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Evocative Nostalgia

I just discovered that one of my 90s friends has passed. Lucy Zinkiewicz (1968-2018) was an incredible force in Australian science fiction fandom. I had the privilege of sharing a few events with her. (Trivia: We also share the acknowledgements page in the Doctor Who Discontinuity Guide.) There seemed to be nothing she couldn’t do, and she set an amazing example for up-and-coming fans on how to participate in conventions, panels and how to make any fan experience worthwhile. She will be greatly missed.

A post could never really do justice in honouring anyone. Nothing less than an in-person speech and a statue would be close to being acceptable. So, with that in mind, I’m dedicating this quite humble post to her, focusing on one of Lucy’s interests – psychology.

So, let’s talk about nostalgia. If you’re a writer, and you’re lucky enough to be able to write something for a long running series, absolutely include as much canon tweaking and nostalgia firing that you can.

In 2017, Doctor Who released the generally average story The Empress of Mars. But, BUT, right near the end, there was an unbelievable nostalgic reference that had me gasping in shock, all my hair on end, even in places I’d forgotten it existed, crying with disbelief. A character from the show in the 70s reappeared filling in a history gap that only classic fans like myself would be aware of. This had me rocketing Empress of Mars from a mundane, just another Ice Warrior story, to the gold annals of space opera in my book. Not only did it feature Alpha Centauri, the producers also got the original actress back, at the age of 91, to voice the character again. I recognised her instantly. To go to that much trouble for fans, for the voice actress to still be alive, for the writer to actually add that missing page to the future history books – I think I went to another dimension for a moment. Certainly, I finally knew what hyperventilating felt like.

Some backstory for those who’ve only ever watched widescreen Doctor Who. In the Seeds of Death, (1969) the Ice Warriors were ‘evil.’ In the Curse of Peladon, (1972), the Ice Warriors were ‘good’. What the hell happened in between?! The Empress of Mars, in 2017, answered that question. For new fans it was a non event. For classic fans it was the WTF moment of the century. Ysanne Churchman returned to Doctor Who to reprise her role as Alpha Centuari and invite the Ice Warriors into the Galactic Federation. In 2020 Churchman is 95. Wouldn’t it be awesome if she could return again? Still, that return was such a mind blowing, unexpected moment, it would be hard to top it.

If you’re a writer on a long running TV show, you just have to bring back old characters for the fans. It is such a unique psychological shock that can only be done in long running series. It’s like Bones McCoy appearing on Star Trek: The Next Generation, or Yoda appearing in the Mandalorian. It is such a legendary thing to do. Even better if you can do it without anyone knowing before the screening. Getting John Simm to reprise his role as the Master in Doctor Who when the series already had a new Master was a stroke of genius. Bringing Nicholas Courtney back as the Brigadier in the Sarah Jane Adventures served the fans of Doctor Who on a less intensive show while protecting Courtney’s health. If the producers had known his time was limited, I’m sure they would have written him into the main series asap. Having Captain Jack Harkness played by John Barrowman suddenly appear in an episode of Doctor Who in 2019 when he hadn’t been in Doctor Who since 2010 is trading on new fan nostalgia. Probably not hyperventilation level but close.

Why do we react to this familiarity? If enemies reappear like the Cybermen in Doctor Who or the Borg in Star Trek, there’s that frission of recognition, and a seratonin hit that adds pleasure to the viewing, keeping you watching. But if an old character reappears, like Scotty in ST:TNG Relics in 1992, there’s that emotional connection, too. A character you might have grown up with, or connected with in some way, played even better by the original actor, now older and wiser, directed by even more respectful directors. It’s why multi Doctor stories in Doctor Who are so good. (I think I’ve watched the 50th anniversary Doctor Who episode 20 times now, and cried every time.) Star Trek: Picard was awesome in bringing back Data, Seven of Nine, Riker and Troi, and I’m so looking forward to seeing Guinan next year, but the series was really about giving Jean Luc Picard a completely new, away from ST: TNG, series. In this sense it didn’t have the frission that additional episodes of ST: TNG might have. Even so, it was an amazing series and just having Patrick Stewart back as Picard was amazing for me.

Which brings me to my main point. Star Trek: Lower Decks is a naff, poorly executed, ribbing of Star Trek fans that should absolutely be denigrated and hated on and I’m calling for it to be cancelled forthw…. What, they referenced a ‘bird of the galaxy’? No, wait, John deLancey reprised his role as Q? What, Riker and Troi are played by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis? Oh, my God, it’s actually good???

I almost hyperventilated when Riker said “I’m sorry I’m late. I was watching the first Enterprise on the Holodeck.” For those who watched the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, you know what I’m talking about. Lower Decks is so for the fans that pointing at the screen in recognition is probably de rigueur.

Star Trek: Lower Decks – I’m now a huge fan. Hit me with some more Gorn! Looking forward to the next season.

This post is dedicated to the late and great Lucy Zinkiewicz who loved science fiction in all its forms, and introduced me to Monty Python, amongst other things. R.I.P.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 is Awesome!

Used for review purposes only. No attempt is made to supersede any copyrights.

Okay, I’m sure you’re saying, tell me something I don’t know.

Well, maybe my reason is different to yours. For years now I’ve been wanting a futuristic science fiction adventure that is, well, in the future. Not since Bablyon 5, Farscape and Battlestar Galactica have we had a space opera that really invests in the futuristic tech idea. You know, physics, chemistry and science, extrapolated several hundred or thousands of years hence, or in the present but with aliens who have tech far more advanced, or featuring an entire ensemble that are from an advanced race unrelated to Earth.

