Fiction River is an original anthology series. Initially, based on the anthology series of old—Universe, Orbit, Pulphouse—Fiction River rapidly evolved into its own entity. Fiction River publishes stories in many genres from all kinds of writers, with New York Times bestselling authors published alongside some of the best new voices in fiction. Fiction River also goes where no anthology series has gone before, with regular audio editions, produced in-house, and ebook and trade paperback volumes that never go out of print. And Fiction River is available in English worldwide.

How to Save the World by Fiction River

The second original anthology in the Fiction River line, How to Save the World brings together eleven of today's brightest authors, presenting their answers to solve a pressing problem facing the human race. From the growing energy crisis to women's rights to overpopulation to the survival of humanity in the future, the stories in this anthology examine the issues facing our planet today—and offer hope for our survival tomorrow.

Table of Contents
"Staying Afloat" by Angela Penrose
"The Shape of a Name" by Annie Reed
"The Gathering" by David Gerrold
"Earth Day" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"Your Name Here" by Laura Resnick
"Heaven Backwards" by "Lisa Silverthorne
"The Legend of Parker Clark and Lois Jane" by Ron Collins
"Deus Ex Machina" by Travis Heermann
"Flight of Little Bird" by Stephanie Writt
"Positive Message" by William H. Keith
"Neighborhoods" by Dean Wesley Smith

CURATOR'S NOTE

Then, for good measure, I put in the collection from Fiction River that helped name this bundle. Fiction River: How to Save the World is a collection of eleven stories. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Ron Collins, Lisa Silverthorne and I have stories in the volume and books in this bundle. But the collection also includes stories by David Gerrold, Laura Resnick, Annie Reed, and others. Wonderful reading, all on the topic of Saving the World. – Dean Wesley Smith

 

REVIEWS

  • "Fiction River is off to an auspicious start. It's a worthy heir to the original anthology series of the 60s and 70s. ... It's certainly the top anthology of the year to date."

    – Amazing Stories on Fiction River: Unnatural Worlds

  • "[Fiction River] is one of the best and most exciting publications in the field today. Check out an issue and see why I say that."

    – Keith West, Adventures Fantastic
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Foreword
Journeys
Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Welcome to the second volume of Fiction River! We're so pleased to share it with you.

As Dean Wesley Smith and I planned Fiction River, we decided to make the series a journey. When you travel along a very long river, the scenery changes. Sometimes you float by a city; sometimes you pass a field. Sometimes you merge with another river; sometimes you expand into several branches.

We chose our title on purpose. Dean and I write in as many genres as we can. We read a wide variety of genres as well. And we've been in this business long enough to know that our perspective isn't the only valid one.

With that in mind, we invited guest editors to Fiction River, people whose work we love. We have two in our first year. You hold John Helfers' volume, How To Save The World, in your hands.

We brought John on board because he's a great writer and an innovative editor. He's published numbers of anthologies, mostly through Tekno Books, where he worked for many years. He has very high standards for the fiction he chooses. John and I used to think we had similar tastes. Then, along with Dean and Denise Little, John and I co-taught a workshop for professional writers. John and I then realized that on certain kinds of fiction, our tastes diverge wildly.

One thing Dean and I do at workshops: we ask participants to raise their hands at the end of the discussion to show if they would have bought the story in question. John got the same percentage of reader/buyers that I did; only we appealed to very different audiences. Not everyone who "bought" the stories I "bought" would "buy" John's and vice versa.

Dean and I remembered that as we set up Fiction River. We brought in John (and Kerrie L. Hughes in the fifth volume) to have a different voice in our anthology series. Every story here is top quality. A few are in a subgenre of science fiction that I always say I dislike. Yet when John sent those stories to me, I read and enjoyed them, surprising myself.

That's what we hope you experience if you subscribe to Fiction River. We hope that some genres, some editors, some writers, or some stories will open new reading worlds for you.

Thanks for joining us on this journey. We hope you love Fiction River: How To Save The World as much as we do.

—Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Lincoln City, Oregon
April 14, 2013