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Tails of Wonder and Imagination


CoverWhat is it about the cat that captivates the creative imagination? No other creature has inspired so many authors to take pen to page. Mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories have all been written about cats.

From legendary editor Ellen Datlow comes Tails of Wonder and Imagination, showcasing forty cat tales by some of today's most popular authors. With uncollected stories by Stephen King, Carol Emshwiller, Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle, Elizabeth Hand, Dennis Danvers, and Theodora Goss and a previously unpublished story by Susanna Clarke, plus feline-centric fiction by Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, George R. R. Martin, Lucius Shepard, Joyce Carol Oates, Graham Joyce, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Marshall Smith, and many others.

Tails of Wonder and Imagination features more than 200,000 words of stories in which cats are heroes and stories in which they're villains; tales of domestic cats, tigers, lions, mythical part-cat beings, people transformed into cats, cats transformed into people. And yes, even a few cute cats.

Cover Art by Cory and Catska Ench


ORDER Ebook
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, March 2010

Distributed by Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122

www.nightshadebooks.com

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-59780-170-6
ISBN-10: 1-59780-170-4

Tails of Wonder and Imagination © 2010 by Ellen Datlow
This edition of Tails of Wonder and Imagination
© 2010 by Night Shade Books

Cover illustration © 2010 by Cory and Catska Ench
Cover design by Evan Chung
Interior layout and design by Ross E. Lockhart

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
http://www.nightshadebooks.com


"No Heaven Will Not Ever Heaven Be . . . ." by A.R. Morlan. Copyright © 1996 by A. R. Morlan. First published in Twists of the Tale, edited by Ellen Datlow, Dell Publishing. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Price" by Neil Gaiman. Copyright © 1997 by Neil Gaiman. First published in On Cats & Dogs, a chapbook published by Dreamhaven Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Dark Eyes, Faith, and Devotion" by Charles de Lint. Copyright © 2005 by Charles de Lint. First published in Magic Tails, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Janet Pack, DAW Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Not Waving" by Michael Marshall Smith. Copyright ©1996 by Michael Marshall Smith. First published in Twists of the Tale, edited by Ellen Datlow, Dell Publishing. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Catch" by Ray Vukcevich. Copyright ©1996 by Ray Vukcevich. First published in Twists of the Tale, edited by Ellen Datlow, Dell Publishing. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Manticore Spell" by Jeffrey Ford. Copyright © 2007 by Jeffrey Ford. First published in Wizards, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, Berkley Hardcover. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Catskin" by Kelly Link. Copyright ©2003 by Kelly Link. First published in McSweeney's 10. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Mieze Corrects an Incomplete Representation of Reality" by Michaela Roessner. Copyright ©1993 by Michaela Roessner. First published in OMNI Magazine December, 1993. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Guardians" by George R. R. Martin. Copyright ©1981 Davis Publications, Inc. First published in Analog, October, 1981. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats" by Michael Bishop. Copyright ©1991 by Michael Bishop. First published in OMNI Magazine, September, 1991. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Gordon, the Self-Made Cat" by Peter S. Beagle. Copyright © 2006 by Peter S. Beagle. First appeared in The Raven, May 2005. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Jaguar Hunter" by Lucius Shepard. Copyright ©1995 by Mercury Press, Inc. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1985. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Arthur's Lion" by Tanith Lee. Copyright © 2006 by Tanith Lee. First published in Weird Tales, May/June 2006. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Pride" by Mary A. Turzillo. Copyright © 2007 by Mary A. Turzillo. First published in Fast Forward 1, edited by Lou Anders, Pyr. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Burglar Takes a Cat" by Lawrence Block. Copyright © 1994 by Lawrence Block. Excerpt from The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams by Lawrence Block, E.P. Dutton. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The White Cat" by Joyce Carol Oates. Copyright 1987 by The Ontario Review, Inc. First published in A Matter of Crime, vol. 2, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli and Richard Layman, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Returns" by Jack Ketchum. Copyright © 2002 by Dallas Mayr. First published in Right to Life, Gauntlet Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Puss-Cat" by Reggie Oliver. Copyright © 2007 by Reggie Oliver. First published in Masques of Satan, Ash-Tree Press, December 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Cat in Glass" by Nancy Etchemendy. Copyright ©1989 by Nancy Etchemendy.First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1989. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Coyote Peyote" by Carole Nelson Douglas. Copyright ©1994 by Carole Nelson Douglas. First published in The Mysterious West, edited by Tony Hillerman, HarperCollins. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Poet and the Inkmaker's Daughter" by Elizabeth Hand. Copyright © 2004 by Elizabeth Hand. Excerpt from Catwoman by Elizabeth Hand, Screenplay by John Rogers, Mike Ferris, and John Brancuto, Del Rey Books & DC Comics. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Night of the Tiger" by Stephen King. Copyright © 1978 by Stephen King. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, February, 1978. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Every Angel is Terrifying" by John Kessel. Copyright © 1998 by John Kessel. First publication in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October/November 1998. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Candia" by Graham Joyce. Copyright © 2000 by Graham Joyce. First published in Taps and Sighs, edited by Peter Crowther, Subterranean Press. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Mbo" by Nicholas Royle. Copyright © 1997 by Nicholas Royle. First published in The Mammoth Book of Dracula, edited by Stephen Jones, Robinson Publishing. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Bean Bag Cats®" by Edward Bryant. Copyright © 1983 by Edward Bryant. First published in OMNI Magazine, November, 1983. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Antiquities" by John Crowley. Copyright © 1977 by John Crowley. First published in Whispers, edited by Stuart David Schiff, Doubleday. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Manticore's Tale" by Catherynne M. Valente. Copyright © 2007 by Catherynne M. Valente. Excerpt from The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice, Bantam Spectra, 2007. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"In Carnation" by Nancy Springer. Copyright © 1991 by Nancy Springer. First published in Catfantastic II, edited by Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg, DAW Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Old Foss is the Name of His Cat" by David Sandner. Copyright © 2008 by David Sandner. First published in Clockwork Phoenix 2, edited by Mike Allen, Norilana Books. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"A Safe Place to Be" by Carol Emshwiller. Copyright © 2009 by Carol Emshwiller. First publication in Strange Horizons September 28, 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Nine Lives to Live" by Sharyn McCrumb. Copyright ©1992 by Sharyn McCrumb. First published in Cat Crimes II, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Ed Gorman, Donald I. Fine. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Tiger Kill" by Kaaron Warren. Copyright © 2000 by Kaaron Warren. First publication in Earwig Flesh Factory, #3/4. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Something Better Than Death" by Lucy Sussex. Copyright © 2009 by Lucy Sussex. First published in Aurealis #42, August 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Dominion" by Christine Lucas. Copyright © 2008 by Christine Zambopoulou. First Publication in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #37. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Tiger in the Snow" by Daniel Wynn Barber. Copyright © 1984 by Daniel Wynn Barber. First publication in The Horror Show, Fall 1984. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"The Dweller in High Places" by Susanna Clarke. Copyright © 2007 by Susanna Clarke. First appeared on BBC 7's The 7th Dimension Program, February 26, 2007. Published by permission of the author.

"The Puma" by Theodora Goss. Copyright © 2009 by Theodora Goss. First published in Apex Magazine, March 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author.

"Healing Benjamin" by Dennis Danvers. Copyright © 2009 by Dennis Danvers. First published in Realms of Fantasy, August 2009. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  

Also edited by Ellen Datlow:

A Whisper of Blood
A Wolf at the Door (with Terri Windling)
Alien Sex
Black Heart, Ivory Bones (with Terri Windling)
Black Swan, White Raven (with Terri Windling)
Black Thorn, White Rose (with Terri Windling)
Blood is Not Enough: 17 Stories of Vampirism
Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror
Inferno: New Tales of Terror and the Supernatural
Lethal Kisses
Little Deaths
Lovecraft Unbound
Nebula Awards Showcase 2009
Off Limits: Tales of Alien Sex
Omni Best Science Fiction, Volumes 1-3
Omni Books of Science Fiction, Volumes 1-7
OmniVisions, Volumes 1-2
Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe
Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears (with Terri Windling)
Salon Fantastique: Fifteen Original Tales of Fantasy (with Terri Windling)
Silver Birch, Blood Moon (with Terri Windling)
Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (with Terri Windling)
Snow White, Blood Red (with Terri Windling)
Swan Sister (with Terri Windling)
The Beastly Bride: And Other Tales of the Animal People (with Terri Windling)
The Best Horror of the Year, Volume One
The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (with Terri Windling)
The Dark: New Ghost Stories
The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm (with Terri Windling)
The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest (with Terri Windling)
Troll's Eye View (with Terri Windling)
Twists of the Tale
Vanishing Acts
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (with Terri Windling, Gavin J. Grant, and Kelly Link)

Forthcoming from Night Shade Books:

The Best Horror of the Year, Volume Two

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