Modern Science Fiction

Best-selling urban fantasy and paranormal suspense author M. D. Massey invites listeners back to the world of the Junkyard Druid for his second short story collection! This 35,000-word volume features even more characters from the Colin McCool series, starring in three separate novelette-length stories: "Old Ghosts", "The Goblin King", and "Going Under".

Somebody thought it would be a great idea to send us to the Troll Court. Because somebody imagined I might be the perfect person to help with a certain wild and crazy plan of Their Majesties' concoction. They want to restore the lost city of Farringale. I can only say that I heartily approve. There is the tiny problem of how, of course; but who better to dig up the truth than the Society’s most colourful agents? Off questing we go, armed with a long list of questions, two winning smiles (well, three, if you count the Baron’s — and who wouldn’t?) and a certain Dappledok pup.

Fresh from an involuntary crash course in the Stranger Arts, I've a new mystery on my plate: the inexplicable reappearance of a particularly fantastic magickal species. Which is great, don't get me wrong. Rescuing magickal beasts is what we do around here. But the Dappledok Pup hasn't been seen since the seventeen hundreds; so how did we find one, alive and kicking, over two hundred years later? And this beast has a talent for sniffing out treasure, no less. Happenstance? Maybe not.

As an agent of the Society for Magickal Heritage, I, Cordelia Vesper, have an important job: rescue endangered creatures, artefacts, books and spells wherever they are to be found. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to keep British magick alive. So we rescued a valuable book from a long-lost library, only it proved to be unusually... chatty. And it's got a foul mouth, too. What manner of weird magick is this? Somebody else thinks it's pretty interesting, too. Ancestria Magicka, they call themselves. Brand new. Big trouble.

Rohan Evans can't live in a world without his wife, so he turns to magic—even opening himself up to a man with access to the ancient, forbidden art of necromancy. Now the only thing standing between Rohan and being reunited with his true love is a dangerous expedition to ancient temples and underground mysteries—and a crazy old man with strange ambitions. The fate of the world, both ours and the afterlife, rests on what Rohan does next.

The Iron City is a prison, a maze, an industrial blight. It is the result of a war that saw the goblins grind the fae beneath their collective boot heels. And tonight, it is also a city that churns with life.

Sandy thinks there's something wrong with her resident's new hearing aid. It's picking up numbers that only he can detect. Evil carer Lisa thinks he's just an attention seeking senile old imbecile. They're counting down, but to what?

It has been 10 years since the police had charged him with the murder of his wife - an accusation that almost destroyed Jason’s life before finally being declared innocent. Now, all he wants is to retire and disappear into oblivion. Jason liked his plan, and it should have worked. Then, a strangely dressed man blew up his plan and sent him to training - warlock training.

Magic is real, fairies are assholes, and everyone knew about it but me...Sera Allen needs a change. The family house she inherits is the perfect place for a fresh start, except for the sexy neighbor she’d ditched years before and the surprise fairies living across the street. Before long, she’s neck-deep in magic, Fae, and zombie bunnies, and her tenuous connection to her powers relies on the one man she wants to avoid. With a dark force threatening the town, they’ll have to face their pasts and overcome their distrust to have any chance at a future.

In this modern-retelling of "Beauty and the Beast", Savannah Carmichael, betrayed by an unreliable source, returns to her hometown of Danvers, Virginia, with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the opportunity to get back in the game by writing a patriotic human interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn't been seen since.

Over 100 years ago, a group of witches made their way from New England to Whitewater, Wisconsin, known as Second Salem. Others also made their way to the city and, through their ignorance, unleashed an evil entity. Three sisters, the Willoughby Witches, created an incantation strong enough to ensnare the demon. Lord Henry McDermott, college professor, anthropologist, and archaeologist, has yearned to learn more about the legend of the Willoughby Witches. Taking the summer off to research the folklore, Henry discovers that there is more waiting for him in Whitewater than just a story.

