* "The Dancing Mice and the Giants of Flanders" by Laura E Goodin * "Tom Linken" by Doug Fry * "Death Masque" by Joanne Anderton * "The Dumbshow" by Andrew J McKiernan * "An Insidious Soliloquy" by Jacob Edward * "The Changeling Detective" by Phillip Berrie * "Four Parties" by RJ Astruc * "Ours to Tease" by Felicity Bloomfield * "The Fall Guy" by Simon Petrie * "The Gift of the Butterfly Queen" by Anne Mok * "Outside the Frame" by Ross C Hamilton * "Coppernic's Sky" by Ariella Adler * "The Broken Cross" by Mik Bennett * "The Dirge of Dr Donatello" by Dieci Matthew Sini * "Seventeen" by Cat Sparks * "Night of Masks and Spears" by Donna Maree Hanson * "Jetsam and Flotsam" by Justin Thomas * "The Patchwork Palace" by Jason Fischer * "Gentlemen Prefer Pengs" by Amelia Walker * "The Whispering Walls" by Chris Jones * "The Hidden" by Marcus Olsson * "The Winter Ball" by Kylie Bullivant * "Murathera's Orgy" by Graham Storrs * "Marked from Birth" by Monica Carroll * "Hobnails in Heaven" by Cat Sheely * "Innuendo" by Valerie YL Toh * "Overworld" by Megan Tones * "Blonde Curls" by Nicole R Murphy * "The Widow's Face" by Richard Harland * "Still Life" by Astrid Cooper
Gillian is a writer and historian, currently living in Canberra, Australia. She intends to count the books in her library soon, when they stop falling on her and otherwise intimidating her.
She was given the 2020 A Bertram Chandler Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction.
Like many anthologies that have a broad theme there are many different interpretations of that theme. What I'm trying to say here is that not all the stories will appeal to all readers of speculative fiction.
However, the craftsmanship exhibited in this anthology is superb. An excellent example of the form.
Disclosure: I am one of the authors of this anthology.