An outstanding adventure awaits in this collection of short stories. For readers of all ages these spellbinding tales will raise the pulse and quicken the heartbeat.

Two kingdoms are united by magic in Garth Nix’s ‘Holly and Iron’. The ambition to catch a dragon drastically changes a life in ‘The Ruby Incomparable’ by Kage Baker. A starving dove tells its story in Eoin Colfer’s ‘A Fowl Tale’. Relish the magic of learning about kindness in Neil Gaiman’s ‘The Witch’s Headstone’.

From dark graveyards to great halls, with witches, wizards and lonely souls these startling and original stories weave a magic all of their own...

Dark Alchemy is a collection of eighteen short stories from masters of science fiction and fantasy writing, it draws together the talents of Garth Nix, Eoin Colfer, Tad Williams and Tanith Lee among many others. Each story uses wizards as its focal point but takes a different route into some fantastic worlds where the authors explore the stereotypical and long held views of these creations and turn them into something more modern and up-to-date. There is a compelling and special magic woven by each of these stories, messages abound concerning the importance of kindness, understanding and difference. Great adventures are recounted and action is packed in.

Short story writing is a skill that comes easily to some writers and not to others, those bought together and contributing to this volume may be better known for their long novels and series of books yet they have turned their significant talents to the challenge of short story writing with great skill and success. The stories, each an average of approximately twenty pages are filled with action and adventure, they are page turners, leaping straight into the action and ensuring that whilst there is resolution the reader is left yearning to know more. This is the skill of the story-writer and the short story writer in particular, to ensure that the reader has enough action and adventure to satisfy but not to completely slate the appetite, after all you want them to come back for more!

This is a superb collection of stories for fans of fantasy and the dark depths of story writing. It is a great book for older teenagers and adults to dip into and also get their teeth into. A highly recommend read for those new to fantasy and for old fans of the collected authors.