“You spoke with him, didn’t you?” I said. “With the writer, with Verne?”
“Of course. He wove a few of my stories into a dream, but he did not really believe what I had to say. In that regard, I failed.”
“And your Nautilus?”
“Is real. It was my ship, of course. It’s gone now, long gone. I searched for a while for another vessel, but I did not have the resources to rebuild it, and anyway, what was the point? I knew I would be coming back, if I lived.”
“And what about me?” I asked, but I thought I already knew the answer to that.
“Monsieur Hoenec . . . I am truly sorry.”
The shock hit me then, punching a hole through my heart. I barely registered it when a barge glided in from the city, filled with men in red robes who greeted Rashid as a brother and took us both into Indec-Herat. I remember little of its magnificence.
They treated me well, that first day: bringing me fruit that I had never seen before, and dishes of grains. They did not, Rashid informed me, eat meat. He told me a little about the cities of the coasts: their maritime goddesses, their marvels, and I listened like a child, with as much wonder and the same suspension of belief. Dimly, I saw that Rashid’s face sharpened into concern and when he held out a fizzing glass and said, “Here, drink this. It is a sedative,” I did not hesitate. I think I hoped to wake and find it a dream, but when I opened my eyes the next morning the sun was already high above the gold-and-crimson domes. I went with Rashid compliantly, letting him lead me down through the city. I observed with a remote, detached interest the lines of priestesses in their blood-coloured robes, the huge leathery birds wheeling about their heads, and the sellers of gold and jade and strange vegetables. There were all manner of people here: some immensely tall, others squat and barely human with slate-blue skin. The human species, in this pre-catastrophe world, seemed much more varied. It was starting to dawn on me what we had lost.
“I will show you something,” Rashid said. “You’ll find it of interest, I think.” He was smiling and I returned it with, I am sure, a wan grimace of my own. We took a barge down through a series of canals and I watched the city glide by into unreality.
And then we came to the harbour. Ships bigger than any I had ever seen, with vast gleaming sails, span out across the Indus sea. I could see the spined back of a submarine, cresting the water briefly before it dived. Smaller boats, clearly equipped with some form of engine, darted like dragonflies between the hulls of the larger craft. It was a level of technology that put my own Shoal into the shade. And I knew then, with a lift of the heart at all I was to witness, and a sinking of the spirits at the thought of all that would be lost, that there was no point in looking either forward or back.
CONTRIBUTORS
Kevin J. Anderson (b. 1962) has written several X-Files and Star Wars novels, as well as collaborations with such writers as Kristine Kathryn Rusch, John G. Betancourt, and Brian Herbert, with whom he has written the continuing Dune saga: House Atreides (1999), House Harkonnen (2000), and House Corrino (2001). With Doug Beason he wrote the SF novels Lifeline (1990), Assemblers of Infinity (1993), and Ignition (1996), a techno-thriller. His solo work includes Resurrection Inc. (1988), Blindfold (1995) and Hopscotch (1997). His 2002 novel, Captain Nemo, was subtitled “The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius”.
Tony Ballantyne, author of the impressive stories “Teaching the War Robot to Dance” and “Indecisive Weapons”, has had over twenty short stories published in Interzone, The Third Alternative, the anthology Constellations, and elsewhere. His work is regularly translated and published in European SF magazines and selected for anthologies such as The Year’s Best SF 9. His first novel, Recursion, was published in July 2004, followed by Capacity (2005).
Stephen Baxter was born in Liverpool, England, in 1957. He worked in engineering, teaching and information technology, but is now a full-time writer with over twenty published novels to his credit. He has earned a considerable reputation in recent years for his high-tech science fiction novels such as Raft (1992), Flux (1993) and Titan (1997), but he also has a fascination for the history of science fiction. He has already paid homage to H.G. Wells in his sequel to The Time Machine, entitled The Time Ships (1995). His next books will be Sunstorm, a collaboration with Arthur C. Clarke, and Transcendent, the latest of his “Destiny’s Children” series.
