By Michael Grossberg
Karl K. Gallagher, a frequent Prometheus Best Novel finalist, has published his second story collection.
Unmitigated Acts, published June 17 by Kelt Haven Press, follows the publication of Ultimate Conclusions, his first story collection (announced in April in an Author’s Update on the Prometheus blog.)
In its 235 pages, Unmitigated Acts collects 17 stories from Gallagher’s Substack blog. Perhaps most notably, Gallagher’s latest anthology includes a novelette in his multiple-Prometheus-finalist Fall of the Censor series.
A FALL OF THE CENSOR STORY
The novelette, titled “Rebellion on Kiwara,” focuses on the rebellion on Kiwara by the “zebra” people against the Censorate occupation.
The novelette takes place between Book 5 in the series (Swim Among the People, a 2024 Prometheus Best Novel finalist that was recently reviewed here on the blog, and Book 6, Trouble in My Day, published in November 2023 and the most recent novel in the projected nine-volume series.
By the way, next up in the series is Book 7: War by Other Means. Although Gallagher recently told the Prometheus blog that his writing efforts were delayed somewhat by his recent efforts to publish his two anthologies, he still expects to finish Book 7 and publish it by this fall.
OTHER STORIES
Gallagher’s second collection of short stories explores ideas related to new technology, and how it can help or hurt people with their daily problems and sometimes change the fates of nations and worlds.
Among the questions Gallagher asks in his stories:
“What would a dating app that’s actually good for pairing up people do? How do you disarm the safeties of an orbiting laser? Could a love potion be used well? And what’s the limit to packing the Supreme Court?”
Among the evocative story titles in the collection: “The Man Who Squandered the Moon,” “Operation Alice’s Restaurant,” “Burning the Bubble,” “Contact Tracing,” “Joy Ride,” “Test Subject,” “Justice,” “Elixir,” “Marque,” “Kill Switch,” “Inspector,” “Matchmaker,” “Cricket” and “Bliss.”
Such a focus on technology makes sense for Gallagher, a systems engineer currently performing data analysis for a major aerospace company.
His strong background in technology was bolstered by his career calculating trajectories for a commercial launch rocket start-up, operating satellites as a US Air Force officer, and selecting orbits for government and commercial satellites.
THE STORIES IN ULTIMATE CONCLUSIONS
Meanwhile, Gallagher shared descriptions of the previously published stories in Ultimate Conclusions, his first 334-page anthology (also published in June and available as an ebook on Amazon).
Here are descriptions of a sample of his stories from that anthology?
* “Samaritan,” a hard SF story of an Amish boy on the Moon risking exile
to save the life of a “Modern”. (published in Compelling SF)
* “Squire Errant,” a squire tries to defeat the monster which killed his
knight. First published in Cirsova Magazine, a new periodical leading a revival of pulp-style fiction.
* “Basilisk,” offers a brute-force solution to the problem of people
creating a malevolent AI. (published in Again, Hazardous Imaginings,a collection of non-PC taboo-pushing stories.
* “Bargain,” a ‘flash’ (very short) story with a visit from a deity. (from Daily SF).
* “You Will Be Uploaded,” the potential fate of you, the reader.
(Published in the Saturn volume of the Planetary Anthologyseries.)
* “Long Freeze,” a cryo-frozen hero awakens into a pulp adventure future. (From Astounding Frontiers.)
* “Visitors,” a Space Force officer is forced to be a diplomat when the aliens are too horrible for others to stand the sight of. (Published in Space Force: Building the Legacy.)
* “Duty,” an Army general struggles to take care of his troops during an economic collapse. (This was part of the companion anthology to Rob
Kroese’s Prometheus-nominated Mammon novel.)
Plus, Ultimate Conclusions offers three new stories set after the end of Gallagher’s Torchship Trilogy, for which he may be best known.
* “Recontact,” in the midst of a war with AIs, two human groups try to establish trust.
* “Haunted,” rebuilding a devastated world depends on the property rights of the forcibly uploaded.
* “Farmhands,” forcibly uploaded people try to become members of an untrusting society.
Gallagher describes his Torchship Trilogy (Torchship, Torchship Pilot and Torchship Captain), as a hard SF adventure story about an undercover spy fighting a government which suppresses uncontrolled computers.
Combined into one Prometheus nomination (Gallagher’s first), the Torchship Trilogy was selected as a 2018 Prometheus Best Novel finalist.
Both anthologies were published by Gallagher’s Kelt Haven Press with the help of successful Kickstarter campaigns.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS AWARDS:
* Prometheus winners: For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees – including the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards – visit the enhanced Prometheus Awards page on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to all published essay-reviews in our Appreciation series explaining why each of more than 100 past winners since 1979 fits the awards’ distinctive dual focus on both quality and liberty.
* Read “The Libertarian History of Science Fiction,”an essay in the international magazine Quillette that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.
* Watch videos of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies (including the recent 2023 ceremonywith inspiring and amusing speeches by Prometheus-winning authors Dave Freerand Sarah Hoyt), Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog’s Video page.
* Check out the Libertarian Futurist Society’s Facebook pagefor comments, updates and links to Prometheus Blog posts.
* Join us! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards and support a cultural and literary strategy to appreciate and honor freedom-loving fiction, jointhe Libertarian Futurist Society, a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf/fantasy fans.
Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital in envisioning a freer and better future – and in some ways can be even more powerful than politics in the long run, by imagining better visions of the future incorporating peace, prosperity, progress, tolerance, justice, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other’s rights, individuality and human dignity.
Through recognizing the literature of liberty and the many different but complementary visions of a free future via the Prometheus Awards, the LFS hopes to help spread ideas and ethical principles that help humanity overcome tyranny, end slavery, reduce the threat of war, repeal or constrain other abuses of coercive power and achieve universal liberty, respect for human rights and a better world (perhaps ultimately, worlds) for all.
