Westermead
- $70 Special_EditionISBN: Westermead: Historian's Compendium Edition
US only, email
for international rates - $16.95 PaperbackISBN: 1-933293-08-X
US only, email
for international rates
The rushes rasp in ghost-fed breezes as seed-hungry finches chance the thistle’s fangs. The bracken has gone gold and brown, the brambles heavy with plump berries. The days, warm as brewed barley, are etched with frost beneath a rusty moon. Eerie effigies are set about to honor the dead, whom, as the year decays, are wont to roam the countryside.
The ways of old merge with the magical and fantastic in this wondrous world. Experience Westermead’s thaw and awakening season by season, the lush heat of summer’s passion and the retreat into winter’s desolate embrace. Come celebrate and mourn with the people of Westermead as they make their way through a world steeped both in beauty and dread.
More than just a collection of tales, Westermead brings to life an enchanted country where the supernatural is as natural as the sunrise. Follow the intrepid documentarians, Purdy and Beech, on their hunt for the fearsomeFrost Mare. Learn the secret of the stranger whose life little Melly saved inFour Bronze Sisters. Face The Mask of Black Tears alongside Mullein Wick while he fights for his sister’s release from servitude.
This new mythology is ripe with unique characters, spiced with folkways and mixed throughout with a deep respect for all things natural. Given storytelling this vibrant, it is both easy and thrilling to get lost in Thomas’ unique landscape.
The story “Four Bronze Sisters” from Westermead received an honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2005.
Westermead:
Historian’s Compendium Edition
This over-sized limited edition is truly one for the archives. The volume is 8.5 x 11 inches large with a sewn binding, acid-free paper and a bonded leather cover foil stamped with the Westermead insignia.
It is limited to only 150 copies, each signed and numbered by the author. Just as the lore in Westermead has been handed down from generation to generation, so can this book be passed down between generations.
The story “Four Bronze Sisters” from Westermead received an honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2005.
Westermead:
Historian’s Compendium Edition Extra Material
This Historian’s Compendium contains the complete collection of Westermead tales sprinkled throughout with countless extra tidbits from anecdotes and historical information to songs, lullabies, recipes, customs and descriptions of the people and ways of this mysterious island.
Lushly illustrated with vegetation and creatures native to Westermead this volume even includes some drawings by the author himself as well as a rare map of the territory.
What They’re Saying About Westermead
“Westermead is an enchanted peek into an older world where folktales come to life in sun-dappled woods and on moonlit nights, and this limited, expanded edition would be a lovely addition to any reader’s shelf.”
—The Harrow
“One of the happy surprises of the year. It’s an odd but heady book reminiscent of the pastoral novels of Thomas Hardy, with perhaps a touch of M.R. James.”
—Kelly Link, The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2005
“Westermead, a collection of tales by Scott Thomas (Shadows of Flesh), depicts an inviting fantasy world of both loveliness and horror through the four seasons.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A little girl who sees things others can’t saves the life of a stranger and unleashes a monster in “Four Bronze Sisters,” while an unnatural beast haunts the countryside in “The Frost Mare.” Through these and other tales, anecdotes, and bits of local lore, Thomas (Cobwebs and Whispers) unfolds the tale of Westermead, a rural country populated with simple folk and steeped in old magic. Thomas brings to life a strangely magical land through its folk legends and its intriguing inhabitants. This moody collection of dark fantasy stories belongs in larger libraries.”
—Library Journal
“If you’ve missed reading fables and tales from when you were growing up, when stories had hidden meanings, eccentric people, and intriguing settings you always wished you could escape to, then you’ll thoroughly enjoy Westermead. Scott Thomas shows immaculate talent with a collection of nineteen riveting stories, full of beautiful expression, breathtaking imagery, larger than life characters, and suspense driven ambiance.”
—Midwest Book Review
“…an excellent fantasy setting, and there’s not an elf or dragon in sight.”
—Emerald City
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