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Colder Greyer Stones
In 2012 NewCon Press launched our Imaginings series with Cold Grey Stones by Tanith eleven wonderful and rich-textured stories, all previously uncollected, five of which appeared for the first time anywhere and all of which deserved to be treasured. Available only as a signed limited edition hardback, Cold Grey Stones sold out in a matter of weeks. In 2013, to commemorate Tanith Lee being honoured with a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at this year's World Fantasy Convention, we are delighted to release a paperback edition of the book for the first time, now expanded to include a brand new novelette, "The Frost Watcher", inspired by John Kaiine's evocative cover art. This is a stunning collection of stories, providing further evidence, should any be needed, of why Tanith Lee is held in such high regard by fans and contemporaries alike. "Tanith Lee restores one's faith in fiction as the expression of imagination and original thought." - The Guardian "Tanith Lee's mastery of voice and the constant originality of her writing never fail to intrigue, unsettle, and ultimately delight." - Liz Williams, Author of the Inspector Chen Novels
207 pages, Paperback
First published September 26, 2013
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91 people want to read
About the author
Tanith Lee
615 books1,965 followersTanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 28, 2013
Colder Greyer Stones is a fantastic collection of short stories. Here's a brief rundown of my four favorites!
En Forêt Noire is taken from a song Tanith Lee’s mother would sing, En Forêt Noire je vais les soirs, into the dark forest I go in the evenings. Ahh and what a dark forest it is, the townsfolk from miles around have stories to tell. Once you enter you never return; that is until Louis is challenged at gunpoint to enter with his conniving future brother in law.
In The Country Of The Blind we are reminded of the old adage ‘never judge a book by its cover’.
“Have you ever wanted to kill anyone? Probably you have.”, so opens the story Killing Her. Tooty Wilson had a way of grating on her co-worker’s nerves; it got so bad that action was needed!
The Frost Watcher is an eerie thought provoking tale of what’s to come. Durdyn a young shepherd encounters a Watcher one evening while tending his sheep. He is given a warning that a frost like no other is coming. Trying to tell others of the warning gets him nowhere and he eventually keeps it to himself. Fast forward seven years and life goes on but the warning still lingers in the back of Durdyn’s mind until the day he meets Crorth an old man who lives up in the hills in a cave. The beginning of the end has been set in motion.
I really enjoyed this collection of stories, though I must admit I AM a fan so I do enjoy anything written by Tanith Lee.
En Forêt Noire is taken from a song Tanith Lee’s mother would sing, En Forêt Noire je vais les soirs, into the dark forest I go in the evenings. Ahh and what a dark forest it is, the townsfolk from miles around have stories to tell. Once you enter you never return; that is until Louis is challenged at gunpoint to enter with his conniving future brother in law.
In The Country Of The Blind we are reminded of the old adage ‘never judge a book by its cover’.
“Have you ever wanted to kill anyone? Probably you have.”, so opens the story Killing Her. Tooty Wilson had a way of grating on her co-worker’s nerves; it got so bad that action was needed!
The Frost Watcher is an eerie thought provoking tale of what’s to come. Durdyn a young shepherd encounters a Watcher one evening while tending his sheep. He is given a warning that a frost like no other is coming. Trying to tell others of the warning gets him nowhere and he eventually keeps it to himself. Fast forward seven years and life goes on but the warning still lingers in the back of Durdyn’s mind until the day he meets Crorth an old man who lives up in the hills in a cave. The beginning of the end has been set in motion.
I really enjoyed this collection of stories, though I must admit I AM a fan so I do enjoy anything written by Tanith Lee.
November 17, 2021
Really good short story collection, top notch stories ranging from the amazing ending piece The Frost Watcher to fairy tale-like Ice Queen's winter palace and lifesucking horror forests, historical fiction and a creepy murder plan story. Well worth reading.
December 30, 2014
This evoked the same feeling as the last time I read a collection of Lee's short stories - 'Why don't I read her more often?', it's not as though she only wrote 3 books (92 according to the notes in this one) or I had read them all. Possibly that they are not that easy to come by (or indeed, hear about)? This was an exquisitely written collection, if mostly rather creepy tales.
February 10, 2019
Some of the most gorgeous prose, and fantastic ideas, but whoever edited it did an awful job: misspelled words, missing punctuation, etc.
December 19, 2019
Anthology of 12 horror stories by one of my all time favourite writers Tanith Lee written between 2003-2013. Now I'll start by saying that this is probably my least favourite period of her writing - the output at this point is less fantasy and rich gothic prose, focusing on the more psychological, saying that the stories here aren't bad, just not as blindingly good as some of her earlier stuff imho. It's also curious to note that only one story has a female protagonist which is rather a departure from her usual work.
The highlight is 'Greyve' - which takes the premise of a gravestone of an unknown stranger appearing in someone's flat and mysteriously moving about. Bizarre premise, great story. I also love En Foret Noire, based on an old song it tells of a vampire forest. I like the idea and the punning of clockatrice. Malicious Springs and Killing her are great psychological studies. And I liked the macabre My Heart: A stone. Fr'eulogy and In the kingdom of the blind show just how good a writer Lee is as they are fun twist in the tale stories at only a couple of pages each.
Can't say I totally got the novella 'The Frost Watcher' and I wasn't too keen on Heart of Ice and Calinnen - largely I think with these three, it's down to character - they all have detached male protagonists making it somewhat harder to identify with.
Overall though, this is a solid anthology and kept me reading, even though it's not one of my favourites.
The highlight is 'Greyve' - which takes the premise of a gravestone of an unknown stranger appearing in someone's flat and mysteriously moving about. Bizarre premise, great story. I also love En Foret Noire, based on an old song it tells of a vampire forest. I like the idea and the punning of clockatrice. Malicious Springs and Killing her are great psychological studies. And I liked the macabre My Heart: A stone. Fr'eulogy and In the kingdom of the blind show just how good a writer Lee is as they are fun twist in the tale stories at only a couple of pages each.
Can't say I totally got the novella 'The Frost Watcher' and I wasn't too keen on Heart of Ice and Calinnen - largely I think with these three, it's down to character - they all have detached male protagonists making it somewhat harder to identify with.
Overall though, this is a solid anthology and kept me reading, even though it's not one of my favourites.
July 1, 2014
I liked it, but it was not my favorite. Some of the longer stories didn't do it for me (which may have been more on me than the stories themselves), but overall it was excellent still very good, which is no surprise from Tanith Lee. My favorite was Fr'eulogy, part of the magic of which is that you don't understand the title until you've read it.
August 19, 2014
Complete immersion for me into some bizarre worlds. One of my favorite authors and she did not disappoint with this one.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews