M. Darusha Wehm

Something is rotten in the state of cybernetics. Elsinore Robotics is on the cusp of a breakthrough-the company is poised to create the first humanoid androids powered by true artificial intelligence. Their only rival, Norwegian Technologies, lost a publicly streamed contest between their flagship model, Fortinbras, and Elsinore's HAM(let) v.1. But when the first Hamlet model is found irreparably deactivated, the apparent victim of wild malware, the field of consumer cybernetics is thrown wide open. However, Hamlet v.1's memories were not entirely lost in the accident. Hamlet v.2 swears to avenge his progenitor, but is plagued by the aftereffects of integrating Old Hamlet's backup into his own neural matrix. Beset by doubts about whether his feelings are truly his own, he worries his love for his boyfriend, Horatio, is an illusion, all the while driven by a consuming need for revenge. While he has a method, there is a madness in it, and Hamlet's actions will leave no corner of Elsinore unscathed. A beat-by-beat retelling of the Shakespeare classic, Hamlet, Prince of Robots grapples with conscience, ambition, and pain, and what it means to be, or not to be, human.

Hamlet, Prince of Robots

The White Cloud is the most audacious experiment the human species has ever undertaken—to search for a new Earth. The ship and its crew exist for a solitary purpose to reach a distant planet and establish a colony. However, the vast majority of people undertaking this journey will not live to see its result, nor were they part of the decision-making process to leave.

The Voyage of the White Cloud

Ever wish things were different? Ivy Velasquez did, so she became someone else. In the 3D virtual world Marionette City, you can be anything you want — but everyone still knows who you are. Driven by her desire for a new life, Ivy takes her future in her hands when she makes another identity for herself. A brilliant designer, Ivy works for one of the huge firms which control the online system the world relies upon for both business and pleasure. But one day, Ivy discovers that her alternate self, Reuben Cobalt, had been murdered. Since alternate identities are forbidden by the firms which control access to the nets and to M City, Ivy has nowhere to turn — until she finds Andersson Dexter. Part private eye, part vigilante and part cop, Dex sets out to uncover Reuben’s killer. Since the firms control almost every aspect of life, including law and order, justice for average people comes only at the hands of the outlaw organization to which Dex belongs. Self Made is a murder mystery set in a vision of a future that seems to lurk just over the horizon. But above all, it is a story of how people strive to control their own destinies, and how that desire affects them and the people around them in ways they could never imagine. “…expect a well-constructed world with human characters and a fascinating plot… Self Made does not disappoint.” - Nobilis Reed, author of the Orgone Chronicles

Self Made

Mars is good place to reinvent yourself, isn’t it? Jules Morales’s life has always been a state of contact change. When the opportunity comes up, why not take a trip to Mars to work on the platinum mining operation—and make a load of money? But what if there is more to Mars than just a payday and an adventure? The woman now calling herself Lisa Marie has spent her whole life trapped by the struggle to make ends meet, and sometimes held hostage by her own memories. On Mars she might finally find financial security, but will she also find something to care about today, and maybe even for the future? Mars is a world in transition, caught in the balance between capitalist exploitation and human exploration. The first people of Mars need to find a way to build a functioning economic zone and liveable habitat on the Red Planet. But could they do more—create a community, a true new home for humanity?

a Mars Consortium story

Retaking Elysium

Alex Shvartsman

Holly Schofield

Liam Hogan

Matt Colborn

Katrina Archer

Robert Dawson

William Delman

Anatoly Belilovsky

Ariel Bolton

Now in a single collection by editor Katrina Archer, get all of the short climate fiction published by Little Blue Marble in 2017. M. Darusha Wehm shows us our blue marble as viewed from Mars. Anatoly Belilovsky meditates on family and love in a drowned future Ireland. Alex Shvartsman controls the weather. Robert Dawson evokes the nostalgia of a child for gas-powered cars. Holly Schofield's highlights wildlife in distress with an allegory of clowns. Liam Hogan takes the slacker's doctrine to its logical extreme. Matt Colborn's toaster fixes the planet. William Delman gives us quiet persistence in the face of disaster. And Ariel Bolton investigates the plight of refugees from the North Pole. Get inspired to change our climate for the better with stories from these distinctive voices of speculative fiction.

