Polestars Books

NewCon is delighted to present the first full collection from award-winning author Jaine Fenn , featuring her finest short stories drawn from more than two decades of publication. Includes the BSFA Award-winning "Liberty Bird", a Hidden Empire story, and a new tale, "Sin of Omission", written especially for this collection. Contents: Path to the Sun Crown of May The Chatterslee Circle Paying for Rain What You Came For Death on Elsewhere Street Fear Not Heaven's Fire High Ground King of Pain Twilight at the Change House Down at the Lake The Sky Weeps Liberty Bird A Dormitory Haunting Sin of Omission

Teika Marija Smits is one of the finest short story writers to emerge on the genre scene in recent years. Her storytelling relies on keen observation of the world and people around her interpreted through the lens of her imagination, dancing between science fiction, realism, and horror. Umbilical features selected stories from her output so far alongside several new stories, published here for the first time. An AI repairman keeps his true purpose hidden; Baba Yaga sets up home close to a black hole; a mother and daughter share a unique bond which none can sunder; a painter literally invests body and soul in her work; a plague of flies search for their Madonna; Sherlock Holmes calls upon his psychic cousin Isadora for help with an intriguing case... Contents: Icarus Dreams Death of the Grapevine His Birth The Wife That Never Was Umbilical How to Honour a Beginning Minotaur/Mindtour Delphine as Daedalus The Case of the High Pavement Ghosts Girls’ Night Out ATU334 the Wise Our Lady of Flies The Green Man A Piece of Fabric the Size of a Pin Machina in Deo The Eyes of the Goddess Herself A Survival Guide for the Contemporary Princess This Little Piggy Tough Love The Sun is God Star Making at Sellafield The November Room or Leaving the Labyrinth High quality stories that defy both genre and gender boundaries.

Contemporary tales of rural horror and dark fantasies steeped in folklore from one of genre fiction's best kept secrets. NewCon is delighted to present the first collection from Emma Coleman. An avid haunter of old church yards and libraries, Emma's fiction is steeped in local colour and rooted deep in her native Northamptonshire, imbuing these settings with shades and contours drawn from her love of nature, her passion for literature, and her own keen eye for detail. Her fiction is atmospheric, mesmeric, and frequently disturbing. Contents: Introduction Five Small Boys He Who Saw The Abyss The Glasshouse A Daughter The Babies of Springtime Unearthed Home Opus Anglicanum Lamassu The Upright Man The Magic Trick by Boz Boole The Lighthouse Untitled

Justina Robson is rightly acclaimed as one of the most original writers of genre fiction working today. Her work has been variously shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the John W. Campbell Award. This is the first collection of her short fiction and novelettes in more than a decade, and gathers together her finest stories from the past eleven years, as selected by the author. Contents A Game of Clones By Any Other Name Cinderkin I Give You the Moon Madswitch Something Exquisite On Skybolt Mountain Our Savage Heart Calls To Itself Recipes For Good Living Seat 28K S’elfie “A Game of Clones by Justina Robson – A weird tale that could be best described as Iain M Banks meets Michael Moorcock… It is a ride and a fun one to boot!” – Runalong the Shelves ‘‘I Give You the Moon describes in good hard-SF tradition technologies for trying to clean the environment – giant machines filtering the seas, mechanical crabs scouring the seabed – but it’s also a moving tale of a boy in Africa who yearns to be a Viking.” – Gary K. Wolfe in Locus “Madswitch: A female ex-scientist takes steps to ‘correct’ her dysfunctional family. An enjoyable psychological tale of the science of horror.” – Review Graveyard “On Skybolt Mountain: The witch Lettice Beaverley has gotten herself in trouble. Here is the sort of story I’d have liked to see more of… The magic is immediately present and well-realized, its elements are credible and clearly potent, fearsomely so. And Lettice is a well-drawn character, growing slowly into her destined role. RECOMMENDED.” – Lois Tilton, Locus Online “That wonderful poise and eloquence is what makes Robson so characteristic. There’s no one else writing who is quite as good at this as Justina Robson.” – Adam Roberts in his introduction to Heliotrope

