Stellar Parallax:
Human Hope in Grimdark Worlds
In the end, perseverence.
Let’s not sugarcoat it — things are rough, and we don’t know what the next year or even month will bring. Stories can be a source of hope, inspiration for resilience, reminders of strength.
This anthology will feature gritty sci-fi with a hopeful message amidst immersive diverse worlds.
STELLAR PARALLAX sits at the place where seemingly impossible circumstances meet the inventiveness of human agency.
Included Stories
A Map of Bruises on Her Smile by Fendy S. Tulodo
The Other Apocalypse by Aaron Timothy Ponce
Love Finger by Lancer Kind
Beans are Seeds and Legumes by Jason P. Burnham
For Terra by K.M. Veohongs
Underworld Recognition by Lucy Zhang
Keeping Warm After the End by R. F. Daniels
Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse by Joyce Frohn
Second Growth by Marie-Hélène Lebeault
A Mausoleum of Hand-Me-Down Memories by Em Harriett
Returning by Naomi Klouda
Screaming Against the Void by Jon Negroni
Good Citizens by H.V. Patterson
Junker by Austin Lee
Island 23 by Roberto Cofresí Hopgood
The Orchard-Bay by Monique Cuillerier
The Slow Unspooling by Stuart Conover
The Space Between Bodies by Frank Baird Hughes
Elevated by Susan L. Lin
Fragment 610-A by Heather Zoppetti
Edited and curated by AJ Van Belle
About AJ Van Belle
An on-sub multi-genre novelist, I’m represented by Lauren Bieker of FinePrint Literary. My short fiction and essays have recently appeared in I’m an emerging author with work recently in Sand, Salt, Blood: an Anthology of Sea Horror, If There’s Anyone Left, Heartlines Spec, and Mine: An Anthology of Body Autonomy Horror, and others. With a PhD in biology, I draw on my science background for world-building inspiration in my fiction. I’ve been a first reader for Apparition Lit for the past two years, an experience that has confirmed my interest in contributing to the world of speculative short fiction from the editorial side as well as the writer’s side. I’ve edited a handful of novels for a small press, been a technical editor in PR, and taught undergraduate writing and science courses at Boston University and Babson College.