Self-reflective mirrors looking for their own reflections. Towns that migrate to the moon. Prisoners of elaborate dungeons and gigantic miniature solar systems. Robots, ghosts, rascals, explorers, troubadours, apemen and yetis. All are present in the multiverse of inversion and invention that is Link Arms with Toads! Rhys Hughes is a unique figure in contemporary fiction whose speculative whimsicality is not so much balanced as trampolined by tensile prose and puckish pensiveness. Link Arms with Toads! forms the ideal introduction to his work.

Bigotry, selfishness, and lust for position and power thrive in a sleepy twenty-first-century rural English village. The quietude of the surrounding rolling hills and woodlands is not all it seems. Self-appointed busybodies from the upper ranks of the community take it upon themselves to direct the lives of others. But they are amateurs at the game. At the same time, foreign investors move in to exploit mineral wealth potential that lies buried not too deeply in the strata beneath the quaint cottages and old church. The whole area of East Sussex is ripe for gas development. Local democracy is abolished on a go it alone whim of the new right-wing British government. Each community must now earn its own keep. The village of Denbridgehurst swiftly evolves into a place of fear and intimidation. Four elderly power women take over and connive with Russian oligarchs keen to exploit the riches underground. Meanwhile, the national government threatens to run a new motorway past the village, taking out the fourteenth-century church. Enormous opposition is formed and led by the women. Conservation organizations are called in to scour the area for rare or endangered species. These could hold up the planners. The Russians have other ideas. Their true intent is to build a hidden Hadron Collider beneath the village.

Diribani has come to the village well to get water for her family's scant meal of curry and rice. She never expected to meet a goddess there. Yet she is granted a remarkable gift: Flowers and precious jewels drop from her lips whenever she speaks. It seems only right to Tana that the goddess judged her kind, lovely stepsister worthy of such riches. And when she encounters the goddess, she is not surprised to find herself speaking snakes and toads as a reward. Blessings and curses are never so clear as they might seem, however. Diribani's newfound wealth brings her a prince—and an attempt on her life. Tana is chased out of the village because the province's governor fears snakes, yet thousands are dying of a plague spread by rats. As the sisters' fates hang in the balance, each struggles to understand her gift. Will it bring her wisdom, good fortune, love . . . or death? Toads and Diamonds is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

"I have been enjoying the work of Welsh fantasist Rhys Hughes for quite a few years now, and it’s an honor to be publishing not one, but three MEGAPACK® collections of his indescribably excellent, of which this is the first. There is fantasy, of course. But there is also absurdist comedy. And horrors. And monsters. And all manner of things that only he could come up with. Truly, there is no one writing at the moment who is anything like him. Looking backwards, he’s a bit like R.A. Lafferty (but not), and a bit like Neal Gaiman (but not), and a bit like Paul Di Filippo (but not). Or perhaps they are a bit like him? (Or not?) After all, it’s a bit field with lots of overlap. Whatever these 24 tales are (or are not), prepare yourself for a strange and magical journey. You will have fun!" —John Betancourt Included are: BARBARIAN GRAN VAMPIRIC GRAMPS DEPRESSURISED GHOST STORY THE POCKET SHOPS ARMS AGAINST A SEA THE AGELESS AGELASTS THE PRIVATE PIRATES CLUB SWALLOWING THE AMAZON PYRAMID AND THISBE THE FOREST CHAPEL BELL JELLYDÄMMERUNG! THE PURLOINED LIVER JOURNEY THROUGH A WALL THE JAM OF HYPNOS THE TELL-TALE NOSE THE BANKER OF INGOLSTADT THE ASTRAL DISRUPTOR THE MACROSCOPIC TEAPOT THE CHIMNEY WHAT I FEAR MOST FINDING THE BOOK OF SAND THE CANDID SLYNESS OF SCURRILITY FOREPAWS CHAMELEONS ANTON ARCTIC AND THE CONQUEST OF THE SCOTTISH POLE If you enjoy this volume of our MEGAPACK® series, search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press MEGAPACK" to see the complete selction of more than 400 entries, covering science fiction, fantasy, mystery, literature, westerns, and much, much more!

Welcome to the 10th Science Fiction MEGAPACKTM! This time we present 30 stories (including several full-length novels) by some of the biggest and best in the science fiction field, plus 2 poems and the first (of 3) installments in our first novel serial. From David Gerrold's "The Martian Child" (winner of the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Locus Award, and HOMer Award) to brand new works published here for the first time by David Gerrold and Lawrence Watt-Evans to modern masterpieces by Pamela Sargent and Jay Lake to classics by E.E. "Doc Smith" and Alan E. Nourse -- we have everything a science fiction fan could want. Almost 1,500 pages of great reading! Fiction: TORQUING VACUUM, by Jay Lake COLLECTORS, by Pamela Sargent VICTORY, by Lester del Rey THE TREE OF LIFE, by C. L. Moore YE OLDE RESIGNATION, by Rhys Hughes FACE TO FACE, by Adrian Cole BEYOND THE THUNDER, by H. B. Hickey CAPTIVES OF THE THIEVE-STAR, by James H. Schmitz THE DEEPS, by Keith Roberts MADMEN MUSTERED, by Connor Freff Cochran EXILE FROM SPACE, by Judith Merril THROUGH TIME AND SPACE WITH FERDINAND FEGHOOT: THE CHAIRMAN DANCES, by David Gerrold THE FROZEN PLANET, by Keith Laumer THE TAIL-TIED KINGS, by Avram Davidson THE GRAIN KINGS, by Keith Roberts HIS MASTER'S VOICE, by Randall Garrett BACK TO JULIE, by Richard Wilson BRIGHTSIDE CROSSING, by Alan E. Nourse THE SECRET OF THE SCARAB, by Ron Goulart REINVENTING CARL HOBBS, by James Glass THE OLD SHILL GAME, by H.B. Fyfe NOTES TOWARD A NEW TRAIT AS REVEALED BY CORRELATION AMONG ITEMS OF THE MMMPI, by M. Purrzillo, U. R. A. Ferball, and C. Kitirun THE SLEEPER IS A REBEL, by Bryce Walton THE TEACHER FROM MARS, by Eando Binder NIF'S WORLD, by Lawrence Watt-Evans A MAN OBSESSED, by Alan E. Nourse FIRST LENSMAN, by E.E. “Doc” Smith REINCARNATE, by Lester del Rey THE MAN WHO LIVED FOREVER, by R. DeWitt Miller and Anna Hunger THE MARTIAN CHILD, by David Gerrold Poetry: I’VE NEVER SEEN, by Hannes Bok (poem) THOUGHT AND SPACE, by Ray Bradbury Novel Serial: FIREBIRD, by Tony Rothman (part 1 of 3) If you enjoy this MEGAPACKTM, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see the 240+ other entries in this series, including science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, adventure, horror, westerns -- and much, much more!

One summer day Toad was unhappy. He had lost the white, fourholed, big, round, thick button from his jacket. Who helped him look for it? His best friend, Frog. Another day, Frog was unhappy. He was sick in bed and looking green. Who gave him some tea and told him a story? His best friend, Toad. From the first enchanting story to the last, these five adventures of two best friends are packed with excitement, gaiety, and tender affection. Children will find this book delightful to read and beautiful to look at, either story by story, or from cover to cover.

In this sequel to Kenneth Grahame's classic "The Wind in the Willows," the escapades continue for four animal friends who live along a river in the English countryside--Toad, Mole, Rat, and Badger.

Everyone has their demons. But Stinky Pete released his into the school, and now it's out for blood. It's 1981, and in the town they call No Hope, Theo knows Pete is going through a tough time. God knows Theo's been there himself. He offers a hand in friendship, an offer to get a few guys together for some poker, but something holds Pete back. He's just acquired a Book, and this is the day Pete's gonna make his father pay for all the shit Stinky Pete's had to deal with... With the help of the Book, Pete unleashes an monstrous, vile demon within the halls of Clarington High. In a matter of minutes, most of the students are dead or dying, the school has been moved to a sickening elsewhere, and Theo and his friends are thrown into the fight of—and for—their lives. They have one chance to defeat the demon. One chance to get back home. One chance to save themselves. And it's the biggest gamble of Theo's life, but the deck is stacked against them. The demon they call Swlabr is trying to find and break them for its own needs... Their inner demons are fighting against them... And the Book? Yeah, that damned Book has plans of Its own. "I know bad things are supposed to happen, and we've got a ways to go, but f*ck! I've never hated a book so! This. Is. Terrifying."– Jennifer Dinsmore, editor of The Aphotic series