"Mosley is one of the most humane, insightful, powerful prose stylists working today in any genre. He's also one of the most radical...Immerse yourself in the work of one of our national treasures."
—The Austin Chronicle

Walter Mosley shares his first installment of his foray into speculative fiction.

About The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin:

Bestselling author Walter Mosley is the legendary American writer renowned for his diverse body of work, including his beloved Easy Rawlins mystery series. Mosley has also been a longtime science fiction devotee, and Tor is delighted to be publishing some very different new fiction from him—speculative novellas published as "double" sets—harkening back to publishing's past, while offering some exceedingly forward-thinking literature.

In the first of three sets of these unique doubles, the O. Henry Award and PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award winner brings us The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin, in one flipable book. These two novellas are the first in the multi-part collection that make up an exceptionally different offering Mosley calls "Crosstown to Oblivion: The Beginnings of the End—Fragments of Six Shattered Worlds." The next book, Merge/Disciple will follow in November 2012, with more to be released in the future.

The novellas feature Mosley at his finest—spinning two one-of-a-kind speculative tales, in one volume, of everyday people exposed to life-altering truths. Much like Mosley's critically acclaimed The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a departure from his crime fiction but still embraced by fans both old and new, The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin will appeal to a vast and varied array of readers. These literary science fiction tales ponder questions that will speak to anyone who has ever questioned their place in the world, their path through time, and even the very truth of the world itself.

The Gift of Fire
In ancient mythology, the Titan Prometheus was punished by the gods for bringing man the gift of fire—an event that set humankind on its course of knowledge. As punishment for making man as powerful as gods, Prometheus was bound to a rock, every day his immortal body was devoured by a giant eagle. But in The Gift of Fire, those chains cease to be, and the great champion of man walks from that immortal prison into present day South Central Los Angeles.

On the Head of a Pin
Joshua Winterland and Ana Fried are working at Jennings-Tremont Enterprises when they make the most important discovery in the history of this world—or possibly the next. JTE is developing advanced animatronics editing techniques to create high-end movies indistinguishable from live action. Longdead stars can now share the screen with today's A-list. But one night Joshua and Ana discover something lingering in the rendered footage...an entity that will lead them into a new age beyond the reality they have come to know.

About the Author:

Walter Mosley is one of the most versatile and admired writers in America today. He is the author of more than thirty-four critically acclaimed books, including the major bestselling mystery series featuring Easy Rawlins. His short fiction has been widely published, and his nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and The Nation. He is the winner of numerous awards including an O. Henry Award, a Grammy, and PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in New York City.

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