Free ebook – see below
My first SF short story collection, bringing together new stories and some that have been published between 2008 and 2013. Cover design by OneMonkey.
Cracks in the Foundations presents twelve stories of disruption, destruction and breakdown, be it society, objects, people, or the hitherto reassuringly stable structure of time. From mundane science fiction to traditional fantasy by way of urban darkness, timeslip, and the uncategorisably odd, there should be something in the collection to satisfy a wide range of speculative fiction tastes.
Failure is not an Option: A gameshow contestant who didn’t read the small print finds out the depth of meaning behind the neon flashing sign that says You Lose.
Waiting for Boothroyd: Just who is the mysterious Mr Boothroyd from Planning, and will George ever find where he’s meant to be?
Alone Again Or: Isolation in space takes its toll, with only one other crew member for company. Or are there three others? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Cracks in the Foundations: A complacent quality controller discovers the ubiquitous ultra-safe modern building material has a weak point after all.
Self-Aware and Living in Bradford: An artificial intelligence experiment takes an unexpected turn on the streets of Bradford.
Meltoriel Vanquished: A young woman misreads the signals when outsiders arrive in her remote community.
Psyche and the Soul: A misfit Edinburgh teenager finds a way to connect with her peers, however briefly.
The Day the Circus Came to Town: Just the sort of circus for a teenage runaway to join. Another one who didn’t read the small print.
The Mist Wolves: Damp nights are no time for young boys to be abroad in the city, but when you stop believing in fairytales you’re open to real danger.
Windows to the Soul: A neglected husband gets no benefit from his riches as the cruise ship he’s on runs into difficulties on a distant planet.
Jump to the Left: Tom’s girlfriend spends her life ordering and overcoming time, but with Tom it’s altogether a more chaotic affair.
The Whitewing Fallen: An ancient community of reclusive forest-dwellers gets caught up in an anti-terrorist raid. What will become of the survivors?
How to obtain the ebook
You can download it as a pdf under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence then pay what you like (yes, that includes paying nothing). If you do feel like contributing to my tea, biscuit and biro fund, use this button to take you to my Ko-fi page:
If you’ve read the book, feel free to leave a comment saying why you did or didn’t enjoy it, or linking to your review of it.
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