E is for Epigamic

Ebony Eyes
The Alexia of Youth
Emptiness
The Enchanted Incompetent, or The Lay of Hairoil O'Ley
The End
The Engineer and the Executioner
The Evil That Men Do
The Exploration of Inner Space
     
  Ebony Eyes [1] (as Francis Amery)  
    Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, Barnes & Noble 1998  
      ed. Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg  
    Salome & Other Decadent Fantasies, Cosmos Books 2004  
       
     

A queen puts out her lovers' roaming eyes, but when the lover hears that the plan was the queen's, more than his eyes roam.

The queen has to devise a new plan.

Review by Trent Walters

  
   

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  The Elixir of Youth [10]  
    Weird Tales  
     
  Emptiness [6]  
    Dreams of Decadence 13 (Spring 2001)  
    The Best of Dreams of Decadence, Roc 2003  
      ed. Angela Kessler  
    Translated into French as:  
      'Le Vide' in De Sang et d'Encre ed. L,a Silhol, Editions Naturellement 1999  
         
      Quite a touching story about a single mum whose children are fully grown, who finds consolation and an abandoned baby in a skip, outside a shop. However, she also finds trouble, because the baby is a vampire...

I am again quite unhappy with Brian's portrayal of the British working class, though it is nowhere near as appalling as in Behind the Wheel. Sometimes Brian's morality seems to come from the pages of the Daily Mail.

  
         
   

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  The Enchanted Incompetent, or The Lay of Hairoil O'Ley [2] (as Kay Stirling)  
    Xeron 7 (December 1967)  
   

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  The End [v]  
    Space Bar, Octarine 1990  
   

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  The Engineer and the Executioner [6]  
    Amazing (May 1975)  
         
     


Cover painting by
Stephen E. Fabian.

   This story is an absolute classic. Just look at the list of its publications below and it's clear the impact it made.

It takes place on an asteroid called Lamark, where a genetic engineer has created an entirely new type of ecology. Unfortunately for him, his experiment is deemed too dangerous to be allowed to continue and he finds himself confronted by a robot executioner.

The authorities have decided that Lamark must be destroyed and have altered the asteroid's course, so it tumbles into the Sun. The engineer isn't even allowed to leave Lamark, because of the threat to Earth of contamination and so must die with his creation.

As well as detailing an ingenious dual - chromosomal genetic system, the story touches on Arrhenius spores, Lamarkism and the affect of fear in politics.

This is what science fiction is about and everyone should read it.
 
    World's Best SF: 1976, DAW 1976  
      ed. Donald A. Wollheim  
    World's Best SF: 1796, SFBC 1976  
      ed. Donald A. Wollheim  
    SF Choice 77, Orbit 1977  
      ed. M. Ashley  
    World's Best SF: 3, Dobson 1979  
      ed. Donald A. Wollheim  
    Top Science Fiction, Dent 1984  
      ed. Josh Pachter  
    Sexual Chemistry, Simon & Schuster (UK) 1991 (Revised)  
         
      From the point of view of the reader, the changes here are quite subtle; Brian's intent in rewriting this story is to get the science right.

It's still a fine story, but there's no reason apart from completeness for anyone to require both versions.

  
         
    Translated into Czech as:  
      'Inzenýr a vykonavatel' in Ikarie (02/1992)  
    Translated into French as:  
      Le biologiste et le bourreau in Futurs 4  
    Translated into Greek as:  
      'O Michanikos ke o Ektelestis' in Anthologia Epistimonikis Fantasias
- Istories me Trelous Epistimones, Vol 33.		  
    Translated into Greek as:  
      'O Michanikos ke o Ektelestis' in Nova, Issue 3 (July 1978)  
    Translated into Hungarian in:  
      Galaktika 46 (1982)  
    Translated into Italian as:  
      L'asteroide Lamarck inIl pianeta dei venti - Il meglio della fantascienza nel 1975  
    Translated into Spanish as:  
      'El ingeniero y el verdugo' in La Crema de la Ciencia Ficci˘n ed. Josh Pachter, Emec‚ 1986  
   

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  The Evil That Men Do [10]  
    Realms of Fantasy (August 1995)  
    Translated into French as:  
    'Le mal que font les hommes' in Aspodale 2 (February 2003)  
    Salome & Other Decadent Fantasies, Cosmos Books 2004  
       
     

The Cinnabar Desert is the home of religious hermits and penitents. It's home to all the parched emotions of its ocherous colour; as arid as an ascetic soul.

One of the contrite is ex-king Rumulshah, tyrant of a far-off land, who repented until the heat revealed a way for him atone for his wickedness. He sets off on the long journey to Munimazana, expecting his infamy to have spread far and wide since his disappearance.

Remarkably, few people Rumulshah meets as he travels have even heard of Munimazana, leave alone the tyrant king and he concludes that his wickedness was so extreme that it has been struck from memory.

Upon arrival in Munimazana, Rumulshah sets about the corruption and degradation he has spawned.

Very good, a stinging attack on pious intransigence.

  
   

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  The Exploration of Inner Space [3]  
    100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories, Barnes & Noble 1995  
      ed. Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg.  
   

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