New Kindle Book: The Uncertainty Bridge

Following on from the last post, I've also released some of my 'cyberpunk' near future Earth tales on one collection on Amazon Kindle, The Uncertainty Bridge.

This will be the first of several of my science fiction works collected again, and my foray into the world on online publishing.

Here is the blurb:

Black Water — in a poverty stricken Africa, water specialist Joseph Nuwangi hopes to scam a corporation, but will his conscience be his own undoing?

Aftermath — in a continent at war with itself, Donna Young is forced by a neural implant to obey every command of her superior, but can she protect herself from him?

The Uncertainty Bridge — a world decimated by plagues, Geoff Harbin finds he has gained sudden and unexpected encyclopaedic knowledge, but what price does the information demand?

In the vein of Iain M Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Peter F Hamilton and Neal Asher, The Uncertainty Bridge features three novellas from Australian science fiction author, David Conyers.Click to add text, images, and other content.

Two Reviews of "The Uncertainty Bridge"

Two reviews of "The Uncertainty Bridge", which appeared in Jupiter #30, have just appeared on the Intranet. The first by Sam Tomaino appeared in SFRevu:

The fiction concludes with "The Uncertainty Bridge" by David Conyers. Humanity has almost entirely wiped it self out with plagues and environmental disaster. Geoff lives on a farm with his parents and sister, Jo. His parents have fallen asleep and cannot be wakened. His sister is exhibiting the same symptoms but before sleeping babbles odd bits of information. He rides into town and finds everyone there dead. When he encounters soldiers, he finds out the true horror of his situation. This one left a real chill.

The second appeared on SFCrowsnest, by Rod MacDonald:

The final story and the longest of the quartet was ‘The Uncertainty Bridge’ by David Conyers. This well-known author from Sydney, Australia, is no stranger to the pages of ‘Jupiter’ and many other magazines out there. I've always been impressed by the readability and delivery of his fiction and, with this story, he maintains his standards impeccably...

A really great story and one you should definitely read. The other stories were very good but I've got to say that this one was the best. While I should not get into the habit of selecting the best, agreeing that all fiction has its merits in different areas, I think this story by David Conyers would be the best in any magazine at the moment.

I like the bit about 'readability, I've always strived to do that with my fiction, so it's nice to see that I'm succeeding. The last line is very nice too!

Jupiter 30 featuring "The Uncertainty Bridge"

Jupiter Magazine 30: Hermippe edited by Ian Redman is out now, and features my science fiction novella "The Uncertainty Bridge". The issue also features fiction from Jude Coulter-Pultz, Colin P. Davies and Louis Shalako, and poetry by Ian Sales. Cover art is by Paul Drummond. An extract of my story follows:

THE UNCERTAINTY BRIDGE

Geoff’s parents wouldn’t wake, even when he shook them. His sister, Jo, stood behind him clutching her hands to her chest. She was holding back her tears. They both wanted their parents to wake so they could laugh about it, and later say that nothing had ever been wrong today.

“Mum,” Geoff shook the frail, limp body of his parent. There was no response.

Sickness was no stranger to Harwood. Colds, flus and the occasional bout of pneumonia or glandular fever afflicted several villagers each winter, but what their parents’ illness might be was a mystery. They had slept through the all of yesterday and the next morning without stirring once.

Geoff carefully peeled his mother’s eyelid open revealing a dilated pupil ringed by aggravated blood vessels. He waved his hand past her face and she made no attempt to follow it. Blood trickled from her nose and ears. He looked on their father and he too was bleeding. Slow trickles from both.

Jo inhaled. “What’s wrong with them?”

“I don’t know.” Geoff felt for pulses. They raced as if their parents were running a marathon.

Jo took a step backwards, covered herself in the shadow of the hallway. “It looks serious, whatever they’ve got.”

“It is serious, okay!” Geoff snapped, more unkindly than he intended. “Look, I’m sorry Sis,” he said in a softer tone, “it’s just that I’ve got a shocking headache.”

“Worried about yourself? Aren’t you worried about them?”

“I’m course I am. It’s just... It’s just that I’m finding it hard to think straight.” He scratched the stubble on his chin. His sister and he sounded like bickering teenagers rather than the adults in their early twenties they were supposed to be.

Jo shrugged, bit a fingernail. “I can’t think straight either, but do you see me complaining?”
Frustrated Geoff sighed. He was trying to help by understanding the situation, but he had nothing.

“Geoff, we really need to do something.”

"The Uncertainty Bridge" released and "Dream Machine" Reviewed

Two exciting pieces of news for me, my post-apocalyptic science fiction novella "The Entropy Collapse" comes out soon in Jupiter 30 : Hermippe, which becomes my fourth consecutive sale for the magazine edited by Ian Redman.

Second piece of news, "Dream Machine" in Scenes from the Second Storey has just been positively reviewed at The Specusphere. Here is what Katherine Petersen and Damien Smith, the reviewers said about my story:

“Dream Machine” by David Conyers opens the literary concert and sets the mood wonderfully with a tale of the creation of Hell’s Assassin. Being the opening story of a compilation such as this was a hefty ask, but Conyers succeeds in not only conjuring up a dark and sinister atmosphere for the next stories to follow, but also gives a nod to several other stories through his hall of painting stalked by the assassin himself.

“The Uncertainty Bridge” to appear in Jupiter 30

I just learnt that Ian Redman, editor of Jupiter Magazine has accepted my science fiction novella “The Uncertainty Bridge” for Issue 30, out later in the year. That’s three publications in this magazine now, my first short story sale for 2010, and it puts me on six new short stories out for this year.

“The Uncertainty Bridge” is set several hundred years from now, set in an isolated community suffering a severe winter in the aftermath of a distant apocalyptic catastrophe. A pandemic sends almost all the citizens into comas, but not before they start remembering technical details about Earth’s previous accomplishments.