John Gribbin

Christopher G. Nuttall

Steve Harrison

Douglas Thompson

Rhys Hughes

Sanem Ozdural

Peter Wolfe

Tej Turner

Ira Nayman

Robin Moran

Tanya Reimer

Dave Weaver

Peter R. Ellis

Susan Oke

J.A. Christy

Edwin Hayward

Stefan Jackson

Andy McKell

Siobhan McVeigh

Chloe Skye

The title, Existence is Elsewhen, paraphrases the last sentence of André Breton’s 1924 Manifesto of Surrealism, perfectly summing up the intent behind this anthology of stories from a wonderful collection of authors. Different worlds… different times. It’s what Elsewhen Press has been about since we launched our first title in 2011. Here, we present twenty science fiction stories for you to enjoy. We are delighted that headlining this collection is the fantastic John Gribbin, with a worrying vision of medical research in the near future. Future global healthcare is the theme of J A Christy’s story; while the ultimate in spare part surgery is where Dave Weaver takes us. Edwin Hayward’s search for a renewable protein source turns out to be digital; and Tanya Reimer’s story with characters we think we know, gives us pause for thought about another food we take for granted. Evolution is examined too, with Andy McKell’s chilling tale of what states could become if genetics are used to drive policy. Similarly, Robin Moran’s story explores the societal impact of an undesirable evolutionary trend; while Douglas Thompson provides a truly surreal warning of an impending disaster that will reverse evolution, with dire consequences. On a lighter note, we have satire from Steve Harrison discovering who really owns the Earth (and why); and Ira Nayman, who uses the surreal alternative realities of his Transdimensional Authority series as the setting for a detective story mash-up of Agatha Christie and Dashiel Hammett. Pursuing the crime-solving theme, Peter Wolfe explores life, and death, on a space station; while Stefan Jackson follows a police investigation into some bizarre cold-blooded murders in a cyberpunk future. Going into the past, albeit an 1831 set in the alternate Britain of his Royal Sorceress series, Christopher G. Nuttall reports on an investigation into a girl with strange powers. Strange powers in the present-day is the theme for Tej Turner, who tells a poignant tale of how extra-sensory perception makes it easier for a husband to bear his dying wife’s last few days. Difficult decisions are the theme of Chloe Skye’s heart-rending story exploring personal sacrifice. Relationships aren’t always so close, as Susan Oke’s tale demonstrates, when sibling rivalry is taken to the limit. Relationships are the backdrop to Peter R. Ellis’s story where a spectacular mid-winter event on a newly-colonised distant planet involves a Madonna and Child. Coming right back to Earth and in what feels like an almost imminent future, Siobhan McVeigh tells a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of using technology to deflect the blame for their actions. Building on the remarkable setting of Pera from her LiGa series, and developing Pera’s legendary Book of Shadow, Sanem Ozdural spins the creation myth of the first light tree in a lyrical and poetic song. Also exploring language, the master of fantastika and absurdism, Rhys Hughes, extrapolates the way in which language changes over time, with an entertaining result.

Existence is Elsewhen

September Weekes is accustomed to teasing and bullying because of her white hair, tubby figure and silly name, but the discovery of a clear, smooth stone at her home casts her into a struggle between good and evil that will present her with sterner challenges. The stone takes her to Gwlad, the Land, where the people hail her as the Cludydd o Maengolauseren, the bearer of the starstone, with the power to defend them against the evil known as the Malevolence. September meets the leader of the people and the bearers of the seven metals linked to the seven ‘planets’. Each metal gives the bearer specialised powers to resist the manifestations of the Malevolence; manifestations such as the comets known as Draig tân, fire dragons. She returns to her home, but is drawn back to the Land a fortnight later to find that two years have passed and the villagers have experienced more destructive attacks by manifestations. September must now help defend Gwlad against the Malevolence. Seventh Child is the first volume in a thrilling new fantasy series, Evil Above the Stars, by Peter R. Ellis, that will appeal to anyone who likes fantasy, especially fans of JRR Tolkien and Stephen Donaldson. If old theories are correct until a new idea comes along, does the universe change with our perception of it? Were the ideas embodied in alchemy ever right? What was the basis of Celtic mythology? Although ostensibly a fantasy for young adults, it is can just as easily be seen as science fiction, and will appeal to readers of all ages.

Seventh Child

London, 1680. The famous philosopher, Sir Robert Boyle, is about to demonstrate the results of his investigations of the phosphorus and its cold fire to fellows of the Royal Society and other guests. Far away at the edge of Wales an alchemist learns of the discovery and, helped by his young assistant, attempts in his own way to form the mysterious material, little suspecting that his work threatens to open the universe to the evil power of the Malevolence. Summoned by the Brains, September, the Cludydd o Maengolauseren, arrives charged with halting the Malevolence’s storm of destruction. But how? She finds herself out of her time and in a world not quite her own. Nevertheless her experience of the Malevolence tells her that she must do something. The fantastic beasts she encounters may come to her aid, if she can work out how to save them from the Cold Fire. For September, hardly any time has passed since she was trying to save Gwlad in Peter R. Ellis’ thrilling fantasy series Evil Above the Stars. Now, in the first of the September Weekes novels, she appears to be closer to home, at least in space if not time. But not everything is as she’d expect it, and she still seems to be wearing her school uniform! Combining science, fantasy and adventure, this is a novel truly worthy of the designation Speculative Fiction.

a September Weekes novel

Cold Fire

Peter R. Ellis

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