מה קורה כאשר פו הדוב פוגש את וודי אלן? מה עשתה אליס על הספה של פרויד? איך הצליח עמנואל קאנט לפגוש את מרילין מונרו? האם אנו מבזבזים זמן או שהזמן מבזבז אותנו? מהי משנתו הפילוסופית של ארנולד שוורצנגר? מהו הקשר בין "מטריקס" ל"ארץ הפלאות"? איך חוגגים מסיבת לא יומהולדת? לכמה אדמה זקוק הרוזן טולסטוי? איך הפך סנדלר חולמני למלך צרפת? מדוע נזקק האסטרונום הטורקי לחליפת ארמאני? האם הנסיך הקטן מצא תשובה לשאלתו של ביאליק? האם יש משמעות לשאלות על משמעות? מהם הדברים החשובים באמת?

Everyone says Luma has the world at her fingertips. Her trust fund can buy anything she wants, there's a modeling agency courting her, and most people would kill for her life - especially her stepmother, Tabitha. When Tabitha comes home mangled from a botched cosmetic procedure and finds out Luma's been offered a prestigious gig, jealousy rears its aging, puffy head. Tabitha wants Luma dead and she's got no choice but to flee. Alone and cut off from her resources, Luma's last refuge is a remote cottage where she prays Tabitha won't find her.

"Sie müssen auf eine einsame Insel; Sie dürfen nur ein philosophisches Buch mitnehmen - nehmen Sie die Aphorismen! Verzichten Sie lieber auf die Schwimmweste!" Ein Ratgeber fürs richtige Leben im Sinne einer wirklichkeitsnahen Überlebens- und Selbstbehauptungsphilosophie. Ein Buch für Philosophen - ohnehin, aber eben auch für den Hörer, der philosophisch weder vorgebildet noch sonderlich interessiert ist.

Arthur Pendragon, the once and future king, has pursued his political career all the way to the White House. Then tragedy strikes, in the form of an assassination attempt that leaves his wife Gwen at death's door. To save her, Arthur must once again seek the Holy Grail, the Cup whose magical powers can heal her body and soul.... And as Arthur knows from experience, grail-hunting can be a very dangerous occupation.

More than 1,500 years after his disappearance into the mists of Avalon, King Arthur has returned. This time, he's prepared to rule the Camelot of a new millennium: New York City. Handsome, charismatic Arthur Penn is running for mayor on a platform of common sense, humor, and knightly virtues. His advisors include a gifted 10-year-old named Merlin; Percival, an immortal accountant; and Gwen, a lovely young woman with no end of problems.

It’s all very well deciding to build the means to save British magick. Top marks for ambitious goals! ...But there are one or two obstacles in the way. For one, said means does not yet exist, and it’ll take a genius to sort that one out. Luckily, we’ve got one of those. We call him Orlando. For another, nothing at all can be built without materials, and no common-or-garden commodities will do. It’s got to be silver. The impossibly rare, virtually extinct kind. This one’s on me, Val and Jay.

Rumour’s got a lot to say for itself, and the message is clear: the regulator’s ready. You know. The magickal regulator. The bright and shiny thing with which we, Team Improbable, propose to restore magick to a fading Britain. Somebody’s got to test it, and that somebody is us. Which means wading into the depths of a long-dead realm that nobody’s entered in centuries. And I may have had some practice at that, but this time it’s different. This time, somebody’s still home. And they really aren’t happy about trespassers. Looks like disaster’s on the agenda. Again.

Things have been quiet at the Society lately. Too quiet. It couldn’t possibly last. When a griffin appeared in the Yorkshire skies, it could only mean bad news. There’s only one place in Britain it could have come from and that’s the lost kingdom of Farringale. It’s a dire warning, and there’s worse to come. Turns out we aren’t the only people with an interest in the age-old city of the trolls. Farringale lies under attack—and these people will stop at nothing to take control of its treasures. It’s time for a showdown—the deathly serious kind.

Imagine modern Britain without magick. No fae enclaves. No flying chairs. No magick wands. Giddy gods, no unicorns. Who wants to live in that world? Me neither. But with magick on the decline, that's the world we're ending up with. Meet the Society for Magickal Heritage. Our boss is a disembodied voice. Our headquarters is a sentient house. You could say we've a vested interest in keeping magick alive. Can a ragtag bunch of magicians, necromancers and fae prevail against inevitable ruin and decline? Hell yes. Try and stop us.