The world is changing, in ways it shouldn't. Even on the mindscape, things don't just happen. Someone must think them. So monsters of fable, and haunted houses, must be thought into being. Theresa wants to arrest those responsible, for whatever their crime is. Alex is happy to have a mystery. Then things get violent. Can they solve it before the nightmare plague becomes uncontrollable? A 33,000 word sf novella.
Murder is an aberration, and unsolved murders were once considered impossible in a society where everyone is watched inside their own head. Until a murder occurred that required detective Alex's mind to be revived to find the killer. It was solved, the killer stopped. Now there's another unidentified killer, targeting representatives of society's failings. Wary of being shoved back in a box, the mystery is still more than Alex can resist. A 36,000 word novella.
What is it about ancient monsters that popular culture still finds so enthralling? Why do the monsters of antiquity continue to stride across the modern world? In this book, the first in-depth study of how post-classical societies use the creatures from ancient myth, Liz Gloyn reveals the trends behind how we have used monsters since the 1950s to the present day, and considers why they have remained such a powerful presence in our shared cultural imagination. She presents a new model for interpreting the extraordinary vitality that classical monsters have shown, and their enormous adaptability in finding places to dwell in popular culture without sacrificing their connection to the ancient world. Her argument takes her readers through a comprehensive tour of monsters on film and television, from the much-loved creations of Ray Harryhausen in Clash of the Titans to the monster of the week in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, before looking in detail at the afterlives of the Medusa and the Minotaur. She develops a broad theory of the ancient monster and its life after antiquity, investigating its relation to gender, genre and space to offer a bold and novel exploration of what keeps drawing us back to these mythical beasts. From the siren to the centaur, all monster lovers will find something to enjoy in this stimulating and accessible book.
Classical culture belongs to us all: whether as academic subject or as entertainment, it constantly stimulates new ideas. In recent years, following Gladiator’s successful revival of the ‘toga epic’, studies of the ancient world in cinema have drawn increasing attention from authors and readers. This collection builds on current interest in this topic, taking its readers past the usual boundaries of classical reception studies into less familiar—and even uncharted—areas of ancient Greece and Rome in mass popular culture. Contributors discuss the uses of antiquity in television programmes, computer games, journalism, Hollywood blockbusters, B-movies, pornography, Web 2.0, radio drama, and children’s literature. Its diverse contents celebrate the continuing influence of Classics on modern life: from controversies within academia to ephemeral pop culture, from the traditional to the cutting-edge. The reader will find both new voices and those of more established commentators, including broadcaster and historian Bettany Hughes, Latinist Paula James, and Gideon Nisbet, author of Ancient Greece in Film and Popular Culture. Together they demonstrate that rich rewards await anyone with an interest in our classical heritage, when they embrace the diversity and complexity of mass popular culture as a whole.
The Ghost Gun is once again loose in the world, leading to a rush to claim it. Penny Hitch is a small-time criminal, about to be executed when the Gun gives her another chance. But survival requires her dealing with the crime boss who ordered her dead. And her own worse impulses. With the Compass leading the taskforce after the Gun, it’s only a matter of time until they catch up to it. Even given the Finder’s oddness. And the conspiracies trying to claim the Gun for their own.
A weaponized message from space devastates Earth, leaving the few survivors with telepathic abilities. A century and a half later the aliens who sent the message arrive. With society still rebuilding, its delicate balance threatens to collapse with the tensions of facing an invasion, and the secret at the heart of their way of life.
A paranoid Sultan, an Assassin found only in stories, and a Storyteller caught up in their battle. Once upon a time, a great Sultan was plagued by an Assassin who struck at him with stories and lies. A young Storyteller is gathered with her colleagues, and forced to share her stories with the Sultan before their voices are stilled forever. In a war of destinies, enslaved jinn, and comparative truths, the Storyteller must tread dangerous ground in what may be her final recital. A fantasy novella.
Hazelrock, Alabama, is a failing small town, propped up by a drug operation. Its sheriff is unable to do anything about it without killing the town. But when a stranger arrives intent on causing trouble, a small town might not leave anywhere to hide from that trouble. A crime thriller novella.
War has been averted, the Society's power diminished, but peace has yet to reach the shores of the Scarred Sea. As unrest spreads, there remain a few finishing touches to making the world as Thjorn wishes it to be. But the hallucination of his dead friend won't let him work, and others have their own ideas about how things should be. The final plays are being made, as pawns and players alike are moved into place.
An artifact is stolen, and seemingly destroyed. That shouldn’t be possible. The taskforce hunt for the possibly destroyed artifact, and given the theft might have included inside help, they must also investigate the dangerous secret society with its fingers in everything. In an increasingly compromised position, Cassie questions who she really is, and if she’s still serving the law as part of the taskforce. With potential enemies all around, was the artifact that lets the user adopt the identity of others really destroyed?
