Marla Mason Series by T.A. Pratt, Tim Pratt

A prequel novel about sorcerer Marla Mason, heroine of a series of novels by T.A. Pratt published by Bantam Spectra from 2007-2009, including Blood Engines, Poison Sleep, Dead Reign, and Spell Games. Bone Shop explores Marla's early days in the city of Felport and her rise to power. Originally serialized online from June-October 2009, available as an e-book for the first time.

Before she was the witch queen of Felport, Marla Mason was just a freelance mercenary sorcerer with a knack for doing nasty jobs exceedingly well. This gritty novelette pits Marla and her magical cloak against a supernaturally-powerful serial killer targeting the city's magical elite, in an early tale featuring the heroine of the novel series that began with Blood Engines and continued with Poison Sleep, Dead Reign, Spell Games, Broken Mirrors, and Bone Shop... moreBefore she was the witch queen of Felport, Marla Mason was just a freelance mercenary sorcerer with a knack for doing nasty jobs exceedingly well. This gritty novelette pits Marla and her magical cloak against a supernaturally-powerful serial killer targeting the city's magical elite, in an early tale featuring the heroine of the novel series that began with Blood Engines and continued with Poison Sleep, Dead Reign, Spell Games, Broken Mirrors, and Bone Shop. This also includes an afterword by the author about the evolution of the series and the character. less

"Pale Dog" is the first published story about sorcerer Marla Mason, the notorious witch queen of Felport, and star of the urban fantasy series by T.A. Pratt. Marla and her right-hand man Rondeau track down a treacherous sorcerer who refuses to stay dead, with help from an adorable white dog... who may, possibly, be a hound from hell. Oh: and there's also a haunted zoot suit.

This short story chronicles an early adventure of Marla Mason, when she was a young mercenary sorcerer doing dirty jobs in exchange for secret knowledge. The subterranean sorcerer Viscarro hires Marla to steal a certain item from one of his rivals... who just happens to be his brother. Soon Marla finds herself entangled in a dysfunctional family feud of epic proportions, and in danger of dying herself.

Meet Marla Mason--smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast. . . .Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla's life--and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla's only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco... moreMeet Marla Mason--smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast. . . .Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla's life--and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla's only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn't going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected . . . and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San Francisco's top sorcerers are having troubles of their own--a mysterious assailant has the city's magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one.With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco's alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn't figure out who is killing the city's finest in time, she'll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself. . . . less

Marla Mason, chief sorcerer of the coastal city of Felport, is called to the Blackwing Institute, a hospital for criminally insane magic-users. One of the patients tells her the world is going to end soon, when a great eldritch god rises from the ocean. Sure, there's a good chance the god is entirely imaginary... but that doesn't mean its cultists won't kill a lot of people trying to usher in its arrival... moreMarla Mason, chief sorcerer of the coastal city of Felport, is called to the Blackwing Institute, a hospital for criminally insane magic-users. One of the patients tells her the world is going to end soon, when a great eldritch god rises from the ocean. Sure, there's a good chance the god is entirely imaginary... but that doesn't mean its cultists won't kill a lot of people trying to usher in its arrival.This story takes place between the events of the novels Blood Engines and Poison Sleep, and was originally published in The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (and later reprinted in the Year's Best Fantasy). less

The bad girl of the magical underworld is back and badder than everSomeone wants Marla Mason dead. Usually that’s not news. As chief sorcerer of Felport, someone always wants her dead. But this time she’s the target of a renegade assassin who specializes in killing his victims over days, months, or even years. Not to mention a mysterious knife-wielding killer in black who pops up in the most unexpected places... moreThe bad girl of the magical underworld is back and badder than everSomeone wants Marla Mason dead. Usually that’s not news. As chief sorcerer of Felport, someone always wants her dead. But this time she’s the target of a renegade assassin who specializes in killing his victims over days, months, or even years. Not to mention a mysterious knife-wielding killer in black who pops up in the most unexpected places. To make matters worse, an inmate has broken out of the Blackwing Institute for criminally insane sorcerers—a troubled psychic who can literally reweave the fabric of reality to match her own traumatic past.With her wisecracking partner Rondeau reluctantly in tow, Marla teams up with a “love-talker” whose dangerous erotic spells not even she can resist. Together they’re searching the rapidly transforming streets of Felport for a woman who’s become the Typhoid Mary of nightmares, infecting everything—and everyone—she touches with a chaos worse than death itself. less

