Alex Bledsoe

Iraq War veteran Bronwyn Hyatt must reconnect with the Tufa, her people, and their ancient song if she is ever going to stop the death stalking her family. By the author of Dark Jenny. 10,000 first printing.

A Novel of the Tufa

The Hum and the Shiver

"In all the time the Tufa have existed, only two have ever been exiled: Bo-Kate Wisby and her lover, Jefferson Powell. They were cast out, stripped of their ability to make music, and cursed to never be able to find their way back to Needsville. Their crime? A love that crossed the boundary of the two Tufa tribes, resulting in the death of several people. Somehow, Bo-Kate has found her way back"--

Long Black Curl

It should have been a case like any other: a missing princess, a king willing to pay in gold for her return. But before he realizes it, private investigator Eddie LaCrosse, a slightly shopworn sword jockey with a talent for discretion and detection, is swept up in a web of mystery and deceit involving a brutally murdered royal heir, a queen accused of an unspeakable crime and the tragic past he thought he'd left behind. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

The Sword-Edged Blonde

"A follow-up to The Hum and the Shiver finds musician Rob Quillen searching for an enigmatic Smoky Mountains clan of people whose existence is shrouded in myth, a journey marked by a disappearance, an incomprehensible power play and a howling feral girl."

Wisp of a Thing

"This is real." Three small words on a film canister found by graduate students Justin and Veronica, who discover a long-lost silent movie from more than a century ago. The startlingly realistic footage shows a young girl transforming into a winged being. Looking for proof behind this claim, they travel to the rural foothills of Tennessee to find Sadieville, where it had been filmed.Soon, their journey takes them to Needsville, whose residents are hesitant about their investigation, but Justin and Veronica are helped by Tucker Carding, who seems to have his own ulterior motives. When the two students unearth a secret long hidden, everyone in the Tufa community must answer the most important question of their entire lives: what would they be willing to sacrifice to return to their fabled homeland of T�r na n�g?

The Final Tufa Novel

The Fairies of Sadieville

In critically-acclaimed Alex Bledsoe’s Tufa novel, Gather Her Round, a monster roams the woods of Cloud County, while another kind of evil lurks in the hearts of men. Love and tragedy are not strange bedfellows among the Tufa. Young Kera Rogers disappears while hiking in the woods by Needsville. When her half-eaten remains are discovered, the blame falls upon a herd of wild hogs, a serious threat in this rural community. In response, the county’s best trackers, including game warden Jack Cates and ex-military Tufa Bronwyn Chess are assembled to hunt them down. Kara’s boyfriend Duncan Gowen mourns her death, until he finds evidence she cheated on him with his best friend, Adam Procure. Seeking revenge, Duncan entices Adam to participate in their own boar hunt. Later, Bronwyn and Jack stumble across a devastated Duncan, who claims a giant boar impaled Adam and dragged him off. As this second death rocks the town, people begin to wonder who is really responsible. Determined hunters pursue the ravenous horde through the Appalachians as other Tufa seek their own answers. Between literal beasts in the woods and figurative wolves in sheep’s clothing, what truths will arise come spring? “Beautifully written, surprisingly moving, and unexpected in the best of ways.” —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author on The Hum and the Shiver

Gather Her Round

Rae Carson

E. Lily Yu

Meg Elison

C. L. Clark

Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam

Eugenia Triantafyllou

Sharon Hsu

The January/February 2020 issue of Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine. Featuring new fiction by Rae Carson, Eugenia Triantafyllou, C. L. Clark, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, Sharon Hsu, and Alex Bledsoe. Reprint fiction by E. Lily Yu. Essays by Meg Elison, Marissa Lingen, Malka Older, and Katharine Duckett, poetry by Ada Hoffmann, Brandon O'Brien, Leah Bobet, and Betsy Aoki, interviews with Eugenia Triantafyllou and Bonnie Joe Stufflebeam by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Nilah Magruder, and editorials by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, and Elsa Sjunneson.

January/February 2020

Uncanny Magazine Issue 32

"When Matt Johansson, a young New York actor, auditions for "Chapel of Ease," an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show's writer and composer. They soon become friends; Matt learns that Ray's people call themselves the Tufa and that the musical is based on the history of his isolated home town. But there is one question in the show's script that Ray refuses to answer: what is buried in the ruins of the chapel of ease? As opening night approaches, strange things begin to happen. A dreadlocked girl follows Ray and spies on him. At the press preview, a strange Tufa woman warns him to stop the show. Then, as the rave reviews arrive, Ray dies in his sleep. Matt and the cast are distraught, but there's no question of shutting down: the run quickly sells out. They postpone opening night for a week and Matt volunteers to take Ray's ashes back to Needsville. He also hopes, while he's there, to find out more of the real story behind the play and discover the secret that Ray took to his grave. Matt's journey into the haunting Appalachian mountains of Cloud County sets him on a dangerous path, where some secrets deserve to stay buried."--

Chapel of ease

The latest installment in Alex Bledsoe's critically-acclaimed Tufa series about musically-talented fae in rural Tennessee, a series Kirkus Reviews calls "powerful, character-driven drama...a sheer delight." (starred review) “Beautifully written, surprisingly moving, and unexpected in the best of ways.” —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author When Matt Johansson, a young New York actor, auditions for "Chapel of Ease," an off-Broadway musical, he is instantly charmed by Ray Parrish, the show's writer and composer. They soon become friends; Matt learns that Ray's people call themselves the Tufa and that the musical is based on the history of his isolated home town. But there is one question in the show's script that Ray refuses to answer: what is buried in the ruins of the chapel of ease? As opening night approaches, strange things begin to happen. A dreadlocked girl follows Ray and spies on him. At the press preview, a strange Tufa woman warns him to stop the show. Then, as the rave reviews arrive, Ray dies in his sleep. Matt and the cast are distraught, but there's no question of shutting down: the run quickly sells out. They postpone opening night for a week and Matt volunteers to take Ray's ashes back to Needsville. He also hopes, while he's there, to find out more of the real story behind the play and discover the secret that Ray took to his grave. Matt's journey into the haunting Appalachian mountains of Cloud County sets him on a dangerous path, where some secrets deserve to stay buried. Enter the captivating world of the fae in Alex Bledsoe's Tufa novels The Hum and the Shiver Wisp of a Thing Long Black Curl Chapel of Ease Gather Her Round At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Chapel of Ease

Alex Bledsoe’s first novel, The Sword-Edged Blonde, drew rave reviews for its ingenious blend of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. Now Bledsoe returns with an all-new tale of mean streets and medieval intrigue. Above Angelina’s Tavern in down-and-dirty Neceda you’ll find the office of Eddie LaCrosse, a freelance sword jockey who, for twenty-five gold pieces a day, will take on any task short of murder for hire. Eddie’s on his way back from a routine investigation when his horse almost runs down a half-naked blonde in serious trouble. Against his better judgment, he promises to protect the frightened young woman, only to find himself waylaid by unknown assailants and left for dead beside her mutilated body. Eddie isn’t the kind of guy to just let something like this pass. But who killed Laura Lesperitt? Eddie’s quest for payback leads him to a tangled mystery involving a notorious crime lord, a backwoods dragon cult, royal scandals, and a duplicitous femme fatale who has trouble keeping her clothes on. As bodies pile up, attracting the unwelcome attention of the king’s guards, Eddie must use all his wits if he hopes to survive . . .

An Eddie LaCrosse Novel

Burn Me Deadly

Alex Bledsoe's novels featuring detective Eddie LaCrosse have drawn rave reviews for their ingenious blend of classic fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. Now with Dark Jenny, Bledsoe returns with an all-new tale of intrigue and murder. . . . For twenty-five gold pieces a day, plus expenses, Eddie LaCrosse will take on most any case. But the unexpected delivery of a coffin in the dead of winter forces LaCrosse to look back at a bygone chapter in his past—and the premeditated murder of a dream. Ruled by the noble King Marcus Drake, the island kingdom of Grand Braun is an oasis of peace and justice in an imperfect world. At least until the beautiful Queen Jennifer is accused of adultery and murder. In the wrong castle at the wrong time, Eddie finds himself drafted at sword's point to solve the mystery. With time running out, and powerful nobles all too eager to pin the murder on Eddie himself, he must untangle a tangled web of palace intrigues, buried secrets, and bewitching women—before the entire kingdom erupts into civil war. Murder, mystery, and magic—just another day on the job for Eddie LaCrosse.

Dark Jenny

Entreated by tavern keeper Angela to discover the fate of a sailor-turned-pirate who stole her heart 20 years earlier, freelance sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse investigates rumors of a sunken pirate ship and a secret pirate kingdom before finding himself in the company of a former pirate queen. By the author of The Sword-Edged Blonde. Original. 10,000 first printing.

Wake of the Bloody Angel

Tim Waggoner

Juliette Wade

Lucy A. Snyder

Ekaterina Sedia

Maurice Broaddus

Michael Haynes

Tyler Hayes

Amanda C. Davis

Jennifer Brozek

Marissa Lingen

Sarah Hans

Janet Harriett

Erika Holt

Gary Kloster

Remy Nakamura

Andrew Romine

Damien A. Walters

When you talk about outsiders, it's easy to think about that sense of isolation when you're not one of the "popular kids" in high school, when you're the new person on the job, when you stand out in a bad way. But there's more than that. There's the sense of wonder at a new, alien place. There's seeing everything you know through a new, different point of view. These stories defy expectations and easy genre boundaries. But if you want that sense of wonder and amazement when you first encountered speculative fiction, that idea that there is something different, something more just around the corner, just out of sight, that sense of coming home to the unfamiliar, then this is the book you want to read. Edited by Nayad Monroe - who also edited What Fates Impose - these nineteen stories bring us tales of being the other, of belonging, and not belonging.

