National Animals Provide Theme For Patten Anthology

Symbol of a Nation, edited by Fred Patten, is launching at Anthrocon 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over the June 29-July 3 five-day weekend.

Symbol of a Nation is an all-original anthology of 11 short stories and novelettes featuring the anthropomorphized official animal (or bird) symbols of nations. This is designed to appeal to sff fans, and fans of political science.

  • Belgium — lion
  • Chile — Andean condor
  • Denmark — mute swan
  • Italy — wolf
  • Malaysia — tiger
  • Mauritius — dodo (extinct)
  • Namibia — oryx
  • Romania – lynx
  • Singapore — lion
  • Spain — bull
  • U.S.A. — bald eagle
  • Vietnam — water buffalo

From a famous extinct animal bioengineered to new life, to animal/bird astronauts, to animals adapted to their nation’s environments, to a 19th-century heraldic animal struggling to remain relevant in today’s world, these are stories that will make you think about the national animal symbols that we and some of our neighbors have adopted.

Contents

  • Didus ineptus Linnaeus, by Roz Gibson
  • A Poor Uncle’s Apprentice, by BanWynn Oakshadow
  • Remembering the Forgotten, by H. J. Pang
  • The Moon Like an Unhatched Egg, by Mary E. Lowd
  • Crossroads the Namib, by Jako Malan
  • Sdani White Wings, by Jennifer Sowle
  • The Scent of Lantana, by Frances Pauli
  • Huitaca, by Televassi
  • To the Kingdom They Come, by H. J. Pang
  • Bread and Butter, by Allison Thai
  • The Lion of the Low Countries, by Alice “Huskyteer” Dryden

The book can be pre-ordered now from Goal Publications. It will be for sale at the Goal booth at Anthrocon, and on the Goal online catalogue after the convention. Price: $17.50. vii + 241 pages. Print ISBN 978-0-99791-253-1, Digital ISBN 978-0-99791-254-8. Wraparound cover by Jenn ‘Pac’ Rodriguez.

The digital copy will be available sometime after the convention.

7 thoughts on “National Animals Provide Theme For Patten Anthology

  1. Scotland’s official national animal is the Unicorn. Make of that what you will…

  2. Hampus Eckerman: We have the elk. But it is an elk that is a moose.

    A Møøse once bit my sister… No realli!

  3. The Scottish Unicorn appears in the story with the lion of Singapore. Also the English lion, the Welsh Red Dragon, the Bull of Clarence, the Greyhound of Richmond, and others.

  4. Pingback: NEWS FROM FANDOM: 6-11-2017 - Amazing Stories

Comments are closed.