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Elliptical Billiard Balls: Eccentric Short Stories in Sci-Fi, Tech and Alternate Worlds
From boardrooms to befuddled aliens, what if the high-tech absurdities of modern life accelerated to warp speed?
The stories in Neil Rackham's debut science fiction collection, Elliptical Billiard Balls, explore the worlds of business and tech - not to mention English-speaking dogs and aliens who communicate via smells - to create strange new futures.
A cash-strapped religious order turns to a consultant to transform its fortunes; two implanted microchips overcome their differences to take control of their host human; a time-travelling statistician builds herself a sexy, lucrative new life and learns how to cover her tracks; and an Al-equipped lawyer creates Veritrue, an app that fact-checks politicians' and others' media utterances and reports back in real time on screen.
None of these worlds is the reality we live in, but each one has its own strange internal logic and carries hints and shadows of things to come...
Elliptical Billiard Balls is an ideal pick for fans of Love, Death & Robots, readers who enjoy the hilarious action-packed storytelling of Douglas Adams, and anyone captivated by Martha Wells’ unique, witty perspective on artificial intelligence.
The stories in Neil Rackham's debut science fiction collection, Elliptical Billiard Balls, explore the worlds of business and tech - not to mention English-speaking dogs and aliens who communicate via smells - to create strange new futures.
A cash-strapped religious order turns to a consultant to transform its fortunes; two implanted microchips overcome their differences to take control of their host human; a time-travelling statistician builds herself a sexy, lucrative new life and learns how to cover her tracks; and an Al-equipped lawyer creates Veritrue, an app that fact-checks politicians' and others' media utterances and reports back in real time on screen.
None of these worlds is the reality we live in, but each one has its own strange internal logic and carries hints and shadows of things to come...
Elliptical Billiard Balls is an ideal pick for fans of Love, Death & Robots, readers who enjoy the hilarious action-packed storytelling of Douglas Adams, and anyone captivated by Martha Wells’ unique, witty perspective on artificial intelligence.
207 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 9, 2026
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Neil Rackham
37 books72 followersAuthor of the Spin Selling. Find out more about Spin Selling at http://www.huthwaite.co.uk/training-s...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 17, 2026
Really enjoyed this. Very pleasant surprise.
Full review to follow when I’m home from Budapest.
4.0/5.0
Full review to follow when I’m home from Budapest.
4.0/5.0
Displaying 1 of 1 review