Rik Bogen: Timeshifter

It is a cube. A perfect cube, almost, at least down to the quantum uncertainty level where such stuff is important.Other than that peculiarity it does not seem to… More

Habits

I“Thank you,” Mary Brown said with a polite and sing-song cheerfulness, accepting the bill from the hand of old Mrs. Dowding. As her fingers touched in the price numbers,… More

Gulfisland Ferry Road

Little Joe hit Buster from behind with a three-foot section of galvanized steel, hit him so hard the single flat note of it echoed through the welding shop like… More

The Man From Far Away

While clearing out his closet on the day he was to leave his home forever, my father, momentarily alert, unyieldingly stoic, and eighty-eight years at it, offers me an… More

The Septembers of Shiraz

CHAPTER 27Isaac stretches his legs, tapping them with his fingers to help his blood circulate. He is glad to have a sink in his room; he rinses his face… More

The Maias

One dreary December day of heavy rain, Afonso da Maia was sitting in his study reading, when the door flew open; he looked up and saw Pedro standing before… More

Bwana Burton’s Binoculars

“Tell me, Baba Sidi, I’ve never understood, what exactly did you do on that journey?”“Good question.”“You didn’t carry…”“True.”“You didn’t fight…”“True.”“You didn’t cook…”“True.”“You didn’t wash clothes…”“There were others to do… More

Excerpt of The Lion Dreaming

I invented Rome. The new Rome. The Rome where life is sweet, the place people imagine when they hear the name—that was my idea. It was just an idea,… More