The website of writer and poet Daniel Bennett
''By the way,' the old man said, smiling guiltily. 'While you were in the park this morning, I took the liberty of borrowing this.' He reached inside his jacket and drew forth Vilar's collection of poems. 'Oh? What did you think of them?' Vilar asked. The patriarch frowned, fidgeted and coughed. 'Ah--''An honest opinion,' Vilar … Continue reading A Second Volume
'The Ganzer Rain Forest on Melde was deep and wide; the faintest ghost of a breeze whispered among the colossal trees, slithered through the interlocked vines, and crept broken-backed over hook-edged grass. Drops of water slid painfully down and around the tangled foliage like exhausted runners of a maze, coming to rest at last in … Continue reading Ganzer Eggs
'For the past several years Asiatic cholera had shown a strong tendency to spread. Its source was the hot, moist swamps of the delta of the Ganges, where it bred in the mephitic air of that primeval island-jungle, among whose bamboo thickets the tiger crouches, where life of every sort flourishes in rankest abundance, and … Continue reading The Pestilence
I sat out my war in a series of back end stations, always behind the frontline, couched down away from missiles and drones. The days were long and filled with abortive chess moves, and the radios rarely worked. We raided local supplies for wine and cheeses, although these were poor products, lacking in bucolic artistry, … Continue reading My War
They were heading to the coastal town. Mitchell agreed to join them, which caused Hannah to shoot a look at him, which he couldn't quite read. She walked on the other side of Tudor, her hair wound up in a crimson scarf. A storm appeared to be boiling out over the sea: a refined silver … Continue reading Amazing Space
‘“Because that means it’s the city. That means it’s the landscape: the bricks, and the girders, and the faulty wiring and the shot elevator machinery, all conspiring together to make these myths come true... Do you think a city can control the way people live inside it? I mean, just the geography, the way the … Continue reading Myths and Cities
During the evening, when the weather held off, after eating a solitary meal in his flat, Mitchell would walk along the coastline. These walks felt idle and aimless, often leading to nothing more than a different point along the sea's edge, but his thoughts were relaxed, and he felt, actually, content. Prison now behind him. … Continue reading An Island
