I’m pleased to announce that the fifth issue of Into the Ruins is ready to ship to subscribers and is now available for purchase! This Spring 2017 issue features five excellent new stories from authors returning and new, as well as letters to the editor, a new “Deindustrial Futures Past” column from John Michael Greer, the return of Justin Patrick Moore reviewing Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140, and the usual “Editor’s Introduction.”
In this fifth issue of Into the Ruins, explorations of our deindustrial future take intriguing turns both dark and delightful. A naive, young government official arrives in an economically devastated midwest and soon finds himself entangled in a disturbing mystery. An expedition gone terribly wrong leads to the discovery of a hidden clan with surprising social arrangements born of disease, cruelty, experimentation, and physical pleasure. A bus ride across the deindustrialized Canadian countryside spurs a happy connection. Two men form an unlikely friendship as they work their way toward flight. And a village mentor discovers unexpected forms of darkness in her friends and neighbors, leading her to question herself and those around her.
These visions—extraordinary at times, rooted in an utterly normal and yet still fascinating world at others—stretch the boundaries of our imagined future. At times mysterious and thrilling, this is a new type of science fiction, offering unknown worlds found right here on earth.
Subscribers should be receiving their issues within the next week or so. However, many of you have yet to renew your subscription. Please renew today if you haven’t already! (Or use this direct PayPal link if you’re a U.S. subscriber.) I’ll get the fifth issue shipped off to you ASAP upon renewal and your subscription will continue on into the future, ensuring you never miss an issue. If you aren’t sure or can’t remember if you’ve already renewed or if your subscription has expired, feel free to contact me to confirm.
Okay, with that out of the way, for those who aren’t ready to subscribe but who would like to check out the fifth issue anyway, you can order a copy here to peruse at your pleasure. In addition to ordering directly at the previous link, you can order from Amazon or CreateSpace, or you can purchase a digital edition of the issue at Payhip. For Canadian readers, the issue should be available soon on Amazon’s Canada site. For other international readers, you can go to the issue page for links to international Amazon sites it’s available at (or will be soon) or for a link to order directly from CreateSpace, which ships throughout the world.
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 sixth issue of Into the Ruins, coming in July. Comments for contributing authors will be happily forwarded on.
Lastly, I want to once again provide a huge thanks to John Michael Greer for his myriad forms of support; Shane Wilson, who continues to prove a steady and invaluable Assistant Editor, providing feedback and catching mistakes I otherwise miss; Justin Patrick Moore, for returning to contribute a great new review to this issue; my amazing partner, Kate O’Neill, who is ever patient, ever loving, and brings me happiness every single day; 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 working with me unendingly; 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!
— Joel Caris, Editor & Publisher
Into the Ruins 