The Alchemy of Happiness: three stories and a hybrid-essay

The Alchemy of Happiness: a triptych of stories rooted in Southeast Asian myth and legend, literary fantasy at its very best.

In the beginning were the four: Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. Arriving simultaneously with the creation of the world, these archetypal elementals shaped humanity from the very start; two of the four continue to do so.

BLUE—The first trickster, fluid and fickle, holder of all the answers, and, therefore, of all the power.

DANE—The loyal lieutenant and enforcer, dispatching fiery judgment without question.

In various guises and forms, through the interstices of our reality and multiple afterlives, these two ancient but flawed siblings seek to find the one metaphysical formula that will lead them out of the never-ending cycle of suffering. Like all of us, human and demigod alike, they yearn for the pure land of endless bliss.

This volume also features "Embracing the Strange," a 14,000-word hybrid essay on the transformative power of speculative fiction, as well as "Represented Spaces," a wide-ranging interview with Jason Erik Lundberg by author and editor Wei Fen Lee.

[As a special bonus, anyone who purchases a copy of The Alchemy of Happiness gets a link to a free copy of Jason's collection Red Dot Irreal.]

"The writing is smooth and crisply visual, and the dialog sparkles … Go with the flow, and you’ll meet an interesting character who ultimately is given a thought-provoking choice, one which comes with a unique sacrifice." —Douglas Hoffman, Tangent, on “Reality, Interrupted” (the first story in The Alchemy of Happiness)

"A fantasy tale of the highest calibre, at times I thought I was reading the last chapter of a great novel and it has certainly made me want to hear more from this author. A world of magic suddenly springs from a fairly ordinary beginning as Goran soon realises that things are not what they seem, and he quickly plunges into a new and disturbing world that is set to change his life forever." —Tracy Sherrin-Miller, Whispers of Wickedness, on “Reality, Interrupted”

"Lundberg’s writing is that of an Old Soul who views the world through Young Eyes; his work is jamais vu of the highest order." —James A. Owen, author and illustrator of Here, There Be Dragons