Flora knows better than to take shortcuts in her family home, Crackpot Hall—the house has eleven thousand rooms, and ever since her mother banished the magickal butler, those rooms move around at random. But Flora is late for school, so she takes the unpredictable elevator anyway. Huge mistake. Lost in her own house, she stumbles upon the long-banished butler—and into a mind-blowing muddle of intrigue and betrayal that changes her world forever. Full of wildly clever plot twists, this extraordinary first novel establishes Ysabeau Wilce as a compelling new voice in teen fantasy.

Flora Fyrdraaca wants nothing more than to be a ranger, and for that she must master the magickal—and dangerous—language of Gramatica. But before she can find the ideal teacher, her aspirations are put to the test. Would a true ranger be intimidated by a tentacle that reaches for her from the depths of a toilet? Be daunted by her best friend’s transformation into a notorious outlaw, thanks to a pair of sparkly stolen boots? Be cowed by the revelation that only she can rescue the city of Califa from the violent earthquakes that threaten its survival? Never. Saving her city and her best friend are the least a Girl of Spirit can do—yet what Flora doesn’t expect are the life-altering revelations she learns about her family and herself.

Despite her troublesome attraction to magick, Flora Fyrdraaca has—more or less—spent her life doing what's been expected of her. Yet now, at sixteen, she knows that this path has been strewn with secrets. Secrets have kept her from following her passion of becoming a ranger, of perfecting her use of magick, of proclaiming her hidden identity. But Flora has had enough of living with lies. Convinced that her true mother, Tiny Doom—long believed to have been killed by the evil Birdies—is alive, Flora becomes determined to find her. Doing so will allow Flora to leave behind the lies her false mother, Buck Fyrdraaca, has told her about who she is. She can shake off the slavish drudgery of being a lowly lieutenant in the Army of Califa. And she need never again speak to her former best friend (and recent love) Udo—he's become a total snapperhead. Flora and her red dog, Flynn, are thrown into a journey that takes them to the high seas, onto lawless islands, and into the deadly desert. It's an adventure filled with pirate battles, magickal encounters, and an unexpected romance with a brooding stranger who reveals himself to be a kindred spirit. And it all becomes far more dangerous when Flora realizes how desperately the Birdies want Tiny Doom—and Flora herself—dead.

These inter-connected stories are set in an opulent quasi-historical world of magick and high manners called the Republic of Califa. The Republic is a strangely familiar place—a baroque approximation of Gold Rush era-California with an overlay of Aztec ceremony—yet the characters who populate it are true originals: rockstar magicians, murderous gloves, bouncing boy terrors, blue tinted butlers, sentient squids, and a three-year-old Little Tiny Doom and her vengeful pink plush pig. By turn whimsical and horrific (sometime in the same paragraph), Wilce's stories have been characterized as "screwball comedies for goths" but they could also be described as "historical fantasies" or "fanciful histories" for there are nuggets of historical fact hidden in them there lies. Ysabeau S. Wilce is the author of Flora Segunda, Andre Norton Award–winner Flora's Dare, and Flora's Fury, and she has published work in Asimov's, Steampunk!, and Fantasy & Science Fiction. She lives in San Francisco, California.

Hot on the heels of award-winning editor Gardner Dozois' acclaimed anthology The Book of Swords comes this companion volume devoted to magic. How could it be otherwise? For every Frodo, there is a Gandalf ... and a Saruman. For every Dorothy, a Glinda ... and a Wicked Witch of the West. What would Harry Potter be without Albus Dumbledore ... and Severus Snape? Figures of wisdom and power, possessing arcane, often forbidden knowledge, wizards and sorcerers are shaped—or misshaped—by the potent magic they seek to wield. Yet though their abilities may be godlike, these men and women remain human—some might say all too human. Such is their curse. And their glory. In these pages, seventeen of today's top fantasy writers—including award-winners Elizabeth Bear, John Crowley, Kate Elliott, K.J. Parker, Tim Powers, and Liz Williams—cast wondrous spells that thrillingly evoke the mysterious, awesome, and at times downright terrifying worlds where magic reigns supreme: worlds as far away as forever, and as near as next door. Contents: \- The Return of the Pig by K.J. Parker \- Community Service by Megan Lindholm \- Flint and Mirror by John Crowley \- The Friends of Masquelayne the Incomparable by Matthew Hughes \- The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror, Chapter II: Jumping Jack in Love by Ysabeau S. Wilce \- Song of Fire by Rachel Pollack \- Loft the Sorcerer by Eleanor Arnason \- The Governor by Tim Powers \- Sungrazer by Liz Williams \- The Staff in the Stone by Garth Nix \- No Work of Mine by Elizabeth Bear \- Widow Maker by Lavie Tidhar \- The Wolf and the Manticore by Greg Van Eekhout \- A Night at the Tarn House by George R.R. Martin \- The Devil's Whatever by Andy Duncan \- Bloom by Kate Elliott \- The Fall and Rise of the House of the Wizard Malkuril by Scott Lynch

Hardcover publication of two books originally published separately: Flora Segunda and Flora's Dare. Flora Segunda: Flora Fyrdraaca knows taking shortcuts in Crackpot Hall can be risky. After all, when a House has eleven thousand decaying rooms that shift about at random, there's no telling where a person might end up. But it's not just household confusion that vexes Flora, what with Mamma always away being Commanding General of the Army, and Crackpot Hall too broken down to magickally provide the clean towels and hot waffles that are a Fyrdraaca's birthright. Yet Flora is nothing if not a Girl of Spirit. So when she takes a forbidden shortcut and stumbles upon her family's biggest secret—Valefor, the banished Butler—she and her best friend Udo plunge happily into the grand adventure of restoring Valefor to his rightful (or so he says) position. If only Flora knew that meddling with a magickal being can go terribly awry—and that soon she will have to find a way to restore herself before it is Too Late. Flora's Dare: Flora Fyrdraaca wants nothing more than to become a ranger, but first she must master the magickal—and dangerous—language of Gramatica. Such mastery will depend on expert instruction, unflinching confidence, and luck. Even if Flora can muster up the first two, luck is not a hallmark of the Fyrdraaca family. And when the world Flora knows begins to crumble around her, her aspirations are sorely tested. Would a true ranger be intimidated by a vast tentacle crawling from the depths of a toilet? Be dismayed by the news that only she can stop the earthquakes threatening the city of Califa’s survival? Saving her city is what any good ranger would do. Flora expects her mission to be difficult and perilous. Yet what this Girl of Spirit does not expect are the life-altering revelations that force her to ask the question: Who is Flora Fyrdraaca?