By the winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction, 2018.Since her sister died, Meg has been on her own. She doesn't mind, not really—not with Atticus, her African grey parrot, to keep her company—but after her house is broken into by a knife-wielding intruder, she decides it might be good to have some company after all.Andy's father has lost his job, and his parents' savings are barely enough to cover his tuition. If he wants to graduate, he'll have to give up his student flat and find a homeshare. Living with an elderly Australian woman is harder than he'd expected, though, and soon he's struggling with more than his studies.

K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city, and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it. A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all. To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far more experience with bridge-building than battles, is a cheat and a liar, and has a serious problem with authority. He is, in other words, perfect for the job. Sixteen Ways To Defend a Walled City is the story of Orhan, son of Siyyah Doctus Felix Praeclarissimus, and his history of the Great Siege, written down so that the deeds and sufferings of great men may never be forgotten.For more from K. J. Parker, check out:The Two of SwordsThe Two of Swords: Volume OneThe Two...

When their best friends' wedding is about to collapse the night before the nuptials, the best man, wrangler Matthew Wilde, and the maid of honor, Riley Weaver, must work together to make their friends' Christmas wish come true. Despite their differences and a family feud, can Matthew and Riley embrace the holiday spirit–and each other–before the clock ticks down?

This March-April issue contains new cutting edge horror fiction by Stephen Volk, Tim Lees, Kay Chronister, David Martin, Amanda J. Bermudez, and Tom Johnstone. The cover art is 'Memento' by Joachim Luetke, and interior illustrations are by Joachim Luetke, Dave Senecal, Ben Baldwin, and Richard Wagner. Regular features: Into the Woods by Ralph Robert Moore; Notes from the Borderland by Lynda E. Rucker; Case Notes book reviews by Georgina Bruce, Mike O'Driscoll, Laura Mauro, Daniel Carpenter, Andrew Hook, Philip Fracassi, and David Surface; Blood Spectrum film reviews by Gary Couzens.The cover art is 'Memento' by Joachim LuetkeFiction:Unchain the Beast by Stephen Volkillustrated by Ben BaldwinIn a Dry Season by David Martinillustrated by Dave SenecalTotenhaus by Amanda J. BermudezRoiling and Without Form by Kay Chronisterillustrated by Joachim LuetkeThe Stop-Tap by Tim LeesThe Beast...

'I have quite changed my mind. I am going to run away and become a boy.'In these three stories, written by Djuna Barnes under the pseudonym Lydia Steptoe, three characters find themselves on the brink of a sexual awakening - accompanied by guns, whips, and worldly innuendo.A fourteen-year-old girl plans to become 'a virago', until her mother intercepts her first tryst by dressing up as her male lover. A boy of the same age is lured into the forest by his father's mistress. A woman of forty falls in love and longs to kill herself, so unbearable is the return of the youth she thought she wanted. 'Alice', she tells herself, 'be a man.'Barnes makes gender and desire seem slippery and joyful - and makes the fictional Lydia Steptoe seem like a writer for our time.