Dystopia Utopia Short Stories

New Authors and collections. Following the great success of 2015's Gothic Fantasy, deluxe edition short story compilations, this latest in the series is packed with tales set in bleak and paradisiacal worlds of boundless imagination from classic authors and exciting budding contemporary writers. Classic authors include Edward Bellamy, Samuel Butler, Robert W. Chambers, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Richard Jefferies, Rudyard Kipling, Jack London, Thomas More, William Morris, Mary Shelley, Voltaire.

"The Machine Stops" by E.M. Forster, now presented in a beautifully illustrated edition, is a visionary and thought-provoking novella that explores the perils of technological dependency and the potential consequences of a society overly reliant on machines. Set in a future where humanity lives underground, isolated in individual cells, their every need attended to by an all-encompassing Machine, the story follows Vashti, a lecturer and true believer in the Machine's omnipotence. However, as the Machine begins to show signs of malfunction, Vashti's worldview is challenged, leading to a series of events that question the very foundations of her society. "The Machine Stops" remains a compelling exploration of the dangers of sacrificing human connections for the convenience of technology. This illustrated edition provides a fresh perspective on Forster's timeless work, making it an engaging and visually captivating experience for both new and returning readers.

In this diverse and vigorous mix of stories by newcomers and luminaries, writers offer their takes on what life might hold for us in the next few years. The resulting visions of war, oppression, and daily struggle are sometimes humorous, sometimes terrifying (and occasionally both), but always thought-provoking.

Dystopian fiction- sometimes combined with, but distinct from apocalyptic literature - is the opposite: the portrayal of a setting that completely disagrees with the author's ethos. The critic August Nemo selected seven classic tales of dystopian scenarios. - The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster - The Answer by H. Beam Piper - The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel - The Empire of the Ants by H.G. Wells - In The Year 2889 by Jules Verne - The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers - Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky For more books with interesting themes, be sure to check the other books in this collection!

New Authors and collections. Following the great success of our Gothic Fantasy, deluxe edition short story compilations, Ghosts, Horror, Science Fiction, Murder Mayhem and Crime & Mystery this latest title crawls with the dark fingers of terror, the chilling sensation of another presence sitting alongside you while you read the tales of horror laid out before you. Contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. Classic authors include: E.F. Benson, Ambrose Bierce, Robert W. Chambers, Wilkie Collins, F. Marion Crawford, Arthur Conan Doyle, Hanns Heinz Ewers, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Elizabeth Gaskell, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Hope Hodgson, Robert E. Howard, M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, Edith Nesbit, Fitz-James O'Brien, Edgar Allan Poe, John Polidori, Bram Stoker, H.G. Wells, Edward Lucas White.

From Huxley's Brave New World, to Orwell's 1984, to Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, dystopian books have always been an integral part of both science fiction and literature, and have influenced the broader culture discussion in unique and permanent ways. Brave New Worlds brings together the best dystopian fiction of the last 30 years, demonstrating the diversity that flourishes in this compelling subgenre. This landmark tome contains stories by Ursula K. Le Guin, Cory Doctorow, M. Rickert, Paolo Bacigalupi, Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, and many others.

WHAT IS THE STORY GRID? The Story Grid is a tool developed by editor Shawn Coyne to analyze stories and provide helpful editorial comments. It's like a CT Scan that takes a photo of the global story and tells the editor or writer what is working, what is not, and what must be done to make what works better and fix what's not. The Story Grid breaks down the component parts of stories to identify the problems. And finding the problems in a story is almost as difficult as the writing of the story itself (maybe even more difficult). The Story Grid is a tool with many applications: 1. It will tell a writer if a Story ?works? or ?doesn't work. 2. It pinpoints story problems but does not emotionally abuse the writer, revealing exactly where a Story (not the person creating the Story'the Story) has failed. 3. It will tell the writer the specific work necessary to fix that Story's problems. 4. It is a tool to re-envision and resuscitate a seemingly irredeemable pile of paper stuck in an attic drawer. 5. It is a tool that can inspire an original creation.

New Authors and collections. Stories of the end of civilized life have always fascinated us, from the mythological world endings, Armageddon to Ragnorok, to the flood stories of across the Ancient world. They make us wonder what we would do if all around us came to an end: no transport, no fuel, no communications: a retreat into the desperation, the onslaught of disease, how would we survive? This is the source of zombie literature and provides the inspiration for this fabulous mix of horror and adventure, of classic and brand new writing in the successful series of Gothic Fantasy titles from Flame Tree. Classic authors include Stephen Vincent Benét, J.D. Beresford, Lord Byron, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Allan England, William Hope Hodgson, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, M.P. Shiel, Snorri Sturluson, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells; along with a retelling of the Ancient Sumerian and Babylonian Myth of Apocalypse.