Death has come calling, and one womanhas what he wants most of all... As chief sorcerer of Felport, Marla Mason thought she’d faced every kind of evil the magical world had to offer. But she’s never faced a killer like this. He’s dark, glib, handsome as the devil—and exactly who he says he is. Death—in the flesh. He’s arrived in Felport with a posse composed of a half-insane necromancer and the reanimated corpse of John Wilkes Booth, and he isn’t leaving until he gets what he came for... moreDeath has come calling, and one womanhas what he wants most of all... As chief sorcerer of Felport, Marla Mason thought she’d faced every kind of evil the magical world had to offer. But she’s never faced a killer like this. He’s dark, glib, handsome as the devil—and exactly who he says he is. Death—in the flesh. He’s arrived in Felport with a posse composed of a half-insane necromancer and the reanimated corpse of John Wilkes Booth, and he isn’t leaving until he gets what he came for. Only Marla is crazy enough to tell Death to go back to Hell. With the Founders’ Ball just around the bend, drawing together the brightest, meanest, and most dangerous of Felport’s magical elite, the last thing Marla needs is all-out war with the King of the Underworld, but that’s exactly what she’s got. As the battle lines are drawn, she can count on her hedonistic, body-hopping partner Rondeau…but how many of her old allies will stand by her side when facing the ultimate adversary? To save her city, Marla will have to find a way to cheat Death…literally. less

Brain-eating fungi, wannabe sorcerers, long-lost relations–does even a hard-core witch stand a chance?Mad sorcerers, psychic vampires, an army of vengeful demons, Marla Mason would rather face them all than a flesh-and-blood ghost from her dysfunctional family past: her con artist brother, Jason. As Felport’s chief sorcerer, Marla would ordinarily consider it her duty to protect her town from such an unscrupulous ne’er-do-well. As his sister, things are a lot…trickier... moreBrain-eating fungi, wannabe sorcerers, long-lost relations–does even a hard-core witch stand a chance?Mad sorcerers, psychic vampires, an army of vengeful demons, Marla Mason would rather face them all than a flesh-and-blood ghost from her dysfunctional family past: her con artist brother, Jason. As Felport’s chief sorcerer, Marla would ordinarily consider it her duty to protect her town from such an unscrupulous ne’er-do-well. As his sister, things are a lot…trickier. Now, as Marla attempts to train an apprentice oracle whose magical wires have gotten crossed, Jason is setting up an elaborate sting and drawing her ever-so-corruptible partner Rondeau into the ruse. Their patsy is a filthy-rich wannabe mage and their bait is something so valuable, so dangerous, so sought after, it probably doesn’t exist. But now word’s gotten out that the Borrichius spores do exist and instead of a sucker Jason and Rondeau have a much bigger–and much deadlier–fish on their line: a reclusive sorcerer whose devotion to the mushroom god and command of vegetal magic could bring a fungal apocalypse to Felport. It’ll be the mother of all bad trips unless Marla can pull off the ultimate magical switcheroo…and somehow live to tell about it. less

Serialized online novel which continues the story of Marla Mason in T.A. Pratt's urban fantasy series.Sorcerer Marla Mason has never been afraid of a fight, but she's about to face her greatest challenge: herself. Or, at least, an alternate-universe version of herself, a woman who succumbed to the evil power of a cursed artifact and become a monstrous villain. Now this dark doppelganger is loose in Marla's world... and she has an agenda even more terrible than Marla can imagine.

Marla, bored in her forced exile in Hawaii, goes looking for trouble (and finds it).

Marla Mason has faced a lot of tough adversaries in her years as chief sorcerer of Felport, but in this short story her city is menaced by a monster from the past: the legendary Beast of Felport, a creature that slaughtered the city's original settlers hundreds of years before, has returned. But the Beast isn't the only refugee from the past -- the city's first chief sorcerer, the ruthless Everett Malkin, has traveled through time as well. He's none too pleased with how Marla's running things.. moreMarla Mason has faced a lot of tough adversaries in her years as chief sorcerer of Felport, but in this short story her city is menaced by a monster from the past: the legendary Beast of Felport, a creature that slaughtered the city's original settlers hundreds of years before, has returned. But the Beast isn't the only refugee from the past -- the city's first chief sorcerer, the ruthless Everett Malkin, has traveled through time as well. He's none too pleased with how Marla's running things... and Marla has never been too good at taking criticism. less

