Bone Swans

by C. S. E. Cooney

First published 2015

A swan princess flees hunters who want her bones. A musician carries his silver pipe but cannot make music. Maurice the rat joins them to bring justice to their enchanted town. Children face a world destroyed by plague and an afterlife crawling with clowns who stole all the laughter. In an island city, a murdered child brings two lovers together, but revenge will tear them apart. A city trapped in ice and darkness can only be saved through human sacrifice. Someone spins gold from straw, but the cost differs from what anyone expects. These five novellas follow characters who navigate worlds where magic demands terrible prices and justice comes through unlikely alliances between the broken and the brave.

Genres: short-stories, fantasy, magical-realism, fairy-tale-retellings

Vibes: dark, lyrical, thought-provoking, whimsical

Tropes: found-family, unlikely-allies

Setting: Enchanted Town, Island City

Period: Plague

224 pages · Paperback · Mythic Delirium Books

Content warnings: death, violence

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