In ‘Hark the Herald’, a guest stays at an eerie guesthouse over Christmas without encountering any other residents, despite constant reassurance from the landlord that he would see them if only he arrived for breakfast slightly earlier; in ‘Only When the Sun Shines Brightly’ Aesop’s fable about a competition between the Sun and the Wind to get a man to take his coat off, gets a new look involving a railway arch, a builder and a piece of plastic sheeting; in ‘Once in a Blue Moon’, a man arrives home to find the family house under siege, with his mother armed, dangerous and firing at the police with a shotgun, and attempts to appease her with an invitation to seasonal hospitality; and, in the title story, rivalry between three cousins over a faulty toy gets out of hand as the cousins unwittingly imitate the toy they’re fighting over. Magnus Mills has published two collections of stories – “Only When the Sun Shines Brightly’ and ‘Once in a Blue Moon” – which are collected here for the first time, along with three new stories.

'The field looks completely wrong now,' she announced, one blustery afternoon. 'It's all gone out of balance.'The Great Field lies in the bend of a broad, meandering river. Bounded on three sides by water, on the fourth side it dwindles gradually into wilderness. A handful of tents are scattered far and wide across its immensity. Their flags flutter in the warm breeze, rich with the promise of halcyon days.But more and more people are setting up camp in the lush pastures and with each new arrival life becomes a little more complicated. And when a large and disciplined group arrive from across the river emotions run so high that even a surplus of milk pudding can't soothe ruffled feathers. Change is coming; change that threatens the delicate balance of power in the Great Field.This simultaneously down to earth and surreal fable cements Magnus Mills' status as one of Britain's most original novelists.

Daily we stumble over shale and flint, toiling onwards in the vague belief that at some distant time and place we’ll see the sun rise again; and that spreading before us will be vast, hospitable ranges where the mules may finally be turned loose. It is the beginning of the century, and two teams of explorers are racing across a cold, windswept, deserted land to reach the furthest point from civilisation. This is, they find, ‘an awfully long way’. We are gripped by the progress of the two rival teams as they struggle with the elements, each other and the mules who accompany them. Johns and his men take the western route, along a rocky scree, gossiping, bickering and grumbling as they go. Meanwhile, Tostig’s men make their way along the dry riverbed, in the east. They are fewer, with just five men and ten mules, and better organised than their rivals. But with Johns’ team keeping apace in the distance, the race is on to reach the Agreed Furthest Point.Refreshingly original, finely crafted, and with a unique and comic vision, Explorers of the New Century takes us on an adventure unlike any other.

As the wet lakeland fells grow misty and the holiday season draws to a close… As the tourists trickle away from the campsite, along with the sunshine, and the hot water, and the last of the good beer… A man accidentally spills a tin of green paint, and thereby condemns himself to death.

The award-winning, Booker and Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted author Magnus Mills is back with his best novel yet, a hilarious and surreal exploration of power, fanaticism and really, really good recordsWithin a few months we'd witnessed bickering, desertion, subterfuge and rivalry. I was rapidly coming to the conclusion that only a miracle could save us now.Two men with a passion for vinyl create a society for the appreciation of records. Their aim is simple: to elevate the art of listening by doing so in forensic detail. The society enjoys moderate success in the back room of their local pub, The Half Moon, with other enthusiasts drawn to the initial promise of the weekly gathering.However, as the club gains popularity, its founder's uncompromising dogma results in a schism within the movement and soon a counter group forms. Then the arrival of a young woman called Alice further fractures the unity of the vulnerable...

The news couldn’t be worse for Tam, Richie and their new supervisor: Mr McCrindle’s fence has gone slack. The three of them are duly dispatched to the McCrindle farm, where they finish off the work, then go to England where, after rain-sodden days bashing in fence posts, they wolf down baked beans in their shared caravan and spend their evenings and cash in the local pub. But then they encounter the Hall Brothers – butchers, rival fencers and local heroes…