TJ Klune Trade Paperback Collection: The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, and In the Lives of Puppets

This collection invites readers into three distinct, whimsical worlds where the boundaries of family, mortality, and identity are redefined through the lens of queer fantasy. In *The House in the Cerulean Sea*, a rigid caseworker is sent to a remote island to evaluate six dangerous magical children, only to find his bureaucratic worldview challenged by the enigmatic headmaster, Arthur Parnassus. The stakes shift from professional duty to a profound fight for belonging.

*Under the Whispering Door* explores the afterlife through Wallace, a man who discovers he is dead only upon meeting his reaper. Trapped in a cozy tea shop run by the compassionate Hugo, Wallace must navigate the transition between worlds, discovering that it takes death to finally learn how to truly live. Finally, *In the Lives of Puppets* reimagines the Pinocchio myth in a lush, mechanical wasteland.

Vic, a human raised by an eccentric family of robots, embarks on a high-stakes quest to rescue his father. As he navigates the complex history of his android companion, Hap, he confronts the vulnerability of love in a world of circuits and steel. Together, these stories celebrate the courage required to embrace the unconventional, the found, and the extraordinary.