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At the Gates and Other Stories: Sixteen Tales of Magic and Wonder
A ghost searches for revenge in ancient Egypt. A boy unearths the bones of a dragon. A girl risks awakening a dark god to save her dog…
He reached out a hand and touched Grace’s cheek. The touch made her shiver. “You can’t save everyone, Grace.”
“I don’t want to,” Grace whispered. “Just her.”
At the Gates and Other Stories is a collection of sixteen fantasy short stories.
Reviews of stories in this collection
"This is the first story I’ve heard this year that I’d consider a masterpiece. It’s rare for a story to move me to tears, but this one did. The writing is perfect, capturing the period and expressing the torments of war brilliantly." – John Dodds, The Fix on The Western Front
"Marvelous." – Colin Harvey, Suite101, on At the Gates
"This one kept me turning the page without pause, with its natural pace and flow of words, good characterization, and skillful plot build-up. Samphire’s writing skill is matched only by his knowledge of Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology." – Scott M. Sandridge, Tangent Online, on The Land of Reeds.
"A great coming-of-age story." – David Roy, epinions, on When the Dragon Falls
"Patrick Samphire offers an updated Arthurian fantasy, an elegantly crafted modern-day take on the Matter of Britain." – Gardner Dozois, Locus, Issue 598 on Camelot
The Stories
- At the Gates
- Five Things of Beauty
- Uncle Vernon’s Lie
- Finisterre
- A Veil, a Meal, and Dust
- A Field Guide to Ugly Places
- Slipper of Glass
- The Equation
- When the Dragon Falls
- Dawn, by the Light of a Barrow Fire
- Camelot
- Crab Apple
- The Sea Beyond Thule
- The Land of Reeds
- The Western Front
- Dragonfly Summer
He reached out a hand and touched Grace’s cheek. The touch made her shiver. “You can’t save everyone, Grace.”
“I don’t want to,” Grace whispered. “Just her.”
At the Gates and Other Stories is a collection of sixteen fantasy short stories.
Reviews of stories in this collection
"This is the first story I’ve heard this year that I’d consider a masterpiece. It’s rare for a story to move me to tears, but this one did. The writing is perfect, capturing the period and expressing the torments of war brilliantly." – John Dodds, The Fix on The Western Front
"Marvelous." – Colin Harvey, Suite101, on At the Gates
"This one kept me turning the page without pause, with its natural pace and flow of words, good characterization, and skillful plot build-up. Samphire’s writing skill is matched only by his knowledge of Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology." – Scott M. Sandridge, Tangent Online, on The Land of Reeds.
"A great coming-of-age story." – David Roy, epinions, on When the Dragon Falls
"Patrick Samphire offers an updated Arthurian fantasy, an elegantly crafted modern-day take on the Matter of Britain." – Gardner Dozois, Locus, Issue 598 on Camelot
The Stories
- At the Gates
- Five Things of Beauty
- Uncle Vernon’s Lie
- Finisterre
- A Veil, a Meal, and Dust
- A Field Guide to Ugly Places
- Slipper of Glass
- The Equation
- When the Dragon Falls
- Dawn, by the Light of a Barrow Fire
- Camelot
- Crab Apple
- The Sea Beyond Thule
- The Land of Reeds
- The Western Front
- Dragonfly Summer
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 2, 2021
About the author
Patrick Samphire
34 books192 followersPatrick Samphire is the author of the adult fantasy novels SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD, NECTAR FOR THE GOD, STRANGE CARGO, and the forthcoming LEGACY OF A HATED GOD, as well as the middle grade novels SECRETS OF THE DRAGON TOMB and THE EMPEROR OF MARS. He has published around twenty short stories and novellas.
Patrick has been writing stories since he was fourteen years old and thought it would be a good way of avoiding having to sit through English lessons at school. He was absolutely convinced that he would be famous by the time he was eighteen, but sadly, even infamy has eluded him.
He lives in Wales, surrounded by mountains, with his wife, their sons, and their cat.
When he's not writing, he designs websites and ebooks.
He will now stop talking about himself in the third person.
Patrick has been writing stories since he was fourteen years old and thought it would be a good way of avoiding having to sit through English lessons at school. He was absolutely convinced that he would be famous by the time he was eighteen, but sadly, even infamy has eluded him.
He lives in Wales, surrounded by mountains, with his wife, their sons, and their cat.
When he's not writing, he designs websites and ebooks.
He will now stop talking about himself in the third person.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 11, 2021
I picked up this collection of short stories because of the cover, and it didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed most of the stories. There were few that didn't work for me personally, but I also found some of my favourites:
At the Gates,
Uncle Vernon's Lie,
When the Dragon Falls.
I will check out more by Samphire, really liked writing style in this one.
At the Gates,
Uncle Vernon's Lie,
When the Dragon Falls.
I will check out more by Samphire, really liked writing style in this one.
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November 12, 2020*This book is now out in hardcover as well as in paperback and ebook.*
This is my collection of short fantasy stories. Sixteen stories, about 70,000 words.
