By Bascomb James.

It all started with a letter…

Yes, that letter. The letter from Elizabeth Bear. The one published in Clarkesworld Issue 68 (May 2012), which we’ve reprinted in this anthology. Her open letter to Speculative Fiction.

After reading her letter, we could have applauded like many others and blithely wandered off with our hands in our pockets. Instead, we decided to do something. This is the result—a new anthology that is fun to read and embodies many of the elements found in classic, Grand Tradition science fiction. In short, we decided to put our money where our heart is.

So what is Grand Tradition science fiction? I am not going to give you the Wikipedia answer, I am giving my answer. Your mileage may vary.

Grand Tradition stories were full of ideas, optimism, inspiration and respect for science. Grand Tradition SF showed us that science was cool. Like many others, I chose a career in science because it was the most exciting thing in my universe. The wonder of discovery; the satisfaction that comes from building new things; and the knowledge that you can make a difference through intellect (or cleverness), hard work and perseverance are heady experiences. There are no magic wands, fairy godpeople, or Miracle Max creations. Grand Tradition stories inspired many of our current technologies and they continue to help scientists understand how these technologies might interact with the real world.

Grand Tradition stories were fun to read. In her open letter to SF, Elizabeth Bear asks why “[SF seems] to think that nothing fun can have value.” I obviously agree with her sentiments. I am sorry to say that a derisive public wrote off Grand Tradition SF as mere escapism—as if escapism was something unsavory. This escapist “dreck” taught me about Dyson Spheres, red-shift, general relativity, and put entire cultures and belief systems under the intellectual microscope. Not too bad for escapist literature.

Grand Tradition stories embodied a sense of adventure and expectation. I realize that adventure is a relative term. One man’s adventure may be a normal day to another. Communicating this sense of adventure is the important thing. Readers of Grand Tradition stories have a gleeful expectation that interesting things are about to happen; that “normal” events will not remain that way for long.

And finally, the best Grand Tradition stories had a strong human element. Great SF is not just about gizmos and spaceships, it’s about us and how we are shaped by, and relate to our environment. Human elements are the Velcro that makes stories stick in our brain. They make them enjoyable, approachable, and memorable.

The stories in this volume embody one or more of these elements.

Far Orbit is truly a labor of love, but no matter how much I express my ardor, it’s all about the stories. We endeavored to provide a broad mix of SF stories by established, award-wining authors and newly emerging authors. Their stories embody a variety of SF motifs including those from 1940s pulp-fiction, realistic hard SF, noir fiction, spaceship fiction, alien encounters, and action-adventure. The range of subjects is astonishing and includes slimy alien babysitters, an angry sentient bear, walking plants, alien bunnies, and a barbecue. If that is not enough to pique your interest, the anthology also features a cello-playing assassin, high-stakes poker emancipation, space ship crashes/rescues, alien artifacts, and fights with space pirates. We hope every SF fan can find a favorite within these pages.

THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX is out into the world! I was thrilled to be able to work with World Weaver Press on this novella. A lot goes into writing a book, and today, I'd like to give you a glimpse "behind the curtain," so to speak and share with you ten things you (probably) didn't know about this third installment of the Place in Time series!
 
#10 – I wrote the first draft of this novella in January 2017, which was the month before I submitted THE CONTINUUM to World Weaver Press.
 
#9 – There's a character in this novella who shares a surname with one of my critique partners. This wasn't intentional, but after I realized it, I decided to stick with it.
 
#8 – Cass, the protagonist in this book, was born on April 14, 2115 – exactly 203 years after the Titanic disaster and 3 years after the Continuum disaster.
 
#7 – Cass owns a "Save the Pigeons" t-shirt, which I imagine includes a picture of one of Mo Willem's drawings.
 
#6 – Cass's parents named her after her maternal grandmother; but I named her after a Trojan princess from Greek mythology. (Check out John Scalzi's blog on May 10 for more on that!). During the early draft stages, I'd originally called her Poppy.

#5 – In order to come up with names for the other girls that Cass meets in this book, I looked up the most popular names of babies born in the 1890s.  Other popular girls' names that didn't make the cut: Ethel, Edna, Mabel, and Myrtle.
 
#4 – In this story, Cass uses her mother's surname, Argent, which is the French word for "silver" – a reference to Juliet Silver, another character of mine whom I've written about in a series of steampunk stories.
 
#3 – The working title for this story as I was drafting it was THE COMPOSSIBILITY THEORY, but as I was working on it, the story took such a different turn that the title didn't fit anymore.

#2 – One incident that did not make its way into this story is the June 12, 1914 Bagdad Train Wreck, in which the eastbound Santa Fe California Limited train struck a freight train on a siding outside of Los Angeles, killing 4 passengers and injuring 20. It wasn't until after I'd completed my story that I discovered this little bit of history and realized that Cass could have been on that train that day.

​And the #1 thing you (probably) didn't know about THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX:

​This is not the final book in the series! I've been busy working on book four, entitled THE CAUSALITY LOOP, which takes place a year after the events of book three. I'm looking forward to sharing more about it with you all soon!
 
Follow me online @wendynikel or subscribe to my newsletter at www.wendynikel.com for updates!

Wendy Nikel is a speculative fiction author with a degree in elementary education, a fondness for road trips, and a terrible habit of forgetting where she's left her cup of tea. Her short fiction has been published by Daily Science Fiction, Nature: Futures, and is forthcoming from Analog and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. For more info, visit wendynikel.com

Cass is a 22nd century university student who – like most young adults – has always believed her parents were a bit stuck in the past. But on her eighteenth birthday she learns exactly how true this is: not only are her parents time travelers, living in an era different than either was born in, but now, to ensure that history plays out as it's supposed to, she must travel to the year 1914 to live out her adult life.
 
Cass isn't the type, though, to just sit back and watch while all the tragic events she's learned about in her history courses play out in front of her. Not when she's the only one in the world with the foreknowledge – and determination – to change it.

THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX by Wendy Nikel is out in ebook and paperback today, May 7, 2019! THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX is the third in the Place in Time series, following THE CONTINUUM and THE GRANDMOTHER PARADOX.

​Wendy Nikel is a speculative fiction author with a degree in elementary education, a fondness for road trips, and a terrible habit of forgetting where she's left her cup of tea. Her short fiction has been published by Daily Science Fiction, Nature: Futures, and is forthcoming from Analog and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. For more info, visit wendynikel.com