Keith Brooke spent a long time as a promising young SF writer, with three novels published in the early 1990s (Keepers of the Peace, Expatria and Expatria Incorporated) and over fifty short stories published around the world since 1989. Now he’s a promising mature writer and online publisher, launching the web-based SF, fantasy and horror showcase Infinity Plus (www.infinityplus.co.uk) in 1997, featuring the work of around 100 top genre authors. He is co-editor with Nick Gevers of infinity plus one and infinity plus two, anthologies based on the website. His latest books are the novel, Lord of Stone (1997; revised edition 2001); a collection of short stories, Head Shots (2001); and Parallax View (2000), a collection of stories written with Eric Brown. His new novel, Genetopia, is due in the US in autumn 2005. Hiding his identity behind the pen-name Nick Gifford, he likes to scare children, with several novels published by Puffin. Keith lives with his young family in the English town of Brightlingsea. You can find out more about Keith and his work at www.keithbrooke.co.uk
Apart from co-editing this anthology, and when not growing prize marrows or reviewing curry-houses, Eric Brown (b. 1960) has written over twenty books and eighty short stories. He has twice won the BSFA short story award, in 2000 and 2002. His first collection was The Time-Lapsed Man (1990), and he has recently sold his sixth, Threshold Shift, due out from Golden Gryphon in the US. His first novel was Meridian Days (1992). The third book of the Virex trilogy, New York Dreams, appeared in 2004, as did his novel Bengal Station. Recent works include The Fall of Tartarus (2005) and The Extraordinary Voyage of Jules Verne (2005). His website can be found at: http://ericbrownsf.port5.com/
Molly Brown has been at times an armed guard and a stand-up comic. She writes in a number of genres. Her publications include Virus (1994), a science-fiction thriller for teenagers, Cracker: To Say I Love You (1994) a novelisation based on the television series, a humorous historical whodunit Invitation to a Funeral (1995), and a short story collection, Bad Timing (2001). Several of her stories have been optioned for film and/or television. Her website is at: www.mollybrown.co.uk.
Peter Crowther (b. 1949) is the indefatigable editor and publisher at the helm of PS Publishing, a small — but rapidly growing — specialist press devoted to novellas, novels and collections in the SF, fantasy and horror genres. Somehow he finds time to write long, complex, and moving stories, as well as edit the magazine Postscripts. He recently moved from Harrogate, and now lives in a sprawling house close to the sea, surrounded by many thousands of books, magazines and CDs. His first SF collection, Songs of Leaving, appeared in 2003 and Dark Times, a third collection of his dark fantasy stories, appeared in 2004.
Paul Di Filippo (b. 1954) is the author of countless bizarre and wonderful short stories and novellas. His industry, like his imagination, knows no bounds. He has published seventeen books since his first, The Steampunk Trilogy, appeared in 1995. If you count from his first professional appearance in 1985, this does not quite average one book per year but he hopes by 2010 (the 25th anniversary of that debut) to have twenty-five books to his credit. Meanwhile, he continues to live in Providence, Rhode Island, with his mate, Deborah Newton, two cats named Penny Century and Mab, and a cocker spaniel named Ginger. Among his recent books are A Year in the Linear City (2002) and Fuzzy Dice (2003). His website is at: www.pauldifilippo.com
Laurent Genefort was born in 1968, in Montreuil s/bois. He studied literature at the Sorbonne in Paris and the title of his doctorate (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, 1997) was “Architecture du livre-univers dans. la science-fiction, a travers cinq oeuvres.” He has been writing SF since 1988, with around thirty novels and ten short
stories to his credit, including the “Omale” cycle, La Mecanique du Talion. “Arago” won the Prix de l’imaginaire in 1995. “The True Story of Barbicane’s Voyage” is his first story to be published in English.
Johan Henot was born in 1970 at Besancon, France, and now lives in Remiremont, near the Vosges mountains. His many books include La Lune n’est Pas Pour Nous (2004) in which Albert Londres strikes against the Nazis’ attempt to destroy the moon, Faerie Hackers (2003), Obsidio (2003) two short horror novels and a novella, Pandemonium (2002) about vampires from outer space which terrorise Paris in 1832, Reconquerants (2001), and La Lune Seule le Sait (2000) in which Jules Verne flies to the moon in an extraterrestrial ship.
Sarah A. Hoyt (b. 1962) has published three Shakespearean fantasy novels with Ace. The first one, Ill Met By Moonlight (2001) was short-listed for the Mythopoeic Award. Her short stories have been published in Asimov’s, Analog and Weird Tales and as a collection — Crawling Between Heaven and Earth (2002).
Tim Lebbon (b. 1969) wins awards like they are going out of fashion. They include two British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, plus the Tombstone Award for the collection Exorcising Angels (with Simon Clark). His latest books include White and Other Tales of Ruin (2002), Changing of Faces (2003) and Fears Unnamed (2004). Forthcoming books include Desolation, the dark fantasy novel Dusk; and Into the Wild Green Yonder (with Peter Crowther). His work has been optioned for the screen on both sides of the Atlantic. His website is at www.timlebbon.net
James Lovegrove was born in 1965 and is not averse to giant leaps of the imagination. His novel The Hope (1990) is set on board a vast ocean liner which has been cruising the seas for decades and contains all manner of horrors. Likewise Days (1997) takes place in a massive department store which welcomes you in but may not let you go. Verne would have loved them. He has also written Escardy Gap (with Peter Crowther), The Foreigners, Untied Kingdom and Worldstorm. He has published a short-story collection, Imagined Slights, a novella, How The Other Half Lives, and a double-novella, Gig. His works for younger readers include Wings and The House of Lazarus. A new novel is Provender Gleed, and a third children’s book, Ant God. He has recently moved to a small village in Devon with his wife Lou and son Monty. It is very quiet there, and he thinks he likes that.
Richard A. Lupoff (b. 1935) was introduced to the works of Jules Verne when he was eight by a sympathetic elementary school librarian. His interest in matters Vernian has never faltered, although it has broadened to include a wide range of literature and other media. He holds the distinction of having his stories selected for Best of the Year anthologies in three allied fields: science fiction, horror, and mysteries. He is also the winner of a Hugo Award, and has been nominated for both the Nebula and the Oscar. His recently-issued and in-production books include Claremont Tales I and II, One Murder at a Time, and Quintet: The Cases of Chase and Delacroix, as well as a new edition of his classic study Edgar Rice Burroughs: Master of Adventure from the University of Nebraska.
F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre (b.1948), Froggy to his friends, is a Scottish-born, Australian-raised, American-resident author. His stories have appeared in Analog, Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Absolute Magnitude, Albedo and numerous anthologies, including Terry Carr’s Best Science Fiction of the Year #10. His non-fiction has been published in the New York Daily News, Literary Review, Games Magazine and many British and U.S. publications. In 2003, he was short-listed for the Montblanc/Spectator Award for his arts journalism. He is the author or co-author of several books, including the science-fiction novels The DNA Disaster (1991), The Woman Between the Worlds (1994), and his collection Maclntyre’s Improbable Bestiary (2001).
Michael Mallory is the author of some eighty short stories, many featuring Amelia Watson (some of which are collected as The Adventures of the Second Mrs Watson, 2000) and whose exploits are also chronicled in the novel Murder in the Bath (2004). He also created and co-edited the anthology Murder on Sunset Boulevard (2002). Outside of fiction, Mike has written two books on pop-culture, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons (1998) and Marvel: The Characters and Their Universe (2002), and his articles — more than 350 to date — have appeared everywhere from the Los Angeles Times to Fox Kids Magazine. He lives in Southern California.
Sharan Newman (b. 1949) is a medievalist specializing in France. She is the author of the Guinevere fantasy trilogy, Guinevere (1981), The Chessboard Queen (1983) and Guinevere Evermore (1985) and the Catherine Levendeur mystery series, set in twelfth century France, which began with Death Comes as Epiphany (1993). The tenth of that series is The Witch in the Well (2004). She is also the author of the non-fiction work, The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code (2005).
