There’s only a week left until Dark Breakers, the new collection of short fiction from World Fantasy Award winner C. S. E. Cooney, manifests physically in the world.

This is Mythic Delirium’s first new title since the release of the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated Aftermath of an Industrial Accident in 2020. To whet appetites for pre-orders and purchases, we’ve reduced the price of e-book editions of Claire Cooney’s new collection by more than half-price, from $6.99 to $2.99, and we’ll hold that line at least through the book’s official launch events — which, more about that below.

Meanwhile, some great reviews have appeared ahead of publication day, and one has a giveaway attached to it.

ARC giveaway

Over at Black Gate, author Z.Z. Claybourne wrote a glowing evaluation of Dark Breakers, declaring the the book “an art deco mural under the guidance of Galadriel, Zora Neale Hurston and the Brothers Grimm. It reads the way a bite into gold that has been warmed like chocolate would feel,” that contains “that sense of being consumed by things we can’t understand; the hell of being where you feel you don’t belong; the ache of wanting dangerous things, places or people to be beautiful.”

Claybourne generously allowed us to use the publication of his review as an occassion to also launch a giveaway of hardcover and trade paperback ARCs of the book. To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment under Claybourne’s post at Black Gate sharing the name of your favorite story collection. If you’re reading this post on the Mythic Delirium blog, then I imagine you should already have some candidates in mind!

Click here to read the review and enter the giveaway.

More rave reviews

Author Amanda J. McGee also posted a lengthy, thoughtful review over at her blog, saying among other things, “If you love rich worlds, fairies, goblins, and shorter tales which each have their own astonishing conclusions, this collection will delight you.” You can read the full review by clicking here.

In the newest issue of Locus Magazine, in the final review written for that publication by short fiction critic and editor Rich Horton, he singles out Cooney’s original novella “Salissay’s Laundries,” including it on his monthly recommended reading list. He writes that “it’s lovely, extravagant, colorful, passionate – like all of Cooney’s work.”

Our favorite of the Netgalley/Goodreads reviews that have appeared so far has to be this 5-star gem that calls Dark Breakers one of the best books of the year: “The characters were delightfully eccentric and lovable, the prose was gorgeous and the over-all atmosphere just felt so lush! As an artist, this book was a total feast for my imagination.”

Boskone launch + pre-launch price special

Toward the end of next week I will be traveling to join Cooney and her marvelous author husband Carlos Hernandez at Boskone, my first in-person appearance at a convention since 2019; we’ll be doing what we can to launch Dark Breakers in the flesh, and I’ll also be appearing on a few panels. Watch this space for more information next week.

Having shared all of that, just to remind you again, all three editions of Dark Breakers (hardcover, trade paperback, e-book) are available for pre-order, and the e-books are more than half off as a promotion for the launch — so if you’re at all intrigued, buy today and make sure you don’t miss out. See links below.