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All Roads Lead To Winter by Mark Fuller Dillon

The aliens are here, and now our lives are different: no wars, no hunger, no exploitation. For political prisoner Thomas Bridge, there can be a strange new love; for the alien delegate, Avdryana, there can be companionship in a world that she finds crowded and foreign. But even with hope for the future, can there be an escape from the stifling ideas and expectations of the past? For adults only.

“All Roads Lead to Winter” is an erotic science fiction novella. It deals with the intervention, in our world, of an alien species from a parallel Earth — an intervention that has improved life drastically for most human beings. Yet for reasons of his own, the protagonist rejects this golden age.

The tale is focused on his complex relationship with an alien woman. This relationship is passionate and definitely sexual (for that reason, the book is recommended for adult readers only). But it also forces him to look into his past, into the hidden motivations of his mind and heart.

And that is the heart of the story: parallel worlds, politics, the grip of memory, the strength and generosity of women, the pain of loss, the mystery of love… and all the roads that lead to winter.

“Dillon writes well, with sensitivity and an ability to evoke not only the lushness and beauty of the natural world but its transitory quality, that everything fades and dies…. ‘All Roads Lead to Winter’ was a novella that engaged both the emotions and the intellect, making the reader think and feel.”

[Peter Tennant, BLACK STATIC Online, 29th January, 2023]

“This novella is driven by punchy dialogue, expertly handled, which is a refreshing change from many contemporary writers who shy away from such complex interaction. I was enchanted by the story of Thomas and Avdryana, and I could not stop reading until Thomas’s fate was revealed — his choice made. ‘All Roads Lead to Winter’ is a wonderful tale, expertly told and perfectly formed. It feels like it must have been a very personal journey for the author. Go and download a copy now; Mark Fuller Dillon is a rare talent who deserves to be much more widely read.”

[Martin Cosby, author of DYING EMBERS]

“This is a remarkable science fiction(ish) novella about a theme that, at first glance, might seem hackneyed — what happens when the aliens arrive? Here, though, the author has rung changes on the central premise so as to make it a truly satisfying and moving read…. There’s far more to this slender book than you’ll find in a shelf full of over-hyped ‘literary’ novels. Firstly, the sexual encounter — like everything else — is beautifully described, and the endnotes reveal that one of Dillon’s influences is J.G. Ballard. Secondly, the author is more of a ‘taker out’ than a ‘putter in’, giving his writing the refreshing clarity of his wilderness setting. Thirdly, it’s a lot of fun. The idea of feline evolution is cleverly handled, and there are a lot of intriguing ideas about how intelligent species might interact that are reminiscent of Olaf Stapledon’s LAST AND FIRST MEN. All in all, I can’t fault this book. If you like science fiction, you should read it. If you enjoy erotic fiction, you should read it.”

[David Longhorn, editor of SUPERNATURAL TALES]

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