Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World & Other Stories 
Forthcoming from Fairwood Press in August 2016.
This debut collection from Nebula-nominated author Caroline M. Yoachim showcases a wide-ranging selection of dark and beautiful stories, fiction that explores human nature against vividly imagined speculative backdrops. Here you’ll find time travel, alien invasions, Japanese mermaids, and more–stories of struggle, heartbreak, and hope. The book features twenty-five of Yoachim’s most popular published pieces, and two brand new stories exclusive to the collection.
Available for Pre-order at: Fairwood Press – Amazon – Barnes and Noble
Table of Contents
Introduction by Tina Connolly
Part 1: Our World
Five Stages of Grief After the Alien Invasion
Betty and the Squelchy Saurus
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Love, Death
The Philosophy of Ships
Temporary Friends
Interlude: Flash Fiction Worlds
A Million Oysters for Chiyoko
Carla at the Off-Planet Tax Return Helpline
Do Not Count the Withered Ones
Pieces of My Body
Everyone’s a Clown
Harmonies of Time
Part 2: Fantasy Worlds
Stone Wall Truth
The Little Mermaid of Innsmouth
On the Pages of a Sketchbook Universe
Seasons Set In Skin
The Carnival Was Eaten, All Except the Clown
Interlude: Flash Fiction Worlds
Paperclips and Memories and Things That Won’t Be Missed
Please Approve the Dissertation Research of Angtor
Grass Girl
One Last Night at the Carnival, Before the Stars Go Out
Honeybee
Elizabeth’s Pirate Army
Part 3: Alien Worlds
Mother Ship
Four Seasons in the Forest of Your Mind
Press Play to Watch It Die
Ninety-Five Percent Safe
Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World
Praise for Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World & Other Stories:
“An astonishing collection from a writer of boundless imagination–full of heart, intelligence, and sense of wonder.”
– John Joseph Adams, Series Editor of Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy
“Yoachim’s reputation as an exceptional flash fiction stylist is founded on her work for Daily Science Fiction. Compiled, some of these brief works initially read as slight. ‘Betty and the Squelchy Saurus’—recounting treaty politics with monsters under the bed—works well early on, its context already familiar. Full appreciation of the more science fictional worlds takes time, as Yoachim circles back in successive stories to add layers to major themes: interchangeable or malleable bodies (‘Temporary Friends,’ ‘Stone Wall Truth,’ ‘Grass Girl’), displaced consciousness (‘The Philosophy of Ships,’ ‘Do Not Count the Withered Ones,’ ‘Pieces of My Body’), time warps (‘Rock, Paper, Scissors, Love, Death,’ ‘Harmonies of Time’ ‘Honeybee’). She’s especially successful in skewing hackneyed horror tropes, such as a spore invasion launched by compassionate aliens in ‘Five Stages of Grief after the Alien Invasion.’ ‘Everyone’s a Clown’ showcases Yoachim’s ability to layer multiple themes in a very short space, picking up on the childhood perceptions of ‘Betty and the Squelchy Saurus’ and refocusing them through the lens of an adult horror chestnut. Her gift for reshaping and polishing dulled old gems makes Yoachim’s collection truly noteworthy.”
– Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“I’ve always loved the workings of Caroline M. Yoachim’s creative mind. Her stories are full of surprises, both little and large. Tales can be charming and evocative and chilling and disturbing. Caroline perverts technology, crunches math’s hard truths, builds intriguing alien worlds, and hides love in odd places. Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World gives us lucky readers a chance to enjoy many aspects of her thoughtful imagination.”
– Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction
“With beauty and clarity, Yoachim brings these worlds to life. From monsters to aliens to extraordinary humans, her characters explore problems both strange and familiar. Yet every time, we recognize ourselves in their hopes and their choices. These stories are lovely.”
– Vylar Kaftan, Nebula Award-winning author
“Caroline M. Yoachim is a master of flash fiction. She has impeccable control of the written word, which is reflected in every world she writes. Her stories transcend their length, with characters that resonate long after the final word has been read.”
– Jonathan Laden, Co-editor, Daily Science Fiction
“Touching and sad, revealing and sublime, beautiful and innovative—these are the stories of Caroline M. Yoachim. There’s more truth in one of her short stories than in the entire avalanche of cookie-cutter novels which pass for fiction these days. Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World will remind you why short stories are still the powerful heart and soul of the speculative fiction genre.”
– Jason Sanford, Nebula Award-nominated author
“I’ve been reading Caroline’s stories for a decade now. The earliest ones had glimpses of something aching and beautiful. Ten years later, the work collected here is a sublime distillation of whimsy and deep melancholic thought, darkness, sorrow, and the occasional ray of laugh-out-loud light, with moments of beauty that will stab you–very, very precisely–so that it hurts the most. This is a bloody good collection that deserves a lot of attention.”
– Ian McHugh, Grand Prize Winner, Writers of the Future
