Diversifications

TITLE: Diversifications A NOVELLA by James Lovergrove SYNOPSIS: James Lovegrove’s second collection of short fiction is a swirling kaleidoscope of ideas, language and wordplay. In this book you will meet robots living in a flesh world, travellers who vie to explore the most exotic alternate dimensions, and viruses that spread by speech. There’s a serial killer who preys on serial killers, a doctor who takes the concept of downsizing to hideous extremes, a hangman coming to terms with his guilt over the executions he performed, and a jogaholic forever trying to atone for the biggest mistake of his life. From the red plains of Mars to a back-garden party, from modern London as Jules Verne might have imagined it to a futuristic society out of Mary Shelley’s worst nightmares, Lovegrove demonstrates yet again the extraordinary diversity and depth of his talent. Here, from a writer described by the Bookseller as having “become to the 21st century what J.G. Ballard was to the 20th” and by SFX as “one of the UK SF scene’s most interesting, challenging and adventurous authors”, are sixteen unforgettable tales filled with powerful characterisation, vivid storytelling, and dazzling verbal dexterity. James Lovegrove was born on Christmas Eve 1965 and is the author of more than 35 books. His novels include The Hope, Days, Untied Kingdom, Provender Gleed, and the highly popular Pantheon Triptych (The Age Of Ra, The Age Of Zeus, The Age Of Odin). In addition he has sold more than 40 short stories, the majority of them gathered in two collections, Imagined Slights and this one. He has written a four-volume fantasy series for teenagers, The Clouded World, under the pseudonym Jay Amory, and has produced a dozen short books for readers with reading dfficulties, including Wings, Kill Swap, Free Runner, Dead Brigade, and the series The 5 Lords Of Pain. James has been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Manchester Book Award, and his work has been translated into fifteen languages. His journalism has appeared in magazines as diverse as Literary Review, Interzone, and MindGames, and he is a regular reviewer of books for the Financial Times. He lives with his wife, two sons and cat in Eastbourne, a town famously genteel and favoured by the elderly, but in spite of that he isn’t planning to retire just yet.