Into the Ruins

In the second issue of Into the Ruins, we continue to explore the emerging sub-genre of deindustrial science fiction. John Michael Greer debuts a new column on the sub-genre while five new and compelling stories weave future scenarios devoid of spaceships and interstellar space travel and instead focus on a future defined by natural limits, energy and resource depletion, industrial decline, climate change, and other consequences stemming from the reckless and shortsighted exploitation of our planet-and the ways humans will adapt, survive, live, die, and thrive within such a future. These stories show a wide variety of possible futures for humanity, from a distant civilization that cycles through the same ebb and flow of peace and warfare we find littered throughout human history, to a melancholic meditation on our fast-changing world set in 2020 that feels eerily familiar to today; from a love story set in a less energy-intensive time, to a haunting encampment at the edge of dry and dusty ruins; and on again to an adventurous and amusing attempt to deliver a key new manuscript on the herbal treatment of spinal meningitis to a distant library. These stories inspire a wide range of emotions, from meditative reflection on the predicament of our times to delight at unexpected adventure-all while offering readers fascinating tales utterly different than what science fiction normally provides.