Mirrors in the Deluge

Mirrors in the Deluge is a collection of 32 unrelated stories that take elements from fantasy, science fiction, horror and other genres and give them a lateral shift. Like much of Rhys’ work these quirky tales between them encompass parody, pastiche and puns. The fun, as ever, starts with the title of each story – gently leading an unsuspecting reader into preconceived ideas and expectations; expectations that are soon spun around, turned on their head (or other extremities), and pushed in an unexpected direction. Thus, even a saunter through the contents page is already a hugely entertaining experience and one more akin to savouring the hors d’oeuvres of a grand banquet than consulting a list of shortcuts into a literary tome. In fact, the gastronomic metaphor serves us well here; the courses on offer range from tantalising tuck to a foody’s feast, but never mere vittles – perhaps the way to enjoy this book is to digest one story, three times a day (four if you’re a halfling who needs second breakfast), rather than trying to gorge on all the available delights and delicacies at one sitting. To complete this gourmet’s guide, a tempting sampling of the stories must include: The Soft Landing, a unique story told from the perspective of a photon; Travels with my Antinomy, how do you solve a paradox when you’re part of it?; Vanity of Vanities, the internet achieves consciousness and takes over, but with very different consequences from those you might imagine; The Fairy and the Dinosaur, in which a fairy can’t find what she wants for her picnic in the goblin market, is offered cloned prehistoric plums but turns to a time-travelling robot to go back to the age of the dinosaurs and eat an original plum. Other titles to tempt you include The Prodigal Beard, A Dame Abroad, The Unkissed Artist Formerly Known as Frog, The Goat That Gloated, The Taste of Turtle Tears, The Bones of Jones, and The Haggis Eater.

Contents:

• The Prodigal Beard
• The Bungle Duke
• The Modesty Men
• The Soft Landing
• Gathering the Genial Genies
• Najort Esroh
• Travels with My Antinomy
• The Bubble Bursts
• A Dame Abroad
• A Real Nowhere Man
• Gold, Myrrh and Frankenstein
• The Mouth of Hell
• The Strings of Segovia
• Paired Down
• Arms Against a Sea
• The Martian Monocles
• Suddenly
• Stand and Deliver
• Trophy Wife
• The Unkissed Artist Formerly Known as Frog
• The Fairy and the Dinosaur
• The Goat That Gloated
• Vanity of Vanities
• Unicorn on the Cob
• Sunstorm
• The Anvil Cloud
• The Apple of My Sky
• The Taste of Turtle Tears
• The Musical Universe
• The Bones of Jones
• Train of Thought
• The Haggis Eater