Short Stories

Alan has just completed a cycle of darkly political and philosophically provocative sf stories and novelettes featuring Brother Tom, a 'roentgen reader' gifted with intra-sensory perception.   Alan's latest work includes a cycle of darkly political and philosophically provocative sf stories and novelettes featuring Brother Tom, a 'roentgen reader' gifted with intra-sensory perception.  We'll be releasing news about the Brother Tom stories very soon.

Alan Wall's stories vary enormously in their spatial and temporal settings, and their form and concerns.

Themes in his collection Richard Dadd in Bedlam include the redemptive energies of art, the link between madness and genius, the depredations of age and the impulse to transgess.  One of the book's most haunting pieces, 'Intelligent Terminal', is set in a ruined capitalist dystopia, where law-abiding citizens avoid disapproved zones of their city and eschew disallowed categories of thought and language.  The playful but unsettling novella, 'A to Z' is a bleak but ludic thriller with overtones of Borges.

'It is impossible to deny the existence of a formidable skill at work.  It is a real delight to come across such captivating openings that adorn Underneath the Smile, An Old Man in Florence and The Painter.  Wall possesses a constant flair for producing a memorable metaphor and originating instant environments through vigorous imagery'.  Robert Whitehouse, Richmond Review.

Alan's stories have appeared in The London Magazine, The Jewish Quarterly, Waterstone's Magazine, Asimov's Science Fiction, Black Static and The Third Alternative.


Review of Superluminosity, published in Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2010:
'The magazine opens with my favorite story in the issue: Alan Wall's Asimov debut story, Superluminosity, which kicks things off with a bang.  A time travel morality tale with a mix of humor and steampunk thrown in, Superluminosity poses interesting questions.  Wall's skills and experience as a writer serve him well as he skilfully explains the time travel science while creating vivid characters and building their world in very few words.  A highly enjoyable debut, I look forward to reading more from him in the near future.'
Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Tangent (sf and fantasy review).


Review of Salt of Eliza published in Black Static Issue 22, April/May 2011:
'Alan Wall makes an elegant debut with The Salt of Eliza, a novelette that's only marginally horror, but which is very well written.  Wall avoids the obvious narrative route ... Recommended.'
Colin Harvey, sf author and editor.


We'll be putting stories for download on this site from time to time, but you can also read Alan's tales at the following locations:



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