Full Description
Some of the best Scottish writing today is coming from the imaginative genres that can be grouped under the heading of 'speculative fiction'. These genres include science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism and alternate history. "Nova Scotia" provides a unique showcase for work by both established and up-and-coming writers which addresses the nature of Scotland and Scottishness from fresh and unexpected angles. Comprising twenty-one original stories, as well as a new poem by Edwin Morgan, Nova Scotia is full of writing that will surprise, provoke, and above all, entertain readers. Contributors, including Ken Macleod, Charles Stross, Jane Yolen, Ron Butlin and Matthew Fitt reimagine Scotland in the past, present and future. There are secret histories, echoes of Scottish mythology and folklore, contemporary marvels and visions of the fate of the nation. There are also glimpses of other, alternative Scotlands, places that might have been, or perhaps even do coexist in a parallel time-line. Some of the stories are about this far-flung corner of Europe, some are about the people who come from it, and some deal with the essential qualities, both good and bad, of the national psyche.Introduced by David Pringle, former editor of "Interzone" magazine, "Nova Scotia" reflects the power of the contemporary Scottish imagination, carrying on a thread that has run through the work of writers such as James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and Neil Gunn.
Contents
The Cost of Pearls Deux es Homine : Hannu Rajaniemi The Last Shift : Hal Duncan Not Wisely But Too Well : A.J MacIntosh Third-Degree Burns : Andrew J. Wilson Lest We Forget : Marion Arnott The Intrigue of the Battered Box : Michael Cobley Five Fantastic Fictions : Ron Butlin Running on at Adventures : Angus McAllister A Knot of Toads : Jane Yolen Sophie and the Sacred Fluids : Andrew C. Ferguson Vanilla for the Lady : Deborah J. Miller Pisces Ya Bas : Gavin Inglis The Vultue, 4-17 March : Harvey Welles & Philip Raines The Bogle's Bargain : Stefan Pearson Criggie : Matthew Fitt Snowball's Chance : Charles Stross Total Mental Quality, by the Way : William Meikle The Bennie and the Bonobo : Neil Williamson The Hard Stuff : John Grant Dusk : Jack Deighton