Stories of our Changing Climate

Little Blue Marble 2017

Something is rotten in the state of cybernetics. Elsinore Robotics is on the cusp of a breakthrough—the company is poised to create the first humanoid androids powered by true artificial intelligence. Their only rival, Norwegian Technologies, lost a publicly streamed contest between their flagship model, Fortinbras, and Elsinore’s HAM(let) v.1. But when the first Hamlet model is found irreparably deactivated, the apparent victim of wild malware, the field of consumer cybernetics is thrown wide open. However, Hamlet v.1’s memories were not entirely lost in the accident. Hamlet v.2 swears to avenge his progenitor, but is plagued by the aftereffects of integrating Old Hamlet’s backup into his own neural matrix. Beset by doubts about whether his feelings are truly his own, he worries his love for his boyfriend, Horatio, is an illusion, all the while driven by a consuming need for revenge. While he has a method, there is a madness in it, and Hamlet’s actions will leave no corner of Elsinore unscathed. A beat-by-beat retelling of the Shakespeare classic, Hamlet, Prince of Robots grapples with conscience, ambition, and pain, and what it means to be, or not to be, human.

Leife Shallcross

Charlotte Nash

Claire McKenna

Lyn McConchie

Grant Stone

Dirk Flinthart

Douglas A. Van Belle

Stephen Dedman

Janeen Webb

David Freer

Michelle Goldsmith

Alex Isle

Ian Nichols

Speculative fiction collection offering 14 short stories by Australian and New Zealand authors: Stephen Dedman, Dirk Flinthart, Dave Freer, Michelle Goldsmith, Alex Isle, Lyn McConchie, Claire McKenna, Charlotte Nash, Ian Nichols, Leife Shallcross, Grant Stone, Douglas A Van Belle, Janeen Webb, M Darusha Wehm

A Collection of 14 Speculative Short Stories by Australian and New Zealand Authors

Use Only as Directed

The future is boring. Technology has solved most of the world's most pressing problems, leaving people with tedious work and mundane play. Jack is a Security Officer Class 5, which sounds important, but isn't. However, her banal life as a cubicle worker by day and tinkerer by night is interrupted when she discovers that her employer's computer system has been invaded.

Beautiful Red

Kaus wants nothing more than to be loved while its human counterpart, Raj Patel, believes fervently in freedom. Arkadia, one of four space stations circling Jupiter, was to be a refuge for all who fought the corrupt systems of old Earth, a haven where both humans and Artificial Intelligences could be happy and free. But the old prejudices and desires are still at play and, no matter how well-meaning its citizens, the children of Arkadia have tough compromises to make. When the future of humanity is at stake, which will prove more powerful: freedom or happiness? What sacrifices will Kaus, Raj, and the rest of Arkadia’s residents have to make to survive?

Children of Arkadia

After settling into a new job, new home and new living arrangements, Andersson Dexter has finally found a comfortable life in both the physical and virtual worlds. But that sense of security is blown apart when an explosion rocks Dex’s real-life Nice neighbourhood. He and his colleagues begin an investigation into a string of seemingly senseless and random vandalism attacks, that remind them all of similar assaults in the simulated world Marionette City. While at first the attacks seem more like a nuisance than a threat, Dex discovers that there are more serious — even fatal — consequences. As the trail leads Dex closer and closer to home, he is forced to confront the lengths he is willing to go for justice. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica}

Pixels and Flesh

Can home be a place you’ve never been, a place no one has ever been? The White Cloud is the most audacious experiment the human species has ever undertaken—to search for a new Earth. The ship and its crew exist for a solitary purpose—to reach a distant planet and establish a colony. However, the vast majority of people undertaking this journey will not live to see its result, nor were they part of the decision-making process to leave. A novel-in-stories, following the many generations who make the journey, The Voyage of the White Cloud asks how you can find meaning as a slave to destiny, a mere stepping-stone in history. These are the stories of the most ordinary people on a most extraordinary journey. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 28.0px 0.0px; line-height: 22.0px; font: 18.0px Times; color: #000000; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000; background-color: #ffffff} span.s1 {font-kerning: none}

