EDITORIAL

 

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

 

I hope your day was spooky but safe, and that you totally enjoyed yourself!

 

This edition of Scifaikuest is dedicated to Sharmon Gazaway who, sadly, passed away in Summer 2025. This was her first appearance in Scifaikuest, and she was my very first submission for this issue. I really love her poetry and was so looking forward to a long and splendid professional relationship. My deepest and sincere condolences to her Family, Friends and Fans.

 

MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE: Sharmon Gazaway’s work will also appear in the Winter 2026 (January) issue of Illumen. Her passing reminds me of John Donne’s quote: “Everyone’s death diminishes me. Never seek to know for whom the bells toll. They toll for thee.”

 

Scifaikuest now has its own ISBN!!! Please inform your local book stores and library that they are now able to ORDER SCIFAIKUEST!!!

 

You can now find us at Hiraeth Books at: https://www.hiraethsffh.com/home-1

 

If you don’t have a subscription to our PRINT edition, they are available at:

https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/scifaikuest

 

And, if you would like to join the select group of contributors by submitting your poetry, artwork or article, you can find our guidelines at: https://www.hiraethsffh.com/scifaikuest

 

Pssst! Looking for something good to read?

You can get t.santitoro’s newest book, The Telempath, the first book in the Crojan Chronicles, from Hiraeth Publishing, at: https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/telempath-by-t-santitoro

and her other recent novel, The Red Foil, a SF mystery, at:

https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/red-foil-by-t-santitoro

and you can find her novella, Those Who Die, at:

THOSE WHO DIE by t. santitoro | Hiraeth Publishing (hiraethsffh.com)

You can also order t.santitoro's novella, Adopted Child, at:

https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/adopted-child-by-t-santitoro

And you can still get a copy of her vampire novelette, The Legend of Trey Valentine, at: https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/legend-of-trey-valentine-by-teri-santitoro

 

NEWBIES: Sharmon Gazaway

 

mischief night

every habidome

posts sentries

 

(xeno-unit)

 

***

 

SCIFAIKU

 

lost in the desert

found by thin glowing men

Area 51

 

Sharmon Gazaway

 

***

 

pandemic planet

Herb Kauderer

 

metallic life form

techno-virus infected

greets us with a smile

 

***

 

food diplomacy

Herb Kauderer

 

alien tofu

human flesh alternative

lasting peace treaty

 

***

 

cloudspotting

Herb Kauderer

 

high above Venus

seeing images in clouds

masking the surface

 

***

 

they came long ago

avian humanoid fish

recorded in rocks

 

Akua Lezli Hope

 

***

 

close encounters

heightened psi abilities

from the fifth kind

 

Akua Lezli Hope

 

***

 

museum heist

dragon pearls

reflect my eyes

 

Stephen C. Curro

***

cycled airlock

brushing red dust

from my hair

 

Stephen C. Curro

 

***

 

--modern man

John Granville

 

man’s self-image

a holograph

increasingly pixilated

 

***

 

all for one

and one for all

hive mind

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

a bit of gas

constantly passing

their sapphire membranes distend

 

D.A. Xiaolin Spires

 

***

 

competing with geese—

the honking of

flying cars

 

D.A. Xiaolin Spires

 

***

 

seen through tent walls

fire dancing shadows

of the little ones

 

Shelli Jankowski-Smith

 

***

 

ancient water hole

a xenomorph frog jumps in

to its sound ripple

 

Shelli Jankowski-Smith

 

***

 

astronaut tells vet

her alien pet should be

both spayed and neutered

 

John H. Dromey

 

***

 

never believing in witches

still wondering

why sister is missing

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

time travel

always exhausting

singularity lag

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

completing gene therapy

ready to visit earth

while undetectable

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

ufo’s disguised as clouds

100%

chance of rein

 

Denny E. Marshall

 

***

 

alien lover

extraterrestrial lust

right out of this world

 

DJ Tyrer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​​

​

 

 

A WEREWOLF’S UNNECESSARY COSTUME

by Alper Guclu

 

SENRYU

 

other than that

nothing special this May

Martians at the bar

 

Marie Derley

 

***

 

traffic jam

in the other flying saucer

their big smile

 

Marie Derley

 

***

 

learning to repair

shuttlecraft ventral plating

shop class

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

100 parsecs

320 light years—

oil change

 

Mark Hendrickson

 

***

 

HORRORKU

 

lighthouse foghorn…

from the dark

something bellows back

 

Stephen C. Curro

 

***
 

boat disappearing

underneath murky waters

monster in Loch Ness

 

Gabriel Smithwilson

 

***

 

better dead than zed

apocalyptic slogan

watching the world die

 

DJ Tyrer

 

***

 

hidden stairs

to lost crypt

vampire waiting

 

DJ Tyrer

 

***

 

empty graves

the dead hunt the living

while the moon watches

 

Brian Rosenberger

 

***

 

TANKA

 

citadel

Benjamin Whitney Norris

 

the ghost town

slowly gentrified

by uplifted vermin

to castles in the air

 

***

 

copper lead wire slips

the ruined screw terminal

on the circuit boards . . .

luminated eyes longing

for more time before they dim.

