Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz

The best writers of our generation retell classic tales. From Sir Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene to E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops," literature is filled with sexy, deadly, and downright twisted tales. In this collection, award-winning and bestselling authors reimagine their favorite classic stories, the ones that have inspired, awed, and enraged them, the ones that have become ingrained in modern culture, and the ones that have been too long overlooked. They take these stories and boil them down to their bones, and reassemble them for a new generation of readers. Written from a twenty-first century perspective and set within the realms of science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, and realistic fiction, these short stories are as moving and thought provoking as their originators. They pay homage to groundbreaking literary achievements of the past while celebrating each author's unique perception and innovative style. Today's most acclaimed authors use their own unique styles to rebuild the twelve timeless stories: Sir Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene - Saladin Ahmed W. W. Jacobs's "The Monkey's Paw" - Kelley Armstrong Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla" - Holly Black "Sleeping Beauty" - Neil Gaiman The Brothers Grimm's "Rumpelstiltskin" - Kami Garcia Kate Chopin's The Awakening - Melissa Marr Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" - Garth Nix Henry James's "The Jolly Corner" - Tim Pratt E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" - Carrie Ryan Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto - Margaret Stohl William Seabrook's "The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban" - Gene Wolfe Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Birth-Mark" - Rick Yancey And six illustrations by Charles Vess.

New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix's exciting adult debut: a new collection including all eight stories, plus a never-before-published story-featuring Sir Hereward and his sorcerous puppet companion Mister Fitz, gathered in one magical volume for the first time ever! Sir Hereward: the only male child of an ancient society of witches. Knight, artillerist, swordsman. Mercenary for hire. Ill-starred lover. Mister Fitz: puppet, sorcerer, loremaster. Practitioner of arcane arts and wielder of sorcerous needles. Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: godslayers. Agents of the Council of the Treaty for the Safety of the World, charged with the location and removal of listed extra-dimensional entities, more commonly known as gods. Together, they are relentless travelers in a treacherous world of magic, gunpowder, and adventure. Compiled for the first time ever, these eight magical stories-plus an all-new tale, "The Field of Fallen Foe"-featuring fabulous, quintessential Garth Nix protagonists Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz comprise a must-have adult fantasy collection for fans and those about to discover the witch knight and his puppet sorcerer for the first time.