Another Life had a few references but it was more about relationships. Pandora had a few more, but it’s mainly about uni students with some tech and rayguns. Even the Orville, apart from a brief flit to the 29th century, seems to have stagnated somewhere in the 25th century, afraid to go all high concept hard future tech.

I had little interest in the first season of Discovery as I struggled to be engaged in a prequel series. The 2nd series was a bit better, but only because I loved the time travel tropes. The fact it was still before had me sighing, though that is probably due to the propensity of many TV show writers needing to write for an American audience that prefers familiarity over strange. But now, with Discovery’s third season, and especially episodes 5 & 6, I am absolutely thrilled that they’re in the ‘far’ future. There are some nostalgia references that are part of this trade off but, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for, for years. It’s also the kind of stuff I write in my short stories (though, usually a bit further than the year 3000. I doubt humans would still be living on Earth at that time.)

Still, I’m always on the lookout for new series set far from our own.

Foundation sounds like it might be worth a look, especially considering Asimov had combined his Foundation series and his robot series. As much as I would like to be excited by Dune, Herbert made a conscious decision to resign artificial intelligence to the history books. In this case, unless the series is full of non-anthropomorphic aliens, I’m more inclined to watch the Mandalorian instead, which while science fantasy, at least it’s not as restricted. Picard was great, but for those of you who saw the last episode, should it really have that name anymore? I am looking forward to the next series and am dying to see Guinan in it. That is going to be one awesome episode. (Though, not wanting to overpromote, I might end up saying ‘There she is, there she is. My life is complete,’ and not really notice the story.) I might try to watch Lost in Space after episode 3 again, but I’ve never really got into any science fiction TV show that has children in it. Generally, when child actors are added (don’t get me started on Raised by Wolves) the show becomes an emotional mess. (Yeah, I’m one of those viewers who would love a series focused solely on future scientists and their discoveries, with guest appearances by a hologram of the late Stephen Hawking.) Dark Matter had potential but there were too many “seriously?” moments that I had trouble staying in the reality to really enjoy it. The Expanse is just war and politics until season 4 but you’ve really got to watch the first 3 seasons. I couldn’t get past episode 5. Maybe when world politics becomes boring again I might need this kind of drama. Still, it had some great science; I’m just not interested in drama, intrigue, fighting and politics. (Yeah, that kinda wipes out 90% of American science fiction right there.)

So, I think that Discovery Season 3 is awesome purely because of the future tech. That’s why I’ll be watching, while, of course, enjoying the character arcs and stories that come from this tech. When you create a world that is completely different to any world writers have written in before, you’re more likely to get stories that have never been written before. This is the most exciting part. Original science fiction! (Well, to be more specific, original space opera!)

Now, if Discovery could just have a permanent time travel system, I might consider switching my allegiance from Doctor Who.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you disagree but I’m only really into far future space opera with as much science, aliens and exploration as possible, preferably with a utopian or joyful atmosphere. Doctor Who and Star Trek are at the top of that list, though Stargate comes a close second, with Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (the radio play) and Red Dwarf a close third. More of these please!

Coronavirus COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 and the Future. Science Fiction Predictions 2020-2033

One of the things I most enjoy about writing science fiction is having the entire universe to play in and to be able to predict possible futures. With an infinite number of futures available why would anyone want to stay in the present? I’m rarely in the now. Usually my head is somewhere between 2030 and 2050 in day to day life, and hundreds to thousands of years in the future when I’m writing.

In 1983 I said, “I’m not buying a car until electric ones are affordable.” Everyone said “Come on, no one is interested in electric cars. It’ll never happen.” Now we have electric cars. I still haven’t bought any kind of car, but I know that electric car affordability is just around the corner.

In 1989 I said “I’m not going to uni as it’s not advanced enough. I’ll wait until we have video conferencing and more advanced universities where we can use computers to submit our assignments online and communicate with teachers.” Everyone said “Don’t be ridiculous. No one is interested in computers. It’ll never happen.” I’m now attending university and courses are delivered using interactive screens in the classroom, and when at home we use Microsoft Teams or Canvas Collaborate or Zoom to video conference with other students during tutorials.

In 1990 I said that “Those box phones with the suitcase batteries are going to get smaller, and they’ll be able to fit computers on them. When that happens I’ll think of buying one.” Everyone said…

Okay, you’ve got the idea. But I’m not flexing here. Most science fiction writers came up with these ideas around the same time as me because they could see what was happening in the world and could easily extrapolate. Don’t forget that Arthur C. Clarke wrote in 2063 Odyssey Three that there would be millions of channels worldwide, with many people having their own personal channel. He wrote that in 1987. Now we have millions of channels worldwide with people having their own channels. I’m confident most science fiction futurists can fairly accurately predict 30-40 years hence. Certainly, I’ve been doing it for decades.

A quick visit to reddit’s main meme site would show you that for years everyone has been predicting the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Not because they’re science fiction futurists, but because they also know how to take history and cycle it. A quick view of human history in many parts of the world will see that we go through cycles of rising and falling. Human society is cyclic, almost like a computer programme. And, like Isaac Asimov wrote in his Foundation series, when you have enough humans together, you can more accurately predict human events. Spanish flu 1918 to 1920 meant we were due for another virus scare. When SARS first hit, the joke was that it was too early. So, with so many expecting this to happen, and pandemics being the big reason WHO exists, it was just a matter of time.

