Short Stories:Ls


The Ladykiller, As Observed From a Safe Distance [7]
	Asimov's Science Fiction (August 2000)

		This story is close kin to Sexual Chemistry, in that it features the sort of sexual augmentation developed by the hero of that story. Stephanie Greaves is a newly promoted detective inspector working the graveyard shift, when Randolph Markham - James comes into the police station and demands to see a senior officer. Once seated in an interview room, Randolph tells Stephanie that there's been a murder and he is not so much the murderer as the weapon. This is an early Emortality story, set in roughly the same era as The Cassandra Complex.
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The Lamia's Soliloquy [1] (as S. May Amarinth)
	Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, Barnes & Noble 1998
		ed. Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg

		The Lamia's Soliloquy rewrites her life from her point of view. Review by Trent Walters
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The Last Man [v]
	Ratzecon '97 Souvenir Book (July 1997)
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The Last Supper [6]
	SF Age (March 2000)
	The Year's Best SF 6, Eos 2001
		ed. David Hartwell
	Designer Genes: Tales of the Biotech Revolution, Five Star 2004

		Young Ben wants to impress a woman and decides to take her to a restaurant, Trimalchio's, which is not only exclusive, but utterly unique. All the meals are based upon recipes featuring genetically modified foods. Its chef and proprietor is Jerome, a character with all the artistic flair and temperament we've come to associate with that profession. At Trimalchio's, Ben and his potential fiancé are can chose from pork (pig), beef (cow), veal (calf), calimari (octopus) and venison (Bambi); all tastefully and specially modified to provide the most sumptuous delicacies. Things of course, do not go to plan. A light tale, which is worth having if you don't have to chase it.
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The Last Worshipper of Proteus [5]
	Beneluxcon 20: Comeback-Con 1994 Souvenir Book (Apr/May 1994)
	Beyond 2 (June/July 1995)
	Salome & Other Decadent Fantasies, Cosmos Books 2004

		A fantasy set toward the end of the seventeenth century in the Dutch university town of Leiden, which Rembrandt called home. The story follows another painter, boarded next to our narrator, who is also a hard-up student. Despite living so close and painting such enigmatic pictures, the art student maintains his distance until poverty forces him into company to share food, warmth and secrets revealed by a mysterious stone. When he disappears, our narrator enters the artist's room for the first time...
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Layers of Meaning [2]
	Interzone 021 (Autumn 1987)
	Complications & Other Science Fiction Stories, Cosmos Books 2003

		You'll be ova - come with admiration, as Brian plays with hen gestation; starting with a curate's egg, then stretching your imagination. Beginning with a familiar smell, he pins your ear, a tale to tell; a gift for you of every nation, stand up and give a loud ova - tion!
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The Legacy [1]
	Hidden Corners 2 (June 2001)
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The Light of Achernar [17]
	The Last Continent: New Tails of Zothique, Shadowlands Press 1999
		ed. John Pelan
	Salome & Other Decadent Fantasies, Cosmos Books 2004
	Expanded into The Curse of the Coral Bride

		For me, the main reason for interest in this story is that it forms the germ around which, not only The Curse of the Coral Bride, but an entire six novel sequence will grow. Whether or not these novels of the far future will ever get written and published is of course, another question. So perhaps this story will be the subject of daydreams about what might have been. If so, then there's not a great deal from which we can speculate. For all intents and purposes, this is a fantasy with a faint medieval and mediterranian feel. There is nothing to suggest that in fact, the action is taking place on the inside of a Dyson sphere and perhaps when it was written, it wasn't, because Zothique is the creation of Clark Ashton Smith; set on a dying Earth, far in the future. My knowledge of Zothique goes no further, so neither will I. This story turns around Giraiazal, astrologer to the court of the island of Cyntrom, whose 'gift' seems to have more veracity than that of modern astrologers, without losing the dubiousness quality of that 'discipline'. Forecasts in Cyntrom have an ambiguous quality which can trip up even the wariest believer and leave them dealing with the most unexpected consequences. Nevertheless, Giraiazal seems able to maintain his position serving the royal family and mediating between its competing factions. He guides the kingdom through several episodes unitl fate comes knocking on his door. Actually, the signs for Coral Bride seem quite good on the strength of this, because it is a good story. I have of course, no knowledge of Zothique, so I can't tell whether any Clark Ashton Smith fan should follow this up, but I do know Brian's ability to undermine expectations while delivering the goods.
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The Light of Transfiguration [7] (as Brian Craig)
	Red Thirst, GW 1990
		ed. David Pringle
	Red Thirst, Boxtree 1995
		ed. David Pringle
	The Laughter of the Dark Gods, Games Workshop Black Library 2002
		ed. David Pringle
	Translated into Polish as:
		'Swiatlo Przemiany' in Czerwone Pragnienie ed. David Pringle, Games Workshop 1995

		When the holy Sisters of Shallya are invited to build a temple on the site of a destroyed citadel, they are not too pleased. However, given certain assurances and some help with the donkey work, they set about clearing the site. This is when Sister Adalia discovers the remnants of a stained glass window and since her father made such windows for a living, she sets about collecting all the remains, so she can reconstruct the glass. After some weeks she is discovered by the other nuns and has to continue her work surreptitiously... I liked this one, it has a strong Poe feel to it.

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The Lost Romance [5]
	The Chronicles of the Holy Grail, Raven 1996
		ed. Michael Ashley

		Brother Simon is a scribe who discovers an old Welsh scroll among the records of the abbey at Valle Crucis, which purports to give the location of the Holy Grail. Despite being sceptical about the document, the abbot has to send Brother Simon and the scroll to the abbey of Rievaulx, so the abbot there can make further investigations. On the way to Rievaulx, Brother Simon is captured by bandits and is forced to sing for his supper... Here Brian fuses two English legends in a very ingenious way; though really this is a meditation on the nature of history.
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Lucifer's Comet [3] (as Francis Amery)
	Interzone 111 (September 1996)

		Another playful story with Brian using a character who inherits a famous name and has to live down the consequences. This time young Edmond is inspired to go comet hunting and won't accept anything less than a showstopper...
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