Woke up this morning to a nice review of my short story “Still You Linger, Like Soot in the Air,” which is out in this month’s Lightspeed Magazine (read now with a subscription, read free on 8/13). Quick Sip Reviews says the story is: “Emotionally powerful…wrenching heartbreaking…A wonderful read!” 

Read the review here. And don’t forget to download your free copy of the story’s prequel, “Saving Diego.”

Here’s the beginning to “Still You Linger…” :

By the time Gil had stopped meditating and opened his eyes, Muu had already removed the body. Just yesterday he and Demi had walked the eighty-four flights of stairs down to the dusty city streets, and together he and Demi had strolled across the promenade of Usha Square under the tangerine light of the setting sun. The wind had whipped Demi’s long hair into a frenzy, and Gil had leaned forward to brush a lock away from his friend’s glowing eyes.

I’ve been releasing bi-weekly chapters of Queen of Static, the sequel to King of Shards, on my Patreon page, and we’re up to Chapter Fourteen so far. For just $2 a month, you get two chapters every month, plus exclusive access and early releases of my upcoming fiction, a free ebook if King of Shards, plus 3D art renders, and lots more. Check it out here:

Matthew Kressel on Patreon

I’ve been fascinated with these clouds for some reason and so I’ve created another 3D render of the argon gas miners, in this case skimming the upper atmosphere right before they dive into the gas giant’s depths.

My friend Angus McIntyre suggested that mining a gas giant would be difficult for many reasons, not limited to: the energy needed to slow down and then again break free of the planet’s gravity, the dangerous electromagnetic fields and radiation, not to mention the intense pressures involved. I found a NASA paper from a few years ago that explored the feasibility of just such an endeavor and they basically said that, without advances in propulsion tech, the idea is probably far-fetched. Still, out of several options, including “scoopers” like those depicted above, the best option would probably be some kind of floating platform. So for my next render I hope to envision just such a setup.

Also, this render I imagine taking place some seven centuries in the future (or so), where technology has progressed far past our crude chemical rockets. Still, I do think it’s important to make things “real,” that is, based on plausible future scenarios. And so look for a floating gas platform soon

Back in 2009 I published a short story called “Saving Diego” in Interzone magazine. It received some nice reviews, honorable mentions in various year’s best anthologies, and placed 5th in the annual Interzone readers’ poll. 

The story, about two estranged friends who meet again after a falling out on the distant plant of Gilder Nefan, a place where the religious take a psychotropic drug called “sweet jisthmus” to reach transcendent states of consciousness. 

The story has always stuck with me and I’ve wanted to write more about that world. And, in fact, I recently did. My story, “Still You Linger, Like Soot in the Air,” will be out in Lightspeed magazine this August, and takes place on the same planet. 

Because of this, I’ve decided to release “Saving Diego” as an ebook to my patrons. You will recognize the cover art from my recent 3D render “Gilder Nefan Sunset.” The cover was designed by the talented graphic designer Kris Dikeman. 

Read “Saving Diego” now by becoming a patron. You will also get two new chapters of Queen of Static every month, plus lots of extras!

New art! This one is called “Gilder Nefan Sunset.”

On the distant planet of Gilder Nefan, the devout Nefanesh people smoke the psychotropic plant known as jisthmus in order to reach transcendant states of consciousness and commune with the numens, god-like alien beings mostly inscrutable to humanity. All of the buildings on Gilder Nefan are built by hand, brick by brick; no machines are used. In addition, the Nefanesh shun contrivance. There are no elevators anywhere in the city, and one must walk up dozens or even hundreds of stairs to reach the highest floors!

This art was inspired by two of my short stories. The first is called “Saving Diego” and was published in Interzone magazine in 2010. The second is called “Still You Linger, Like Soot in the Air” and will be published in Lightspeed Magazine in Summer of 2020.

I’ll be releasing “Saving Diego” as a free ebook to my patrons soon.