stories in many places and has also written novels and longer works. The process of choosing this selection and how others helped give it shape is informative, and it goes some way to explain why the stories are so diverse and the writing style can vary so much from one to the other, as they are separated by years, and, even in some cases, written by a different persona. But, read the afterword, and you’ll see what I mean.
There is also a section of credits, with the dates and places where the stories were published before, a brief biography, and an invitation to join the author’s mailing list, with the enticement of sending those who do one of the author’s earlier novels.
In the section about the author, he is defined as an ‘author of satire and speculative fiction’; it describes the genres he specialises in as ‘science fiction, humorous SF and dark comedy’, and it also talks about ‘dramatic prose and experimental/literary fiction’. All those would apply to some of the stories, with a touch of the absurd at times. All in all, a varied and wonderful collection of stories I cannot recommend enough.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the title, it comes from Homer’s The Odyssey, and you can find the full quote at the beginning of the collection. Go on, you know you want to read it.
For those in a hurry, let me summarise my opinion and tell you that I loved this collection of stories. They are all beautifully written and make one stop and think. Best savoured slowly, and you should give them time to sink in.
Stories:
1. Socratic Insanity. Imagine being able to travel back in time and witnessing historically transcendent events. Here, Grant is present when Socrates’s death sentence is implemented. The more he tries not to interfere, the more he is dragged into the situation. The premise is fascinating, and so are the characters.
2.Wormageddon. A beautifully observed vignette of a youth’s life, as remembered by his older self.
3. Love’s Lacuna. What seems to be an everyday scene about a marriage past its best becomes something totally different. A twist you might not see coming.
4. The Covert. A moment of communion between human and animal. Very moving.
5. Serving Celebrity. This story reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone, although with a twist. This is one of those stories that would have seemed extreme and impossible a few years back, but now it gives one pause.
6. The Height of Artifice. A story of unrequited love in Prague, where one of the protagonists feels unknowable to the other. It contains interesting reflections on modern life and provides many clues as to the person telling the story.
7. The Infinity Effect. What is proportional and fair when it comes to crime and punishment? Who is in a position to decide, and what would be the worst punishment you could imagine?
8. Close to the Wind. AI has got us all thinking, but what would artificial consciousness look like? And what would it cost us to recreate it?
9. After the Internet. If it is becoming difficult for us to imagine a world without the internet and not being connected, imagine how difficult it would be for somebody who’s never experienced such disconnection to comprehend what it would be like a few years from now (not too far away in the future).
10. Hounding Manny. A Young Adult story about fitting in and how we sometimes have to go very far to find a place where we feel at home.
11. This Ambiguous Miracle. How would a love story be in a future where everything is constantly changing? A different kind of love story, but a good one.
12. System impermanence. A brief vignette about what memories and human connection might look like in the future.
13. The Consolation of Victory. An alternative history. A different world order. And a man who finally goes beyond the theory and takes decisive action, even if it costs him.
14. The Gallant Captain Oates. A story about a known and tragic past event, where heroism comes with a twist.
15. Under the Blue Curve. Will stories and storytellers as we know them remain interesting or even exist in a fully connected future? A love story and a story about storytelling in a future where humanity is divided into those connected to the datasphere and those who are not.
16. Courage Translated. Who decides what is real courage? Whose opinion do we care about? In a future where big money and big corporations make all the decisions, is there a place for love? What behaviour can be considered ethical, and which side do we want to be on?
17. The Little Mother with Claws. A beautifully written story about a pretty extreme way of trying to deal with the end of a relationship.
18. The Real Primo. I want to leave readers to explore this one on their own. I’ll just share the first sentence of the story: ‘Would you believe me if I told you Buddha had the set-up all wrong?’ And I’ll add, Groundhog day.
19. Empty Space Times Two. A wonderfully nostalgic story about manual typewriters, a good old-fashioned romance, and second and even third chances.
20- Why’s Wally. Yes, ‘that’ Wally. Just imagine what it would be like to be ‘that’ Wally. A pretty wacky story with a touch of philosophy and plenty of humour.
Apart from the stories, the book also contains an afterword where the author explains how he started writing short stories and how this collection came to pass. As is usually the case, it is worth a read, especially because it comes from a writer who has published stories in many places and has also written novels and longer works. The process of choosing this selection and how others helped give it shape is informative, and it goes some way to explain why the stories are so diverse and the writing style can vary so much from one to the other, as they are separated by years, and, even in some cases, written by a different persona. But, read the afterword, and you’ll see what I mean.
