Midnight and Moonshine — Lisa L. Hannett; Angela Slatter

The gods are dead, but will not be forgotten. When Mymnir flees Ragnarok, she hopes to escape all that bound her to Asgaror-a heedless pantheon, a domineering brother, and her neglectful father-master, Ooinn. But the white raven, a being of memory and magic, should know that the past is not so easily left behind. No matter how far she flies, she cannot evade her family. From fire giants to whispering halls, disappearing children to evening-wolves, fairy hills to bewitched cypress trees, and talking heads to moonshiners of a special sort, Midnight and Moonshine takes readers on a journey from ninth century Vinland to America's Deep South in the present day. Publishers Weekly Starred Review (17 Sept 2012) In Seeds, the opening story of Hannett and Slatter s innovative dark fantasy collection, Mymnir, Odinn s white raven, flees the Ragnarok, an apocalypse for the gods alone, and comes to the New World. There she creates a Fae kingdom in the image of Asgardr, transforming herself from a thieving, neglected raven into the fearsome, immortal Fae Queen. Though each story in this collection is self-contained and varied in tone and setting (Mymnir s Fae Court, Prohibition-era Charleston, the present, to name a few), each one builds upon its predecessor, with multiple generations of protagonists and recurring objects, characters (especially Mymnir, whose desires and memories, over the centuries, bring her to the cusp of another Ragnarok), and themes. Marked by imagery both beautiful and grotesque, and unnerving twists that recall the uncanny horror of original fairy tales, this collection contains a unifying, multilayered plot that draws upon Norse mythology to take the reader on a thrilling, unsettling journey. (Nov.) http: //www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-92185-730-0 Angela Slatter's collection The Girl With No Hands and Other Tales (Ticonderoga) won the Aurealis Award for Best Collection in 2010, while her other collection from that year, Sourdough and Other Stories (Tartarus), was short-listed for the World Fantasy Award. Lisa L. Hannett's debut collection, Bluegrass Symphony (Ticonderoga), won the Aurealis Award for Best Collection in 2011 and is short-listed for the World Fantasy Award. "The February Dragon," the first published Hannett/Slatter collaboration, won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Story in 2010."