Volume 4, Twelve Planets

ISBN 978-0-9808274-9-1

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Ebook conversion by Charles Tan

Published January 2012

Hate superheroes? Yeah. They probably hate you, too.

‘There are two kinds of people with lawyers on tap, Mr Grey. The powerful and the corrupt.’
‘Thank you.’
‘For implying you’re powerful?’
‘For imagining those are two different groups.’

From Crawford Award nominee Deborah Biancotti comes this sinister short story suite, a pocketbook police procedural, set in a world where the victories are only relative, and the defeats are absolute. Bad Power celebrates the worst kind of powers both supernatural and otherwise, in the interlinked tales of five people — and how far they’ll go.

If you like Haven and Heroes, you’ll love Bad Power.

‘These appetisingly wicked stories give you the perfect taste of Biancotti’s talents.’ - Ann VanderMeer

Gwyneth Jones on the Twelve Planets series: ‘These Australians give me hope for the future of female, and even feminist, writers in sf.’

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Ann Vandermeer
• Shades of Grey
• Palming the Lady
• Web of Lies
• Bad Power
• Cross the Bridge

Shortlisted for Best Collected Work Aurealis and Ditmar Awards 2012

"Bad Power" nominated Best Short Story Ditmar 2012

Sample

Deborah Biancotti reads from Bad Power at the Twelfth Planet Press Showcase, Melbourne Writer's Festival 2012:

.

Video by Terry Shepherd

ISBN 978-0-9808274-6-0

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Electronic conversion by Cheryl Morgan

Published 2011

Thousands of years ago, Julia Agrippina wrote the true history of her family, the Caesars. The document was lost, or destroyed, almost immediately. (It included more monsters than you might think.)

Hundreds of years ago, Fanny and Mary ran away from London with a debauched poet and his sister. (If it was the poet you are thinking of, the story would have ended far more happily, and with fewer people having their throats bitten out.)

Sometime in the near future, a community will live in a replica Roman city built in the Australian bush. It’s a sight to behold. (Shame about the manticores.)

Further in the future, the last man who guards the secret history of the world will discover that the past has a way of coming around to bite you. (He didn’t even know she had a thing for pointy teeth.)

The world is in greater danger than you ever suspected. Women named Julia are stronger than they appear. Don’t let your little brother make out with silver-eyed blondes. Immortal heroes really don’t fancy teenage girls. When love dies, there’s still opera. Family is everything. Monsters are everywhere. Yes, you do have to wear the damned toga.

History is not what you think it is.

LOVE AND ROMANPUNK

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Helen Merrick
• Julia Agrippina’s Secret Family Bestiary
• Lamia Victoriana
• The Patrician
• Last of the Romanpunks
• Afterword

"The Patrician" - Winner Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award 2012, Winner Best Short Story Ditmar 2012, Shortlisted Best YA Short Story, Aurealis Award 2012,

"Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary" - Nominated Best Novella/Novelette Ditmar 2012

Shortlisted for Best Collection, Aurealis and Ditmar Awards 2012

Reviews

Connie Willis meets Gail Carriger over more than a cup of tea. – Helen Merrick

In less than 120 pages, Tansy Rayner Roberts has not only told a kick-ass series of interlinked stories in Love and Romanpunk , she has also, quite possibly, kicked off the next historical period for writers to mine. For such a slim volume, it packs a wallop…

The obvious comparison for Rayner Roberts’ work here is Buffy the Vampire Slayer . They both have vampires, slayers, and meaty relationships. But Love and Romanpunk is its own, self-contained vision, one that turns the wit and heart up as much as any story could sustain. Rayner Roberts’ lean prose draws you in from the first few paragraphs and keeps that pace going straight through. - Locus

What do you get if you cross a classical historian who did her PhD thesis on Imperial Roman women with a speculative fiction writer? You get Tansy Rayner Roberts and a new subgenre: Romanpunk.

