Forthcoming April 2027

One Big Place

The Saur Stories of Richard Chwedyk

With an introduction by Janis Ian

Includes the Nebula Award-winning novella “Brontë’s Egg”

Pre-order direct from the publisher

ONE BIG PLACE — E-book Edition $10.00 Buy now

ONE BIG PLACE — Paperback [U.S. only] $25.00 Buy now

Cover art by Bryn Barnard

The Saurs did not ask for the lives their makers gave them. Genetically engineered to look like cartoon dinosaurs, the right size for children to play with, they endured all the things that happen to childhood toys—but they can think, and speak, and learn, and so much more. For some, this discovery came too late. 

But the Saurs who were rescued now dwell in a mansion designated to keep them sheltered and safe from human hands that can harm them—especially those of the company that made them, which still has designs on these small, quirky creatures; designs that Tom and the staff of the Atherton Foundation must be on guard to thwart. Freed to follow their dreams and ambitions, the Saurs demonstrate capabilities that range from heart-warming to awe-inspiring, their antics hilarious, their compassion deeply moving. It’s hard to believe so many mind-bending events can happen under a single roof, but to the Saurs, it’s One Big Place.

This volume for the first time collects all five of Richard Chwedyk’s celebrated Saur novellas, including the Nebula Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated “Brontë’s Egg,” with an additional forward from the irascible mini-stegosaur Agnes.

Praise for the Saur stories

“In the tradition of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau …  it might even be perhaps a bit Dickensian in its sentimentality. The home for biopet saurs has metaphorical reverberations that ambiguously evoke abandoned pets, orphans, and abused children.”
—David G. Hartwell, The Year’s Best SF

“Chwedyk writes this story with such angst and pathos that it becomes difficult to read through the tears which fill your eyes. The story could be a statement about modern life and the things we discard as children only to return to as adults … This is simply the best short story I have read in the past ten years.”
—Science Fiction Chronicle

“Glimmers with wonderful ideas, the writing is excellent, the development of the saurs moves along … wow, I really do want to read what happens next.”
—Sherwood Smith, Nebula Award-nominated author of Crown Duel

“Heartwarming and poignant.”
—Locus

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

• On the Island Where the Dinosaurs Live

• A Preface by Agnes A. Stegosaur

• The Measure of All Things

• Brontë’s Egg

• In Tibor’s Cardboard Castle

• Orfy

• The Man Who Put the Bomp