When a lowly jeweler in ancient Egypt finds an enormous yellow
diamond lodged in the clavicle of a Nile river crocodile, he
strikes for riches, selling it to the richest man in Memphis, a
living god, the Pharaoh.
Then the Pharaoh demands more. So begins a terrifying descent
into greed, madness, and murder, with diamonds for all, and
diamonds in all, and the blood-red eye of Ra ascendant.
Bone Diamond is a collection of 9 weird and surreal stories,
filled with sky-painting giants, gods of the mud, and a world where
East can die. It features 5 stories previously published in
pro-level magazines- Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Kaleidotrope,
Ideomancer, Podcastle, Something Wicked.
Contents:
1) Bone Diamond
2) Caterpillar Man
3) The Tonsor's Son
4) The Mud Girl
5) Flatland
6) The Orphan Queen
7) Sky Painter
8) Leanna Drew The Moon
9) Death Of East
Praise:
- "The dark insanity in this story develops out of greed and
terror and self-loathing, until all healthy logic in one person is
destroyed. Human life becomes as expendable as filthy Nile water. A
very satisfying ending." - Sherry Decker, Tangent Magazine.
- ..". a beautiful bittersweet fairy tale, set in the modern
day." - Sam Tomaino, SF Revu.
- "Wow. Horrifying and compelling and poignant. This one is
going to stick with me." - Kim, Ideomancer.
About the author:
Michael John Grist is a 33-year old British writer and ruins
photographer who lives in Tokyo, Japan. He writes strange, twisty
fiction, in both fantasy and sci-fi genres. See more at
www.michaeljohngrist.com.
Excerpt:
I discover the first bone diamond in a hunk of crocodile
clavicle, lodged between the foramen and articular process. I had
meant to simply facet the bone tip's lamellar weave, that it might,
once polished, dove-tail into a brooch that some high lady in the
court might wear to the arena flooding.
Rather, I find a diamond, at least thirty carats in size. It is
the most extraordinary bright yellow, like amethyst but glowing hot
within. Allory would have loved it.
I take it to my lathe and polish it on corundum, brute it with
emery, and at last heat it over a sulfur jet as though it were a
citrine. Its yellows melt, whirl, and blaze as though afire
inside.
I sit atop my cankerous clay rooftop and hold it up beside the
sphere of the moon. Of the two, my bone diamond shines the purest,
the brightest, as though the sun risen at night over the slums of
Memphis.
I do not know then that it will be the end of everything I
know.
General
Imprint: |
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2014 |
First published: |
March 2014 |
Authors: |
Michael John Grist
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 8mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
132 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4961-2481-4 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Fantasy
|
LSN: |
1-4961-2481-2 |
Barcode: |
9781496124814 |
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