Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales

Fifteen top voices in speculative fiction explore the intersection of fear and love in a haunting, at times hilarious, darkly imaginative volume. Predatory kraken that sing with - and for - their kin; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as to repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side-by-side with monsters, from vampires both nostalgic and bumbling, to an eight-legged alien who makes tea. Here you'll find mercurial forms that burrow into warm fat, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, a landform that claims lives, and an architect of hell on earth. Through these, and a few monsters that defy categorization, some of today's top young-adult authors explore ambition and sacrifice, loneliness and rage, love requited and avenged, and the boundless potential for connection, even across extreme borders. Moriabe's Children / Paolo Bacigalupi -- Old souls / Cassandra Clare -- Ten rules for being an intergalactic smuggler (the successful kind) / Holly Black -- Quick hill / M.T. Anderson -- The diabolist / Nathan Ballingrud -- This whole demoning thing / Patrick Ness -- Wings in the morning / Sarah Rees Brennan -- Left foot, right / Nalo Hopkinson -- The Mercurials / G. Carl Purcell -- Kitty Capulet and the invention of underwater photography / Dylan Horrocks -- Son of abyss / Nik Houser -- A small wild magic / Kathleen Jennings -- The new boyfriend / Kelly Link -- The woods hide in plain sight / Joshua Lewis -- Mothers, lock up your daughters because they are terrifying / Alice Sola Kim