Could there be any good news on this grim day? Well yes. Indie publisher Unsung Stories has announced the publication of 2084, a new anthology featuring leading science fiction writers including Christopher Priest, Dave Hutchinson, Anne Charnock, James Smythe and more, all looking ahead to what the world might be like a hundred years after the date George Orwell chose when he too decided to peer through the looking-glass into the future. Publisher George Sandison says the idea seemed pretty timely when they came up with it several months ago – it now feels downright urgent. A Kickstarter has been launched to fund the project, which I’ll be supporting just as soon as I finish with this post.

Unsung has emerged over the past few years as one of the most interesting and adventurous small publishers of speculative fiction in the UK. I’ve been hugely impressed by the work of Aliya Whitely, Oliver Langmead and Verity Holloway, all beautiful and challenging books that might have struggled to find a home in more traditional venues. I’ve no doubt that 2084 will be just as carefully edited, beautifully packaged and unsettlingly relevant.