Midnight Rose was a name taken by a group of United Kingdom
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
and
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
writers for a series of
shared world
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...
anthologies published by the
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Alex Stewart,
Roz Kaveney
Roz Kaveney (born 9 July 1949) is a British writer, critic, and poet, best known for her critical works about pop culture and for being a core member of the Midnight Rose collective. Kaveney's works include fiction and non-fiction, poetry, rev ...
Mary Gentle
Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 29 March 1956) is a UK science fiction and fantasy author.
Literary career
Mary Gentle's first published novel was ''Hawk in Silver'' (1977), a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the '' Orthe'' duology, w ...
. Contributors to individual anthologies included Marcus Rowland,
Storm Constantine
Storm Constantine (12 October 1956 – 14 January 2021) was a British science fiction and fantasy author, primarily known for her Wraeththu series,Encyclopedia of Science Fictio"Constantine, Storm" Retrieved 2010-01-21. which began as one trilog ...
,
Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...
,
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' ...
Colin Greenland
Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954 in Dover, Kent, England) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both majo ...
,
Graham Higgins
Graham Higgins (born 1953) is a British writer and artist, designer and lecturer.
Biography
Higgins' association with comics began with independent publishers Birmingham's Ar-Zak Press and Knockabout Comics. He has drawn cartoons and covers for ...
,
Paul Cornell
Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield.
As well as ''Docto ...
and
David Langford
David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...
, among others.
The anthologies were:
;''Temps''
:Two volumes of superhero pastiches, set in a world where the United Kingdom and European Union demand registry of superhuman talents, whereupon the Talented are expected to be permanently "on call" as part-time superheroes, in exchange for a stipend. The popular perception of the
British Civil Service
His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which ...
is played up, with registering as a "Temp" being strangely similar to applying for Jobseeker's Allowance or other benefits. The two books were ''Temps'' (1991) and ''EuroTemps'' (1992).
;''The Weerde''
:The concept behind ''The Weerde'' was that shapeshifting creatures had been living alongside humanity for millennia, mostly concealing themselves, but occasionally giving rise to legends of supernatural monsters. The books in this series were ''The Weerde Book One'' (1992) and ''The Weerde Book Two: Book of the Ancients'' (1993).
;''Villains!''
:''Villains!'' (1992) was a parody of
heroic fantasy
Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...
. Like Gentle's later ''Grunts'', it looked at the typical fantasy world from the point of view of the villains.
Several of the stories from these anthologies have subsequently appeared in other collections, or have been put on line by their authors:
*
Roz Kaveney
Roz Kaveney (born 9 July 1949) is a British writer, critic, and poet, best known for her critical works about pop culture and for being a core member of the Midnight Rose collective. Kaveney's works include fiction and non-fiction, poetry, rev ...
: "A Lonely Impulse" (''Temps''), "A Wolf To Man" (''The Weerde Book One''), "Bellringer's Overtime" (''Villains!''), "Totally Trashed" (''EuroTemps''), "Ignorance of Perfect Reason" (''The Weerde Book Two'')
*
David Langford
David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...
: "Leaks" (''Temps''), "The Arts of the Enemy" (''Villains!''), "If Looks Could Kill" (''EuroTemps''), "The Lions in the Desert" (''The Weerde Book Two'')
* Marcus Rowland: "Frog Day Afternoon" (''Temps''), "Playing Safe" (''EuroTemps''), "The Missing Martian" (''The Weerde Book Two'')
*
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine '' ...
: "Examination Night" (''Villains!''), "Ancient Of Days" (''The Weerde Book One''), "Red, Hot and Dark" (''The Weerde Book Two'')