OR

Print List Price:	$14.99
Kindle Price:	$0.99 Save $14.00 (93%)
Sold by:	Amazon.com Services LLC

Promotions apply when you purchase

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the authors

Achten Tan: Land of Dust and Bone (Tales from the Year Between) Kindle Edition

by C. Vandyke (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.9 25 ratings

See all formats and editions

At the crossroads between Mieville’s New Crobuzon and M.T. Anderson’s Viriconium, on the border of Dhalgren and D&D, just to the left of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Mad Max’s Fury Road … lies Achten Tan

Tales from the Year Between is a biannual anthology that brings together some of the most talented writers from around the globe to invent an original world from scratch, then explore that world through their writing. After a week of intensive world-building, each author sets out to expand their new, fabulous universe through short-stories, flash fiction, poems, songs, and whatever other genres their boundless imaginations unleash ...

In this inaugural volume, the world in question is Achten Tan, an at times brutal and at times humorous city located at the foot of the Godtree on the southern edge of the Bonewastes. Home to giant ants, mysterious mirror fragments, and the world’s greatest barbecue rib joint, Achten Tan is bursting with stories of fantasy and wonder. One part Italo Calvino, one part
Frank Herbert, with just a dash of George R.R. Martin and L. Frank Baum

Warning. Achten Tan: Land of Dust & Bone is weird. Inside its pages are drama and humor; action and longing; violence, death, and love. It’s strange and beautiful, a living instance of the old aphorism regarding the whole being greater than the parts. Oh, and there are also giant ants and a city obsessed with barbecued ribs.

There are poems and short stories, one-act plays and flash fiction, epistles and excerpts from academic texts, erotic tales and even recipes. It’s a wonderful, fabulous, bizarre, and exciting mix of fiction.

Learn more about Achten Tan and Tales From the Year Between at YearBetween.com. You can sign up for our Mailchimp newsletter or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. You can learn more about the publisher, Skullgate Media, at Skullgatemedia.com

(Contains contributions by the following authors: Gabrielle Awe, Jesse Nolan Bailey, Ian Barr, Darius Bearguard, Jonathan Beck, Kyle Beers, Dan Berison , Benjamin Blattberg, Elvira Canaveral, Gregory Coley, Darby Cupid, Chris “Terry” Durston, Diana C Gagliardi, Erin Rae Hoffer, Sarah Houck, Debbie Iancu-Haddad, Roger Kristian Jones, Vincent LaBate, Allison Moore, Iseult Murphy, Chapel Orahamm, S.L.Parker, Sarah Remy, Rosalind Dando, CD Storiz, Imelda Taylor, Chris Vandyke, Kelly Washington, and Paul Worthington. Maps by Aaron Hockett)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This volume of stories covered a wide range of emotions from pathos to humorous, and was thoroughly enjoyable. I especially liked C.D. Storiz's QUIETUS, which weaves a tale of mercy in an unforgiving land." Melanie Fletcher

"Although each story is written by a different author, they meld beautifully into an ongoing tale. I'm delighted that I left my normal literary choices and wandered into a fabulous new world." - Five Star Review

"It's a strange world. One of people riding ants, of Godtrees with addictive fruits, of ribs that people eat and live in and climb upon and assign such importance to. It's a bizarre world, but it's fun seeing it like this, in this anthology - little snapshots of life, exposure to this strange, mythical place. When I started this, I honestly wasn't sure what to expect - but while I can definitely say this is probably the WEIRDEST book I've read so far this year, it was definitely highly enjoyable. I liked it!" Kelsey

About the Author

Chris Vandyke spent the first 16 years of his life in the small coastal town of Gold Beach, Oregon. Since 2002 he has taught high school English in the New York City Public School System, which differs somewhat from his hometown. He is the founder and president of Skullgate Media, a writer-owned publishing collective, and the editor-in-chief of Tales from the Year Between, a sci-fi/fantasy anthology. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, two children, and a menagerie of animals. They are currently one goat shy of a petting zoo. You can follow him on Twitter as @aboutrunning and @skullgatemedia, or his website, cvandyke.com.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08D7T2JKN
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Skullgate Media (August 17, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 17, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 14797 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 397 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,696,334 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,367 in Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories (Kindle Store)
- #5,352 in Fantasy Anthologies

Customer Reviews:
4.9 25 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Kelly Washington
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
A third-generation soldier, Kelly Washington isn’t afraid to push boundaries in real life and in her fiction. Regardless the genre—fantasy, science fiction, or romance—her writing style packs a powerful punch by featuring strong and independent, yet flawed, characters. Born into a family of voracious readers, she ignores as many obligations as possible in order to finish writing one more chapter.
Kelly is the author of the Falling for Him trilogy, the four-volume epic fantasy series, Reclaimed Souls, the Moira Rothrock novella series (Unlocking the Devil and Sleeping with the Devil), the stand-alone Freaky Friday-esque military romance novel, Collide Into You, and the upcoming science fiction romance novel, Claiming the Heart of Vraithe.
Her short fiction has appeared in Overheard Magazine, Cutter’s Final Cut, spillover mag, Fahmidan Journal, Pulp House Fiction Magazine, Kaleidotrope, Heart’s Kiss, and multiple Fiction River anthologies. Her short story, “The American Flag of Sergeant Hale Schofield” was a 2016 Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Story.
When Kelly isn’t writing, she works for the Department of Defense in Washington, D.C.
website: www.kellywashington.com
newsletter: www.kellywashington.com/newsletter/
goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/kellywashington
Instagram: instagram.com/kellywashwrites
Twitter: @kellywashwrites
See more on the author's page
Dan Berison
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Dan Berison is an author from Yorkshire, England. He lives with his wife and three children. Outside of writing he works as a Scrum Master and Product Manager and has many years’ experience within the software development industry.
Over the last fifteen years, Dan has spent his time writing short stories and novels around the Fantasy and Space Opera genre and also formed the Beginning-Middle-End website; a forum for authors to share their ideas, images and more in the early 2000’s. This included a Kindle Blog that ran for around a year.
During that time, he completed initial drafts for fourteen novels within the Starlab Chronicles universe. These were relatively short novels of under 200 pages, written as an enjoyable past-time and nothing more - until 2019 when the decision was made to publish these books for all to read.
Cubes: Rising is the first novel of that series, set at the beginning of a great dimension-spanning adventure set in the far future. It now spans over 400 pages and is the springboard and catalyst for the remaining series to be re-drafted, completed and released. This has been followed by Eldritch Haze and more are in the works
Over the coming years, alongside his Molly Banjo series of short novels, he has released the successful Thumbnail Heroes and Clackbeetles anthology which has now been made into an eight-book series being released in Autumn 2023.
Dan Berison also released the Sirens and Cages podcast, a new story written for podcast in twelve episodes spanning the Steampunk and Biopunk genres. The first in a trilogy of books on this will be coming out in 2024.
See more on the author's page
Chris Durston
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
‘Chris Durston refuses to be dull … He doesn’t see the point of writing a story if he can’t take full advantage of the medium and do things within that medium that can’t be done in any other.’
From Devon, in the South West of England, Chris Durston has always wanted to be a writer and only just got around to doing anything about it. Each Little Universe is his debut novel, initially conceived while studying English literature and philosophy at Cardiff University and finally published five years later.
He is now working on too many projects and hopes to have some of them finished before too long; in the meantime, shorter pieces can be found in a range of anthologies and collections. He's also somehow become a founding member of Skullgate Media, an independent writers' collective cum indie publisher.
See more on the author's page
Gregory Coley
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Born in Dallas with kidney failure, I turned to writing in my early teenage years. What began as poetry shifted to short stories in college and shifted again to novels in my mid twenties. Now in my early thirties I do a bit of everything with over a dozen released under my belt. You can find me as @Ghreggori in Twitter!
See more on the author's page
C. Vandyke
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Chris Vandyke is the founder and president of Skullgate Media, an indie-publishing collective dedicated to changing the way writers work together. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Tales from the Year Between, a weird-fiction anthology and Skullgate's flagship publication.
He was born in 1979 and spent the first 16 years of his life in the small coastal town of Gold Beach, Oregon. Since 2002 has been a High School English Teacher in the New York City Public School System, which is, needless to say, somewhat different than his hometown. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, two children, and a menagerie of animals. They are currently one goat shy of a petting zoo.
