We are all feeling shut in during the C-19 coronavirus
pandemic, so Third Flatiron wants to reach out to our many friends and readers,
to give back a little of the support we've received over the years. We will be offering
the ebook of Gotta Wear Eclipse Glasses free during this period to help anyone
whose discretionary reading funds might be tight. Pick your own price over at Smashwords.
The theme of this science fiction and fantasy anthology is
"the future we'd all like to see." This doesn't mean it all has to be
rainbows and balloons, but some optimism and brightness don't hurt a bit.
Besides returning authors from previous anthologies, we are pleased to feature
three stories by Colorado authors, as well as first publications by new
writers.
Weird is wonderful: We
lead off with Robert Bagnall's "The Thirteenth Floor," a fascinating
trip to an invisible world that's sitting right in front of us. (Probably.)
A little help from
our friends: Artificially intelligent creatures designed to serve humanity
begin to realize that social distancing is not their thing, as in Alexandra
Seidel's "We Make Life Beautiful Again." Patrick Hurley's police
constable becomes a crime-solving whiz when augmented by his AI partner in
"The Centaur Detective
and the Vanishing Man."
Pokémon Ultra: Several
of our contributors this time delved into future cyberpunk. Some of their
characters use augmented reality and implants to play games, as in Koji A.
Dae's "SoulShine," while others just use VR to blot out a crumbling
world, as in David Cleden's "All Fuzzed Out and Fractal." Either way,
it may be costly to your soul.
Anywhere but here:
To some, a best possible future might be Heaven on Earth, but others look to
quantum mechanics for something even better, as in Eneasz Brodski's "Give Me My
Wings."
Taste l'Arc en Ciel: A
boy's family helps reintroduce giraffes to their native African home in Gustavo
Bondoni's "Such Sweet Sorrow." (See? Rainbows and balloons.)
To see a loved one again: A grieving mother and daughter
(and the dog and the goldfish) find that their new life is "Just Like
Living with Dad," as told by Jenny Blackford.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a "Catcher in the
Sky" to remove carbon from the atmosphere, asks Paul A. Freeman. And Liam
Hogan's alien visitors treat a young vlogger to a tour of their "Lighter
Than Air" cities.
The best rock concert ever, and
you're there:
After the apocalypse, join the Battle of the Bands in Angelique Fawns' "The
New Mutants."
A fresh start:
A young girl survives a ski accident, and has her clone to thank for it in Emily
Martha Sorensen's "Tabula Rasa."
Hey, Aquaman: Earth's oceans shelter humanity
from the ravages on land in Christopher Muscato's underwater adventure, "Living
As You, Our City a Garden."
To the Stars and Beyond: When the first of the pioneers aboard
a colony ship die, a young descendant learns the meaning of "Ashes to
Ashes," in Chloie Piveral's touching story.
For the good of all: Though
not everyone agrees that geoengineering the climate is a good idea, Mike
Adamson's straight-shooting space warrior does her level best to ensure the return of "The First Day of Winter."
And though most of future humanity has learned the
value of peace, as in Neil James Hudson's "War's End," we might want
to hold a little in reserve, just in case…
. . .
Grins & Gurgles: To close the anthology, we proffer
a bit of lightness in our flash humor section.
Wordplay: "Lexophile"
describes those that have a love for words, such as "you can tune a piano,
but you can't tuna fish," and "To write with a broken pencil is
pointless." Mariev, Erie Matriarch, cracks us up expertly with "For
Mom: Standup Cosmic Comedy."
A bit of common sense wins out in Matt
Tighe's "The
Plumber."
Stiff upper lip: Ville Nummenpää's "Interview
with a Zombie" starts out well, until everything falls apart.
To see ourselves as others see us: A colonist has a little "Night Chat" with some
tiny Martians in this fun story by John Kiste.
Enjoy! Thanks for reading, and stay safe.