Modern Love and other stories

Storefronts busted, businesses destroyed, accounts frozen. No one knows who’s behind the rash of vandalism in the virtual world, Marionette City, or how to protect themselves from becoming the next victim. Andersson Dexter has a new lease on life. Things are looking up for the newly independent investigator, when he picks up what seems like an ordinary case of vandalism. Soon Dex discovers that what appears to be a run of the mill case may be linked to a series of more sinister events which could jeopardize the very existence of the virtual world, Marionette City. Join Dex and the rest of The Cubicle Men team on his most complex case yet.

The Beauty of Our Weapons

Andersson Dexter is a new man, still living his old life. Part vigilante, part private eye, part cop, Dex is muddling his way through his day job as a faceless customer service rep for a giant firm, while solving routine cases in his off hours. But when a gruesomely mutilated corpse is found, things heat up for Dex and the underground organization he calls the Cubicle Men. Soon, Dex finds himself racing against the clock to find a killer who seems to be determined to strike him close to home. In a grim future where people live and work in crowded, utilitarian cities, but escape to an online virtual world, Act of Will explores the capacity we have to choose the directions our lives will take, and the consequences of those choices. “…as brilliantly as Ms. Wehm weaves her thriller, it is the characters and the society of her virtually integrated world that make this novel truly shine. Her characters breathe and feel, are flawed, and have sticky, messy problems in a world where lines of gender, law and reality have blurred and often disappeared.” - A.F. Stewart, author of Killers and Demons

An Andersson Dexter Novel

Act of Will

Alison Wilgus

Gustavo Bondoni

Thomas Webb

Langley Hyde

F. J. Bergmann

Wendy S. Delmater

Salvatore Difalco

Anthony W. Eichenlaub

Eric S. Fomley

John Cooper Hamilton

Charlotte H. Lee

Dennis Mombauer

Melanie Rees

D. A. Xiaolin Spires

Marie Vibbert

Melissa Yuan-Innes

Little Blue Marble magazine's year in stories: flash fiction, microfiction, and more! Tales of our changing world by these authors from around the globe: F. J. Bergmann, Gustavo Bondoni, Wendy S. Delmater, Salvatore Difalco, Anthony W. Eichenlaub, Eric S. Fomley, John Cooper Hamilton, Langley Hyde, Charlotte H. Lee, Dennis Mombauer, Melanie Rees, Holly Schofield, D. A. Xiaolin Spires, Marie Vibbert, Thomas Webb, M. Darusha Wehm, Alison Wilgus, Melissa Yuan-Innes From rising tides to edible homes, weather control and tornado killers, floating city-states and plant-based humans, Little Blue Marble 2018 brings you poignant, sometimes hopeful but often biting visions of our futures living with climate change.

Little Blue Marble 2018

Jake Bible

Darian Smith

Jean Gilbert

Eileen Mueller

Lee Murray

Dan Rabarts

Paul Mannering

Debbie Cowens

Jack Newhouse

Elizabeth Gatens

Lewis Morgan

Matthew Sanborn Smith

Celine Murray

Jenni Sands

Alan Lindsay

Sally McLennan

Matt Cowens

Anna Caro

Jan Goldie

AJ Ponder

Michael J Parry

Kevin G Maclean

Piper Mejia

Morgan Davie

JC Hart

Leave the lights on tonight. So you'll see them coming. 27 New Zealand and American authors delve into the strange, the unexpected, and the downright terrifying things that kids say in this collection of all new flash fiction. From the mouths of babes come 37 stories, from the haunting to the hilarious to the horrific.

Baby Teeth: Bitesized Tales of Terror

M. Darusha Wehm

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