Currently, he has two novellas available in his Post Cards from NeoTokyo series, cyberpunk noir adventures following the adventures of a private eye in a robot-ruled dystopian future. He is currently querying "Love Songs for the Robot Apocalypse," a YA Sci-Fi romance involving time-travel, 90's alt-rock mixed tapes, and teenage lesbians falling in love, as well as "Dragon's Curse," the first installment in an epic fantasy trilogy. He has also finished a number installments in his "Farhome Elf Chronicles," a ten-part Middle-Grade series aimed at reluctant readers. He has also published a translation of the medieval viking saga, "The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok," under the name Christopher Van Dyke
You can learn more about him at CVandyke.com.
You can learn more about The Tales From the Year Between at www.YearBetween.com
He tweets as @aboutrunning.
See more on the author's page
Jonathan Beck
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Jonathan is a writer, entertainer and cat enthusiast from the scenic north coast of Northern Ireland, who happens to write short stories, flash, and micro-fiction that can be a little weird at times.
See more on the author's page
CD Storiz
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Bringing characters to life one story at a time. C.D. Storiz has short stories/novelettes included in Achten Tan: Land of Dust & Bone and Under New Suns both published through Skullgate Media. Her novelette, Relevant, was published with Kyanite, and two of her short stories (contest winners) are published through Gestalt Media. You can follow C.D. on Twitter: @LeChatGris3, Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20342246.C_D_Storiz or on her website: www.cdstoriz.com where you can find samples of her writing and read her latest blog.
See more on the author's page
Ryan Richards
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Elvira Canaveral knows how to be a Pinball Master and soon, so can you!
Elvira Canaveral, Pinball Illuminati, has created a digital comic book guide to the most popular #PINBALL Temple in the world. Allow Elvira Canaveral, who appears as a Pinball, Guide you through the tricks and traps of The Addams Family Pinball Mansion! More Classic, new and THEORETICAL PINball COMic BOoks.
Elvis Canaveral, Interdimensional Educator and Diplomat, in his role as many of the infinite El Canaverals, Illuminated the Right Reverend [REC] Ryan Richards, Brought the Gifts of Proanoia and the charge of Allumination. Proanoia, the 25th of Cult of the Month, is the Belief System (BS) that everything is out to help you.
Elvis Canaveral: Supercollider is a series of educational comics that are made to take confusing subjects and transform them into understandable, digestible, educational digital comics.
I suggest the Kindle over the iBook due to a better interface for comic books. affordable, updatable and instant!
If you’d like to help make more PINball COMic BOoks join us at CultOfTheMonth.com - Where Ÿöü Belong!?
More can be found out at wordcrimes.com and sintire.com (Sincere Satire)
See more on the author's page
Chapel Orahamm
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Chapel Orahamm is an Editing Service and the Pen Name for Thornton Gibson who is a Line & Substance Editor, Slipstream Author and Illustrator. With a degree in Liberal Arts - Asian Art History and Asian History and a minor in sociology, they end up getting stuck into research when writing.
@ChapelOrahmm on Twitter
KavordianLibrary.com
See more on the author's page
Erin Rae Hoffer
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
E R Hoffer writes about post-fossil fuel futures in the hope that positive imaginings might slap humanity hard enough to change things. You can find her work listed under her own name and under the pen name L. X. Nishimoto. Read news and writing samples on her website (https://lxnishimoto.wixsite.com/mysite) and twitter feed ( @erhoffer ).
See more on the author's page
Debbie Iancu-Haddad
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
If you like quirky fantasy, I hope you'll enjoy the Sands of Achten Tan series which includes "Speechless in Achten Tan"
"The Bone Master" and two short stories. My plan is for this series to include four books, "Tar and Bone" A prequel is coming out later this year, followed by, "The Magic Within," that concludes this series.
My YA Sci-Fi series, "Children of the Stars" will launch September 6th, 2023. Available for pre-order now!
Besides my books, I've published short stories in ten different anthologies.
For my day job, I give lectures on humor and serve as a personal chauffeur for my two teenagers.
My hobbies include eating chocolate, writing VSS on Twitter and buying way too much stuff on Aliexpress.
Living in Meitar, Israel.
Follow me on Twitter @debbieiancu or my author website: https://www.debbieiancu.com/
See more on the author's page
Sarah Houck
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
S.L. Parker
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Allison N. Moore
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Ian Barr
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page
Allison Moore
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Allison N. Moore is a stay-at-home mom, wife, writer, and artist living in Woodbury, Minnesota with her daughter, husband, and cat. She has always held a special place in her heart for animals and enjoys incorporating them into her works along with strong women, sassy/snarky characters, and dark themes/humor.
Read more about Allison and her works on her website www.authorallisonmoore.com, on Goodreads, or follow her on Twitter as @MooreWriting89.
See more on the author's page
Imelda Taylor
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5

