DreamForge Issue 4
By Sergey Nivens
Frank Schurter’s illustration for “Extremophile” by Robert Harpold.
Table of Contents
About the Cover
Our cover is by Frank Schurter and accompanies Robert Harpold’s Hard SF tale “Extremophile.” Frank’s art is meticulous and its level of detail uncompromising. As a boy growing up in Columbus, Ohio, Frank read a lot of Ray Bradbury short stories, watched a lot of Star Trek and Twilight Zone , and wanted desperately to draw comic books. He discovered the joys of digital illustration while earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Major in Illustration at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Space Heater
By Angela Yuriko Smith
Angela Yuriko Smith reminds us that we all want to be more than a heat signature, a momentary rebellion against entropy. We can be the creators that dream the world.
The Ghost of a Smile
By John Jos. Miller, Illustrated by Elizabeth Leggett
If there are spirit guides for the living, let them be as John J Miller envisions them, given form by the written word and empowered by a belief that grows out of love.
Beyond Our Hidden Stars
By Sally Wiener Grotta, Illustrated by Jane Noel
Imagination, community, and belonging are the keys to survival in any age. Nowhere will they be needed more than among the asteroids, those cold rocks we must mine to build new worlds.
Cessation of Civilization
By Marie Croke, Illustrated by Jane Noel
In this “if at first you don’t succeed” tale, Marie brings home the point that life, and civilization, are an ongoing experiment, a work of art, and an exercise in craftsmanship.
The Last Petal
By Anna Madden, Illustrated by Jane Noel
Beauty and the Beast is not always a love story, nor is the true beast always the one against whom the villagers turn their wrath. In partnership lies survival.
Hot Times at Shady Pines
By Gary Kloster, Illustrated by Cheryl Ceol
The age of eternal youth and the banishing of decay is not far off, but what about those left behind? Even in our time, the young have little use for geezers.
Autoimmune
By Kurt Pankau, Illustrated by Fiona Jayde Media
What happens when you travel back in time to save your grandfather and stop a plague, only to be confronted by yourself, and yourself, and yourself!?
Extremophile
By Robert Harpold, Illustrated by Frank Schurter
Robert Harpold has operated spacecraft, designs trajectories for the Orion missions, and has been to some very cold places. It all comes together as he imagines a discovery on Europa.
DreamForger
By Donald S. Crankshaw, Illustrated by John Blumen
Once a master craftsman of nightmares, Nordri labors under a curse of empathy. The curse has tangled around his soul and linked him to those suffering from the dreamforger’s art
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