Cirrus@Austlit

'The twelve stories in this collection touch upon science fiction, horror, and fantasy, but all see people brush against the sublime and discover who they truly are. In “One Saturday Night, With Angel,” a young man staffing a convenience store frets as angels hunt his customers. In “Say Zucchini, and Mean It,” the world is overrun by a plague that robs us of three very important words. In “Clockwork, Patchwork, and Raven,” a clockwork man dreams of a fairy-tale ending while trying to protect those he loves from a dangerous gang of genetically engineered crow boys. In “Dying Young,” the psychic son of a lawman must re-evaluate the deals he makes in order to keep his town safe from cybernetic marauders and a dragon seeking justice.

'Mimes, aliens, and kaiju that only fifty percent of the population can see. Invaders from beyond the stars, empaths on the run, and Astronomer’s Royal of England. These are just some of the characters you’ll meet in the strange futures presented in this collection, but always grounded in the very human strengths and frailties.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A man named Rat descends a staircase that never ends, following the rules laid out by his guidebook.

'Copenhagen is invaded by angry merfolk who pilot war-machines crafted from old shipwrecks.

'A musician with a grudge upsets the delicate balance of a very unusual seaside town.

'The Birdcage Heart & Other Strange Stories collects twelve weird and unusual fantasy tales from Peter M Ball. Come walk beside an executioner tasked with killing a man who cannot be killed, a young man with a birdcage where his heart should be, and a frustrated public servant trying to deal with an unruly wizard determined to prove his powers.

'Watch a relationship unravel as former lovers are revealed to be creatures of myth, reminisce with the residents of a city overrun with giant thorns, and visit Isla Tortuga’s last, great house of ill repute where no-one is exactly what they seem on the surface.

'Some of the stories contained within have happy endings, and some end in sorrow, but the journey always takes an unexpected route through moments of wonder and unexpected pleasure.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.