This image is the cover for the book Chance

Chance

Winner of the WordWeaving Award for Excellence: The stories and poems in this fantasy collection explore the enchanted realms of the imagination—and our universal need for love and acceptance 

The title character of Nebula Award finalist “The Boy Who Plaited Manes” is a nameless mute at a royal stable who teaches his abusive noble master an unforgettable lesson. Gage undergoes a transformation in the “Bard” as he strums a silver harp and dreams of horses and a lost love. In “Bright-Eyed Black Pony,” the reclusive sorcerer Wystan devises a plan to help a despairing young prince. Pregnant wife Lin Burke has just moved to a backwater coal town in Pennsylvania and is about to meet her very unusual neighbor in “Primal Cry.” The title story is told in two parts: “Chance” and “The Golden Face of Fate.” As Lord’s Warden, it is the orphaned bastard Chance’s job to keep the vast forest of Wirral safe from poachers, spies, and the occasional murderer. But other creatures dwell here. They are the Denizens, whose tiny faces disappear in the blink of an eye, and who are never spoken of by name. They see and know all, including the truth about Chance’s love for the beautiful, unattainable Lady Halimeda—and the final, terrible secret of Wirral.

Other pieces feature female wolves, dog-kings, and sun kings. In poems and prose of grief and atonement, hope, healing, and lost faith, Springer mines the magic that makes us human.

Nancy Springer

Nancy Springer is the award-winning author of more than fifty books, including the Enola Holmes and Rowan Hood series and a plethora of novels for all ages, spanning fantasy, mystery, magic realism, and more. She received the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for Larque on the Wing and the Edgar Award for her juvenile mysteries Toughing It and Looking for Jamie Bridger, and she has been nominated for numerous other honors. Springer currently lives in the Florida Panhandle, where she rescues feral cats and enjoys the vibrant wildlife of the wetlands.

Open Road Integrated Media