Tony Burgess - The n-Body Problem

The crumbling summerhouse called Wild Fell, soaring above the desolate shores of Blackmore Island, has weathered the violence of the seasons for more than a century. Built for his family by a 19th-century politician of impeccable rectitude, the house has kept its terrible secrets and its darkness sealed within its walls. For a hundred years, the townspeople of Alvina have prayed that the darkness inside Wild Fell would stay there, locked away from the light.

This is a double novella “flip book” pairing a modern corporate suspense story about the cover-up of a CEO’s illicit affair, with a 1970s-era science fiction thriller about an oil company’s environmental disaster. It is an exploration of the paranoia inherent in business and the thin line between competition and conspiracy.

HORROR STORY AND OTHER HORROR STORIESROBERT BOYCZUK [978-1-926851-74-7]

NEXUS: ASCENSIONROBERT BOYCZUK [978-1-926851-87-7]

THE BOOK OF THOMAS: HEAVENROBERT BOYCZUK [978-1-927469-28-6]

PEOPLE LIVE STILL IN CASHTOWN CORNERSTONY BURGESS [978-1-926851-90-7]

THE STEEL SERAGLIOMIKE CAREY, LINDA CAREY & LOUISE CAREY [978-1-927469-04-0]

SARAH COURTCRAIG DAVIDSON [978-1-926851-88-4]

A BOOK OF TONGUESGEMMA FILES [978-1-926851-82-2]

A ROPE OF THORNSGEMMA FILES [978-1-926851-97-6]

A TREE OF BONESGEMMA FILES [978-1-926851-64-8]

ISLES OF THE FORSAKENCAROLYN IVES GILMAN [978-1-926851-98-3]

ISON OF THE ISLESCAROLYN IVES GILMAN [978-1-927469-07-1]

FILARIABRENT HAYWARD [978-1-926851-73-0]

THE FECUND’S MELANCHOLY DAUGHTERBRENT HAYWARD [978-1-926851-96-9]

IMAGINARIUM 2012: THE BEST CANADIAN SPECULATIVE WRITINGEDITED BY SANDRA KASTURI & HALLI VILLEGAS [978-1-926851-68-6]

CHASING THE DRAGONNICHOLAS KAUFMANN [978-1-926851-80-8]

OBJECTS OF WORSHIPCLAUDE LALUMIÈRE [978-1-926851-78-5]

THE DOOR TO LOST PAGESCLAUDE LALUMIÈRE [978-1-926851-95-2]

THE THIEF OF BROKEN TOYSTIM LEBBON [978-1-926851-84-6]

KATJA FROM THE PUNK BANDSIMON LOGAN [978-1-926851-83-9]

BULLETTIMENICK MAMATAS [978-1-926851-72-3]

SHOEBOX TRAIN WRECKJOHN MANTOOTH [978-1-927469-05-7]

HAIR SIDE, FLESH SIDEHELEN MARSHALL [978-1-927469-25-5]

NINJA VERSUS PIRATE FEATURING ZOMBIESJAMES MARSHALL [978-1-927469-08-8]

PICKING UP THE GHOSTTONE MILAZZO [978-1-926851-99-0]

BEARDED WOMENTERESA MILBRODT [978-1-927469-02-6]

NAPIER’S BONESDERRYL MURPHY [978-1-926851-93-8]

CITIES OF NIGHTPHILIP NUTMAN [978-1-926851-85-3]

JANUSJOHN PARK [978-1-927469-18-7]

EVERY SHALLOW CUTTOM PICCIRILLI [978-1-926851-92-1]

BRIARPATCHTIM PRATT [978-1-927469-00-2]

THE CHOIR BOATSDANIEL A. RABUZZI [978-1-926851-76-1]

THE INDIGO PHEASANTDANIEL A. RABUZZI [978-1-927469-17-0]

EVERY HOUSE IS HAUNTEDIAN ROGERS [978-1-927469-19-4]

ENTER, NIGHTMICHAEL ROWE [978-1-927469-03-3]

REMEMBER WHY YOU FEAR MEROBERT SHEARMAN [978-1-927469-22-4]

CHIMERASCOPEDOUGLAS SMITH [978-1-926851-81-5]

THE PATTERN SCARSCAITLIN SWEET [978-1-927469-01-9]

THE TEL AVIV DOSSIERLAVIE TIDHAR AND NIR YANIV [978-1-926851-75-4]

IN THE MEAN TIMEPAUL TREMBLAY [978-1-926851-91-4]

SWALLOWING A DONKEY’S EYEPAUL TREMBLAY [978-1-926851-70-9]

THE HAIR WREATH AND OTHER STORIESHALLI VILLEGAS [978-1-926851-89-1]

THE WORLD MORE FULL OF WEEPINGROBERT J. WIERSEMA [978-1-926851-77-8]

WESTLAKE SOULRIO YOUERS [978-1-927469-06-4]

MAJOR KARNAGEGORD ZAJAC [978-1-926851-86-0]

“IF YOUR TASTE IN FICTION RUNS TO THE DISTURBING, DARK, AND AT LEAST PARTIALLY WEIRD, CHANCES ARE YOU’VE HEARD OF CHIZINE PUBLICATIONS—CZP—A YOUNG IMPRINT THAT IS NONETHELESS PRODUCING STARTLINGLY BEAUTIFUL BOOKS OF STARKLY, DARKLY LITERARY QUALITY.”

The n-Body Problem © 2013 by Tony Burgess

Cover artwork © 2013 by Erik Mohr

Interior design © 2013 by Samantha Beiko

Interior illustrations © 2013 by Jason Brown

All rights reserved.

Published by ChiZine Publications

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

EPub Edition OCTOBER 2013 ISBN: 978-1-77148-164-9

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Edited and copyedited by Brett Savory

Proofread by Kelsi Morris

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Published with the generous assistance of the Ontario Arts Council.