25 global ratings

3 star

0%

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Amazon Customer

An amazingly written insight into a fantastic, exciting, courageous and humorous new world

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have to admit that this is not my primary choice of reading material, but there was one particular story that I wanted to read - Speechless, by Debbie Iancu Haddad. However, having already purchased this book for a particular reason, I decided to start at the beginning and work my way through.
What a delight!! An unimaginable world peopled with images and characters that you can almost feel. Although each story is written by a different author, they meld beautifully into an ongoing tale. I'm delighted that I left my normal literary choices and wandered into a fabulous new world.
Well done, to everyone who was involved in this brilliant anthology - and I'm truly looking forward to reading more about this riveting world.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kindle Customer

A Must Read

Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is an amazing book, and the concept is even more amazing. Brought about by a call out on social media, 30 very talented writers built an entire world from, literally the dust, have it characters, a plotline and even maps! They gave it life.

Helpful

Kelsey

Bizarre but delightful

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020

I haven’t read many anthologies, so I can’t say I’m a good analysis relative to that - but overall I’m extremely floored at just how COHERENT Achten Tan is.

I can definitely tell the different writers, how people flow differently, and I really think everyone’s quite good - but world-wise? Character-wise? I’m honestly stunned at how well it all fits together. It doesn’t FEEL like a bunch of different people wrote it, in that way, but one unified cohesive idea.

It’s a strange world. One of people riding ants, of Godtrees with addictive fruits, of ribs that people eat and live in and climb upon and assign such importance to. It’s a bizarre world, but it’s fun seeing it like this, in this anthology - little snapshots of life, exposure to this strange, mythical place.

When I started this, I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect - but while I can definitely say this is probably the WEIRDEST book I’ve read so far this year, it was definitely highly enjoyable. I liked it!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Phebe Yawson

Welcome to Achten Tan

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2020

I started this book so curious about the world of Achten Tan. I can honestly say I was taken for a spin. There's nothing typical about this book. It's so fun and funny. I found myself eating ribs and dodging ginormous ants.

Definitely a new world of fantasy!

I've never ridden a large ant before but now I know what it'll look like. From high in life to beggars in the street you get so many angles and feels.

I did enjoy some stories more than others as some had me completely caught up. I loved experiencing this world and all of it's voices. If you like fantasy and are open to new experiences then this is for you. I'm new to Achten Tan but it seems that I live here. I've been here all the while

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Great Fanasy Anthology

Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2020

Great collection of writers! Acteh Tan really comes alive through the stories, poems songs etc. Facinating to read and very good job of pulling together various styles of writing.
Look forward to the next volume of "Tales from the Year Between".
Good Job Everyone!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Melissa Cole

An excellent, weird book

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2021

Get this book. It’s so wonderfully surreal and enchanting. The giant ants aren’t even the weirdest thing. I’m pretty amazed it coheres.

Helpful

Elvira Canaveral

A fun way to melt a mind.

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2020

It
Just

Works!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Melanie Fletcher

A marvelous fantasy anthology

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

This volume of stories covered a wide range of emotions from pathos to humorous, and was thoroughly enjoyable. I especially liked C.D. Storiz's QUIETUS, which weaves a tale of mercy in an unforgiving land.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

A Surprisingly Captivating Read!

Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

I absolutely love the premise of a group creating a new place from scratch and then writing about it. So, I purchased this book expecting some light and silly fantasy ('Antchers herding giant cattle-sized ants? Count me in!). Yes, some parts of this anthology are lighter, and yes some parts are definitely silly, but what I didn't expect was the ingenuity and craftsmanship displayed by this team of writers that created thematically rich settings with engaging plot lines, as well as complex characters. Frankly, I was shocked at how quickly I became immersed in the world of Achten Tan. Thereafter, I was disappointed when the book was over.

Do yourself a favor, and grab a copy! Then maybe they'll write more volumes like this for us to read!

One person found this helpful

Lorraine

Interesting Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

An interesting and enjoyable read. Some chapters are more enjoyable than others. However overall it has some enigmatic and complex characters with lots of twists and turns.

OR

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the authors

Image Unavailable

Achten Tan: Land of Dust and Bone (Tales from the Year Between) Kindle Edition

Popular titles by this author

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

About the authors

Kelly Washington

Dan Berison

Chris Durston

Gregory Coley

C. Vandyke

Jonathan Beck

CD Storiz

Ryan Richards

Chapel Orahamm

Erin Rae Hoffer

Debbie Iancu-Haddad

Sarah Houck

S.L. Parker

Allison N. Moore

Ian Barr

Allison Moore

Imelda Taylor

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries