Strange Concepts series
Big Ideas Explored Through Speculative Fiction
Strange Concepts is a series of themed science fiction and fantasy anthologies that explore big ideas through the imaginative lens of speculative fiction. Through compelling narratives and fantastic world-building, diverse authors force us to reexamine familiar and important concepts. Together, they present memorable "what if" questions, pose interesting moral and philosophical dilemmas, and introduce intriguing thought experiments in the form of engaging stories. Accompanying discussion questions probe deeper into the stories and encourage further reflection, and guest experts and editors add their insights. Strange Concepts is about more than great stories; it's about thinking about our world in new and exciting ways.
Strange Economics:
Economic Speculative Fiction
What if souls were a form of currency? What if our potential could be bought and sold? What is the value of a memory?
These economic questions and more are explored through twenty-three science fiction and fantasy stories, appearing for the first time in this collection.
This anthology also includes economics discussion questions accompanying each of the stories, written by professional economist Elisabeth Perlman, and an afterword/essay exploring the relationship between speculative fiction and economics, written by guest editor Jo Lindsay Walton.
Strange Wars:
Speculative Fiction of Coalitions in Conflict
Strange Wars explores military conflict through speculative fiction. Compelling narratives, fantastic world-building, and diverse authors force us to reexamine the familiar and important concept of war. The 27 stories in this collection present organized aggression through the imaginative lens of science fiction and fantasy. Accompanying discussion questions probe deeper into the stories and encourage further reflection. Strange Wars is about more than great science fiction and fantasy; it's about thinking about war in new ways.
Strange Religion:
Speculative Fiction of Spirituality, Belief, & Practice
Strange Religion thoughtfully explores religious traditions and ideas through speculative science fiction and fantasy. These are twenty stories about the rituals, theology, and identity of practitioners of the future, alternative histories, and the fantastic worlds depicted by scripture and religious folklore. Diverse narratives depict religion with the complexity it has in the real world, where gods aren’t just plot devices to create political tension or to give characters magical powers. They put religion in dialogue with other human activities, including science, philosophy, and law.
Imps & Minions
Imps & Minions explores the lives of the little guys of villainry, with 34 tales dedicated to servile underlings, mooks, henchmen, pawns, scamps and rapscallions. Whether it's Riznax, the little imp who falls in love with his master's library of ancient tomes, or the poor troll suffering the aftermath of a fairy tale, or the machine programmed to defend her overlord with every microchip in her chassis—in Imps & Minions, they all take center stage. The stories range in tone from whimsical and lighthearted to dark and tragic, and span the genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and "superhero", with a few that are harder to classify. Collectively, they provide diverse looks at the complex and multi-faceted lives of imps, minions, and villainous underdogs of all stripes. Above all, they are compelling tales that show us the trials and tribulations of a colourful cast of characters normally relegated to the background—this is Imps & Minions, and these are their stories.
"One-Shot" Anthology Series
Most anthologies take around a year to produce. What happens when you limit the writing and editing process to a single day? This is a literary experiment that you need to check out. Find out what writers are capable of when constrained to an absolutely absurd timeline.
Is it possible to write a compelling collection of single stories in a single sitting? Our one-shot anthologies do just that. See what's possible when you sit a group of writers down, tell them the theme, and get them to write and edit an entire anthology... in one sitting.
Mutation:
A One-Shot Anthology of Speculative Fiction #5
Mutation is the fifth of our "one-shot" anthologies, following Colony, Sanctuary, Nourishment, and Outsiders. Each title is the product of an intense, one-day period of writing and editing by a team of authors currently residing (mostly) in Toronto.
Mutation has thirty original stories and 72,000 words of fiction—all of them written and edited in a 24-hour period.
The one-shot anthology is radically different from most fiction anthologies, which typically take around a year to produce. At 24 hours, we are working over 300x faster to get to the finished product. The stories born in such extreme conditions might be expected to diverge from the norm, and are perhaps best viewed as specimens to examine—literary mutations. Like the extremophiles that live in deep sea hydrothermal vents, or thermus aquaticus, which thrives in the 70-degree Celsius waters at Yellowstone National Park, the stories in Mutation emerge from extreme writing environments. What kind of creations thrive? How is their literary DNA altered? There is only one way to find out.
I hope you have fun discovering weirdness and wonders, deformities and delights, in Mutation!
Outsiders:
A One-Shot Anthology of Speculative Fiction #4
Outsiders is the fourth of the "one-shot anthology" series.
The completed collection has 38 stories and over 100,000 total words on the theme of "Outsiders", all of them written and edited in their entirety within a rigidly constrained 24-hour period during an online writing event.
Nourishment:
A one-shot anthology series #3
Nourishment is the third of the "one-shot anthology" series.
The completed collection has 25 stories and over 70,000 total words on the theme of "Nourishment", all of them written and edited in their entirety within a rigidly constrained 24-hour period.
This anthology is more than a collection of imaginative and entertaining stories—it is also a feat in creative writing.
Colony:
A one-shot anthology of speculative fiction #2
This speculative fiction anthology was created during an intense, 24-hour period of writing and editing.
This is more than a collection of imaginative and entertaining stories—it is also a feat in creative writing. It embodies the efforts of authors writing and editing fervently under absurd time pressures. They set themselves a challenge and pushed themselves to the finish line. The Colony anthology is the result of their efforts.
Sanctuary:
A one-shot anthology series #1
The "Sanctuary" anthology is the first of our one-shot anthology series.
This anthology was written in a day. Seriously.
A team of writers residing in Toronto set out to create an entire anthology in a single day, just to see what would happen. They chose the theme of "Sanctuary". This collection--comprising 23 works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror--is the result of that experimental effort.
Fun and Experimental Products
tdotSpec publishes eyebrow raising concepts and forays into experimental territory. These are literary products you won't find elsewhere, created sometimes just for the fun of it, and sometimes to push boundaries and try new things.
The Hamthology:
Ham Sandwich Literature
More than fifty works of poetry, prose, and visual art on the theme of ham sandwiches come together in this anthology, spanning genres from fantasy and science fiction to mystery, horror, romance, erotica, and more.
The Hamthology is the greatest collection of ham sandwich literature in the history of humankind.