Many Worlds: Or, the Simulacra

by Cadwell Turnbull (Editor/Contributor), Josh Eure (Editor/Contributor), Rebekah Bergman (Contributor)

Many Worlds, or The Simulacra is an anthology of reality-bending stories from a one-of-a-kind collective of authors building a shared multiverse. The stories in this anthology range from quietly strange to ambitiously speculative. Humans transform into cosmic energy or sentient algae. A man wakes up in a new body in a world with continents cut out, months absent from the calendar year, and souls misplaced. Students at a high school regularly vanish without a trace. A woman descends into the depths of the ocean and encounters all-knowing creatures who may have the answers to her deepest questions. Mech-suits and parallel selves, conspiracy forums and interstellar telepaths, and a mysterious cosmic force connecting it all; the stories in this collection are revelatory and offer a breathtaking portal into worlds far more mysterious than our own. Subversive, transgressive, and utterly original, this collection compels the reader to believe in the fantastical.

Edited by Cadwell Turnbull, author of The Lesson and No Gods, No Monsters , and Josh Eure, winner of Sundress Publications' Best of the Net Award, Many Worlds features stories by Rebekah Bergman, M. Darusha Wehm, Craig Lincoln, alongside other fascinating voices in speculative fiction.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Anthologies, Novella, Science Fiction Fantasy

154 pages, Paperback

Published June 13, 2023

About the author

Hello, I'm Cadwell Turnbull, author of the science fiction novel The Lesson and the Convergence Saga.

My short fiction has appeared in The Verge, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Asimov’s Science Fiction and a number of anthologies, including Jordan Peele's Out There Screaming. My short story “Loneliness is in Your Blood” was selected for The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018. My short story "Jump" was selected for the Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019.

The Lesson was the recipient of the 2020 Neukom Institute Literary Award. My novel No Gods, No Monsters was the winner of a Lambda and a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. We Are the Crisis was a finalist for the Manly Wade Wellman Award and an Ignyte Award.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

An immediate favorite collection, I loved the concept and was floored by the execution. Some stories that made my brain soar, some that utterly crushed my heart, some that did both. I cannot wait to read more from this group. Phew!

[eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really love speculative short story collections and this one was no exception! my favorite stories were:

- to the bottom by josh eure
- blink by darkly lem
- life at sea by craig lincoln
- remember, words, remember by ben murphy

overall great time :) would recommend for people who liked how high we go in the dark by sequoia nagamatsu or out there by kate folk !!!

[no · Rating 5 out of 5]

there r many worlds &. in all of them i luv 2 read

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fascinating experiment and a really solid short story collection!

Many Worlds is an anthology that exists as part of the Simulacrum, a shared multiverse with stories by a collective of authors. I came to this from loving Cadwell Turnbull’s work and was not disappointed. I really enjoyed nearly every single one of these stories.

Highlights for me were:
* A Skillful Imposter by Rebekah Bergman. This is literally one page but wow does it pack a punch!
* To The Bottom by Josh Eure. A deep sea dive to the bottom of the deepest trench in the ocean that gives some serious Slaughterhouse-Five vibes.
* I Not I by M. Darusha Wehm. Is it really dual perspective if it’s the same person?
* Life at Sea by Craig Lincoln. Humans send their consciousnesses into algae and live happily ever after sort of.

Not only was this fantastic, there are even more short stories available their website and a trilogy was recently picked up by Blackstone Publishing! Turnbull’s Notes on the Forum of the Simulacra really sets the stage for what this collection will be doing, so I highly recommend checking that out at https://www.manyworldsforum.com/ if you’re interested in this collection.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.4 star average rating but rounded up since the lower-scoring stories were only a page or two)

This was incredible... Was every story a banger? No. But most of them were. Even the stories that didn't hit for me still clearly contributed to forming the worlds that then connect in the larger and more complex stories. The combined efforts of 10 different authors created one collection that feels whole but leaves much to the imagination, as the concept of parallel universes requires.

Favorite stories (all 5 stars): "To The Bottom," "Blink," "Remember, Words, Remember," "Arrivals and Departures"

[Cliff]

my favorite cover and its even better physically

stories-wise i liked the first half or so

[Mary Biz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cool concept for an anthology, with each story hitting hard in its own way.

