Recently accepted stories

Thought I should update you with some of the stories I've accepted recently.

The Earth Beneath my Feet by James Lecky - a wonderful romantic vision of future space travel (of a sort). This piece should be published in July (issue 29)

Swimming in the Fastwarm Current by Lee Russell - A great speculative piece looking at the future for life on Earth. Should be in our next issue (January)

Oil on Canvas by Nigel Fisher - Also due in July. A space travellers tale of communication between species.

22nd Century Genie by Simon Kewin - Hunting for the Beetles, due April (issue 28)

The Colour Seven by Tim Miller - Also issue 28. An imaginative tale set during a long drawn out war.

Reading through this list of stories I've accepted, my really excited about them all - Some great issues of Jupiter coming up!

Ian

A few reviews

A few reviews have been posted for Jupiter issue 26:

SFcrowsnest: "All in all, a very rewarding edition of 'Jupiter'"
SFrevu: ""As we visit each moon of Jupiter, this magazine gets better and better"

Good to see people are enjoying the work we publish, as always, hats off to all the authors.

Ian

"Cold Pressure" - fact behind the story

I confess, when I read Rosie Oliver's story "Cold Presure" (Jupiter issue 26). I thought her story made use of just her good imagination. However she sent me a web link to an artical exploring the effects of Methane being released under the oceans. Though some of our readers might find it interesting; you can read it here: #http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s218210.htm

Thicker Than Water

Ian Sales has posted up an 'Anatomy of a Story' for his piece 'Thicker Than Water' which appeared in Kalyke : Jupiter 23. A great insight to where the ideas for this piece came from. http://justhastobeplausible.blogspot.com/2009/10/anatomy-of-story-thicker-than-water.html

Issue 26 on it's way...

Jupiter issue 26 should be on its way to subscribers in the next week or so... Hopefully Royal Mail won't strike and you'll actually get them then too!

Issue 26 (Isonoe) nearly here...

Four stories this issue, 3 from authors we've published before.
The Space Sphinx by Edward Rodosek follows a reporter seeking to uncover the mystery of the 'Sphinx' on a colony world.
The Octagon by David Conyers looks at the future of reality tv gameshows.
Cold Pressure by Rosie Oliver takes us on ocean voyage over a future earth.
Lastly In the Shadows of Hemera by Will Styler (our new author) is a moving piece looking at future space exploration.
We also have a short poem by G. O. Clake and the cover image (which I'll post later) is by Michael King.

Another good issue I think.

SFSite reviews issue 25

The reviews are coming thick and fast at the moment.
Rich Horton has reviewed issue 25 here.
Overall another good review "I thought this was even better than the last issue, which I thought pretty good."
He summed up Jupiter nicely at the end "Jupiter has reached a point where it reliably offers steady stories by newer writers. It's doing what we expect from semipro magazines: giving new talent a place to grow. These writers are doing enjoyable work now, and we can expect even better from some of them in the future."

Issue 25 reviewed at SFCrowsnest

SFCrowsnest have uploaded their review of issue 25. It's another good review which you can read here.
Rod starts by suming up the issue as "five excellent stories to entertain".
Can ask for a better start to a review than that really. I'll let you guys read the full review this time.

Prador Moon

By Neal Asher. Finished reading this yesterday. Probably the shortest SF book I've read for a while. Normally I look for the thickest spines I can for my books (I'm a particular fan of Peter F. Hamilton's) but due to the impending arrival of my son/daughter I thought I'd pick something I was fairly sure of finishing. Despite its size, Neal did great things with this book, he quickly created a world which seemed very possible, and aliens that would pretty much be my worst nightmare - all I could think of was giant cockroaches! Anyway, a good book about humans winning despite overwhelming odds against them with lots of action explosives and spaceships. To be honest, pretty much everything I could ask for from a short novel!
Its particularly nice to read a Asher novel, as many many years ago I published a story of his in my previous magazine Zest. It's nice to see people you knew way back have had all that hard work pay off.

