Search Worlds Without End

This short story originally appeared in Sirenia Digest #111. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (2016), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Chance Matthews is drawn into a battle between angels and monsters because of something in her possession-a fossil of a creature that couldn't possibly have ever existed. But it did. And still does.

An albino girl wanders the sun-scorched backroads of a south Georgia summer, following the bidding of an angel - or perhaps only voices in her head - searching out and slaying ancient monsters who have hidden themselves away in the lonely places of the world.

Caitli-n R. Kiernan first introduced Dancy in the pages of her award-winning second novel, Threshold (2001), then went on to write several more short stories and a novella about this unlikely heroine, each a piece, of which, has become an epic dark fantasy narrative. Alabaster finally collects all these tales into one volume.

Contents:

• 11 - Preface (Alabaster) - essay
• 19 - Les Fleurs Empoisonnées - [Dancy Flammarion] - short fiction
• 55 - The Well of Stars and Shadow - [Dancy Flammarion] - (2003) - novelette
• 71 - Waycross - [Dancy Flammarion] - (2003) - novelette
• 103 - Alabaster - [Dancy Flammarion] - novelette
• 123 - Bainbridge - [Dancy Flammarion] - novelette
• 171 - Afterword: On the Road to Jefferson - essay

And now, with Comes a Pale Rider, Kiernan offers a second collection of Dancy Flammarion short stories. From Selma, Alabama to the back roads of Georgia to a South Carolina ghost town, Dancy continues her holy war with the beings of night and shadow, driven always on by her own insanity or an angel with a fiery sword--or possibly both.

Contents:

• 9 - Bus Fare - [Dancy Flammarion] - (2014) - short story
• 25 - Dancy vs. the Pterosaur - [Dancy Flammarion] - (2015) - short fiction
• 49 - Tupelo (1998) - short fiction
• 107 - Dreams of a Poor Wayfaring Stranger - short fiction
• 139 - Requiem - short fiction
• 169 - Afterword (Comes a Pale Rider) - essay