A few weeks ago, Nicholas Seeley took a look at the recently published Apex Book of World SF , to discuss questions of "otherness" in literature, and how speculative fiction plays a role in societies around the world. This week, Seeley asks the authors three simple questions about what the market for speculative fiction is like in their countries, and what role they think local culture, myth, and legend play in literature of the fantastic.

A friend of mine and his sister came over to visit one night. His sister was in her early twenties and enthusiastic about various political causes. Many things she had become aware of disgusted and horrified her about American society, business, and government. She was a vegetarian and had decided on this lifestyle for moral reasons rather than reasons of health.

It is something and nothing

They glided closer, moving to surround Justine. She was nervous. They were so damn tall, and their faces blocked out the world around her in a circle of horrible loveliness, creating an alien ecosystem in which Justine—imperfect, spotted, human—could not breathe.