An collection of previously unseen stories, favourites from 'Interzone' magazine and contributions to numerous science fiction and fantasy anthologies 'Imagined Slights' showcases one of the most versatile and elegant writers on the genre scene today. Whether taking you through 'Britworld(TM)' - Britain turned into a theme park, exploring the possibilities of the lonely hearts ad in 'Thanatophile Seeks Similar', or imagining the disability of a child without wings in a world where wings are the norm in the moving short story, 'Wings', James Lovegrove is incapable of writing a dull sentence.From the author of the acclaimed Pantheon trilogy of novels, 'Age of Ra', 'Age of Zeus' and 'Age of Odin'.

It is 1895, and Sherlock Holmes's new client is a High Court judge, whose free-spirited daughter has disappeared without a trace. Holmes and Watson discover that the missing woman—Hannah Woolfson—was herself on the trail of a missing person, her close friend Sophia. Sophia was recruited to a group known as the Elysians, a quasi-religious sect obsessed with Ancient Greek myths and rituals, run by the charismatic Sir Philip Buchanan. Hannah has joined the Elysians under an assumed name, convinced that her friend has been murdered. Holmes agrees that she should continue as his agent within the secretive yet seemingly harmless cult, yet Watson is convinced Hannah is in terrible danger. For Sir Philip has dreams of improving humanity through classical ideals, and at any cost...

THE AGE OF WAR!Zachary Bramwell, better known as the comics artist Zak Zap, is pushing forty and wondering why his life isn't as exciting as the lives of the superheroes he draws. Then he's shanghaied by black-suited goons and flown to Mount Meru, a vast complex built atop an island in the Maldives. There, Zak meets a trio of billionaire businessmen who put him to work designing costumes for a team of godlike super-powered beings based on the ten avatars of Vishnu from Hindu mythology.The Ten Avatars battle demons and aliens and seem to be the saviours of a world teetering on collapse. But their presence is itself a harbinger of apocalypse. The Vedic "fourth age" of civilisation, Kali Yuga, is coming to an end, and Zak has a ringside seat for the final, all-out war that threatens the destruction of Earth.

Ancient Egyptian gods have defeated other gods (including Jehovah, Allah, Odin and Zeus), and now specific dieties control various earthly power blocs in Lovegrove's thought-provoking futuristic adventure. The gods gain strength from their followers' worship, so each nation lives according to its god's demands, up to and including warring with other countries. When British Lt. David Westwynter leads his paratroopers into a desert reconnaissance mission, arming them with god-powered light weapons, medieval flails and ancient maces, they encounter mummies and annihilating duel-cell fusion bombs. In Freegypt, the only country not controlled by religion and a specific deity, David meets the enigmatic masked Lightbringer, who challenges the gods for control of the earth. Lovegrove (Provender Gleed) deftly weaves social commentary on religion, family, love and war into the contest between theocracy and humanism.

It is the spring of 1895, and more than a decade of combating eldritch entities has cost Dr John Watson his beloved wife Mary, and nearly broken the health of Sherlock Holmes. Yet the companions do not hesitate when they are called to the infamous Bedlam lunatic asylum, where they find an inmate speaking in R'lyehian, the language of the Old Ones. Moreover, the man is horribly scarred and has no memory of who he is.The detectives discover that the inmate was once a scientist, a student of Miskatonic University, and one of two survivors of a doomed voyage down the Miskatonic River to capture the semi-mythical shoggoth. Yet how has he ended up in London, without his wits? And when the man is taken from Bedlam by forces beyond normal mortal comprehension, it becomes clear that there is far more to the case than one disturbed Bostonian. It is only by learning what truly happened on that fateful New England voyage that Holmes and Watson will uncover the truth, and learn who is...

WORLD OF FIRE! Dev Harmer, reluctant agent of Interstellar Security Solutions, wakes up in a newly cloned host body on the planet Alighieri, ready for action. An infernal world, so close to its sun that its surface is regularly baked to 1,000°C, hot enough to turn rock to lava. But deep underground there are networks of tunnels connecting colonies of miners who dig for the precious Helium-3. Polis+, the AI race who are humankind’s great galactic rivals, want to claim the planet’s mineral wealth for their own. All that stands between them and this goal is Dev. But as well as Polis+’s agents, there are giant moleworms to contend with, and a spate of mysterious earthquakes, and the perils of the surface where a man can be burned to cinders if he gets caught unprotected on the day side...

Lex Dove thought he was done with the killing game. Then a call comes. One last mission: to lead a black ops team into a disused Cold War bunker on a remote island. One hundred feet below ground they face the fruits of an experiment in science and voodoo witchcraft gone wrong. As if barely human monsters weren’t bad enough, a clock is ticking. Little do they know that deeper in the bowels of the earth, a god is waiting.Lex Dove thought he was done with the killing game. A retired British wetwork specialist, he’s living the quiet life in the Caribbean, minding his own business. Then a call comes. One last mission: to lead an American black ops team into a disused Cold War bunker on a remote island. The money’s good, which means the risks are high. How high, Dove doesn’t discover until he and his team are a hundred feet below ground, facing the fruits of an experiment in science and voodoo witchcraft gone wrong. As if barely human monsters weren’t bad enough, a clock is ticking. Deep in the bowels of the earth, a god is waiting. And his anger, if roused, will be fearsome indeed.About the AuthorJames Lovegrove published his first novel at the age of twenty-four and has since written more than 40 books. He has been shortlisted for numerous awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Manchester Book Award, and his work has been translated into 15 languages. In 2011 he became a NYT bestselling* author with Age of Odin*.

Welcome to the Days gigastore! Seven storeys high, two-and-a-half kilometres to a side. Within its walls, you can buy anything and everything! But there is a price to be paid...A savagely funny satire on a society obsessed with consumption, Days paints a picture of a future that is just around the corner. A remarkable feat of visionary writing - blackly funny, lyrical and tightly plotted - it affirmed James Lovegrove's position as one of the key writers of fantastic fiction in the UK today.