Bards And Sages Quarterly April 2023

For over a decade, the Bards and Sages Quarterly has been a showcase for both new and established authors to share their speculative works. The short stories presented in each issue serve as a delightful sampler of the speculative genres. Whether your preference is sword and sorcery, time-travel, space exploration, gothic horror, urban fantasy, or any of the speculative genres, you are sure to find something to love in the pages of this magazine. Stories in this issue by Andrew Jensen, Antony Paschos, Jason Mills, Kelly Toughill, Lorna McGinnis, Luke Foster, Nestor Defino, Nicole Walsh, Patrick Honovich, Ray Daley, and Taija Morgan. A Sample of what you will find: An aspiring author visits a bookshop for inspiration and finds surprising news when browsing the bookseller's special collection of magical books in That First Page. Snow White’s evil stepmother attends a self-help meeting of recovering evil witches in Witches Anonymous. Murderous desperadoes attempting a train robbery get a bit more than they bargained for in The Santa Fe Five. Special notice: For information on potential trigger warnings in our titles, please visit our trigger warnings page at bardsandsages.com

For over a decade, the Bards and Sages Quarterly has been a showcase for both new and established authors to share their speculative works. The short stories presented in each issue serve as a delightful sampler of the speculative genres. Whether your preference is sword and sorcery, time-travel, space exploration, gothic horror, urban fantasy, or any of the speculative genres, you are sure to find something to love in the pages of this magazine. A sample of what is in this issue: The employees of a no-kill animal shelter must content with an influx of magical creatures in The Week of Floofy Hell. The residents of the former penal colony of Drought find themselves in a fight for survival against raiders from another colony in The Mutineers of Starvation. A pair of siblings engaged in some time-travel tourism to see the Beatles perform live discover they may have been sold a dangerous deal in The Farther One Travels. Special notification: Though we avoid publishing stories we deem gratuitous in nature, as a journal of speculative fiction, some stories may content dark subject matter. Some stories may contain strong or offensive language, depictions of violence, and child and animal endangerment.

For over a decade, the Bards and Sages Quarterly has been a showcase for both new and established authors to share their speculative works. The short stories presented in each issue serve as a delightful sampler of the speculative genres. Whether your preference is sword and sorcery, time-travel, space exploration, gothic horror, urban fantasy, or any of the speculative genres, you are sure to find something to love in the pages of this magazine. Stories in this issue by Andrew Jensen, Antony Paschos, Jason Mills, Kelly Toughill, Lorna McGinnis, Luke Foster, Nestor Delfino, Nicole Walsh, Patrick Honovich, Ray Daley, and Taija Morgan. A Sample of what you will find: An aspiring author visits a bookshop for inspiration and finds surprising news when browsing the bookseller's special collection of magical books in That First Page. Snow White's evil stepmother attends a self-help meeting of recovering evil witches in Witches Anonymous. Murderous desperadoes attempting a train robbery get a bit more than they bargained for in The Santa Fe Five. Special notice: For information on potential trigger warnings in our titles, please visit our trigger warnings bards at bardsandsages.com

For eleven years, the Bards and Sages Quarterly has introduces readers to an eclectic collection of talented speculative fiction authors. In this issue: A time traveler attempts to change the course of history and discovers that perhaps someone else already beat him to it in "The Gettysburg Paradox." In "Five Dozen Prayers", a stray dandelion sets a grieving woman on a desperate course to find a greater purpose in a dystopian world where possessing even a tiny plant is illegal. In "Listeners in the Dell", two British Army soldiers set out to investigate disruptions to radio signals and inexplicable sounds originating in an uninhabited rural valley. These and seven other incredible speculative tales await.

Finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award: “Beautiful and brutal nightmares . . . made all the more terrifying by the history in which they’re grounded.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Three neighboring villages on the Ukrainian/Romanian border are the final refuge for the last of the mythical creatures of Eastern Europe. Now, on the eve of the war that may eradicate their kind—and with the ruthless Night Police descending upon their sanctuary—they tell their stories and confront their destinies. The Rusalka, the beautiful, vengeful water spirit who lives in lakes and ponds and lures men and children to their deaths. The Vovkulaka, who changes from her human form into that of a wolf and hides with her kind deep in the densest forests. The Strigoi, a revenant who feasts on blood and twists the minds of those who love, serve, and shelter him. The Drevniye, an apparition that impersonates its victim and draws him into a web of evil in order to free itself. And the Bone Mother, a skeletal crone with iron teeth who lurks in her house in the heart of the woods, and cooks and eats those who fail her vexing challenges. Eerie and unsettling like the best fairy tales, these incisor-sharp portraits of ghosts, witches, sirens, and seers—and the mortals who live at their side and in their thrall—will chill your marrow and tear at your heart. “A fable filled with mythical creatures ranging from werewolves to witches . . . set, in part, among the villages of eastern Europe on the eve of the Second World War.” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto) “Extraordinary . . . A dark and shining mosaic of a story with unforgettable imagery and elegant, evocative prose.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner of the 2018 Sunburst Award Longlisted for the 2018 Toronto Book Awards

A ship has vanished in the dark, in the very outer reaches of Earth's solar system. Alien invaders sweep through the void, destroying outposts and threatening humanity. The truth is known only to a few: We fired first. We fired on aliens whose very appearance and body language sent all humans into a flying rage. All but a few. Now an autistic savant from Mars and an alien diplomat seek peace...while some on both sides desire only conflict. Suza McRae and Haniyar must bridge the gap between their species, or risk a war that will destroy everything and everyone in its path.

Each issue of The Society of Misfit Stories Presents… is a celebration of long-form fiction. These novelettes and novellas will entertain and surprise fans of the form. In this issue: stories by Michael Gardner, Ziaul Moid Khan, Mark Lord, Danielle Ranucci, William Suboski, and Rebecca B. Weiss. A sample of the stories in this issue: Jack Hiller believes he is destined to join a secret society that runs the world. But an encounter with an equally ambitious alligator stands in his way in Working Day. After the suicide of his best friend, Balta must come to terms with his grief while working with his friend’s sister to slay a demon in The Demon-Slayers. A detective finds himself caught up in a bizarre web of secrets, intrigue, and murdered felines in The Mystery Killer of Cats.