Jan Cronos

Sep 13, 2024 | strangehorizons.com | David Arnold |Nileena Sunil |Mary Lee |Jan Cronos

]When I first picked up Luminous Beings, I was not sure what I was getting into. All I knew was that it was a young adult graphic novel, and that it had a vaguely postapocalyptic setting. There is something I’ve always found fascinating about the YA category, even after aging out of being in its target demographic. Perhaps it is the character dynamics, which somehow don’t feel the same as those between adults.

Sep 9, 2024 | strangehorizons.com | David Lewis |Ali Householder |Mary Lee |Jan Cronos

Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow—Dreams, Langston HughesA voyager from another planet arrives on a desolate Earth which has seemingly gone grey and lifeless; the alien goes on a quest to remind humanity of its better nature, which ends with the rediscovery and glorious revival of the Olympics and the spirit of human solidarity. That’s the simple analysis of Thomas Jolly’s dystopian SF show at the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Sep 9, 2024 | strangehorizons.com | Mary Lee |Jan Cronos |Octavia Cade |Ali Householder

The fields unplowed, the cars at rest,no rush to school, no changing shifts,but as the Earth turns round to faceeach post-apocalyptic dawna chorus breaks from shore to shore. No spoken word, nor beat of drum,nor flute, nor grand orchestral score,but as the Earth spins into daythe birds all pause to sing in praiseof rain and sky, of egg and nest.

Sep 9, 2024 | strangehorizons.com | Jan Cronos |Emma Johnson-Rivard |Raven Jakubowski |Elis Montgomery

as something less ormore than mortal. Her spacewalkended when her oxygen ran out. She should have expired onlyshe didn’t. Perhaps the frigid voidpreserved her in a virtual stasis. The wonder is she’s still aware. A swarm of sentient neuronssparkle as they orbit round her helmet—they constitute her mind. Gray rocky meteors of memoryflare in a foggy recollection likefrozen comets heated by the sun. Who she was she doesn’t knowbut she remains.

Aug 19, 2024 | strangehorizons.com | Jonathan Olfert |Mary Lee |Jan Cronos |Ali Householder

The first month was a laugh about excusesEat your greens and dieOnce the death toll mounted (same old story)You knew bad times were back in some new wayThe rule this round: cook fruitCook plantsIt’s in their waterSo pie is fine,And cider, jam, pea soup (but cook it hot)A baked potato’s unsafe; chips are betterJenn T.