Announcing War Stories, A Military Science Fiction Anthology
/So, here's a story. At ReaderCon 2012, I found myself chatting with Jaym Gates. We've been chatting for a couple of years now on Twitter and by e-mail, and we ended up hanging out at the convention a bunch of times, chatting about various SF/F things. At one point, Jaym said: "You know, I really want to do another anthology."
To which I replied: "You know, that's funny, because I worked on one with John Joseph Adams, and I'd love to do something with Military Science Fiction."
At that point, we both started talking very fast. There were drinks involved, and lists drawn up of who our ideal authors would be. After the convention, we began to talk about how this would play out, and soon, we had a real plan. Now, the fun's about to begin:
Get ready for orbital insertion over target drop zone. War Stories is coming.
Since 2001, the role of the military around the world has drastically changed as conflicts have raged in the the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The decade long war on terror has highlighted changes in how war is conducted, and the violence has impacted millions of soldiers, civilians and families across the world. We want to explore the new landscape in all of its facets: from the soldiers who wage war to those caught in the crossfire.
War Stories, co-edited by Andrew Liptak and Jaym Gates, will be an anthology of military science fiction, containing stories that emphasizes the cultural, social, political and psychological repercussions of modern war. The anthology has been acquired by Jason Sizemore’s Apex Publications and will be funded through a Kickstarter campaign.
While the anthology's contributors are still to be confirmed, a number of authors have already indicated their strong interest in participating, including James Sutter (Pathfinder Tales: Death’s Heretic), T.C. McCarthy (Germline trilogy), Karin Lowachee (Warshild, Gaslight Dogs), F. Brett Cox (Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic), Jean Johnson (Theirs Not to Reason Why trilogy), Michael Stackpole (X-Wing series, Dark Glory War series), Laura Anne Gilman (Dragon Justice), Will McIntosh (Soft Apocalypse, Love Minus Eighty), Gwen Perkins (The Universal Mirror, The Jealousy Glass) and Science Fiction Grandmaster Joe Haldeman (The Forever War). More authors will be announced soon. The book will be introduced by former Airborne Infantryman and RangerUp! writer Greg Drobny. In addition to the invited authors, there will be an open submissions period following the launch of the project’s Kickstarter.
Artist Galen Dara will illustrate the anthology’s cover. She’s known for her work from with Lightspeed Magazine, Nightmare Magazine or the Spectrum showcase. She is currently the 2013 nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist.
War Stories will launch on Kickstarter in early September, with a variety of perks for backers, ranging from an ebook / physical copies of the anthology, to prints of the cover and other exciting things to come! Stay tuned for an official launch date.
To follow the progress of the anthology’s planning, and to get sneak peeks, excerpts and news from around the military science fiction world, you can visit the project’s website: http://www.warstoriesanthology.com, follow the project on twitter (@warstoriesantho), or like the anthology on Facebook: facebook.com/warstoriesanthology.
Jaym Gates is the editor of the zombie anthology Rigor Amortis, which was a Barnes and Noble Top 10 pick in 2011, and short fiction author (published in The Aether Age: Helios). She is the publicist for the Science Fiction Writers of America, Candlemark & Gleam and Pathfinder Books. She helped launch several Kickstarter projects, including Geek Love, the highest-funded anthology in Kickstarter's history.
Andrew Liptak received his Master of Arts in Military History from Norwich University (the nation's first private military academy), and has written extensively about military science fiction for io9 and SF Signal, and has written for such websites as Kirkus Reviews, Geek Exchange, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, and magazines such as Armchair General and the Norwich Record. He is currently an editorial assistant for Lightspeed Magazine.
Lock and load.
