literature
Science fiction's most popular literary writers from Isaac Asimov to Stephen King and Frank Herbert, and the rising stars of today.
Slug and Salamander
Slug and Salamander By: Isaac Francis The streaks of water run down my cheeks and tickle my nerves with its cold, slimy hands. My head jerks to the left as I gasp for air and jerk back to the right. My feet are also fluttering. Everything moves in sync without a thought as to how to achieve each motion perfectly. The calm cycle of it all keeps my whole sense of thinking at ease. No care in the world. Suddenly, I hear a distorted ring of a bell. Springing up like a coil, I fly out the water, and the sun bathes me in light. My body shines with details of a muscular build. The water drip gives the sensation of oiling. I walk over to the locker room, and the heat splashes against my skinny body. As if I am cold, I shrivel when walking towards my lock door.
By Isaac Francis5 years ago in Futurism
Changes from Clay
Clay eyes opened, and the golem looked across the sedan. Its maker was smiling, then the woman glanced in the rear-view mirror. The brown curls all bound in the bun atop her head were white at their roots, but the tips were gold. She held a leather case on her lap and wore a knit emerald cardigan, a floppy fisherman’s cap, and black sunglasses. Her lips were pursed with impatience.
By Cade Losey5 years ago in Futurism
The Plague Doctor
September 12th, 1348 Alnwick, Northumberland They say the Pestilence spreads through bad air, but if that were the case, everyone would be dead. Not that we are far off. Death is in the room with all of us, and no amount of fresh roses will dissuade him.
By Alexa Baczak5 years ago in Futurism
Bitcoin Boys
Four friends sat around a table in their parents basement. It was 2008 and they had their gaming rigs all setup at a round table, These four were known and feared in the games they frequented. Stomping on Newbs all day was getting old though and they frequently tossed around ideas of what they as a group could do that would bring back that excitement they used to feel. the oldest one, and by unspoken unanimous consent, their leader had just read an article on crypto currency. he had his trepidations surrounding it himself but he had an idea that could put his group in the history books for good. "Hey guys, have any of you read much about crypto currency?" unknowing looks from two of the three, the third though their resident genius (though a little in his own head for his own good) lit up at the mention of crypto. "its the future" he said, staring off in an unfocused way. their leader shook his head at the genius. "yes, it is the future. it is a fully digital currency" he added for the others. both of whom still looked a little confused. their Tank scrunched up his heavy brow. "so like online money?" "yes, online money" their leader replied. "what about it?" chimed in their healer. "well, I've been thinking about how we could take our group to the next level. obviously nothing illegal, but something that would put us in the history books. also would be nice if it was something that could load our pockets" he said with a sharkish grin. The tank still looking confused asked "But how would we do that with this.....cryto...?". "Crypto" the leader responded. "well, what if we created our own crypto currency? we could base it around a mining system. what I mean is we could set it up so there is only a finite amount, and that you would need a server to "mine" it. then it is fully regulated. we could mine enough to set us up once the main global economy finally catches up, and crypto becomes the main currency. then we would be set. with the mining style system it should also pique the nerd communities interest because they can make money with the old server systems they have lying around. plus it'll stick it to man, and big banks wont be able to regulate it right away". Their genius looked thoughtful. "I could build the algorithms for that, it might take a couple of weeks. I would need you three to....." his eyes went unfocused and the other three looked at each other and then back to the genius. ".....oops....I would need you three to tweak some settings on your systems so you could start mining as soon as we went live, just to make sure we got the amount we would need". "we could get rich off this....?" asked the tank quizzically. Their leader looked introspective for a couple of moments, the others knew not to interrupt his introspection. "yes" he responded. "Yes, we really could. Bit by bit, it wont be a get rich quick scheme or anything. we would build the system, mine our amount and then wait. It could take awhile. I think its our best bet though. get onboard while its still new, and then we have a good chance of being one of the bigger crypto currencies. we still would have a lot of work to do. we need a name for our crypto, and I don't think we should use our real names. If we make it big I don't want everyone and their dog to know it was us." The Tank furrowed his brow "Bit by bit, we could be rich, like a penny saved is a penny earned and the like. hmm, Bit....money..small bits of money....why not BitCoin...?". The other three looked at him, it didn't happen often but their tank came up with some solid gold ideas sometimes. They all agreed that this was a stellar name. "So now that we have our crypto name, what should we call ourselves?" asked the healer. "Hmm, I've got a thought for that actually" replied their leader. "Your handle (he points at the tank) is Sato666, and mine is Yoshi92, if we put them together it could be Satoshi, and so on." The healer interjected excitedly "And my handle is Nakasira, and then we have Motomotion93, we could do either Siramotion, or Nakamoto. Satoshi Nakamoto....that has a nice ring to it, we could be famous without being famous, I like it". The group exchanged excited looks between themselves. "this could be the biggest thing we ever do" Their leader intoned in a profound tone. The healer exaggeratedly rolled his eyes "or it'll flop just like 99% of the other dumb ideas people have". They all laughed loudly. "I guess we wont know until we try....."
By Grady Zettl5 years ago in Futurism
Black Women Sci-Fi & Fantasy Authors You Should Read
Like many other genres, speculative fiction was long a realm of white, male authors. The Golden Age of Science Fiction produced masters in the craft -- Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, et al – but very little of the work was produced by women or people of color. When the New Wave of science fiction emerged in the 1960s things began to change and voices began to diversify. Then, in the 1970s, Octavia E. Butler arrived on the scene and paved the way for the subsequent strong voices of black women in spec fic.
By Maria Shimizu Christensen5 years ago in Futurism
Unveiled
“Looks like we’re dealing with two perps—one male, one female,” Sergeant Frank Albertson speculated, flexing his surgically repaired right knee. “I didn’t really get a clean look at the female before they jumped the fence…white dress, dark hair, that’s about it... but the male was definitely Caucasian: long hair, blondish, average build. And they were wearing fancy clothes, Ty… ya think this was just a prank?”
By Adam Ryksen5 years ago in Futurism
