fantastic wonder stories

edited by Russell B. Farr

 ISBN 978-0-9586856-8-9

 256 pages
 Numbered Edition (50 copies) Aus$49.50 RRP
 Limited Edition (700 copies) Aus$33.00 RRP

 science fiction/fantasy/horror  

Nominated for 5 Aurealis Awards:
"Lonely as life", Simon Brown, Best Science Fiction Short Story
"Arctica", Cat Sparks, Best Science Fiction Short Story
"A Scar for Leida", Deborah Biancotti, Best Young Adult Short Story
"Yamabushi Kaidan and the Smoke Dragon", Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Best Young Adult Short Story
"Cast Off", Tracey Rolfe, Best Young Adult Short Story

"A fantastic collection of stories. There are some easy to read, some harder; some lighter in tone, some dark and almost nasty; some in recognisable worlds, some completely alien. Something for everyone..."
—Alexandra Pierce, ASiF!

Steven Utley — "The Can-Opener"
Kylie Seluka — "Burning Bright"
Martin Livings — "There Was Darkness"
Patty Jansen — "Bigger Fish"
Rowena Cory Daniells — "Soulshaper"
Rob Hood — "Luxury Goods"
Nick Evans — "Goon of the Month in Lagerland"
Sonia Marcon — "Phantom Limbs"
Peter MacGregor — "Sandcastles, Spaceships and Worms"
Simon Brown — "Lonely as Life"
Deborah Biancotti — "A Scar for Leida"
Geoffrey Maloney — "'P' is for Power Station"
George Ivanoff — "The Colonist and the Choirmaster"
Shane Jiraiya Cummings — "Yamabushi Kaidan and the Smoke Dragon"
Deborah McDonnell — "Brolga Dreaming"
Marty Young — "The Wildflowers"
Tracey Rolfe — "Cast Off"
Cat Sparks — "Arctica"
Penelope Love — "Tell Him I Too Have Known"
Kate Eltham — "Tam Likes Green Bananas"

Fantastic Wonder Stories is the ambitious first anthology from Ticonderoga Publications. Featuring stories from some of Australia's rising stars and a handful of contributions from respected veterans, this anthology marks the publisher's 10th Anniversary. Available in a limited to 30 numbered edition signed by the editor, and a regular edition. The first of many anthologies from a publisher with a solid reputation for producing fine single author collections and the award-winning webzine, TiconderogaOnline.

Purchase this book here.

Note: all prices quoted inclusive of GST.

A brief tour...

Steven Utley — "The Can-Opener"
   A poem written about a character who figures in Utley's Silurian tales series of stories.

Kylie Seluka — "Burning Bright"
   In a world looking for the animal within, Wayne finds his animal chi to be more than a handful.

Martin Livings — "There Was Darkness"
   They say that, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. But in a primitive future where society has been reduced to ruins, it is the duty of Pieter DeCastille to ensure that the disaster that decimated mankind can never occur again, whatever the cost.

Patty Jansen — "Bigger Fish"
   Michael applies for a loan, and finds himself in an unusual spiral of debt.

Rowena Cory Daniells — "Soulshaper"
   In a world where Social Engineers monitor a perfect society, where decisions affecting the greater good are made on purely rational parameters and psychologists can manipulate the actual psyches of their patients what can possibly go wrong?

Rob Hood — "Luxury Goods"
   Luxury Harlowe is on an illicit mission to find her lover, who went missing somewhere on Kordan—a planet devastated by the anti-evolutionary effects of First Commercial Contact. But smuggling isn't all it's cracked up to be when the interplanetary mafioso you're working for are pursuing hidden agendas, and sentient squid creatures just want to rip out your heart.

Nick Evans — "Goon of the Month in Lagerland"
   Tony and his housemates live for kicks and their local football team in a town where the homeless hustle chess. What do you do when you've stolen a six-foot tall cannibalistic cartoon robot?

Sonia Marcon — "Phantom Limbs"
   Imagine if you had a gift that could improve the lives of others, but made you an anonymous prisoner of the system.

Peter MacGregor — "Sandcastles, Spaceships and Worms"
   Tells of a lonely fisherman discovering wonder late in his life. He learns what worms are. Readers of old classic SF can see what types of sandcastles the old masters would have probably built when they went to the beach as little children.

Simon Brown — "Lonely as Life"
   As the real world approaches its 4,500,000,000th birthday, people are spending more time living a Virtual existence. As nature starts reclaiming what humans have abandoned, Peter Arpe has a real problem.

Deborah Biancotti — "A Scar for Leida"
   In a world where magic leaves scars, Katya the witch has a pretty collection. When jilted Leida wants revenge on Tarakh, the cut is more than skin deep.

Geoffrey Maloney — "'P' is for Power Station"
   Michael Carmichael has the solution to the world's energy problems, and a pretty mean game of croquet. Energite operates nuclear reactors, intelligent boats, and has issues with enviro-terrorists. Will they all meet one sunny day?

George Ivanoff — "The Colonist and the Choirmaster"
   Colonising the new world hasn't gone to plan. The planet is dry and barren, rain only falls when the natives sing, and in the silence tension mounts.

Shane Jiraiya Cummings — "Yamabushi Kaidan and the Smoke Dragon"
   In a Japan that never was, a dragon of smoke and flame searches for a scroll in the village of Kyuusai, deep in the heart of the Autumn Valley. Only Yamabushi Kaidan, an outcast mountain monk with a fantastic powers and a lifetime's worth of secrets, stands in its way.

Deborah McDonnell — "Brolga Dreaming"
   Mina has dating issues, an interfering sister, and an uninvited Brolga in her inner-city apartment. She is saving up her annual leave for a day that may never come.

Marty Young — "The Wildflowers"
   Amy hasn't been to the outback since she was a child, but when her estranged sister shows up, eager to rebuild their relationship and help her accept the past, she soon finds herself in a dusty desert town called Elsewhere, where people smile like sharks and whisper about the Wildflowers.

Tracey Rolfe — "Cast Off"
   Atavisti has always been outcast from her village for her pale hair and eyes. One day, while scavenging on the beach, she finds someone extraordinary and takes him home. The strange man in her hut eases her loneliness, but his presence there could mean disaster or could change her life forever.

Cat Sparks — "Arctica"
   Shipwreck survivor Amadina Sande and her precious specimen case are stranded aboard the San Sebastienne coast guard vessel Cotillion as it completes its tour of duty in the treacherous Arctica Sea. Captain Saris and his crew are in search of the Luminance: but Amadina is on a mission too. A mission she is prepared to die for.

Penelope Love — "Tell Him I Too Have Known"
   The builders tell a tale of one who left the plateau. Strangely, for those who hoard knowledge, they do not know whether it was yesterday or long ago. This is his story.

Kate Eltham — "Tam Likes Green Bananas"
  Teenaged Sarah comes to grips with her synaesthesia, the Curly Man, Chemistry and Tam, the roo-eyed boy waiting for a bus where there is no stop.

RUSSELL B. FARR was born in Perth, Western Australia. He is the Managing Editor of Ticonderoga Publications, publishing writers including Howard Waldrop, Steven Utley, Stephen Dedman, Sean Williams and Simon Brown. New titles include anthologies Fantastic Wonder Stories and The Worker's Paradise, and the long-awaited collection by Simon Brown, [Troy]. In 1999 he founded TiconderogaOnline, which has overcome a sporadic start to become a regular quarterly publication. He is the author of over 100 stories, articles, reviews and essays published in Australia, the United States and Norway.