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There is no Wheel
A shark swims through a kitchen. A biology teacher dumps a dead angel onto his grandmother's kitchen table. A billion bees swarm the Empire State Building. In an empty attic, a teapot filled with lizards reaches a boil. Everything is understood when a small town sheriff bites into an eyeball. These are the scenes that draw you into the world of James Maxey. Good luck on finding your way back out.
James Maxey's award winning short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and over a dozen other magazines and anthologies. There is No Wheel collects his ten most critically acclaimed tales.
Author Luc Reid writes: "Maxey's protagonists are unapologetically bizarre: junkies, perverts, hedonists, cannibals, has-beens, and heretics. But even as these people with terrible problems and tragic paths dig themselves deeper into misery, you can't help but feel some of the love and empathy Maxey seems to carry for them."
James Maxey's award winning short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and over a dozen other magazines and anthologies. There is No Wheel collects his ten most critically acclaimed tales.
Author Luc Reid writes: "Maxey's protagonists are unapologetically bizarre: junkies, perverts, hedonists, cannibals, has-beens, and heretics. But even as these people with terrible problems and tragic paths dig themselves deeper into misery, you can't help but feel some of the love and empathy Maxey seems to carry for them."
- GenresShort Stories
225 pages, Paperback
First published March 29, 2011
15 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
James Maxey
93 books187 followersI've been an avid reader since I first picked up a book. Luckily, I was within biking distance of three different libraries growing up. I was a skinny kid. If only I had maintained that link between biking and reading, I might be a skinny adult.
I'm also a writer. I wrote my first book as a kid, an adventure about pirates and ghosts. When I was a teenager, I used to write superhero adventures. Then I went to college and was steered toward writing "literature." It took me several years to shake that off, and today I write the sort of books I devoured by the shelf when I was sixteen, fast-paced fantasy, SF, and superhero adventures, which I use to explore deeper questions about life. My goal is to always be thought-provoking and always be fun.
I've had short stories in about a dozen anthologies and magazines. My novels to date are:
Nobody Gets the Girl
The Dragon Age trilogy
Bitterwood
Dragonforge
Dragonseed
Burn Baby Burn
The Dragon Apocalypse
Greatshadow (January 2012) -- A team of superpowered adventurers are recruited by the Church of the Book to extinguish the primal dragon of fire, Greatshadow.
Hush (July 2012) -- An effort to complete a quest for a fallen friend, the warrior woman Infidel stumbles onto a plot to kill Glorious, the primal dragon of the sun, and plunge the world into permanent cold and darkness, the elemental domain of the dragon Hush.
Witchbreaker (January 2013) -- A young witch named Sorrow has lost control of her magic after tapping into the spirit of Rott, the primal dragon of decay. Her desperate quest to save what remains of her humanity leads to an uneasy alliance with an amnesiatic warrior who might be the legendary champion of the church known as the Witchbreaker. But can there combined powers prevail when they trigger the wrath of Tempest, the primal dragon of storms?
I'm also a writer. I wrote my first book as a kid, an adventure about pirates and ghosts. When I was a teenager, I used to write superhero adventures. Then I went to college and was steered toward writing "literature." It took me several years to shake that off, and today I write the sort of books I devoured by the shelf when I was sixteen, fast-paced fantasy, SF, and superhero adventures, which I use to explore deeper questions about life. My goal is to always be thought-provoking and always be fun.
I've had short stories in about a dozen anthologies and magazines. My novels to date are:
Nobody Gets the Girl
The Dragon Age trilogy
Bitterwood
Dragonforge
Dragonseed
Burn Baby Burn
The Dragon Apocalypse
Greatshadow (January 2012) -- A team of superpowered adventurers are recruited by the Church of the Book to extinguish the primal dragon of fire, Greatshadow.
Hush (July 2012) -- An effort to complete a quest for a fallen friend, the warrior woman Infidel stumbles onto a plot to kill Glorious, the primal dragon of the sun, and plunge the world into permanent cold and darkness, the elemental domain of the dragon Hush.
Witchbreaker (January 2013) -- A young witch named Sorrow has lost control of her magic after tapping into the spirit of Rott, the primal dragon of decay. Her desperate quest to save what remains of her humanity leads to an uneasy alliance with an amnesiatic warrior who might be the legendary champion of the church known as the Witchbreaker. But can there combined powers prevail when they trigger the wrath of Tempest, the primal dragon of storms?
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 15, 2025
It was nice to be able to meet Mr. Maxey at a convention a week ago and pick this up.
December 25, 2018
A collection of ten of James Maxey's short stories, "There is No Wheel" is alternately uncomfortable, amazing, demented, inventive, twisted, and jaw-dropping. As the intro by Edmund Schubert, former editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show states: "One thing about James: he pushes boundaries, and he pushes them hard. ... James's stories require a strong mind and strong stomach. They're freaky weird and hauntingly honest at the same time."
All the stories are complete, complicated, and crazy.
To the East, a Bright Star: "He should go on, leave her to her own devices. Except he hated people who thought like that..." This line - a gem - encapsulates the story about two very messed up people in a very messed up situation,
Silent as Dust: Wasn't sure until the end who was being haunted.
Final Flight of the Blue Bee: Sometimes heroes live long enough to be the villain. And some heroes don't need to live very long to reach that point.
Empire of Dreams and Miracles: Getting deeper into the collection, and the connection Mr. Maxey's works have to reality get looser - and somehow more direct. For what is more direct than death and more unreal than it not having consequences, until, unexpectedly, it does.
Return to Sender: Crystal has been raised by monks with virtually no outside contact meets a home-school guy raised by religious extremists (snake handlers) while delivering pizza. Comparing backgrounds of isolation, indoctrination, and improbable information, she questions if she really is about to save the world or just kill a guy who owns some old books because the monks tell her to. And with Mr. Maxey you really don't know where this is going to land.
Pentacle on His Forehead, Lizard on His Breath: Customer service is essential for return customers.
To Know All Things That Are In the Earth: That is ... the weirdest and wildest post-rapture story I have ever read that still made sense. The least psychedelic story of the collection. Strangely - the more out-there the circumstances of the story, the more real Mr. Maxey makes his characters.
Echo of the Eye: Oh, um. Well, then.
Where Their Worm Dieth Not: Another story about the consequences of death not having consequences, except when it does. Superhero version. Also a study of evil, judgement, and punishment.
Perhaps the Snail: An erotica with a moist large, one-muscle creature. A commentary on obsession. A study of rock lyrics. One, two or all three or something else entirely? I think I brought up the words demented and psychedelic before in this review while also saying Mr. Maxey writes full-bodied characters. Yeah.
All the stories are complete, complicated, and crazy.
To the East, a Bright Star: "He should go on, leave her to her own devices. Except he hated people who thought like that..." This line - a gem - encapsulates the story about two very messed up people in a very messed up situation,
Silent as Dust: Wasn't sure until the end who was being haunted.
Final Flight of the Blue Bee: Sometimes heroes live long enough to be the villain. And some heroes don't need to live very long to reach that point.
Empire of Dreams and Miracles: Getting deeper into the collection, and the connection Mr. Maxey's works have to reality get looser - and somehow more direct. For what is more direct than death and more unreal than it not having consequences, until, unexpectedly, it does.
Return to Sender: Crystal has been raised by monks with virtually no outside contact meets a home-school guy raised by religious extremists (snake handlers) while delivering pizza. Comparing backgrounds of isolation, indoctrination, and improbable information, she questions if she really is about to save the world or just kill a guy who owns some old books because the monks tell her to. And with Mr. Maxey you really don't know where this is going to land.
Pentacle on His Forehead, Lizard on His Breath: Customer service is essential for return customers.
To Know All Things That Are In the Earth: That is ... the weirdest and wildest post-rapture story I have ever read that still made sense. The least psychedelic story of the collection. Strangely - the more out-there the circumstances of the story, the more real Mr. Maxey makes his characters.
Echo of the Eye: Oh, um. Well, then.
Where Their Worm Dieth Not: Another story about the consequences of death not having consequences, except when it does. Superhero version. Also a study of evil, judgement, and punishment.
Perhaps the Snail: An erotica with a moist large, one-muscle creature. A commentary on obsession. A study of rock lyrics. One, two or all three or something else entirely? I think I brought up the words demented and psychedelic before in this review while also saying Mr. Maxey writes full-bodied characters. Yeah.
July 27, 2024
Rounding up from 4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this anthology! It amazes me when one writer can write so many very different stories and do it well. My favorites were "To The East A Bright Star" and "To Know All Things That Are In The Earth".
