Preorders for THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD BEGINS IN ICE: Stories and Essays from the World of Cold Magic are now available. Publication date: October 2024. Exactly what it says in the title: a collection of eleven standalone short stories and eleven essays, plus illustrations, all the stories set in the Cold Magic universe.

Feast your eyes on the Tom Canty cover:

Two print editions are available for preorder: the Deluxe hardcover limited edition ($50) and the regular trade paperback edition ($20). For the time being, the Deluxe limited edition hardcover will only be available for preorder on the Fairwood Press website.

• The limited edition is VERY limited; there will only be 200 hardcover copies
• I have numbered and signed them all on a lovely signature page
• The Deluxe edition includes a color fold-out of Julie Dillon’s “dragon rising from the sea of smoke”
• AND a special secret chapbook (with a lovely cover and a sweet interior illustration) comes with every limited edition order

For more information on the Deluxe edition, or to place a preorder, click through to the order page.


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I conceived of this project in 2018 with the idea that I could publish a Spiritwalker-themed short fiction collection in Fall 2020 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the initial publication of COLD MAGIC. From the beginning, I wanted to add more illustrations, in large part because I so love the illustrations Julie Dillon drew for a very limited edition 2013 chapbook, The Secret Journal of Beatrice Hassi Barahal (included in the new collection!).

When R.B. Lemberg published GEOMETRIES OF BELONGING: Stories and Poems from the Birdverse with Fairwood Press, I realized that maybe I had found the press who would be interested. I asked Patrick Swenson, the publisher, if he would consider publishing another “universe” themed collection—and he was enthusiastic!

Patrick has been absolutely great to work with. I’m in awe of his multi-tasking skills. He’s the reason the collection has a great Tom Canty cover which I am completely bowled over by.

I contacted a number of artists who I was hoping to work with for interior illustrations, and almost all of them said Yes! despite overloaded schedules. I can’t praise them enough, all of whom came through with splendid art that enhances the text.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD BEGINS IN ICE has been a labor of love from start to finish, my tribute to the readers who have loved the COLD MAGIC and the Spiritwalker Trilogy, to the beauty and power of art when it works in concert with text, and to myself and my stubborn commitment to writing the strange stories that keep bubbling up in my mind. My natural narrative length is probably the trilogy, and yet I wrote the short fiction contained herein (as well as the essays) with just as much love and concern for craft and outcome as my longest and most detailed epic tome.

Two of the stories are original to the collection, while the others have appeared in one venue or another, although not all officially published (a few were posted online). You don’t have to have read the Spiritwalker Trilogy to follow the stories; many were written for venues where I had to assume readers wouldn’t have read COLD MAGIC and sequels.

I can’t get over how gorgeous the Tom Canty cover is, and I can’t wait for you all to see the illustrations inside, too

A quick note about preorders: Fairwood Press is a small press run by a single person (Patrick) who takes a chance on every book he publishes. Preorders go directly to pay for expenses ahead of publication, so they are a huge help similar to how Kickstarter pledges are a big help. Preorders are also a way to support small presses, who are often the only places willing to take a chance on a niche project like this one.