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  Constable & Robinson Ltd

  3 The Lanchesters

  162 Fulham Palace Road

  London W69ER

  www.constablerobinson.com

  First published by Robinson,

  an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd 2004

  Collection Copyright and editorial material © Mike Ashley 2004

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of bindingor cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition includingthis condition beingimposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  ISBN 1-84119-935-4

  eISBN 978-1-78033-361-8

  Printed and bound in the EU

  1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2

  Copyright and Acknowledgments

  Foreword: Spellbound, Mike Ashley

  Ten Things I Know about the Wizard, Steve Rasnic Tem

  Villaggio Sogno, Richard A. Lupoff

  The Game of Magical Death, Doug Hornig

  The Infestation, Tom Holt

  The Witch’s Bicycle, Tim Pratt

  The Sage of Theare, Diana Wynne Jones

  Timekeeper, John Morressy

  The Double Shadow, Clark Ashton Smith

  The Rite Stuff, Michael Kurland

  Master of Chaos, Michael Moorcock

  Seven Drops of Blood, Robert Weinberg

  To Become a Sorcerer, Darrell Schweitzer

  No. 252 Rue M. le Prince, Ralph Adams Cram

  The Bones of the Earth, Ursula K. Le Guin

  The Closed Window, A.C. Benson

  Disillusioned, Lawrence Schimel and Mike Resnick

  In the Realm of Dragons, Esther M. Friesner

  Forever, Tim Lebbon

  The Wizard of Ashes and Rain, David Sandner

  The Walker Behind, Marion Zimmer Bradley

  The Last Witch, James Bibby

  Last Rites, Louise Cooper

  The Eternal Altercation, Peter Crowther

  All of the stories are copyright in the name of the individual authors or their estates as follows. Every effort has been made to trace holders of copyright. In the event of any inadvertent transgression of copyright please contact the editor via the publisher.

  “The Closed Window” by A.C. Benson. First published in The Hill of Trouble, London: Isbister, 1903. Copyright expired in 1976.

  “The Last Witch” © 2004 by James Bibby. First publication; original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.

  “The Walker Behind” © 1987 by Marion Zimmer Bradley. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1987. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the author’s estate, Scovil Chickak Galen Literary Agency, Inc.

  “Last Rites” © 1994 by Louise Cooper. Extracted from Star Ascendant, first published by HarperCollins, 1994 and in the USA by Tor Books, 1995

  “No. 252 Rue M. le Prince” by Ralph Adams Cram. First published in Black Spirits and White, Boston: Stone & Kimball, 1895. Copyright expired in 1951.

  “The Eternal Altercation” © 2004 by Peter Crowther. First publication; original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.

  “In the Realm of Dragons” © 1997 by Esther M. Friesner. First published in Asimov’s Science Fiction, February 1998. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Infestation” © 2004 by Tom Holt. First publication; original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.

  “The Game of Magical Death” © 1987 by DougHornig. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1987. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Sage of Theare” © 1982 by Diana Wynne Jones. First published in Hecate’s Cauldron, edited by Susan M. Shwartz, New York: DAW Books, 1982. Reprinted by permission of the author and the author’s agents, Laura Cecil Literary Agency.

  “The Rite Stuff” © 2004 by Michael Kurland. First publication; original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.

  “The Bones of the Earth” © 2001 by Ursula K. Le Guin. First published in Tales from Earthsea, New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2001 and in the UK by Orion Publishing, 2002. Reprinted by permission of the author’s agents, Virginia Kidd Agency.

  “Forever” © 2004 by Tim Lebbon. First publication; original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.

  “Villaggio Sogno” © 2004 by Richard A. Lupoff. First publication; original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.

  “Master of Chaos” © 1964 by Michael Moorcock. First published in Fantastic Stories, May 1964. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Timekeeper” © 1989 by John Morressy. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1990. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Witch’s Bicycle” © 2002 by Tim Pratt. First published in Realms of Fantasy, August 2002. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Wizard of Ashes and Rain” © 2001 by David Sandner. First published in Weird Tales, Fall 2001. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Disillusioned” © 1995 by Lawrence Schimel and Mike Resnick. First published under the title “disIllusions” in Adventures in Sword & Sorcery, Wi
nter 1995. Reprinted by permission of the authors.

  “To Become a Sorcerer” © 1991 by Darrell Schweitzer. First published in Weird Tales, Winter 1991/92. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “The Double Shadow” © 1933 by Clark Ashton Smith. First published in The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies, Auburn: Auburn Journal, 1933. Reprinted by permission of Arkham House on behalf of the author’s estate.

  “Ten Things I Know about the Wizard” © 1983 by Steve Rasnic Tem. First published in Fantasy Book, May 1983. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  “Seven Drops of Blood” © 1992 by Robert Weinberg. First published in Grails: Quests, Visitations and Other Occurrences, edited by Richard Gilliam, Martin H. Greenberg and Edward E. Kramer, Atlanta: Unnameable Press, 1992. Reprinted by permission of the author.

  What is it about sorcerers and wizards that has kept us fascinated for nearly a thousand years, all the way from Merlin to Gandalf?

  The answer’s simple.

  Power.

  The ability to have power over things – over time, the weather, other people. Over you.

  It’s that ultimate wish fulfilment. How many times have we wished to make ourselves invisible, or to fly, or to create something out of nothing, or zap someone out of existence? It’s that desire to have control over anything – everything.

  That’s what these stories are about. Power and control. Either the discovery of strange powers or being on the receiving end of them and realizing it isn’t all fun. Being kept spell-bound!

  It’s highly unlikely, I would imagine, that anyone who found they had some incredible power would use it for good. They might, to start with. But come on, admit it, that desire to try something a little different, a little naughty, a little evil, would engulf us all in the end, I’m sure. After all, we’re only human. Mind you, if we had magical powers perhaps we wouldn’t be human, and that’s another element of these stories, the tension between controlling human morals or ethics or otherwise letting evil reign. Because, if we ever did have control over magic, it would be a constant battle between order and chaos. It’s been hard enough over these last fifty years keeping the lid on the nuclear threat and now on terrorism. Just imagine if a nation mastered magic.

  Each of these stories explores the tensions and dilemmas in dealing with magic. Don’t expect any cutesy stories here of benign old wizards in pointy hats. There’s none of those. In many of the stories magic has led to corruption and evil. You won’t find them much nastier than the witch in Tim Pratt’s “The Witch’s Bicycle” or the mages in Tim Lebbon’s “Forever”.

  There are those who try to put magic to good, such as the girl in James Bibby’s “The Last Witch” or Ogion in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Bones of the Earth”, or the forensic sorcerer helping the police in a case of child abduction in “The Rite Stuff”, but even they find it difficult controlling their power. It’s far from easy to make magic work without it corrupting.

  Magic may take many forms. I don’t try to define a sorcerer. Here you will find wizards, witches, warlocks, enchanters – there’s even computer magic in Doug Hornig’s story. You’ll find control over time in John Morressy’s story, control over dragons in Tom Holt’s, and the ultimate control over human destiny in Peter Crowther’s powerful finale. Stories are set in this world or others, in this time or another.

  As always I’ve brought together a mixture of new stories and rare reprints. Six of the stories have been specially written for this anthology and have not appeared anywhere else. These are by James Bibby, Peter Crowther, Tom Holt, Michael Kurland, Tim Lebbon and Richard Lupoff. There are also some unusual reprints, most far from readily available in print elsewhere. My thanks to Hugh Lamb, Stefan Dziemianowicz, Mark Owings and those on the < Horrabin Hall > internet chat group for their suggestions for stories. I only wish I had space for more.

  From here on, though, all understanding of reality ceases. Watch your step.

  Mike Ashley

  Steve Rasnic Tem

  Steve Rasnic Tem (b. 1950) has been writing fantasy and horror fiction for over twenty years and has had stories published in Weird Tales, The Horror Show, Twilight Zone and scores of other magazines and anthologies. He’s published over 200 stories and you’ll find a fair selection in City Fishing (2000), plus a whole load of intrigue in the multimedia CD Imagination Box compiled with his wife Melanie Tem. His stories have won both the British Fantasy Award and the World Fantasy Award. He gets our anthology under way with a story that is not as straightforward as it may seem.

  One: That He Has a Beautiful Daughter

  Clarence first met Amanda in the marketplace when she stole several fruits from his vending cart. He’d been completely entranced by her: her long, silky black hair falling loosely to her shoulders, her narrow face and full lips. And her eyes, like emeralds on snow. He was watching those eyes when he should have been watching her hands. It was only as she started to turn away that he saw her slipping the fruit into the front pockets of her dress.

  He stood in complete bewilderment a moment – by her clothes she’d seemed well off – before jumping over the side of his cart and bounding after her, heedless of the fruit being spilled and retrieved by eager passersby behind him.

  The girl was fast, and Clarence had a difficult time of it just keeping her fleeting form in sight. She seemed to know well the lanes and back alleys – surprising for someone of her bearing – and it took all of Clarence’s experience not to become lost himself.

  But finally she made a wrong turn, and Clarence found himself face to face with the beautiful maiden, her back to a dead end. He had her. But she smiled much too engagingly, he thought, for a thief caught in the act.

  He stared at her for some time: she examined him with those emerald eyes just as intently. Clarence knew how to handle the ordinary thief; he had a great deal of experience in the marketplace. But he had no idea how he should speak to a lady, even if she were a thief.

  “You took my fruit!” he finally blurted out.

  She merely smiled and nodded.

  “You didn’t pay!”

  She laughed out loud.

  “But why?” he asked.

  “Why . . . I was hungry,” she replied in a soft and musical voice.

  Two: That He Has a Very Unusual Daughter

  Clarence spent the following weeks with the maiden, whose name was Amanda, in considerable mental and emotional confusion. He was never quite sure what she was thinking, or what she meant by some of her bizarre statements.

  “Where do you come from?” he would ask her.

  “Past the moon and beneath the tavern floor,” she would reply.

  Such nonsense . . . but he found her utterly fascinating. He couldn’t control himself. He couldn’t stay away from her.

  More than once he had to stop her from stealing something from a local shop. She didn’t really need to do such things: she simply enjoyed the challenge, she had told him. But still she persisted, and more than once they had some close calls together. Many of the local merchants were quite capable of handling their affairs without benefit of law. Clarence found himself constantly afflicted with aches and pains acquired during Amanda’s escapades.

  She was prone to marked swings in mood. One moment she might be laughing with him and the next screaming. He could never predict how she was going to react to anything he said. So any indication of a mood shift made him anxious.

  It soon became obvious to him that Amanda had grown fond of him as well. Even though she complained about his inability to talk back to her, to be more forceful, she wanted to spend most of her time with him, she said. And despite her strange ways, he felt the same. “But my father is a wizard,” she told him. “And you must meet him first, and impress him if we are to marry. That may prove difficult, Clarence my love. He is a strange man, but he’s of course responsible for my existence.” She laughed.

  Clarence didn’t know quite what to say.

  Three: That He Lives in a Dark, />
  Secluded House by the Sea

  Clarence could not fathom the materials the wizard used to build his house; they seemed to be an amalgam of contradictory substances. The house was part of a granite cliff, with trees and other vegetation so mixed in that they appeared to be part of the structure itself. A large cypress melded into the roof line. A boulder formed the central portion of one of the countless chimneys. Clay and steel and cement supported one of the outside walls. There were circular doors, rectangular doors, and triangular doors. Vines covered some oddly-shaped windows and uncovered others. Strange animals nested in the oddly-angled nooks and crannies. The lines of perspective appeared contradictory.

  And one section of the house seemed impossibly dark, even in the morning light, as if that section of the house had been fashioned of night itself.

  It had taken them two days’ journey to get there, and Clarence had wondered the entire time why it was worth the effort. Amanda complained about her father constantly: how he attempted to control her life, how he had adamant opinions on almost any subject, how he inflicted “silent rages” upon anyone who dared disagree with him.

  But when Clarence had questioned their going, Amanda had lashed out at him with unexpected viciousness. “Because he’s my father!” she had cried. “It’s for me to decide whether to visit him or not!”

  So they’d made the trip, through wastelands and mysterious, dream-like landscapes Clarence had never known existed. The wizard was indeed isolated; there seemed to be no other dwellings as far as the eye could see. Clarence couldn’t understand why anyone would even want to live out there.

  “You grew up in this place?” Clarence asked as they stood below the wizard’s cliff-dwelling.

  “I did. . . .” Amanda said quietly.

  “I don’t understand. Who were your friends? Who did you play with as a child?”

  She turned to him with a slight frown. “I didn’t have any friends,” she said flatly. “Any companions I had my father made for me out of dust and swampwater.”

  With that, she turned and guided him to the steep staircase climbing the cliffside to the wizard’s house.