Fluctuation in Disorder

An encounter with an alien enemy. A strange epiphany in a fog-bound park. A collector of the names of the dead faces their own death. Rebel divinities respond to the prayers of despairing creation for deliverance. Bureaucrats find their grip on reality dissolving in odd ways.

In these ten finely crafted and unsettling stories, Maxwell’s slipstream style interweaves strands of naturalism, science fantasy, and the experimental irreal, illuminated by sharp flashes of wit and language of lyrical precision. Many of the characters exist in a state of slippage, alienated from the world they thought they knew by an encounter with something that is indifferent to them, but to which they cannot remain indifferent.

More than twenty years separate the earliest and the most recent of the stories in this collection, but certain persistent preoccupations provide loose thematic links—environmental crime and retribution; the ways, both overt and insidious, in which institutions can corrupt or sacrifice those within them; the interpretations and recording of past events by unreliable narrators; and the pervasive, irreducible weirdness of existence.

And the WIldness (Flux Avellana #1)

“So the actual reason I was calling you is because—get this—I am not going to Prague this summer at all. Surprise! Thanks, Villa. Just ruin my life for me.”

Villa Grace is in disgrace. Her expulsion from school has ruined the prospect of a family holiday in imperial Prague, where her mother is organising a conference. Two of her three siblings are barely speaking to her, as all four face into a ‘holiday’ sweltering on Cobwell Farm in the back of beyond of drought-stricken Hibernia.

But the power-hungry St. Maur Ker family has breached the border between mortal and sídh for their own gain. Cobwell, on the threshold of myth, is about to become the centre of a battle between older, wilder forces and the technomantic ambitions of one of the empire’s great aristo–corporate clans.

Caught up in this conflict, the children are forced to face up to the dark underbelly of their parents’ corporate environment, and to confront their own conflicting ambitions and loyalties.

Good Red Herring (Muinbeo Chronicles #1)

“Some of these stories really started decades, generations, ago, and now come to their close. New things begin to arise from the past, like phoenix feathers separating from the flame. The winding down of the old stories and the starting of the new arose from a death; a murder, if you will believe such wickedness. We warn you. We are the last—eh—people to pretend that Muinbeo is some kind of Island of the Blessed.”

Those enigmatic entities, the Storytellers of Muinbeo, know that History has something waiting in the wings. To set the scene for their audience, they relate a gripping tale about a death and its consequences.

When her mentor is bitten by a rogue werewolf and “joins our hairy brethren howling at the moon,” apprentice detective Salmon Farsade is assigned to Hal McCabe, Detective Chief-Inspector and vampire, just in time for a murder.

Fen Maguire has been stabbed, throwing the normally peaceful community of Ballinpooka into shock. The investigation into her death lifts the lid on more than just the name of her killer: political corruption, Outland conspiracy, academic deceit, and plain old-fashioned greed. A second murder follows: the clock is ticking, and as they seek a key to unlock the truth, the detectives are both helped and hindered by the various human and not-so-human beings that populate Muinbeo.

A Wild Goose Hunt (Muinbeo Chronicles #2)

“You did not tell the Abbess a single lie,” Diamond said, “but you didn’t tell her the truth.”

As a good Sombrist, Hunter Sessaire is aware that not only lying, but also curiosity, is very much frowned upon by his community. As an apprentice archivist, he cannot resist the temptation to try to puzzle out how a manuscript could have been stolen from the room within the Sombrists’ stronghold known as the Labyrinth. A room that opens only during a planetary alignment. An alignment that has not yet taken place.

But this is not the only enigma abroad in Muinbeo this winter. Seemingly disparate occurrences remain opaque even to those normally in the know, such as Detective Chief Inspector Hal McCabe, scratching his head over the inexplicable vanishing of his apprentice, Salmon Farsade, and the dramatic and destructive theft of an ancient silver hand from the local school museum.

The boundaries of Muinbeo, carefully managed to keep the Outland and its machinations by and large outside where they belong, have become a bit more porous than McCabe would like, not least when he begins to suspect that some of the uncanny events may have their roots in a controversial Outland archaeological dig in Aegypt… Once again we are led into a maze of mystery by those not entirely reliable narrators, the Storytellers, in this enthralling sequel to Good Red Herring.

If Our Crops Fail, We Fail – Farming, Climate Change and how you can make a difference

In spite of all the technology of the modern world, we live in societies that are still fundamentally agrarian. If climate change makes agriculture all but impossible in large areas of the world there is a widespread risk of famine and solely relying on international trade to cover any shortfalls is unlikely to be a sound strategy to resolve this. Active engagement with the issue across society will be required to help mitigate the effects.

If Our Crops Fail, We Fail – Farming, Climate Change and how you can make a difference outlines what the nature of the issues facing agriculture from climate change are, which potential solutions are likely to have merit and practical steps we can take as individuals, communities and nations to help address the issue.

Nero – The Last Caesar

Born to Agrippina, sister of “Caligula”, Nero became heir to the Roman Empire – in exchange for his childhood. At 14 he addressed the Senate, at 15 presided over major court cases, and at 16 became Emperor of Rome.

Dominated by his mother, controlled by the Senate and manipulated by his Commander, Nero fought to retain his socialist ideals, only to be worn down and broken by the politics of Rome.

Adored by the people, revered by foreign statesmen, but loathed by his peers, Nero was driven to suicide at the age of 30. His reputation lives on, epitomising the wealth and decadence of ancient Rome. But history is written by the winners…

A modern story set in an ancient world, this is the real Nero, told in his own words and based entirely on fact. Prepare to be surprised.

Tales Of The Turf & Other Worlds

Welcome to the unique world of The Turf, where the Sport of Kings has been wholeheartedly embraced by a gaggle o giggly schoolgirls who, together with a collection of entertaining racecourse characters, will introduce the reader to the delights, and sometimes darker side, of horseracing.

In an Other World from horseracing we meet such diverse characters as vampires, popstars and serial killers, all of whom are guaranteed to raise a laugh, and possibly an eyebrow, along the way. This largely humorous collection of short stories makes an ideal bedside book or travelling companion, one that you will want to dip back into again and again.

Gala Day

Pete Allen is a jockey desperate to regain the glory days of his youth and it seems young trainer Sebastian Churchill can offer him the chance he needs.

But does that chance come with a price tag?

And can Pete ultimately afford the cost?

Sainte Bastien

Pain, fear, ambition, love and loss form a maelstrom, as widowed trainer Nick Marchant loses control of his troubled teenage son and must choose between protecting the family name – or those around him.

Grey Motive

Jack is failing at school and the Racing Futures Programme is his final chance.

Chris and Terry have a potential champion racehorse that they can’t afford to keep.

Joy finds herself the prime suspect when money goes missing from a betting office.

Three different problems, but can DI Les de Freitas find a common link in a seemingly motiveless theft? As their lives intertwine against a backdrop of a once-in-a-lifetime Triple Crown bid, who will be the first to crack under pressure?