Apollonius's Argonautica, In Print Now

In print now: Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes 

Translated by Stanley Lombardo & Cynthia C. Polsley

Introduction by Tara Welch

Thank you to Brian Rak and the team at Hackett for all their hard work getting this project through to completion!

Sidewise Musings in Paperback

Volume Five in the Ifscapes Multiverse, Sidewise Musings, is now out in paperback as well as ebook! This collection's story "Seven Against Thebes" is one of the longest Ifscapes in the series. It was an especially fun and intriguing exercise in world-building, with quite a few mythological Easter Eggs and ancient-world crossovers to be found below the classic-sci-fi surface of the story ("below the surface" . . . if you've read the story, you'll see the intended pun!).

From the book description: 

"How many Mercurians does it take to change a light-bulb in a far-away citadel of lights? What really caused the literal downfall of Atlantis? Does a meeting of artificial intelligence and asteroids really equal a new empire? Ifscapes teases these questions and more as the series travels underground, upside-down, sidewise, and otherwise in the latest collection of meta-myth science fiction and fantasy short stories.

"Inverted and retroverted worlds meet with remote non-human resources, chronological catastrophes, fantastic islands, and robotic antagonists in just a few worldscapes, timescapes, and landscapes of If. Is it when in Rome that you do as the Pallentinians do, or was that in Babylon, or even in Troy? Are the enemies at Thebes’ gates or in the palace halls? Which came first, Socrates or the dialogue? Volume Five in the multiverse of Ifscapes, Sidewise Musings ponders the boundaries and puzzles the pundits with a whole new array of meta-myth manuscript discoveries, athwart adventures, and oblique obstacles of space and time."

The Martians Want Their Planet Back, and They Want It in Paperback!

"Needless to say, it wasn't long before news of the case leaked to the media. How often did the mysterious Martians file in Intersolar Court?”

Or as you might rightly ask, how often does anyone file in Intersolar Court?

More often than you might think . . .

Already ebook, now out in paperback: The Martians Want Their Planet Back!

What do solar lawsuits and librarians have in common with dragon-slayers, the Voynich Manuscript, and a robotic voyage into the unknown? Find out in the fourth installment of the Ifscapes series, featuring ten more short stories that delve into the sideways science fiction multiverse of space, time, and if.

A Many-Turning Multiverse, Paperback Edition

There was once a universe. And another. And another. Each of them with multitudes of worlds and adventures on their way to history, epic, and myth — or paperback.

Ifscapes 3, A Many-Turning Multiverse, already in ebook, now in paperback!

Following in the footsteps of Ifscapes: Empires and Androids, this free-standing multiversing volume of Ifscapes returns to the fluctuating, fervent, and fantastical realms of reimagined ancient Greek and Roman mythology and legend. Exploring the worlds of what if, what would have been, and what might be, these twelve short science fiction and fantasy stories put a spin on classic tales and characters, spanning past, present, and future in a full array of covert conspiracies, mass-scale invasions, serial satires, excursions to far-away forests and far-flung world-ships, and more.

A Braxleydale Scholar Comes to Paperback

Meanwhile, otherwhere in the elsewhen in ebook and at last here in the actual now — out in paperback!

A Braxleydale Scholar and Other Eccentricities (Ifscapes Vol. 2)

From the book synopsis:

Singularity, sentience, and scholarship? Satirically esoteric and fantastically apocalyptic worlds of the multiverse come to life in this collection of ten short science fiction stories. 

In this volume of Ifscapes: 

- experience the first sweet moments of artificial intelligence 

- visit the gate at the end of the world 

- go to college with an extraterrestrial 

- ride the roller coaster at Earthland, recently voted the galaxy's favorite theme park 

- learn how to buy and build your very own planet (systems available on optional upgrade) 

Whether you’re interested in preventing the next dystopia or probing the depths of a black hole, the range of serious and tongue-in-cheek stories in this second installment of Ifscapes are designed to fire the imagination and escape the confines of reality. A Braxleydale Scholar and Other Eccentricities features a wide breadth and depth of whimsical science fiction. What would a new self-aware lifeform look like? Where do paper boats fit into the mystery of missing planets? How does Earth turn into a galactic center of recreation? It’s your choice how you tackle the future when the sky's not the limit. Be inspired, amused, driven, or pedantic with this collection of not-so-earthbound entertainment.

Available for Pre-Order: Apollonius' Argonautica (Lombardo and Polsley)

What a pleasure to announce that our new translation of Apollonius' Argonautica is now available for pre-order through Hackett Publishing and Amazon! Always thankful for the privilege and joy of joining my dear friend Stanley Lombardo on a translation project, I’m looking forward to the arrival of the Argonautica in print on September 15.

If you've never followed along on the legendary voyage of the Argo, Apollonius' third-century-B.C. (Hellenistic) epic is an exciting read with twists and turns that set the stage for many other famous episodes in ancient mythology, including the tragedy of Jason and Medea (e.g., Medea by Euripides), the saga of Heracles (a.k.a. Hercules) after his labors for Eurystheus, and the origin stories of heroes' whose children would fight in the Trojan War (i.a., Peleus, father of Achilles).

We're grateful to the amazing Tara Welch (University of Kansas, Classics) for her wonderful introduction to Apollonius' tale of Jason and the Argonauts. Thank you also to Brian Rak and the team at Hackett for their hard work in bringing this book to publication!

Now Available: Ifscapes 11, Hercules Under Contract!

Announcing Ifscapes Vol. 11, Hercules Under Contract, now available on Amazon Kindle!

In Volume 11 of Ifscapes, the multiverse takes its cue from Herculean adventures featuring monsters, mystery, manipulation, and more. Will the shadowy Eurystheans succeed at annexing whole systems? Can the HERCULES Contractors survive their assignments against all odds? And what does the Loch Ness Monster have to do with long-forgotten empires?

In this volume of Ifscapes:

- join ambitious androids on an epic lion hunt

- watch seasoned gladiators battle in unheard-of arenas

- get special insight on the Museum’s Heran exhibits

- question intergalactic witnesses to a massive time heist

- dive into a deadly ocean’s murky depths

- compete with AI monsters and cybernetic organisms

Unrealities, parallel worlds, and alternative adventures meet the mythological exploits of Hercules (Greek Heracles, of course) and the intricacies of galactic conspiracies in this collection of classic science fiction and meta-myth short stories. In Ifscapes 11: Hercules Under Contract, adventures range from far beyond the small print, taking underdog heroes and unexpected explorers to whole new realms of time, space, and realities in the what-if multiverse.