Bücher veröffentlicht von Newcon Press

Have you ever wondered what the fairy tales of alien cultures are like? For hundreds of years scholars and writers have collected and retold folk and fairy stories from around our world. They are not alone. On distant planets alien chroniclers have done the same; for just as our world is steeped in legends and half-remembered truths of the mystic and the magical, so are theirs. Now, for the first time, we can share some of these tales with you… 1. Introduction - David Gullen2. The Little People - Una McCormack3. Lost in the Rewilding - Paul Di Filippo4. Goblin Autumn - Adrian Tchaikovksy5. Myths of Sisyphus - Allen Ashley6. The Land of Grunts and Squeaks - Chris Beckett7. The Blood Rose - Susan Oke8. Starfish - Liz Williams9. The Raveller's Tale - Neil Williamson10. The Tiny Traveller - Aliya Whiteley11. The Tale of Suyenye the Wise, the Ay, and the People of the Shining Land - Gaie Sebold12. Wanderlust - Kim Lakin-Smith13. Pale Sister - Jaine Fenn14. Alpha42 and the Space Hermits - Stephen Oram15. The Teller and the Starborn - Peter Sutton16. The Winternet - Ian Whates17. The Awakening - Bryony Pearce18. About the AuthorsLong ago, in a galaxy far far away...

There are four sons of Lot at court and Sir Gaheris knows himself to be the least of them. Yet the charismatic and headstrong young knight Sir Lamorak looks up to him, despite more obvious choices, and when Lamorak catches his mother's eye, Gaheris knows there's trouble brewing. Soon he finds himself at the centre of family tensions, deceit and tragedy. Can he prevent the bloodshed that seems inevitable?Kari, Sperring, a medieval historian and the award-winning author of fantasy novels Living With Ghosts and The Grass King's Concubine, delivers a powerful tale of passion and intrigue featuring some of the lesser known members of King Arthur's court.Novella Set 6, Blood and Blade: four books, each containing an outstanding tale of epic fantasy squeezed within the covers of a novella. Four independent stories by four gifted authors, linked only by their cover art.

The very best fantasy stories by British and British-based authors. More than twenty stories of the strange and fantastic, written by an exciting blend of established names and newer voices, ranging from traditional sword and sorcery to contemporary fantasy. A book packed with mermaids, impossible quizzes, magic swords, towering monsters, ghostly lovers, tricksters, numerous apocalypses, a particularly irritating local councillor... and bees.

A new collection of short stories from Gwyneth Jones, the author of Bold As Love (Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2002), Life (Philip K. Dick Award, 2005), White Queen (Tiptree Award, 1991), Seven Tales and a Fable (World Fantasy Award 1996), "The Grass Princess" (World Fantasy Award, 1996), "La Cenerentola" (BSFA Award, 1998) and many other acclaimed works.Big Cat and Other Stories gathers together the author's finest work from the past decade and features a brand new story, "Stella and the Adventurous Roots", which inspired the cover image. It includes tales that revisit the world of Bold as Love and also the Aleutian Universe (White Queen etc), as well as venturing into brand new possible tomorrows.Full of passion, vivid imagination, and portent, this collection showcases a master storyteller at her best.Contents:Big CatStella And The Adventurous RootsThe Flame Is RosesA Planet Called DesireThe Old SchoolhouseThe Kianna The Vicar Of MarsBricks, Sticks, StrawEmergenceThe Seventh GamerCheatsAbout the Author

"Take from the rich and shop for the poor"A Bonnie and Clyde for the Trump era, Josie and Novik embark on the ultimate roadtrip. In a near-future re-sculpted politically and geographically by climate change, they blaze a trail across the shopping malls of America in a printed intelligent car (stolen by accident), with a hundred and ninety million LSD-contaminated dollars in the trunk. Pursued by vengeful drug cartels on one side and the agents of corrupt authority on the other, they determine to bring down the system, buying shoes and cameras to change the world.Meanwhile, President Guinevere Snarlow is bent on making America great again and cementing her place in history. She embarks on an ambitious but perilous campaign, invading Mexico on a pretext and plotting to assassinate the richest man the world has ever known…"Packed with bold ideas and genre-shattering extrapolations. And the characters get so deep inside your head you're still arguing with them days later. Seriously, you need this book." - Mike Carey, BAFTA nominated author of The Girl with All the Gifts"A clever, dark and often very funny satire on rapacious capitalism." - Chris Beckett, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award"One of the most original books I've read in many years. It's mad and bad and you need to read it." - Jaine Fenn, author of the Hidden Empire novels"Shopocalypse is like no road novel ever written before… impressive and well worth the read." - Albedo "It kept me up until 2.30am on a work night to see where it ended." - reviewer

