Hugo finalist and steampunk master Sean McMullen presents ten science fiction stories that skirt the borderlands of reality--and most of the science is not fiction.

* The Andromedans will arrive and wipe us out in a few centuries, so should we be worried?
* We can't yet accelerate a space probe to a tenth of the speed of light, but we already have the technology to slow it down.
* Will humanity be doomed unless all astronauts go on creative writing courses?
* Oscar Wilde is dead, so why is he still writing?
* What Roman warship was powered by fish?
* Why were the Metropolitan Police interested in quantum entanglement back in 1899?
* Why was an American typist trying to save the world from computers in 1875?

And this volume includes: OUTPOST OF WONDER - SF in Australia 1832--2017

Based on the research for Sean's twenty-six books and articles on Australian SF, this is the amazing, heroic, sometimes amusing and occasionally horrifying story of nearly two centuries of science fiction by Australians. How many Hugo Awards has Australian SF brought home? How many Oscars? Which Australian novels may have saved the world? Who wrote and staged a feminist space opera in 1958? More Australian SF has been published since 2000 than in the rest of its history put together, but what are its prospects for the future?

If you want answers, you will have to keep reading.

Dr. Sean McMullen, author of the acclaimed cyberpunk/steampunk Greatwinter Trilogy, is one of Australia's top Science Fiction and Fantasy authors. Winning over a dozen awards (including multiple Analog Readers Awards and a Hugo Award nomination), his work is a mixture of romance, invention and adventure, populated by strange and dynamic characters. The settings for Sean's work range from the Roman Empire, through Medieval Europe, to cities of the distant future. He is a musician, karate instructor, former IT manager, and holds a PhD in medieval fantasy literature.