Award-winning stories from the world of All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead, this is a compendium of fantastic tales from the dark gothic heart of the Sourdough universe. Witches, assassins and pirates are brought to life in immersive, sinister and magical prose.
Comprised of three collections (Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales) these mosaic narratives form much of the foundational mythology for the novels All the Murmuring Bones, The Path of Thorns, The Briar Book of the Dead¸ The Crimson Road and A Forest, Darkly.
Within these pages, coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead buried and their own murderous urges in check; poison girls are schooled in the art of marital assassination; books carry forth stories and forbidden secrets; a young witch wreaks a terrible revenge on an old lover; the Little Sisters of St Florian devote their lives to knowledge good and bad; a dying forest god is reinvigorated; mermaids and seamstresses make dangerous bargains; changelings bring havoc. Saints slumber, hind-girls dance across the countryside, bears show their true colours, and the fate of the upper and lower worlds rests on the whim of a volatile plague maiden…
Exquisite, compelling and rich with unforgettable characters, these stories layer and intertwine in the dexterous hands of a master storyteller. All three collections were shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award with The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings winning the award. This is beautiful fairy-tale gothic of the most haunting and dangerous kind.
"A dazzling masterpiece of a tapestry novel, where each dark fairy tale twist weaves together into something much greater." Caitlin Rozakis, New York Times bestselling author of Dreadful
"Slatter displays a rare gift for evocative and poetic prose" Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Slatter’s work is excellent, and eminently readable. The world that her creations live within is excellently depicted, and the characters easy to relate to. It’s easy to see how she’s managed to make such an impact on the genre and garnered a British Fantasy Award and numerous other nominations.” British Fantasy Society
"[Angela Slatter] has carved a niche as one of the best writers of short stories of dark fantasy... Slatter combines darkness, passion and beauty to leave the reader at turns amused, confronted and horrified." The Australian
"A collection of stories in which each individual work is a perfectly crafted gem... As of today’s date, I rate The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings the best book I have read so far this year." Black Static
"Wonderful prose and... enticing narrative style, where words are musical notes and the stories are symphonies." Black Gate
"Like Aickman, her sense of the fantastic serves to show us the weird world we hold within our own psyches." Rick Kleffel, American Public Radio Books
"Slatter’s fairy tales have a ravishing quality which leaves the reader totally spellbound by their elegance and imaginative power." Bookgeeks
Award-winning stories from the world of All the Murmuring Bones and The Briar Book of the Dead, this is a compendium of fantastic tales from the dark gothic heart of the Sourdough universe. Witches, assassins and pirates are brought to life in immersive, sinister and magical prose.
Comprised of three collections (Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales) these mosaic narratives form much of the foundational mythology for the novels All the Murmuring Bones, The Path of Thorns, The Briar Book of the Dead¸ The Crimson Road and A Forest, Darkly.
Within these pages, coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead buried and their own murderous urges in check; poison girls are schooled in the art of marital assassination; books carry forth stories and forbidden secrets; a young witch wreaks a terrible revenge on an old lover; the Little Sisters of St Florian devote their lives to knowledge good and bad; a dying forest god is reinvigorated; mermaids and seamstresses make dangerous bargains; changelings bring havoc. Saints slumber, hind-girls dance across the countryside, bears show their true colours, and the fate of the upper and lower worlds rests on the whim of a volatile plague maiden…
Exquisite, compelling and rich with unforgettable characters, these stories layer and intertwine in the dexterous hands of a master storyteller. All three collections were shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award with The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings winning the award. This is beautiful fairy-tale gothic of the most haunting and dangerous kind.
Praise
"A dazzling masterpiece of a tapestry novel, where each dark fairy tale twist weaves together into something much greater." Caitlin Rozakis, New York Times bestselling author of Dreadful
"Slatter displays a rare gift for evocative and poetic prose" Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Slatter’s work is excellent, and eminently readable. The world that her creations live within is excellently depicted, and the characters easy to relate to. It’s easy to see how she’s managed to make such an impact on the genre and garnered a British Fantasy Award and numerous other nominations.” British Fantasy Society
"[Angela Slatter] has carved a niche as one of the best writers of short stories of dark fantasy... Slatter combines darkness, passion and beauty to leave the reader at turns amused, confronted and horrified." The Australian
"A collection of stories in which each individual work is a perfectly crafted gem... As of today’s date, I rate The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings the best book I have read so far this year." Black Static
"Wonderful prose and... enticing narrative style, where words are musical notes and the stories are symphonies." Black Gate
"Like Aickman, her sense of the fantastic serves to show us the weird world we hold within our own psyches." Rick Kleffel, American Public Radio Books
"Slatter’s fairy tales have a ravishing quality which leaves the reader totally spellbound by their elegance and imaginative power." Bookgeeks
