John Joseph Adams, assistant editor for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and anthologist, has a new anthology coming out next month. That book is Federations. Given how strong his apocalyptic and zombie anthologies were, I’m looking forward to this book. From the website:
From Star Trek to Star Wars, and from Dune to Foundation, science fiction has a rich history of exploring the idea of vast interstellar societies, and the challenges facing those living in or trying to manage such societies.
The stories in Federations continue that tradition, and herein you would find a mix of all-new, original fiction, alongside selected reprints from authors whose work exemplifies what interstellar SF is capable of, including Lois McMaster Bujold, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, George R. R. Martin, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Alastair Reynolds, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Silverberg, Harry Turtledove, and many more.
What’s pertinent for this post is that the website lists links to stories from the anthology that are online. The stories are in multiple formats, and there’s even one available as a podcast.
And if you get through the stories quickly, you can go read interviews with the authors about the creation of their stories. You’ll also read about some of the authors’ favorite interstellar stories, movies, and more.
Thanks for the link. Just read “The One with the Interstellar Group Consciousnesses” and enjoyed it quite a bit. Fun and clever and all that, but also interesting (though deliberately non-rigorous) in terms of demonstrating how the “statements” and “moods” of the emergent entity of the Federation might map on to world-spanning events or attitudes for the “component organisms” (read: individual people) within it.
Don’t expect a mind-blowing payoff, though. It’s a self-proclaimed romantic comedy, and I think we all know how those tend to end.
Looking forward to reading the others.