As we enter this new year, the wind is howling outside and the snow is piling in drifts. Tonight, these drifts will harden, forming a crust on the world. Later this week, the weather will turn, and these crusts will shrink and melt and then sluice away. It won’t be a completely transformative change—Spring is not that close—but we’ll still take it as a sign that the past is gone. The future awaits. 

We’re celebrating this shift with our first release of 2024. Here is Sarah Day’s Greyhowler, a secondary world fantasy about the failure of faith, the monsters we create in our dreams, and what happens when community turns on itself. 

Sarah first came to our attention a few years ago when she sent us a story for Underland Arcana. This was, what? Early in those days. You know those days—the time that has not quite left the building. It was a fine story, but it hewed a little too close to the current mood, and we weren’t quite ready for it. (Are we now? Perhaps. Not because of distance, mind you, but because we have become . . . numb to it? That breaks the heart a little.)

Anyway, Sarah came back with another story, one that was no less rich with feeling and metaphor and wonder. We dug it, and “Fog Net” appeared in Issue 4 of the Arcana. 

Shortly thereafter, Sarah sent us Greyhowler, a Courier novella, and naturally, we snapped it up. And now, huzzah! you can enjoy it as well. As Tim Pratt, author of the Marla Mason urban fantasy series, says in his praise, the best monster stories are the ones that explore the monster in us. 

You can get it at all the regular online and brick and mortar stores. You may also order it directly from our online store.

THE GREYHOWLER PITCH

Rhia is a Courier, a transient messenger who freely travels the land without calling any town or port home. The job suits her, for in a land ruled by the Temple, it is difficult to find your own way, especially when you have a Talent. Rhia’s is water, and when she arrives in distant Cerretour to deliver a message, she finds a village wracked with suffering. The well is dry. It hasn’t rained. The only person who can save these villagers is missing. At night, a strange creature prowls the prairie. The villagers have a name for it: greyhowler.

Rhia knows it by a different name: the lusus mendace, the predator of lies. It is a monster created by Temple Priests to scare the initiates and acolytes. It knows deceit. It knows fear. It hunts those who harbor lies in their hearts.

Is it hunting her? Is it hunting someone in the village? Is it nothing more than a myth, a tale meant to scare children? All Rhia knows for certain is she may be the only person who can save these people. But doing so means accepting what she swore she would never be . . .

Sarah Day’s debut introduces us to the world of the Couriers—a secondary world fantasy series well suited for fans of Becky Chamber’s Monk and Robot series and N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy.

“Day’s debut novella captivates from the very first page; like all the best monster stories, it also explores the monsters inside of us.” —Tim Pratt, author of Prison of Sleep

MORE BOOKS

2024 will be a busy year for Underland. In the spring, we’ll have collections from Paul Jessup, Rachel Rodman, and Elad Haber. 

Later in the year, we’ll have another novel from Paul. He calls it his “The Virgin Suicides meets The Omen” book, and, well, we said bring it on! This one dives into the black heart of serial killers and woe to us what we find there. 

We’ll have a debut novella from Texas’s own Scott Porter, which is going to knock your socks off and straighten your hair. Darin Bradley will have a little something for us, and there may be a further surprise or two.

Stay close. Wear warm socks. Remember to look deep into your friends’ eyes. It’s the only way you can be sure they’re still human. Wait for the sun. It’ll come back eventually.