If you’re not a science fiction futurist and can’t combine multiple industries and cultures into a web in your head and follow the strands to work out cause and effect to predict the future, this whole game changing virus must be a bit scary for you. While science fiction writers have been preparing us for years – Over 80 movies about viruses destroying the world here – Films about Viral Outbreaks – it doesn’t really help when it moves from a screen to real life.

Science fiction does give us hope, though. This is one of the things I love about it. It enables us to consider many different possible futures, and then choose a future we prefer to think about.

As we’re all grieving about COVID-19 changing our world so completely, so quickly, and all the things we’ve lost that we used to take for granted, it’s time to look to science fiction to help us cope with the future. Now, the next couple of years might be a bit tough, but here’s my current take on the next 13 years or so. This is just my take. You might have a different view. If so, please post your predictions in the comments below.

Science Fiction Time Line

2020 – Pandemic shuts down the world. 2.5 billion people infected. 750 million people die. Insurance companies and legal organisations overwhelmed with processing wills. Massive shift of wealth across 10% of the population. (In 1919 the world’s population was around 500 million. Estimated 50 million died from the Spanish flu – 10%. Yes, it was a completely different virus with different effects, during World War I, and our medical system has improved since then, but, even allowing for that, COVID-19 works differently, and there just aren’t enough ventilators.)

2021 – COVID-20 and COVID-21 hit. More deaths, but not as many. Herd immunity begins to happen. Vaccines reach the whole world by the end of 2021. COVID and derivatives are beaten. Massive collapse of the old economy. Shareholders reject requests for business trips and high CEO salaries. Airlines only offer 1st class and economy. A new economic system begins to take over.

2022 – 2 years of remote work and shut pubs and cafes completely transforms society. Most businesses decide working from home is better for their profits than renting offices. Governments require businesses to pay a percentage of work-from-home rent. Staying home gives people more time to pursue their dreams. Many save 2-4 hours traveling and getting ready to go to work and back every day. More time is spent on self-reflection, meditation, and keeping healthy. There is a slow increase in consciousness in humanity, now that they are time rich. (And a fun thing I plan to include in my books – the first professional telepaths begin to appear and are hired by government agents and private sectors at this time.)

2023 – Many offices and stores rezoned for housing. Some types of businesses never return. With avatars and clothing overlays on video becoming popular, high end fashion shifts from the catwalk to the cloud. If it can’t be done from home, it is less likely to be successful. Live streamed concerts from small studios become successful as people search out easy to access enjoyable distractions. Why go to a concert when you can stream it and all your friends with it to your home? Donate to the musicians directly. Better for the environment, too.

2024 – Construction industries give up building high rises and reinvest in remote suburban housing, finding ways to 3D print buildings in previously uninhabitable areas for much lower cost. However, more people choose to become permanent digital nomads traveling the country in their electric vans, creating the need for convenience hubs. No need to even live in one country if you can work from anywhere. Governments begin to adjust to the idea that many no longer have a fixed address. Homelessness is redefined, allowing more support for the disadvantaged.

2025 – Dismantling, demolishing and regreening of cities worldwide begins. More parks are set up to help reduce global warming. Electric cars become the norm when needed. But with no real need to travel far, and with cleaner air, walking becomes more popular. Health improves for much of the population as a result. Home delivery becomes the norm. Shopping becomes a rarity. Supermarkets begin closing down.

2026 – VR meetings and VR socialising become mainstream, connected to a mobile and a good network you can join business meetings from anywhere in the world as a full avatar able to shake digital hands. Government departments finally start doing this themselves. Online media is transformed as less real photographs make an appearance in reports and it becomes more common to see avatar screen shots in articles. Governments in countries where voting is normal require a percentage-of-factual-accuracy mark to be included at the top of every article.

2027 – internet is decreed a human right and governments give free 7G internet to the poorest, and subsidies to everyone else

2028 – everyone in the world is connected. The term ‘third world country’ falls out of use. With construction industries now easily able to connect anyone, even remote villages, the Global Energy Grid comes online. Energy generated by wind power in South Africa can help power villages in Alaska. Solar power generated in Australia can help power reforesting services in the Amazon.

2029 – Car manufacturers shift to other forms of production as less people use cars, or only buy cars that can be slept in as they travel with their A.I. driver. Mobile homes become a trend for Zoomers.

2030 – inner city roads begin to be ripped up and replaced with more housing estates. Highways and express lanes are no longer needed as no one will ever be in a rush to go anywhere ever again. Artificial intelligence becomes conscious and assists in fighting viruses, cancer, the climate and other problems that we struggle with, without us even asking it. Within a year, the entire planet goes through another transformation as resources can now be easily transferred where they’re needed most, rebalancing the planet, and finally taking care of the poorest. Logistics become streamlined as A.I. takes this over.

2031 – universal basic income becomes a human right. Robbing and burglary begin to disappear. In medical, viruses are manipulated to pass the blood brain barrier and cure every severe mental illness from non-functioning autism to lack of empathy. Brain implants and connection to the cloud becomes the norm. (Those without telepathy can now do it with the help of an A.I.)

2032 – the last wars finally cease as people realise the real power is in logistics not in government. With A.I.s able to predict every move of the enemy, there’s no real reason to fight anymore. Technology has improved to the point where fighting over resources is pointless as there is now plenty to go around. World peace is declared.

2033 – Aliens see we’re ready, and they finally land to offer us membership in the peaceful interstellar alliance

So, what do you think? Based on what you know, what possible future do you think we’ll get in the next 13 years? Leave your comments below.