I absolutely adore what Roberts has done with Ancient Rome. It’s a unique blend (as only Roberts can do) of mythology, history and humour that has me wanting to read more. She’s included a massive variety of mythical creatures and some uniquely Roman to spin Ancient Rome into an entirely new world I want to spend more time in. – ASif!

A series of interlinked short stories featuring the descendants of the Caesars, there’s monster-killing, whimsy and a real dark heart to the book…

Tansy has done something wonderful with this book. There’s a weight and a sense of history, of deep and entwining mythologies, far greater than the page count would suggest. It’s funny, and it’s dark, and it’s Tansy flexing her writer muscles, and using them with what looks like effortless (and jealousy inducing) grace. - Trent Jamieson

Whilst these stories could be read as standalone stories, I think it is a collection that begs to be read in order. Not only does the author manage to take us on a journey through time, we also wend our way through subgenres including historical and urban fantasy, with a touch of the gothic, and a little romanpunk as well (if romanpunk isn’t already a subgenre it totally should be).

I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into Love and Romanpunk and can’t wait to read more of the Twelve Planets books, and more from Tansy Rayner Roberts. - The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

]]> Volume 7, Twelve Planets

ISBN 978-0-9872162-4-3

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Also available as ebook

Published August 2012

A presence haunts an old dresser in an inner-city share house. Shining sun-people lure children from their carefree beachside lives. Sheela-na-gigs colonise a middle-aged man’s outer and inner worlds. And a girl with a heavy conscience seeks relief in exile on the Treeless Plain.

These stories from four-time World Fantasy Award winner Margo Lanagan are all set in Australia, a myth-soaked landscape both stubbornly inscrutable and crisscrossed by interlopers’ dreamings. Explore four littoral and liminal worlds, a-crackle with fears and possibilities.

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Jane Yolen
• The Duchess Dresser
• Isles of the Sun
• Bajazzle
• Significant Dust

ISBN 978-0-9870828-9-3

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Ebook Conversion by Charles Tan

Published July 2012

In a future world of extreme climate change, Perth, Western Australia’s capital city, has been abandoned. Most people were evacuated to the East by the late ’30s and organised infrastructure and services have gone.

A few thousand obstinate and independent souls cling to the city and to the southern towns. Living mostly by night to endure the fierce temperatures, they are creating a new culture in defiance of official expectations. A teenage girl stolen from her family as a child; a troupe of street actors who affect their new culture with memories of the old; a boy born into the wrong body; and a teacher who is pushed into the role of guide tell the story of The Nightside.

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Marianne de Pierres
• The Painted Girl
• Nation of the Night
• Paper Dragons
• The Schoolteacher’s Tale

Drawing on her local knowledge of Perth, Sue Isle reimagines the Western Australian landscape in a confronting and plausible future. Appealing to both YA and adult readers, Nightsiders is a collection of four interlinked short stories exploring issues of climate change, gender identity, multiculturalism and community. Featuring complex and diverse characters, this collection is aimed at a YA audience looking for fresh and empowering science fiction.

“Nation of the Night” – winner of the 2012 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Short Story

Longlisted for the Tiptree Award

Shortlisted for Best Collected Work, Aurealis and Ditmar Awards, 2012

Honourable Mention, Norma Hemming Award

Reviews

Sue Isle has created a daunting, yet not hopeless day after tomorrow Western Australia; linked stories all set in the same moment, the moment, for various characters, when you realise that climate change has won, and civilisation is not coming back. So you stop mourning, and you move on… Made me wish there was a novel. – Gwyneth Jones

Nation of the Night, and this is the story that is for me the lynch pin of the collection… As well as looking at the identity issues for Ash, there is also discussion of the fate of refugees in the city and the difficulties that they face like being able to provide and educate their families, as well as dangers facing those who don’t belong. To me, this felt like a political statement given the emotional reactions that people have to the refugee issue, not only in Australia, but also in other places around the world. - The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

ISBN 978-0-9808274-7-7

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Electronic conversion by Charles Tan

Published 2011

Why are certain subjects so difficult to talk about? What is justice? Why do writers think that other people’s lives are fair game? And what do we really know about the first chemist?

A story about history, women, science (and also the demonic); a crime story, based upon a true crime; a realist satire of the supposedly sex-savvy; and a story exploring lies, and the space between the real and the unreal. Welcome to the worlds of Lucy Sussex, and to her many varied modes.

•

Pay attention to this woman! Turn these pages! Here be monsters and mysteries and marvels. – Karen Joy Fowler

.

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Karen Joy Fowler

• Alchemy
• Fountain of Justice
• The Story of O
• Thief of Lives

"Alchemy" nominated, Best Short Story Ditmar 2012

Reviews

The four stories showcased here could not be more different, one from another, but collectively they constitute an excellent introduction to the talents of the incomparable Lucy Sussex. I can’t imagine the person who would read these and not want to read more. - Karen Joy Fowler

I loved her beautiful story about modern and ancient Babylon, “Alchemy” - Gwyneth Jones

Sample

Lucy Sussex reads from Thief of Lives at the Twelfth Planet Press Showcase, Melbourne Writer's Festival 2012:

.

Video by Terry Shepherd.

ISBN 978-0-9870828-9-3

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Also available as ebook

Published 2011

In a future world of extreme climate change, Perth, Western Australia’s capital city, has been abandoned. Most people were evacuated to the East by the late ’30s and organised infrastructure and services have gone.

A few thousand obstinate and independent souls cling to the city and to the southern towns. Living mostly by night to endure the fierce temperatures, they are creating a new culture in defiance of official expectations. A teenage girl stolen from her family as a child; a troupe of street actors who affect their new culture with memories of the old; a boy born into the wrong body; and a teacher who is pushed into the role of guide tell the story of The Nightside.

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Marianne de Pierres
• The Painted Girl
• Nation of the Night
• Paper Dragons
• The Schoolteacher’s Tale

Drawing on her local knowledge of Perth, Sue Isle reimagines the Western Australian landscape in a confronting and plausible future. Appealing to both YA and adult readers, Nightsiders is a collection of four interlinked short stories exploring issues of climate change, gender identity, multiculturalism and community. Featuring complex and diverse characters, this collection is aimed at a YA audience looking for fresh and empowering science fiction.

“Nation of the Night” – winner of the 2012 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Short Story

Longlisted for the Tiptree Award

Shortlisted for Best Collected Work, Aurealis and Ditmar Awards, 2012

Honourable Mention, Norma Hemming Award

Reviews

Sue Isle has created a daunting, yet not hopeless day after tomorrow Western Australia; linked stories all set in the same moment, the moment, for various characters, when you realise that climate change has won, and civilisation is not coming back. So you stop mourning, and you move on… Made me wish there was a novel. – Gwyneth Jones

Nation of the Night, and this is the story that is for me the lynch pin of the collection… As well as looking at the identity issues for Ash, there is also discussion of the fate of refugees in the city and the difficulties that they face like being able to provide and educate their families, as well as dangers facing those who don’t belong. To me, this felt like a political statement given the emotional reactions that people have to the refugee issue, not only in Australia, but also in other places around the world. - The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

ISBN 978-0-9808274-6-0

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Also available as ebook

Published 2011

Thousands of years ago, Julia Agrippina wrote the true history of her family, the Caesars. The document was lost, or destroyed, almost immediately. (It included more monsters than you might think.)

Hundreds of years ago, Fanny and Mary ran away from London with a debauched poet and his sister. (If it was the poet you are thinking of, the story would have ended far more happily, and with fewer people having their throats bitten out.)

Sometime in the near future, a community will live in a replica Roman city built in the Australian bush. It’s a sight to behold. (Shame about the manticores.)

Further in the future, the last man who guards the secret history of the world will discover that the past has a way of coming around to bite you. (He didn’t even know she had a thing for pointy teeth.)

The world is in greater danger than you ever suspected. Women named Julia are stronger than they appear. Don’t let your little brother make out with silver-eyed blondes. Immortal heroes really don’t fancy teenage girls. When love dies, there’s still opera. Family is everything. Monsters are everywhere. Yes, you do have to wear the damned toga.

History is not what you think it is.

LOVE AND ROMANPUNK

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Helen Merrick
• Julia Agrippina’s Secret Family Bestiary
• Lamia Victoriana
• The Patrician
• Last of the Romanpunks
• Afterword

"The Patrician" - Winner Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award 2012, Winner Best Short Story Ditmar 2012, Shortlisted Best YA Short Story, Aurealis Award 2012,

"Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary" - Nominated Best Novella/Novelette Ditmar 2012

Shortlisted for Best Collection, Aurealis and Ditmar Awards 2012

Reviews

Connie Willis meets Gail Carriger over more than a cup of tea. – Helen Merrick

In less than 120 pages, Tansy Rayner Roberts has not only told a kick-ass series of interlinked stories in Love and Romanpunk , she has also, quite possibly, kicked off the next historical period for writers to mine. For such a slim volume, it packs a wallop…

The obvious comparison for Rayner Roberts’ work here is Buffy the Vampire Slayer . They both have vampires, slayers, and meaty relationships. But Love and Romanpunk is its own, self-contained vision, one that turns the wit and heart up as much as any story could sustain. Rayner Roberts’ lean prose draws you in from the first few paragraphs and keeps that pace going straight through. - Locus

What do you get if you cross a classical historian who did her PhD thesis on Imperial Roman women with a speculative fiction writer? You get Tansy Rayner Roberts and a new subgenre: Romanpunk.

I absolutely adore what Roberts has done with Ancient Rome. It’s a unique blend (as only Roberts can do) of mythology, history and humour that has me wanting to read more. She’s included a massive variety of mythical creatures and some uniquely Roman to spin Ancient Rome into an entirely new world I want to spend more time in. – ASif!

A series of interlinked short stories featuring the descendants of the Caesars, there’s monster-killing, whimsy and a real dark heart to the book…

Tansy has done something wonderful with this book. There’s a weight and a sense of history, of deep and entwining mythologies, far greater than the page count would suggest. It’s funny, and it’s dark, and it’s Tansy flexing her writer muscles, and using them with what looks like effortless (and jealousy inducing) grace. - Trent Jamieson

Whilst these stories could be read as standalone stories, I think it is a collection that begs to be read in order. Not only does the author manage to take us on a journey through time, we also wend our way through subgenres including historical and urban fantasy, with a touch of the gothic, and a little romanpunk as well (if romanpunk isn’t already a subgenre it totally should be).

I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into Love and Romanpunk and can’t wait to read more of the Twelve Planets books, and more from Tansy Rayner Roberts. - The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

ISBN 978-0-9808274-7-7

Cover design by Amanda Rainey

Also available as ebook

Published 2011

Why are certain subjects so difficult to talk about? What is justice? Why do writers think that other people’s lives are fair game? And what do we really know about the first chemist?

A story about history, women, science (and also the demonic); a crime story, based upon a true crime; a realist satire of the supposedly sex-savvy; and a story exploring lies, and the space between the real and the unreal. Welcome to the worlds of Lucy Sussex, and to her many varied modes.

•

Pay attention to this woman! Turn these pages! Here be monsters and mysteries and marvels. – Karen Joy Fowler

.

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Karen Joy Fowler

• Alchemy
• Fountain of Justice
• The Story of O
• Thief of Lives

"Alchemy" nominated, Best Short Story Ditmar 2012

Reviews

The four stories showcased here could not be more different, one from another, but collectively they constitute an excellent introduction to the talents of the incomparable Lucy Sussex. I can’t imagine the person who would read these and not want to read more. - Karen Joy Fowler

I loved her beautiful story about modern and ancient Babylon, “Alchemy” - Gwyneth Jones

Sample

Lucy Sussex reads from Thief of Lives at the Twelfth Planet Press Showcase, Melbourne Writer's Festival 2012:

.

Video by Terry Shepherd.