Kevin J. Anderson is the bestselling science fiction author of over 125 novels, including Clockwork Angels: The Novel, which fictionalizes the most recent Rush concept album, and the parallel novel Clockwork Lives. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series; the Terra Incognita series; Resurrection, Inc.; Hopscotch; and many others. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, DC Comics, StarCraft, and The X-Files and, with Brian Herbert, is the co-author of 15 novels in the Dune universe. He lives in Colorado.

John McFetridge is the author of two critically acclaimed crime novel series, the Toronto series and the Eddie Dougherty series, and writes for the Discovery ID series Real Detective. He lives in Toronto.

2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush edited by Kevin J. Anderson and John McFetridge

18 exhilarating journeys into Rush-inspired worlds

The music of Rush, one of the most successful bands in history, is filled with fantastic stories, evocative images, and thought-provoking futures and pasts. In this anthology, notable, bestselling, and award-winning writers each chose a Rush song as the spark for a new story, drawing inspiration from the visionary trio that is Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart.

Enduring stark dystopian struggles or testing the limits of the human spirit, the characters populating 2113 find strength while searching for hope in a world that is repressive, dangerous, or just debilitatingly bland. Most of these tales are science fiction, but some are fantasies, thrillers, even edgy mainstream. Many of Rush's big hits are represented, as well as deeper cuts . . . with wonderful results. This anthology also includes the seminal stories that inspired the Rush classics "Red Barchetta" and "Roll the Bones," as well as Kevin J. Anderson's novella sequel to the groundbreaking Rush album 2112.

2113 contains stories by New York Times bestselling authors Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Z. Williamson, David Mack, David Farland, Dayton Ward, and Mercedes Lackey; award winners Fritz Leiber, Steven Savile, Brad R. Torgersen, Ron Collins, David Niall Wilson, and Brian Hodge, as well as many other authors with imaginations on fire.

CURATOR'S NOTE

The prog rock band Rush is one of the most successful acts in music history, and they have also been a huge influence on my own writing. I've written two novels—CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES—with Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, and it was no surprise to me when I found many other SF writers who were also influenced by Rush. Canadian author John McFetridge suggested we do a collection of Rush-inspired stories. 2113 contains some really entertaining stories based on Rush classics such as Tom Sawyer, The Treees, 2112, and more. Canadian publisher ECW is also trying StoryBundle for the first time. – Kevin J. Anderson

 

REVIEWS

  • "Like Rush itself, the stories are all highly professional and technically proficient . . . The range and breadth of stories here offer a striking array of riches for fans to peruse."

    – Tangent

  • "It is a satisfying, humbling, and inspiring book. . . Well, of course, it's perfect. You definitely need to add this thing of perfection to your own collection."

    – Progarchy

  • "[2113] is a solid assemblage of short stories, leaning heavily toward science fiction and fantasy. Key to the volume's success is the fact that, while the stories may have been inspired by Rush songs, you don't need to be a Rush fan — or even know the songs — to enjoy the stories."

    – Toronto Star
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Introduction: Imaginations on Fire

Inspiration is a funny thing. One person can hear a song, hum along, and that's all. Another person can listen to the same song, an intense riff, a turn of phrase or play on words in the lyrics, and imagination opens up like a thunderclap.

The music of Rush has provided a great many of those thunderclaps to a great many authors. When we invited these contributors to choose a Rush song as the spark for a short story — loosely based, thematically linked, or directly inspired — we didn't know what we were going to get. The flood of creativity and literary excellence that came in shows just how important the music of Rush is to the imaginations of so many people. We gave the authors no specific guidelines other than to be inspired.

And they were. These stories range from stark dystopian struggles to uplifting triumphs of the human spirit, "straining the limits of machine and man." The underlying themes from a musical catalog that spans more than four decades come through in these stories as well: humans finding their strength, searching for hope in a world that is repressive, dangerous, or just debilitatingly bland. Most of the stories are science fiction, but some are fantasy, thriller, even edgy mainstream. Many of the big hits are represented here, but some authors chose truly unlikely sources . . . with wonderful results. We've also included reprints of two stories that had a significant impact on Rush history: the original fictional inspirations for "Red Barchetta" and "Roll the Bones."

Do you need to know the songs by heart to enjoy these stories? Not at all. In fact, if you had read the stories in another publication, you probably wouldn't even notice the Rush connection. If you like good fiction, you will love these stories. If you are also a fan of Rush, you will love them even more.

— Kevin J. Anderson and John McFetridge