Tag: magic

Sigrid’s Eagle – Fantasy short story out now

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

Well, technically it’s been out for a little while now, but I’m finally backtracking through my publications and getting the details loaded here.

While I mostly tend to write science fiction and contemporary stories, I do also dabble in fantasy from time to time. For the most part, that’s in my Morgenfeld series, which will see a slew of new releases this year with a new completed trilogy, and a collection of short stories with those characters and some new characters.

Morgenfeld is a fantasy world without magic, but sometimes I do write fantasies with a little magic. And dragons. And demons.

Sigrid’s Eagle was a fun story to write, and I was very happy with the result. I think stepping outside my usual genres helped to give me a different focus, and in turn brought back different approaches when I wrote my next sci fi tale.

Sigrid’s Eagle – Blurb

Calinda’s sister Sigrid vanished in the jagged reaches of the Spikehill Mountains. Jutting, thready, dangerous peaks.

Calinda needs to know why. Needs to know what drew Sigrid into such danger.

Their father would disapprove. But then, Calinda knows a couple of spells. She has her bow. And her good moccasins.

She will find Sigrid. No matter what trials she might face.

A fantasy tale that asks how far we will go for family. From the author of the Morgenfeld series.

This story pairs well with my fantasy novella “Crossing Bonestrike Gorge“. Both fantastical, with strong, young lead out of their depths.

Sigrid’s Eagle is available from the usual places as both and ebook for $2.99 and a paperback for $7.99. The best place to grab it is the main website – you can download it in your choice of formats.

Thanks for reading. As a thanks for making it this far, here are a couple of discount codes on the website. Both valid until the end of July 2025.

Get Sigrid’s Eagle for 50% cover price by using the code sigrids2025 at checkout.

Get both Sigrid’s Eagle and Crossing Bonestrike Gorge as a combo for 50% total cover price by using the code sigridscombo2025 at checkout (make sure to add both to your cart).

Imaginary Maid Forgets She is Late for a Banquet – new ebook short story

~ Sean Monaghan ~ Leave a comment

I have a new story out through Smashwords. Imaginary Maid Forgets She is Late for a Banquet is a magicpunk, or magic realism. The story was first published in the Static Movement anthology Alternate Dimensions.

The amazing cover art is by Ateliersommerland and sourced through Dreamstime. The waif has the perfect expression to suit Bianca’s character.

My little description at Smashwords goes like this: “Bianca’s had about enough of Paulette, the school bully. But when she calls up magic to help out, both girls are in for more than they bargained for. Much more.”

And though you can read the first 20% free anyway, I do like to put the opening paragraphs here for a teaser too:

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Bianca sulked. She’d pushed herself into a corner of the kitchen, crouched and squeezed herself right under one of the benches.
“Bianca,” Paulette called. “Come out.” She paused, giggled a little. “Come out, come out.”
“Wherever you are,” Bianca whispered.
“I’ll teach you, you little snipe. I will teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”
Bianca looked around the corners of the tiny dark space. She needed magic.
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Jacob’s Naked Aquarium – flash fiction at Bewildering Stories

~ Sean Monaghan ~ 1 Comment

My magicpunk story Jacob’s Naked Aquarium appears in issue 390 of Bewildering Stories.

While all my stories feel like favourites, this is something different and extra – I feel more attached to this one than some others. I look at it now and can see a few rough edges, though some of those have been neatly smoothed by some great editing from the Bewildering Stories team.

Is magicpunk a sub-genre? It’s not a “magic realm” story, though it exploits magic. It’s not “steampunk”, though it has elements of that – no computer technology as such. But it’s some kind of mix between the two. Oh, does it really need a genre label – can’t it just be a story?

Funny doodle – I think I’ll grab one of my old fish drawings and put that here to look a bit more classy.