It is the 1850's, and a young boy, Thomas, leaves his family to be apprenticed to a pharmacist, at the behest of his dead grandmother. He also inherits a magical box from her, which provides him entry into a mysterious garden. But while visiting it, he sees a ghostly vision of his grandmother, who tells him she was poisoned, and warns him that he must find the person responsible, and save her precious garden. For she was one of five members of an arcane guild, each of whom cultivated an in...

Ellie is staying with her maternal grandparents for the summer, while her recently bereaved dad takes off on holiday with his new girlfriend. Upset by his apparent callousness, missing her mother, and jealous for her dad's attention, she begins to spiral into depression. Her grandparents suggest she joins a local theatre group, to meet people her own age and get away from the dark thoughts that threaten to engulf her. But then she gets roped into a séance at the theatre, and is the only on...

When Elizabeth finds a green-tinged creature in the woods she's amazed to discover that it's actually a girl of her own age. Isabella has spent the last 300 years in the faery world, hiding from persecutors who accused her of being the daughter of a witch. Elizabeth has her own persecutors to face. A catholic priest is hiding in her home - an act of treason in 1586 - and the net is closing in. As they become friends, Elizabeth and Isabella must find a way to protect the family from being t...

Mercy and her sister Charity have never questioned their daily routine, each day unfolding exactly as the next. They live at night, sleep during the day and see their widowed father only rarely - their house shrouded in perpetual winter. Then one day, Mercy is woken to find a snowdrop on her pillow. A sign of spring, a subtle hint at a possible different future. A chance meeting with the mysterious Claudius sets her to questioning everything she has ever known - not least the truth behind ...

Jacinth, Miranda and Jack live in different lands, yet are all connected. Only by combining forces can they turn around the curse that has befallen their families for generations. A group of knights violently wrested a revered relic from an African tribe long ago. Our three protagonists are each descended from a knight - and each of them has a duty to return the stolen lily which gave the knights amazing powers. Powers that have warped and darkened over the centuries, leaving only instabil...

Charlotte is heading to a tiger sanctuary to do some voluntary work as part of her travels. But a fellow traveller working at the sanctuary starts to make her feel uncomfortable and she decides to ask Otto to visit her, pretending to be her boyfriend. When things start going wrong at the sanctuary, Charlotte fears a vendetta against her could be to blame. As tigers come under attack from poachers, the local authorities threaten to replace the sanctuary's management. Mark the journalist rea...

Otto, Jen and Charlotte have planned the trip of a lifetime to India for their gap year, before going their separate ways to university. For Charlotte, it's an opportunity to get involved in an environmental project and finally feel like she's doing something worthwhile; for Otto, it's the perfect opportunity to take some real photos to help his career as a photojournalistic; for Jen, it's the realisation of a lifelong dream.But when Otto discovers the body of a girl on the beach, ...

It's the summer holidays and Amber is bored. So when she meets non-conformist Dowdie, she is bowled over. Dowdie lives in a commune known as the Community, and gradually, Amber finds herself drawn into it. She discovers that Dowdie is an Amethyst child - a child with special talents unrecognised by normal society - and that her father, James, the leader of the commune, believes Amber is one too. Meanwhile Amber also meets Johnny, a gorgeous loner who shares her interest in photography. But...

Every city has its own rhythm, its own beat and character; none more so than Barcelona. To commemorate the 2016 European Science Fiction Convention being held in this historic city, NewCon Press invited many of Spain’s top SF and fantasy authors to join those from Britain, France, and Canada to write stories that cast the city in a whole new light. Original stories from the likes of multiple award-winning Elia Barceló (whose work has been translated into eighteen languages), and Spain’s mo...

The West Country. England’s mystical heart. Hill-forts, ancient circles. Blessed by age-old powers, sanctified in blood. Where woods and pools stir to whispered summonings, forbidden names are carved in rock, and rebels died en masse, hanged and butchered, their gore-dabbled ghosts wandering vengeful in the rural night …The drumming demon of TedworthThe ocean predator at IlfracombeThe sleeping bones at WilcotThe creep-about killer on Burgh IslandThe hate...

X Marks the Spot is a slender anthology produced to celebrate the first ten years of NewCon Press. It includes original fiction from Adam Roberts, Rozanne Rabinowitz, and Paul Melhuish, a poem by Donna Scott, aand a collaborative short story written by Ian Whates, Ian Watson, Hal Duncan, Chaz Brenchley, Sarah Singleton, Andrew Hook and others which has been out of print for nearly eight years, and a sectio...

Southerners should be proud of their ancestors who fought with great courage and sacrifice in the Civil War. This anthology is dedicated to the brave solders of the Rebellion. They are scorned in the pages of history books, but each and every one of them deserves our deepest respect and admiration. These courageous young men valiantly defended their homeland, fought bravely, and ultimately gave their lives for the land they were born in. These are not the rich plantation owners and politic...