Books published by Newcon Press

A stand-alone novella featuring Madis Defranthea, whose brother presents her with a challenge. If she wants to join his gang, she and her team have to steal a magical belt that's locked to the waist of a bride, on her wedding night, in a fortified castle, on a rock in the middle of the sea. Madis takes him up on it. But when she discovers just how much her brother didn't know, the job proves even more hazardous than she bargained for...Featuring magic, automata, snobbery, small gods, large fish, a useful corpse and an unnervingly intelligent horse.In A Hazardous Engagement the author of Babylon Steel and Shanghai Sparrow delivers a thrilling tale of cunning, ingenuity and betrayal that entertains royally from first page to last.

In the heart of the Great Forest, nothing is as it should be. Sir Vladisal and her Knights of Boska are lost and far from home. The son of their Duchess has been kidnapped, spirited away to a nameless place within these dark and endless woodlands. Vladisal is his only hope, but an evil has come to the Great Forest, an evil that is corrupting the trees with demons born from ancient magic. If Vladisal is to save her Duchess' son, if he and the women of Boska are to live through the horrors of the Great Forest, then she must place her trust in Abildan the assassin. But Abildan hails from an age-old enemy, and she once served the very evil they all must fight to survive.In The Bone Shaker, the author of The Relic Guild delivers his most potent tale yet; a powerful story of valour, betrayal, dark magic, blood and death, but also of hope. Epic fantasy distilled into a novella, in which traditional gender rolls are turned on their heads.

Two centuries after the Earth fell to enigmatic alien machines known as the Visitors, humanity survives in sparse nomadic tribes. Macsen is an adventurer, undertaking hazardous quests for the captivating Hona Loy; quests that have made him a hero. Macsen never fails, but this time he crosses the path of a Jugger, one of the deadliest of all the Visitors. Can he find a way to defeat the alien and survive, or will it fall to his faithful companion Laylaw to return to the tribe with the tale of his noble death?In Macsen Against the Jugger, award-winning author Simon Morden delivers a masterpiece of excitement and clever story telling.One of four independent novellas by four different authors that form NewCon Novella Set 5: The Alien Among Us

When two strangers ask the manager at Kabul Station to take them into the Afghanizone he refuses. What sane person wouldn't? Thought to be the result of an alien visitation, the zone is deadly. Nothing works there. Electrical items are your enemy; they malfunction or simply blow up. The pair go in anyway, and the biggest surprise is when one of them walks out again. Nobody survives the zone, so how has she?In The Man Who Would Be Kling, award-winning author Adam Roberts delivers an intriguing story that evokes the spirit of the Strugatsky Brothers' Roadside Picnic while also paying homage to both Rudyard Kipling's classic tale and to fans of Star Trek.One of four independent novellas by four different authors that form NewCon Novella Set 5: The Alien Among Us

Award-winning author Dave Hutchinson delivers one of his finest tales yet. A story that starts out firmly in the mundane world we know but slides steadily into the bizarre and unsettling.Are there really refugees from 'elsewhere' living among us? If so, what cataclysmic event are they fleeing from? When a high speed car chase leads Police Sergeant Frank Grant to Dronfield Farm, he finds himself the focus of unwanted attention from Internal Affairs and is faced with the prospect of things being unearthed that he would far rather stayed buried.One of four independent novellas by four different authors that form NewCon Novella Set 5: The Alien Among Us

When Sir Thornto Jeness follows his chivalric hero, Lord Philippe Duranton, to war, he soon discovers that heroes are often better worshipped from afar. Betrayed, badly injured, left for dead, Sir Thornto is nursed back to half-life by Gritcham, a ghoul necromancer. Joining forces with Cross, a taciturn professional murderess, he returns to the war, determined to set the record straight.Chivalry is a grim and gritty tale of revenge, with a cast of scheming nobles, brutal mercenaries, violent criminals and wielders of inhuman dark magic.Novella Set 6, Blood and Bone: four books, each containing an outstanding tale of epic fantasy squeezed within the covers of a novella. Four independent stories by four gifted authors, linked only by their cover art.

