Urban Mythic edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber (The Alchemy Press £10.99) is launched at the World Fantasy Convention later this month.

There is magic out there on the street and the Mythic are alive and well and creating chaos in a city near you.

Fourteen authors bring you tales of wonder and horror, with ancient curses and modern charms, strange things in the Underground, murder and redemption, corporate cults and stalwart guardians, lost travellers and wandering gods, fortune tellers and urban wizards, dragons, fae and unspeakable beasts.

With stories from: James Brogden, Joyce Chng, Zen Cho, Graham Edwards, Jaine Fenn, Christopher Golden, Kate Griffin, Alison Littlewood, Anne Nicholls, Jonathan Oliver, Mike Resnick, Gaie Sebold, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ian Whates.

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic

The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber, is scheduled for launch at the 2013 World Fantasy Convention. The final line up, in alphabetical order, is: 

• James Brogden – The Smith of Hockley
• Joyce Chng – Dragonform Witch
• Zen Cho – Fish Bowl
• Graham Edwards – A Night to Forget
• Jaine Fenn – Not the Territory
• Christopher Golden – Under Cover of Night
• Kate Griffin – An Inspector Calls
• Alison Littlewood – The Song of the City
• Anne Nicholls – The Seeds of a Pomegranate
• Jonathan Oliver – White Horse
• Mike Resnick – The Wizard of West 34th street
• Gaie Sebold – Underground
• Adrian Tchaikovsky – Family Business
• Ian Whates – Default Reactions

Cover by Ben Baldwin

Alchemy Press: book launch

The Alchemy Press launches two new anthologies at FantasyCon on Saturday 29 September, at 10.00 a.m. The convention, a highpoint in the fantasy and horror fan’s calendar, once more returns to the south coast city of Brighton.

Join us, the editors and some of the contributors, to welcome these two new, brilliant anthologies: The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders and The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes.

The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber:

“When we think of a wonder, our minds go most often to the great buildings of the past – the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge – but the human mind can make almost anything wondrous. We walk with wonders every day, through the power of curiosity and imagination and our human tendency to make stories about what we fear, what we desire, what we wish to understand. This collection offers new glimpses into the wonder we all feel.” – Kari Sperring

So then, discover standing stones, burial mounds, ruined castles or sunken cities: the ancient sites that litter our landscapes; the ancient wonders that possess a mysterious appeal that cannot be denied.

With stories by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Aliette de Bodard, Peter Crowther, Anne Nicholls, Adrian Cole, Pauline E Dungate, Bryn Fortey, William Meikle, John Howard, James Brogden, Shannon Connor Winward, Misha Herwin, Lynn M Cochrane and Selina Lock.

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes edited by Mike Chinn:

In the tradition of The Shadow, The Bat, Doc Savage, The Spider; Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Detective Agency; Dusty Ayers & His Battle Birds; Sheena and K-Zar. Hard-boiled detectives, sinister vigilantes, bizarre villains – the staple of the Pulp tradition. Two-fisted heroes – and heroines – fighting for right and justice in the midnight city, foetid jungles or exotic, far-flung lands. And deranged villains for whom the world is never enough.

Here, seventeen writers dive headlong into the world of the pulp fiction, to tell us tall tales of daring do, of heroes, heroines and their villains.

With stories by Mike Resnick, Peter Atkins, Peter Crowther, Adrian Cole, William Meikle, Joel Lane, Amber L Husbands, Milo James Fowler, Anne Nicholls, Robert William Iveniuk, Bracken N MacLeod, Chris Iovenko, Joshua Wolf, James Hartley, Ian Gregory, Michael Haynes and Allen Ashley.

Special FantasyCon price: £8.00 each (cover price £10.00) or buy both for £15.00.

Ancient Wonders: ToC announced

We can now reveal the contents for TheAlchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber:

Kari Sperring – Introduction

Adrian Tchaikovsky – Bones 
James Brogden – If Street
Shannon Connor Winward - Passage  
Pauline E. Dungate – One Man’s Folly
Anne Nicholls - Dragonsbridge 
Peter Crowther – Gandalph Cohen and the Land at the End of the Working Day 
Misha Herwin – The Satan Stones 
Lynn M. Cochrane – Ringfenced
Bryn Fortey – Ithica or Bust 
Adrian Cole – The Sound of Distant Gunfire
William Meikle – The Cauldron of Camulos
John Howard – Time and the City
Selina Lock – The Great and Powerful 
Aliette de Bodard - Ys

Back to the Middle of Nowhere

Back to the Middle of Nowhere edited by Jessy Marie Roberts & Jessica A Weiss. Pill Hill Press. $16.99
Reviewed by Jenny Barber

When reviewing short story anthologies, it’s rare to find one in which all the stories appeal and sometimes the best we can hope for is that the balance is weighted towards the ones that do. Luckily, Back to the Middle of Nowhere has plenty of stories that hit the spot – and strangely, most of the good ones involve food.

Take “Specialty of the House” by Michael Giorgio, an excellent story set in a road-side café where visitors are rare but always gladly welcomed. There’s a thread of dark humour running through this tale and while the denouement isn’t unexpected, it’s seeing how it gets there that will keep you reading.

Out in the wide open spaces, it’s no surprise that strange breeds of flora pop up so don’t eat the apples in “In Apple Blossom Time” by Colin Insole. Once you get past the slow opener, this grows into a beautiful story with an ending that promises creepiness to come.

In “Land of Enchantment” by Mark Souza, the fruit to watch out for is the humble blackberry; this fruit bites back. The characters are unlikeable which does mar it somewhat, but the story is tasty enough to satisfy.

Moving away from food is the slightly predictable but still very good “Clutching at Straws” by Jay Raven. You know where it’s going as soon as the scarecrow is mentioned, but like “Specialty” the journey is going to keep you entranced.

As a whole, this is something that could be said about the anthology – many of the other stories have elements you’ve seen before, some of them take you there in ways that will keep you reading, others will flip you into a surprise turn-off just when you think you’ve got the route figured. So while the road may be a little bumpy in places, for the most part, the destination is worth it.