In the spirit of other social media bloggers showcasing Australian small-press speculative fiction for Christmas, here are some fantastic reads produced by IFWG Publishing Australia:

Australian Authors

Kings of Under-Castle, by Michael B Fletcher – a collection of short stories featuring two rogues, Pickel and Weasle, who live in the drains beneath the King’s castle. Their hilarious adventures get them into many sticky situations which test their ingenuity and they usually, but not always, end up on top.

Sealskin Coast by Rowena Evans – a fantasy written for all ages, and superbly illustrated by writer/artist Evans. Wallace Emmet Keyes has so many problems he doesn’t know which way to turn. Everyone at the new school makes fun of him. His cousin can’t stand him. For the last month he’s lived with Aunty Jay, Raa and Raiona in a tiny flat in the city instead of at home with his parents. But these are distractions from the big problem: both his mother and father have run away from home.

British Authors

Against The Elements by Esme Carpenter – Earth, fire, water, wind. Four elements that make up everything Delphi knows to be normal. All her life, she has been a servant to a mysterious man named The Master – until The Master comes to her island home and asks her to undertake a dangerous task in the far-off, elemental lands.

The Infinity Trap by Ian C Douglas – How far would you go to find your missing father? For Zeke Hailey, a teenager living in the 23rd century, even Mars is not too far. Zeke’s dad is one of the Mariners, a mysterious elite of psychics who have conquered Outer Space. Now he’s vanished on a secret mission.

Star Quake anthologies (Best of SQ Mag, edited by Sophie Yorkston)

“The Narrow Gate” by Daniel Pearlman
“Down in the Ship Mines” by Jay Lake
“Woman With Red Hair” by Lawrence Buentello
“Azurewrath” by Esme Carpenter
“Rationalised” by Larry Hodges
“Creeper” by Daniel I Russell
“Navigator ” by Shane Ward
“A Debt Called In” by Michael B Fletcher
“Nullus” by Mitchell Edgeworth
“Masks” by Stephanie Barr
“Toy” by Gary McMahon
“Witness” by Laura Haddock
“Sunflower” by M K Charles
“CSS” by Warren Goodwin
“Mermithergate Grin” by S Marston
“The Observer” by Hanson Hovell Holladay
“The Raptor and the Lion” by Larry Ivkovich
“The Memory Eater” by Holly Day
“Spacesuit with No Spaceman” by Sergio Palumbo

A Man and His Parasite by Cat Rambo
Fairest Fowl by J.B. Rockwell
Born Again by Nu Yang
Chinaman’s Bluff by Cat Sparks
Flagman by Jim Lee
Shoe Shine by Robert Datson
Surface Stars by Hanson Hovell Holladay
Intangible by A.A. Garrison
The Visiphorical Art by Michelle Ann King
Digging in the Deep by Tonia Brown
Digital Reflections by Kevin Rainak
Cattails by A.P. Sessler
Strike Day by Marie DesJardin
Tea in the Secret Garden by Emma Newman
Faye’s Diner by J.T. Seate
The Poet and the Lily by Julia August
Endangered Species X by Guy Prevost