"You have to admire his effortless mastery. A series of flawless miniatures." - Tony BallantyneA major new collection from one of British Science Fiction's most accomplished short story writers, whose stories feature regularly in Asimov's, Analog, and elsewhere. From the chilling implications of cloning to the potential of alternative realities, from alien life encountered in unexpected ways to the pitfalls of relying too heavily on technology, these stories explore what may lie ahead for all of us. Sometimes delivered with wry humour, sometimes with dark portent, but always in entertaining and unexpected fashion.Contents:Introduction After the Atrocity The EqualisersNo Strangers Any More The Language of Flowers An Exercise in Motivation My Time on Earth "I Was Nearly Your Mother" Shooting Grouse Memories of the Knacker's Yard The Dunschemin Retirement Home for Repentant SupervillainsThe Shapes of Wrath And Then They Were Gone Pincushion Pete Erosion About the Author"The Language of Flowers is a simple yet powerful story that combines real world elements with a dash of science fiction in a positively delightful way." - Tangent Online"A nice little gem from Mr. Creasey." - SFRevu of Erosion "Super fun story! The narrator is mischievous and creative and altogether endearing." - Tangent Online of My Time On Earth

A contemporary tale of four fey sisters.Bee: the practical one, the lynchpin; still living in the family home of Mooncote in Somerset, where she has met an unconventional boyfriend that not even her sisters are aware of.Stella: a DJ among other things. Currently hanging around the Med after completing a series of gigs in Ibiza, she has vowed never to return to Mooncote following a row with Bee, but that was then...Serena: a single mother and fashion designer living in Notting Hill, increasingly uncertain of her relationship with long-term boyfriend Ben, a Camden-based rock singer and the son of a family friend.Luna: the youngest, head-strong and free-spirited, a wanderer living out of a horse-drawn van while she follows the Gypsy Switch: the route of horse fairs that spans the length of the country.The Fallow sisters, scattered like the four winds but now drawn back together, with the comet due, united in their desire to find their mother, Alys - a former Vogue cover model who disappeared a year ago without warning or explanation. They have help, of course, from the star spirits and the no-longer-living, but such advice tends to be cryptic and is hardly the most dependable of guides. How is the comet connected to all this, and what of the huge cloaked intruder, stinking of blood and earth, who surprises Stella one night while she's home alone? The sisters soon come to realise that their mother's disappearance may be part of something far bigger and much darker than they had ever suspected…

"Tolerance is an act of humanity, which we must nurture and enact each in our own lives every day, to rejoice in the diversity that makes us strong and the values that bring us together." - UNESCO Director-General Audrey AzoulayDenounced by her own father and charged with crimes against the state, Kali Titian - pilot, soldier, and engineer - is sentenced to Erbärmlich prison camp, where she must somehow survive among her fellow inmates the Vary, a race she has been raised to consider sub-human; a race who until recently she was murdering to order. In Erbärmlich she encounters Mohab, the Speaker's son, and stumbles upon two ancient energy sources which may just bring redemption to an oppressed people. A story told from the heart, a book released to coincide with the United Nation's International Day of Tolerance (November 16th); Rise is a potent tale of courage against the odds and the power of hope in the face of racial intolerance, from the author of the critically acclaimed Cyber Circus."A searing portrayal of redemption and compassion in the face of prejudice and brutality. Kim Lakin-Smith is one hell of a damn fine writer." - Gareth L. Powell, author of Embers of War

