I’m quite happy to announce that Into the Ruins was not just a one-off accomplishment; in fact, the second issue is finished and ready for your reading pleasure. This Summer 2016 issue features a ton of great content, with five new and fantastic short stories from Jay Cummings, Chloe Woods, Bart Hillyer, Lawrence Buentello, and the returning G.Kay Bishop. From a distant civilization that cycles through the same ebb and flow of peace and warfare we find littered throughout human history, to a melancholic meditation on our fast-changing world set in 2020 that feels eerily familiar to today; from a love story set in a less energy-intensive time, to a haunting encampment at the edge of dry and dusty ruins; and on again to an adventurous and amusing attempt to deliver a key new manuscript on the herbal treatment of spinal meningitis to a distant library, these stories inspire a wide range of emotions, from meditative reflection on the predicament of our times to delight at unexpected adventure.
In addition, this issue features the debut of “Deindustrial Futures Past,” a new column from John Michael Greer which will be a recurring feature in future issues. In “Deindustrial Futures Past,” Greer will be exploring a variety of deindustrial SF works from the past, and he focuses on Edgar Pangborn for the first go. Justin Patrick Moore returns with a new review, as well, taking a look at Joëlle Anthony’s Restoring Harmony. A new Editor’s Introduction, a variety of letters to the editor, and a very short story excerpt from me round out the issue. All of this comes as a 112 page, 7″ x 10″ paperback with another beautiful cover by W. Jack Savage.
Subscribers should be receiving their issues shortly and those who aren’t ready to subscribe but who would like to check out the first issue anyway are encouraged to order a copy to peruse at their pleasure. Direct purchases from Figuration Press for shipment next week are available at that link, (though order soon for immediate shipment, as I won’t be able to mail issues from August 5th – August 15th). In addition, you can order directly from Amazon. For international readers, you can go to the issue page for links to international Amazon sites it’s available at or for a link to order directly from CreateSpace, which ships throughout the world. Finally, a digital version is also available through Payhip for $7.50 (or more, if you care to increase your support).
As always, I encourage readers to send their thoughts and feedback to me at editor@intotheruins.com, both as casual emails (rambling acceptable!) and as official letters to the editor that I can consider for publication in the third issue of Into the Ruins, coming before too long. Comments for contributing authors will be happily forwarded on.
Lastly, I want to again provide a huge thanks to John Michael Greer for his myriad forms of support; Shane Wilson, who proved a steady and invaluable Assistant Editor, catching mistakes I otherwise missed; Justin Patrick Moore, for another great book review; my amazing partner Kate O’Neill, who continues to put up with me devoting so much attention to this project; to those who wrote letters to the editor and who have helped diversify the views available in the magazine; W. Jack Savage, for again providing such a beautiful cover, and for being patient with me; and of course to all the fantastic authors published herein, whose imaginative works form the backbone of this publication and, ultimately, are the reason it exists. And finally, to everyone who has subscribed (or who still is yet to subscribe), thank you for supporting this project and helping to make it happen.
Now go read the issue and enjoy some fantastic deindustrial and post-peak science fiction!
Into the Ruins 