Telepathy, the sixth sense that has long been a staple of science fiction and fantasy.
Side note: did you know there is something called a Superpower Wiki? On it you can find an entire page devoted to the different flavors of telepathy from Mind Reading (Basic Level) to Psychosomatic Illusion (Master Level). Who knew?
Or you could just read The Telepath Chronicles, the latest short story anthology edited by David Gatewood, devoted to playing out a rainbow of telepathic powers in prose.
Here's a sampling of what you'll find inside:
Samuel Peralta offers a short but powerful story in “Trauma Room.” His first-person narrator, a member of the security detail for a senator, is assigned to “breach” the mind of his charge who’s been shot in the head. “Telepathy is like radio,” he thinks as he searches for the right station, the station that will tell him the code he needs to abort the missile launch…No pressure. Peralta’s note following the story tells us that his first love is poetry and it shows in his lyrical prose.
Elle Casey explores temporal telepathy (look it up, people, it’s a thing) in her piece entitled, “Dreampath” about a grocery store stocker who likes to sleep and finds life-saving help in the most unlikely of places. Told in the first-person, Casey’s easy style lends itself to the dream state she’s created for her character.
And then there’s “The Locksmith,” by Susan Kay Quinn, a favorite author of mine. Quinn is well versed in the telepathic arts, having written an entire series on the subject, The Mindjack Trilogy, and this new piece does not disappoint. Another first-person story, this one introduces Zeph, a jacker who can “lock” minds in this society where everyone can read minds. If you’re locked, you’re unreadable, you’re a “keeper” of secrets. I know I’m in good hands with Sue’s writing, where she describes her version of telepathy as “reaching deep into any mind is a creepy sensation, like shoving your hand into a bowl full of raw ground beef.” (Can I just take a moment to say yuck and that’s so awesome at the same time?) And the story? Well, Zeph meets Sarah, Zeph locks Sarah, the mission goes spectacularly off the rails, Zeph ends up in deep doo-doo, and Ms. Quinn has the makings of a new Mindjack series.
But if you only have time for one story in the collection, I recommend “The Elm Tree” by E.E. Giorgi, the creepy story of Dr. Celine Bent, the doctor on duty when a 16 year old suicide victim shows up in her ER. Celine's life takes a sharp left turn when she tries to save the girl and ends up inside her head. Add in a policeman with a past and you’ve got yourself one compelling plot. Giorgi does a phenomenal job of writing settings so beautiful and sensory that you feel like you’ve stepped into a M Night Shayamalan movie.
There’s ten more besides these four stories, all worth your time and money. You’ll find superhero telepaths, alien telepaths, and telepaths being interviewed on television. Here’s where you can get your copy of The Telepath Chronicles:
David Bruns is the creator of the sci-fi series The Dream Guild Chronicles, and one half of the Two Navy Guys and a Novel blog series about co-writing the military thriller, Weapons of Mass Deception. Check out his website for a free sample of his work.