[Cait Aviv · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought provoking and deeply satisfying collection

[Karrel Miana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. 4 out of 10 of the stories were gems:
To The Bottom by Josh Eure
On the Spectrum by Justin C. Key
Life at Sea by Craig Lincoln
Remember, Words, Remember by Ben Murphy

[Ceallaigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘"You'd be a source of data only. Anomalies travel in any number of unpredictable ways. Some when they laugh or cry, others when they feel shame. And the places they can go are on the margins. One is said to have traveled every fifth and seventh blink, which we assume has something to do with an illogical musical time signature. That's the thing. Little details someone threw in. … Their peculiarities bely reason or whimsy on the part of their creator. With enough data, we may find patterns. A motive even.”’
— from “Arrivals and Departures” by Josh Eure

I really enjoyed this collection but it was also very scary. In the way sci-fi always scares me kind of like in the same sort of way that horror usually just feels cozy & familiar, & not at all scary to me? That's the easiest way I can think of to explain it idk... I hate it because it makes me feel very uncomfortable… 😅 But the writing & deeper philosophy of these stories was very beautiful & interesting so. I guess it balanced out.

My favorite story by far was Josh Eure’s “Remember, Words, Remember.” I thought it was so beautiful & profound & actually made the vastness of time & the cosmos—which is usually terrifying to me—feel very beautiful & peaceful & I loved how Eure used memory, love letters, & the progress & decay of a relationship to explore a human element alongside the inconceivable enormity of infinity & immortality.

i would recommend this book to readers who love complex sci-fi, dystopian, & speculative fiction that interconnect & feature themes of multiverse, time-travel, alternate realities, & future societies but on an intimate, human level.

Click here to read my full review of MANY WORLDS complete with my full thoughts, further reading suggestions, & more of my favorite quotes, notes, & annotations!

★ ★ ★ ★ .5

CW // scary sci-fi & dystopian stuff

[Elias Eells · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterful anthology and experiment in cooperative storytelling. The stories of MANY WORLDS and their shared multiverse are often melancholy, both lovely and sad, shadowed by unexpected loss and also unforeseen gains. The nebulous present and the unknown future, and the moments outside of time. This is a must-read anthology and a project I will be paying close attention to as it progresses.

Check out The Simulacrum Swizzle here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_oIs...

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up on a whim from a local bookstore, and I'm very glad I did. Many Worlds is a loosely connected set of science-fiction short stories written by a host of writers who deliver a variety of concepts and flavors, and I think that any fan of the genre will find a favorite here. Standouts for me included: To the Bottom, I Not I, and Blink, which was actually a collaboration story by five of the authors who contributed to the collection, and turned out to be my favorite of the bunch.

[Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You are an emotion. A feeling of creeping shame, of wounded love, of pride and disappointment, of regret and hope and comfort. You are petulance, and desire, you are a dozen kinds of mirth. You are the adulation of justified dread, the preening of I told you so, the warmth of a hard-won familiarity. You are everything that has filled me up and made me tremble with things I have no words fit to describe, for a thousand different reasons, across a thousand different lives. And you are fading.”

[Meher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unsettling but thoroughly prescient; creeps right into your bones. Captures characters desperately clinging on to worlds slipping through their fingers — a malady we know far too well. Exquisitely written, built, and considered. An incredible feat.

[Cari · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are incredibly well-written, if a bit esoteric. It's nice to be able to sink into a variety of writing styles and aspects of a complicated multiverse. I think this book would be a great fit for those who enjoyed Everything Everywhere All At Once.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually like short stories but found these compelling.

[Nyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gently thought provoking, and a little sad and melancholy. A lovely read.

[Kayte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed some more than others. I like how they flowed together, but wish I had more answers!

[sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

faves: notes on the forum of simulacra, and so what do you know, shock of birth, on the spectrum, life at sea

passes: phantom of the marker valley high, battlesuit, the other me

overall: 3.5

[zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a good sci-fi anthology! favorite stories: And So, What Do You Know?, To the Bottom, Blink, On the Spectrum, Life at Sea

[avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved ‘on the spectrum.’ i’ll be thinking about that one for a long time.

