http://www.amazon.com/Canterbury-2100-pilgrimages-world-ebook/dp/B00C65J3XM/
Those of you who have been around for a while may recall this:
It's an anthology I put together a few years back. Bunch of really good Australian SF writers, extremely unusual idea and format. Essentially, the idea was to examine a future history by looking at the fiction of the society created by that future history. Something like, say, trying to figure out the 20th century by watching a bunch of TV episodes from the 1990s... if you see what I mean. Except that here, the stories are meant to be told by a bunch of pilgrims on train to Canterbury in 2108 or so; a train delayed by fierce storms and other things.
It was a real challenge, and it worked out pretty well in the end. There are some individually excellent stories, and by situating them in a larger context, the stories gain an added significance. I was delighted by the concept when I first tried to get it all together, and years down the track, I haven't changed my opinion in the slightest. In fact, for me the biggest problem with this anthology is that I put it together, so I don't get to read it "cold". I will never have the fun that everybody else gets from trying to piece it all into a single tapestry, to guess at the future that might yet be.
Anyway. It's on Kindle now. If you missed it the first time through, now's your chance to pick up a cheap digital copy, and take a look at that rare thing: a truly original piece of SF work.
So I just purchased this and I get an introduction and an afterword but no story from you?
ReplyDeleteMind you for only $4.99 that still good value, and it might even be less with the current exchange rate.
Mister B: when you're wondering where my story is, I suggest you examine the framing narrative that holds the entire collection together!
ReplyDeleteSeriously: at first, I thought it would be a doddle. Boccaccio and Chaucer basically tossed a few characters together on a thin excuse, and got straight to the stories. Unfortunately, I realised a bit late that I couldn't do that. Boccaccio and Chaucer were showcasing their own stories, you see. They weren't too concerned about the quality of the framing.
I, on the other hand, had to bring together a bunch of different stories by different writers, and I had to do it in a way that wouldn't insult the work put in by the writers themselves. It was a bit of a fearsome enterprise in the end; the most difficult part of putting the whole thing together.
I'd like to think the framing narrative is reasonably successful in its own right...
meh!
ReplyDeleteBought this in its original format when you released it :)