Odds Are Good

Beloved for his hilarious and unexpectedly moving novels, Bruce Coville is also a master of the short story.

These two collections, in one volume for the first time, feature eighteen tales of unusual breadth and emotional depth. The stories move from a Minnesota bedroom upended by a fastidious Scottish brownie to an ancient temple where a young apprentice speaks prophecy through the language of blood.

Coville follows a boy who discovers a unicorn horn beneath his uncle’s bed, alongside a beheaded youth whose severed head counsels a frightened king by moonlight. The volume pairs gentle wonder with dark folklore: an old woman’s elven rescue and a boy’s terrifying descent beneath his own mattress.

This omnibus is a perfect introduction to Bruce Coville’s magic for the uninitiated.
Includes an introduction by Jane Yolen.
Humorous Fantasy: Cousin Duffy’s chronic forgetfulness strands three campers in an abandoned hunting lodge, until a massive forest creature arrives to deliver his lost coat.Alien Worlds: On the planet Kwarkis, an ambassador’s son navigates six-armed classmates and alien customs while shielding his beloved miniature panda from an interplanetary dispute.Unlikely Hero: Swallowed by a wandering colossus, an ordinary villager joins fellow survivors to carve out a thriving community inside the safety of a hollow molar.Coming of Age Fantasy: Entrusted with a polished wooden chest by a winged messenger, a quiet boy guards the unopened secret across eight decades of doubt and change.Also by This Author: The Monster’s Ring, The Skull of Truth and Armageddon Summer.