Some of the best Scottish writing today is coming from the imaginative genres that can be grouped under the heading of 'speculative fiction'. These genres include science fiction, fantasy, horror, magic realism and alternate history. "Nova Scotia" provides a unique showcase for work by both established and up-and-coming writers which addresses the nature of Scotland and Scottishness from fresh and unexpected angles. Comprising twenty-one original stories, as well as a new poem by Edwin Morgan, Nova Scotia is full of writing that will surprise, provoke, and above all, entertain readers. Contributors, including Ken Macleod, Charles Stross, Jane Yolen, Ron Butlin and Matthew Fitt reimagine Scotland in the past, present and future. There are secret histories, echoes of Scottish mythology and folklore, contemporary marvels and visions of the fate of the nation. There are also glimpses of other, alternative Scotlands, places that might have been, or perhaps even do coexist in a parallel time-line. Some of the stories are about this far-flung corner of Europe, some are about the people who come from it, and some deal with the essential qualities, both good and bad, of the national psyche.
Introduced by David Pringle, former editor of "Interzone" magazine, "Nova Scotia" reflects the power of the contemporary Scottish imagination, carrying on a thread that has run through the work of writers such as James Hogg, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and Neil Gunn.