Kalivas! Or, Another Tempest

In this science-fiction revision of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Kalivas lives in solitude on the Farallon Islands, off the San Francisco Bay, until the Master and his daughter M colonize his lonely realm.

Kalivas, the last free-range human, is pressed into completing dangerous and menial tasks on the Master’s behalf. The new regime is disrupted when a great storm brings more cyborg mainlanders to the island shores. Can Kalivas finally break free and reclaim his islands, or will his affection for M keep him tied to the Master forever?

Kalivas! Or, Another Tempest reframes the drama as an anticolonial fantasia through futuristic gizmos, a broken continent, and a one-act play invoking the theater of the absurd. Told by the Bard’s least civilized and most human creation, Nick Mamatas crafts a micro-epic for the modern era.

Nick Mamatas is the author of several novels, including the instant cult classic Move Under Ground and the speculative thriller The Second Shooter. His short fiction has appeared in McSweeney’s, Best American Mystery Stories, Tor.com, and many other venues. Nick is also an anthologist; his latest is 120 Murders: Dark Fiction Inspired by the Alternative Era. Nick’s fiction and editorial work has been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, LOCUS, and Bram Stoker Awards. He is also a member of the editorial collective of The Anarchist Review of Books.