Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane
Audrey Niffenegger, Gemma Files
Language: English
Pages: 288
ISBN: 1781080542
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This amazing collection of new fiction has an extrordinary list of contributors, it is the very first commercial collection to feature an original short story from the international no.1 bestseller Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveller's Wife; features alongside the NYT Bestseller Dan Abnett and more bestselling authors such as Christopher Fowler, Storm Constantine and many more.
Niffenegger says: "I'm delighted to be involved in this project. My story is called The Wrong Fairie and is about Charles Altamont Doyle. He was a Victorian artist who was institutionalized for alcoholism. He was also the father of Arthur Conan Doyle, and he believed in fairies."
They gather in darkness, sharing ancient and arcane knowledge as they manipulate the very matter of reality itself. Spells and conjuration; legerdemain and prestidigitation – these are the mistresses and masters of the esoteric arts. Magic comes alive in their hands. British Fantasy Award nominee, Jonathan Oliver, gathers together sixteen stories of magic, featuring some of today’s finest practitioners, including Audrey Niffenegger, Christopher Fowler, Gail Z. Martin, Gemma Files, Thana Niveau, Robert Shearman, Will Hill, Sarah Lotz, Storm Constantine, Dan Abnett, Sophia McDougall, Alison Littlewood and Lou Morgan. "This is a spellbinding collection, and ideal reading for a season that lives and dies by its surprises." -- Tor.com
of legend, where myth and story grow into something impossibly beautiful. Of course, one of the most common uses for a spell is to help another. When the motivation is pure, this can bring about a positive change, as demonstrated in Storm Constantine’s story ‘Do as Thou Wilt.’ Lou Morgan, too, shows us an act of magical sacrifice in ‘Bottom Line’ that throws new light onto a morally ambiguous character. Sarah Lotz’s comic tale ‘If I Die, Kill My Cat’ shows the consequences of leaving an
like bouncers, which is what they are. They’re wearing dark suits that don’t really fit them, high-necked black T-shirts, flat black shoes with rubber soles. They should be wearing earpieces, but they’ve taken them off in what seems to be their only concession to blending in. I leave the crowds of the West End behind and head towards the river. Here the streets get narrower and darker, the buildings crowding in above the cobbles, and the air is quiet and still. I continue to stroll. Two figures
open and was about to open the sash when she noticed the figure standing by the streetlight. Nicky was staring up at the building the way he had been earlier. Only this time he saw her. He raised one hand and waved faintly but Tamsin couldn’t bring herself to return it. She was starting to get seriously creeped out. She closed the curtains and edged away from the window. Maybe she should go back to the forum and see if anyone there had any ideas. She had just booted up her computer when she
steam that filled the air. “Not now, you’re not,” Mum snapped. “Now you can sit down and eat your dinner.” Houdini turned towards her, a puzzled expression on his face. He met her eye and they stared at each other for a long time. Then Houdini sat down and he ate his dinner. He kept looking up as he did it, not at Tommy and not at Tommy’s mum but above them, over them, beyond them. DAD DIDN’T GO to work on Monday, or the day after that. He didn’t sit around the house either; he didn’t get
it happens again tonight, then get up. Go into a different room and do something. Nothing too interesting. Don’t get on the internet. If you touch your laptop it had better be to clear out your cache or run a de-frag. Then read a page or two of something boring – I’ve got Wray’s Guide to Electromagnetics, though my old professors would weep bitter tears if they knew I was using it that way. Then try going to bed again. Repeat as necessary: if you’re going to be awake through the night anyway it’s