The Boughs Withered is the debut collection from accomplished Irish author Maura McHugh. It includes twenty tales - four of them original to the volume - which represent the best strange visions from an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction, comic books and plays. Among the featured stories is "Bone Mother", which was adapted into the award-winning stop-motion animated short film by See Creature in Canada.In her horror and dark fantasy stories, Maura McHugh explores her love of the uncanny, delves into the eerie past, and evokes weird landscapes that might just co-exist with our own."These stories [are] made to last, reaching deep into myth-pools for eternal, primal treasures." - Kim Newman"Maura McHugh's gloriously twisted, tale-spinning imagination entwines and embraces the reader like dark ivy." - Ian R. MacLeod"Hauntings, dark pacts and ancient gods are brought into the here and now by Maura McHugh's peculiar magic." - Priya Sharma"Maura McHugh's stories are hugely enjoyable. Her insight and compassion, combined with a fresh, engaging voice, make her monsters, marvels and myths stand out in a crowded field." - Lisa TuttleContents:1. Introduction by Kim Newman2. Vic3. Who Hears Our Cries in Forgotten Tongues?4. The Boughs Withered When I Told Them My Dreams5. The Light at the Centre6. A Rebellious House7. Beautiful Calamity8. Home9. Moments on the Cliff10. The Gift of the Sea11. Suspension12. The Tamga13. Spooky Girl14. The Hanging Tree15. The Diet16. Involuntary Muscle17. Family18. Wake the Dead19. Y20. Bone Mother21. Water22. Author's Afterword

David Gemmell passed away in 2006, leaving behind a legacy of memorable characters, epic settings, and thrilling tales. In the Legends anthologies, today's finest fantasy authors pay homage to one of fantasy fiction's greatest ever writers. Full of swordplay, treachery, deeds both dark and noble, with cunning thieves and wily tricksters, blood-thirsty gods and flawed heroes - welcome to Legends. Contents:1. Introduction by Stan Nicholls2. Blood Debt - Gail Z. Martin3. A God's Mercy - Richard Webb4. Berserker Captain - Neal Asher5. The Price of Passage - Keris McDonald6. Summoner - Danie Ware7. Pelicos the Brave and the Princess of Kalakhadze - Steven Poore8. The Timekeeper's Tarot - Den Patrick9. Her Grail - Ben North10. Piercing the Mist - Shona Kinsella11. Chosen of the Slain - K.T. Davies12. The Dying Land - Nick Watkinson13. A Hero of Her People - Anna Smith Spark14. All Deaths Well Intention'd - RJ Barker15. By Any Other Name - Justina Robson About the Authors

A stand-alone novella featuring Madis Defranthea, whose brother presents her with a challenge. If she wants to join his gang, she and her team have to steal a magical belt that's locked to the waist of a bride, on her wedding night, in a fortified castle, on a rock in the middle of the sea. Madis takes him up on it. But when she discovers just how much her brother didn't know, the job proves even more hazardous than she bargained for...Featuring magic, automata, snobbery, small gods, large fish, a useful corpse and an unnervingly intelligent horse.In A Hazardous Engagement the author of Babylon Steel and Shanghai Sparrow delivers a thrilling tale of cunning, ingenuity and betrayal that entertains royally from first page to last.

In the heart of the Great Forest, nothing is as it should be. Sir Vladisal and her Knights of Boska are lost and far from home. The son of their Duchess has been kidnapped, spirited away to a nameless place within these dark and endless woodlands. Vladisal is his only hope, but an evil has come to the Great Forest, an evil that is corrupting the trees with demons born from ancient magic. If Vladisal is to save her Duchess' son, if he and the women of Boska are to live through the horrors of the Great Forest, then she must place her trust in Abildan the assassin. But Abildan hails from an age-old enemy, and she once served the very evil they all must fight to survive.In The Bone Shaker, the author of The Relic Guild delivers his most potent tale yet; a powerful story of valour, betrayal, dark magic, blood and death, but also of hope. Epic fantasy distilled into a novella, in which traditional gender rolls are turned on their heads.