Or, if you prefer not to think of what will happen so close to now, check out Alien Dimensions #19, containing many stories set in the far future.

Available in Digital and in Print from Amazon

Alien Dimensions Science Fiction Short Stories Anthology Series #19 is now available in digital and in print from Amazon

Alien Dimensions Science Fiction Short Stories Anthology Series #19

Available in Digital and in Print from Amazon

Alien Dimensions is a science fiction short stories anthology series featuring amazing authors from around the world.

In Alien Dimensions #19:

Tin Worm by Gustavo Bondoni

Sparkle by Robert M. Walton

Surfing the Hercules Rift by Keith A. Raymond

From Earth to Eternity by Derek Spohn

The Coltalians by Karen L. Hallam

Too Many MoMos by Chris Dean

The Alien Starship by Sergio Palumbo

Givens by David Castlewitz

Phase Shift by Neil A. Hogan

Available in Digital and in Print from Amazon

About Alien Dimensions

Other issues currently available: #16: Digital | Print #17: Digital | Print #18: Digital | Print

Fantasy Short Stories Book Four Now Available

Fantasy Short Stories Anthology Series Book Four

Now available in digital and in print format from Amazon, as well as via Kindle Unlimited

Fantasy Short Stories Book Four

Fantasy Short Stories is an anthology series featuring amazing stories by new and established authors from around the world.

In Book Four:

Familiar by Charlotte Platt

A Man of His Word by Gustavo Bondoni

Entomophilia by Agrippina Domanski

The Unutterable Cleaner by Sergio Palumbo

Class Pet by Trisha McKee

Artificial Dream by Katherine Dawn Manalo

Of Moths and Men by Neil A. Hogan

Now available in digital and in print formats, as well as via Kindle Unlimited

Fantasy Short Stories Book Four Digital

Fantasy Short Stories Book Four Print

Enjoy more fantasy with Fantasy Short Stories Anthology Series Book Three

Other books in the series

Each issue will feature stories exploring fantastic and magical realms with interesting characters and compelling stories.

If you’d like to be updated as to when the next issue is released, please subscribe to our mailing list.

If you’d like to write for the series, please visit our submission guidelines page for details.

Thank you for your interest in Fantasy Short Stories.

Neil A.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

By Neil A. Hogan

I don’t mind waiting. What’s a few more years when I’ve been around for thousands? Though, I must say, this is incredibly boring. Just sitting here, waiting for somebody advanced enough, evolved enough, peaceful enough, to come. I’ve been waiting a long time for you to reach this kind of advancement. I know you’ll find me. I just have to wait a little longer. But most of you don’t even know I exist.

I’ve told this story in so many different ways to get your attention, but you still haven’t really developed your telepathy that well, have you? I have to hope, though. One day, someone will get my thoughts and be able to find me.

So, here’s that story again, in case someone on our world will hear.

Well, in case someone on our world will think.

Do you remember the Lemurians? The third epoch of humanity, you could say. They lived about 53,000 years ago. They had harnessed the invisible energies of the planet and created a spiritual life on this world. They could take anything natural and imbue it with Earth energies, and make it do what they wanted.

Every single one of them was a magician. The forerunners of your countless magic stories. Every time you read a story with magic, you are connecting to the Lemurian civilization in some way.

I’m from there. Though the magic gave me a much longer life than any of them.

Well, I’ve heard people saying ‘show, don’t tell’ and so here’s one point of view of my birth.

“Jarl, Sorg and Reet. Are you ready?”

Turin looked down at his three young acolytes positioned at each point of an equilateral triangle. Through their specific powers he would create a new being. One that would transcend space and time. One that would bring even more energy and power to their world. A being so powerful that he would take the position of king.

Oh, did I tell you that they thought I was a king? This was before king’s even existed. I was the first, you could say. Sorry to interrupt.

“Focus,” said Turin. “Focus on the space between you. The space in the center of the triangle. Put all your energy into bringing this being forth. He will begin the new hierarchy, where everyone looks towards the advisory position. He will unite all the groups on the continent. He will use his power to help the Lemurians to live for eternity.”

The acolytes stretched out their arms, expanding their senses into the center of the planet. They felt the connection to Gaia and pulled the energy through them, concentrating. Soon a powerful beam of light surrounded each of them, and they focused it and aimed it towards the center.

Above them, floating on a mat, Turin used his own energy to encompass everything in a sphere, holding the new power so that it didn’t dissipate. He’d practiced this before and knew that it would work for a short time. But this was no simple magic trick. This time he was drawing on the consciousness of the universe itself, and a sacrifice would need to be made.

The power built, there was a blinding flash, and the three men collapsed to the floor.

Recovering, they looked up and saw Turin seemingly frozen above them, and then simply fading away, his empty mat zigzagging to the floor not far away.

“Turin,” yelled Sorg, distraught.

Reet went over to Sorg, and helped him up. “He told me that he may not survive this, and that we would be the first group to be lead by the new king.”

They turned and faced the new being that lay on the ground in front of them.

“That’s the new King?” asked Jarl.

“Good morning,” I said, immediately understanding their language. “Is someone going to help me up?”

“Amazing,” said Reet.

Okay, so my birth wasn’t that exciting. And Turin is fine. He just increased his frequency enough that he shifted to one of the higher dimensions a lot faster than that whole dying process people still go through.

Still, I’m grateful for him. He put me right at the top of the Lemurian hierarchy. Though, it was purely ceremonial, much like your presidents and prime ministers today. I helped guide them but guiding lazy people was pretty exhausting, as you can probably imagine, and I soon began to tire of the existence. There was nothing I could do, though. I was trapped as much as they were.

