{"product_id":"2940150280397","title":"Broken Worlds: Dystopian Stories","description":"The worlds breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places...\u003cbr\u003e- Ernest Hemmingway\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a future of bleakness and roboticism, a totalitarian government enforces upon the people a lifestyle that lulls them into a state of obedience. Your career and social status are predestined and you cannot alter it - this is a reality that walks a fine line between evoking sensations of fear and inducing a sense of futility.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA dystopian reality can sometimes turn out to be as powerful and strong as it can be fragile, collapsing in on itself from one second to the next. As a race, we are fascinated with what comes next, what's over the hill and, inevitably, what happens if we're left all alone. How can things go on? What lessons can we learn?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBroken Worlds takes a peep into an all too possible future. Narration and style change from story to story, but the core of this volume is human emotion. Coloured by their cultures and backgrounds, the storytellers featured in this volume take the idea of a society at extremes and weave a variety of outcomes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe invite you to read and hope you enjoy this collection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Sad Man by Thomas Brown (competition winner)\u003cbr\u003eFrom the fifth-floor window of his inner-city flat, a man keeps watch for his friend, the Sad Man.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePioneer by Joe Saxon\u003cbr\u003eLidia lives in the waterworks, always hungry, until she receives a message from the supervisors of the upper floors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Insects by Gavin Bryce\u003cbr\u003eThia is a city with millions of electronic eyes. On his retirement day, Roman Huxley has planned a special retirement present for the entire megacity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScreens by Alix Owen\u003cbr\u003eA story inspired by the advent of Google Glass; when one young man contracts a biomechanical disease, he is forced to see what the world has become while everybody else was social networking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMachinations by Shira Hereld\u003cbr\u003eA marriage is slowly falling apart as both partners become more and more reliant on mechanical Andros for everything from housework to intimacy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Architect by Gavin Haran\u003cbr\u003eA local obituarist tracks the sinister transformation of his town through the introduction of mysterious architectural constructions with unexpected consequences\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Deepening Well by Sam Hurcom\u003cbr\u003eCan a state of mind be considered dystopian - how would the end of history affect the last survivng individual?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3AM Job by Mark Schultz\u003cbr\u003eOn a future Earth, where absolute free market capitalism controls the globe, a freelance butcher accepts an early morning job which turns out to be far more profitable than it seems at first glance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Farm by George Vernon\u003cbr\u003eA farmer and his family are threatened by their rebellious herd.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVision of Paradise by Clare Banks\u003cbr\u003eIn the late 21st Century, a mind-altering drug is added to water supplies to combat global depression, but when a young housekeeper learns about a secret society's ambition to get it removed, her beliefs are challenged as her employer commits suicide to safeguard the group's anonymity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Last Canvas by Paul Dawson\u003cbr\u003eIn an apocalyptic future ruled by strange men, the only humans allowed to live are they who can illuminate what it is to be human - through their art, literature, music, philosophy and wisdom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Leadership Gene by Francis Beckett\u003cbr\u003eHe was a marketer, bred to write clever phrases. She was bred for leadership. No one could ever know of their love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlso in the collection...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWatch by Miles Gatrell\u003cbr\u003eWater Rats by Terry Holland\u003cbr\u003eThe Rebel's Daughter by Virgina Ballesty\u003cbr\u003eMeat is Murder by David Turnbull\u003cbr\u003eEquity Lamp by Adam \"Bucho\" Rodenburger\u003cbr\u003eDreg Town by Steph Minns\u003cbr\u003eIt was the Best of Times by Konstantine Paradias\u003cbr\u003eCarved in Ice by Doxa J. Zannou\u003cbr\u003eSilva's Plague by Ian Green\u003cbr\u003eUrbanova by Christian Cook\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover art, Broken Worlds by Daniel Tyka\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll proceeds from this collection go towards running writing competitions for aspiring writers!","brand":"Almond Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080051704048,"sku":"2940150280397","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940150280397_p0.jpg?v=1763741760","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940150280397","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}