I have a story in editor John Joseph Adams’ newest science fiction anthology, COSMIC POWERS.

Here’s the anthology’s description:

A collection of original, epic science fiction stories by some of today’s best writers — for fans who want a little less science and a lot more action — and edited by two-time Hugo Award winner John Joseph Adams.

Inspired by movies like The Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars, this anthology features brand-new stories from some of science fiction’s best authors including Dan Abnett, Jack Campbell, Linda Nagata, Seanan McGuire, Alan Dean Foster, Charlie Jane Anders, Kameron Hurley, and many others.

“A little less science” isn’t my usual sort of story, but when John asked me to contribute something I thought, Why not? It’s good to do try my hand at different things. Right? I mean, in the past John had asked me to write a military fantasy story — something I’d never tried before — and the result, “The Way Home,” turned out to be, in my opinion, one of my best short stories ever. So I agreed.

Oh, did I come to regret it! 😉

I had such a hard time writing this story. Quite obviously I had a mental block. I’d never before written a story with hyperspace/ FTL/ wormholes/ etc. and my muse made it clear I wasn’t going to start now. So after considerable soul-searching, I set about creating a whole new story world set in our solar system. It was a lot of work just for a short story, but I finally sent the result to John and he accepted it. He also gave it a new title: “Diamond and the World Breaker.” (I don’t remember what my original title was…)

Here’s the table of contents:

Introduction by John Joseph Adams
A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime—Charlie Jane Anders
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance—Tobias S. Buckell
The Deckhand, the Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts—Becky Chambers
The Sighted Watchmaker—Vylar Kaftan
Infinite Love Engine—Joseph Allen Hill
Unfamiliar Gods—Adam-Troy Castro, with Judi B. Castro
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World—Caroline M. Yoachim
Our Specialty is Xenogeology—Alan Dean Foster
Golden Ring—Karl Schroeder
Tomorrow When We See the Sun—A. Merc Rustad
Bring the Kids and Revisit the Past at the Traveling Retro Funfair!—Seanan McGuire
The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun—Aliette De Bodard
Diamond and the World Breaker—Linda Nagata
The Chameleon’s Gloves—Yoon Ha Lee
The Universe, Sung in Stars—Kat Howard
Wakening Ouroboros—Jack Campbell
Warped Passages—Kameron Hurley
The Frost Giant’s Data—Dan Abnett
Cover Art by Chris Foss

Cosmic Powers is out today. Visit the FREE READS page to read selected stories.

Posted on: Tuesday, April 18th, 2017 at 3:00 am
Categories: Short Stories.
Tags: Cosmic Powers, Diamond and the World Breaker, John Joseph Adams, science fiction short stories