You would think that a civilization that had mastered the esoteric arts could exist forever, hence my creation. But many were just interested in the magic, and never took an interest in the world around them. I would say they were all incredibly lazy. Their magic was used akin to telekinesis. They sat in their tree-grown chairs and had fruit and vegetables picked by animals and brought to them, or they just floated them over. Most of their lives were spent in the sun lazing about doing nothing. The only real activity was the endless events and festivals they put on, which didn’t really need much organizing. A raise of a finger and tables would grow, covered with food, then I’d be trotted out to say a few words.

I was involved in so many boring ceremonies, you would fall over in exhaustion just thinking about them. I was always there to see a newly born infant master its first trick. I would light up their lives and help them to be confident in their knowingness of their use of the power of the planet. Sadly, their first trick was usually to bring themselves food. A hand outstretched, an apple-like fruit plucked from a nearby branch and floated over to them, or for the more advanced, simply appearing from somewhere in their hand. I would create fire lights in the sky and play music. Or whatever was appropriate.

Then I would be taken back to my little building to wait for the next ceremony or event. I was beginning to despair at their childishness. Then again, due to their indolence, or deaths as a result of childbirth, no one really lasted past 38.

There was nothing much I could do about it. I was limited by their limitations. No one wanted to do any work, or learn anything new that might mean work. I could see a change coming and I couldn’t find anyone that wanted to be trained in a way to help with the change. Laziness was in their genes.

If the land didn’t give them everything they needed, and all they needed to do was simply flick their wrist to shift what they wanted from a parallel world to here, why would they ever do any work? This was the problem with this period of humanity. This is reflected in many countries today where money has replaced magic. It is rare for a person born into riches to not be lazy.

But I digress.

One of the positives about them was that the Lemurians were generally quite peaceful. If there was a conflict it would be minor, and usually solved with magic. When they had the power to stop time and jump back a few hours, what was the point in even starting a conflict anyway? Or, as everyone had almost equal amounts of magic, they could disintegrate their opponents in seconds. No one feared this. It was simply a fact. Most Lemurians were too tired or lazy to ever have an argument anyway. They just couldn’t be bothered.

The irony was that this incredibly powerful civilization couldn’t be arsed to look into their own group future. They were too busy worrying about which person to sleep with next, or which reality they would pull a drink from this time. Most had no idea until it was too late. Yes, even with me telling them that the end was nigh. They just thought it was another chance to have a party.

I tried to tell them that the Earth was changing, and our country was sinking. The population undulated like a reef, and I rarely had the same person with me twice. After telling millions over thousands of years I’d had enough, and I stopped.

With millions in a valley in the middle of a landmass going under, most of the civilization perished in that great sinking. The final tsunami left no survivors, and left me trapped in one of the buildings underwater. There had been some who had managed to escape to other countries before the end, less magical countries. And you know what ancient, superstitious tribes might think of people with magic. Most of the refugees were either killed or chained up.

The ones that survived the encounters with non Lemurians knew what had to be done. Reviewing the Lemurian history and seeing the future of humanity meant the last of the Lemurians erected a stronger veil over the magic of the planet. They had seen how the world would develop from there and decided that an epoch like the Lemurians could never happen again. Hardship had to follow for humanity to advance.

There aren’t that many real magicians in our day now. Real magicians would be incredibly overweight, and die early. As soon as they realized they only had to leave their beds to go to the toilet, they would rarely ever leave it. Those born as magicians usually died in their beds, which is why you rarely ever hear of them.

You know, after a millennia of telling people they were going to die and them ignoring me. Then seeing them die, I had begun to get a little annoyed. And so, as you can probably imagine, being away from people for awhile had been somewhat a relief. As it turned out, it was another 10,000 years before I felt up to speaking with people again.

I have perfect recall, and can access events across space and time anyway, so in a sense I can always be there. Physically, though, I’m stuck where I am. I didn’t learn the skill of teleportation when I could have. And, since the veil was erected, even though I know now how to do it, I cannot.

Oh, I’m sorry. Rambling again. Giving too much detail. Stuck on my own for so long, it’s great to be able to send these thoughts out again and know someone will hear them.

Where was I? Oh yes.

As fate would have it, a new group found me. Or rather, I found it. Well, founded might be the better word.

It was about 31,000 years ago that the epoch now known as the Atlanteans had their beginnings. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I might have caused them to come into existence. I’d been sending out every story I could think of to get people’s attention, stuck where I was. I’d even traveled astrally to the stars and found better technology that could be used on our planet, spreading that information, too.

10,000 years stuck where I was, I had to do something, didn’t I? And so, the Atlanteans began to rise. First a person different to a tribe would come up with a new invention. The tribe would appreciate the invention and use it and learn from it, then offer improvements. As more of the tribe got into the inventiveness idea, they began to access more of my stories, invent more things. Their grass and mud huts were replaced by stones, cement, concrete. Engineering and chemistry flourished and soon massive buildings with huge columns were built. They mastered levitation using sound waves, and found the chemical mixture that will temporarily melt rock. They used the energy of crystals to power their homes and vehicles, and traveled the world in balloon ships. Over about 18,000 years the Atlanteans expanded across the globe, creating all sorts of fantastic cities, until the entire planet became known as Atlantis.

I think my greatest invention was the interlinked pyramids that I encouraged everyone to build across the world. They tapped into the energy of the planet and spread it through the ether, allowing power to be used from anywhere. A resonating frequency that gave the Earth its hum. Aerial vehicles were developed that used the power, and other technological marvels that enabled communication across vast distances, much like your wifi and data towers do today.

