In this collection a man named Rat descends a staircase that never ends, following the rules laid out by his guidebook. Copenhagen is invaded by angry merfolk who pilot war-machines crafted from old shipwrecks. A musician with a grudge upsets the delicate balance of a very unusual seaside town.The Birdcage Heart & Other Strange Tales collects twelve weird and unusual fantasy stories from Peter M Ball. Come walk beside an executioner tasked with killing a man who cannot be killed, a young man with a birdcage where his heart should be, and a frustrated public servant trying to deal with an unruly wizard determined to prove his powers. Watch a relationship unravel as former lovers are revealed to be creatures of myth, reminisce with the residents of a city overrun with giant thorns, and visit Isla Tortuga¿s last, great house of ill repute where no-one is exactly what they seem on the surface. Some of the stories contained within have happy endings, and some end in sorrow, but the journey always takes an unexpected route through moments of wonder and unexpected pleasure. "Only Peter M. Ball's fiction makes falling down the rabbit hole feel like flying. Funny and surprising, with moments of extraordinary grace." Angela Slatter, Author of the World Fantasy Award-winning The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings