A COLLECTION edited by Ian Whates
CATEGORY Speculative fiction
PUBLICATION DATE  September 2023
COVER ART  Ben Baldwin and Vincent Sammy
PAGES  277

EDITION
Trade Paperback — ISBN 978-1-80394-329-9  [£14.99]

ABOUT THE BOOK

When putting this anthology together, I was determined that it should not be called The Best of ParSec or anything of that ilk. A title such as that would be a slight on those stories that were not selected, suggesting they are in some way inferior to those that have been, and that’s simply not the case.

Permit me to explain.

Two thirds of the stories published in the first seven issues of ParSec, from which this volume is drawn, came to us via the three brief open submission periods we’ve held to date. During those three windows I received around 1,000 submissions. Of these, I’ve accepted just 8%. I’ve turned away some good stories in the process, I know that, but those that have made it into the magazine are all stories I love.

1. Introduction by Ian Whates
2. Down and Out Under the Tannhauser Gate – David Gullen
3. Nineteen Eighty-Nine – Ken MacLeod
4. A Moment of Zugzwang – Neil Williamson  
5. From Below – Warren Benedetto
6. Lustre Mining – Eliza Chan
7. The Summer Husband – Angela Slatter
8. Radicalised – Lavie Tidhar
9. Rotten Things – Kim Lakin
10. It Only Amplifies – Shih-Li Kow
11. Personal Satisfaction – Adrian Tchaikovsky
12. CSGCOVWR – Natalia Theodoridou
13. Portuguese Essay – George Tom
14. A Kingdom of Seagrass and Silk – Cécile Cristofari 
15. Theo Ballinchard And The Oranges Of Possibility – Patrice Sarath
16. Lovers on the Yuleton Lip – Aliya Whiteley
17. The Power of 3 – Anna Tambour
18. Red Horse, Running – Joanne Harris
19. Umbilical – Teika Marija Smits
20. Are We Going Under? – Simon Bestwick 
21. Within The Concrete – Steve Rasnic Tem
22. The Primacy Of The Cube – Paul Di Filippo
23. The Equality Virus – Gwyneth Jones
24. The Operculum Necklace – Alison Littlewood   
25. But Once a Year – Ramsey Campbell
26. FiveO’Clock In The Bar At The End Of The World – Bryony Pearce