Nina Allan

EWA CHAPLIN WASN'T AFRAID TO MAKE DOLLS THAT WEREN'T COMFORTING. SHE SEEMED TO KNOW THAT DOLLS ARE PEOPLE, JUST LIKE US. THE BEWITCHING NEW NOVEL FROM THE AWARD-WINNING GUARDIAN FRESH VOICES AUTHOR 'A fantastic book' Andrew O'Hagan 'Wholly original - worthy of a modern Grimm' Andrew Caldecott, author of Rotherweird 'A masterful and multi-layered haunted toyshop of a novel' Tony White, author of The Fountain in the Forest Stitch by perfect stitch, Andrew Garvie makes exquisite dolls in the finest antique style. Like him, they are diminutive, but graceful, unique and with surprising depths. Perhaps that's why he answers the enigmatic personal ad in his collector's magazine. Letter by letter, Bramber Winters reveals more of her strange, sheltered life in an institution on Bodmin Moor, and the terrible events that put her there as a child. Andrew knows what it is to be trapped; and as they knit closer together, he weaves a curious plan to rescue her. On his journey through the old towns of England he reads the fairytales of Ewa Chaplin - potent, eldritch stories which, like her lifelike dolls, pluck at the edges of reality and thread their way into his mind. When Andrew and Bramber meet at last, they will have a choice - to remain alone with their painful pasts or break free and, unlike their dolls, come to life. A love story of two very real, unusual people, The Dollmaker is also a novel rich with wonders: Andrew's quest and Bramber's letters unspool around the dark fables that give our familiar world an uncanny edge. It is this touch of magic that, like the blink of a doll's eyes, tricks our own . . .

The Dollmaker

Margo Lanagan

Alix E. Harrow

Rowan Coleman

Sam J. Miller

Catherynne M. Valente

Sarah Gailey

Jeffrey Ford

Seanan McGuire

Theodora Goss

Elizabeth Hand

Carrie Vaughn

Zen Cho

Lavanya Lakshminarayan

Ellen Klages

Sameem Sadiqui

Anthology of inclusive tales of people through time looking for one another and for ways for the world to be better. Love brought together or torn apart by time travel. This anthology is the latest collection of time-travel romance sci-fi short stories from prominent, award-winning sci-fi authors including Nina Allan, Carrie Vaughn, and Seanan McGuire. Follow timetravelers of all genders as they go backward and forward in time, sometimes to save the one they love, other times as a sacrifice, and others simply because it's their job. Some travel through memory, others through dreams, and others still through time machines to touch people who would otherwise be out of reach, and to join them together. Some of the stories are funny, some are sad and poignant, some are tales of fresh love and some of love forever lost, but they all are rather wonderful. Including stories by: Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Jeffrey Ford, Nina Allan, Elizabeth Hand, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Rowan Coleman, Margo Lanagan, Sameem Siddiqui, Theodora Goss, Carrie Vaughn, Ellen Klages

Tales of Time-Crossed Romance

Someone in Time

Selena and Julie are sisters. As children they were closest companions, but as they grow towards maturity, a rift develops between them. There are greater rifts, however. Julie goes missing at the age of seventeen. It will be twenty years before Selena sees her again. When Julie reappears, she tells Selena an incredible story about how she has spent time on another planet. Selena has an impossible choice to make: does she dismiss her sister as a damaged person, the victim of delusions, or believe her, and risk her own sanity in the process? Is Julie really who she says she is, and if she isn't, what does she have to gain by claiming her sister's identity?

The Rift

"The Art of Space Travel" by Nina Allan is a science fiction novelette. In 2047, a first manned mission to Mars ended in tragedy. Thirty years later, a second expedition is preparing to launch. As housekeeper of the hotel where two of the astronauts will give their final press statements, Emily finds the mission intruding upon her thoughts more and more. Emily's mother, Moolie, has a message to give her, but Moolie's memories are fading. As the astronauts' visit draws closer, the unearthing of a more personal history is about to alter Emily's world forever. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Tor.Com Original

The Art of Space Travel

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Advocate and Tor.com A love story of two very real, unusual people, and a novel rich with wonders that shines a radically different light on society's marginal figures. Stitch by perfect stitch, Andrew Garvie makes exquisite dolls in the finest antique style. Like him, they are diminutive, but graceful, unique and with surprising depths. Perhaps that's why he answers the enigmatic personal ad in his collector's magazine. Letter by letter, Bramber Winters reveals more of her strange, sheltered life in an institution on Bodmin Moor, and the terrible events that put her there as a child. Andrew knows what it is to be trapped; and as they knit closer together, he weaves a curious plan to rescue her. On his journey through the old towns of England he reads the fairytales of Ewa Chaplin—potent, eldritch stories which, like her lifelike dolls, pluck at the edges of reality and thread their way into his mind. When Andrew and Bramber meet at last, they will have a choice—to remain alone with their painful pasts or break free and, unlike their dolls, come to life.

A Novel

Named as one of ‘50 Writers You Should Read Now’ by The Guardian. From the award-winning author of The Rift, Nina Allan, The Silver Wind is a remarkable narrative exploring the nature of time itself. A powerful tale of time travel, time lost, time regained and time disrupted. In this remarkable narrative, watches and clocks become time machines, vehicles to explore alternate realities, the unreliability of memory and roads not taken. Martin and Dora Newland – sometimes siblings, sometimes lovers and sometimes friends, both subject to the tricks and turns of time and fate. Owen Andrews – watchmaker, time traveller, government agent. Their stories interlock and interweave like the perfectly honed cogs of a watch mechanism to reveal an unsettling world of missed opportunities, broken connections and personal losses. Award-winning author of The Rift and The Dollmaker, Nina Allan once again demonstrates that she is a storyteller at the height of her powers.

The Silver Wind

Set in a future Great Britain scarred by fracking and ecological collapse, The Race is the first full-length novel from Nina Allan, winner of the 2014 BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction (Spin, TTA Press), and the prestigious Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Translated Work (Complications/The Silver Wind, Editions Tristram). The Race opens in the coastal town of Sapphire, dominated by the illegal sport of smartdog racing: greyhounds genetically modified with human DNA. For Jenna, the latest Cup meet bears a significance far beyond the simple hunger for victory. Christy's life is dominated by fear of her brother, a man she knows capable of monstrous acts and suspects of hiding even darker ones. Desperate to learn the truth she contacts Alex, a stranger she knows only by name. Together they must face their demons, wherever that may lead. Raised at the Croft, a secret government programme focussing on smartdogs, Maree has to undertake a journey through shipping lanes haunted by the enigmatic and dangerous Atlantic whale. What she discovers en route will change her world forever. The story of four damaged people whose lives are inextricably linked, The Race is a novel of tender nuances, brutality, insight and great ambition, a narrative that lays bare the fears and joys of being human, and, ultimately, offers hope to us all. "Totally assured - this is a literate, intelligent, gorgeously human and superbly strange SF novel that will continually skewer your assumptions." - Alastair Reynolds "A beautifully crafted novel in four parts, The Race explores the intertwining fates of the Hoolmans, the Pellers, and the smartdogs of Hastings... Evocative and compelling, this is an irresistible read." - E.J. SWIFT (author of Osiris and Cataveiro)

The Race

Rachel's boyfriend Frank is different from other people. His strangeness is part of what she loves about him: his innocence, his intelligence, his passionate immersion in the music of JS Bach. As a coder, Frank sees patterns in everything, but as his theories slide further towards the irrational, Rachel becomes increasingly concerned for his wellbeing. There are people Frank knows online, people who share his view of the world and who insist he has a unique role to play. In spite of Rachel's fears for his safety, Frank is determined to meet them face to face. When Frank disappears, Rachel is forced to seek help in the form of Robin, a private detective who left the police force for reasons she will not reveal. Like Frank, Robin is obsessed with the music of Bach. Like Frank, she has unexplained connections with the criminal underworld of southeast London. An obscure science fiction story from the 1950s appears to offer clues to Frank's secret agenda, but not to where he is. As Robin and Rachel draw closer in their search for the truth, they are forced to ask themselves if Frank's obsession with an alien war, against all logic, might have a basis in fact. Nina Allan's new novel is a work of the greatest imaginative power, an investigation of the human need to make connections, to find causes and effects, however fantastic. Conquest is the story of a disappearance, and of the mystery that follows.

Conquest

Named as one of '50 Writers You Should Read Now' by The Guardian. A beautifully inventive short-story collection from award-winning author Nina Allan. A collection of short stories from the award-winning author of The Rift and The Dollmaker, Nina Allan. This compilation brings together rarely seen tales spanning the vast breadth of Allan's writing career for the first time. It also includes a brand-new introduction and one never-before-published story. Locus has described Nina as 'a subversive writer... playing with both the familiar protocols of genre and with the nature of the reading experience itself.' This is a stunning collection from one of the most astute and innovative voices writing today. For readers of China Mieville, Aliya Whiteley, Jeff Vandermeer and Carmen Maria Machado.

The Art of Space Travel and Other Stories

Caighlan Smith

David Nickle

Aliette de Bodard

Tara Isabella Burton

N. K. Jemisin

Rebecca Campbell

Indrapramit Das

Melissa Marr

Charlie Jane Anders

Alyssa Wong

Laurie Penny

Liu Cixin

Lavie Tidhar

Daniel Polansky

P. Djèlí Clark

Margaret Killjoy

Genevieve Valentine

Monica Byrne

Angela Slatter

Delia Sherman

Lettie Prell

Rajnar Vajra

A collection of some of the best original science fiction and fantasy short fiction published on Tor.com in 2016. Includes stories by Charlie Jane Anders, Nina Allan, Tara Isabella Burton, Monica Byrne, Rebecca Campbell, P. Djèlí Clark, Indrapramit Das, Alix E. Harrow, N. K. Jemisin, Margaret Killjoy, Cixin Liu, Melissa Marr, David Nickle, Laurie Penny, Daniel Polansky, Lettie Prell, Delia Sherman, Angela Slatter, Caighlan Smith, Lavie Tidhar, Rajnar Vajra, Genevieve Valentine, Carrie Vaughn, and Alyssa Wong. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Tor.com Original

Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2016

Le 16 juillet 1994 dans la région de Manchester, Julie Rouane, dix-sept ans, prétexte un rendez-vous avec une copine pour s'absenter du domicile familial... et disparaît pendant plus de vingt ans. Longtemps après l'abandon de l'enquête par la police, faute d'indices concrets - Raymond Rouane, persuadé que sa fille est toujours vivante, continue à explorer seul toutes les pistes possibles. En vain. La mère de Julie et sa soeur cadette, Selena, tentent elles aussi de faire front, chacune à leur manière. Puis un soir, Julie refait surface à l'improviste. Alors qu'on avait soupçonné que l'adolescente ait pu être enlevée et assassinée - un homme de la région ayant avoué plusieurs meurtres de femmes -, l'histoire que Julie raconte à Selena est tout à fait différente. Mais est-il possible de la croire ?

La fracture

Ken Liu

Laird Barron

Ramsey Campbell

Tim Lebbon

Mark Morris

Paul Tremblay

John Langan

Lisa Tuttle

Michael Marshall Smith

Joe R. Lansdale

A.G. Slatter

Alison Littlewood

B.K. Evenson

M.R. Carey

Dan Coxon

Catriona Ward Jonathan Maberry

Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ

Lynda E. Rucker

 A chilling horror anthology of 20 stories about the terrifying fears of isolation, from the modern masters of horror.


Featuring Tim Lebbon, Paul Tremblay, Joe R. Lansdale, M.R. Carey, Ken Liu and many more.

Lost in the wilderness, or alone in the dark, isolation remains one of our deepest held fears. This horror anthology from Shirley Jackson and British Fantasy Award finalist Dan Coxon calls on leading horror writers to confront the dark moments, the challenges that we must face alone: survivors in a world gone silent; the outcast shunned by society; the quiet voice trapped in the crowd; the lonely and forgotten, screaming into the abyss.

Experience the chilling terrors of Isolation. Featuring stories by:

Nina Allan
Laird Barron
Ramsey Campbell
M.R. Carey
Chịkọdịlị Emelumadu
Brian Evenson
Owl Goingback
Gwendolyn Kiste
Joe R. Lansdale
Tim Lebbon
Alison Littlewood
Ken Liu
Jonathan Maberry
Michael Marshall Smith
Mark Morris
Lynda E. Rucker
A.G. Slatter
Paul Tremblay
Lisa Tuttle
Marian Womack 

The Horror Anthology

Isolation

Lynne Thomas

Joan Francis Turner

In Companion Piece, a follow-up book to the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords, and the Hugo-nominated Chicks Unravel Time, a host of award-winning female writers, media professionals and more contribute essays that examine the wide array of humans, aliens and tin dogs who have accompanied the lead character of Doctor Who in his adventures throughout time and space.

Women Celebrate the Humans, Aliens and Tin Dogs of Doctor Who

Companion Piece

Tade Thompson

Sarah Lotz

K. J. Parker

Robert Shearman

One house, five hauntings, five chilling stories. Five Stories High is a collection of five novellas each set in the same house - Irongrove Lodge. This five storey Georgian mansion, once a grand detached property, has now been split into five apartments. This is a building with history, the very bricks and grounds imbued with the pasts of those who have walked these corridors, lived in these rooms. Five extraordinary writers open the doors, revealing ghosts both past and present in a collection that promises to be as intriguing as it is terrifying. Featuring novellas by Sarah Lotz, JK Parker, Nina Allan, Robert Shearman and Tade Thompson.

One House, Five Hauntings, Five Chilling Stories

Five Stories High

Jo Walton

L. E. Modesitt

Kristijan Meic

Ivana Steiner

"Story Behind the Book : Volume 1" collects nearly 40 non-fiction essays on writing and editing speculative fiction written by some of the most exciting authors and editors. Essays cover everything from getting an initial creative burst, worldbuilding, tackling writer's block, to the final process of publication. Some of the essays are personal, some rather technical but all of them, without an exception, provide an unique and fascinating insight into the mind of an author. Contributors include Ian Whates, Michael Logan, Mathieu Blais and Joel Casseus, Mark T. Barnes, Lisa Jensen, Lee Battersby, L. E. Modesitt Jr., Keith Brooke, Joanne Anderton, Jo Walton, F.R. Tallis, Ian R. MacLeod, Guy Haley, Gavin Smith, Francis Knight, Eric Brown, Clifford Beal, Susan Palwick, Rhiannon Held, Ben Jeapes, Nina Allan, Mike Shevdon, Mur Lafferty, Norman Lock, Seth Patrick, Gemma Malley, Freda Warrington, Freya Robertson and more. All proceeds will be donated to Epilepsy Action.

Essays on Writing Speculative Fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson

We stand on the brink of one of the greatest ecological disasters of our time – the world is warming and seas are rising, and yet water is life; it brings change. Where one thing is wiped away, another rises. Drowned Worlds looks at the future we might have if the oceans rise – good or bad. Here you’ll find stories of action, adventure, romance and, yes, warning and apocalypse. Stories inspired by Ballard’s The Drowned World, Sterling’s Islands in the Net, and Ryman’s The Child Garden; stories that allow that things may get worse, but remembers that such times also bring out the best in us all. Multi-award winning editor Jonathan Strahan has put together sixteen unique tales of deluged worlds and those who fight to survive and strive to live. Featuring fiction by Paul McAuley, Ken Liu, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nina Allan, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Christopher Rowe, Nalo Hopkinson, Sean Williams, Jeffrey Ford, Lavie Tidhar, Rachel Swirsky, James Morrow, Charlie Jane Anders, Sam J. Miller and Catherynne M. Valente.

Drowned Worlds

Ruby tells the story of Ruby Castle told in snapshots and fleeting glimpses and secret histories, in tales repeated and reinvented by those who fall under the horror film actress’s spell: her childhood sweetheart, an antiquarian bookseller with a passion for magical artifacts, the mistress of the poet who was once Castle’s lover, a young girl in a future Russia who dreams of the stars. Worlds collide, and the boundaries between the real and the fantastic begin to break down. Is Ruby Castle a living person or a collective fantasy? By the end, the world that Castle created through her films has become dangerously indistinguishable from our own.

Ruby

Dollmaker

Nina Allan

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