There is also a section of credits, with the dates and places where the stories were published before, a brief biography, and an invitation to join the author’s mailing list, with the enticement of sending those who do one of the author’s earlier novels.
In the section about the author, he is defined as an ‘author of satire and speculative fiction’; it describes the genres he specialises in as ‘science fiction, humorous SF and dark comedy’, and it also talks about ‘dramatic prose and experimental/literary fiction’. All those would apply to some of the stories, with a touch of the absurd at times. All in all, a varied and wonderful collection of stories I cannot recommend enough.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the title, it comes from Homer’s The Odyssey, and you can find the full quote at the beginning of the collection. Go on, you know you want to read it.
March 11, 2025
I don't tend to reach for short story collections but after enjoying Rayner's novels (especially The Fatness and The Fridgularity) I went for it. A couple of these stories have stuck with me long after reading them. It's a nice range of subjects (aliens, relationships, etc.) and lengths. There are some far out corners in Rayner's fertile mind!
April 1, 2025
I received a copy of The Gates of Polished Horn in exchange for an honest review. See the full review at https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/
Writing a review for a short story collection is always difficult, especially when they are, like this one, tailored to show the length and breadth of the author’s skill. There are, however, themes that run under the surface. Love found and lost in particular comes up again and again. Whether it’s the Mom-shaped hole in a young boy’s life under the lunar surface, the memory of love trapped in an artificial brain, or the extra space demanded by a typewriting class long since taken, there is real emotion here.
Of course, this collection is primarily science fiction and varying forms of mushy, speculative genre stuff (categorization is for cowards), and The Gates of Polished Horn does not shy away from the places where genre-fiction can push into philosophy. Whether we’re speculating on the punishment that would be grinding a consciousness to nothingness in a technological abyss, the futility of being a passenger watching your own life replay over and over again, or the consequences of having a lion suddenly appear in an airport, Rayner gravitates towards the weird, the wonderful, and the thought-provoking.
There is more to say about The Gates of Polished Horn, but I will leave you with this: Rayner knows his craft. He knows where to hammer in a punch-line, and where to let a story rest with the reader. This collection features samples from across decades of writing and publishing, and that time spent on the craft shows in every story featured here. Wacky, touching, as provocative as many of the pulp sci-fi writers of the late 20th century, The Gates of Polished Horn was exactly the collection I needed to read at this point in 2025.
Writing a review for a short story collection is always difficult, especially when they are, like this one, tailored to show the length and breadth of the author’s skill. There are, however, themes that run under the surface. Love found and lost in particular comes up again and again. Whether it’s the Mom-shaped hole in a young boy’s life under the lunar surface, the memory of love trapped in an artificial brain, or the extra space demanded by a typewriting class long since taken, there is real emotion here.
Of course, this collection is primarily science fiction and varying forms of mushy, speculative genre stuff (categorization is for cowards), and The Gates of Polished Horn does not shy away from the places where genre-fiction can push into philosophy. Whether we’re speculating on the punishment that would be grinding a consciousness to nothingness in a technological abyss, the futility of being a passenger watching your own life replay over and over again, or the consequences of having a lion suddenly appear in an airport, Rayner gravitates towards the weird, the wonderful, and the thought-provoking.
There is more to say about The Gates of Polished Horn, but I will leave you with this: Rayner knows his craft. He knows where to hammer in a punch-line, and where to let a story rest with the reader. This collection features samples from across decades of writing and publishing, and that time spent on the craft shows in every story featured here. Wacky, touching, as provocative as many of the pulp sci-fi writers of the late 20th century, The Gates of Polished Horn was exactly the collection I needed to read at this point in 2025.
April 6, 2025
My favourite genre to read is imagined views of our near future, so many of the stories in this speculative/science fiction collection hit the spot for me. As with all collections of its type, some I loved, some I liked and some I felt needed a bit more thinking through, though of course such an opinion can only be subjective.
These were the four that stood out most for me:
The Height of Artifice - a man addresses his younger life in theatrical circles, and ponders why why the woman he loved never loved him back. Delightfully sad. And kind of funny at the end.
After The Internet - in 2036, a fifty-five year old professor struggles with the youth of the day, who have no understanding of life before the current interconnectedness. 'Explaining a world before the datasphere was like trying to explain the General Theory of Relativity to a fish. He could do it, but the fish wouldn't understand'.
Probably my absolute favourite: The Gallant Captain Oates - possibly the shortest of them all, at less than three whole pages. Yes, it's the story of Captain Lawrence 'Titus' Oates who, as a member of the famous South Pole expedition headed by Robert Falcon Scott, even more famously said, "I am just going outside and may be some time". His comrades knew and understood that he was sacrificing himself for the greater good because his injuries were slowing the whole party down ... but was he?
