Footvote: Short Reads

It's our world, present day - the UK is going to rack and ruin. There are strikes, the power facilities don't have enough technicians to continue running them, oppression and a terminal malaise afflicts the country and there seems no respite from the economic catastrophe. Then Bradley Ethan Murray opens a wormhole, a passage through to a new world and, potentially, a new world order. New Suffolk is available for all 'decent people' from the UK to start a new life - free from the troubles of the UK they will leave behind them. But is a new world really the way to help alleviate the problems of Earth?

This short story is taken from Manhattan in Reverse, the first short story collection in thirteen years from the master of space opera.

Peter F. Hamilton takes us on a journey from a murder mystery in an alternative Oxford in the 1800s to a brand new story featuring Paula Mayo, Deputy Director of the Intersolar Commonwealth's Serious Crimes Directorate. Dealing with intricate themes and topical subjects this top ten bestselling author is at the top of his game.

The cover image for Footvote was designed by Ioan Dumitrescu as part of a competition run by Pan Macmillan in association with SFX magazine.