The Wild Edged Magic series is united by characters that break rules with their magic. The first five stories collected here range from traditional to contemporary fantasy, with an emphasis on alternate worlds.First up is, The Magician's Father. Ray, a magician prone to wild experiments, becomes ill with the equivalent of Alzheimer's, and his son, the country's leading Grandmaster of Magic, is forced to confront their fractured past and the violent death all magic user's face....

The fourth in the Modern Irish Fantasy series by award winning writer, Simon J. Cooper.First paragraph:Barnesmore bog was a remote spot and only visited by an old boy like me. When I had a fall a year ago and bust my leg, they said my days up here were finished. Sure, they would have had me in a nursing home after the hospital, only I put up a fight. Now I was back cutting peat and this bog held ten feet of fine Irish peat, like a giant black sponge pressed across the mount...

The first in the Wild Edged Magic series by award winning writer, Simon J. Cooper, this is a story of magic, death and hope in a world where magician's face consequences for every spell they cast.First paragraph:Raymond's aura fizzled over his skin like twisting green lasers, the potential power mocking his sagging flesh. Even now, with my father's tired eyes staring down at me, I felt anger rising instead of sadness, or even love. Stupid old man with a brilliant mind. He w...

A vampire must have blood to survive, even if that vampire is an alien shipwrecked on Earth after a secret landing to harvest human blood. But surviving on human blood comes at a high cost, both for this vampire, and her victims.Third in the Alien Science Fiction series by Simon J. Cooper, this one is not for the faint hearted.Opening:Calla floated in a sea of blood, but still she was hungry. A lone sun burned in a clear blue sky. She lifted her arms to shield her f...

When Professor Cree Caarlso receives a desperate call from an old friend, he finds himself the only one who can help. No Cry For Help is a whodunit set on an alien world where a humanoid species have developed from a dolphin like ancestor.This is the first story in the Alien Science Fiction series by Simon J. Cooper, a series taking an alien perspective.Opening:The house system bleeped, waking Professor Cree Caarlso from a generous snooze on his office chair. The wo...

How can you find happiness, true lasting happiness? Know anything about the Transync Monks, or the Happiness Worms on Lamm Island? Lurk on a travel forum from another galaxy and help a Gooboy find the answers.This is the fifth in the Alien Science Fiction series by Simon J. Cooper, a series taking an alien perspective.Opening:Gooboy12298933/123/FAI/5019TOPIC: Happiness Worms on Lamm???I'm off to travel this beautiful world of ours so where firs...

True Names Crush. True Names Control. True Names Kill.In a world where every person is born with a true name, only the Nameless know them all... except one.Elite magicians, secret police, power crazed thugs, call them what you want, the Nameless are gifted with knowledge of their own true names, and so the ability to use free magic. When Kyle Streeter sets out to drain the magic from a rogue shapeshifter, he ends up face to face with them, but that's just the beginning of h...

The fifth in the Modern Irish Fantasy series by award winning writer, Simon J. Cooper.First paragraph:The hospital appointment card floated into the bin like a mini Concorde. The envelope it came in had URGENT written in red letters front and back. I scrunched that into a ball and flung it with the other rubbish. It was four thirty. Katie was due home in an hour. I rolled up the dressing gown sleeve on my right arm, picked up the loaded syringe and pressed the needle agains...

True Names Crush. True Names Control. True Names Kill.In a world where every person is born with a true name, only the Nameless know them all... except one.Continuing the Nameless Magician series, 'The Deathless Spell' sees Kyle up against a force even the Nameless can't control.

When new technology discovered genuine monsters, both mythological and never before imagined, Ireland, like every other country, enforced strict codes of conduct for monsters. It was follow the rules or die. But still, there were rogues who refused to register themselves and were never discovered. Ireland's last monster hunter knows how to find them.The second in the Modern Irish Fantasy series by award winning writer, Simon J. Cooper.First paragraph:Sinead McGuire a...

The fifth in the Wild Edged Magic series by award winning writer, Simon J. Cooper, this is a story about survival, and its cost.First paragraph:Drew says he'll look after me, and I know I should be scared he's some crazy rapist, or murderer, but I've got no one else to help, not really, and besides, Drew saved me, and I like him, and I think I'm a pretty good judge of character."You've got talent, Stace," Drew says. "Real magical ability, but they don't understand t...

Mar'Morvyne is coming.Seventeen-year-old Duncan Alexander is thrust into a parallel universe, a modern day Earth where magic is applied on an industrial scale, and dragons and knights keep a tense peace.Duncan must learn fast about magic, dragons, and his own new powers. He's the only one who can find Mar'Morvyne, a sorcerer who'll rewrite the laws of magic this parallel Earth depends on, killing millions. First to die will be Carla, the girl Duncan's met in a dream every n...