METAtropolis

Dust jacket by Edward Miller

A strange man comes to an even stranger encampment... A bouncer becomes the linchpin of an unexpected urban movement... A courier on the run has to decide who to trust in a dangerous city... A slacker in a "zero-footprint" town get a most unusual new job... and a weapons investigator uses his skills to discover a metropolis hidden right in front of his eyes.

Welcome to the future of cities. Welcome to METAtropolis.

More than an anthology, METAtropolis is the brainchild of five of science fiction's hottest writers -- Elizabeth Bear, Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder and project editor John Scalzi -- who combined their talents to build a new urban future, and then wrote their own stories in this collectively-constructed world. The results are individual glimpses of a shared vision, and a reading experience unlike any you've had before.

You're at the city limits now. See what's waiting on the other side.

Trade: 2000 fully cloth bound hardcovers
Limited: 200 numbered copies signed by all contributors

Table of Contents:

• Jay Lake -- In the Forests of the Night
• Tobias Buckell -- Stochasti-city
• Elizabeth Bear -- The Red in the Sky is Our Blood
• John Scalzi -- Utere nihil non extra quiritationem suis
• Karl Schroeder -- To Hie from Far Cilenia

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):
“Editor Scalzi (Zoe’s Tale) and four well known writers thoughtfully postulate the evolution of cities, transcending postapocalyptic clichés to envision genuinely new communities and relationships… Each story shines on its own; as a group they reinforce one another, building a multifaceted view of a realistic and hopeful urban future.”

From Booklist:
"Scalzi and his contributors/collaborators have created a fascinating shared urban future that each of them evokes with his or her particular strengths... Originally an audio anthology, this stellar collection is a fascinating example of shared world building, well deserving of a parallel life in print."