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C.S.E. Cooney

Goodreads Author

Born

in Phoenix, The United States

Website

https://csecooney.com/

Twitter

csecooney

Genre

Fantasy

Influences

Gene Wolfe

Member Since

February 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/csecooney

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C.S.E. Cooney lives and writes in Queens, whose borders are water. She is an audiobook narrator, the singer/songwriter Brimstone Rhine, and author of World Fantasy Award-winning Bone Swans: Stories (Mythic Delirium 2015).

Her work includes the novella Desdemona and the Deep (Tor.com 2019), three albums: Alecto! Alecto!, The Headless Bride, and Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir, and a poetry collection: How to Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes. The latter features her 2011 Rhysling Award-winning “The Sea King’s Second Bride.”

Her short fiction can be found in Ellen Datlow’s Mad Hatters and March Hares: All-New Stories from the World of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the Sword and Sonnet anthology, edited by Aidan Doyle, Rachael K Jones ...more

337 posts
C.S.E. Cooney's Blog

Happy Birthday to the Dread Patty Templeton

There is No Lovely End, Only Lovely Here

For Patty Templeton
by C. S. E. Cooney
On the occasion of her November 5th 2025 birthday, however the hell years old/young we are

they will say of us, maybe nothing
we’ll be tree fodder, or thrift store jewelry by then
all our book collections gone to the dump
it’s possible the future holds no lasting legacy, no literacy
no cavorting like ghouls in t

Combine Editions
C.S.E. Cooney’s books

Average rating: 3.88 · 9,593 ratings · 2,422 reviews · 196 distinct works • Similar authors

	Saint Death's Daughter (Saint Death, #1) 4.07 avg rating — 2,133 ratings — published 2022 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Desdemona and the Deep 3.85 avg rating — 923 ratings — published 2019 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bone Swans: Stories by C.S.E. Cooney (Goodreads Author), Gene Wolfe (Introduction) 4.34 avg rating — 490 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Saint Death's Herald (Saint Death, #2) 4.17 avg rating — 287 ratings — published 2025 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Twice-Drowned Saint 4.25 avg rating — 205 ratings — published 2023 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dark Breakers by C.S.E. Cooney (Goodreads Author), Sharon Shinn (Introduction ), Brett Massé (Illustrator) 4.40 avg rating — 110 ratings — published 2022 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bone Swans of Amandale 4.42 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Witch in the Almond Tree (Witch's Garden, #1) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jack o' the Hills 4.53 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Breaker Queen 4.13 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by C.S.E. Cooney

Saint Death (2 books)
by

C.S.E. Cooney (Goodreads Author)

4.08 avg rating — 2,420 ratings

Dark Breakers (1 book)
by

C.S.E. Cooney (Goodreads Author)

3.85 avg rating — 923 ratings

C.S.E. is Currently Reading

C.S.E. Cooney is currently reading

Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery

by Jonathan Strahan (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 26, 2019 07:47AM

C.S.E. Cooney is currently reading

The True Queen (Sorcerer Royal, #2)

by Zen Cho (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 26, 2019 07:40AM

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The Book of Magic

by Gardner Dozois

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Jul 26, 2019 07:49AM

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C.S.E.’s Recent Updates

C.S.E. Cooney wrote a new blog post Eighth Anniversary: Ceramics so I thought, no more blogging.no more poetry, no flights of fancy.no enchantments posted Puck-liketo put a girdle round the earth in record time.too Read more of this blog post »
Nov 14, 2025 05:40AM · like
C.S.E. Cooney entered a giveaway The Duke by Anna Cowan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 25, 2025 05:02AM · like · see giveaway

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Quotes by C.S.E. Cooney (?)

“My heart was on the verge, if not of explosion than of collapse, hurtling to an inward oblivion, sucking down with it the very ground I stood on.”
― C.S.E. Cooney, Bone Swans: Stories

tags: love-hurts

1 likes

“But if Desdemona knew one thing, it was this: if misery loves company, malice adores it.”
― C.S.E. Cooney, Tor.com Publishing 2019 Debut Sampler

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“The angel Alizar sometimes looked like a human-shaped paper lantern, or a sudden release of soap bubbles, or a cloud. He glowed on the inside as if he'd swallowed a hive of horny fireflies, and on the outside, he looked as if a toddler with a glue gun had gone wild with the craft buckets containing outrageous feathers, and twining golden vines, and trumpet-like flowers, and thin, prismatic insect wings.

Alizar also had the ability to spontaneously produce eyeballs whenever and wherever he fancied, though I'd never seen him sport more than eleven at a time, hence his name.”
― C.S.E. Cooney, The Twice-Drowned Saint

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See all C.S.E. Cooney's quotes »

Polls

1st Quarter 2023 - Fantasy #3

Into the Broken Lands by Tanya Huff (464 pages)

3 votes, 23.1%

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu (592 pages)

2 votes, 15.4%

Now She is Witch by Kirsty Logan (not yet available)

2 votes, 15.4%

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg (348 pages)

2 votes, 15.4%

Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney (692 pages)

2 votes, 15.4%

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen (336 pages)

1 vote, 7.7%

Anastasia by Sophie Lark (847 pages)

1 vote, 7.7%

Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn (299 pages)

0 votes, 0.0%

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (298 pages)

0 votes, 0.0%

The Soprano Sorceress by L.E. Modesitt Jr. (672 pages)

0 votes, 0.0%

The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry (384 pages)

0 votes, 0.0%

13 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Fantasy Book Club: What are you reading in August '15?	94	72	Aug 28, 2015 04:54AM
The Sword and Laser: What else are you reading - August 2015	150	310	Aug 31, 2015 05:40PM
Sword & Sorcery: ...: List any kickstarter/crowd funding here	4	17	Oct 24, 2015 07:25PM
Sci-fi and Heroic...: 2015 Nebula Award short story & novella nominees	11	52	Apr 22, 2016 01:39AM
Sci-fi and Heroic...: "The Bone Swans of Amandale" by C.S.E. Cooney	6	10	Apr 26, 2016 11:58AM
Sci-fi and Heroic...: What are you Reading this February?	71	110	Feb 26, 2017 08:16AM
SciFi and Fantasy...: What Are You Reading? 2017 Thread	2122	1432	Dec 31, 2017 01:31PM
Into the Forest: Recommended fairy tale short stories	36	48	May 18, 2018 04:36AM

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C.S.E.’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-2) post a comment »

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message 2: by C.S.E.

Feb 21, 2011 05:56PM

Shveta wrote: "Yay, you're hereeeeee!"

Oh! THIS is how you reply to it! Sorry for the silly message. Yes! I am here! It's DAUNTING but it looks like a lot of fun. The Kingdom of Goodreads has been BREACHED!

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message 1: by Shveta

Feb 21, 2011 05:48PM

Yay, you're hereeeeee!

reply | flag

C.S.E. Cooney’s Followers (347)

C.S.E. Cooney

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