Next

Sequence. Succession. Cause and effect. Show us what happened. Next.

Next suggests ‘change’, perhaps, but it doesn’t have to invoke change, it can simply be an account of cause-and-effect. Soemtimes it’s the absence of change, the sense of inevitability, that gives the story its terrible power and its resonance. Or it might be a rite-of-passage; of invention and exploration; of the testing and transgression of boundaries; or a story laden with doom or hope or just the inevitability of inescapable repetition. Yup, this theme is a theme for all seasons; it’s a cut and come again theme that can mean pretty much whatever people want it to mean.

The selected stories range far and wide across all aspects of the speculative genres, from gentle fantasy to full-blooded dystopian SF to hackle-bristling psychological horror, while also canvassing in its sweep whimsy, adventure, romance, parody, and tragedy.