 

Matthew Gilbert

 

***

 

with my telescope

I observe

a centuries-old

cyclone

on Jupiter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

​SLIPPING ‘ROUND

by Denise Noe

 

OTHER FORMS

(including: Sijo, Fibonacci, Cinquain, Minutes, Diminuendo, Ghazals,Threesomes, Brick, etc.)

 

OCTAIN

 

have you

ever wondered

if Marie Antoinette

remained conscious post beheading?

it seems an unsolved mystery

you're the perfect answer

when deed is done

tell me

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

CINQUAIN

 

the war

fear incarnate

mankind’s culture declines

lost beneath depravity and

fallout

 

Richard E Schell

 

***

 

ARTICLE

The Cruel Prince: Faerie Perfection, a review by Joy Yin

 

The moment I finished The Cruel Prince, I had only one thought on my mind: Why hadn’t I borrowed the sequel as well? Because this astonishing book had me begging to read what happens next. Everything from the world-building, to the character development, to the court intrigue—all of it got me hooked on Holly Black’s Faerie world from the beginning.

 

We follow Jude Duarte, a 17-year-old human girl living in Elfhame with her foster father, the grand general. She attends school with the children of the Gentry, where the youngest prince, Cardan, and his friends are determined to make her life hell. But as she gets wrapped up in faerie court shenanigans, with all kinds of betrayal, deception, and bloodshed, she slowly gains political power, discovering that she may or may not have a taste for it.

 

The book starts with an attention-grabbing prologue, depicting a scene from Jude’s childhood, when she was only seven. How, the redcap Madoc, her mother’s faerie husband, burst into her home uninvited, murdered both her parents, then brought Jude and her sisters back to his home in Faerieland to raise as his own. Right off the bat, we get a taste of faerie nature and it sets up an interesting family dynamic between Jude, her sisters, and Madoc, one of my favorites in this series. Jude views him as a good father, who has taught her many things, including how to sword fight and knowledge of strategy. Taryn and he have a similar relationship, though Jude seems to be the favored daughter. On the other hand, his legitimate daughter, Vivi, despises him, and has vowed to hate him forever due to her never forgiving him for the murder of her mother and stepfather.

 

Additionally, Jude Duarte is an incredibly refreshing protagonist for a YA fantasy novel. She’s not your typical “best warrior in the land after two days of training” or “has dozens of suitors but has no idea she’s pretty”. Instead, she’s a flawed character, a traumatized girl raised by her father’s murder. She has been training all her life, and is constantly taken advantage of by the fae because she is mortal. She always wears enchantments to ensure she cannot be glamoured by the Folk. She can make bad decisions, but that doesn’t mean she’s evil. Jude grows a lot over the course of the book and still has plenty in store for her. She has a clear goal in mind and will do whatever it takes to achieve it (even though, sometimes, it may involve a bit of bloodshed).

 

When we are first introduced to Prince Cardan, he’s nothing but an insufferable jerk who’s hell-bent on making Jude suffer. But throughout the the story, we get to know him better, and discover that there’s more to him than meets the eye. He’s an intricately crafted character who becomes impossible not to adore by the end of the book.

 

Another big thing I enjoy is how Holly Black writes her fae. The way they act, the way they speak, the way they love: she makes it immensely clear that they are not simply attractive humans with pointy ears, but a completely different species. The Folk cannot tell lies, are hurt by iron, and can ensorcell mortals to do whatever they command them to. Black’s writing emphasizes the vast differences between the fae and the humans, and how mortals are looked down upon by the Folk. This helps us sympathize for Jude, and understand how hard her life in Elfhame is.

 

The magnificent plot of The Cruel Prince will keep you on your toes for the entire read. If you enjoy reading about fae, political intrigue, and complex fantasy worlds, you should definitely give this book a try. It won’t disappoint—in fact, you’ll get so invested in the plot that you might forget you were even reading at all.

 

***

 

FAVORITE POEM

editor t.santitoro

 

all for one

and one for all

hive mind

 

Mark Hendrickson, Couldn’t have said it better! :-)