Marla Mason, ousted chief sorcerer for the city of Felport, is languishing in exile on the island of Maui with her best friend, the psychic (and rather hedonistic) Rondeau. She's making a living of sorts as an occult detective, but for the most part, she's just marking time. Driven from the city she loves, Marla is adrift, nearly friendless, and stripped of almost all her power and resources.Obviously, it's the perfect time for old enemies to try and kill her... moreMarla Mason, ousted chief sorcerer for the city of Felport, is languishing in exile on the island of Maui with her best friend, the psychic (and rather hedonistic) Rondeau. She's making a living of sorts as an occult detective, but for the most part, she's just marking time. Driven from the city she loves, Marla is adrift, nearly friendless, and stripped of almost all her power and resources.Obviously, it's the perfect time for old enemies to try and kill her.A group of sorcerers, all with their own reasons to want Marla dead, assemble and prepare to attack her while she's at her most vulnerable. The members of this Marla Mason Revenge Squad include the one-armed witch Nicolette, the cheerfully murderous psychopath Crapsey, a criminally insane shapeshifter, a man who hunts werewolves for fun, and a master of anti-magic, among others. But they aren't taking chances with an enemy as formidable as Marla. They hire the world's most notorious -- and deadly -- chaos witch, Elsie Jarrow, to lead their assault. But Elsie is impossible to predict and just as hard to control, and may well have an agenda of her own. Besides, Marla isn't as helpless as they think -- she's still got a few friends in high (and low) places, including a god or two. And no matter how bad her life is, there's nothing Marla loves more than a good fight. There's bound to be trouble in paradise.... less

Marla Mason has been a mercenary, chief sorcerer and protector of an entire city, and an occult detective, and now she's a goddess of Death... but only part-time. She gets to spend six months a year living as a mortal woman on Earth, and she's decided to devote those months to hunting monsters for fun and personal redemption... moreMarla Mason has been a mercenary, chief sorcerer and protector of an entire city, and an occult detective, and now she's a goddess of Death... but only part-time. She gets to spend six months a year living as a mortal woman on Earth, and she's decided to devote those months to hunting monsters for fun and personal redemption. Armed with axe and dagger, with the living severed head of her worst enemy in a birdcage for a traveling companion, she sets off by motorcycle into the American Southwest on a journey of self-discovery and other-destruction. less

Marla awakens for her month on Earth and finds her allies missing, and an old enemy causing trouble in her home city of Felport, where Marla once ruled as chief sorcerer. Meanwhile, a rather charming gentlemen who happens to be a monstrous exile from beyond our multiverse has decided that murdering gods might be a fun pastime, and he figures he'll start with Marla... moreMarla awakens for her month on Earth and finds her allies missing, and an old enemy causing trouble in her home city of Felport, where Marla once ruled as chief sorcerer. Meanwhile, a rather charming gentlemen who happens to be a monstrous exile from beyond our multiverse has decided that murdering gods might be a fun pastime, and he figures he'll start with Marla. With the help of her former apprentice Bradley Bowman, Marla has to rescue her friends, crush her enemies, and eliminate the aforementioned existential threat–before her month runs out and she returns to the underworld. less

When a vile spirit awakens in the underworld, only sorcerer (and part-time death god) Marla Mason can save the world from devastation.

Marla Mason has been a runaway, an apprentice sorcerer, a magical mercenary, ruler of a city's supernatural society, an exile, an occult detective, and a freelance monster hunter—and now, in her final adventure, she's the god of Death, facing off against a malevolent cosmic force that threatens all life on Earth. Oh, and she has to choose a mortal consort to rule the underworld by her side, so while the planet is being threatened, she also has to go on first dates... moreMarla Mason has been a runaway, an apprentice sorcerer, a magical mercenary, ruler of a city's supernatural society, an exile, an occult detective, and a freelance monster hunter—and now, in her final adventure, she's the god of Death, facing off against a malevolent cosmic force that threatens all life on Earth. Oh, and she has to choose a mortal consort to rule the underworld by her side, so while the planet is being threatened, she also has to go on first dates. Monsters, banter, moral and physical jeopardy, jokes, thrills, and tragedies await in the final installment of the Marla Mason series. less