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Stories

Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio

512 pages

A genre-defying collection of imaginative tales that uses flashes of magic to reveal the unsettling truths hidden in the everyday.

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What it feels like

This groundbreaking anthology reads with a brisk, page-turning momentum, driven by the fundamental question of what happens next. The mood shifts kaleidoscopically from wondrous to deeply unsettling, offering a shadowy, magical atmosphere where genres blur and boundaries dissolve. The prose is as varied as its all-star roster of contributors, yet united by a commitment to imaginative storytelling that uses a lightning-flash of magic to illuminate the mundane. Readers will experience a dynamic emotional arc, plunging into disturbing descents into evil and dark twists on familiar dynamics like sibling rivalry. It is a perfect fit for those who devour short fiction that champions the pure, unadulterated joy of imagination and narrative discovery.

Mood
  • unsettling
  • magical
  • shadowy
Tone
  • imaginative
  • dark
  • disturbing
  • wondrous
Pace
brisk
Themes
power of imagination · descent into evil · sibling rivalry · hidden magic
The writing
A diverse showcase of literary craftsmanship that ranges from boldly experimental to sharply disturbing.
The arc
A kaleidoscopic journey that shifts from wondrous discovery to unsettling darkness with each new tale.
Who it's for
Readers who crave genre-blurring short fiction that prioritizes imagination and narrative momentum above all else.
Content notes
  • descent into evil
  • dark twists
  • sibling rivalry

About the book

"The joy of fiction is the joy of the imagination...."The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.Stories is a groundbreaking anthology that reinvigorates, expands, and redefines the limits of imaginative fiction and affords some of the best writers in the world—from Peter Straub and Chuck Palahniuk to Roddy Doyle and Diana Wynne Jones, Stewart O'Nan and Joyce Carol Oates to Walter Mosley and Jodi Picoult—the opportunity to work together, defend their craft, and realign misconceptions. Gaiman, a literary magician whose acclaimed work defies easy categorization and transcends all boundaries, and "master anthologist" (Booklist) Sarrantonio personally invited, read, and selected all the stories in this collection, and their standard for this "new literature of the imagination" is high. "We wanted to read stories that used a lightning-flash of magic as a way of showing us something we have already seen a thousand times as if we have never seen it at all."Joe Hill boldly aligns theme and form in his disturbing tale of a man's descent into evil in "Devil on the Staircase." In "Catch and Release," Lawrence Block tells of a seasoned fisherman with a talent for catching a bite of another sort. Carolyn Parkhurst adds a dark twist to sibling rivalry in "Unwell." Joanne Harris weaves a tale of ancient gods in modern New York in "Wildfire in Manhattan." Vengeance is the heart of Richard Adams's "The Knife." Jeffery Deaver introduces a dedicated psychologist whose mission in life is to save people in "The Therapist." A chilling punishment befitting an unspeakable crime is at the dark heart of Neil Gaiman's novelette "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains."As it transforms your view of the world, this brilliant and visionary volume—sure to become a classic—will ignite a new appreciation for the limitless realm of exceptional fiction.

Description from Open Library.

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