Why science-fantasy? Or, why are there spaceships in my BCS this month? 
We asked that question back in March 2012 when we did our first BCS Science-Fantasy Month.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies is character-driven stories set in awe-inspiring worlds. That those worlds be pre-modern is only a personal preference, one that many fantasy readers and our editor share. But as our first BCS Science-Fantasy Month showed, that awe can come equally well from settings that are more advanced than our world, rather than less.
Science-fantasy has as rich a tradition as fantasy, from seminal early works like the 1930s space opera of E.E. “Doc” Smith (writing in the same era as Robert E. Howard) to best-selling sagas like Frank Herbert’s Dune (breaking out in the same decade as The Lord of the Rings).
Their futuristic fantastical settings are just as awe-inspiring as pre-modern fantasy worlds. Character-driven stories set in such worlds can be just as fun as literary adventure fantasy and can comment just as profoundly on what it means to be human. Or alien...
Our BCS authors seem to see such a commonality, because six of the seven stories in this BCS Science-Fantasy Month 2 are by returning BCS authors, whose fantasy stories we’ve published in the past. (One of them is even set in the same world as that author’s BCS fantasy stories, in a far-future era.)
So swap your plate mail for pressure suits as BCS takes another month to showcase great literary adventure science-fantasy; stories in secondary-world settings that are futuristic. These special double-issues include returning BCS authors Aliette de Bodard, Yoon Ha Lee, Seth Dickinson, Dean Wells, and more. They feature bonus stories and a bonus podcast episode, along with special science-fantasy cover art and giveaways for signed copies of a George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois anthology.
The full issue(s) are out early on ebook at Kindle Store and Weightless Books; the bonus stories will be released later on the website.
We hope you enjoy BCS Science-Fantasy Month 2! And if you prefer your fantasy worlds not so futuristic, rest assured that literary adventure fantasy will return to BCS next month.