Dave Higgins's Blog, page 59

Love Beyond Death Kickstarter

My short story “Nor Left Behind” will appear in Love Beyond Death, an anthology of unusual perspectives on love that transcends mortality, funding now via Kickstarter. Drawing on both British police dramas and cosmic horror, “Nor Left Behind” tells the tale of a police detective who sees an opportunity to do a good deed and … Continue reading Love Beyond Death Kickstarter

Prophet’s Journey by Matthew S. Cox

This novel is a post-apocalyptic road movie through the eyes of an innocent, both providing a story filled with adventure and peril, and questioning whether the collapse of civilisation must leave us uncivilised. The events of this book take place after Cox’s The Awakened series. Spoilers ahead. Following the defeat of Archon, Althea has returned … Continue reading Prophet’s Journey by Matthew S. Cox

Invisible Fish Still Floating

Last week Joy Harjo was appointed US Poet Laureate. In a world of division, I feel joy that a country deeply flawed by overt white supremacy has appointed a member of the Mvskoke/Creek Nation as an avatar of its national soul. I couldn’t find a recording of Joy herself reading my favourite of her works, … Continue reading Invisible Fish Still Floating

Wind and Words by Stephanie Flint

Flint blends an interesting magic system with a very personal challenge to create a quest that has a feel of real consequence without the scale (or the weight) of epic fantasy. This book is the second in the Stone and String series. Possible spoilers ahead. Edyli rescued her from the land of the dead. As … Continue reading Wind and Words by Stephanie Flint

Darkness of Heart

As any who have dared to throw aside even a corner of that blanket of comfortable illusion that men call sanity might know, Lovecraft tells us that Azathoth is “nuclear chaos”. To the modern mind already laden with the dread echoes of science wrought scouring destroyer, this conjures—as some followers of Providence have stated—Azathoth as … Continue reading Darkness of Heart

NYV: Goth by K.D. McQuain

Continuing his fusion of New York youth cultures with a fresh take on vampirism, McQuain embraces the apogee of music for blood drinking in plain sight: Goth. This novel is the second in the New York Vampire series. Ineffable mysteries of the first volume might be unveiled beyond this point. Having, barely, survived Gilles’ attack, … Continue reading NYV: Goth by K.D. McQuain

Wild Frontiers: The Amarillo Job

We conclude our ride through Wild Frontiers with an extract from Jeffrey L. Blehar’s ‘The Amarillo Job’, the classic tale of a wandering stranger updated for the petrol age. I had planned to drive straight through from Santa Fe to Tulsa, stopping only when I needed gasoline for the Roadster. One of the necessary stops … Continue reading Wild Frontiers: The Amarillo Job

Wild Frontiers: Through Dry Places

We continue our ride through Wild Frontiers with an extract from my story ‘Through Dry Places’, a tale of the darkness that presses at the fringes civilisation. Orlin rolled out of his saddle just before it dropped from under him. Seemed his horse’d finally gone the way of an honest man in court: staggering along … Continue reading Wild Frontiers: Through Dry Places

Wild Frontiers: Absolution

We continue our ride through Wild Frontiers with an extract from Patrick Winter’s ‘Absolution’, a tale that reminds us that the desert is just as hard as the people in it. The sun was hot. The day had been long. The ride had been longer. Still, the man spurred his horse on, huffing and puffing … Continue reading Wild Frontiers: Absolution

Wild Frontiers: Such is the Nature of the Change

We continue our ride through Wild Frontiers with an extract from Stephen M. Coghlan’s ‘Such is the Nature of the Change’, a tale not of the West That Was but of a West That Might Be where gunslingers stride the edge of civilisation again. The massed choir was rough in tone and agonized in note, … Continue reading Wild Frontiers: Such is the Nature of the Change