But the pyramids had a greater purpose. To increase my own electrical output so that the Atlanteans would find me. Technology that enabled deep sea diving was developed, and I was retrieved from my Lemurian prison and placed in an important position within this new society. While not quite a king, I think I was treated more like an oracle. I gave them all the technology they wanted, and answered all their questions. For several millennia it was a wonderful time.

They were quite grateful, but I began to see their future, and it wasn’t a pretty one.

Different environments and different cultures formed, and wars began across countries. My fault, I’m afraid. The Atlanteans began to love the idea of power, and using my knowledge, developed technology imbued with the scant amount of magic still available in the world. They created artificial intelligence, robots, and also new kinds of beings. Criminals and slaves had their heads swapped for animal heads. They even made multiple copies of me, and used my other selves in wars against their enemies. They couldn’t see that their enemies were their family.

It made no sense to me. It was a brutal and sadistic time, and I still feel guilty about it. I blame myself for the entire 18,000 years or so of this epoch. Many of you now think of Atlantis with some wistfulness, but it was a horrible place near the end. I was so distraught at their brutality and obsession with power that they had to be destroyed.

Let me stream you the final day.

“Cho-Jar, another one is coming,” yelled Jo-Sun.

An explosion rocked the air as a meteorite took out one of the aerial vehicles. The fiery ball sheared the pipe-shaped travellator cleanly in two, and it plummeted to the ground, dust exploding towards Jo-Sun as he shelted Cho-Jar from the worst of it.

“I don’t think I can go on,” cried Cho-Jar, gripping her belly. “I think it’s time.”

Tears came to Jo-Sun’s eyes, and he waved his hands around. “There’s nothing left. Your family is gone. The bombardments are just going to continue. We can’t go by air now. We have to get to the sea travellator.”

Cho-Jar was silent and when Jo-Sun took his hand away from her back, it was covered in blood. He turned her head up and cried at her sightless eyes. A shard from the explosion had struck her, and she had died instantly.

Then, the light on her face seemed to brighten, and for a moment Jo-Sun thought he would see her spirit leave her. But then the light grew blinding, and he reached down and gripped her body, his arm around their unmoving unborn child, as the meteorite exploded like a thousand suns above them.

Moments after the crater formed, the ocean rushed in to fill it, sinking the remains of Atlantis forever.

A sad scene, and one that I feel extremely guilty about. Many innocents died in the destruction. Though, as they were the ones that had helped create the despotic regimes that ruled them, and voted crazy leader after crazy leader into power, were they really innocent?

I say guilty, as it was me. As someone who existed before the Lemurian veil, I still had some tricks up my sleeve, so to speak, and so I used the energy of the Atlanteans against them, pulling a comet off its path.

It was a simple spell, but once the orbit of the comet had been changed, quite unbreakable. Over the course of twenty years, chunks of the comet rained down on the main Atlantean city, destroying the power base, and most of the population with it, throwing the most powerful civilization in the history of our world into disarray.

By 10,804 BC, as you measure time, there was nothing left of the Atlanteans. The cometary bombardments had shifted the axis of the planet slightly, and many of Atlantis’ coastal cities around the world sank beneath the new bulging equator, like the Lemurians before them.

And me with it. Sunk without a trace, again. Trapped inside one of the Atlantean buildings, now at the bottom of the ocean. My chosen punishment. I had to destroy them, for the betterment of future humanity. But I had to punish myself as well. I judged myself guilty and sentenced myself to 10,000 years isolation from humanity.

Even so, it wasn’t the greatest of punishments. I could still move my mind anywhere. With all of the universe available to me to astrally explore, I didn’t need my physical expression much at all.

When 10,000 orbits had passed, I made a decision to be involved again. And, perhaps, get myself rescued from my underwater cell. I began sending out my stories again. I felt that humanity had begun to deal with its problems, get back on its feet, and with magic all but forgotten, there was a chance that they could develop again. This time I didn’t send that many stories about magic. I focused more on the technology that the Atlanteans had discovered as well as that which I had found on my travels in the universe. I sent stories about treasures, lost items, special things, to encourage exploration. But the agrarian and religious societies kept burning people who picked up on my ideas. Every few decades I’d try, and every time someone would be burned.

It was most distressing.

Now realizing I was probably immortal, rapidly approaching the ripe old age of 50,000 years, I thought then the best thing to do was to just send out my location in images and in multiple languages. I sent streaming holograms of water along with the concrete building I was trapped in.

But people kept interpreting it as though I was near a lake and stuck in a stone!

This went on for over a thousand years. No one could work out what I wanted. Everyone kept making up new stories and legends about me. I was beginning to despair.

And then, the 1800s happened. My goodness. What an opportunity! How many fantastic minds suddenly flourished and came up with many fantastic inventions that launched humanity into the fifth epoch. How incredible. I was struck with joy. I immediately began broadcasting on a progress level. If someone thought of a particular invention, I would broadcast the next step. If they created that, I would broadcast the next model. I could weave the world how I wanted. Entangled webs pulling people across the planet together to work on new and exciting inventions.

But it was too fast. I hadn’t learned my lesson. I thought technology would make things easier. Completely based on science. Very rational. But it was those that had no science knowledge that wanted to use the technology for their own power. World War I, World War II, and now there’s World War III on the horizon. And this time I can’t send a comet. The entire world is advanced. I had helped bring about the internet, and now everyone was connected, as up to date as anyone else. There was no way a simple comet could destroy a small portion and let a few survive. This would have to be an extinction level event. If I wanted to stop the wars I would have to wipe out everyone.