I really enjoyed this anthology! It amazes me when one writer can write so many very different stories and do it well. My favorites were "To The East A Bright Star" and "To Know All Things That Are In The Earth".
November 11, 2024
I'm glad I finally got around to reading this! A wonderful collection of stories for my equally dark brain. Best to read during October for some spooky/weird vibes! I can't wait to read the other two short story collections!~
March 10, 2012
I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.
This is a collection of 10 short stories.I was scared when I first read the blurb on this book.I knew it would be one I either really liked or loathed.The introduction didn't help when it described the characters in the stories as making Jerry Springer's guests seem sane and rational.Luckily they weren't that bad and while freakishly weird and disturbingly quirky, the stories were hauntingly good.I will take the stories in order.
To the East,A Bright Star. A nice introduction story for the collection.A little quirky with a nice twist, but not nearly as far out as some of the later stories.-3 stars
Silent as Dust.The story of what happens when a man decides he makes a better ghost than a living man.-4 stars
Final Flight of the Blue Bee.The first of 2 superhero stories in the collection.James Maxey adds a very real humanity to his superheroes.This is a tale of the ramifactions of what happens when a true superpowered person fights a normal person.How the superheroes deal with their final mission and its fallout shows how flawed even a superhero can be.-3.5 stars
Empire of Dreams and Miracles.When society ends all needs, all the people have left are wants.Without drive, society becomes decadent.-3 stars.
Return to Sender.First of two angel stories.The real world can test the faith of even the best trained.The lightest of all the stories.-4 stars
Pentacle on His Forehead,Lizard on His Breath.Even a drug dealer needs to be concerned with customer service.-3 stars
To Know All Things That Are In the Earth.The second angel story in the collection.It starts with the rapture,maybe, and follows those who are trying to find out what where they stand now.-5 stars
Echo of the Eye.The story was fine but I have a personal dislike for this type of story.So in all fairness,I will skip rating this story.
Where Their Worm Dieth Not.The second superhero story in the collection.It always seems that superheroes and their enemies always come back even from death.Unfortunately the normal people around them don't have that same ability.This story provides one possible reason for that.My personal favorite of the collection.-5 stars
Perhaps the Snail.Easily the most twisted story in the entire collection.Not a PG-13 story.How far will a fan go for her rock star idol?-3 stars
This is a collection of 10 short stories.I was scared when I first read the blurb on this book.I knew it would be one I either really liked or loathed.The introduction didn't help when it described the characters in the stories as making Jerry Springer's guests seem sane and rational.Luckily they weren't that bad and while freakishly weird and disturbingly quirky, the stories were hauntingly good.I will take the stories in order.
To the East,A Bright Star. A nice introduction story for the collection.A little quirky with a nice twist, but not nearly as far out as some of the later stories.-3 stars
Silent as Dust.The story of what happens when a man decides he makes a better ghost than a living man.-4 stars
Final Flight of the Blue Bee.The first of 2 superhero stories in the collection.James Maxey adds a very real humanity to his superheroes.This is a tale of the ramifactions of what happens when a true superpowered person fights a normal person.How the superheroes deal with their final mission and its fallout shows how flawed even a superhero can be.-3.5 stars
Empire of Dreams and Miracles.When society ends all needs, all the people have left are wants.Without drive, society becomes decadent.-3 stars.
Return to Sender.First of two angel stories.The real world can test the faith of even the best trained.The lightest of all the stories.-4 stars
Pentacle on His Forehead,Lizard on His Breath.Even a drug dealer needs to be concerned with customer service.-3 stars
To Know All Things That Are In the Earth.The second angel story in the collection.It starts with the rapture,maybe, and follows those who are trying to find out what where they stand now.-5 stars
Echo of the Eye.The story was fine but I have a personal dislike for this type of story.So in all fairness,I will skip rating this story.
Where Their Worm Dieth Not.The second superhero story in the collection.It always seems that superheroes and their enemies always come back even from death.Unfortunately the normal people around them don't have that same ability.This story provides one possible reason for that.My personal favorite of the collection.-5 stars
Perhaps the Snail.Easily the most twisted story in the entire collection.Not a PG-13 story.How far will a fan go for her rock star idol?-3 stars
February 15, 2013
An excellent, imaginative debut short story collection. My favorite stories were "To Know All Things That are in the Earth", "Silent as Dust", and "Return to Sender". I will be reading more James Maxey in the near future...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews