New Publications, Readings, Workshops -- Posted May 2025
In the LA Review of Books, an essay by Zachary Gillan about
my Well-Built City trilogy, "We Are Close, We Are Almost There."
IT IS PERHAPS suitable for our weird moment of history that the books that best sum up the early days of living under Donald Trump’s second presidency came out more than two decades ago: Jeffrey Ford’s trilogy about “the Well-Built City,” ruled by a megalomaniacal fascist. Together comprising a surreal picaresque, the books follow the physiognomist Cley, an enforcer of his society’s caste system, as he stumbles toward redemption after casting off the influence of the city’s hegemonic social system—racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic to its core. The books deserve attention in themselves, but they are particularly relevant now for their examination of the fascist’s fear of complexity and twisted misuse of subjectivity. I have argued elsewhere for the usefulness of reading weird fiction radically, as a metaphor for living within the resurgence of fascism. The Well-Built City, one of my favorite trilogies, provides a useful case study.
We Are Close, We Are Almost There | Los Angeles Review of Books
*The Well-Built City Trilogy will be reissued in both hardcover and paperback editions in 2027 from PS in an omnibus edition with cover art and interior illustration from Derek Ford
my Well-Built City trilogy, "We Are Close, We Are Almost There."
IT IS PERHAPS suitable for our weird moment of history that the books that best sum up the early days of living under Donald Trump’s second presidency came out more than two decades ago: Jeffrey Ford’s trilogy about “the Well-Built City,” ruled by a megalomaniacal fascist. Together comprising a surreal picaresque, the books follow the physiognomist Cley, an enforcer of his society’s caste system, as he stumbles toward redemption after casting off the influence of the city’s hegemonic social system—racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic to its core. The books deserve attention in themselves, but they are particularly relevant now for their examination of the fascist’s fear of complexity and twisted misuse of subjectivity. I have argued elsewhere for the usefulness of reading weird fiction radically, as a metaphor for living within the resurgence of fascism. The Well-Built City, one of my favorite trilogies, provides a useful case study.
We Are Close, We Are Almost There | Los Angeles Review of Books
*The Well-Built City Trilogy will be reissued in both hardcover and paperback editions in 2027 from PS in an omnibus edition with cover art and interior illustration from Derek Ford
My story in this anthology is "Walk the Earth." The Book of the Dead, edited by Jonathan Strahan for Harper Voyager.
Stories from Indrapramit Das, Paolo Bacigalupi, Daryl Gregory, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kelly Robson, Cadwell Turnbull, Elizabeth Bear, K J Parker, Cassandra Khaw, Samantha Mills, Premee Mohamed, Darcie Little Badger, Garth Nix, Paul Tremblay, Wole Talabi, Tobi Ogundiran, Silvia Park, Isabel J Kim, Vajra Chandrasekera, Priya Sharma, Angela Slatter, Stephen Graham Jones, Catherynne Valente, Tamsyn Muir, Nghi Vo, E. Lily Yu, and Kaaron Warren
Stories from Indrapramit Das, Paolo Bacigalupi, Daryl Gregory, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kelly Robson, Cadwell Turnbull, Elizabeth Bear, K J Parker, Cassandra Khaw, Samantha Mills, Premee Mohamed, Darcie Little Badger, Garth Nix, Paul Tremblay, Wole Talabi, Tobi Ogundiran, Silvia Park, Isabel J Kim, Vajra Chandrasekera, Priya Sharma, Angela Slatter, Stephen Graham Jones, Catherynne Valente, Tamsyn Muir, Nghi Vo, E. Lily Yu, and Kaaron Warren
My story in this anthology is "The Thinning of the Veil." All Hallow's Eve, edited by Ellen Datlow for Titan Books.
Here are the authors from the TOC --
With stories by:
Josh Malerman
Lee Murray
Rich Larson
Clay McLeod Chapman
Livia Llewellyn
Michael Marshall Smith
Stephen Graham Jones
Linda D. Addison
Christopher Golden
Alma Katsu
Brian Evenson
Siobhan Carroll
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Theresa DeLucci
Garth Nix
Jeffrey Ford
Richard Kadrey
Nathan Ballingrud
John Langan
Here are the authors from the TOC --
With stories by:
Josh Malerman
Lee Murray
Rich Larson
Clay McLeod Chapman
Livia Llewellyn
Michael Marshall Smith
Stephen Graham Jones
Linda D. Addison
Christopher Golden
Alma Katsu
Brian Evenson
Siobhan Carroll
Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ
Theresa DeLucci
Garth Nix
Jeffrey Ford
Richard Kadrey
Nathan Ballingrud
John Langan
The amazing TOC for this anthology is on its cover. My story in here is, "The Book Life." Axe from Heresy Press, edited by Bernard Schweizer and Adam Szetela.
"La Madre del Oro," recently appeared in Science Fiction World in China.
The Pandemonium Waltz, a new short story collection is coming in February of 2026. 17 stories. Cover art by Derek Ford. From Lethe Press.
An article by Zachary Gillan at LA Review of Books on my Well-Built City trilogy and it's connection to the current political scene.
We Are Close, We Are Almost There | Los Angeles Review of Books
We Are Close, We Are Almost There | Los Angeles Review of Books
My story, "The Spew," will appear at Reactor.com on January 21, 2026. Edited by Ellen Datlow. You can purchase a copy for e-reader for 1.99 at Amazon.com.
My story, "A Natural History of Autumn," was in the recent Weird Fiction issue of Hyakawa's SF Magazine. The human faced dog illustration by a fabulous artist whose name I don't know. Will seek it out.
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My story, "The Adjutant's dinner Guest" in a recent issue of SF World from China.
This recent issue from SFWorld in China has a translation of my story, "The 7th Expression of the Robot General."