Explore the extraordinary world of String City in this collection of seven fantasy-noir novelettes, introducing an interdimensional detective with a nose for an unusual case … and a rather remarkable coat.
These stories were first published in Realms of Fantasy magazine, then later expanded and republished as individual ebooks. Collected together for the first time in a single volume, they form the backstory to my novel String City.
Reviews
- “Entertaining with innovative world-building” – TangentOnline
- “Well handled [with] cleverly sketched in fantastical background” – Locus
- “Rivals the worlds of Lewis Carroll or Douglas Adams on the strangeness index … you’re in for a treat” – The Fix
- “Over-the-toppitude in the New Weird mode” – Internet Review of Science Fiction
- “Magnificent urban fantasy giddy with hardcore horror imagery” – Locus
Trailer
Extracts
Hit the links to read an extract from each of the seven stories:
- The Wooden Baby – when you wake to find your baby has turned to wood, who are you going to call?
- Dead Wolf in a Hat – a gunshot, a bloodstain, and a corpse that might be man or wolf … or just possibly both.
- Syren – the love song of the syren is deadly, especially when you’re the one she’s singing about.
- Still Point – at the centre of the turning world lies the one, true place where all is still. If you find it, you may never want to leave.
- Girl in Pieces – zombie cops, a spider queen, and a garbage can filled with the most beautiful body parts you ever saw. Who can possibly piece this one together?
- The Dame Don’t Whimper – it starts with a hail of bullets and a little green man. Where will it end? Only the runaway dame has the answer.
- Lifestrings of the Loving Couple – in a zoo filled with mechanical animals, a desperate husband fights to protect the most precious thing he knows: his wife’s secret soul.