Two centuries after the Earth fell to enigmatic alien machines known as the Visitors, humanity survives in sparse nomadic tribes. Macsen is an adventurer, undertaking hazardous quests for the captivating Hona Loy; quests that have made him a hero. Macsen never fails, but this time he crosses the path of a Jugger, one of the deadliest of all the Visitors. Can he find a way to defeat the alien and survive, or will it fall to his faithful companion Laylaw to return to the tribe with the tale of his noble death?In Macsen Against the Jugger, award-winning author Simon Morden delivers a masterpiece of excitement and clever story telling.One of four independent novellas by four different authors that form NewCon Novella Set 5: The Alien Among Us

When two strangers ask the manager at Kabul Station to take them into the Afghanizone he refuses. What sane person wouldn't? Thought to be the result of an alien visitation, the zone is deadly. Nothing works there. Electrical items are your enemy; they malfunction or simply blow up. The pair go in anyway, and the biggest surprise is when one of them walks out again. Nobody survives the zone, so how has she?In The Man Who Would Be Kling, award-winning author Adam Roberts delivers an intriguing story that evokes the spirit of the Strugatsky Brothers' Roadside Picnic while also paying homage to both Rudyard Kipling's classic tale and to fans of Star Trek.One of four independent novellas by four different authors that form NewCon Novella Set 5: The Alien Among Us

Award-winning author Dave Hutchinson delivers one of his finest tales yet. A story that starts out firmly in the mundane world we know but slides steadily into the bizarre and unsettling.Are there really refugees from 'elsewhere' living among us? If so, what cataclysmic event are they fleeing from? When a high speed car chase leads Police Sergeant Frank Grant to Dronfield Farm, he finds himself the focus of unwanted attention from Internal Affairs and is faced with the prospect of things being unearthed that he would far rather stayed buried.One of four independent novellas by four different authors that form NewCon Novella Set 5: The Alien Among Us

When Sir Thornto Jeness follows his chivalric hero, Lord Philippe Duranton, to war, he soon discovers that heroes are often better worshipped from afar. Betrayed, badly injured, left for dead, Sir Thornto is nursed back to half-life by Gritcham, a ghoul necromancer. Joining forces with Cross, a taciturn professional murderess, he returns to the war, determined to set the record straight.Chivalry is a grim and gritty tale of revenge, with a cast of scheming nobles, brutal mercenaries, violent criminals and wielders of inhuman dark magic.Novella Set 6, Blood and Bone: four books, each containing an outstanding tale of epic fantasy squeezed within the covers of a novella. Four independent stories by four gifted authors, linked only by their cover art.

Rachel Armstrong's follow-up to her critically aclaimed debut novel Origamy. Set in a near-future Venice, Invisible Ecologies tells the story of Po, an ambiguously gendered boy who shares an intimate connection with a nascent sentience emerging within the Po delta: the bioregion upon which the city of Venice is founded. The pair share a series of extraordinary adventures and, as Po starts school, stumble upon the Mayor's drastic plans to modernise the city and reshape the future of the lagoon and its people.How the critics reacted to Origamy:"Origamy is a magnificent, glittering explosion of a book: a meditation on creation, the poetry of science and the insane beauty of everything. You're going to need this." - Warren Ellis"Origamy crackles with a strange and brilliant energy, and folds the conventions of SF into beautiful new shapes. A rare and wonderful debut." - Adam Roberts"Perhaps the most astonishing and original piece of SF I've read in a long, long while." - Adrian Tchaikovsky"A visionary masterpiece. Science Fiction, Fantasy, science and poetry combine to create a lyric on life and death that spans the whole of creation. Delightful and mind-expanding. If you miss it you have missed one of the finest examples of literary art." - Justina Robson"The concepts, images, and settings found in this novel could easily power a quartet of more traditionally-arranged works..." - Tor.com"I'm still dumbfounded now." - SFcrowsnest"A whimsical, half-daft, drunken-prose-poem odyssey down alien byways. The closest thing to this book might be Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics." - Locus

Suave, sophisticated, erudite and charming, Gig Danvers seems too good to be true. He appears from nowhere and sets about revolutionising science and promoting humanitarian causes, using his growing influence for the benefit of all humankind. But where did he come from, and are his critics right to be cautious? Is there a darker side to this enigmatic benefactor - one that's more in keeping with his persona as Celebrity Werewolf?"Fang-sharp science fiction: witty, readable and simply bristling with lupine splendour." - Adam Roberts, author of Jack Glass

