Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Swords and Dark Magic

So I've dropped a couple of hints that I'd have a short story in an anthology coming out next year. Its co-editor, the very wonderful Lou Anders, has now posted the table of contents so I feel free to reproduce it, because it is a doozy, and you are going to want a piece of this, oh yes you are:

"Introduction: Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" - Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan
"Goats of Glory" - Steven Erikson
"Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company" - Glen Cook
"Bloodsport" - Gene Wolfe
"The Singing Spear" - James Enge
"A Wizard of Wiscezan" - C.J. Cherryh
"A Rich Full Week" - K. J. Parker
"A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet" - Garth Nix
"Red Pearls: An Elric Story" - Michael Moorcock
"The Deification of Dal Bamore" - Tim Lebbon
"Dark Times at the Midnight Market" - Robert Silverberg
"The Undefiled" - Greg Keyes
"Hew the Tint Master" - Michael Shea
"In the Stacks" - Scott Lynch
"Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe" - Tanith Lee
"The Sea Troll's Daughter" - Caitlin R Kiernan
"Thieves of Daring" - Bill Willingham
"The Fool Jobs" - Joe Abercrombie

Ouch. I think you'd have to agree, that is pretty darned heavyweight. Lou and Jonathan wanted to produce an anthology that would combine some old masters of Sword and Sorcery with some of the newer writers in the form and get a definitive look at the field, and I'd say they've succeeded with some pretty flying colours. Particularly pleased to have a short story in an athology alongside Michael Moorcock, since I read and really enjoyed his stories as a kid. Shool-an-Jivan, Lord of all that is dead in the Sea, may well still be my favourite name in all of fantasy...

The book's due out from Harper Eos, June 22 2010, but you can pre-order now. There's also going to be a limited edition from Subterranean Press in due course, I believe.

A collection not to be missed by anyone who likes sorcery with their swords, or vice versa. My own story is relatively chunky (8-9,000 words, which puts it in the novelette bracket, I believe) and features some characters from the forthcoming The Heroes, but I know next to nothing about any of the others. I'm actually really keen to get a copy myself so I can find out more...

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