Bøger udgivet af Small Beer Press

Four children confront dark elemental forces in the Pulitzer Prize finalist's first book for young readers.

Kind-hearted Lizbet and witch girl Strix embark upon a perilous quest where even the fate of Heaven is at stake.

Andy Duncan has shamelessly told flat-out made-up stories for twenty years, and this book right here is the evidence!

Stories that sometimes begin in the hills of Kentucky and head out into complicated and sometimes hopeful futures.

"e;Couch hits on an improbable, even fantastic premise, and then rigorously hews to the logic that it generates, keeping it afloat (at times literally) to the end."e;Los Angeles Times"e;Delightfully lighthearted writing. . . . Occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, the enthusiastic prose carries readers through sporadic dark moments . . . Parzybok's quirky humor recalls the flaws and successes of early Douglas Adams."e;Publishers Weekly"e;The book succeeds as a conceptual art piece, a literary travelogue, and a fantastical quest."e; Willamette Week"e;Hundreds of writers have slavishly imitatedor outright ripped offTolkien in ways that connoisseurs of other genres would consider shameless. What Parzybok has done here in adapting the same old song to a world more familiar to the reader is to revive the genre and make it relevant again"e;The Stranger"e;Beyond the good old-fashioned story, Couch meditates on heroism and history, but above all, it's an argument for shifting your life around every now and then, for getting off the couch and making something happen."e; -The L Magazine"e;Elevates this common piece of furniture from the stuff of everyday magic to something much more powerful."e; -Jessica Schubert McCarthy, The Daily Evergreen"e;Couch follows the quirky journey of Thom, Erik, and Tree as they venture into the unknown at the behest of a magical, orange couch, which has its own plan for their previously boring lives. Parzybok's colorful characters, striking humor, and eccentric magical realism offer up an adventuresome read."e;Christian Crider, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL"e;This funny novel of furniture moving gone awry is a magical realism quest for modern times. Parzybok's touching story explores the aimlessness of our culture, a society of jobs instead of callings, replete with opportunities and choices but without the philosophies and vocations we need to make meaningful decisions."e;Josh Cook, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA"e;A lot of people are looking for magic in the world today, but only Benjamin Parzybok thought to check the sofa, which is, I think, the place it's most likely to be found. Couch is a slacker epic: a gentle, funny book that ambles merrily from Coupland to Tolkien, and gives couch-surfing (among other things) a whole new meaning.'Paul La Farge"e;One of the strangest road novels you'll ever read. It's a funny and fun book, and it's also a very smart book. Fans of Tom Robbins or Christopher Moore should enjoy this."e;Handee Books"e;It is an upholstered Odyssey unlike any other you are likely to read. It is funny, confusing in places, wild and anarchic. It is part Quixote, part Murakami, part Tom Robbins, part DFS showroom. It has cult hit written all over it."e;Scott, Me and My Big Mouth

No woman will have Ben without a proper bachelor's suit . . . and the tailor refuses to make him one. Back from war with a nameless enemy, Ben finds that his mother is dead and his family home has been reassigned by the state. As if that isn't enough, he must now find a wife, or he'll be made a civil servant and given a permanent spot in one of the city's oppressive factories.Meanwhile, Meeks, a foreigner who lives in the park and imagines he's a member of the police, is hunted by the overzealous Brothers of Mercy. Meeks' survival depends on his peculiar friendship with a police captainbut will that be enough to prevent his execution at the annual Independence Day celebration?A dark satire rendered with the slapstick humor of a Buster Keaton film, Julia Holmes' debut marries the existentialism of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground to the strange charm of a Haruki Murakami novel. Meeks portrays a world at once hilarious and disquieting, in which frustrated revolutionaries and hopeful youths suffer alongside the lost and the condemned, just for a chance at the permanent bliss of marriage and a slice of sugar-frosted Independence Day cake.Julia Holmes was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and grew up in the Middle East, Texas, and New York, where she is currently an assistant editor at Rolling Stone. She is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA program in fiction.

Charley is an athlete. He wants to grow up to be the fastest runner in the world, like his father. He wants to be painted crossing the finishing line, in his racing silks, with a medal around his neck. Charley lives in a stable. He isn't a runner, he's a mount. He belongs to a Hoot; the Hoots are alien invaders. Charley hasn't seen his mother for years, and his father is hiding out in the mountains somewhere, with the other Free Humans. The Hoots own the world, but the humans want it back. Charley knows how to be a good mount, but now he's going to have to learn how to be a human being. Carol Emshwiller's The Mount won the Philip K. Dick award and was chosen as a book of the year by The Village Voice, Locus, and Book Magazine.

Jevick, the pepper merchant's son, has been raised on stories of Olondria, a distant land where books are as common as they are rare in his home. When his father dies and Jevick takes his place on the yearly selling trip to Olondria, Jevick's life is as close to perfect as he can imagine. But just as he revels in Olondria's Rabelaisian Feast of Birds, he is pulled drastically off course and becomes haunted by the ghost of an illiterate young girl.In desperation, Jevick seeks the aid of Olondrian priests and quickly becomes a pawn in the struggle between the empire's two most powerful cults. Yet even as the country shimmers on the cusp of war, he must face his ghost and learn her story before he has any chance of becoming free by setting her free: an ordeal that challenges his understanding of art and life, home and exile, and the limits of that seductive necromancy, reading.A Stranger in Olondria is a skillful and immersive debut fantasy novel that pulls the reader in deeper and deeper with twists and turns reminiscent of George R. R. Martin and Joe Hill.

Nine new stories from a long-time star of the science fiction field including the Hugo Award winner "e;The Erdmann Nexus"e; and Nebula Award winner "e;The Fountain of Age."e; These stories have been reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction, Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, and Best of the Web.Kress unpacks the future the way DNA investigators unravelled the double helix: one gene at a time. In many of these stories gene sculpting is illegal yet commonplace and the effects range between slow catastrophe (End Game), cosmic (First Rites), and tragic (Safeguard). Then theres the morning when Rochester disappears and Jenny has to rely on The Kindness of Strangers. Theres Jill, who is kidnapped by aliens and trying to learn the Laws of Survival. And theres Hope, whose Grandma is regretting the world built By Fools Like Me.

Geoff Ryman writes about the other and leaves us dissected in the process. His stories are set in recognizable placesLondon, Cambodia, tomorrowand feature men and women caught in recognizable situations (or technologies) and not sure which way to turn. They, we, should obviously choose what's right. But what if that's difficult? What will we do? What we should, or . . . ?Paradise Tales builds on the success of his most recent novel, The King's Last Song, and on the three Cambodian stories included here, "e;The Last Ten Years of the Hero Kai,"e; "e;Blocked,"e; and the exceedingly-popular "e;Pol Pot's Beautiful Daughter."e; Paradise Tales includes stories selected from the many periods of Rymans career including Birth Days, Omnisexual, The Film-makers of Mars, and a new story, K is for Kosovo (or, Massimos Career).To complement this first full-length short story collection, Small Beer Press is reprinting Ryman's backlist: Was, The Child Garden, and a book of four novellas, The Unconquered Countries, with new introductions to continue to build the readership of one of the most fascinating writers exploring the edges of being, gender, science, and fiction.Geoff Ryman is the author of the novels The King's Last Song, The Child Garden, Air (a Clarke and Tiptree Award winner), and The Unconquered Country (a World Fantasy Award winner). Canadian by birth, he has lived in Cambodia and Brazil and now teaches creative writing at the University of Manchester in England.

Publishers Weekly Top 10 Best of the YearIn her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.Praise for Maureen F. McHugh:"e;Gorgeously crafted stories."e;Nancy Pearl, NPR"e;Hauntingly beautiful."e;Booklist"e;Unpredictable and poetic work."e;The Plain DealerMaureen F. McHugh has lived in New York; Shijiazhuang, China; Ohio; Austin, Texas; and now lives in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of a Story Prize finalist collection, Mothers & Other Monsters, and four novels, including Tiptree Award-winner China Mountain Zhang and New York Times editor's choice Nekropolis. McHugh has also worked on alternate reality games for Halo 2, The Watchmen, and Nine Inch Nails, among others.

When his ex asks for help, Taggert risks the wrath of his enigmatic master to try and save her daughter. But as Taggert realizes the girl has more power than even he can imagine, he has to delve into the very nature of own skills and utilize his heart and soul to survive. Ayize Jama-Everett was born and raised in Harlem, New York. He has traveled in Northern Africa, New Hampshire, and northern California. He holds a master's degree in clinical psychology and a master's in divinity. When not educating or studying, he's usually enjoying aged rums and practicing his aim.

Chabi doesnt realize her martial arts master may not be on the side of the gods. She does know hes changed her from being an almost invisible kid to one that anyone or at least anyone smart should pay attention to. But attention from the wrong people can mean more trouble than even she can handle. Chabi might be emotionally stunted. She might have no physical voice. She doesnt communicate well with words, but her body is poetry.

Locus Recommended ReadingWhen Taggert's adopted daughter goes missing he suspects the hand of an old enemy. He gathers friends, family, and even those who don't quite trust that he has left his violent past behind. But their search leads them to an unexpected place, the past, and the consequences of their journey have a price that is higher than they can afford.Praise for The Liminal People:"e;A great piece of genre fiction. But picking which genre to place it in isn't easy. The first in a planned series, it's got the twists and taut pacing of a thriller, the world-warping expansiveness of a fantasy yarn, and even the love-as-redemption arc of a romance. Oh yeah, a lot of the characters in it have superhuman powers, too."e;The Rumpus"e;Ayize's imagination will mess with yours, and the world won't ever look quite the same again."e;Nalo Hopkinson"e;An action-packed thriller and a careful look at the moral dilemmas of those whose powers transcend humanity."e;Publishers WeeklyThe enigmatic quagmire that is Ayize Jama-Everett has been making his presence felt all across this world since 1974. In New York, California, Morocco, Ethiopia, and elsewhere, he has impressed, reviled, and astonished with his amazing feats of mental alacrity and mystical inebriation. Despite being degreed in both divinity and psychology, the forlorn artist stakes his reputation and honor on the calling of author. He is known to be cunning in the ways of the bottle, the pen, and the pistol.

In her vivid and sly, gentle and wise, long-anticipated first collection, Delia Sherman takes seemingly insignificant moments in the lives of artists or sailorsthe light out a window, the two strokes it takes to turn a small boatand finds the ghosts haunting them, the magic surrounding them. Here are the lives that make up larger histories, here are tricksters and gardeners, faeries and musicians, all glittering and sparkling, finding beauty and hope and always unexpected, a touch of wild magic.Praise for Delia Sherman's previous books:"e;Multilayered, compassionate, and thought-provoking."e;Kirkus Reviews, starred review"e;Fantastic in every sense of the word, Sherman's second novel (Through a Brazen Mirror) is a skillfully crafted fairy tale that owes as much to E.T.A. Hoffman as to Charles Perrault. . . . The Porcelain Dove is no dainty vertu but a seductive, sinister bird with razored feathers."e;Publishers WeeklyDelia Sherman was born in Japan and raised in New York City. Her work has appeared most recently in the anthologies Naked City, Steampunk!, and Queen Victoria's Book of Spells. She is the author of six novels including The Porcelain Dove (a New York Times Notable Book), The Freedom Maze, and Changeling, and has received the Mythopoeic and Norton awards. She lives in New York City.

Good intentions arent everything. Sometimes things dont quite go the way you planned. And sometimes you dont plan. . . . This collection of sixteen stories (and one lonely poem) chart the many ways trouble can ensue. No actual human beings were harmed in the creation of this book.Stories from Eileen Gunn are always a cause for celebration. Where will she lead us? "e;Up the Fire Road"e; to a slightly alternate world. Four stories into steampunks heart. Into a very strange family gathering as they celebrate Christmas. Into the golem's heart. Never where we might expect.

Nathan Ballingrud's Shirley Jackson Award winning debut collection is a shattering and luminous experience not to be missed by those who love to explore the darker parts of the human psyche. Monsters, real and imagined, external and internal, are the subject. They are us and we are them and Ballingrud's intense focus makes these stories incredibly intense and irresistible.These are love stories. And also monster stories. Sometimes these are monsters in their traditional guises, sometimes they wear the faces of parents, lovers, or ourselves. The often working-class people in these stories are driven to extremes by love. Sometimes, they are ruined; sometimes redeemed. All are faced with the loneliest corners of themselves and strive to find an escape.Nathan Ballingrud was born in Massachusetts but has spent most of his life in the South. He worked as a bartender in New Orleans and New York City and a cook on offshore oil rigs. His story "e;The Monsters of Heaven"e; won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his daughter.

Jonathan Edwards compared a person dangling a spider over a hearth to God holding a sinner over hellfire in his most famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Here, spiders and insects preach back. No voice, no matter how mighty, drowns all others. Grace, human failings, and extraordinary convictions combine unexpectedly in this New England tale.

Don't rush Trafalgar Medrano when he starts telling you about his latest intergalactic sales trip. He likes to stretch things out over precisely seven coffees. No one knows whether he actu-ally travels to the stars, but he tells the best tall tales in the city, so why doubt him? Trafalgar is Anglica Gorodischer's second novel to be translated into English. Her first, Kalpa Imperial, was selected for the New York Times summer reading list. Anglica Gorodischer lives in Rosario, Argentina. She has received many awards, most recently the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award.

';If this is your first taste of Howard, I envy you.'From the Introduction by George R.R. MartinAcclaimed cult author Waldrop's stories are sophisticated, magical recombinations of the stuff our pop-culture dreams are made of. Open this book and encounter jazz singers, robotic cartoon ducks, nosferatu, angry gorillas, and, of course, the dodo.The first paperback (and twentieth anniversary) edition of a landmark debut collection. Waldrop's capacious, encyclopedic knowledge of superheroes, baseball players, world wars, long-dead film stars, Mexican wrestlers, pulp serials, and fairy tales is put to good use in these sophisticated re-combinations of oddball television shows, radio plays, scientific expeditions, extinct species, knock-knock jokes, and questions like these: * What if the dodo wasn't extinct after all? * What if sumo wrestlers could defeat their opponents with the power of the mind? * What if Izaak Walton and John Bunyan went fishing for Leviathan in the Slough of Despond?Never published in paperback, long out of print, and extremely collectible, Howard Who? was Waldrop's seminal debut collection. If you haven't read Waldrop before, you're in for a treat."e;The best Waldrops tend to mix the humorous and wistful.... Italo Calvino once said that he was "e;known as an author who changes greatly from one book to the next. And in these very changes you recognize him as himself."e; Much the same could be said of Howard Waldrop. You never know what he'll come up with next, but somehow it's always a Waldrop story. Read the work of this wonderful writer, a man who has devoted his life to his art -- and to fishing."e;Michael Dirda, Washington Post"e;A charming collection."e;Los Angeles Times"e;Back in print after so many years, Howard Who? remains a terrific collection of short stories. There is nobody else alive writing stories as magnificently strange, deliriously inventive, and utterly wonderful as Howard Waldrop."e; MetrobeatTable of Contents Introduction by George R. R. Martin. The Ugly Chickens Der Untergang des Abendlandesmenschen Ike at the Mike Dr. Hudson's Secret Gorilla . . . the World, as we Know't Green Brother Mary Margaret Road-Grader "e;Save A Place in the Lifeboat for Me Horror, We Got Man-Mountain Gentian God's Hooks Heirs of the PerispherePraise for Howard Waldrop:"e;Clever, humorous, idiosyncratic, oddball, personal, wild, and crazy."e;Library Journal"e;Wise and funny."e;Publishers Weekly"e;An authentic master of gonzo sf and fantasy."e;Booklist"e;Erudite and gonzo."e;Science Fiction Weekly"e;Waldrop subtly mutates the past, extrapolating the changes into some of the most insightful, and frequently amusing, stories being written today, in or out of the science fiction genre."e;The Houston Post/Sun"e;The man's a national treasure!"e;Locus"e;The resident Weird Mind of his generation, he writes like a honkytonk angel."e;Washington Post Book WorldAbout the Author:Howard Waldrop, born in Mississippi and now living in Austin, Texas, is an American iconoclast. His highly original books include Them Bones and A Dozen Tough Jobs, and the collections All About Strange Monsters of the Recent Past, Night of the Cooters, and Going Home Again. He won the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards for his novelette "e;The Ugly Chickens."e;

A teenager working in a mountain encampment during the Chinese Cultural Revolution yearns for romance and excitement.

A fantastic layered novel of stories within stories set in Athens, Florence, Somerset, and Glasgow.