Miguel shrugged. “Not at all.”
“Okay. Tell me about your grandfather. What was he like?”
As the interview moved from the preliminaries and into the meat of Sandro’s story, Miguel kept staring at the cover of the book. Part of him wished he’d never taken those pictures—he knew, even now, they were going to haunt him for the rest of his life—but another part of him realized that was a small price to pay. This wasn’t about him. It wasn’t about Sandro. It wasn’t even about the nineteen other people who’d taken their lives that day. It was about the heart of the people in Mexico, about the discourse that had long ago been dropped by the wayside. It was about tearing down walls, not building them up.
Before Miguel knew it, the interview was nearly over. Beth was staring at him. Her eyes had been noncommittal nearly the entire interview, but now there was a clear note of seriousness, of regret.
“I think I only have one more question, Mr. de la Cueva.”
“Please.”
“What do you want your readers to take away from this book?”
He’d thought about that for some time, knowing he’d be asked by the media. The Spyder Project had ceased the day after the mass suicide, pending a congressional investigation. Talks had resumed between the US administration and Mexico—serious talks, it seemed to Miguel. But there was always the chance this would slip away, become yesterday’s news. The US was famous for it, and Sandro had known it. He felt, right or wrong, like he had to make a statement so large that it couldn’t be ignored. Miguel only hoped it would be enough.
“That’s just it,” Miguel said to Beth. “I don’t want to say anything. It’s all in there… I want them to open their eyes. I want them to listen. That’s all.”
Acknowledgements
As always, there are many people to thank for collections like this one.
I’d first like to thank the editors who worked with me on these many stories. In rough chronological order, I give thanks to John Helfers (“Chasing Humanity”), Kerrie Hughes (“Cirque de la Lumière”), Edmund Schubert (“No Viviremos Como Presos”), Kelly Swails (“Bloom”), Paul Genesse (“Upon the Point of a Knife” and many, many beta reads), Joshua B. Palmatier and Patricia Bray (“Quinta Essentia”), John Joseph Adams (“Flashed Forward”), Jean Rabe (“Foretold”), and Marty Halpern (“In the Stars I’ll Find You,” “Compartmentalized,” and “And a Girl Named Rose”). Your insights on these stories were invaluable.
I’d also like to thank the beta readers for these stories. I’ve sent you all thanks along the way, but let me just say here that I appreciate all your input as I first wrote these stories and then worked to find homes for them out in the world. Your time and effort and care, not to mention your skill with the written word, were all very much appreciated.
About the Author
Bradley P. Beaulieu is the author of the epic fantasy, Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, the first in The Song of the Shattered Sands series. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed The Lays of Anuskaya, an epic fantasy trilogy that begins in The Winds of Khalakovo, continues in The Straits of Galahesh, and concludes with The Flames of Shadam Khoreh. In addition to being an L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Award winner, Brad’s stories have appeared in various publications, including Realms of Fantasy, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, Writers of the Future 20, and several anthologies from DAW Books. Along with co-host Gregory A. Wilson, Brad runs the highly successful science fiction and fantasy podcast, Speculate!, which can be found at www.speculatesf.com.
Outside of the writing life, Brad enjoys cooking, watching football, and hanging out on the weekends with his family.
For more, please visit www.quillings.com.
Twelve Kings in Sharakhai is the first book in the new epic fantasy series, The Song of the Shattered Sands…
Sharakhai, the great city of the desert, center of commerce and culture, has been ruled from time immemorial by twelve kings—cruel, ruthless, powerful, and immortal. With their army of Silver Spears, their elite company of Blade Maidens and their holy defenders, the terrifying asirim, the Kings uphold their positions as undisputed, invincible lords of the desert. There is no hope of freedom for any under their rule.
Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first.
The adventure begins in The Winds of Khalakovo…
Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo’s eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo’s future.
When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the spirit summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands. Can the dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo…
The adventure continues in The Straits of Galahesh…
West of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya lies the Empire of Yrstanla, the Motherland. The Empire has lived at peace with Anuskaya for generations, but with political turmoil brewing and the wasting disease still rampant, opportunists from the mainland have begun to set their sights on the Grand Duchy, seeking to expand their empire.
Five years have passed since Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, was tasked with finding Nasim, the child prodigy behind a deadly summoning that led to a grand clash between the armies of man and elder elemental spirits. Today, that boy has grown into a young man driven to understand his past—and the darkness from which Nikandr awakened him. Nikandr’s lover, Atiana, has become a Matra, casting her spirit forth to explore, influence, and protect the Grand Duchy. But when the Al-Aqim, long thought lost to the past, return to the islands and threaten to bring about indaraqiram—a change that means certain destruction for both the Landed and the Landless—bitter enemies must become allies and stand against the Al-Aqim’s horrific plans.
Can the Grand Duchy be saved? The answer lies hidden within the Straits of Galahesh…
The adventure concludes in The Flames of Shadam Khoreh…
Nearly two years after the harrowing events of The Straits of Galahesh, Atiana and Nikandr continue their long search for Nasim. The clues they find lead them to the desert wastes of the Gaji, where the fabled valley of Shadam Khoreh lies.
But all is not well. War has moved from the islands to the mainland, and the Grand Duchy knows its time may be limited if Yrstanla rallies its forces. Worse, the wasting disease and the rifts grow ever wider, threatening places that once thought themselves safe. The dukes believe their only hope may be to treat with the Haelish warriors to the west of Yrstanla, but Nikandr knows that the key is to find Nasim and a lost artifact known as the Atalayina.
Will Nikandr succeed and close the rifts once and for all? The answer lies deep within the Flames of Shadam Khoreh.
With The Winds of Khalakovo, Bradley P. Beaulieu established himself as a talented new voice in epic fantasy. With his premiere short story collection, Beaulieu demonstrates his ability to weave tales that explore other worlds in ways that are at once bold, imaginative, and touching. Lest Our Passa
ge Be Forgotten & Other Stories contains seventeen tales that range from the epic to the heroic, some in print for the first time.
Strata is a stand-alone novella by two Writers of the Future Award winners.
It’s the middle of the twenty-second century. Earth’s oil and gas reserves have been spent, but humankind’s thirst for energy remains unquenched. Vast solar mining platforms circle the upper atmosphere of the sun, drawing power lines up from the stellar interior and tight-beaming the energy back to Earth. For most of the platforms’ teeming masses, life is hard, cramped—and hot. Most dream of a return earthside, but a two-way ticket wasn’t part of the benefits package, and a Sun-Earth trip doesn’t come cheap.
Kawe Ndechi is luckier than most. He’s a gifted rider—a skimmer pilot who races the surface of the sun’s convection zone—and he needs only two more wins before he lands a ticket home. The only trouble is, Kawe’s spent most of his life on the platforms. He’s seen the misery, and he’s not sure he’s the only one who deserves a chance at returning home.
That makes Smith Pouslon nervous. Smith once raced the tunnels of fire himself, but now he’s a handler, and his rider, Kawe, is proving anything but easy to handle. Kawe’s slipping deeper and deeper into the Movement, but Smith knows that’s a fool’s game. His own foray into the Movement cost him his racing career—and nearly his life—and he doesn’t want Kawe to throw everything away for a revolt that will never succeed.
One sun. Two men. The fate of a million souls.
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