OS Alistair Williams writes about his new book:
I have recently self-published my second book, The Persolus Race: Voyages into the Unknown. It is an anthology of science-fiction short stories which follows on from a book I co-wrote and released back in 2021. Voyages into the Unknown is made up of six separate short stories, all of which share the common theme of ‘journeying into the Unknown’. Some of these stories were left over from that first book, unfinished stories of other people’s which I finished with their permission, and others were original ideas of my own. Each one follows different characters in a different setting, their tones falling into different sub-genres of science-fiction.
The original idea behind the Persolus Race was to imagine a future where the human race explorer the stars, invent a plethora of fantastic technology, only to find that they are the only intelligent life in existence. While this is not something I personally believe, I felt that it was a great launching point for many stories, and pitched the idea in a writer’s forum at the start of the first COVID-19 lockdown. Several writers in the forum came forward with ideas for short stories that could belong in that universe, and over the course of the next 18 months, we wrote up those stories and published them in late 2021 as The Persolus Race: Volume One.
I found the experience of writing and editing both books very interesting, exciting and at times frustrating. I have been lucky to take the books to multiple small to medium scale comic cons, including Sci-Fi Scarborough in 2024 (and will again in 2026). Through these events I sell paperback copies of the books, where I meet many other traders, including other authors. The books are also available to buy from online retailers such as Amazon, Waterstones and Blackwell’s.
At the end of next year, I will be bringing The Persolus Race project to its end, but I plan to continue writing. I have started working on my third book, which will be a standalone fantasy novel about something very different.
I attended Scarborough College from Year 6 to Year 11, leaving in 2013. In my main job I am now a secondary school Geography teacher and my time at College still holds a special place in my heart.