Alternate Visions

Alternate Visions is a completed science fiction anthology by Webb Richards exploring the fragile boundary between belief and truth, memory and identity, humanity and the machines it creates. Across several distinct stories—“Alternate Voices,” “The Last Real Wolf,” “Stealing Time,” “Reunion,” “Lipschitz from the Stars,” “Webs of Dreams,” and “The Twenty Cent Paradigm”—the collection moves from lunar colonies and spiritual conflict to temporal mysteries, the strange ways love motivates us, and unsettling shifts in perception. Each story asks a different version of the same question: What happens when reality does not behave the way we were taught to believe it should? In “Alternate Voices,” faith, culture, and scientific truth collide beneath an alien sky. “The Last Real Wolf” turns the relationship between humans, machines, and nature into something a little unsettling. “Stealing Time” examines the cost of tampering with the one resource none of us truly owns. “Reunion” looks at memory, loss, and the possibility that meeting again may not mean returning to what was. “Lipschitz from the Stars” examines family relationships—and how sometimes a bit of distance is required. “Webs of Dreams” answers the question, “Let’s say we get everything we want—what could possibly go wrong?” And finally, “The Twenty Cent Paradigm” challenges us to reconsider how small changes in perspective can fracture an entire worldview. Together, these stories form a collection of speculative mirrors—each reflecting a different future, a different moral dilemma, and a different vision of what it means to be human in a universe that may or may not give a damn.