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The Lords of Night
The Banquet of the Lords of Night and Other Stories
In such novels as The Poison Master, Empire of Bones, and Nine Layers of Sky, Liz Williams sparked readers' imaginations by creating worlds at once strange and familiar. Now this bold new writer brings her best short fiction together in one stunning collection. The stories featured in The Banquet of the Lords of Night have appeared in Asimov's, Interzone, Realms of Fantasy, and The Third Alternative, among others. The stories within the covers of The Banquet of the Lords of Night are varied in style and subject matter, but they are all powerfully written. From the breathtaking title story, "Banquet of the Lords of Night" about an Earth plunged into a world of darkness where light is against the law to the stunning "The Man from the Ministry" in which we learn the how far a mother will go where her family is concerned; Williams displays an astonishing breadth and variety of writing styles. Williams is equally at home writing galaxy-spanning science fiction like "Quantum Anthropology" as she is weaving a tale like "Adventures in the Ghost Trade" which incorporates demons, magic, the afterlife, and private detectives. "Williams's unique cross-genre voice is a reinvigorating one for SF, fantasy and horror."
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
189 pages, Hardcover
First published September 29, 2004
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Liz Williams
149 books268 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. Her first novel, The Ghost Sister was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, Empire of Bones (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.[1] She is also the author of the Inspector Chen series.
She is the daughter of a stage magician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short stories published in Asimov's, Interzone, The Third Alternative and Visionary Tongue. From the mid-nineties until 2000, she lived and worked in Kazakhstan.[2] Her experiences there are reflected in her 2003 novel Nine Layers of Sky. Her novels have been published in the US and the UK, while her third novel The Poison Master (2003) has been translated into Dutch.
Series:
* Detective Inspector Chen
* Darkland
Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. Her first novel, The Ghost Sister was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, Empire of Bones (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.[1] She is also the author of the Inspector Chen series.
She is the daughter of a stage magician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short stories published in Asimov's, Interzone, The Third Alternative and Visionary Tongue. From the mid-nineties until 2000, she lived and worked in Kazakhstan.[2] Her experiences there are reflected in her 2003 novel Nine Layers of Sky. Her novels have been published in the US and the UK, while her third novel The Poison Master (2003) has been translated into Dutch.
Series:
* Detective Inspector Chen
* Darkland
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 3, 2016
Okay I promise I will stop procrastinating and get on with finishing the books I have started and not get distracted with others - oh okay maybe one more.
This title I stumbled across while looking for hints of more Detective Inspector Chen stories. I stumbled across references to short stories and the fact that such a story was contained in this anthology (it wasn't till I started reading my way through the book that I realised that there were in fact other subtle references hidden in the pages too).
If you have read the works of Liz Williams you will recognise the wild imagination and incredible stories she weaves and this collection of stories is no different. So if you enjoy her work you will love this book - but I can also see the reverse of this too - in that there is nothing new.
Now not in content or concept those are just as amazing as ever more in style and format. They do feel like they are part of a larger tapestry or fragments of a larger "lost" novel. Now for me I really enjoyed the idea and in fact my imagination is still trying to sting the stories together even when clearly they cannot be.
This title I stumbled across while looking for hints of more Detective Inspector Chen stories. I stumbled across references to short stories and the fact that such a story was contained in this anthology (it wasn't till I started reading my way through the book that I realised that there were in fact other subtle references hidden in the pages too).
If you have read the works of Liz Williams you will recognise the wild imagination and incredible stories she weaves and this collection of stories is no different. So if you enjoy her work you will love this book - but I can also see the reverse of this too - in that there is nothing new.
Now not in content or concept those are just as amazing as ever more in style and format. They do feel like they are part of a larger tapestry or fragments of a larger "lost" novel. Now for me I really enjoyed the idea and in fact my imagination is still trying to sting the stories together even when clearly they cannot be.
April 12, 2019
Good writing, richly imagined and kinda disturbing stories.
Favorite stories:
Skindancer, a take on Frankenstein or Pygmalion;
Sharecroppers, about trying to regain traditional farming techniques in a corporate-ruled military state;
Dog Years, about ghostly possession and riddles;
Dancing Day, demonic possession from a different perspective;
Loosestrife, how motherhood might be handled in a post-apocalyptic setting;
Ancestor's Song, far-future imagining of getting back to our roots;
Quantom Anthropology, the risks of first contact;
Favorite stories:
Skindancer, a take on Frankenstein or Pygmalion;
Sharecroppers, about trying to regain traditional farming techniques in a corporate-ruled military state;
Dog Years, about ghostly possession and riddles;
Dancing Day, demonic possession from a different perspective;
Loosestrife, how motherhood might be handled in a post-apocalyptic setting;
Ancestor's Song, far-future imagining of getting back to our roots;
Quantom Anthropology, the risks of first contact;
February 23, 2021
Usual anthology - some good, some ok. Mostly bizarre/spooky
June 8, 2012
Not nearly as good as her other works, but a decent read nonetheless.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews