Böcker av Mark Bilsborough

Barnacles and bilge rats - we're full of them. Mermaids, sea creatures, monsters from the deep, Pirates who ought to know better doing things that ought to be impossible. Selkies. Things with piercing eyes and tentacles - they're all here. We're drawn to the sea. The last great unknown, at least on this Earth. More than 80% of the ocean is unexplored - and over 90% of sea creatures have yet to be classified (maybe more, in those uncharted murky, murky depths). And these unknown monsters are going to seem like aliens to us. As if all those squid and octopus and great white sharks weren't alien enough. But deep down below, where the pressure would crush you in an instant and the dark is midnight black forever, life teems in abundance. Who's to say it's not intelligent? Who's to say it's not curious? Who's to say we won't see it one day wrapped around a ocean vessel or singing to us from sun kissed waves? We're proud to present fifteen fine stories with a satisfyingly salty tinge and we hope you enjoy them. After you've read them, you'll never look at the sea in the same way again.

Lost Colony is a quarterly magazine of masterfully crafted mid-length (10,000 to 25,000 words) science fiction and fantasy in all of their varieties. This volume collects the four stories published in Lost Colony's first year. They'll transport you to other worlds and other times, from alternate histories to possible futures. Each conveys its writer's distinct imaginative vision and each is told with masterful skill. These are stories that abundantly reward the time spent in them.

Thirteen stories of the near future-set in our world and beyond. Optimistic. Unsettling. Imaginative. Dangerous.Follow Valentine as he chooses whether to abandon his broken world or stay and rebuild. Travel Sideways through exotic dimensions. Fight the seductive pull of the Immersion tanks. Spend years travelling between systems to be with the true love you''ve never met. Fight to the death in VR hell. Play Shakespeare to miners on Pluto. Make first contact in unexpected places. And ponder the wisdom of philosopher cats.These stories outline a future which is sometimes challenging, sometimes hopeful but always changing. Are we alone? Will artificial intelligence be our salvation or our nemesis? Can we avoid blowing ourselves up or poisoning our planet? Can we find our place in the stars? And when we get there, most importantly, will there be fish?Thoughtful science fiction stories of apocalypse, dystopia, climate change, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, space exploration, first contact and life after death.