Jupiter XXIV: Iocaste reviewed in The Fix

Finally after several years of trying, The Fix has reviewed an issue of Jupiter.
http://thefix-online.com/reviews/jupiter-xxiv-iocaste-april-2009/
David Hebblethwaite (not a stranger to Jupiter, he reviewed issue 14 for Whispers of Wickedness) takes up the challenge of issue 24.
Of Black Water (David Conyers) Hebblethwaite writes "Conyers is pretty good at evoking his future, in particular by dropping in telling little details that hint at broader goings-on outside the frame of the narrative."
Sides of the Coin (Gustavo Bondoni) is "a kind of techno-magical warfare reminiscent of computer games"
He describes Our Man in Herrje (Andrew Knighton) "beneath the humour is an interesting examination of the difficulties of relating to cultures very different from our own; and a question for each of us – how much of what we say or think, even to ourselves"
The Ninth Circle (A.J. Kirby) "is an interesting story which I’m not sure I fully understood, but found engaging nonetheless."
If You Can't Beat Them (James McCormick) is "a story which is lightweight and fun"
And finally Dog's Best Friend (Gareth D. Jones) "ends the magazine on a poignant and thoughtful note"

I'm happy with all that, I wonder what The Fix will make of Erinome

The Steel Remains

Just finished reading this from Richard Morgan. A departure from his usual SF, but very definitely a Morgan book. I've read a good bit of Fantasy in my time, in my younger days I was a bit of a Stephen Lawhead fan, so swords and mythical creatures read just fine to me. And this book was great, at times a bit disturbing, and not exactly pretty, but Richard is just so good at description and making it feel like you really know your characters, that this is a winner for me. Heard today that the sequel is on the way, which is only a good thing, Richard has created a wonderful world here, perhaps not the best story line, but with writing like this, that doesn't matter, you're there on that battlefield seeing the blood flash up across your face. This is writing that grips and pulls you along with it.
Good stuff Richard, just hope you haven't abandoned SF altogether, though the Kiriath technology helped me feel at home.

SFrevu of issue 25: Erinome

SFrevu have published their review of issue 25.
You can see the full review here.
'Radio Free' by Sam Kepfield apparently "doesn't really describe the current United States of America".
But more positively...
Fet Milners 'On the Commodore' is described as "an effective, unsettling tale."
Kate Kellys 'The Oracle' is "a fine story".
Neil Clifts 'The Mariner' is "a delightful, touching tale".
'Dusting Tycho' by Vera Sepulveda is a "fun story that I enjoyed a lot".

Would be interesting to hear if you agree with Sams review?

Jupiter issues 21-24

Finally updated the website this morning.

If you're interested in looking at Jupiter, or missed last year, you can now get all 4 issues in Jupiters 6th year for just £6.99. This includes issue 21 with Jesse Speaks fantastic full colour cover. Just go here.

The Ardly Effect

A few years ago I reviewed a book called 'The Ardly Effect' by Mitis Green. It was a book I really enjoyed and had been keeping an eye out for any future books - which sadly haven't been forthcoming.
However, I've discovered that it's now a free pdf download from brambling books - so if anyone wants to read a great space opera which doesn't take itself too seriously, and will keep you in stitches, you can download it here.

This is a copy of my original review (back in issue 9!):
"I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I'd never read anything by Mitis Green before, but the title sounded like the sort of fiction I enjoy. What I didn't expect was a wonderful page turner laced with laugh-out-loud humour. I really enjoyed this book. Having read a few of the latest SF from the big names recently, it was a refreshing surprise to find something so good from someone I'd never heard of before.
So what's it about then? Well, a war of course. A war generations old between the populations of two moons. The lush, cosy moon 'Edenia' and the harsh, brown-grey 'Horridoa'. Our story takes place mainly on the starship Marshia inhabited by hundreds of crew including the scientists Kwait and his daughter Streemly, the government official West, Captain Phoenix, Commander Apricot and two of the captured enemy. Marshia is sent off to investigate some missing drones, and what follows is a wonderfully written space opera adventure as Marshia and her crew set off to discover 'who are we?' and 'where do we come from?' Mitis has managed to write a book silly enough so that just about anything can happen, whilst at the same time, making it all sound completely plausible.
I really did enjoy this book, and will be looking out for the future two episodes of 'The Two Moons Trilogy'. If you like a good SF Space Opera, that's not afraid to be funny and occasionally very silly, read this book, you'll enjoy it."

