This collection brings together seventeen of Vaughan Stanger's innovative, imaginative, and thought-provoking science fiction and fantasy stories, also his first ever published poem. Here you will learn how it feels to be a virtual human being downloaded into a smart brick, or to participate in the Soviet Union's first moon-landing while all hell breaks loose back on Earth, or to midwife an industrial revolution for aliens who communicate using colour and texture. Some of these pieces can be read in a minute or two. Others might transport you to a fascinating elsewhere for the duration of your regular commute. But all of them will make you think about the futures that might await us, or the traps set for us in the present day that we haven't noticed yet.
Two of the stories in this collection ? Skin Deep and Second and Seventh (the sequel to First and Third) ? have not been published before.
Autorentext
Having trained as an astronomer and subsequently managed various research projects in the defence and aerospace industry, Vaughan Stanger now writes speculative fiction full-time. He has seen fifty-seven of his short stories published, including in the BSFA Award-winning Best of British Science Fiction 2022, Nature Futures, Interzone, and Daily Science Fiction. Many of his stories have been reprinted, including ten in foreign translations, and recorded for podcasts. His most recent collection is "Those We Leave Behind and other stories". He posts about his writing adventures at https://www.vaughanstanger.com and @VaughanStanger on BlueSky and Mastodon.