There is an enchanted castle where a golden princess languishes in her rose-strewn bower, waiting for her prince charming. But the princess sleeps with a black wood stake through her heart, and her petal-soft lips conceal a pair of razor fangs.
A violated woman's vengeance spawns a blighted curse upon the world.
A near-future urban cityscape is the base for shock troops that only come out at night to vie in a cyberpunk turf war of technology and power.
William's heart thrums in his chest, a rhythm his mistress abhors. Not dead enough, not cold enough to walk the night at her side, but too bloodthirsty to dwell with men.
Waiting in the wings backstage, Cybele is inspiration incarnate, a lissome goddess who metes out passion, releasing the words and melodies that seethe, locked in Rail's mind. She is everything he desires, and gives him everything he's ever dreamed of having. But she requires payment, her fair due.
"Eugie Foster's darkly fantastic take on the origins of the vampire…This is a wonderful story, the other standout of the issue…Foster is meant for great things."
"Eugie Foster's vampire stories have everything a good vampire story needs to have…The author is a great story-teller, who pays attention to details, creates great characters, and uses a highly enjoyable style. Her choice of words and her use of language gives a very special flavour to these writings, which makes it hard to put this book down. For those who enjoy vampire fiction, this book is highly recommended."
"these two vampire short stories are beautifully written and darkly unsettling, each with a twist on accepted conventions that makes them at once familiar and new…Beautiful, and recommended."
"'The Few, the Proud, the Leech Corps' mixes elements from different genres, and while technology and urban guerrilla tactics certainly play a role in the action parts of this graphic story, it is the immortal fascination with vampires and the attractive, sensual imagery associated with them that captivates… reminiscent of one of David Cronenberg's nightmarish scenes."
"Combining elements of Sleeping Beauty and vampire tales, Ascendancy of Blood is a quick, sharply-told, gorgeously-described chapbook by up-and-coming author, Eugie Foster. Her strength here lies in the lush prose and seductive imagery that permeates the pages."
"Ascendancy of Blood is Eugie Foster's retelling of the fairy tale, 'Sleeping Beauty.' But this retelling is sinister, a children's tale no more, fraught with peril and filled with blood."
"A refreshing look at a traditional tale. Eugie Foster has written an enchanting little tale that keeps the reader interested until the very last word."
Eugie Foster calls home a mildly haunted, fey-infested house in metro Atlanta that she shares with her husband, Matthew. After receiving her master's degree in psychology, she retired from academia to pen flights of fancy. She also edits legislation for the Georgia General Assembly, which from time to time she suspects is another venture into flights of fancy.
Eugie received the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novelette and was named the Author of the Year by Bards and Sages. THE DRAGON AND THE STARS anthology, edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, with her story, "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart," won the 2011 Prix Aurora Award for Best English Related Work. Her fiction has also received the 2002 Phobos Award; been a finalist for the Hugo and British Science Fiction Association awards; and been translated into eight languages. Her publication credits number over 100 and include stories in REALMS OF FANTASY, INTERZONE, CRICKET, CICADA, FANTASY MAGAZINE, and anthologies NEBULA SHOWCASE 2011, BEST NEW FANTASY, and BEST NEW ROMANTIC FANTASY 2. Her short story collection, RETURNING MY SISTER'S FACE AND OTHER FAR EASTERN TALES OF WHIMSY AND MALICE, was published in 2009 and has been used as a textbook at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of California-Davis.