Dagger Key and Other Stories

Lucius Shepard is a grand master of dark fantasy, famed for his baroque yet utterly contemporary visions of existential subversion and hallucinatory collapse. In Dagger Key, his fifth major story collection, Shepard confronts hard-bitten loners and self-deceiving operators with the shadowy emptiness within themselves and the insinuating darkness without, to ends sardonic and terrifying. The stories in this book, including six novellas (one original to this volume) are:

  “Stars Seen Through Stone”—in a small Pennsylvania town, mediocrity suddenly blossoms into genius; but at what terrible cost?

  “Emerald Street Expansions”—in near-future Seattle, echoes of the life of a medieval French poet hint at cither reincarnation or a dire conspiracy.

  “Limbo”—a retired criminal on the run from the Mafia encounters ghosts, and much worse, on the shores of a haunted lake

  “Liar’s House”—in the grip of the legendary dragon Griaule, destiny, is a treacherous and transformative thing.

  “Dead Money”—a small-time New Orleans criminal ventures outside his proper territory, and poker and voudoun conspire to bring him down.

  “Dinner at Baldassaro’s”—a gang of immortals debates the future in an Italian resort, only for events to outrun any of their expectations.

  “Abimagique”—a glib college loser falls in love with a witch, becoming an involuntary part of a world-saving—or world-destroying—magical ritual.

  “The Lepidopterist”—a small boy on a Caribbean island witnesses the creation of preternatural beings by a Yankee wizard…

  “Dagger Key”—off the coast of Belize, the ghost of a famous pirate seems to control a spiral of murder and intrigue; or is someone else responsible?   Dagger Key And Other Stories / Copyright © 2007 by Lucius Shepard

  Introduction / Copyright © 2007 by China Miéville

  Cover / Copyright © 2007 by J.K. Potter   Published in September 2007 by PS Publishing Ltd. by arrangement with the author. All rights reserved by the author.

  FIRST EDITION

  ISBN  978-1-904619-74-1 (Deluxe slipcased hardcover)

   978-1-904619-73-4 (Trade hardcover)   This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.   “Stars Seen Through Stone” first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 2007; “Emerald Street Expansions” first appeared on Sci Fiction, March 2002; “Limbo” first appeared in The Dark, edited by Ellen Datlow (Tor, 2003), and has been revised for its appearance here; “Liar’s House” first appeared on Sci Fiction, December 2003; “Dead Money” first appeared in Asimov’s, April 2007; “Dinner at Baldassaro’s” first appeared in Postscripts 10, Spring 2007; “Abimagique” first appeared on Sci Fiction, August 2005, and has been extensively revised for its appearance here; “The Lepidopterist” first appeared in Salon Fantastique, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling (Thunder’s Mouth, 2006); “Dagger Key” is original to this collection.   Design and layout by Alligator Tree Graphics

  Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd

  PS Publishing Ltd / Grosvenor House / 1 New Road / Hornsea, HU18 1PG / Great Britain