Clockwork Phoenix 3: New Tales of Beauty and Strangeness

"Allen's third volume of extraordinary short stories reaches new heights of rarity and wonder . . . Without a wrong note, all the stories in this anthology admirably fulfill Allen's promise of 'beauty and strangeness.'"
-- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Story cavorts with style.

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

The third volume of this extraordinary annual anthology series of fantastic literature dares to surpass the first two, 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 3.

Includes stories by Marie Brennan, Tori Truslow, Georgina Bruce, Michael M. Jones, Gemma Files, Shweta Narayan, Cat Rambo, Nicole Kornher-Stace, C.S.E. Cooney, S.J. Hirons, Gregory Frost, Kenneth Schneyer, John C. Wright, John Grant, and Tanith Lee.

Starred Review. Allen's third volume of extraordinary short stories reaches new heights of rarity and wonder. Marie Brennan sets the bar high with "The Gospel of Nachash," a fine reinterpretation of the Adam and Eve legend from a fresh perspective. Tori Truslow's scholarly "Tomorrow Is Saint Valentine's Day" tells the story of the Great Ice Train and its encounter with the merfolk on the Moon. Gemma Files's "Hell Friend" and C.S.E. Cooney's "Braiding the Ghost" are sinister, spine-tingling ghost stories. Cat Rambo deals with realism and escapism in her futuristic "Surrogates," where appearances and reality are mutable. Shweta Narayan's "Eyes of Carven Emerald" eloquently rewrites the history of Alexander the Great to include mechanical entities. Without a wrong note, all the stories in this anthology admirably fulfill Allen's promise of "beauty and strangeness."
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With a balance of new names and established authors, the third Clockwork Phoenix installment collects some magnificent interpretations of fantastic ideas. “The Gospel of Nachash” opens, Marie Brennan’s haunting tale of the beginning of time, and a very interesting reinterpretation of a gospel it is, too. Tanith Lee’s “Fold” is a story of a man who wrote love letters to the people he saw passing beneath his window, and only left his apartment once. Gemma Files’ “Hell Friend” is really a heart-warming ghost story; Georgina Bruce’s “Crow Voodoo” is an unnerving take on something common to fairy tales; and Gregory Frost’s “Lucyna’s Gaze” starts off sweet, and grows more awful with every revealed detail. Clockwork Phoenix delivers on its promise of both beauty and strangeness, and adds in some fright and a few new ways of looking at old tropes. All in all, it’s a very successful collection of thematically similar, but wildly varied in subject, works. --Regina Schroeder