Malevolent, metal-scavenging microdrones (“Paston, Kentucky”). A collector’s car with a mind of its own, off for a drive through a nuclear holocaust (the two-time award-nominated “Best in Class”). An experienced climber tackling the most dangerous alien obstacle in the universe (“Spired”). These and other stories await the reader in Jonathan C. Gillespie’s debut short fiction collection, which brings together five killer tales from the author’s publishing history.

Some of this collection’s stories are or will be available in free audio:

• “Spired” was featured on Variant Frequencies.
• “Best in Class” was as well, where it received a Parsec-finalist nod back in 2009 for Best fiction, Short form.
• “Todd Elrin and the Forever Reset” was featured in The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
• “Eee” once ran on the now-defunct Well Told Tales podcast.

…But here you get all five in one convenient format, without having to crawl the web, or purchase copies of magazines. This is the first time in print for three of the tales. And “Paston, Kentucky” was previously only available in issue one of Murky Depths.

(Parental warning: If you find the old podcast episodes, listen to them before your kids do. They are not edited for content.)

The tales in the fiction collection are edited for bare-minimum profanity. In addition, they’ve all been given a polishing and revision, just for this collection.

So grab your copy, and enjoy some fiction for every reader.