More about it on my website: https://patricksamphire.com/books/at-...
This is my collection of short fantasy stories. Sixteen stories, about 70,000 words.
More about it on my website: https://patricksamphire.com/books/at-...
December 7, 2021
It is always hard for me to rate a collection of short stories because you will connect to some while you will just not care for others but here I was pleasantly surprise at the amount of stories I really enjoyed!
January 9, 2021
I went into this collection of short stories having read only Shadow of a Dead God by this author, which was probably the most fun I had reading a book all of last year. Not thinking about it, I kind of just assumed the tone of the stories would be light and humorous and full of snark. Well I couldn't have been more wrong.
Two of the first three stories had me in tears. The tone of many of these stories is extremely thoughtful and feels therapeutic almost. Many of them deal with death and loss, and how to live in a world that is unjust. I really appreciated how it felt that the author was opening himself to the reader, especially because each story includes a brief note from the author about the story.
The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt it could have used more of a break here and there from the morose and somber mood. Especially knowing how well the author writes sarcastic humour with plenty of fun action. A little yin to the yang. I definitely recommend the collection though, it oozes with genuine humanity.
Two of the first three stories had me in tears. The tone of many of these stories is extremely thoughtful and feels therapeutic almost. Many of them deal with death and loss, and how to live in a world that is unjust. I really appreciated how it felt that the author was opening himself to the reader, especially because each story includes a brief note from the author about the story.
The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt it could have used more of a break here and there from the morose and somber mood. Especially knowing how well the author writes sarcastic humour with plenty of fun action. A little yin to the yang. I definitely recommend the collection though, it oozes with genuine humanity.
January 10, 2021
This is a collection of sixteen short stories in different fantasy worlds. Each story has a little forward giving us Patrick Samphire’s thought process behind the story, then the story itself begins. The title story, “At The Gates,” details Grace’s struggle to save an abandoned dog and give justice to the tenant in her home that her would-be stepfather wants to throw out. She’s told repeatedly she can’t save everyone, and she only wants to save her dog, who she named Hope. It’s a small, everyday kind of story, and the thought of Grace saving Hope is a wonderful one to have. “Five Things of Beauty” follows, and is a quiet, melancholic story with an ending I didn’t expect at the start. For such a short story, it still gives quite the sucker-punch at the end. This start pretty much establishes the theme for the rest of the book: the fantastic elements and everyday magic just point out and enhance the relationships that people have with each other. These stories ultimately feature magic, but they're not about magic.
While Patrick is a little hard on himself for how he wrote Benji in “Uncle Vernon’s Lie,” his anxiety is very relatable as he goes to visit his uncle and is unsure about everything new around him. Vernon’s words also resonate: “The world’s a frightening place. But it’s also wonderful. You can’t have one without the other. You just have to go poking into the corners to find the wonderful things.” It has a bittersweet ending when we figure out what the lie of the title actually is, and it’s such a beautifully written story. Similarly, elements of grief and loss feature heavily in "Dawn, By The Light of A Barrow Fire" and "Camelot," with poignant endings. Loss is difficult to deal with, and sometimes the characters don't deal with it at all.
As a fan of fractured fairy tales, "The Glass Slipper" is a fun and interesting take on the ways that fairy tales can be twisted into new stories. They take on a life of their own after a fashion, and in this tale, the Path is almost literal in its need to reach the conclusion of the story. There are also stories based on mythology and ancient history, from Greek-influenced "The Land Beyond Thule" and Egyptian history for "The Land of Reeds." It's sad, the loss that plagues these stories and the ones that close the book; pain and suffering seem to fuel the otherworldly elements of these stories.
This is a wonderful collection of stories, with glimpses into other worlds just beyond our normal day-to-day.
While Patrick is a little hard on himself for how he wrote Benji in “Uncle Vernon’s Lie,” his anxiety is very relatable as he goes to visit his uncle and is unsure about everything new around him. Vernon’s words also resonate: “The world’s a frightening place. But it’s also wonderful. You can’t have one without the other. You just have to go poking into the corners to find the wonderful things.” It has a bittersweet ending when we figure out what the lie of the title actually is, and it’s such a beautifully written story. Similarly, elements of grief and loss feature heavily in "Dawn, By The Light of A Barrow Fire" and "Camelot," with poignant endings. Loss is difficult to deal with, and sometimes the characters don't deal with it at all.
As a fan of fractured fairy tales, "The Glass Slipper" is a fun and interesting take on the ways that fairy tales can be twisted into new stories. They take on a life of their own after a fashion, and in this tale, the Path is almost literal in its need to reach the conclusion of the story. There are also stories based on mythology and ancient history, from Greek-influenced "The Land Beyond Thule" and Egyptian history for "The Land of Reeds." It's sad, the loss that plagues these stories and the ones that close the book; pain and suffering seem to fuel the otherworldly elements of these stories.
This is a wonderful collection of stories, with glimpses into other worlds just beyond our normal day-to-day.
January 29, 2021
3.5 stars rounded up - I was not expecting this to be so melancholy and it was not the right time for me to read it!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews