Now in our 14th year of publication, the Bards and Sages Quarterly strives to bring fans of speculative fiction a variety of new and established voices to enjoy. Each issue features an eclectic range of styles and voices to delight audiences. This issue features work by Gregory Alan Burhoe, John Didday, Peter M. Floyd, Charlotte H. Lee, Susan Meyer, Carol Scheina, and KT Wagner. In this issue: A biological occultist needs to figure out a way to appease the moon after it moves out of orbit in search of its missing spider in The Moon Spider. A young woman inadvertently discovers the strange goings-on in her father’s funeral home in The Mortician’s Daughter. A child employs a new invisible friend to achieve revenge against those who bullied him in Hully.
For over a decade, the Bards and Sages Quarterly has been a showcase for both new and established authors to share their speculative works. The short stories presented in each issue serve as a delightful sampler of the speculative genres. Whether your preference is sword and sorcery, time-travel, space exploration, gothic horror, urban fantasy, or any of the speculative genres, you are sure to find something to love in the pages of this magazine. In this issue, stories by E. C. Bogosian, AJ Cunder, Brian Hugenbruch, J.R. Mikolin, Kiran Kaur Saini, and Jonathan Sherwood. A sample of the stories in this issue: When it takes longer than expected for a valiant prince to rescue her, a princess locked in a tower takes matters into her own hands in The Princess’s Tale. A Hairstyling Hospice AI forges a new way to respect the tights of incapacitated patients in Coiffeur Seven. After rescuing a woman accused of being a vampire, a bi-racial young man is declared a murder suspect instead of a hero in Skinwalker.
Each issue of The Society of Misfit Stories Presents… is a celebration of long-form fiction. These novelettes and novellas will entertain and surprise fans of the form. In this issue: William Suboski, Sarina Dorie, Daniel Foy, Anne Sherman, Gary Battershell, and David Gilman Frederick. A sampling of the stories in this issue: A ghost seeks to convince a scientist to believe in the existence of ghosts in Psychology for the Living Impaired. A food pantry volunteer finds herself caught up in a peculiar mystery when a strange man registers for services to feed his “guests” in Gregory and the Gregorii. A struggling chef at an exclusive restaurant discovers just how cut-throat the hospitality industry can be in Check On!
Eleven short stories and a poem that show us what comes after the end of all we know. This is the fourth volume of the collected short stories of Joe Vasicek. It includes: The Manchurian Paradox We have met our timeline's enemy and he is us. A Fatal Rebirth Nothing in this world should live forever—not even civilization itself. The Final Turning This is how the world ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper—thanks to me. The New Covenant To restore a fallen America, an ancient and terrible covenant must be renewed. Hearken and Behold (by J.M. Wight) "Hearken, oh ye hypocrites, and behold the desolation that is already come upon you!" The End of Elysium For the promise of paradise, the last civilization will surrender to the apocalypse. The Promise of King Washington When the aliens came, it wasn't a military invasion: it was an economic one. (Again, Hazardous Imaginings, December 2020) Lord of the Slaves "Everyone secretly wants to be a slave. Those who deny it simply haven't found the right master." The Other Side of Reality What if your future self came back to give you advice, and all it did was confuse you? Schrödinger's Diaper “Stays clean and dry until you’re free to change it!” …except not quite. (Bards and Sages Quarterly, April 2022) Two Hours Ago A time machine without paradoxes, so long as it's not abused. Welcome to Our Crazy Family Two genderqueer lesbians and a tranny have a rebellious daughter who does the unthinkable and decides to marry a Christian.
