Slow Motion Wars
A collection of slipstream fiction. Cover art by Ben Baldwin.
Two heads are better than one!
This collection brings together two of the brightest stars in the science fiction slipstream short story firmament. The combined talents of Allen Ashley and Andrew Hook have produced eleven delicious yet subtly seamless stories full of wit, imagination, invention and emotion.
What is the secret behind the gated community of “Xanadu Springs”? Will the online pharmaceutical “Vitamin X” really guarantee you fifteen minutes of fame? What is the best strategy to ensure victory at “Air Hockey 3000”? And can Lynsey the lowly “Abattoir Girl” successfully lead the resistance against the alien invasion?
Allen Ashley is the author of the novel “The Planet Suite” and the collections “Somnambulists”, “Urban Fantastic”, and “The Days of the Dodo”; Andrew Hook’s recent publications include the novellas “And God Created Zombies” and “Ponthe Oldenguine” and the short story collection, “Nitrospective”. Forget Pohl and Kornbluth; move over Maynard and Sims; Ashley and Hook are the new noises on the block.
Contents:
- Vitamin X
- Mermaids in a Snowstorm
- Abattoir Girl
- Air Hockey 3000
- Struck By The Unusual
- Xanadu Springs
- Knights On The Tiles
- Miss Treat
- The Marvels of Monoworld
- Thesaurus Rex
- Like A Slow Motion War
- Soft Assassins
- The Androidgenous Zone
- Please Saura
Allen Ashley
One of the most distinctive voices in modern literature, Allen Ashley has been published in dozens of books and magazines in the UK, USA, Canada and Spain and has now passed his first century of short story publications. Allen is a highly respected author equally adept at novels, short stories, poetry and lyrics. He is also well known for a wealth of critical commentary and non-fiction articles and, more recently, as an acclaimed and award winning editor.
Allen has run successful writing workshops in Newham and Tower Hamlets libraries. In October 2005 he gave two readings at the Norwich Fringe Festival. In November 2005 he was the special guest of the Birmingham Science Fiction Group. In May 2006 he ran a writing workshop in Derby as part of the very first "Alt. Fiction Day". On 2nd June 2006 he was the Guest of Honour at The British Fantasy Society (BFS) Open Night at The Devereux Arms, London WC2. On 7th July 2006 he compered the annual BFS "Showcase" evening, also at The Devereux.. At Fantasycon 2006 he moderated a panel on "Independent Versus Mainstream Editing" and was also thrilled to receive the BFS Best Anthology award as editor of "The Elastic Book Of Numbers". At Fantasycon 2007 he moderated a panel entitled "The Small Press - Building and Maintaining an Audience".