Isis Unbound by Allyson Bird

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

Inspired in part by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Percy Bysshe Shelley's, Prometheus Unbound, and the works of Rider Haggard and R. E. Howard, Isis Unbound is set in an alternate history, steampunk version of 1890's Manceastre, Britanniae, ruled by a new governor general related to a descendant of Anthony and Cleopatra, who won the battle of Actium two thousand years ago, and where the ancient Egyptian gods are real. ...Only a god can kill a god. Nepythys has killed her sister, Isis, and therefore the dead cannot pass over to the underworld--their ranks are rapidly swelling and they now roam the streets as zombies. Chief Embalmer Ptolemy Child's two daughters, Ella and Loli, aged eighteen and ten respectively, are being instructed in the secrets of the mummification process, when the dead begin to wake and walk. And eventually lead the sisters to the greatest mystery of all: Isis, herself...

"Allyson Bird proves herself a deft and detailed worldbuilder in her debut novel. A mesmerizing, intoxicating blend of steampunk and Egyptian mythology, Isis Unbound is sui generis." - F. Paul Wilson

"Allyson Bird is a writer who never plays it safe. Her wild imagination and power to evoke both myth and madness make her one of the most interesting writers working out there on the edge of horror/fantasy." - Lisa Tuttle.

"Allyson Bird is a rare bird indeed. An original voice in a world of plain vanilla. She rides some dark waves with grace and heart full of light and shadow. If there's any justice, she on her way to real recognition.' and she, ‘already has a prominent award under her belt; the British Fantasy Society award for her first collection, which I can also recommend, titled Bull Running For Girls. Still, you may not know her name. You should know her name. You should know her stories, her writing. Her work is as fresh as a spring wind; especially if that wind is carrying nasty spores from outer space, or bringing them from some place split sideways and shadowy, from a universe where the familiar is not as familiar as it might seem." - Joe.R.Lansdale.

"Historical fiction is very difficult to write. In addition to telling a compelling story, the writer must insure that, facts and names are all accurate, and nothing factual manipulated for plot purposes. Juggling myth into this mix of fact and fiction adds to the high degree of difficulty. Only the best writers attempt this often later in their careers. But Allyson Bird does all this and makes it look easy in Isis Unbound. She must be a polished veteran of historical - mythological novels? But no, amazingly this is a first novel. And an excellent novel at that. The prose is rich, rewarding with a density of detail, the plot compelling, the characters completely believable. A highly literate novel that should appeal equally to genre and mainstream reader alike. I would give this novel my highest recommendation (and have to a number of my reading friends)."
- Gene O'Neill.

LIBRARY JOURNAL review for ISIS UNBOUND:

"Generations ago, Cleopatra, with the blessing of Isis and Anthony at her side, started an empire. Her descendants still rule, but the goddess Isis has fallen silent, and there are those who fear her favor has been lost and the empire is falling apart. It is not that Isis has forgotten her empire, but she has been killed by her sister, the goddess Nepythys. Now the dead cannot pass over and stumble restless and frightened through a city already oppressed by plague and tyranny. The Chief Embalmer’s daughters, Ella and Loli, get involved in the machinations of the gods themselves as the fate of an empire is decided. VERDICT Set in a declining Egyptian empire dusted with the familiar technological and scientific trappings of a steampunk setting, this debut novel by British Fantasy Award winner Bird (Bull Running for Girls) is a frightening, gorgeous book that breathes something fascinating and new into the genre. It will appeal to avid readers of steampunk as well as horror fans." - April Steenburgh, George F. Johnson Memorial Lib., Endwell NY.

Editions

Leather-bound Deluxe Thirteen Hardcover w/slipcase (sold out): numbered 1-13, 6''x9'', bound in leather, signature page which is signed by both author and artist, front cover stamped and spine stamped with the title and the author's name, includes end papers, colored book ribbon, full colored header, 60lb. natural vellum stock, a slipcase and dust jacket.

100 Signed and Numbered Limited Hardcover: numbered 1-100, 6''x9'', bound in leatherette, signed by the author, stamped on the spine with the title and author's name, includes 80lb. natural vellum end papers, colored book ribbon, multi-colored header, 60lb. natural vellum stock and a dust jacket.

Trade Paperback: first 100 copies are signed by the author, 6 x 9, 12 point full color cover, 60lb. natural vellum stock.

About the Author

Allyson Bird's debut collection, Bull Running for Girls, won best collection, in the British Fantasy Society awards, 2009. Dark Regions Press published her second collection of stories, Wine and Rank Poison, in October of 2010. She is co-editor, with Joel Lane, of the anthology, Never Again, from Gray Friar Press in September 2010. Isis Unbound is her first novel. Allyson Bird lives in the Wairarapa, New Zealand, with her husband and daughter. Occasionally she is drawn to strange places and people, and occasionally they are drawn to her. Her favourite playground, both as an adult and child, is the village graveyard. Once she wondered what would happen if she took one of the green stones from a grave. She has been looking over her shoulder ever since but has never given it back. www.birdsnest.me.uk

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