Colby is a lonely eight year old boy when he meets Yashar, a djinn who says he wants to be Colby's friend, but who also has ulterior motives.  For hundreds of years Yashar has been traveling the world looking for impressionable children like Colby, who will trust him and do what he needs, but Colby proves to be cleverer and stronger-willed than most little boys, and exercising that will has consequences that extend far beyond what Yashar intended.

Ewan is a young boy stolen from his crib in Texas and raised in the magical Limestone Kingdom.  He's brave, smart, and adventurous and is looking forward to becoming a fairy one day, as promised by the Bendith Y Mamau who stole and reared him.  But the love from those around him hides a dark secret, and Ewan may not be able to trust even his closest friends.

Knocks is the changeling put in Ewan's place when he's stolen.  He's like, but unlike, Ewan.  He's brave, smart, and adventurous, but also ugly, twisted, and feeds on the pain and grief of mortals.  He hates Ewan and wants nothing more than to banish the pretty boy from the Limestone Kingdom and take his place with the beautiful parents who gave Knocks up.  He sees what he thinks he should have and will do anything to take it from Ewan.

Colby, Ewan, and Knocks meet at a critical juncture in their lives and the choices Colby makes have far reaching consequences for all three.   They are forever changed and put on a path to a dark destiny.   Enter the streets of Austin, Texas, whose shadows hide dwarves, nixies and other fae creatures.  Explore its neighbor, the dazzlingly beautiful Limestone Kingdom, but beware, for tricksey magic creeps between the two and changes all who dare to touch it. 

A woman awakens on a bench in a London park on a very rainy day. She has no memory of her name, address, or indeed anything beyond the present moment. She looks around her and discovers that she is in the middle of a circle of bodies, either unconscious or dead. All of the bodies are wearing plastic gloves. Soaking wet, she frantically pats her pockets, looking for something - anything - that will tell her who she is or spark some recognition. Something crinkles in her pocket. She pulls out a letter that simply says "To You". She opens the letter.

"Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be mine..."

So begins the extraordinary story of one Myfanwy (rhymes with 'Tiffany') Thomas. A woman without memory who must not only figure out who she is and what she is capable of, but also race against time to figure out who would go to extreme lengths to exterminate her. This story is an amazing mixture of ghostbusters and British secret service that will satisfy lovers of urban fantasy and adventure.

Quinn is a junky living in squalor and performing various jobs for her heroin supplier, Mean Mr. B.  One night Quinn makes a Hollywood horror movie error by deciding to shoot up while on a job for Mr. B. and everything in those dark woods goes wrong.  Not only is she bitten by the werewolf she was supposed to kill, but she also ends up in the cold, dead hands of the unsettling vampire, Bride of Quiet.

Afterward, Quinn struggles to decide why she was spared and what she should do now.  Not too many werewolf/vampire hybrids around to ask for advice.  Aloysius the Troll is treating her differently, Mean Mr. B. knows some things but won't cough up the information, and Quinn has the uneasy feeling that she's being used by more than one creepy monster.  Plus, she's really hungry and everyone smells like dinner.  Quinn's the first to say she's not the most reliable narrator and she can ramble on at length, but she's also the first to call herself out on her lies and bring the story back in to focus.  And she's determined to get to the bottom of her fate and find the answers to the uncomfortable questions she's begun asking about herself.

Blood Oranges is a little stream-of-consciousness, a little thriller-flick twisty, and a little gruesome, but also a lot of action-packed, monsters-in-the-city fun.

Daisy is a typical small town girl.  She was raised by her strong but sweet mother, works as a file clerk at the Pemkowet police station, loves to hang out and gossip with her long-time best friend, and still harbors a crush on a cute guy from high school.  But that cute guy is a secret werewolf who doesn't date outside his kind.  And Daisy's sweet mother made a big mistake when she was young and summoned a demon incubus, which led to Daisy's birth.  Plus Daisy is an agent of the Norse goddess Hel, entrusted with ensuring that relations between humans, the police department, and the local eldritch community of magical creatures plug along smoothly.  It's complicated, and rarely easy.

As a child of a demon, Daisy has quite a temper.  And a tail.  She has to keep the tail under wraps (because who wants to explain that all the time?) and the temper under control.  One really bad slip could cause Daisy to unleash a wrath so great that it invokes her demon birthright and opens the gates for biblical Armageddon, a possibility Daisy's father loves to remind her of.  When a young frat boy drowns in the local river Daisy is asked to join forces with her werewolf co-worker to make sure no paranormal forces were involved.  They must question the cold and distant river folk, verbally spar with a ghoul biker gang, and walk the fine line of political and religious correctness; all while holding on to that dark, angry force inside her and ensuring that the town's paranormal tourism isn't affected.  Local magicians, brownies, fairies, and ogres agree to assist, and it doesn't hurt to get some help from a gorgeous B-movie celebrity, but it's ultimately up to Daisy to keep everything under control and lay the mystery to rest.

Welcome to the new year!

Did you hear that Star Trek's warp speed may really be possible now (some day)? Here are some other classic short stories from the annals of science fiction that either predicted the future or that the editors anticipate WILL come true at some future date.

These include stories from the century before last on newfangled ideas like armored tanks ["The Land Ironclads" by H.G. Wells] and the crazy idea that we would ever be able to fly across the oceans -- in a dirigible even! ["The Balloon Hoax" by Edgar Allan Poe].

There are also tales predicting such things as reality T.V. in 1958 ["The Prize of Peril" by Robert Sheckley] and even the internet way back in 1946 ["A Logic Named Joe" by Murray Leinster]. And one story so close to the secret truths about atomic bombs -- when they were still being developed during World War II -- that the FBI came investigating the author ["Deadline" by Cleve Cartmill]!

So then, I wonder when we'll ever see space elevators as told in Charles Sheffield's "Skystalk"  or have our genes on file in order to grow replacement parts for our bodies as Hal Clement's fantasizes in "The Mechanic"?!

Of course, if this is all too airy-fairy and optimistic for you, then you should check out, instead, Daniel Wilson's Where's my jetpack?: a guide to the amazing science fiction future that never arrived. The title says it all, doesn't it? Where, indeed, are my food pills, servant robots, and moon colonies? Geez...!

Another popular book to retell is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  Sharon Shinn did a great sci-fi retelling several years ago called Jenna Starborn and now we have a new one:  Ironskin by Tina Connolly.

After the Great War between the humans and the fey, Jane Eliot was forced to wear an iron mask on her face to contain the fey curse she was struck by during the fighting.  When she goes to the household of enigmatic Edward Rochart as governess to his daughter, she discovers that not only is his daughter similarly cursed, but that there is much more going on in his artist studio that she originally supposed.

This gothic tale has the mysterious feel of Jane Eyre as well as some fantasy and steampunk thrown in.  It is a sort of reverse Beauty and the Beast tale--Jane's terrible scars are hidden behind an iron mask and Edward may be the only one who can release her from its curse.  If she dares, that is...

But don't expect a typical social media blurb -- oh no: these are quite surreal, wild little vignettes.

One of my favorites is:
"I looked down at the spots on the pavement where kids waiting for the bus had dropped wads of gum for years. The sun had seared them black, fried them flat. This concrete constellation held a secret that I knew could be unlocked. I went home and returned with a jar of paint and brush, connected the dots. A pattern emerged. I will share it with you. Be on the no. 12 bus at midnight, corner of Wrigley & Hubba Bubba."(!)

And check out the fantastical illustrations, such as the one of peacock feathers in the shape of a barking dog while, in the corner, a disembodied eye peers out of a mousehole!