I had strange dreams in the week before the Anomaly...

Ithaca, New York, November 2020. A PhD student is besieged by a baffling higher dimensional entity. Kyoto, Japan, 1891. A globe-traveling archaeologist finds comfort for the night with a legendary creature. Emeryville, Cleavenland, 50 years after the great war. A lonely blacksmith calls upon the rare talents of an infernal sex worker. Niantica, Rhode Island, 2084. A technician is drawn into the embrace of his artificially intelligent assistant. Welcome to the world of Racy and Awkward Fantasy Tales, the first collection of short stories from part-time writer and full-time weirdo Ezra Owain.

"This rollicking anthology of SF-and-fantasy erotica... is not for the conservative of mind. Be prepared to have your sensual boundaries stretched... unless you're also one of us nerds who spends their time thinking up just such unusual situations. In which case this book will feel like home."

• Raven Kaldera, author of Power Circuits and Extraordinary Deviations

"Queer, fantastic, hot fun. The series isn't just erotica, but also a fun dash of scifi, fantasy, and eldrich horror. The worldbuilding in every story is deep and tangible... the variety of sex and gender is a grab-bag for all tastes."

• Ahuva Black, romance writer

What's Inside

Four sizzling tales of human daring and more-than-human lust:

Sheldon Shags a Shoggoth: Sheldon was just an ordinary PhD student trying to make the world a better place, and make peace with his body. Then the Anomaly, an ancient extradimensional demon, latched onto his dreams and offered to help make them real. But he never thought they would breach the dimensional boundary and come looking for him. Will Sheldon find what he's looking for? And can he afford the demon's price? Michael and the Uncanny Can: Michael Levitz is an archaeologist who has crossed continents in search of love, adventure, and destiny. In 1890, his search leads him to a Japan only recently opened to westerners. In this unfamiliar land, an unlikely encounter with an infamous monster forces Michael to question his understanding of the world-where he believed it was not possible to be a man of science and also believe in dybbuks and demons. The Smithy Gets Her Fill: Brunhilde Beryl is the lovable if awkward master blacksmith of Emery Vale. No one knows how to work its precious metals like her. But it's a lonely life-she towers over most men, intimidates others with her success, and has little time to give to her personal life. So, she's delighted when the Madame of the local pleasure house matches her with a handsome infernal mercenary. He's gifted and mutually smitten. It could be fun for a night, or even the start of a wonderful friendship-if she can stand the heat. Mani the Maintenance Slut: Carl Lemming is undertaking his first multi-day inspection tour of the understructure of Niantica, an enclosed city home to several million people. He's bracing himself for the 20-plus hours belowdeck with only an android assistant. They're good at their jobs, but not exactly sparkling conversationalists. Then he learns to his surprise that his companion is not a basic drone managed by the Maintenance Intelligence Core, it's running an onboard "shell" with its own distinct personality. And she's beautiful. And a flirt. Suddenly the lonesome, boring and dangerous tour seems anything but boring, albeit no less dangerous.