book cover of The Maker\'s Shelf
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The Maker's Shelf

(2011)
A collection of stories by

 
 
A short story collection by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald

From the fairy-tale past to the dystopian future, the best-selling and award-winning team of Doyle and Macdonald present three speculative fiction stories that span the gap from wonder to horror.

Included in this collection:
"The Last Real New Yorker in the World." Suppose New York City were an amusement park? From Newer York, edited by Lawrence Watt-Evans. (Roc, 1991)
"The Queen's Mirror." Who's the palest of them all? From A Wizard's Dozen, edited by Michael Sterns. (Harcourt Brace, 1993)
"Uncle Joshua and the Grooglemen." The grooglemen fly through the air by night, and steal common folk into their castle to drink their blood--or worse. No one has ever dared to challenge them. Until now. From Bruce Coville's Book of Monsters. (Scholastic, 1993)

About 8,000 words.

Excerpt:

The supercharged Dusenberg landed in front of the house just as Jimmy Moskovitz was on his way to work. Dutch Schultz and Mad Dog Coll stepped out.
"Get in the car, Jimmy," the Dutchman said. "You're going for a ride."
Coll held open the Doozie's front door. Jimmy Moskovitz slid inside and glanced to his left. The man behind the wheel was Killer Burke.
Coll and Schultz got into the back seat, and Burke put the car in motion.
"I've been expecting something like this for quite a while," said Moskovitz. "But aren't you guys mixing up your periods a little? Fred Burke came before Vincent Coll and Arthur Fleigenheimer had their feud."
"This is the way the boss likes it, and I like what the boss likes, so shut up," Dutch explained.
"Come on, Schultz," Jimmy said. "The real Dutchman never had a boss. He's turning over in his grave to hear you talk like that."
Silence was the only reply from the back of the car. The driver turned south onto the Detroit/Indianapolis flyway and picked up speed to join the pattern.
The flyway bent east to circle the Chicago Crater. "This has something to do with New York, doesn't it?" Moskovitz said.
"That's NewYorkLand ™ to you, scum," Killer said. "You'd better talk right."
"'Land,' maybe. But not 'New York.' I still say it."
"That's what the boss wants to talk to you about," Coll said. "You've been responsible for a dip in attendance all by yourself."
"So they send the clowns to get me," Moskovitz said. He looked up to heaven and raised his hands in a 'why me' gesture. "Sometimes I think I lived too long."
"I can fix that," said Burke.
"Shut up," Schultz said.
They dropped out of the main flight path at the Ossining interchange, and took local control from the NewYorkLand grid from there on in. They flew down the broad expanse of the Hudson at low altitude and slow speed: all the traffic in this branch was coming to and from the tourist landing areas. As they turned, the NewYorkLand skyline was visible to the right of the river. The Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building rose above all the other skyscrapers.


Genre: Science Fiction

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