Books in the Goldsmiths Press / Gold SF series

A post-apocalyptic retelling of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.Who will survive when the world is destroyed? Can stories from the distant past teach us how to change a dismal present? Merchant shifts perspective between three survivors of a flooded world as they try to navigate the threat of mass starvation; Jessica, a patrilineal Jew from Venice (named after the Italian city but located on the mountain K2) who has memorized the complete works of Shakespeare; Cem, an orphan of Venice; and Shinobu, an advisor to the empress Ama in Fuji. Ama has been gifting edible algae blocks to nations worldwide, but Jessica’s arrival in Fuji to beg for more food for Venice upsets the delicate international balance Shinobu has been maintaining. As a series of buried secrets and miscommunications carry consequences of potential global destruction, everyone must determine what they are willing to do to survive in a hopeless world.

Selected short stories by one of the most acclaimed voices in post-war US American science fiction.This volume presents a selection of short fiction by Vonda Neel McIntyre (1948–2019), one of the most acclaimed writers of post-war US American science fiction, and the winner of multiple awards for both novels and short fiction.These stories, which span the whole of McIntyre’s career, show the broad range of her interests and her voice, taking us from bleak dystopian worlds on the verge of environmental collapse to baroque intergalactic civilizations populated by genetically modified humans, from cries for freedom to sharp-eyed satire to meditations on aging. Throughout run her distinctive themes of gender and power dynamics, human and species diversity, and a pragmatic utopianism that emphasises our mutual dependency.The stories included in the volume are: "Breaking Point," "Thanatos," "Shadows, Moving," "Elfleda," "A Story for Eilonwy," "Malheur Maar," "The Adventure of the Field Theorems," "Little Faces", "Little Sisters," and "XYY" (previously unpublished).

In a re-wilded, near-future England, a group of activists led by a writer try to make a noise in a society that refuses to hear its people.A re-wilded, half-submerged England is home to a divided society split into "haves" and "have-nots." Susan, once a teacher and writer, leads a small group of activists as they try to spread words—any words—in a world that no longer produces books. The Ghostwriters must try to revive ideas and get their message out whilst pitted against a system that shuts down thought and learning.After the break-up of the United Kingdom, war in Europe, starvation, and pandemic, the Capital is a society under siege. People just manage to survive on rations and scraps that they thieve. Always monitored, but never protected, life is cheap among the population. The Ghostwriters must navigate dangers, but who can be trusted and what secrets lie beneath the surface of the Old Capital?

A poverty-stricken veteran of online social justice battles joins with a group of unlikely allies to fight in the war of disinformation before Britain becomes fully totalitarian.The lives of three strangers intersect to bring hope to a beleaguered near-future Britain lurching towards authoritarianism.Libby Seymour is a Civil Servant, military intelligence analyst, Union activist, believer in the equality of justice, and member of the MayGE Committee campaigning for a long-overdue General Election. A colleague tells her the police want a word about something she didn’t do… and she goes on the run with the help of her occasional lover, ex-army doctor, now trauma therapist, Susan Church. Derek Hallett is a British Army officer with an impressive record in special operations. Newly promoted to Major General, he is stunned to be assigned to a secretive job in England. For commercial reasons, Jackson-Burgess (UK) Ltd steps back from administering four work camps designed to reduce poverty in Britain. He swore to the Crown to uphold the rule of law.Kayla Nettleton has two lives. Online, she’s a veteran Cultural Warrior and defender of social justice through hacking. In real life, she’s trapped with her family in a sink estate, and is swept up into the poverty eradication programme run by Jackson-Burgess. Together, the three unlikely allies spearhead a small resistance group to fight back in the Disinformation War.