McIntosh, Will

An Hour with Will McIntosh

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159780276X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=159780276X&linkCode=as2&tag=regardtomor07-20&linkId=HTYCIYXBI2SHEYDAIf you aren't familiar with Will McIntosh, he isn't surprised.  Like many authors, Will is happy just to have a writing career and thankful for the opportunities his readers provide, even if his name isn't well known. But given the quality of his previous work and a new young adult science fiction series in development (The first novel, Burning Midnight, is scheduled for 2016), don't be surprised if you start hearing his name more often.

But you should know his short story "Bridesicle" won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story and also the Asimov's Reader Poll in 2010. It was also a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story that same year. His short version of "Soft Apocalypse" was a finalist in 2005 for both the British Science Fiction and British Fantasy Awards.

Soft Apocalypse

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Soft Apocalypse book coverAs atmospheric carbon rises towards 450 units per million and the pitch of climatologists reach higher levels of alarm, Soft Apocalypse offers a worst-case scenario of what a slow collapse of society might look like from the inside. Where McIntosh's Bridesicle/Love Minus 80 revolved around a misuse of life-saving technology, Soft Apocalypse is an avalanche of Hell unleashed on our planet. It is futurehorror without a Freddy or Michael, where the bad guys numbered in billions around the globe. Many of them bad guys who live among us today, but who haven't been forced to show their true natures as long as the distractions of civilization keep them in check.

This story could easily be the world outside as everything unraveled in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Watching the slow collapse of society through Jasper's narrative, we see humanity returning to its fierce roots as the veneer of civilization is slowly stripped away. Soft Apocalypse is a message you live through as you read it.

Love Minus Eighty

Submitted by Daryl Weade on

Love Minus Eighty book coverWelcome to the early 22nd century. Social media connects the elite in real time, and the digital divide has birthed a divide so complete it has manifested a near-complete physical disconnect. And while our mortality has not been conquered, reanimation has been perfected for those who can afford it. For those who can't, there is 'freezing insurance.' And for pretty, young women who can afford insurance, but not reanimation, there is a partial life in the 'bridesicle' dating service, where if you're pretty and willing enough, a one-percenter might marry you on your deathbed before taking you home as a bride-slave.

Will McIntosh's short story "Bridesicle" won both the Hugo Award and Asimov's Reader Poll in 2010, and was a finalist for the same year's Nebula Award. Love Minus Eighty is based on the short story and a brilliant dystopian look at a future that forecasts many of today's headline issues. McIntosh offers a very engaging world where the storyline shifts between High Town and the suburbs, contrasting the have's and have-not's of the world. Looking at the social changes, it feels like McIntosh did a good job of taking some of our current systems such as social media and incoming advancements such as life-expansion and autonomous systems forward in ways that are both promising and sour to current tastes.

Advanced search