Paper Cities, An Anthology of Urban Fantasy

2009 WORLD FANTASY AWARD WINNER

The city has always been a place of mystery, of magic, and wonder. In cities past, present, and future, in metropoli real and imagined, meet mutilated warrior-women, dead boys, mechanical dogs, escape artists and more. From the dizzying heights of rooftops and spires to the sinister secrets of underpasses and gutters, some of the most talented authors writing today will take you on a trip through the urban fantastic. Edited by Ekaterina Sedia, author of The Secret History of Moscow and The Alchemy of Stone.

With stories from Forrest Aguirre, Hal Duncan, Richard Parks, Cat Rambo, Jay Lake, Greg van Eekhout, Cat Sparks, Steve Berman, Stephanie Campisi, Mark Teppo, Paul Meloy, Vylar Kaftan, Mike Jasper, Ben Peek, Kaaron Warren, Darin C. Bradley, Jenn Reese, David Schwartz, Anna Tambour, Barth Anderson and Catherynne M. Valente. Introduction by Jess Nevins

“Variety, along with a willingness to publish new and established writers alike, helps explain Paper Cities’ considerable appeal…ambitious and entertaining…a delightful and absorbing read.”
-Jeff VanderMeer for Publishers Weekly, Signature Review

“Together with 18 other stories of cities and their people, this vital collection pushes the envelope of the urban fantasy genre, reaching beyond the standards made popular by Charles de Lint, Tanya Huff, and Jim Butcher to create an ever expanding definition of the term… this collection belongs in most libraries.”
-Library Journal

“These story settings range from the suburbs to the cities of the future; and their approaches to the idea of the urban, what urbs are, and how we might interact with them as they become ever more fantastic, are wildly varied, intensely satisfying.”
-Booklist

“A strong, original, selection; giving a useful reinvigoration to the idea of Urban Fantasy.”
-Rich Horton for Fantasy Magazine

“These stories are like dark chocolate: rich, decadent, sometimes bitter, but always complex and stimulating. Be careful. They will keep you up at night!”
-Theodora Goss, author of In the Forest of Forgetting

“Paper Cities is a really cool anthology, a wide-ranging collection of styles, approaches, and genres. In fact, it’s a wonderful metaphor for the idea of the City: simultaneously bright and dark, crowded and lonely, all about life and all about death, beautiful and horrible. There are remarkable imaginations at work in these stories. Read them and see.”
-Delia Sherman, author of Changeling, editor of Interfictions.