CLOCKWORK PHOENIX 2: More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness

Story marries style. The result is a cornucopia of modern cutting-edge fantasy.

The second volume of this extraordinary new annual anthology series of fantastic literature dares to surpass the first, with works that sidestep expectations in beautiful and unsettling ways, that surprise with their settings and startle with the manner in which they cross genre boundaries, that aren't afraid to experiment with storytelling techniques, and yet seamlessly blend form with meaningful function. The effervescent offerings found within these pages come from some of today's most distinguished contemporary fantasists and brilliant rising newcomers.

Whether it's a touch of literary erudition, playful whimsy, extravagant style, or mind-blowing philosophical speculation and insight, the reader will be led into unfamiliar territory, there to find shock and delight.

Presenting Clockwork Phoenix 2.

Allen finds his groove for this second annual anthology of weird stories, selecting 16 wonderfully evocative, well-written tales... Each story fits neatly alongside the next, and the diversity of topics, perspectives and authors makes this cosmopolitan anthology a winner.

--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Contributors in this volume include:

Claude Lalumiere, Leah Bobet, Marie Brennan, Ian McHugh, Ann Leckie, Mary Robinette Kowal, Saladin Ahmed, Tanith Lee, Joanna Galbraith, Catherynne M. Valente, Forrest Aguirre, Gemma Files and Stephen J. Barringer, Kelly Barnhill, Barbara Krasnoff, and Steve Rasnic Tem

"Allen finds his groove for this second annual anthology of weird stories, selecting 16 wonderfully evocative, well-written tales. Marie Brennan's thought-provoking 'Once a Goddess' considers the fate of a goddess abruptly returned to mortality. Tanith Lee puts a stunning twist in the story of a morose prince in 'The Pain of Glass.' Mary Robinette Kowal's 'At the Edge of Dying' describes a world where magic comes only to those at death's door. In 'Hooves and the Hovelof Abdel Jameela,' Saladin Ahmed tellsof a small village on the edge of a desert, a hermit and a woman who may be a witch. Each story fits neatly alongside the next, and the diversity of topics, perspectives and authors makes this cosmopolitan anthology a winner. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

The second volume of this new annual anthology series of fantastic literature features work by some of today's most distinguished contemporary fantasists and brilliant rising newcomers. Each story fits neatly alongside the next, and the diversity of topics, perspectives and authors makes this cosmopolitan anthology a winner.--"Publishers Weekly" starred review.