Better Worlds @ The Verge

I can finally talk about this. The Verge is launching a fiction package that we’re calling Better Worlds. It’s something that we’ve been working on most of the fall, so it’s nice to see it out in the world… soon.

Then I jumped over from io9 to The Verge, I mentioned early on that fiction was something that I wanted to tackle. It was a back-burner priority until our new Culture editor, Laura Hudson came onboard, and was immediately interested in tackling. We settled on the idea that we really wanted to see stories that weren’t dark and dystopian, but which were a bit more inspirational and optimistic. The project also grew (you can see the entire team who worked on it over on the announcement page): there’ll be ten stories in all, five with animated adaptations, and five with audio adaptations. The stories will begin to spool out in January and will run through February.

I’m also particularly excited of the roster that we have lined up:

• A Theory of Flight by Justina Ireland

• Move the World by Carla Speed McNeil

• A Model Dog by John Scalzi

• Online Reunion by Leigh Alexander

• St. Juju by Rivers solomon

• Monsters in Their Season by Cadwell Turnbull

• Overlay by Elizabeth Bonesteel

• Skin City by Kelly Robson

• A Sun will Alway Sing by Karin Lowachee

• The Burn by Peter Tieryas

These are all some fantastic authors, and the stories that they’ve submitted are amazing, not to mention the art and animation that accompanies them.

You can read Laura’s introductory letter here, which outlines the project as a whole, and when each of the stories will drop.

Also, here’s a trailer.