Xana-La — Stephen Palmer

"The fate of all those who enter Moongolia is to die."

Originally written for the 2012 anthology Where Are We Going?, edited by Allen Ashley and published by the Eibonvale Press, 'Xana-La' follows the surreal and highly improbable journey of Victorian explorers Pharaday Lemmington and Franclin Spar-Turney, as they investigate the truth of the secret Himalayan city of Xana-La.

Members of the notorious Suicide Club, it is the duty of these brave men to explore every corner of the globe on behalf of Queen and country, and this the pair do, only to discover something entirely unexpected.

A surreal and mysterious short story - and the originator of the full-length novel Hairy London.

(approx 5,800 words)


"An interesting and well written adventure story, which reminded me a bit of good old-fashioned adventure stories" (Rising Shadow)

"This irreverent story is full of eccentric chaps, and gleaming with brass." (Warpcore)

"... exuberantly off the wall... a glorious tale of adventure and derring do, as explorers set off to a mythical land simply to prove its existence, but in doing so must take on the laws of time and space, the whole thing gleefully over the top and informed by a pseudo steampunk sensibility." (Black Static)