The Art of Broken Things
“Few things are more enjoyable or disturbing than a Joanne Anderton story. They feel like reality with the gravity turned off and, freed from those surly bonds, you float. But beware: broken things lurk in the darkness of space, earth, sea – and they’re hungry.” — Angela Slatter, award-winning author of All the Murmuring Bones
A marriage dissolves in the middle of a spacewalk…
A lonely robot searches for the remains of a long-lost child…
An empty nester is haunted by victims of the bushfires that surround her home…
These are tales of breaking and rebuilding, falling apart and being put back together.
The stories in The Art of Broken Things blur the line between genres to explore some of our deepest, most fundamentally human concerns: what does it mean to build a family? And what are we willing to sacrifice, to keep that family together?
From multiple award-winning author Joanne Anderton comes a new collection of dark science fiction, horror and weird.
“Joanne Anderton is a master of the uncanny. Each of her stories is like a torch shone into the dark crevices of the imagination, and you may not always like what they reveal: terror, wonder, and a strange, dark beauty. Highly recommended.” — Helen Marshall, author of The Migration
“Joanne Anderton’s stories are deeply atmospheric and powerfully engage the heart and the mind. She imagines futures both dark and entirely too possible, with characters you will come to know intimately. One of this generation’s most talented writers, this collection showcases an author firing on all cylinders.” — Alan Baxter, author of The Gulp and Devouring Dark
Inanimates: Tales of Everyday Fear
Following on from her Aurealis and Australian Shadow Award-winning debut collection, Joanne Anderton’s Inanimates finds the terrifying in the everyday, bringing together seven stories where ordinary objects become the source of nightmares and extraordinary threat.
In “Thread Embrace,” a well-dressed killer finds himself at the mercy of an unexpectedly sartorial threat. “Simulation Theory” sees a wounded soldier bonds with the bomb disposal robot he worked with in the field. In the heartbreaking last story, “High Density”, the comfortable suburban ideal of a retired couple becomes a war against a dark and dangerous form of urban renewal.
In turns wicked, delightful, horrifying, and fantastic, Inanimates: Tales of Everyday Fear showcases a hidden gem of the Australian genre scene, and highlights Anderton’s ability to see the dark, supernatural threats inherent in ordinary things.
The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories
Enter a world where terrible secrets are hidden in a wind chime’s song
Where crippled witches build magic from scrap
And the beautiful dead dance for eternity
The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories collects the finest science fiction and horror short stories from award-winning writer Joanne Anderton. From mechanical spells scavenging a derelict starship to outback zombies and floating gardens of bone, these stories blur the lines between genres. A mix of freakish horror, dark visions of the future and the just plain weird, Anderton’s tales will draw you in – but never let you get comfortable.
Winner of the 2013 Aurealis Award for Best Collection!
Winner of the 2013 Australian Shadows Award for best collected work!
“The Bone Chime Song and other stories is a powerful and compelling debut collection from an author who is barely started on her journey and already producing work of incredible quality. I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.” – Thirteen O’Clock
“More moving than terrifying, the collection explores the human condition with vigor and grace” – Publisher’s Weekly