This is one crown you don't want. Born and raised in the Dregs, the last thing I expected was the "honor" of being recruited to Crown Princess Academy. And by honor, I mean fighting for my life against the fae that rule our world. Our first exam is in three weeks and not every student will make it out alive... don't these bimbos realize that? I'm not fooled. I know how ruthless the fae can be. All the princess initiates are captivated by Lucas, the sexy fae Crown Prince who, in turn, seems fixated on me. He can't know that I'm actually the most powerful Malice Caster in the Dregs. I'm sure my talents for the Criminal Guild won't earn me any extra credit in my princess classes. All my life I've stayed one step ahead of the two-faced fae and their Malice, the out of control black magic that has nearly wiped out all of humanity. This is my chance to do more than survive--this is my chance to fight back. I'll play the Crown Prince's game. I'll wear the tiny initiate crown, dance in my glittering pink dress, survive the deadly exams, and ultimately graduate as the Crown Princess all while he thinks I'm playing right into his plans. He's in for a surprise when I reveal who I am and wipe that sexy, smug grin off his face... I just hope my heart doesn't forget he's the enemy. Crown Princess Academy: Book 1 is the first of a planned trilogy. As it is a series, there will be a cliffhanger. This is an upper YA/NA paranormal and fantasy series with enemies-to-lovers romance and HEA.
With each issue of the Bards and Sages Quarterly, we strive to bring fans of speculative fiction an engaging and entertaining variety of stories from new and established authors in the horror, fantasy, and science fiction genres. In this issue: stories by Tom Barlow, Jason Bougger, Milo James Fowler, Blake Gilmore, Rebecca Linam, Matthew C. Lucas, DC Mallery, Matthew McAyeal, Dennis Mombauer, Aisha Phoenix, Robin Reed, Daniel Ryan, Nicholas Stillman, Daniel Stride, Harold R. Thompson, and Sophie van Llewyn.
A ship has vanished in the dark, in the very outer reaches of Earth's solar system. Alien invaders sweep through the void, destroying outposts and threatening humanity. The truth is known only to a few: We fired first. We fired on aliens whose very appearance and body language sent all humans into a flying rage. All but a few. Now an autistic savant from Mars and an alien diplomat seek peace...while some on both sides desire only conflict. Suza McRae and Haniyar must bridge the gap between their species, or risk a war that will destroy everything and everyone in its path.
Finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award: “Beautiful and brutal nightmares . . . made all the more terrifying by the history in which they’re grounded.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Three neighboring villages on the Ukrainian/Romanian border are the final refuge for the last of the mythical creatures of Eastern Europe. Now, on the eve of the war that may eradicate their kind—and with the ruthless Night Police descending upon their sanctuary—they tell their stories and confront their destinies. The Rusalka, the beautiful, vengeful water spirit who lives in lakes and ponds and lures men and children to their deaths. The Vovkulaka, who changes from her human form into that of a wolf and hides with her kind deep in the densest forests. The Strigoi, a revenant who feasts on blood and twists the minds of those who love, serve, and shelter him. The Drevniye, an apparition that impersonates its victim and draws him into a web of evil in order to free itself. And the Bone Mother, a skeletal crone with iron teeth who lurks in her house in the heart of the woods, and cooks and eats those who fail her vexing challenges. Eerie and unsettling like the best fairy tales, these incisor-sharp portraits of ghosts, witches, sirens, and seers—and the mortals who live at their side and in their thrall—will chill your marrow and tear at your heart. “A fable filled with mythical creatures ranging from werewolves to witches . . . set, in part, among the villages of eastern Europe on the eve of the Second World War.” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto) “Extraordinary . . . A dark and shining mosaic of a story with unforgettable imagery and elegant, evocative prose.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Longlisted for the 2018 Toronto Book Awards
Twenty-four-year-old Audra Carter won't let mere blindness keep her from living life her way, using her keen hearing and uncanny instincts to guide her. This is all much to the dismay of her father, Jenson, a neuroscientist who has devoted his career to finding a cure for her particular form of blindness...
"Readers who love medieval-esque fantasy will delight in this rousing tale of rebellion.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) After a warlord slaughters her patients, Sister Alessia quits the cloister and strikes out on her own to heal the victims of a brutal dynastic conflict. Her roaming forest camp unwittingly becomes the center of a vengeful peasant insurgency, raiding the forces of both sides to survive. Alessia struggles to temper their fury as well as tend wounds, consenting to ever greater violence to keep her new charges safe. When they uncover proof of a foreign conspiracy prolonging the bloodshed, Alessia risks the very lives she’s saved to expose the truth and bring the war to an end. FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing independent Flame Tree Publishing dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more about Flame Tree Press at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress
