Andromeda Spaceways #43 Sort of Mostly Out

I know that Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine issue 43 is out because I physically possess two copies of it, and it's real and I can prod it and everything.  Since my copies arrived all the way from Australia, I believe it's probably been out for a couple of weeks.  But since ASIM's website still has #42 listed as the current issue, I'm not sure if it's actually possible to buy it.


I was going to wait until it was purchasable before posting, but as anyone who knows me will testify, I have all the patience of a toddler with a sugar rush.  So ... ASIM #43, including my story The Painted City, is almost entirely out.  Frankly, even if I had a bit more willpower I'd still have folded when my copies arrived because it's really kind of fantastic.  The cover, as you can see, is lovely - who doesn't dig demonic walrusses?  There's also plenty of nice art inside by the same guy, Greg Hughes.  My one small complaint regarding the last issue I was in, number thirty, was the flimsy paper cover that suffered in crosscontinental transit, but that's been thoroughly addressed by the shift to perfect-bound format.  And this being ASIM, the quality of the fiction is pretty much a cert.

I know I've said this before recently, and I don't doubt I'll say it again, but The Painted City is one of my personal favourites from amongst the stuff I've had out.  In this case, I guess it's more because I can switch off my author brain and actually enjoy the story.  It's a grand, galaxy-and-decades-spanning tale told from multiple perspectives, and somehow it all fits neatly into under 6000 words.  I doubt I could pull it off again, but I think I got it right this one time.