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'Attention all passengers - this is your Captain speaking!
'If you have been watching the news, you will know that the people of Earth are currently suffering through a pandemic known as “COVID-19.” For those of you who are not students of history, various worlds have experienced similar pandemics in the past such as the “Clone-Killing Nanovirus,’’ the “Great Plague of Middle Earth,” the “Shame” of Betelgeuse 5, and, of course, the always insidious “Cooties.”
'We here at Andromeda Spaceways take the health and wellbeing of our passengers very seriously and will be following the strict guidelines developed in the wake of the aforementioned pandemics in order to keep everyone safe throughout their journey.'
Source: Editorial (p.1).
Special issue of Andromeda Spaceways Magazine containing eleven apocalyptic stories by Sean Williams, released during the COVID-19 pandemic. The author describes the collection as the result of a request by editor Amy Gordon for 'a story or two that might gel with the times' (p.3).
Contents
- Dissolution Days, Shaun Tan (illustrator), single work short story science fiction (p. 5-18)
- Tears of the Living Dead, single work short story horror (p. 19)
-
On the Blink,
single work
short story
science fiction
(p. 20-38)A scientist spends decades working to counteract the loss of his fiancee in a world-wide cataclysm known as the Blink.
-
The Second Coming of the Martians,
single work
short story
(p. 39-48)
'A man tracks down the last surviving Martian in the wastes of Antarctica, hidden away since the original invasion, far from the bacteria which doomed its kind. The purpose of his quest is to understand the mystery - the 'why' of the Martian invasion - and to learn the identity of the true invaders. A satisfying conclusion to this collection, which builds upon and adds to Wells' great novel, as all good sequels should.'
Source: Foreword.
- Tall Tales about Today My Great-great-granddaughter Will Tell, single work short story science fiction (p. 49-50)
- White Christmas, Shaun Tan (illustrator), single work short story science fiction (p. 51-64)
- Ghosts of the Fall, single work short story science fiction (p. 65-81)
- New Flames for an Old Love, single work short story (p. 82-97)
-
The View from the End of the World,
single work
short story
(p. 98-109)
A group of hikers planning on using d-mat (transport) technology to 'climb' a mesa in Venezuela are stranded when the technology's headquarters is sabotaged and the platforms become inoperative.
- The Cuckoo, single work short story (p. 110-118)
-
The Tyranny of Distance,
single work
short story
science fiction
(p. 119-136)
'Part of the Twinmaker series, this story follows Maudlin Tom, a father working through the loss of his son by following the journey his son had planned. What he discovers in a sleepy rural town lands him in the midst of danger and destruction, but Tom cannot turn away from those that could be saved.'
Source: Magazine blurb.
