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The Design

China Miéville

First published 2013
Type Short Fiction
Length Novelette

This piece follows a student in medical school who is participating in an anatomy lab in which he must dissect a human cadaver. While dissecting the cadaver, he discovers that its bones are carved with an intricate design akin to scrimshaw that could not have possibly been placed there by human hands. The remainder of the tale follows his obsession with this design, and with the notion that the design might exist within outer organisms. -- from a review

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
2013 Cover McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Winter 2013 McSweeney's Books MAGAZINE 99
2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Macmillan UK Collection
2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Subterranean Press Collection 353
2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Macmillan UK Collection |400
July 2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Macmillan UK Collection 400
August 2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Del Rey Collection 355
August 2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Del Rey Collection
August 2015 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Random House Audio Collection |355
June 2016 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Picador Collection 400
June 2016 Cover Three Moments of an Explosion: Stories Del Rey Collection 355