Michel Pagel was born in 1961. His first novel was published in 1984, since when he has published about twenty-five novels or collections in the SF, horror and fantasy genres. He considers his most important work to be a series of modern supernatural novels/short stories entitled La Comédie Inhumaine (The Inhuman Comedy). His SF novel L’Equilibre des Paradoxes (The Balance of Paradoxes) and his historical fantasy about King Philippe Auguste Le Roi d’Août (The King of August) were critically well-received, both winning awards in France. He is working on a new series of historical fantasy novels entitled Les Compagnons d’Ishtar (The Brotherhood of Ishtar). He has translated the works of Peter Straub, Joe Haldeman and Neil Gaiman. His SF novel Cinéterre (Filmworld), set mostly in London in an alternative world based on the Hammer horror films, is looking for a British publisher.
Adam Roberts is thirty-nine and is Reader in Nineteenth-Century Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. His first novel, Salt, was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2000. He had published several academic works on nineteenth century poetry and science fiction. His novels On (2001), Stone (2002), and Polystom (2003), have been praised both for their striking ideative content and originality. His latest novel is The Snow (2004). His website can be found at www.adamroberts.com
Justina Robson was born and brought up in Leeds. She studied Philosophy and Linguistics at university and began writing in 1992. Her first novel Silver Screen, appeared in 1999 and her second novel, Mappa Mundi, was published to acclaim in 2001. Both of them were short-listed for the Arthur C. Clarke award and won the amazon.co.uk Writers’ Bursary for 2000. Her latest books are Natural History (2004) and Living Next Door To The God Of Love (2005). She also reviews science fiction for the Guardian.
Brian Stableford (b. 1948) is a renowned and prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy. He has been selling professionally for forty years but his work has always explored the cutting edge of technology, from the days of his Star-Pilot Grainger series, which began with The Halcyon Drift (1972) and are now all available in the omnibus Swan Songs (2003) to such collections as Sexual Chemistry (1991), dealing with genetic engineering and Designer Genes (2004), exploring biotechnology. He has published more than fifty novels and two hundred short stories, as well as several non-fiction books, thousands of articles for periodicals and reference books, several volumes of translations from the French and a number of anthologies. He is a part-time Lecturer in Creative Writing at University College, Winchester. His recent publications include two story collections, Complications and Other Stories (2003) and Salome and Other Decadent Fantasies (2004), and a Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Literature (2004).
A former lecturer in Future Studies, Ian Watson (b. 1943) is the award-winning author of nearly fifty novels and short-story collections from The Embedding (1973) to the recent Mockymen (2003), and including the Vernian Japan Tomorrow (1977) for young adults. He wrote the Screen Story for A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the Steven Spielberg movie based on the “robot Pinocchio” project of Stanley Kubrick with whom Ian worked for a year. PS Publishing are issuing his tenth story collection, Butterflies of Memory, at the end of 2005. In 2001 DNA Publications produced his first poetry collection, The Lexicographer’s Love Song. He lives in a little village
in South Northamptonshire. His website is at www.ianwatson.info
Liz Williams (b. 1965) is the daughter of a conjuror and a Gothic novelist, and currently lives in Brighton, England. She has a PhD in philosophy of science from Cambridge and her anti-career ranges from reading tarot cards on Brighton pier to teaching in Central Asia. She currently writes full time. Her novel The Ghost Sister was published in July 2001. Further novels include Empire of Bones (2002), The Poison Master (2003), Nine Layers of Sky (2003), and Banner of Souls, (2004). She has had over forty short stories published in Asimov’s, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy and The Third Alternative.
End of New Jules Verne Adventures
Table of Contents
The Mammoth Book of NEW JULES VERNE ADVENTURES
COPYRIGHT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION: Return to the Centre of the Earth
A DRAMA ON THE RAILWAY by Stephen Baxter
JEHAN THUN’S QUEST by Brian Stableford
SIX WEEKS IN A BALLOON by Eric Brown
LONDRES AU XXIE SIÈCLE by James Lovegrove
GIANT DWARFS by Ian Watson
CLIFF RHODES AND THE MOST IMPORTANT JOURNEY by Peter Crowther
1 The two strangers
2 Ernest Hemingway was a bullfighter?!
3 In the presence of a literary man
4 What the hell’s `tipsey’?
5 Enter Cliff Rhodes
6 The man on the bus
7 Thick with possibilities
8 The second parchment
9 The back room
10 A parting of the ways
The Mammoth Book of New Jules Verne Adventures Page 52