Review of Jupier 24: Iocaste

Thanks for Gareth Jones for first spotting this one...
The SFSite have released their review of issue 24.

"Jupiter as with many semipro magazines doesn't really have access to the very best new stories. But it has established a consistent personality, and a distinct devotion to mostly fairly straightforward SF, and the magazine generally manages to featuring enjoyable work."
Read the full review here.

Jupiter 25 on its way

Well July is here, so for all you looking out for Jupiter 25, it should be popping through your letter box soon. UK folks in the next few days, Hopefully our international readers shouldn't be too far behind. Thanks again to all our contributors.

Ian

Issue 25 Cover

By Daniel Bristow-Bailey (www.dbbcreative.co.uk)

What's coming in issue 25 : Erinome

Well, issue 25 is coming along nicely. We've got a lovely wrap round cover from Daniel Bristow-Bailey, not colour sadly, but still a great piece of art.
As for the fiction, five authors this time out, Sam Kepfield with his near future piece Radio Free, Fet Milner takes us to the distant Crane's world in On the Commodore, we then journey not quite as far with Kate Kelly to Italy for The Oracle. Neil Clift takes to the ocean with The Mariner and lastly a visit to the Moon for Dusting Tycho by Vera Sepulveda.

It's looking like another good issue, be with you in July.

New Blog

Well, welcome to our new blog. Highly exciting I'm sure you'll agree!
I've finally woken up to the ease having a proper 'blog' will make keeping up to date with Jupiter, and hopefully make it easier to get some feedback on what we're up to.

Well, not much of a first post, but there you go.

Second review of issue 24

SFcrowsnest have published their review of Iocaste. They were particulary impresed with Black Water "'Black Water' by David Conyers is an absolutely cracking story. It's one of the best I've read for some time... Even within the limitations of a short story, a believable world has been created with two strong characters, Joseph and an Australian woman called Donna, both trying to make their way as best they can. I particularly liked the use of archaic technology, even in the slums of Dar es Salaam. Well, if this is our future, we had better do something about it soon!" The whole review can be read here.

Review of issue 24

SFrevu have posted the first review of issue 24. "Another little gem!" is how Tom describes this issue. You can read the whole thing here.

Issue 24 Out Now!

Issue 24 is now available! This issue features Black Water by David Conyers, Sides of the Coin by Gustavo Bondoni, Our Man In Herrje by Andrew Knighton, The Ninth Circle by A.J. Kirby, If you Can't Beat Them... by James McCormick and Dog's Best Friend by Gareth D Jones. S Cerulean provides our great cover artwork. Once more I think we've produce a great issue, so thanks to all our contributors! We hope you, our readers enjoy!

Review of issue 23

First review of issue 23 can be found here. Thanks Annie

Issue 23 Out Now!

Issue 23 of Jupiter 'Kalyke' is out now! This issue features 6 stories. The Weight of Shadows by Lee Moan, The Darken loop by Huw Langridge (this is a standalone prequel to Huws story The Ceres Configuration which was featured way back in issue 4), Thicker Than Water by Ian Sales, The Rule of Law by Elaine Graham-Leigh (not a prequel as such, but set earlier in the same universe as her story The Blue Man's Burden from issue 18), Notes from the Apocalypse by Michael Pepper and finally a short The Bridge of the Compass Rose by John Rogers. Lee supplied the cover to go along side his story, one very tallented guy! Overall I think this is another strong issue.