The New Mythic: A Sci-Fi & Fantasy Collection

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The New Mythic: the new voice of 21st speculative fiction. An all-new anthology of chilling horror, apocalyptic science fiction and awe-inspiring fantasy, by an award-winning ensemble of international writers.

Six worlds; six stories. Flee from the monster who stalks the bowls of a mine so dark that eyes gasp for shreds of light; to the dusty, warm interior of a sandship that enemy warriors have breached; to a world driven by AI, where not everyone is content with their machine-made utopia.

Dark tales, alternate fantasies, a mythology that never was - The New Mythic is a collection of short stories like no other.

Talking With Paddy Boylan From Precipice Fiction

What was the inspiration for writing The New Mythic?

We're a collective of six writers from around the globe, who've been spinning tales within the science fiction and fantasy genres for years now. We've always admired each other's works and have always wanted to join forces. The New Mythic is just that - us finally setting aside the time to collaborate on a single collection of stories. And we are very happy with the results.

What was the writing process like for The New Mythic?

It's been so much fun! We’re all new to this kind of collaborative work and all of us are friends in the real world. We love writing (obviously), but it can be a lonely process sometimes - for most of a project you're your own company and confidant. But collaborating like this was very different and it's been great to work so closely with everybody right from ground zero.

What music did you listen to while writing The New Mythic?

Ha! There are six of us! I can't speak for the others, but I listen to a lot of dark ambient music and a lot of game soundtracks. They're already sculpted to fit the atmosphere of a particular scene and environment, so it's not surprising they make great writing accompaniments.

What was your favorite scene in The New Mythic to write?

There's a scene towards the end of The Traitor, which is my own contribution to The New Mythic, where (and I hope this isn't a spoiler) all hell breaks loose and a very vicious fight begins in a very confined space. I absolutely love writing those sorts of detailed blow-by-blow action sequences and after letting the tension simmer for so long, it was a lot of fun to write out this explosion of cathartic violence. Honestly, it's a pretty grim scene - but I'm pretty proud of it. I think it'll stick with the reader for a long time.

What was the hardest scene in The New Mythic to write?

Ooh, it'd be too much of a spoiler to describe it in detail... but it's towards the end. With the elder. When everything changes. You'll know it when it happens. I can't tell you how many drafts that took to get right.

One of the biggest advantages of working with six writers is you get six times the feedback and editing help. It's let all of us get our stories to where there's an extreme level of polish. That this scene turned out so well is really down to my co-writers - without their sage advice I might still be redrafting it.