Fiction Issue #3

When The Escapist started publishing our weekly issues three and a half years ago (!), we were the place people came for researched, well-written stories about the history of, the people in and the groundbreaking moments for the games industry. We made our name and built our reputation on these articles. Over the years our offerings have broadened, but we have maintained the same adherence to quality throughout our daily articles, videos, news posting and more.

All of these new media still relate to our lifestyles, our interests. Anytime we consider adding new stuff to the mix, we think carefully about what our users will enjoy, what will make their visits to The Escapist that much more interesting. So when we started to get the itch to do something new several months ago, we pondered what might be compelling that would complement the things already on the site.

We thought about the genres you guys find interesting, fantasy, sci-fi, “gamer lifestyle” and surreal, among others. We thought about your hobbies, aside from playing games: reading, going to movies, reading, comics, technology … did I mention reading? We thought about what our writers and our contacts could do that was a new twist on The Escapist. So we came up with the notion of publishing a fiction issue.

Our first Fiction Issue was April 1 – we thought it appropriate to mix things up like that on a day known for mixing things up. You guys thought we were kidding. Despite initial assumptions of our playing a joke on you, our Readers, you read them, and you liked them. Our writers, old and new, really delivered. Between their going above and beyond our expectations, and the response we received from you, we decided to make the Fiction Issue a regular event, and scheduled it quarterly.

That brings us to this week, The Escapist Fiction Quarterly III. We again posed the challenge of writing short fiction to our writers, and they have again delivered in style. In this issue, you’ll find sci-fi, fantasy and the weird. So, curl up with a warm beverage and your compy this holiday week, and enjoy our gift to you, this escape from reality. Happy holidays from all of us at The Escapist!

Cheers,