Part of October Daye
First published 2012
Young bard Evicka accepts a dangerous assignment to watch an assassin in Tanya Huff's "Quartered," but her spy mission leads to unexpected tragedy and discovery. In Amanda Downum's "Bone Garden," malevolent spirits hunt the defenseless residents of Erisín while dark secrets demand terrible sacrifices. A French soldier from Napoleon's failed Russian invasion confronts supernatural terrors alongside his war memories in Jasper Kent's "The Sergeant and the General." Seanan McGuire's "Rat-Catcher" takes readers into 17th century London, where the theatrical world meets the faerie Court of Cats during one of history's most devastating fires. Each story returns to established series worlds, offering both familiar magic systems and fresh perspectives on beloved settings. The collection explores how individual choices ripple through fantasy realms, whether through bardic duties, necromantic mysteries, military campaigns touched by the otherworldly, or the intersection of human creativity and fae politics during London's Great Fire.
Genres: anthologies, fantasy, supernatural, dark-fantasy, historical-fantasy, short-story-collection
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, haunting, lyrical, mysterious, suspenseful
Tropes: consequences-of-choices, interconnected-stories, magic-systems, series-continuations
Setting: London, Erisín, Russia, Court of Cats, Faerie
Period: 17th century, Napoleonic era, Great Fire of London
160 pages · Hardcover · Subterranean Press
Content warnings: death, violence