C. S. E. Cooney

Fun, froofy and glorious: a coming-of-age story in a new trilogy from World Fantasy Award-winning author C.S.E Cooney Life gets complicated when Death gets involved. To be born into a family of royal assassins pretty much guarantees that your life is going to be... rather unusual. Especially if, like Miscellaneous "Lanie" Stones, you also have a vicious allergy to all forms of violence and bloodshed, and an uncanny affinity for bringing the dead back to life. To make matters worse, family debt looms – a debt that will have to be paid sooner rather than later if Lanie and her sister are to retain ownership of the ancestral seat, Stones Manor. Lanie finds herself courted and threatened by powerful parties who would love to use her worryingly intimate relationship with the goddess of death for their own nefarious ends. But the goddess has other plans...

Saint Death's Daughter

Award-winning author C.S.E. Cooney indulges in luxurious, dizzying fantasy In Desdemona and the Deep, the spoiled daughter of a rich mining family must retrieve the tithe of men her father promised to the world below. On the surface, her world is rife with industrial pollution that ruins the health of poor factory workers while the idle rich indulge themselves in unheard-of luxury. Below are goblins, mysterious kingdoms, and an entirely different hierarchy. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Desdemona and the Deep

Nothing complicates life like Death. Lanie Stones, the daughter of the Royal Assassin and Chief Executioner of Liriat, has never led a normal life. Born with a gift for necromancy and a literal allergy to violence, she was raised in isolation in the family’s crumbling mansion by her oldest friend, the ancient revenant Goody Graves. When her parents are murdered, it falls on Lanie and her cheerfully psychotic sister Nita to settle their extensive debts or lose their ancestral home—and Goody with it. Appeals to Liriat's ruler to protect them fall on indifferent ears… until she, too, is murdered, throwing the nation's future into doubt. Hunted by Liriat’s enemies, hounded by her family’s creditors and terrorised by the ghost of her great-grandfather, Lanie will need more than luck to get through the next few months—but when the goddess of Death is on your side, anything is possible.

Award-winning author C.S.E. Cooney indulges in luxurious, dizzying fantasy In Desdemona and the Deep, the spoiled daughter of a rich mining family must retrieve the tithe of men her father promised to the world below. On the surface, her world is rife with industrial pollution that ruins the health of poor factory workers while the idle rich indulge themselves in unheard-of luxury. Below are goblins, mysterious kingdoms, and an entirely different hierarchy.

Mike Allen

Amanda J. McGee

Jessica P. Wick

A Sinister Quartet

Gene Wolfe

Stories

Bone Swans

N. K. Jemisin

Catherynne M. Valente

Fran Wilde

Cecilia Tan

Sophie Aldred

Delia Sherman

Vina Jie-Min Prasad

The September/October 2017 issue of Hugo Award-winning Uncanny Magazine. Featuring new fiction by N.K. Jemisin, Fran Wilde, C. S. E. Cooney, Catherynne M. Valente, Vina Jie-Min Prasad, and Delia Sherman, reprinted fiction by Malinda Lo, essays by Sophie Aldred, Cecilia Tan, Sarah Kuhn, Sam J. Miller and Jean Rice, and Sabrina Vourvoulias, poetry by Jo Walton, Brandon O'Brien, Ali Trotta, and Gwynne Garfinkle, interviews with C. S. E. Cooney and Delia Sherman by Julia Rios, a cover by Ashley Mackenzie, and an editorial by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.

September/October 2017

Uncanny Magazine Issue 18

Tamsyn Muir

Lina Rather

Emily Tesh

Scotto Moore

Kerstin Hall

Jennifer Giesbrecht

Katharine Duckett

Vylar Kaftan

Priya Sharma

Tor.com Publishing is proud to present a sneak peak at its 2019 debut authors. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Some of the Most Exciting New Voices in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Tor.com Publishing 2019 Debut Sampler

A young human painter and an ageless gentry queen fall in love over spilled wine-at the risk of his life and her immortality. Pulled into the Veil Between Worlds, two feuding neighbors (and a living statue) get swept up in a brutal war of succession. An investigative reporter infiltrates the Seafall City Laundries to write the exposé of a lifetime, and uncovers secrets she never believed possible. Returning to an oak grove to scatter her husband's ashes, an elderly widow meets an otherworldly friend, who offers her a momentous choice. Two gentry queens of the Valwode plot to hijack a human rocketship and steal the moon out of the sky. Dark Breakers gathers three new and two previously uncollected tales from World Fantasy Award-winning writer C. S. E. Cooney that expand on the thrice-enfolded worlds first introduced in her Locus and World Fantasy award-nominated novella Desdemona and the Deep. In her introduction to Dark Breakers, Crawford Award-winning author Sharon Shinn advises those who pick up this book to "settle in for a fantastical read" full of "vivid world-building, with layer upon layer of detail; prose so dense and gorgeous you can scoop up the words like handfuls of jewels; a mischievous sense of humor; and a warm and hopeful heart."

Dark Breakers

Forthcoming in February 2023 from World Fantasy Award winner C. S. E. Cooney "Many have spoken about how angels can be both terrifying yet beautiful, but few have successfully captured the idea well—until The Twice-Drowned Saint, at least. A sumptuous, saw-toothed read, it is a jewel box of a novel, glittering with a thousand details and a bright longing we're all familiar with, this want for a place better than we're in now." —Cassandra Khaw, Bram Stoker and World Fantasy award-nominated author of Nothing but Blackened Teeth World Fantasy Award winner C. S. E. Cooney takes readers on a journey of wonder, terror, and joy in this mind-bending, heartfelt novel. Contained inside impassable walls of ice, the city of Gelethel endures under the rule of fourteen angels, who provide for all their subjects needs and mete out grisly punishments for blasphemous infractions, with escape attempts one of the worst possible sins. "Our narrator is Ishtu Q'Aleth (Ish for short), the new owner of Gelethel's only cinema (having taken over from her father). More importantly, she's also the secret saint of Alizar the Eleven-Eyed, Seventh Angel of Gelethel, and one of the fourteen angels who holds dominion over the city. As Ish explains it, at the age of eight she turned down Alizar's offer to be his saint, but, in a moment that speaks to the novel's charm, the young girl and the all-knowing angel agreed to continue their relationship in secret after bonding over their shared love of cinema. Near thirty years later Ish is desperate to get her sick parents out of the city, a near-impossible task given Gelethel is surrounded by an impenetrable blue serac. But Ish's situation grows even more complicated when a new arrival to the city, a girl named Betony, appears as Alizar's true saint. There's so much to adore about the The Twice-Drowned Saint … [a] sublime short novel." —Locus Cover art, cover design and interior black and white illustrations by Lasse Paldanius. "With The Twice-Drowned Saint, C. S. E. Cooney once again crafts dazzling feats of imagination grounded in human frailties and plunges her audience inside head-first. Her boldly unique characters live in a fever dream of balletic, graceful description that will make you gasp, even as they find their own escape through the seemingly-mundane world of movies. Like nothing else you've ever read, or will ever read." —Randee Dawn, author of Tune in Tomorrow "Fabulous Gelethel is a city of godless angels who intoxicate themselves on human death, but within its icy walls a hidden saint and a dissident angel are hatching a plan. This story left me wrecked and rebuilt: it's a truly glorious tale of family bonds, forgiveness, sacrifice, courage … and how gods are born. Written with Cooney's signature soaring prose, humor, and imagination, this tale shines a light on cruelties both fantastical and familiar. It honors sorrow and embraces joy—I will treasure it always" —Francesca Forrest, author of The Inconvenient God "C. S. E. Cooney's prose is like a cake baked by the fairies." —Theodora Goss "C. S. E. Cooney is one of the most moving, daring, and plainly beautiful voices to come out of recent fantasy. She's a powerhouse with a wink in her eye and a song in each pocket." —Catherynne M. Valente

The Twice-Drowned Saint

New from C. S. E. Cooney, winner of the World Fantasy Award A young human painter and an ageless gentry queen fall in love over spilled wine—at the risk of his life and her immortality. Pulled into the Veil Between Worlds, two feuding neighbors (and a living statue) get swept up in a brutal war of succession. An investigative reporter infiltrates the Seafall City Laundries to write the exposé of a lifetime, and uncovers secrets she never believed possible. Returning to an oak grove to scatter her husband’s ashes, a elderly widow meets an otherworldly friend, who offers her a momentous choice. Two gentry queens of the Valwode plot to hijack a human rocketship and steal the moon out of the sky. Dark Breakers gathers three new and two previously uncollected tales from World Fantasy Award-winning writer C. S. E. Cooney that expand on the thrice-enfolded worlds first introduced in her Locus and World Fantasy award-nominated novella Desdemona and the Deep. In her introduction to Dark Breakers, Crawford Award-winning author Sharon Shinn advises those who pick up this book to “settle in for a fantastical read” full of “vivid world-building, with layer upon layer of detail; prose so dense and gorgeous you can scoop up the words like handfuls of jewels; a mischievous sense of humor; and a warm and hopeful heart.” Praise for C. S. E. Cooney “C. S. E. Cooney is one of the most moving, daring, and plainly beautiful voices to come out of recent fantasy. She’s a powerhouse with a wink in her eye and a song in each pocket.” —Catherynne M. Valente, New York Times–bestselling author of Space Opera “C. S. E. Cooney’s imagination is wild and varied, her stories bawdy, horrific, comic, and moving—frequently all at the same time. Her characters are wickedly appealing, and her language—O! her language. Lush, playful, poetic, but never obscure or stilted, it makes her magic more magic, her comedy more comic, and her tragic moments almost unbearable.” —Delia Sherman, author of The Evil Wizard Smallbone “Stunningly delicious! Cruel, beautiful and irresistible are C.S.E. Cooney’s characters and prose.” —Ellen Kushner, author of Swordspoint “C. S. E. Cooney is a master piper, playing songs within songs. Her stories are wild, theatrical, full of music and murder and magic.” —James Enge, author of Blood of Ambrose “Cooney drafts lyrical prose that sparkles with brilliant imagery.” —Howard Andrew Jones, author of The Ring-Sworn Trilogy “Newcomers will find Cooney’s glittering narrative skills and vivid worldbuilding addictive, her diverse characters intriguing, and her message of justice and freedom stirring.” —Publishers Weekly “Cooney produces memorable prose propelled by extraordinary ideas . . . Faced with such twisted genius, I’ll say no more!” —Locus

“With fiction from C.S.E Cooney, Jessica P. Wick, Amanda J. McGee, and Mike Allen, Mythic Delirium’s excellent new anthology, A Sinister Quartet, provides further evidence that long-form genre fiction is not just alive and well but thriving.” —Locus, Ian Mond “Mythic Delirium is one of the smaller presses which sustains our field . . . This is lovely and fascinating . . . Really fine work.” —Locus, Rich Horton "Easily one of the best things I've read this year . . . 'The Twice Drowned Saint' alone is worth five times the cost of the collection." —The Little Red Reviewer INCLUDES BONUS STORIES AND EXCERPTS AND NEW FULL COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS Behind the walls of an invulnerable city ruled by angels, old movies provide balm for the soul and a plan to escape risks grisly retribution. A princess discovers a passage to a nightmarish world of deception and blood-sealed enchantment. A woman who has lost everything meets a man of great wealth and ominous secrets. In a town haunted by tragedy, malevolent supernatural entities converge, and the conflict that ensues unleashes chaos. A Sinister Quartet gathers original long-form wonders and horrors composed in unusual keys, with a short novel by World Fantasy Award winner C. S. E. Cooney and a new novella from two-time World Fantasy Award finalist Mike Allen joined by debut novellas from rising talents Amanda J. McGee and Jessica P. Wick. All four offer immersions into strange, beautiful and frightening milieus.

Stephen Mark Rainey

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