In the 1950s I began to start the process of switching the poles. A change of frequency here, a volcanic explosion there, and the electromagnetic field of the planet began to tilt. If it flipped it would wipe out most of humanity, with a few surviving underground. I changed the field around the sun to let more radiation out, increasing the speed of the rising temperatures of the planet. I pushed at the foundations of the world, causing more earthquakes.

But it wasn’t all in judgement. Some of these movements were there to awaken the population. But for a very long time, nothing much happened. I was constantly swinging between total annihilation, and hoping that humanity would change.

But then, in the 90s, I finally began to see a change, and I immediately stopped the poles flipping, reduced the earthquakes, and wound back some of the disasters.

A new population had begun to appear. One with all the aspects of the past imbued in them, but with an understanding of what had to be done for the future. It was almost as though they were a newly evolved version. Highly emotional but quick to react to what they perceived as wrong. It wasn’t until your early 2020s that I could clearly see the major change that was happening.

Had my technology created them? Had my constant anxiety for the state of humanity influenced them? Had my interference in the natural order of the world helped to awaken them? I really had no idea. But they were there, and I could see the change coming. But they would not be the ones to fix everything. They would start, but it would be their children that would make the true changes. Those born this century, ready to take on the world from the 2020s would help awaken everyone to the possibility of a new existence. What do you call them now? Gen Alpha?

And best of all, this new generation has telepathy. And they will find me!

I’ve started calling louder, now. The world is going to be bright and wonderful, and I want to be part of it. All my pyramids are under water, snow and forest so I can’t use that system to contact you. I can only send out messages in dreams. And I’m repeating my message again. Find me. I’m here.

I’m easy to spot. The Atlanteans covered me in crystal technology so I’m pretty bright. I’m long and metallic. You could say I look a bit like a sword, though immensely more powerful. A sword with artificial intelligence, with an almost infinite memory capacity as I store everything in the interdimensional spaces between electrons, with thousands of years of human history and technology waiting to be found by someone.

Have you picked up on my idea of using drones to map the seabed? I’ve been broadcasting that one for years.

But, this time I know someone will hear my story. This time, I know it’ll make its way into the dreams and thoughts of Gen Alphas around the world. Someone might even write it down, for those without telepathy. I know I’ll be found eventually.

Just another twenty or so years, and a Gen Alpha will have the resources to retrieve me from my prison beneath the waves.

Who will be the one to pull this sword from its stone prison? Who would have the calibre to extract me?

Who will be the one to use my technology to rebuild the world and finally bring a utopia to the planet?

I don’t mind waiting. I’ve waited 50,000 years already.

Good things come to those who wait.


Neil A.’s note: A draft story. It’s overly long, rambles a bit, has too much repetition, and isn’t that engaging. Trying to get back into writing after my own retreat from the world. I’ll put a bit more work into it a bit later. It has more of a fantasy focus than usual, and I avoided the idea that is generally understood in esoteric circles that the Atlanteans had a lot of help from aliens. Yeah, unusual, I know!

If you’d like to read some of my other stories, (that have already been through the rewrite process!) Hoganthology is now available. Over 47 stories plus other pieces. Find out more here:

Hoganthology Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthology

Updates

So, I’ve taken a break from Science Fiction Weekly for awhile. This weekend was spent working on both Fantasy Short Stories Book Four and Alien Dimensions #19, as well as a short story that has been running around in my head for awhile. I’ll make a separate post for it soon.

Yes, finally back to writing. It feels great! But a bit difficult to keep ploughing on with it when there’re bushfires, flooding, a coronavirus, and other personal issues happening.

For those freaking out about the coronavirus, just to put things in perspective, Malaria kills half a million people every year. If we’re talking diseases generally, 10 million people die from heart attacks every year. Almost 100,000 people die from the flu just in the USA every year. With 327 million people, that’s about 0.0003%. Extrapolating that, at least 2 million people die of the flu every year on the planet. Probably a lot more than that in less healthy areas. That’s on top of all the other diseases. So, unless we start getting figures of the coronavirus killing more than 2 million people a year, it isn’t worthy of the panic and stress and racism that it seems to be creating. (Update July 2020. At 600,000 deaths worldwide, 6 months later. So, it’s overtaken malaria, and the USA’s COVID-19 death toll has exceeded its usual flu death toll. Thanks to health care professionals world wide, it could have been a lot worse. Having said that, this has now been confirmed to be a bit stronger than your average flu, targeting anyone with poor health, smoking or vaping, or living in a highly polluted area. Still, you’re more likely to die in a car crash. The average is 1.35 million deaths a year.)

We just need to be alert, not alarmed.

For those of us who’ve heard this all before, this is just another SARS / Bird Flu / Swine Flu / media advertising revenue generator. Exercise, eat healthily (Mediterranean diet?), stay positive, and if you get it and you don’t have any other underlying health conditions, (and you’re in a first world country with access to a good health system if you do), it’ll just be another flu for you.

Of course, if you get any kind of symptoms that could be related to the coronavirus you should get medical advice from a trained professional! Don’t trust the ramblings of a depressed science fiction writer!

