The Sky-Riders

by Mike Allen, Paul Dellinger

Overview

Alistair Jones is a ex-Pinkerton agent roaming the West in search of work. Amy Dunston is an angry widow searching for answers. Who knows what those men with matching mustaches and bowler hats are searching for, but Alistair and Amy would both like to know why there are so many of them, why they all look alike, and why they're impervious to bullets -- at least until they met the business end of Alistair's .52-caliber 1874-pattern Sharps rifle. It could take down a buffalo with one shot, and it worked on those Bowlers, too.

But Alistair's gun and Amy's quick thinking might not be enough. Scientist Hiram Wilson's newfangled solar-and-steam-powered airship has brought an army of those bowler-wearing varmints out of the woodwork, and destroying Hiram's invention is just the beginning of their terrifying plan for our planet.

A vintage Western meets an alien invasion straight out of the golden age of science fiction and adds a chaser of steampunk in THE SKY-RIDERS, a new novelette from Southwest Virginia authors Paul Dellinger (MR. LAZARUS) and Mike Allen (UNSEAMING).

Paul's stories have appeared in FANTASTIC STORIES, FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION and numerous DAW anthologies. Mike is a Nebula Award finalist. The two have been friends for twenty years, but this is their first collaboration. You can learn more about Mike at Find Paul's stories at

Cover by Orion Zangara ( and Derek L. Chase (

Product Details

BN ID:	2940149979813
Publisher:	Mythic Delirium Books
Publication date:	01/27/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	800 KB

About the Author

Paul Dellinger spent four decades as a newspaper reporter. A native Virginian, he graduated from Roanoke College, spent three years in the U.S. Army as an information specialist (where he wrote a musical comedy performed at the West Point Service Club), created a tongue-in-cheek radio serial with Craig Allison which ran for two years on a Wytheville, Va., station ("The Adventures of Hap Hazard"), had a play produced in 1970 at Barter Theater, The State Theater of Virginia ("Rat Race," based on his first published short story), co- authored a book with Danny B. Gordon on the surprising effects of a UFO flap on residents of a small town (Don't Look Up!), and wrote a series of articles in specialty publications on vintage B-westerns and science fiction movies. He and his wife, Maxine, have two grown children, Mark and Katie, and two grandchildren, Grace and Emma. He lives in Wytheville, pursuing activities from horseback riding with his wife to local library volunteer activities.

* * *

On weekdays, Mike Allen writes the arts column for the daily newspaper in Roanoke, Va. Most of the rest of his time he devotes to writing, editing, and publishing. His first novel, a dark fantasy called The Black Fire Concerto, appeared in 2013, and he’s written a sequel, The Ghoulmaker’s Aria, that’s in the revision stage.

He raised more than $10,000 through a Kickstarter campaign to revive his anthology series dedicated to boundary-blurring work, Clockwork Phoenix. That Kickstarter funded Clockwork Phoenix 4, released in 2013 to much critical acclaim. He also edits and publishes Mythic Delirium, which began in 1998 as a poetry journal; a second Kickstarter campaign in 2013 rebooted it as a digital publication for poetry and fiction. In other words, 2013 was a big year for him, and 2014 isn’t far behind, with the release of his sixth poetry collection, Hungry Constellations, and his first collection of short fiction, Unseaming.

He receives a ton of help with all this editing from his wife, artist and horticulturalist Anita Allen. Their pets, Loki (canine) and Persephone and Pandora (feline) provide distractions. You can follow Mike’s exploits as a writer at descentintolight.com, as an editor at mythicdelirium.com, and all at once on Twitter at @mythicdelirium.