For the first time in print, Adrian Tchaikovsky has opened up the realm of the Apt, as featured in his best-selling Shadow of the Apt decalogy, to a carefully selected cast of fellow writers, inviting them to do their best and their worst within the world he has created. They have done just that. Topped and tailed by two new stories form Adrian himself, some of the finest imaginations in fantasy, including winners of the David Gemmell Award, the Costa Book Award and British Fantasy Award, have combined to produce a stunning collection of tales that examine fresh aspects of the Apt world and its people. Contents:Old Blood - Adrian Tchaikovsky The Scent of Tears - Keris McDonald Wonder - Frances Hardinge The Promise of a Threat - David Tallerman The Unforeseen Path - Juliet E. McKenna The Message - John Gwynne The Mantis Way - Peter Newman Poor Little Earwig Girl - Tom Lloyd Forwards, Up, Back, Down - Joff Leader Recipes for Good Living - Justina Robson God of Profound Things - Adrian Tchaikovsky

An anthology showcasing the very best steampunk stories from three different countries released by three different publishers in three different languages.From the UK, George Mann (a new Newbury & Hobbes tale), Jonathan Green (a new Pax Brittania tale), and Derry O'Dowd; from Finland, Magdalena Hai (winner of the Atorox Award and the Finnish Literary Export Prize), multiple award-winning Anne Leinonen, and J.S. Meresmaa (whose work has been shortlisted for the Anni Polva, Kuvastaja, and Atorox Awards); and from Portugal, Anton Stark, Diana Pinguicha, and Pedro Cipriano (winner of Fórum Fantástico's Choice of the Year Award).Contents:Introduction by Ian Whates Steampunk UKSeasons of Wither - George Mann Reckless Engineering - Jonathan Green The Athenian Dinner Party - Derry O'Dowd Steampunk FinlandForeword by J.S. Meresmaa The Winged Man Isaac - Magdalena Hai The Cylinder Hat - Anne Leinonen Augustine - J.S. Meresmaa Steampunk PortugalForeword by Pedro Cipriano Videri Quam Esse - Anton Stark The Desert Spider - Pedro Cipriano Heart of Stone - Diana Pinguicha

The third in NewCon Press' 'Strange Tales' series: four standalone novellas that step outside the norm.Lost in Venice in the aftermath of the war, Cherenkov just wants to put his head down somewhere and sleep, but her copper hair snares his eye. Beguiled and weary, he allows himself to be led through a quirky little shop through which lies a vast and hidden land where her family rule in ornate splendour, where his revolver is a marvel and his motives are questioned. Confusion and wonder abound as Cherenkov and his seductress embark on a pilgrimage in a small sailing boat across sargasso seas, in search of the Old Man who dwells on a floating island where time follows its own rules.Cherenkov returns to the outside world, only to discover how badly he has come adrift in time: money is carried within plastic cards and information comes from a screen. Bereft, he is drawn back to voyage on the hidden sea, and to seek the mystery that lies at its centre which may be the only thing that can give him the answers he craves.

"Cat Hellisen is one of the most accomplished writers of African SFF. This fine collection gathers the best so far of her wondrous fictions." - Geoff Ryman, author of The Child GardenCat Hellisen has the ability to conjure a sense of 'otherness' that most writers can only envy, casting grounded characters driven by passions and ambitions we all recognise in situations that take a step away from the reality we know. Her stories have already featured in such venues as Fantasy & Science Fiction and Tor.com, and she is the winner of the Short Story Day Africa Prize.Learning How to Drown represents her best work to date, gathering together seventeen fabulous stories, two of which appear for the first time and all of which showcase why Cat Hellisen is being tipped as an author to watch."Cat Hellisen is a writer of wonderful and allusive stories; rich, engaging and often unsettling. Be prepared to be both submersed - and transformed - by the gripping magic within!" - Nick Wood, author of Azanian Bridges"I loved this stunning collection of stories, every tale limned with beauty and steeped in a darkling strangeness that is absolutely unique. The bookshelves of any reader interested in the modern short story should proudly display a copy of Learning How To Drown front and centre." - Neil Williamson, author of The Moon KingContents:IntroductionThe Girls Who Go BelowWakingThe Subtle ThiefJack of Spades, ReversedMother, Crone, MaidenThis Reflection of MeCounter CurseMouse TeethA Sun Bright PrisonSereinDreaming MonstersGolden Wing, Silver EyeI'm Only Going OverThe Face of JarryThe Worme BridgeThis is How We BurnA Green Silk Dress and a Wedding-DeathAbout the Author

