A collection of wonder stories, forthcoming from Lethe Press on 14 July 2012.

For, what with my whole world-wide wandering,
What with my search drawn out through years, my hope
Dwindled into a ghost not fit to cope
With that obstreperous joy success would bring, -
I hardly tried now to rebuke the spring
My heart made, finding failure in its scope.

—Robert Browning: “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”

Ten recent stories that wander back and forth along and across the boundaries between realistic, fantastical, and science fiction.

Wheat, Barley, Lettuce, Fennel, Salt for Sorrow, Blood for Joy

Composed 2011, first published 2012. In which Luke, on a sailing cruise off the coast of Turkey, encounters Adonis.

The Arab’s Prayer

Composed 2010, first published 2011. In which Mus’ad, an Israeli Arab of the very near future, witnesses a small but profound socio-political change.

Then We Went There

Composed 2009, first published in this collection. In which Davey, a disaffected, accidentally heroic teen, loses everything and gains…something.

Firooz and His Brother

Composed 2005, first published 2008. In which Firooz, a merchant of the Silk Road, becomes a brother, then a father.

Turning

Composed 2009-2010, first published 2011. In which Serkan, a brutalized Turkish youth, discovers peace at the tomb of mad Sufi poet Rumi.

Haider and His Dog

Composed 2007, first published in this volume. In which Firooz’s brother Haider completes his explorations in the fantastical world of his birth.

Jannicke’s Cat

Composed 2008, first published 2009. In which an old, old lady on a distant planet creates a gift for her great-grandson.

Liam and the Wild Fairy

Composed 2010, first published 2010. In which Liam, raised by gay dads in rural Massachusetts, encounters for the first time a person like himself, and glimpses fairyland.

Ban’s Dream of the Sea

Composed 2011, first published 2012. In which Ban, aristocrat scholar, observes the secret history of his ancient city in the sea.

Tattooed Love Boys

Composed 2009, first published 2012. In which Emma and her brother Theo, on extended holiday in Europe, are changed forever.

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Advance Praise

It’s a marvelous book. This guy is a major talent…. The stories compliment yet satisfyingly differ from each other, the atmospheres are like different-colour palettes. Jeffers can be cruel, pragmatic, tender, sweet, funny, sexy, and devastating. The stories, and their underlying themes and currents, linger. A most collectable collection.

—Tanith Lee,
author of Disturbed by Her Song and many others

Step onto this flying carpet and prepare to be carried away to exotic times and places, where Alex Jeffers has set up camp to tell his tales to both those already familiar with his wonderful wonder stories and to those strangers who happen to be passing by.

—Christopher Barzak,
author of One for Sorrow & The Love We Share Without Knowing

…a curious but engrossing blend of cultures, sexualities, and gender identities in worlds where magic is both ethereal and ever-present. … Jeffers has an elevated writing style that fits snugly with the stories’ subtle but persistent titular wonder.

—Publishers Weekly

What a cornucopia! Each story is a world, and each is more amazing than the one before it. The book is a like a jewel-case filled with these glittering, gorgeous, but very dangerous brooches! The pins are sharp! Barbed at times. And the writing is perfection.

—Agnes Bushell,
author of Days of the Dead