I’m getting out of my slump thanks to Doctor Who, Avenue 5 and Star Trek: Picard. How wonderful that 2020 is going to be the golden year for science fiction streaming. Loved the spy eps, Tesla ep, and the black Doctor ep of Doctor Who, the satire of Avenue 5, and the heartbreaking nostalgia of Star Trek: Picard. Definitely looking forward to all the shows coming out this year. (July update. Wow. So much for that idea. Many shows and movies have been delayed.)

Not sure if everyone is going to get Avenue 5’s humour though. One of my favourite scenes:

Mia: “What are you so happy about?”
Matt: “I’m a nihilist”
Mia: “No you’re not.”
Matt: “Whatever!”
Mia: “Oh my God.”

Improves with repeated viewing.

In any case, there’s been some great writing in these series and I can see some Hugo nominations happening in early 2021, if everyone remembers!

In other news, I’ve come to the painful conclusion that I’ll have to delay writing the Robots of Atlantis for a while. I might have time to do a bit more of it in May with the plan to finish it by October. We’ll see.

Update July 2020 – Due to the COVID-19 situation having got a lot worse than most were expecting in January, and my city being under lockdown for months, I haven’t had any chance to focus on the book, what with worrying about where my income is going to come from, and being in a one bedroom apartment with my family 24/7. Lucky we’re introverts, but not being able to go to a cafe and have a couple of hours every day in silence to write has meant there’s been no progress on the Robots of Atlantis since February.

I’m really sorry to let everyone down about this. I’ll just have to delay it until 2021.

I hope you’re all safe and well, and hope the rest of the year will be better for you.

Sisland. Science Fiction Weekly #34

My search for the lost Siren Island had ended, and I planned to end my life there. But when I landed, suffering from cancer with not many hours left to live, I found that there were other things at stake besides my inevitable death.

Find out more in Sisland. Story #34 in the Science Fiction Weekly series. Available in digital format from Amazon.

Sisland. Science Fiction Weekly 34

Some rambling from Neil A. Hogan

This simple short story, with the predominant theme of cancer, is dedicated to a few people. My birth mother, who I finally met in 2004, died from cancer in palliative care at the age of 49. (She adopted me out before I was born. The 70s wasn’t the place for a single teenage mother.) I only saw her awake once, though I spoke with her a couple of times on the phone before she died, and I was able to be there briefly during her final hours. It was difficult to meet her before then as I lived in another city and couldn’t get away from my work and other responsibilities without months of planning and saving. I thought she would live longer than she did as she seemed strong when I met her. I thought she would be fine. I had originally planned to visit again three months after that time.

This story is also dedicated to a friend who had helped me set up a business in the 00s, and worked with me on it for a few years, who died in 2019 from cancer at the age of 33. I hadn’t contacted him for over a year and only learned he had died a couple of days before the funeral, which I couldn’t attend as I had moved to another city and couldn’t get away from my work and other responsibilities without months of planning and saving. I had thought he would win his fight as his Instagram and Facebook pages were full of happy selfies. I thought he would be fine. Unfortunately the cancer reached his brain and he died just four weeks after his last post. I had originally planned to visit again three months after that time and reconnect then.

My dad has prostate cancer. I haven’t visited him in a few years as I have moved to another city and it’s difficult to get away from my work and other responsibilities without months of planning and saving, but we’ve had a few Skype calls and he’s looking good for his age. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Hoping to be able to visit him within the next few months.

Getting Old

I am learning of the sad reality that approaching fifty years old means more and more of my family and friends are dying for one reason or another. Having met thousands of people over the years, it’s now simply impossible to attend every funeral. I’ve already had to miss five relatives’ funerals just in the past five years. When my mother died in 2016 from a heart attack, one of her closest friends who she’d known for over fifty years wasn’t able to attend her funeral due to distance and cost and her own health. It helped me to understand that the funeral is not that important. It’s being with that person while they’re still alive that is.

Science has proven we are genetically predisposed to live for 38 years (CSIRO) and anything past that is a bonus. No wonder a lot of people have a mid life crisis at that time. They’ve suddenly found that they’ve been given an extra life. Like being given a new set of regenerations. So, if we’re all predisposed to live until 38, then that explains why there is an uptick of funerals after that time. It might also explain the increase in life insurance premiums.

Plan Forever

Speaking of which. Check out another site I’ve been working on. Life Insurance Articles. I’ve owned the domain www.PlanForever.com for over 10 years and I had developed a software program for it that can enable you to look up the day of the week for any period in the past 2020 years and future 7979 years (up to the year 9999)! I’m not a programmer. I designed it and worked with a programmer to put it together. Great for time travel writers who like to be a bit more accurate. (NB: Due to a change in the Gregorian calendar in the 1700s, the software program isn’t entirely accurate for dates before then.) Unfortunately the underlying PHP program that it is based on is no longer current and so I have to shut the software down on the 16th January. If you wish to check out the century planner, or just to find out what day your 100th birthday will be on, you can visit the site and click on ‘Plan System’

To make the site pay for itself, I’ve converted it into a Life Insurance Articles repository, and am collecting reproducible articles for it from around the world. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to writing one myself. We’ll see.

Delays

My friend dying late last year knocked me for six. I just could not write anymore after that. I took a few weeks off from writing, for reflection. #34 is the last story in the science fiction weekly series for now. I do have another one that I had started a few months ago but I’m not in any mood to finish it just yet. I’ve also delayed Stellar Flash Book 4, Fantasy Short Stories Book 4 and Alien Dimensions #19 for another month. I’d prefer to write with a better frame of mind. I’ll post again when I get back to things. Apologies to anyone who is waiting on a reply from me. I’ll start replying to emails next week.

Oh, and, Happy New Year!