Debut collection from a French author who has been making a name for herself with regular contributions to Interzone and elsewhere ( Clarkesworld, ParSec , etc). Providing a fresh perspective on the world, humanity, and its potential (both good and bad), Cécile’s fiction reflects her love of the natural world and concern for its future. Elephants in Bloom contains her finest previously published stories, as selected by the author, alongside eight brand new tales that appear here for the first time. Contents Introduction All We Ever Look For The Fishery A Kingdom of Seagrass and Silk A Stray Cat in the Mountain of The Dead Que la Grenade Est Touchante When You Meet the Wild Hunt The Hangman’s Legacy Ice Cream from Pluto Soaring, the World on Their Shoulders Schrödinger’s Children A Diary from the End of the World The Third Time I Saw a Fox Kings of Snow The Owl Woman The Goddess’s Spear Nine Lives, One to Spare Wind, River, Angel Song Elephants in Bloom About the Author Each story is followed by a note from the author, providing further insight and context. “This was a beautifully written story with just a perfect ending.” – SFRevue of “The Third Time I Saw a Fox” “This was a quiet character-centric story with a strange appeal that belied any attempt to analyze it.” – Tangent of “The Third Time I Saw a Fox” “The piece is beautifully rendered, careful and kind, and yearning for a world more full of compassion than the one the characters encounter. A great read!” – Goodreads reviewer of “Que la Grenade est Touchante” “A bittersweet tale, beautifully told.” – SFRevue of “Wind, River, Angel Song”

Aliya Whiteley’s fiction has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the John W. Campbell, BFS, BSFA, Shirley Jackson, James Tiptree Jr and Saboteur awards. “When I read Whiteley's short stories I think of Japanese netsuke - magnificent miniatures, perfect in every detail. This latest collection stirs echoes of Franz Kafka, Angela Carter, Ursula LeGuin. I don't know any higher praise than that.” – M.R. Carey A new collection from one of the most exciting voices in genre fiction. Nineteen stories, eleven of them original to this collection, all themed on travel, be it a desperate need to be somewhere else or a burning desire to escape what is left behind. Contents: Early Bird Drive or be Driven Luisa Opines Cold Trade The Emblem of Daydreams Your Hero Wrapped The Librarian A Possible Location For Eagles Fernie Ongoing A Million Moving Parts Streamers Pack Your Coat Multiply Rich Growth Beast Something From the Garden At Night, The Road “There are no misfires here; readers will think they’ve hit the standout story of the collection, only to turn the page and find another contender. It’s a marvel.” – Publishers Weekly Rich Growth: "… keeps the focus on transformation and the lines between people and the natural world. Here gardeners use their own blood and energy to grow vines up to precious gemflowers… and the story explores the grief and freedom that comes along with that.” – Locus Luisa Opines: "... is a real oddity, part fairy tale, part satirical comment on social/marketing surveys that attempt to mould our preferences… The story is quirky and surreal, and concludes with a great line that signals Luisa’s refusal to accept certainty.” – IZ Digital “The Artisan’s crew are the Galaxy’s best traders and have come to trade with the giants, a large species of sea creature that has never responded to anything in the past… an unusual tale that kept most of its cards hidden until the end. It was an entertaining story that just managed to keep on the correct side of the confusion/mystery boundary.” – Tangent online reviewing “Cold Trade”

A new Fallow Sisters story A new Inspector Chen story set in Singapore Three A new tale set on the Matriarchal Mars of Winterstrike and Phosphorus A new story from the world of The Ghost Sister and Bloodmind All this and so much more in Liz Williams’ stunning new collection. A mix of brand new stories and those only available previously in digital format via subscription comprise the majority of the book, with very few stories available elsewhere. Thirty-two stories that enchant, dazzle, and blur genre boundaries; thirty-two stories that take the reader from realms of wonder and magic to worlds of intrigue and danger. Take a deep breath, and leap in… Contents Introduction Back Through the Flaming Door Blackfast Colder Than the Day Dog Days in the Ghost Garden Doveblack and Rosewhite Flowerface Greene Lyon Mow Cop Nightjar On Milk Hill Radioblack The Teahouse Saint Cold Silence in the House of Moths Swallows The Book Rustlers The Darker Half The Child on the Hill The Green World The Ontologist The White Herd The Winter Garden When we go to the island Ungiven West Wind The Wording Wrecktide The Man in the Glass Wig The Salt Star The Lily White Boys The Language of Fans The Seamistress About the Author

Patrice Sarath is an award-winning filmmaker and author living in Austin, Texas. This, her debut collection, gathers her finest short fiction from more the past two decades and adds a brand new story (currently being adapted into a film). Featuring tales set in the same milieu as the author's Tales of Port Saint Frey novels alongside contemporary fantasies, deep space skulduggery and much much more, this collection is perfect for all fans of great stories well told. "What distinguishes all these stories is Patrice's ability to create complex and believable characters... a rare gift." - Martin Owton from his Introduction . Forward By Martin Owton Murder on the Hohmann Bad Dog The Star Seed Witches Meet at Midnight Pilot's Forge Joe Fledge's Jump The Night of Their Conversion Spider Hell: A Rescue Mission Pigs and Feaches Blood on the Snow Caro Comes Home Red Ned Mederos and the Sea Girl of Port Saint Frey The Lunch Thief Into the Dark Ice A Prayer for Captain La Hire Theo Ballinchard and the Oranges of Possibility About the Author