Editor Johnny Mains has scoured anthologies, magazines, and on-line publications to select the very best horror stories written by British authors. From creepingly insidious tales where the fear gathers slowly to the outright terrifying, from musty abandoned buildings to the wilds of an isolated beach, from yarns of yesterday to contemporary horrors of today: 17 tales showcasing British horror at its best:Content:Introduction - Johnny Mains Paymon's Trio - Colette De Curzon Love and Death - Reggie Oliver In the Light of St. Ives - Ray Cluley The Book of Dreems - Georgina Bruce The Affair - James Everington Fragments of a Broken Doll - Cate Gardner The Lies We Tell - Charlotte Bond Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling - Daniel McGachey Tools of the Trade - Paul Finch Departures - A.K. Benedict The Taste of Her - Mark West Sun Dogs - Laura Mauro Dispossession - Nicholas Royle Shell Baby - V.H. Leslie The Unwish - Claire Dean A Day With the Delusionists - Reggie Oliver We Who Sing Beneath the Ground - Mark Morris About the Authors

Susan MacDonald is desperate. Unless she makes a breakthrough soon, Ashford, the millionaire businessman financing her project, will shut it down and disband her research team. She knows she's close - that she's on the verge of proving her theory of Retrocausality, which will enable her to harness quantum mechanics to produce a revolutionary new form of instantaneous communication - but results are proving frustratingly elusive. The last thing Susan needs is a team of ghost hunters moving into her base of operations, Ashford Hall - a building with a troubled past. Nor does she need the odd sounds - snatches of random conversation and even music - that are hampering her experiments; but does this interference represent the presence of 'ghosts' as some claim, deliberate sabotage as suggested by others, or is there an even more sinister explanation?

Produced to honour the centenary of Sir Arthur C. Clarke's birth, this anthology acts as a fund raiser for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.Original SF stories of precisely 2001 words from some of the biggest names in science fiction, including 10 winners of the Clarke Award and 13 authors who have been shortlisted, as well as non-fiction from thrice-winner China Miéville and former judge Neil Gaiman.Contents:IntroductionGolgotha - Dave HutchinsonThe Monoliths of Mars - Paul McAuleyMurmuration - Jane RogersOuroboros - Ian R MacLeodThe Escape Hatch - Matthew De AbaituaChildhood's Friend - Rachel PollackTakes from the White Hart - Bruce SterlingYour Death, Your Way, 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! - Emma NewmanDistraction - Gwyneth JonesDancers - Allen StroudEntropy War - Yoon Ha LeeThe Ontologist - Liz WilliamsWaiting in the Sky - Tom HunterThe Collectors - Adrian TchaikovskyI Saw Three Ships - Phillip MannBefore They Left - Colin GreenlandDrawn From the Eye - Jeff NoonRoads of Silver, Paths of Gold - Emmi ItärantaThe Fugue - Stephanie HolmanMemories of a Table - Chris BeckettChild of Ours - Claire NorthWould-Be A.I., Tell Us a Tale! #241: Sell 'em Back in Time! by Hali Hallison - Ian WatsonLast Contact - Becky ChambersThe Final Fable - Ian WhatesTen Landscapes of Nili Fossae - Ian McDonaldChild - Adam RobertsProvidence - Alastair Reynolds2001: A Space Prosthesis - The Extensions of Man - Andrew M. Butler (non-fiction)On Judging The Clarke Award - Neil Gaiman (non-fiction)Once More on the 3rd Law - China Miéville (non-fiction)

Simon Morden has won the Philip K. Dick Award and been a judge on the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He is a bona fide rocket scientist, with degrees in Geology and Planetary Geophysics. In Bright Morning Star he delivers perhaps his finest work to date, a ground-breaking take on first contact.Sent to Earth to explore, survey, collect samples and report back to its makers, an alien probe arrives in the middle of a warzone. Witnessing both the best and worst of humanity, the AI probe faces situations that go far beyond the parameters of its programming, and is forced to improvise, making decisions that have repercussions for the future of our entire world.