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The Puzzle Box Kindle Edition

by Randy McCharles (Author), Ryan McFadden (Author), Billie Milholland (Author), Format: Kindle Edition
3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 3 ratings
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An intriguing anthology where reality is transient and the puzzle box holds the key to the meaning of life.

Archeology Professor Albert Mallory understands reality. He knows the way the world works. When he steals an ancient puzzle box to pay off gambling debts, he thinks the only mysterious thing about the artifact is how to get it open. But when a stranger appears at Albert’s door demanding to see the box, Albert is plunged into mysteries he never dreamt possible.

Through the tales of four others who succeeded in opening the puzzle box — a musician named Warlock with a weakness for witches; photographer Autumn Bailey, with a strange link to the past; video store clerk Angela Matterly with those unworldly eyes; and a comic book illustrator called Sam, on a quest for his life — Albert learns that reality is transient and the way the world works is not found in text books.

Table of Contents:
- The First Piece of the Puzzle
- The Awakening of Master March by Randy McCharles
- The Second Piece of the Puzzle
- Autumn Unbound by Billie Milholland
- The Third Piece of the Puzzle
- Angela and Her Three Wishes by Eileen Bell
- The Fourth Piece of the Puzzle
- Ghost in the Machine by Ryan McFadden
- The Final Piece of the Puzzle

About the Authors:

Billie Milholland: published in Chickadee Magazine, CBC’s Radio Anthology, Western Producer, Women of the Apocalypse, The 10th Circle Project, Ride the Moon and a variety of weekly newspapers.

Eileen Bell: award winning author published in On Spec, Western Producer, CBC’s Radio Anthology, Women of the Apocalypse, Evolve Two: Vampire Stories of the Future Undead and The 10th Circle Project.

Randy McCharles: winner of the Prix-Aurora Award for his short fiction, fan fiction, and fan organization, has been published in the Year’s Best Fantasy 9, The 10th Circle Project, Okal Rel Opus 2 & 6 and Tesseracts 11, 12, & 16.

Ryan T McFadden: an award-winning author published in The 10th Circle Project, Women of the Apocalypse, Blood and Water and When the Villain Comes Home.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 29, 2013
  5. File size
    1241 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The Apocalyptic Four, all award winning writers, reveal worlds where a puzzle box holds the key to the meaning of life.
 
Eileen Bell: award winning author published in On Spec, Western Producer, CBC’s Radio Anthology, Women of the Apocalypse, Evolve Two: Vampire Stories of the Future Undead and The 10th Circle Project.
 
Randy McCharles: winner of the Prix-Aurora Award for his short fiction, fan fiction, and fan organization, has been published in the Year’s Best Fantasy 9, The 10th Circle Project, Okal Rel Opus 2 & 6 and Tesseracts 11, 12, & 16.
 
Ryan T McFadden: an award-winning author published in The 10th Circle Project, Women of the Apocalypse, Blood and Water and When the Villain Comes Home.
 
Billie Milholland: published in Chickadee Magazine, CBC’s Radio Anthology, Western Producer, Women of the Apocalypse, The 10th Circle Project, Ride the Moon and a variety of weekly newspapers.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00FZE1GU4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing; 1st edition (November 29, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 29, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1241 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.4 3.4 out of 5 stars 3 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Ryan McFadden

    Ryan McFadden

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    Ryan T. McFadden is a writer of fantasy and horror, with short stories and novellas published through Dragon Moon Press, Edge SF & F, and Absolute X-Press. In 2014, his novella Ghost in the Machine won the Aurora Award (Canada's most prestigious award for SF&F) for Short Fiction.

    His motley past involved such dangerous work as database administration, ice cream flavouring (seriously, that's a thing), hockey league administration, screen printing, web design, furniture building, and home renovations.

    He lives in London, Ontario, with his two beautiful, but sometimes diabolical daughters, who he is sure are plotting to one day overthrow him.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Billie Milholland

    Billie Milholland

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    Western Canadian writer of fiction and non-fiction. Non-fiction titles include "They Came" and "North Saskatchewan River Guide". She has had short fiction produced on CBC Radio, articles in Harrowsmith Magazine, kids fiction in Chickadee Magazine, flash fiction in "Seven Deadly Sins".

    "Autumn Unbound" Novella in The Puzzle Box

    "Green Man She Restless" Short Fiction in Urban Green Man: an archetype of renewal

    "Small Seven's Secret" Short Fiction in Ride the Moon Anthology

    "Away in the Manger" Short Fiction in Aurora Award winner "Bourbon & Eggnog"

    "Hungersnot" Novella in Aurora Award winner "Women of the Apocalypse"

    Short Fiction & Novella in "The 10th Circle Project" ......