Not Our Kind

Mary Robinette Kowal

Sam J. Miller

K.M. Szpara

Brooke Bolander

A. Merc Rustad

Anya Ow

R.K. Kalaw

Elsa Sjunneson-Henry

Brit E. B. Hvide

The July/August 2018 issue of Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine. Our Dinosaur Theme Issue! Featuring new fiction by Sam J. Miller, K.M. Szpara, R.K. Kalaw, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry & A. Merc Rustad, Brooke Bolander, Brit E.B. Hvide, Alex Bledsoe, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Anya Ow, essays by Tobias S. Buckell, Alasdair Stuart, Marissa Lingen, and Tansy Rayner Roberts, and poetry by Mari Ness, Cassandra Khaw, Brandon O' Brien, Ali Trotta and Cynthia So, interviews with K.M. Szpara and Anya Ow by Caroline M. Yoachim, a cover by Galen Dara, and an editorial by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas. “The Uncanny Dinosaurs—Introduction” by Brooke Bolander, Sam J. Miller, Mari Ness, Nicasio Andres Reed, A. Merc Rustad & Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, K.M. Szpara, JY Yang, and Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

July/August 2018

Uncanny Magazine Issue 23

Brandon Sanderson

Ari Marmell

Janet Morris

Chris Morris

Orson Scott Card

Glen Cook

Cecelia Holland

Howard Andrew Jones

Cat Rambo

Ian C. Esslemont

C. L. Werner

Paul Kearny

Fantasy heroes endure. They are embedded in our cultural fabric, dwarfing other literary figures and the mere men and women of history. Achilles and Odysseus, Gilgamesh and Beowulf. King Arthur and Robin Hood, Macbeth and Sherlock Holmes, Conan and Luke Skywalker. They dominate our legends, and tower over popular culture. The stories we tell each other begin and end with fantasy heroes, and the 21st Century is as thoroughly captivated with them as ever. From Batman to Gandalf, Harry Potter to Tyrion Lannister, the heroes of fantasy speak to-and for-whole generations. But what makes a fantasy hero? How do the best writers create them, and bring them to life on the page? In WRITING FANTASY HEROES some of the most successful fantasy writers of our time--Steven Erikson, C.L. Werner, Brandon Sanderson, Janet & Chris Morris, Cecelia Holland, Alex Bledsoe, Jennifer Brozek, Ian C. Esslemont, Orson Scott Card, Ari Marmell, Cat Rambo, Howard Andrew Jones, Paul Kearney and Glen Cook--pull back the curtain to reveal the secrets of creating heroes that live and breathe, and steal readers' hearts. Whether you're an aspiring writer or simply a reader who loves great fantasy and strong characters, this book is for you.

Powerful Advice from the Pros

Writing Fantasy Heroes

When one world brushes another, asking the right question can be magic... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Tor.Com Original

Shall We Gather

When Bronwyn Hyatt prepares for her wedding day, she finds the perfect dress from a most unexpected source. But she should remember this: never accept a gift without knowing the consequences. Set in Alex Bledsoe's Tufa universe. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Two Weddings of Bronwyn Hyatt

Neil Gaiman

Nalo Hopkinson

Paul Cornell

Kat Howard

Sofia Samatar

Jennifer Marie Brissett

November/December 2016

Uncanny Magazine Issue 13

When centuries-old vampire Baron Rudolfo Zginski was staked in Wales in 1915, the last thing he expected was to reawaken in Memphis, Tennessee, sixty years later. Reborn into a new world of simmering racial tensions, the cunning nosferatu realizes he must adapt quickly if he is to survive. Finding willing victims is easy, as Zginski possesses all the powers of the undead, including the ability to sexually enslave anyone he chooses. Hoping to learn how his kind copes with this bizarre new era, Zginski tracks down a nest of teenage vampires. But these young vampires have little knowledge of their true nature, having learned most of what they know from movies like Blacula. Forming an uneasy alliance with the young vampires, Zginski begins to teach them the truth about their powers. They must learn quickly, for there's a new drug on the street—a drug created to specifically target and destroy vampires. As Zginski and his allies track the drug to its source, they may unwittingly be stepping into a fifty-year-old trap that can destroy them all . . .

Blood Groove

Nursing an injured arm while on the job searching for a missing kid is bad enough for sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse. But when he discovers a smuggling ring rumored to be protected by powerful magic, he seeks out old friends and new to lend a hand. A tale set in Alex Bledsoe's popular medieval noir world. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

The Key to the Coward's Spell

Alex Bledsoe

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