Editorial
By Ben Coppin

Book review is here

Welcome to the fourth issue of Darker Matter. The level of interest in our three part interview with Douglas Adams, exclusively recorded in 1979 but never transcribed or published until now, has been so high, that we decided to follow in the footsteps of the great man himself: this month, we are pleased to be able to offer the fourth part of the intervew.

As always, we also have a really interesting set of stories: two short stories and three that are so short they'd probably be classed as flash fiction. The short stories are Chaos Theory, by Rick Novy – a story that manages to give an original twist to the Groundhog Day scenario – and The Black Orophant by Daniel Braum – probably the closest story to fantasy that Darker Matter has yet published.

The first of the flash pieces is a very unusual item: Copywrong is not so much a story as a piece of satirical prose, by Edward M. Lerner. It's probably worth reading twice. Next, there's Final Report by B. A. Barnett, a story that manages to pack more into its 500 words than I would have thought possible. Finally, there's Head on a Stick by Charles Richard Laing, a future war story that looks at the lengths humanity might go to to keep on fighting.

This month's science fact article by I. E. Lester takes a fascinating look at the possibilities of faster than light travel and communication. In this issue we also have our first book review - this month I've taken a look at Alastair Reynolds' latest Revelation Space novel, The Prefect.

We also have a blog, and of course the forums.

Another page you might want to check out is the Top Ten. This is a continually updated table of the top 10 highest scoring stories. Each story has a poll attached to it in which you can express your view of the story by giving it a score from one to ten. The Top Ten table shows the stories with the highest average scores. Please do vote in the stories – not only does it help other readers decide which stories might be most worth reading, it also helps me decide what kinds of stories you'll like to read in the future.

Finally, an appeal. This site is funded entirely by advertising and donations. I'm very keen to keep it free for readers, but if you feel you have enjoyed the site enough and would like to help keep it going and help keep it free, perhaps you'd consider making a small donation. Even a dollar or two is helpful!

Editorial Copyright © 2007 by Ben Coppin.

Next: Part 4 of our exclusive interview with Douglas Adams from 1979