Mark Rayner has, in two short sentences, put a completely different spin on the story. It's brilliant, and hilarious.
I also loved Under the Blue Curve, in which Henry, a natural storyteller born after his own time, meets his great love Elisa. She sees a way to profit from his gift in a way that is beyond Henry's meagre understanding of the current technology. Sad, amusing, uplifting.
To sum up, when Mark A Rayner is good, he's very, very good. I'd definitely read something else by him.
These were the four that stood out most for me:
The Height of Artifice - a man addresses his younger life in theatrical circles, and ponders why why the woman he loved never loved him back. Delightfully sad. And kind of funny at the end.
After The Internet - in 2036, a fifty-five year old professor struggles with the youth of the day, who have no understanding of life before the current interconnectedness. 'Explaining a world before the datasphere was like trying to explain the General Theory of Relativity to a fish. He could do it, but the fish wouldn't understand'.
Probably my absolute favourite: The Gallant Captain Oates - possibly the shortest of them all, at less than three whole pages. Yes, it's the story of Captain Lawrence 'Titus' Oates who, as a member of the famous South Pole expedition headed by Robert Falcon Scott, even more famously said, "I am just going outside and may be some time". His comrades knew and understood that he was sacrificing himself for the greater good because his injuries were slowing the whole party down ... but was he?
Mark Rayner has, in two short sentences, put a completely different spin on the story. It's brilliant, and hilarious.
I also loved Under the Blue Curve, in which Henry, a natural storyteller born after his own time, meets his great love Elisa. She sees a way to profit from his gift in a way that is beyond Henry's meagre understanding of the current technology. Sad, amusing, uplifting.
To sum up, when Mark A Rayner is good, he's very, very good. I'd definitely read something else by him.
March 2, 2025
‘There were only so many ways you could cook Hitler’ – Fabulous short stories!
Canadian author Mark A Rayner is a very bright, very intuitive thinker who just happens to have a razor sharp sense of humor and parody when he writes. He is on the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University. His books to date include THE AMADEUS NET, MARVELLOUS HAIRY, THE FRIGULARITY, THE FATNESS, PIRATE THERAPY AND OTHER CURES, ALPHA MAX, and now THE GATES OF POLISHED HORN.
The spectrum of tales Rayner weaves offers something to tickle everyone’s funny bone. The topics range from historic ‘references’ to everyday ‘now’ situations, each bringing hearty laughs as well as admiration for a very gifted author!
Canadian author Mark A Rayner is a very bright, very intuitive thinker who just happens to have a razor sharp sense of humor and parody when he writes. He is on the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University. His books to date include THE AMADEUS NET, MARVELLOUS HAIRY, THE FRIGULARITY, THE FATNESS, PIRATE THERAPY AND OTHER CURES, ALPHA MAX, and now THE GATES OF POLISHED HORN.
The spectrum of tales Rayner weaves offers something to tickle everyone’s funny bone. The topics range from historic ‘references’ to everyday ‘now’ situations, each bringing hearty laughs as well as admiration for a very gifted author!
March 1, 2025
A great collection of short stories - some funny, some moving, all thought provoking. Definitely worth the read!
December 26, 2025
A delightfully off-kilter collection.Travelling across
themes and genres, Rayner playfully hops from time travel to artificial intelligence to alternate history, each story woven through with subtle wit and open heart. With echoes of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and James Morrow, this is one of Rayner's strongest releases, a terrific primer from one of Canada's strongest, most joyful satirists.
themes and genres, Rayner playfully hops from time travel to artificial intelligence to alternate history, each story woven through with subtle wit and open heart. With echoes of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and James Morrow, this is one of Rayner's strongest releases, a terrific primer from one of Canada's strongest, most joyful satirists.
March 26, 2025
Being accustomed to Mr. Rayner's flash fiction, which has helped grow his legend as a master of humor, absurdity, and satire, this short story collection was a wonderful surprise. Those traits are still found peppered throughout these stories, but there is more meat to them. Rayner is showing his prowess as a genuine storyteller. The stories are at times subtle, at times dark, at times heartwarming and heartbreaking. He's got skills, and we as readers get to reap the benefits.
April 3, 2025
Full disclosure: I was involved in the creation of this book. And Mark's a good friend of mine. I love this book, and it is my sincere belief that if you love quality short fiction you will love it too.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews