Search Worlds Without End

Like all good medieval coaching inns, the Green Man in Fareham, Hertfordshire, boasts a resident, if retired, ghost: Dr Thomas Underhill, a notorious seventeenth-century practitioner of black arts and sexual deviancy, rumoured to have killed his wife. The landlord, Maurice Allington, is the sole witness to the renaissance of the malign Underhill. Led by curiosity and an anxious desire to vindicate his sanity, Allington uncovers the key to Underhill's satanic secrets. And the skeletons in the cupboard of Allington's own domestic affairs are just rattling to get out, too.

A revolution has taken over the government of the United States and the environment has been saved. All pollution has been banned and reversed. It's a bright, green new world. But this new world comes with a great cost. The United States is ruled by a dictatorship and the corporations are fighting back. Joining them are an increasing number of rebels angered by the dictatorship of Chairman Rahma. The Chairman's power is absolute and appears strong, but in The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma by Brian Herbert, cracks are beginning to show as new weapons are developed by the old corporate powers, foreign alliances begin to make inroads into America's influence... and strange reports of mutants filter through the government's censorship.

One of our most enduring, universal myths is that of the Green Man-the spirit who stands for Nature in its most wild and untamed form, a man with leaves for hair who dwells deep within the mythic forest. Through the ages and around the world, the Green Man and other nature spirits have appeared in stories, songs, and artwork, as well as many beloved fantasy novels, including Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Now Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, the acclaimed editors of over twenty anthologies, have gathered some of today's finest writers of magical fiction to interpret the spirits of nature in short stories and poetry. Charles Vess (Stardust) brings his stellar eye and brush to the decorations, and Windling provides an introduction exploring Green Man symbolism and forest myth.

The Green Man will become required reading for teenagers and adults alike-not only for fans of fantasy fiction, but for anyone interested in mythology and the mysteries of the wilderness.

Table of Contents:

• Preface - essay by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• Introduction: About the Green Man and Other Forest Lore - essay by Terri Windling
• Going Wodwo - poem by Neil Gaiman
• Grand Central Park - novelette by Delia Sherman
• Daphne - shortstory by Michael Cadnum
• Somewhere in My Mind There Is a Painting Box - novelette by Charles de Lint
• Among the Leaves So Green - novelette by Tanith Lee
• Song of the Cailleach Bheur - poem by Jane Yolen
• Hunter's Moon - shortstory by Patricia A. McKillip
• Charlie's Away - novelette by Midori Snyder
• A World Painted by Birds - novelette by Katherine Vaz
• Grounded - novelette by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• Overlooking - shortstory by Carol Emshwiller
• Fee, Fie, Foe, et Cetera - novelette by Gregory Maguire
• Joshua Tree - novelette by Emma Bull
• Ali Anugne O Chash (The Boy Who Was) - shortstory by Carolyn Dunn
• Remnants - shortstory by Kathe Koja
• The Pagodas of Ciboure - novelette by M. Shayne Bell
• Green Men - poem by Bill Lewis
• The Green Word - novelette by Jeffrey Ford
• About the Editors - essay by uncredited
• About the Artist - essay by uncredited

A hundred years ago, a man with a secret could travel a few hundred miles and give himself a new name and life story. No one would be any the wiser, as long as he didn't give anyone a reason to start asking questions. These days, that's not so easy, with everyone on social media, and CCTV on every street corner. So Daniel Mackmain keeps his head down and keeps himself to himself.

But now a girl has been murdered and the Derbyshire police are taking a closer look at a loner who travels from place to place, picking up work as he goes. Worse, Dan realises the murder involves the hidden world he was born into. When no one else can see the truth, who will see justice done?

When you do a good job for someone, there's a strong chance they'll offer you more work or recommend you elsewhere. So Daniel Mackmain isn't particularly surprised when his boss's architect brother asks for his help on a historic house renovation in the Cotswolds.

Except Dan's a dryad's son, and he soon realises there's a whole lot more going on. Ancient malice is stirring and it has made an alliance in the modern world. The Green Man expects Dan to put an end to this threat. Seeing the danger, Dan's forced to agree. The problem is he's alone in a place he doesn't know, a hundred miles or more away from any allies of his own.

Daniel Mackmain has always been a loner. As a dryad's son, he can see the supernatural alongside everyday reality, and that's not something he can easily share. Perhaps visiting East Anglia to stay with Finele Wicken and her family will be different. They have their own ties to the uncanny.

But something is amiss in the depths of the Fens. Creatures Dan has never encountered outside folk tales are growing uneasy, even hostile. He soon learns they have good reason. Can he help them before they retaliate and disaster strikes the unsuspecting locals? Can the Green Man help Dan in a landscape dominated by water for centuries, where the oaks were cut down aeons ago?

A while back, Daniel Mackmain's life took an unexpected turn. Now the Green Man expects him to resolve clashes between those dwelling unseen in wild places and the ordinary people who have no idea what's out there. Dan's father is human and his mother's a dryad, so he sees what's happening in both these worlds.

Once upon a time, giants walked this land. So says everyone from Geoffrey of Monmouth to William Blake. This ancient threat is stirring in the Wiltshire twilight, up on the chalk downs. Can Dan meet this new challenge when he can only find half-forgotten fairy tales to guide him? Will the other local supernatural inhabitants see him - or the giant - as friend or foe?

A modern fantasy rooted in the ancient myths and folklore of the British Isles.

The book also features a bonus short story starring Dan's boss, Eleanor Beauchene.

A teenage boy has turned up in Snowdonia, barely conscious and babbling about beautiful women and fairy feasts. The authorities blame magic mushrooms. The wise women say different and they want dryad's son, Daniel Mackmain, to investigate. He needs to watch his step in the mountains. Those who live in the hollow hills mask their secrets and intentions with sly half-truths.

Far from the woods he knows, Dan needs help from the allies he has made in past adventures. But he's a loner at heart. As the true power of his adversary becomes clear, he must decide if he's willing to see those he cares for put themselves in danger.

The Green Man sends Daniel Mackmain to stop threats from folklore making trouble in the everyday world. Now a naiad and dryad want him to deal with the big cat they've seen prowling in their woods. Reports like this turn up in the tabloid press from time to time, though no one has ever caught such a cat, or even found evidence of a large carnivore's kills.

Can Dan discover the truth behind this modern myth before social media turns his hunt into an internet sensation? He knows that not all animals are what they seem. A huge cat which can appear and disappear without a trace must be more than meets the eye. Dan knows one thing for certain. He's on the trail of a killer.

For a few years now, the Green Man has sent Daniel Mackmain to resolve clashes between ordinary people and the supernatural world. Dan has found allies among folk from myth and met other humans who can see the uncanny.

He has also made dangerous enemies. Someone has decided to put a stop to this interference once and for all. Dan and his friends are about to find themselves in the firing line.