Rachel Armstrong's follow-up to her critically aclaimed debut novel Origamy. Set in a near-future Venice, Invisible Ecologies tells the story of Po, an ambiguously gendered boy who shares an intimate connection with a nascent sentience emerging within the Po delta: the bioregion upon which the city of Venice is founded. The pair share a series of extraordinary adventures and, as Po starts school, stumble upon the Mayor's drastic plans to modernise the city and reshape the future of the lagoon and its people.How the critics reacted to Origamy:"Origamy is a magnificent, glittering explosion of a book: a meditation on creation, the poetry of science and the insane beauty of everything. You're going to need this." - Warren Ellis"Origamy crackles with a strange and brilliant energy, and folds the conventions of SF into beautiful new shapes. A rare and wonderful debut." - Adam Roberts"Perhaps the most astonishing and original piece of SF I've read in a long, long while." - Adrian Tchaikovsky"A visionary masterpiece. Science Fiction, Fantasy, science and poetry combine to create a lyric on life and death that spans the whole of creation. Delightful and mind-expanding. If you miss it you have missed one of the finest examples of literary art." - Justina Robson"The concepts, images, and settings found in this novel could easily power a quartet of more traditionally-arranged works..." - Tor.com"I'm still dumbfounded now." - SFcrowsnest"A whimsical, half-daft, drunken-prose-poem odyssey down alien byways. The closest thing to this book might be Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics." - Locus

Suave, sophisticated, erudite and charming, Gig Danvers seems too good to be true. He appears from nowhere and sets about revolutionising science and promoting humanitarian causes, using his growing influence for the benefit of all humankind. But where did he come from, and are his critics right to be cautious? Is there a darker side to this enigmatic benefactor - one that's more in keeping with his persona as Celebrity Werewolf?"Fang-sharp science fiction: witty, readable and simply bristling with lupine splendour." - Adam Roberts, author of Jack Glass

For the first time in print, Adrian Tchaikovsky has opened up the realm of the Apt, as featured in his best-selling Shadow of the Apt decalogy, to a carefully selected cast of fellow writers, inviting them to do their best and their worst within the world he has created. They have done just that. Topped and tailed by two new stories form Adrian himself, some of the finest imaginations in fantasy, including winners of the David Gemmell Award, the Costa Book Award and British Fantasy Award, have combined to produce a stunning collection of tales that examine fresh aspects of the Apt world and its people. Contents:Old Blood - Adrian Tchaikovsky The Scent of Tears - Keris McDonald Wonder - Frances Hardinge The Promise of a Threat - David Tallerman The Unforeseen Path - Juliet E. McKenna The Message - John Gwynne The Mantis Way - Peter Newman Poor Little Earwig Girl - Tom Lloyd Forwards, Up, Back, Down - Joff Leader Recipes for Good Living - Justina Robson God of Profound Things - Adrian Tchaikovsky

An anthology showcasing the very best steampunk stories from three different countries released by three different publishers in three different languages.From the UK, George Mann (a new Newbury & Hobbes tale), Jonathan Green (a new Pax Brittania tale), and Derry O'Dowd; from Finland, Magdalena Hai (winner of the Atorox Award and the Finnish Literary Export Prize), multiple award-winning Anne Leinonen, and J.S. Meresmaa (whose work has been shortlisted for the Anni Polva, Kuvastaja, and Atorox Awards); and from Portugal, Anton Stark, Diana Pinguicha, and Pedro Cipriano (winner of Fórum Fantástico's Choice of the Year Award).Contents:Introduction by Ian Whates Steampunk UKSeasons of Wither - George Mann Reckless Engineering - Jonathan Green The Athenian Dinner Party - Derry O'Dowd Steampunk FinlandForeword by J.S. Meresmaa The Winged Man Isaac - Magdalena Hai The Cylinder Hat - Anne Leinonen Augustine - J.S. Meresmaa Steampunk PortugalForeword by Pedro Cipriano Videri Quam Esse - Anton Stark The Desert Spider - Pedro Cipriano Heart of Stone - Diana Pinguicha

The third in NewCon Press' 'Strange Tales' series: four standalone novellas that step outside the norm.Lost in Venice in the aftermath of the war, Cherenkov just wants to put his head down somewhere and sleep, but her copper hair snares his eye. Beguiled and weary, he allows himself to be led through a quirky little shop through which lies a vast and hidden land where her family rule in ornate splendour, where his revolver is a marvel and his motives are questioned. Confusion and wonder abound as Cherenkov and his seductress embark on a pilgrimage in a small sailing boat across sargasso seas, in search of the Old Man who dwells on a floating island where time follows its own rules.Cherenkov returns to the outside world, only to discover how badly he has come adrift in time: money is carried within plastic cards and information comes from a screen. Bereft, he is drawn back to voyage on the hidden sea, and to seek the mystery that lies at its centre which may be the only thing that can give him the answers he craves.

"Cat Hellisen is one of the most accomplished writers of African SFF. This fine collection gathers the best so far of her wondrous fictions." - Geoff Ryman, author of The Child GardenCat Hellisen has the ability to conjure a sense of 'otherness' that most writers can only envy, casting grounded characters driven by passions and ambitions we all recognise in situations that take a step away from the reality we know. Her stories have already featured in such venues as Fantasy & Science Fiction and Tor.com, and she is the winner of the Short Story Day Africa Prize.Learning How to Drown represents her best work to date, gathering together seventeen fabulous stories, two of which appear for the first time and all of which showcase why Cat Hellisen is being tipped as an author to watch."Cat Hellisen is a writer of wonderful and allusive stories; rich, engaging and often unsettling. Be prepared to be both submersed - and transformed - by the gripping magic within!" - Nick Wood, author of Azanian Bridges"I loved this stunning collection of stories, every tale limned with beauty and steeped in a darkling strangeness that is absolutely unique. The bookshelves of any reader interested in the modern short story should proudly display a copy of Learning How To Drown front and centre." - Neil Williamson, author of The Moon KingContents:IntroductionThe Girls Who Go BelowWakingThe Subtle ThiefJack of Spades, ReversedMother, Crone, MaidenThis Reflection of MeCounter CurseMouse TeethA Sun Bright PrisonSereinDreaming MonstersGolden Wing, Silver EyeI'm Only Going OverThe Face of JarryThe Worme BridgeThis is How We BurnA Green Silk Dress and a Wedding-DeathAbout the Author

Editor Johnny Mains has scoured anthologies, magazines, and on-line publications to select the very best horror stories written by British authors. From creepingly insidious tales where the fear gathers slowly to the outright terrifying, from musty abandoned buildings to the wilds of an isolated beach, from yarns of yesterday to contemporary horrors of today: 17 tales showcasing British horror at its best:Content:Introduction - Johnny Mains Paymon's Trio - Colette De Curzon Love and Death - Reggie Oliver In the Light of St. Ives - Ray Cluley The Book of Dreems - Georgina Bruce The Affair - James Everington Fragments of a Broken Doll - Cate Gardner The Lies We Tell - Charlotte Bond Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling - Daniel McGachey Tools of the Trade - Paul Finch Departures - A.K. Benedict The Taste of Her - Mark West Sun Dogs - Laura Mauro Dispossession - Nicholas Royle Shell Baby - V.H. Leslie The Unwish - Claire Dean A Day With the Delusionists - Reggie Oliver We Who Sing Beneath the Ground - Mark Morris About the Authors

Susan MacDonald is desperate. Unless she makes a breakthrough soon, Ashford, the millionaire businessman financing her project, will shut it down and disband her research team. She knows she's close - that she's on the verge of proving her theory of Retrocausality, which will enable her to harness quantum mechanics to produce a revolutionary new form of instantaneous communication - but results are proving frustratingly elusive. The last thing Susan needs is a team of ghost hunters moving into her base of operations, Ashford Hall - a building with a troubled past. Nor does she need the odd sounds - snatches of random conversation and even music - that are hampering her experiments; but does this interference represent the presence of 'ghosts' as some claim, deliberate sabotage as suggested by others, or is there an even more sinister explanation?

Produced to honour the centenary of Sir Arthur C. Clarke's birth, this anthology acts as a fund raiser for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.Original SF stories of precisely 2001 words from some of the biggest names in science fiction, including 10 winners of the Clarke Award and 13 authors who have been shortlisted, as well as non-fiction from thrice-winner China Miéville and former judge Neil Gaiman.Contents:IntroductionGolgotha - Dave HutchinsonThe Monoliths of Mars - Paul McAuleyMurmuration - Jane RogersOuroboros - Ian R MacLeodThe Escape Hatch - Matthew De AbaituaChildhood's Friend - Rachel PollackTakes from the White Hart - Bruce SterlingYour Death, Your Way, 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! - Emma NewmanDistraction - Gwyneth JonesDancers - Allen StroudEntropy War - Yoon Ha LeeThe Ontologist - Liz WilliamsWaiting in the Sky - Tom HunterThe Collectors - Adrian TchaikovskyI Saw Three Ships - Phillip MannBefore They Left - Colin GreenlandDrawn From the Eye - Jeff NoonRoads of Silver, Paths of Gold - Emmi ItärantaThe Fugue - Stephanie HolmanMemories of a Table - Chris BeckettChild of Ours - Claire NorthWould-Be A.I., Tell Us a Tale! #241: Sell 'em Back in Time! by Hali Hallison - Ian WatsonLast Contact - Becky ChambersThe Final Fable - Ian WhatesTen Landscapes of Nili Fossae - Ian McDonaldChild - Adam RobertsProvidence - Alastair Reynolds2001: A Space Prosthesis - The Extensions of Man - Andrew M. Butler (non-fiction)On Judging The Clarke Award - Neil Gaiman (non-fiction)Once More on the 3rd Law - China Miéville (non-fiction)