    "Catalyst Unknown I" 1st Circle: 'Under a Blood Red Moon'

    "Catalyst Unknown II & Mayor's Going Down" 2nd Circle: 'AfterShock'

    "Best Laid Plans" 3rd Circle: 'Election'

    "Do It For The Kids" 4th Circle: 'Course Correction'

    www.billiemilholland.com

    www.the10thcircle.com

    See more on the author's page
  3. Eileen Bell

    Eileen Bell

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    My debut paranormal mystery, Seeing the Light (2014) won the BPAA award for Best Speculative Fiction Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Bony Blythe Award for Light Mystery. The second book in the series, Drowning in Amber, was nominated for an Aurora Award for best novel. The third, Stalking the Dead, will be out in 2016.

    In my spare time (!) I edit for On Spec, The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic.

    When I'm not writing or editing, I'm living a fine life in a round house with my husband and my two dogs. A three-legged Border Collie named Buddy, and a cranky little Shih Tzu named Millie,

    See more on the author's page
  4. Randy McCharles

    Randy McCharles

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    Randy McCharles (1959-) is a Canadian author of speculative and crime fiction with numerous novels, short stories and novellas published in various anthologies available from Tyche Books, Edge Press, House of Anansi, Reality Skimming Press, and Coffin Hop Press. He is the recipient of several Aurora Awards (Canada's most prestigious award for speculative fiction). In 2013 his short story Ghost-B-Gone Incorporated won the House of Anansi 7-day Ghost Story Contest.

    Randy's most recent publications include the 1st 3 titles of the Peter Galloway private detective series, the 2016 Aurora Award shortlisted novel Much Ado about Macbeth from Tyche Books, and the 2017 Aurora Award shortlisted novel The Day of the Demon.

    Upcoming books include additional titles in the Peter Galloway crime series and A Connecticut Gumshoe in King Arthur's Court (Tyche Books).

    In addition to writing, Randy chairs the award-winning When Words Collide Festival for Readers and Writers as well as organizing various reading and craft events for writers.

    Website: www.randymccharles.com

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/randy.mccharles

    Festival: www.whenwordscollide.org

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

3.4 out of 5 stars
3.4 out of 5
3 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

SciFiMagpie
3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2022
The back cover blurb and the cover tell a very different story from the, well, tone of the actual stories in the volume. The final story in the collection delivers on this vibe, but the others do not.

If you're looking for kind of a cute, slightly clunky collection of tales that have a warm and wacky vibe, I would recommend this. However, the stories don't really convey a sense of apocalyptic disaster, and the box has very vague, somewhat inconsistent powers. The stories feel more like a "write a novella about this prompt" sort of collection rather than a set of tales with consistent, linked magical worldbuilding.

It's okay, and enjoyable in its way.
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Nicole Luiken
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Fantasy Novellas
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013
Four fantasy novellas about a puzzle box, all with different takes, but fit into a framing story.

The Awakening of Master March - A would-be musician gets involved with a giggling coven. Good opening and some nice humourous moments. (Holy. Serious. Crap.)

Autumn Unbound - Interesting take on the Pandora myth. Sadly, I had trouble connecting to the main character in this one.

Angela and Her Three Wishes - Twentysomething video store clerk gets three wishes, but things prove more complicated when the djinn turns out to know her mother. Angela really rang true as a character and the plot moved well. Favourite line: "Quiet, Minion!"

Ghost in the Machine: A slow start, but around p. 7 there was a real sit-up-straight holy-crap-what-happened moment, and after that the story took off. I was briefly confused in the middle, but had it straightened out by the (satisfying) end.

Framing story: Again, I never really connected to the character and the sudden revelation in the Fourth Piece of the Puzzle seemed to come out of nowhere.
One person found this helpful
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Paul Lappen
4.0 out of 5 stars These are all first-rate stories
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2014
This book shows that reality is not what we think it is, and the key is a puzzle box.

Professor Albert Mallory has stolen an ancient puzzle box, and plans to sell it to pay gambling debts. The night before the debt comes due, a man named The Chronicler visits Mallory and demands to see the box. From the open box, Mallory watches the stories of four other people who opened the box.

Warlock is a roadie for a rock band. He falls for a woman who really is part of a coven of witches, which he is all set to join. Through the open box comes Satan, who offers a chance to become the band's lead singer, replacing the current lead singer who is in the hospital. Autumn Bailey was sent to Earth to live as a human until her 30th birthday. She actually has a very strong connection to Greek mythology.

Angela Matterly is a video store clerk who likes to wear cats-eye contact lenses. One night, Roger, a fellow employee, gets the box open, and out pops an eight-foot tall djinn named Skip. Angela is offered three wishes, but there is a time limit. She uses one of the wishes, but things turn very bad, so she is able to put things back the way they were. Things get complicated when Angela learns that Ellen, her mother, and Skip, the djinn, already know each other (it's not what you are thinking).

Sam is a comic book artist who meets Lucy at an art show. Their relationship gets hot and heavy, until Lucy's ex-boyfriend interrupts them, carrying a shotgun. After he shoots Lucy, and then himself, things get weird.

These are all first-rate stories (personally, the second pair of stories are a little better than the first pair). They are well-done, and they are nice and weird. The reader will not go wrong with this book.
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