[Heather Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a unique collection of short stories with an interesting overall concept—a group of authors whose stories all exist within a shared multiverse. This is a very complex & speculative sci-fi anthology-it is thought provoking & beautiful & horrifying all at the same time. Fantastical & fascinating it is one of my favorites of the year.

“Many Worlds, or The Simulacra is an anthology of reality-bending stories from a one-of-a-kind collective of authors building a shared multiverse. The stories in this anthology range from quietly strange to ambitiously speculative. Humans transform into cosmic energy or sentient algae. A man wakes up in a new body in a world with continents cut out, months absent from the calendar year, and souls misplaced. Students at a high school regularly vanish without a trace. A woman descends into the depths of the ocean and encounters all-knowing creatures who may have the answers to her deepest questions. Mech-suits and parallel selves, conspiracy forums and interstellar telepaths, and a mysterious cosmic force connecting it all; the stories in this collection are revelatory and offer a breathtaking portal into worlds far more mysterious than our own. Subversive, transgressive, and utterly original, this collection compels the reader to believe in the fantastical.” (From the book blurb)

[Jennifer Lewy · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨Reality-bending sci-fi stories? Yes please! ✨

Before we get into these stories, let’s talk about the Mandela Effect. You know, the theory that the reality we live in is just one of many copies, and people shift in between these versions without realizing it. Imagine one day you wake up and your favorite childhood show never existed or a famous quote from a movie is suddenly different.

(Remember Jiffy peanut butter? The Berenstein Bears? “Luke, I am your father”? Evidently, those never existed. It was always Jif, Berenstain Bears, and “No, I am your father.” There are dozens of examples like this. I KNOW.)

"Many Worlds" takes this concept and runs with it. The collection explores the idea of alternate realities and the possibility of our existence being a sophisticated illusion. Definitely my cup of tea. I was intrigued enough to pick this up even though I don’t usually gravitate to short stories.

Each story in this collection explores the Mandela Effect (or as the editors call it, the Simulacrum) in its own way, some more explicitly than others. We're talking about humans turning into sentient algae, and worlds where continents are misplaced.

I found myself savoring the collection like a fine meal—each one unique and thought-provoking. Some were fun to read, some were cerebral and cool, and many of the stories made me look up and go “wow” after finishing.

I especially loved the experimental flourishes: the little symbol that’s used as an ornamental break but also appears in a story; the way one author creates a moment so vivid it only requires a page or so of narrative; the mysterious Appendix F at the beginning of the collection.

Reading "Many Worlds" felt like diving into a pool of mind-bending ideas and emerging with new perspectives on reality. The collection asks, "Are we living in a simulation? How would we even know?"

And… “What would you DO about it if we were?”

Love that the collection is published by Radix Media, a NY-based, worker-owned organization that prioritizes marginalized communities.

If you're into sci-fi and love exploring alternate realities, I recommend diving into "Many Worlds" and letting it whisk you away on a journey through the multiverse. ✌️⚡️😵‍💫

Do you remember Jiffy??

[Squirrel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should be called "The Many I's" or "Meditations on I" due to the endless self-reflecting first person whines in the first half-dozen stories. The later ones are similar, spread to an experience, or a point. The entries seem self-focused attempts to make essays out of a single experience.

For example - Imagine being on another world, in a pressure-resistant submersible, and asking a colleague if they have children? They've never met before? There was no conversation in all the time prior to being in this alternate world? No research, no contact, no reputation? Or is this just an inexpert writer?

How does this have better than 4 stars on Goodreads? Hmm, 13 stories and 10 authors; at the time of this review, 40 ratings with only 12 reviews. 1 friend + 3 immediate family for each author?

Imo this collection highlights the value provided by the legendary editors of the classic 1960s to Y2K. The late John W Campbell, Gardner Dozois, et al, would not have left these stories to flounder in the public eye. Each of the entries has unfulfilled potential; honest, constructive feedback would have been a service to the authors and readers.

Found nothing truly original, unusual, or particularly well presented in this collection. A friend liked the first story, but the 'changing reality' 'track via chat history' is already a tired set, and this entry fails to refresh it. Similar failures undermine each of the entries herein.