Simon Morden has won the Philip K. Dick Award and been a judge on the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He is a bona fide rocket scientist, with degrees in Geology and Planetary Geophysics. In Bright Morning Star he delivers perhaps his finest work to date, a ground-breaking take on first contact.Sent to Earth to explore, survey, collect samples and report back to its makers, an alien probe arrives in the middle of a warzone. Witnessing both the best and worst of humanity, the AI probe faces situations that go far beyond the parameters of its programming, and is forced to improvise, making decisions that have repercussions for the future of our entire world.

A volume written as homage to Arthur C. Clarke's Tales from the White Hart, featuring original stories from many of today's top genre writers, including Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, James Lovegrove, Liz Williams, Adam Roberts, Eric Brown, Ian Watson, and David Langford.The Fountain: a traditional London pub situated in Holborn, just off Chancery Lane, where Michael, the landlord, serves excellent real ales and dodgy ploughman's, ably assisted by barmaids Sally and Bogna.The Fountain, in whose Paradise bar a group of friends - scientists, writers and genre fans - meet regularly on a Tuesday night to swap anecdotes, reveal wondrous events from their past, tell tall tales, talk of classified invention and, maybe, just maybe, save the world…1. Introduction - Peter Weston2. No Smoke without Fire - Ian Whates3. Transients - Stephen Baxter4. Forever Blowing Bubbles - Ian Watson5. On the Messdecks of Madness - Paul Graham Raven6. The Story Bug - James Lovegrove7. "And Weep Like Alexander" - Neil Gaiman8. The Ghost in the Machine - Colin Bruce9. The Hidden Depths of Bogna - Liz Williams10. A Bird in Hand - Charles Stross11. In Pursuit of the Chuchunaa - Eric Brown12. The Cyberseeds - Steve Longworth13. Feathers of the Dinosaur - Henry Gee14. Book Wurms - Andy West15. The Pocklington Poltergeist - David Langford16. The Last Man in Space - Andrew J Wilson17. A Multiplicity of Phaedra Lament - Peter Crowther18. The Girl With the White Ant Tattoo - Tom Hunter19. The 9,000,000,001st Name of God - Adam Roberts20. About the Authors

Editor Donna Scott has selected the very best short fiction by British authors published during 2017. Twenty-two stories, from established names and rising stars of genre fiction.Introduction - Donna ScottBlinders - Tyler KeevilIn the Night of the Comet - Adam RobertsThe Walls of Tithonium Chasma - Tim Major3.8 Missions - Katie GrayOver You - Jaine FennThe Ghosts of Europa Will Keep You Trapped in a Prison You Make for Yourself - Matt DoveyUniquo - Aliya WhiteleyLooking for Laika - Laura MauroA Good Citizen - Anne CharnockMercury Teardrops - Jeff NoonThe Nightingales in Plàtres - Natalia TheodoridouThe Road to the Sea - Lavie TidharWhen I Close My Eyes - Chris BarnhamTargets - Eric BrownLondon Calling - Philip A. SuggarsThe Last Word - Ken MacLeodAfter the Atrocity - Ian CreaseyVoicemail - Karen McCreedyGreen Boughs Will Cover Thee - Sarah ByrneAirless - N.J. RamsdenProduct Recall - Robert BagnallThe Endling Market - E. J. SwiftAbout the Authors.

In a narrative reminiscent of Phileas Fogg meets Professor Challenger, For Love of Distant Shores features the exploits of scientist-cum-adventurer Doctor Ludweg Phinagler, as recorded by his (semi-)faithful assistant, Fosse. A maverick academic, Phinagler is able to charm almost everyone he meets… except for his fellow academics at Collegium, with whom he is frequently at odds. In part to escape the resultant animosity and scandal, and in part to satisfy his own thirst for knowledge, Phinagler mounts a series of expeditions to the far-flung corners of the world (regions which the author always knew were there but which the main narrative of the novels never allowed him to fully explore). In the process, he confronts ancient mysteries and deadly dangers that the majority of kinden would scarcely believe exist.Four thrilling adventures from Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky, three of which are original to this book and have never been told before.Tales of the Apt provides a companion series to the best-selling Shadows of the Apt decalogy.