In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection, featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and satisfying revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously-crafted worlds can destroy you — yet leave you longing for them even more.
“[Miller] will tear your heart in two and then gently place the pieces back inside your chest.” — NPR
A foster teen who is capable of controlling the ambient digital cloud falls in love with a clever con man. Luring bullies to a quarry, a boy takes clearly-enumerated revenge through unnatural powers of suggestion. In the aftermath of a shapeshifting alien invasion, a survivor fears that he brought something out of the Arctic to infect the rest of the world. A rebellious group of queer artists create a new identity that transcends even the anonymity of death.
In these fourteen previously-uncollected short stories, Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving) takes his place alongside Carmen Maria Machado, Carson McCullers, and Jeff VanderMeer, bringing his savage wit, unrelenting candor, and lush imagery to the short story form.
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Sam J. Miller
Sam J. Miller lives in New York City with his husband. He is the winner of the 2018 Andre Norton Award for his YA debut novel, The Art of Starving. His fiction has been nominated for the Nebula Award and the Theodore Sturgeon Award, was long-listed for the Hugo Award, and has won the Shirley Jackson Award. Sam is also the author of the adult fiction novel Blackfish City.
