In the Shadow of the Towers: Speculative Fiction in a Post-9/11 World

by Douglas Lain (Editor)

Overview

In the Shadow of the Towers compiles nearly twenty works of speculative fiction responding to and inspired by the events of 9/11, from writers seeking to confront, rebuild, and carry on, even in the face of overwhelming emotion.

Writer and editor Douglas Lain presents a thought-provoking anthology featuring a variety of award-winning and best-selling authors, from Jeff VanderMeer (Annihilation) and Cory Doctorow (Little Brother) to Susan Palwick (Flying in Place) and James Morrow (Towing Jehovah). Touching on themes as wide-ranging as politics, morality, and even heartfelt nostalgia, today’s speculative fiction writers prove that the rubric of the fantastic offers an incomparable view into how we respond to tragedy.

Each contributor, in his or her own way, contemplates the same question:

How can we continue dreaming in the shadow of the towers?

Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781597808392
Publisher:	Night Shade
Publication date:	09/01/2015
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Douglas Lain is an author and the publisher of Zero Books, which specializes in philosophy and political theory. He hosts the Zero Squared podcast, interviewing a wide range of fascinating and engaging people with insights for the new millennium. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

08/03/2015
In this emotionally charged anthology of 18 stories and novel excerpts inspired by the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, the smoldering rubble of ground zero suffuses the landscape like an unreal movie special effect. In James Morrow’s “Apologue,” written in 2001, cinema monsters apologize for the actual monsters. Ghosts both historic and contemporary roam the streets, allowed access because, as Richard Bowes observes, “There’s a Hole in the City.” In a curious inversion, it is the dead who plead for forgiveness in Susan Palwick’s “Beautiful Stuff,” a meditation on life’s simple pleasures, while Tim Marquitz describes how the living seek “Retribution.” The tragedy echoes across universes, affecting multiple versions of George W. Bush in Jeff VanderMeer’s “The Goat Variations” and fictitious radio reporter Sylvia Aloli covering the commemorations of a Celtic attack on Egypt in K. Tempest Bradford’s “Until Forgiveness Comes.” What echo loudest are the changes of post-9/11 life, chillingly drawn in the excerpt from Cory Doctorow’s 2008 update of Orwell, Little Brother. A few selections involve the attack only tangentially, somewhat undermining the theme, but this is still a powerful and interesting anthology of immediate reactions, later analyses, and lingering memories. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"A powerful and interesting anthology of immediate reactions, later analyses, and lingering memories."
—Publishers Weekly

"A powerful and interesting anthology of immediate reactions, later analyses, and lingering memories."
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher