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Shards & Ashes

Melissa Marr
Kelley Armstrong

Table of Contents:

  • ix - Introduction (Shards and Ashes) - essay by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr
  • 1 - Hearken - novelette by Veronica Roth
  • 38 - Branded - [Otherworld] - novella by Kelley Armstrong
  • 90 - Necklace of Raindrops - novelette by Margaret Stohl
  • 130 - Dogsbody - novelette by Rachel Caine
  • 179 - Pale Rider - novelette by Nancy Holder
  • 216 - Corpse Eaters - novelette by Melissa Marr
  • 247 - Burn 3 - novelette by Kami Garcia
  • 277 - Love Is a Choice - [Across the Universe] - novelette by Beth Revis
  • 311 - Miasma - novella by Carrie Ryan
  • 365 - About the Authors (Shards and Ashes)

Flower Kiss

Constance Ash

Nebula Award nominated short story. It was originally published in Realms of Fantasy, August 1998 and appeared in the UK magazine Odyssey #6, September/October 1998. No other publications appear to be available at this time.

Not of Woman Born

Constance Ash

An anthology of high-tech reproduction.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction - (1999) - essay by Constance Ash
  • Hunting Mother - (1999) - novelette by Sage Walker
  • Judith's Flowers - (1999) - novelette by Susan Palwick
  • A Gift to Be Simple - (1999) - shortstory by Patricia A. McKillip
  • Island of the Ancestor - (1999) - shortstory by William F. Wu
  • One Day at Central Convenience Mall - (1999) - shortstory by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
  • Dead in the Water - (1999) - shortstory by Jack McDevitt
  • Raising Jenny - (1999) - novelette by Janni Lee Simner
  • There Was an Old Woman-- - (1958) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
  • Remailer - (1999) - shortstory by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald
  • The Leopard's Garden - (1999) - novelette by Constance Ash
  • Bouncing Babies - (1999) - shortstory by Kara Dalkey
  • Of Bitches Born - (1999) - novelette by Michael Armstrong
  • Doppels - (1999) - shortstory by Richard Parks
  • Daddy's World - (1999) - novelette by Walter Jon Williams

Man Opening a Door

Paul Ash

Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, June 1991. There are no other known publications available at this time.

A Stopped Clock

Madeline Ashby

This short story originally appeared in the anthology The Atlantic Council Art of Future Warfare Project: War Stories from the Future (2015), edited by August Cole, and was reprinted in Clarkesworld Magazine, #119 August 2016. The story can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection (2016), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Company Town

Madeline Ashby

They call it Company Town--a Family-owned city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes.

Meet Hwa. One of the few in her community to forego bio-engineered enhancements, she's the last truly organic person left on the rig. But she's an expert in the arts of self-defence, and she's been charged with training the Family's youngest, who has been receiving death threats--seemingly from another timeline.

Meanwhile, a series of interconnected murders threatens the city's stability--serial killer? Or something much, much worse...

Death on Mars

Madeline Ashby

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures (2017), edited by Ed Finn, Joey Eschrich and Juliet Ulman. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fifth Annual Collection (2018), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3 (2018), edited by Neil Clarke.

Domestic Violence

Madeline Ashby

This short story originally appeared on Slate.com on March 26, 2018, and was later anthologized in The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Four (2019) edited by Neil Clarke and Future Tense Fiction: Stories of Tomorrow (2019) from Unnamed Press.

Read this story for free at Slate.com.

Glass Houses

Madeline Ashby

A group of employees and their CEO, celebrating the sale of their remarkable emotion-mapping-AI-algorithm, crash onto a not-quite-deserted tropical island.

Luckily, those who survived have found a beautiful, fully-stocked private palace, with all the latest technological updates (though one without connection to the outside world). The house, however, has more secrets than anyone might have guessed, and a much darker reason for having been built and left behind.

Kristen, the hyper-competent "chief emotional manager" (a position created by her eccentric billionaire boss, Sumter) is trying to keep her colleagues stable throughout this new challenge, but staying sane seems to be as much of a challenge as staying alive.

Being a woman in tech has always meant having to be smarter than anyone expects - and Kristen's knack for out-of-the-box problem-solving and quick thinking has gotten her to the top of her field. But will a killer instinct be enough to survive the island?

Panic City

Madeline Ashby

This short story origially appeared in the anthology Cyber World: Tales of Humanity's Tomorrow (2016), edited by Joshua Viola and Jason Heller. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2 (2016), edited by Neil Clarke.

Social Services

Madeline Ashby

This short story originally appeared in the anthology An Aura of Familiarity: Visions from the Coming Age of Networked Matter (2013), editor uncredited. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eight (2014), edited by Jonathan Strahan, The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2014, edited by Rich Horton, and Imaginarium 3: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2015), edited by Helen Marshall and Sandra Kasturi.

The Megarothke

Robert Ashcroft

Blade Runner meets Westworld via Resident Evil in this shocking, gripping debut sci-fi/horror novel infused with Nietzschean philosophy, exploring humanity's darkest desire for transcendence.

Seven years after the limitless depths of the Hollow War decimated Earth, leaving only 50,000 humans to fight for survival in Los Angeles, Theo Adams is sent on a mission to destroy the enigmatic being that initiated this apocalypse, confronting the fact that humanity's yearning to transcend reality caused its downfall...

The New Visions: A Collection of Modern Science Fiction Art

Ellen Asher
Mary Sherwin
Joe Miller

This book is a showcase of the artwork for 46 original covers created for Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) editions, along with self portraits and autobiographical sketches of the 23 artists.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction (The New Visions: A Collection of Modern Science Fiction Art) - (1982) - essay by Frederik Pohl
  • Ken Barr
  • John Berkey
  • Richard Corben
  • Tony Fiyalko
  • Frank Frazetta
  • Tony Gleeson
  • Mike Hinge
  • Les Katz
  • Larry Kresek
  • Don Maitz
  • Estaban Maroto
  • Carlos Ochagavia
  • Richard Powers
  • Martin Rigo
  • David K. Stone
  • Ed Valigursky
  • Victor Valla
  • Boris Vallejo
  • Gary Viskupic
  • Michael Whelan
  • Jack Woolhiser
  • James Z. Yost
  • Editors' Note (The New Visions: A Collection of Modern Science Fiction Art) - (1982) - essay by Ellen Asher and Joe Miller and Mary Sherwin

Africa Zero

Neal Asher

The novellas Africa Zero and Africa Plus One in one book. The Collector rampages across a far future Africa populated with gene-spliced vampires, resurrected mammoth, and nutters with APWs. But he can handle it.

Strood

Neal Asher

This short story originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, December 2004. It can also be found in the anthologies Year's Best SF 10 (2005), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, and Twenty-First Century Science Fiction (2013), edited by David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden.

The Other Gun

Neal Asher

This novella originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, April-May 2013. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection (2014), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Weaponized

Neal Asher

Weaponized is a thrilling far-future adventure by acclaimed science fiction author Neal Asher.

A bright new future for humanity -- or a dark and inescapable past.

With the advent of new AI technology, Polity citizens now possess incredible lifespans. Yet they struggle to find meaning in their longevity, seeking danger and novelty in their increasingly mundane lives.

On a mission to find a brighter future for humanity, ex-soldier Ursula fosters a colony on the hostile planet Threpsis. Here, survival isn't a given, and colonists thrive without their AI guidance. But when deadly alien raptors appear, Ursula and her companions find themselves forced to adapt in unprecedented ways. And they will be pushed to the very brink of what it means to be human.

As a desperate battle rages across the planet, Ursula must dig deep into her past if she is to save humanity's future.

Simantov

Asaf Ashery

Women disappear from streets, clubs, and rooftops leaving the police dazed and confused. The mystical Soothsayer Task Force must use their special skills to divine the truth and solve the mystery.

Detectives Simantov and Bitton, along with their team of mystic agents, try to make sense of the weird crime scenes and even weirder forensic findings. The victims are seemingly unconnected and the only clues to their disappearances are the small objects they leave behind; a whip, a feather, a lock of hair.

Together with Mazzy's instincts and Yariv's stubbornness, they realise that these abductions signal the start of an apocalypse - a war between opposing hosts of angels, the daughters of Lilith and the Nephilim. The battle for access to heaven is underway and humans are caught in the middle. But strong as they may be, angels will always underestimate the power and weight in human free will.

Fruiting Bodies

Kemi Ashing-Giwa

An alien fungal infection has ravaged a faraway planet, turning all but six of the colonists into ravenous alarinkiri.

Inyama, a mycologist, is her species' last hope. But it's not expertise her fellow survivors want from her.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com

The Puppetmaster

Kemi Ashing-Giwa

A banished warrior teaches her treacherous uncle that once made, some oaths cannot be broken... and some monsters cannot be chained.

Originally published on 10 May 2023, read it for free at Tor.com

The Splinter in the Sky

Kemi Ashing-Giwa

The dust may have just settled in the failed war of conquest between the Holy Vaalbaran Empire and the Ominirish Republic, but the last Emperor's surrender means little to a lowly scribe like Enitan. All she wants is to quit her day job and expand her fledgling tea business. But when her lover is assassinated and her sibling is abducted by Imperial soldiers, Enitan abandons her idyllic plans and weaves her tea tray up through the heart of the Vaalbaran capital. There, she will learn just how far she is willing to go to exact vengeance, free her sibling, and perhaps even secure her homeland's freedom.

The Sufficient Loss Protocol

Kemi Ashing-Giwa

When an alien entity sneaks aboard a corporate spaceship, with no motive besides sabotaging the mission and murdering those aboard, commander Uzoma Ifiok launches an investigation - despite knowing that the real danger isn't the one picking off her crew.

Read the full story for free at Tor Reactor.

This World Is Not Yours

Kemi Ashing-Giwa

After fleeing her controlling and murderous family with her fiancée Vinh, Amara embarks on a colonization project, New Belaforme, along with her childhood friend, Jesse.

The planet, beautiful and lethal, produces the Gray, a “self-cleaning” mechanism that New Belaforme’s scientists are certain only attacks invasive organisms, consuming them. Humans have been careful to do nothing to call attention to themselves until a rival colony wakes the Gray.

As Amara, Vinh, and Jesse work to carve out a new life together, each is haunted by past betrayals that surface, expounded by the need to survive the rival colony and the planet itself.

There’s more than one way to be eaten alive.

You Don't Belong Where You Don't Belong

Kemi Ashing-Giwa

With her friends vanishing and her home planet of Ayeshij crushed under the weight of occupation, gemologist-turned-con artist Mitayre's planning a very special retirement - the kind with telepathic birds, sharp teeth, and gory retribution...

Originally published at Tor Reactor Mag on 28 February 2024, read it for free at Tor.com

A Fine Balance

Charlotte Ashley

This short story originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November-December 2016. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017, edited by Rich Horton.

Read or listen to the full story for free at PodCastle.

Glimpses of the Unknown: Lost Ghost Stories

Mike Ashley

Table of Contents:

  • On the Embankment - short fiction by Hugh E. Wright
  • The Mystery of the Gables - short fiction by Elsie Norris
  • The Missing Word - short fiction by Austin Philips
  • Phantom Death - short fiction by Charles H. Mansfield and Walter E. Mansfield
  • The Wraith of the Rapier - short fiction by Firth Scott
  • The Soul of Maddalina Tonelli - short fiction by James Barr
  • Haunted! - short fiction by Jack Edwards
  • Our Strange Traveller - short fiction by Percy James Brebner
  • A Regent of Love Rhymes - short fiction by C. Ranger Gull
  • Amid the Trees - short fiction by Francis Xavier
  • The River's Edge - short fiction by Mary Schultze
  • A Futile Ghost - short fiction by Mary Reynolds
  • Ghosts - short fiction by Lumley Deakin
  • Kearney - short fiction by Elizabeth G. Jordan
  • When Spirits Steal - short fiction by Philippa Forest
  • The House of the Black Evil - short fiction by Eric Purves
  • The Woman in the Veil - short fiction by E. F. Benson
  • The Treasure of the Tombs - short fiction by F. Britten Austin

Starlight Man: The Extraordinary Life of Algernon Blackwood

Mike Ashley

THE STARLIGHT MAN Algernon Blackwood has been called the central figure in the British supernatural literature of the twentieth century by Michael Dirda in the New York Review of Books. S. T. Joshi referred to him as a master of narrative pacing. He has been labeled one of the most influential supernatural writers of his time by Storm Constantine, author of The Wraeththu Chronicles. In his essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, H. P. Lovecraft stated that of the quality of Mr. Blackwood s genius there can be no dispute. Writers and reviewers throughout the last 100 years have been extolling the virtues of Algernon Blackwood s tales.

But Blackwood was a rolling stone and kept virtually no papers or private records. When Mike Ashley decided to research Blackwood's life in 1978 he had no idea that over forty years later he would still be researching. A first edition of the biography was published in 2001 but that had to be edited down, and Ashley knew at that time that there were still many unanswered questions. Since then some of those questions have been answered and though there still remains some mystery about Blackwood and maybe that adds to his aura and fascination Ashley has now brought the biography up to date, restoring the text that was removed and adding more of the results of his researches. Here, now, is the most extensive and thorough study of Blackwood's life and works revealing more about the mystic, the adventurer, the innocent, the seeker.

The Feminine Future: Early Science Fiction by Women Writers

Mike Ashley

Featuring hard-to-find short stories published between 1873 and 1930, this original anthology spotlights a variety of important sci-fi pioneers, including Ethel Watts Mumford, Edith Nesbit, and Clare Winger Harris. Imaginative scenarios include a feminist society in another dimension, the east/west division of the United States with men and women on opposite sides, a man who converts himself into a cyborg, a drug that confers superhuman qualities, and many other curious situations.

Editor Mike Ashley provides an informative introduction to the stories. Highlights include "When Time Turned" (1901), which centers on a grieving widower who contrives to relive his life backwards; "The Painter of Dead Women" (1910), the tale of a woman in thrall to a Svengali-like character who promises to preserve her beauty forever; "The Automaton Ear" (1876), in which an inventor struggles to create a machine to detect sounds from the distant past; "Ely's Automatic Housemaid" (1899), a lighthearted fable concerning a robot housemaid; and ten other captivating tales.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction: Forgotten Pioneers - (2015) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • When Time Turned - (1901) - shortstory by Ethel Watts Mumford
  • The Painter of Dead Women - (1910) - shortstory by Edna W. Underwood
  • The Automaton Ear - (1873) - novelette by Florence McLandburgh
  • Ely's Automatic Housemaid - (1899) - shortstory by Elizabeth Bellamy
  • The Ray of Displacement - (1903) - novelette by Harriet Prescott Spofford
  • Those Fatal Filaments - (1903) - shortstory by Mabel Ernestine Abbott
  • The Third Drug - (1908) - shortstory by E. Nesbit
  • A Divided Republic: An Allegory of the Future - (1887) - shortstory by Lillie Devereux Blake
  • Via the Hewitt Ray - (1930) - novelette by M. F. Rupert
  • The Great Beast of Kafue - (1917) - shortstory by Clotilde Graves
  • Friend Island - (1918) - shortstory by Francis Stevens
  • The Artificial Man - (1929) - shortstory by Clare Winger Harris
  • Creatures of the Light - (1930) - novelette by Sophie Wenzel Ellis
  • The Flying Teuton - (1917) - shortstory by Alice Brown

Mal Goes to War

Edward Ashton

The humans are fighting again. Go figure.

As a free A.I., Mal finds the war between the modded and augmented Federals and the puritanical Humanists about as interesting as a battle between rival anthills. He's not above scouting the battlefield for salvage, though, and when the Humanists abruptly cut off access to infospace he finds himself trapped in the body of a cyborg mercenary, and responsible for the safety of the modded girl she died protecting.

A dark comedy wrapped in a techno thriller's skin, Mal Goes to War provides a satirical take on war, artificial intelligence, and what it really means to be human.

The End of Ordinary

Edward Ashton

Drew Bergen is an Engineer. He builds living things, one gene at a time. He's also kind of a doofus. Six years after the Stupid War - a bloody, inconclusive clash between the Engineered and the UnAltered - that's a dangerous combination. Hannah is Drew's greatest project, modified in utero to be just a bit more than human. She's also his daughter.

Drew's working on a new project now. He thinks his team is developing a spiffy new strain of corn, but Hannah's classmate and her mysterious companion disagree. They think he's cooking up the end of the world. When one of Drew's team members disappears, he begins to suspect that they might be right. Soon they're all in far over their heads, with corporate goons and government operatives hunting them, and millions of lives in the balance.

Energetic and bitingly satirical, The End of Ordinary is a riveting near-future thriller that asks an important question: if we can't get along when our differences are barely skin deep, what happens when they run all the way down to the bone?

The Fourth Consort

Edward Ashton

Dalton Greaves is a hero. He’s one of humankind’s first representatives to Unity, a pan-species confederation working to bring all sentient life into a single benevolent brotherhood.

That’s what they told him, anyway. The only actual members of Unity that he’s ever met are Boreau, a giant snail who seems more interested in plunder than spreading love and harmony, and Boreau’s human sidekick, Neera, who Dalton strongly suspects roped him into this gig so that she wouldn’t become the next one of Boreau’s crew to get eaten by locals while prospecting.

Funny thing, though - turns out there actually is a benevolent confederation out there, working for the good of all life. They call themselves the Assembly, and they really don’t like Unity. More to the point, they really, really don’t like Unity’s new human minions.

When an encounter between Boreau’s scout ship and an Assembly cruiser over a newly discovered world ends badly for both parties, Dalton finds himself marooned, caught between a stickman, one of the Assembly’s nightmarish shock troops, the planet’s natives, who aren’t winning any congeniality prizes themselves, and Neera, who might actually be the most dangerous of the three. To survive, he’ll need to navigate palace intrigue, alien morality, and a proposal that he literally cannot refuse, all while making sure Neera doesn’t come to the conclusion that he’s worth more to her dead than alive.

Part first contact story, part dark comedy, and part bizarre love triangle, The Fourth Consort asks an important question: how far would you go to survive? And more importantly, how many drinks would you need to go there?

Three Days in April

Edward Ashton

Anders Jensen is having a bad month. His roommate is a data thief, his girlfriend picks fights in bars, and his best friend is a cyborg... and a lousy tipper. When everything is spiraling out of control, though, maybe those are exactly the kind of friends you need.

In a world divided between the genetically engineered elite and the unmodified masses, Anders is an anomaly: engineered, but still broke and living next to a crack house. All he wants is to land a tenure-track faculty position, and maybe meet someone who's not technically a criminal-but when a nightmare plague rips through Hagerstown, Anders finds himself dodging kinetic energy weapons and government assassins as Baltimore slips into chaos. His friends aren't as helpless as they seem, though, and his girlfriend's street-magician brother-in-law might be a pretentious hipster - or might hold the secret to saving them all.

Frenetic and audacious, Three Days in April is a speculative thriller that raises an important question: once humanity goes down the rabbit hole, can we ever find our way back?

The Cold Cash War

Robert Lynn Asprin

Based on an earlier short story of the same title, it is set in a dystopian future. In this future, corporations, referred to as Zaibatsu, have moved some aspects of their competition from the economic to the military.

The action takes place among mercenary soldiers. At times, the conflict is under rules of engagement where "killsuits" are used. The killsuit is a reverse poer armour acting to immobilize the soldier when the on-board computer decides that a lethal hit has been sustained. But, sometimes the rules break down, and lethal weapons and violence are used.

City of Ash

Paolo Bacigalupi

This short story, set in the same future as The Water Knife, originally appeared on Matter, 27 June 2015. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (2016), edited by Jonathan Strahan, and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection (2016), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Read the full story for free at Matter.

Crash

J. G. Ballard

The definitive cult, post-modern novel -- a shocking blend of violence, transgression and eroticism.

When our narrator smashes his car into another and watches a man die in front of him, his sense of sexual possibilities in the world around him becomes detached. As he begins an affair with the dead man's wife, he finds himself drawn with increasing intensity to the mangled impacts of car crashes.

Then he encounters Robert Vaughan, a former TV scientist turned nightmare angel of the expressway, who has gathered around him a collection of alienated crash victims and experiments with a series of erotic atrocities, each more sinister than the last. But Vaughan craves the ultimate crash - a head-on collision of blood, semen, engine coolant and iconic celebrity.

First published in 1973 'Crash' remains one of the most shocking novels of the second half of the twentieth century and was made into an equally controversial film by David Cronenburg.

A Vortal in Midtown

Ashok K. Banker

This novelette originally appeared in Lightspeed, November 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Six-Gun Vixen and the Dead Coon Trashgang

Ashok K. Banker

This novelette originally appeared in Lightspeed, February 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Goddess Has Many Faces

Ashok K. Banker

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, February 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Quiltbag

Ashok K. Banker

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, June 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Tongue

Ashok K. Banker

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, August 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn

Melissa Bashardoust

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it's not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother's wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she's willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn't afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming... human or demon. Princess or monster.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Melissa Bashardoust

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone--has never beat at all, in fact, but she'd always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image, at her father's order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do--and who to be--to win back the only mother she's ever known... or else defeat her once and for all.

Headcrash

Bruce Bethke

A Junior Engineer for Monolithic Diversified Enterprises, Jack Burroughs finds himself caught in a tangled cyberweb of corporate double-dealing and virtual espionage. And when he's forced to put his life on-line, it becomes apparent that his grip on (virtual) reality is by no means secure.

Where I Can't Follow

Ashley Blooms

Walk through the door and leave all your problems behind... but you don't know what's on the other side. And once you leave, you'll never come back. Will you go through?

Maren Walker told herself she wouldn't need to sell pills for long, that it was only means to an end. But that end seems to be stretching as far away as the other side of Blackdamp County, Kentucky. There's always another bill for Granny's doctor, another problem with the car, another reason she's getting nowhere.

She dreams of walking through her little door to leave it all behind. The doors have appeared to the people in her mountain town for as long as anyone can remember, though no one knows where they lead. All anyone knows is that if you go, you'll never come back.

Maren's mother left through her door when Maren was nine, and her shadow has followed Maren ever since. When she faces the possibility of escaping her struggles for good, Maren must choose just what kind of future she wants to build.

An Inheritance of Ashes

Leah Bobet

The strange war down south -- with its rumors of gods and monsters -- is over. And while sixteen-year-old Hallie and her sister wait to see who will return from the distant battlefield, they struggle to maintain their family farm.

When Hallie hires a veteran to help them, the war comes home in ways no one could have imagined, and soon Hallie is taking dangerous risks -- and keeping desperate secrets. But even as she slowly learns more about the war and the men who fought it, ugly truths about Hallie's own family are emerging. And while monsters and armies are converging on the small farm, the greatest threat to her home may be Hallie herself.

