Issue 2 - November 2023

Welcome to the November 2023 issue of Androids and Dragons!

The first piece of speculative fiction I ever wrote was set in November. It was written as an assignment for a college class and never published. I doubt I’d ever be able to find the handwritten manuscript, no matter how carefully I searched through the boxes in my attic.

I don’t recall the title or the names of the characters, but I do remember the gist of the story. A man and a woman swap genders after wishing on their respective Thanksgiving turkey wishbones. They each discover something about the struggles of the opposite gender after walking a mile or two in each other’s shoes. And yes, literally walking in each other’s shoes was central to the story. Among the things she learns about being a man is how little variety there is in men’s professional clothing, while he learns how treacherous it can be to walk in high heels and what life is like with limited pocket space.

My story was meant to be entertaining and funny as well as thought-provoking. Around the same time, Kate Bush released “Running Up That Hill,” which explored similar themes. Where I strove to be entertaining and thoughtful, Kate Bush succeeded.

This month, Androids and Dragons will continue that tradition with the following four science fiction stories:

• “The Fate of the Galaxy” by Andrew Rucker Jones

• “On This Day” by Vaughan Stanger

• “Supply, Demand, and Armageddon” by Michelle Ann King

• “Gone in a Flash” by Jenna Hanan Moore

On one level, all four of these tales are entertaining and fun to read with a fair bit of humor. On another level, they all do what the best science fiction does so well—they make you think. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did.