From These Ashes: The Complete Short SF of Fredric Brown

Fredric Brown

A collection of all 118 short science fiction and fantasy stories of one of the masters of the vignette, all his short works except two which were rewritten into parts of a novel. Introduction by Barry N. Malzberg. Dustjacket art by Bob Eggleton.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction (2001) - essay by Barry N. Malzberg
  • Armageddon (1941) - short story
  • Not Yet the End (1941) - short story
  • Etaoin Shrdlu (1942) - short story
  • Star Mouse (1951) - novelette
  • Runaround (1942) - short story
  • The New One (1942) - short story
  • The Angelic Angleworm (1943) - novelette
  • The Hat Trick (1943) - short story
  • The Geezenstacks (1943) - short story
  • Daymare (1943) - novelette
  • Paradox Lost (1943) - short story
  • And the Gods Laughed (1944) - short story
  • Nothing Sirius (1944) - short story
  • The Yehudi Principle (1944) - short story
  • Arena (1944) - novelette
  • The Waveries (1945) - short story
  • Murder in Ten Easy Lessons (1945) - short story
  • Pi in the Sky (1945) - novelette
  • Placet Is a Crazy Place (1946) - short story
  • Knock (1948) - short story
  • All Good BEMs (1949) - short story
  • Mouse (1949) - short story
  • Come and Go Mad (1949) - novelette
  • Crisis, 1999 (1949) - short story
  • Letter to a Phoenix (1949) - short story
  • Vengeance Fleet (1950) - short story
  • The Last Train (1950) - short story
  • Entity Trap (1950) - short story
  • Obedience (1950) - short story
  • The Frownzly Florgels (1950) - short story
  • The Last Martian (1950) - short story
  • Honeymoon in Hell (1950) - novelette
  • Mitkey Rides Again (1950) - short story
  • Six-Legged Svengali (1950) - short story by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • Dark Interlude (1951) - short story by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • Man of Distinction (1951) - short story
  • The Switcheroo (1951) - short story by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • The Weapon (1951) - short story
  • Cartoonist (1951) - short story by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • The Dome (1951) - short story
  • A Word from Our Sponsor (1951) - short story
  • The Gamblers (1951) - novelette by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • The Hatchetman (1951) - novelette by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • Something Green (1951) - short story
  • Me and Flapjack and the Martians (1952) - short story by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • The Little Lamb (1953) - short story
  • Rustle of Wings (1953) - short story
  • Hall of Mirrors (1953) - short story
  • Experiment (1954) - short story
  • Sentry (1954) - short story
  • Keep Out (1954) - short story
  • Naturally (1954) - short story
  • Voodoo (1954) - short story
  • Answer (1954) - short story
  • Daisies (1954) - short story
  • Pattern (1954) - short story
  • Politeness (1954) - short story
  • Preposterous (1954) - short story
  • Reconciliation (1954) - short story
  • Search (1954) - short story
  • Sentence (1954) - short story
  • Solipsist (1954) - short story
  • Blood (1955) - short story
  • Imagine (1955) - short story
  • First Time Machine (1955) - short story
  • Too Far (1955) - short story
  • Millennium (1955) - short story
  • Expedition (1956) - short story
  • Happy Ending (1957) - short story by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds
  • Jaycee (1955) - short story
  • Unfortunately (1958) - short story
  • Nasty (1959) - short story
  • Rope Trick (1959) - short story
  • Abominable (1960) - short story
  • Bear Possibility (1960) - short story
  • Recessional (1961) - short story
  • Contact (1960) - short story
  • Rebound (1960) - short story
  • Great Lost Discoveries I - Invisibility (1961) - short story
  • Great Lost Discoveries II - Invulnerability (1961) - short story
  • Great Lost Discoveries III - Immortality (1961) - short story
  • Hobbyist (1961) - short story
  • The End (1961) - short story
  • Nightmare in Blue (1961) - short story
  • Nightmare in Gray (1961) - short story
  • Nightmare in Red (1961) - short story
  • Nightmare in Yellow (1961) - short story
  • Nightmare in Green (1961) - short story
  • Nightmare in White (1961) - short story
  • The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver I (1961) - short story
  • The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver II (1961) - short story
  • The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver III (1961) - short story
  • Bright Beard (1961) - short story
  • Cat Burglar (1961) - short story
  • Dead Letter (1961) - short story
  • Death on the Mountain (1961) - short story
  • Fatal Error (1961) - short story
  • Fish Story (1961) - short story
  • Horse Race (1961) - short story
  • The House (1960) - short story
  • The Joke (1948) - short story
  • The Ring of Hans Carvel (1961) - short story
  • Second Chance (1961) - short story
  • Three Little Owls (A Fable) (1961) - short story
  • Granny's Birthday (1960) - short story
  • Aelurophobe (1962) - short story
  • Puppet Show (1962) - short story
  • Double Standard (1963) - short story
  • It Didn't Happen (1963) - short story
  • Ten Percenter (1963) - short story
  • Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (1965) - short story by Fredric Brown and Carl Onspaugh
  • Editor's Notes and Acknowledgements (2002) - essay by Ben Yalow

Phoenix Without Ashes

Harlan Ellison
Edward Bryant

The Starlost: 2785 A.D.

They had banished Devon from the world of Cypress Corners because he dared to challenge the Elders. And when he defied them again, they hunted him like an animal.

Then Devon stumbled on a secret passage in the hills. His whole life changed in that moment. For Devon had accidentally discovered the giant ark that was ferrying not only Cypress Corners but all other Earth cultures to another planet.

What Devon did not know was that there had been a terrible accident aboard the spaceship. The gear had been damaged, the crew dead. And the ark and all its worlds were now headed straight for destruction.

All Rivers Run Free

Natasha Carthew

A woman on the edge of the sea finds a girl on the edge of life.

Brittle but not yet broken, Ia Pendilly ekes out a fierce life in a caravan on the coast of Cornwall. In years of living with Bran - her embattled, battering cousin and common law husband - she's never yet had her own baby. So when she discovers the waif washed up on the shore, Ia takes the risk and rescues her. And the girl, in turn, will rescue something in Ia - bringing back a memory she's lost, giving her the strength to escape, and leading her on a journey downriver.

It will take her into the fringes of a society she's shunned, collapsed around its own isolation. It will take her through a valley ravaged by floods, into a world not too far from reckoning. It will take her in search of her sister, and the dark remembrance of their parting. It will take her, break her, remake her, in the shapes of freedom.

The MEQ

Steve Cash

On May 4, 1881, the day that Zianno Zezen -- Z, for short -- turns twelve, his life changes forever. Amid the confusion of a tragic train wreck, he has the first inkling that he is no ordinary boy... that he is not human at all, but instead a member of a race known as the Meq. The Meq have lost all memory of their origins; they do not know why they heal with astonishing speed, or why, once they turn twelve, they stop aging unless they meet the single other member of their race destined to join with them.

Certain Meq possess even more amazing powers, thanks to mysterious Stones they have carried since before the dawn of recorded history. Z's father carried such a Stone, the Stone of Dreams. Now that Stone is Z's to bear... and to protect.

The Meq are far-flung and elusive, but Z finds allies. He will need them; for a challenge comes from the renegade Meq called the Fleur-du-Mal -- the Flower of Evil. A sadistic assassin in the body of a twelve-year-old boy, the Fleur-du-Mal will become Z's archenemy in a story that spans decades and continents and features an unforgettable cast of characters, human and Meq alike.

Jane, Unlimited

Kristin Cashore

Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is lost. So she's easily swept away when a glamorous, capricious, and wealthy acquaintance from years ago asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at the extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens.

Jane remembers her aunt telling her: "If anyone ever invites to you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you'll go." What Jane doesn't know is that the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her life.

One choice leads Jane into a heist mystery. Another takes her into a spy thriller. She finds herself in a gothic horror story, a space opera, and an extraordinary fantasy realm. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. Every choice comes with a price. But together, all the choices will lead her to the truth.

One house. Five choices. Limitless possibilities.

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington

P. Djèlí Clark

This Nebula Award-winning and Hugo Award-nominated short story originally appeared in Fireside Magazine, February 2018. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Thirteen (2019), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Read the full story for free at Fireside.

The Haunting of Ashburn House

Darcy Coates

Everyone knows about Ashburn House. They whisper its old owner went mad, and restless ghosts still walk the halls. They say it's the dwelling place of something cruel and sinister. But when Adrienne--desperate and in need of a place to stay--inherits the crumbling old mansion, she only sees it as a lifeline... until darkness falls.

Strange messages are etched into the walls. Furniture moves when she leaves the room. There's something here--something powerful, angry, and hell-bent on shaking things up. Worse, a grave hidden in the depths of the forest hints at a terrible, unforgivable secret. Eventually Adrienne can't ignore that a twisted thing lives in the house, its hungry eyes ever-watchful. Chasing the threads of a decades-old mystery, it isn't long before she realizes she's become prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful.

She has no idea how to escape. She has no idea how to survive. Only one thing is certain: Ashburn's dead are not at rest.

Flash Bang Remember

Tina Connolly
Caroline M. Yoachim

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, August 2012.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Clash of Star-Kings

Avram Davidson

Nebula Award nominated novella.

You might have thought that the Fiesta of the Holy Hermit in the Mexican town of Los Remedios was just another of those quaint colourful ceremonies that the Indian natives put on each year for the mystification of tourists. And perhaps for the past few hundred years it had bee nothing more than that - but this year was to be different.

It originally appeared as and Ace Double together with John Rackham's Danger from Vega. It later appeared in standalone edition as well.

Flashmen

Terry Dowling

This novelette originally appeared in in Oceans of the Mind, issue 10, Dec 2003. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection (2004), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy (Volume 1) (2005), edited by Bill Congreve and Michelle Marquardt. The story is included in the collection Amberjack: Tales of Fear and Wonder (2010).

Mash Up

Gardner Dozois

Stories Inspired by Famous First Lines

Pride and Prejudice meets Macbeth by way of The Wizard of Oz and a dollop of the speculative, in this entertaining anthology where authors get inspiration for short stories from the first lines of famous works of literature. Edited by respected anthologist Gardner Dozois, the collection features Mary Robinette Kowal's Hugo Award-winning story "The Lady Astronaut of Mars".

Table of Contents:

  • "Fireborn" by Robert Charles Wilson - based on first line of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Tale
  • "The Evening Line" by Mike Resnick - based on first line of Pride and Prejudice
  • "No Decent Patrimony" by Elizabeth Bear - based on first line of Marlowe's Edward II
  • "The Big Whale" by Allen M. Steele - based on first line of Moby Dick
  • "Begone" by Daryl Gregory - based on first line of David Copperfield
  • "The Red Menace" by Lavie Tidhar - based on first line of The Communist Manifesto
  • "Muse of Fire" by John Scalzi - based on first line of Shakespeare's Henry V
  • "Writer's Block" by Nancy Kress - based on 'It was a dark and stormy night...' from Paul by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  • "Highland Reel" by John G. Hemry - based on first line of Macbeth
  • "Karin Coxswain, or, Death as She is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo - baed on first line of Huckleberry Finn
  • "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Robinette Kowal - based on first line of The Wizard of Oz
  • "Every Fuzzy Beast of The Earth, Every Pink Fowl of The Air" by Tad Williams - based on first line of the Bible
  • "Declaration" by James Patrick Kelly - based on first line of the Declaration of Independence

The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore

Harlan Ellison

Nebula Awardd nominated short story. It first appeared in The 1991 World Fantasy Convention and was reprinted in Omni, July 1992. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixth Annual Collection (1993), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling and Nebula Awards 29 (1995), edited by Pamela Sargent. It is included in the collections Slippage: Precariously Poised, Previously Uncollected Stories (1997) and The Top of the Volcano: The Award-Winning Stories of Harlan Ellison (2015).

He Arrived at Dusk

R. C. Ashby

From the moment William Mertoun arrives to catalogue the library at Colonel Barr's old mansion on the desolate Northumbrian moors, he senses something is terribly wrong. Barr's brother Ian has just died, mysteriously and violently, and the Colonel himself is hidden away in a locked room, to which his sinister nurse denies all access. As strange and supernatural events begin to unfold, Mertoun learns the local legend of a ghostly Roman centurion, slain on the site sixteen centuries earlier, who is said to haunt the estate. Mertoun is sceptical at first, but after another murder, a harrowing seance, and an actual sighting of the spirit one lonely night on the moor, he realizes that he and everyone at Barr's mansion are in mortal danger. What does the ghost want, and can it be stopped?

Clash of the Titans

Alan Dean Foster

PLAYTHING OF THE GODS

He was Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, born in disgrace, exiled to perish at sea, fated to survive at heavenly caprice -- until he met his love, defied the Gods and dared to fight them or die.

She was Andromeda, enslaved by her own beauty which beggared the heavens and brought a curse upon her city, her home, her heart.... until Perseus accepted the Devil's own challenge, answered the deadly riddle and rode forth on his winged horse Pegasus to claim his love and to face the last of the Titans, armed only with a bloody hand, a witche's curse, and a severed head...

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales

Greer Gilman

In the eighteen years since her Crawford Award-winning debut novel Moonwise, Greer Gilman's writing has only grown more complex and entrancing, more beguiling and inventive.

Gilman's second novel, Cloud & Ashes, is a slow whirlwind of language, a button box of words, a mythic Joycean fable that will invite immersion, study, revisitation, and delight. To step into her world is to witness the bright flashes, witty turns, and shadowy corners of the human imagination, limned with all the detail and humor of a master stylist. In Gilman's intricate prose, myth and fable live, breathe, and dance as they do nowhere else.

Cloud & Ashes collects three Winter's Tales ("Jack Daw's Pack," "A Crowd of Bone," and the longest, "Unleaving") centering on folk traditions, harvest rites, the seasons, gods, and trickster figures.

In "Unleaving," Margaret, granddaughter of a goddess, escapes from the underworld into the human realm, Cloud. She is pursued, and, in escaping, brings about an epochal change, separating the kingdom of myth from the human world.

Cloud & Ashes is a work that reaches back to the richness of Shakespeare-Gilman understands that the depth of Shakespeare's work lies in his range-and the reader will rejoice in her counterplay of high myth and bawdry even while being drawn into the world of Cloud. Inventive, playful, and erudite, Gilman is an archeolexicologist rewriting language itself in these long-awaited tales.

The Vampire of Kings Street

Asha Greyling

Having a resident vampire is just the thing for upper-class New Yorkers--besides being a status symbol, they make excellent butlers or housekeepers. The only thing they require in return is a drop or two of blood and a casket to shut out the dawn's early light.

Tolerated by society only if they follow a strict set of rules, vampires are seen as "less than"--and as the daughter of immigrants, Radhika knows firsthand how this feels. Accused of murder, her undead client Mr. Evelyn More, knows that the cards are stacked against him.

With the help of a journalist friend and a diminutive detective inspector, Miss Dhingra sets out to prove her client's innocence and win his freedom. Failure will mean Mr. More's death, the end of her dreams of becoming a successful attorney, and the loss of the vampire Miss Dhingra has begun to call her friend.

Crash

Guy Haley

THE 0.01% HAVE DECIDED EARTH IS HISTORY

Dariusz is an engineer whose career ended years ago; now, a man he's never met sits in a bar that doesn't exist and offers him a fresh start... at a price. Cassandra - 'Sand,' to her friends - is a space pilot, who itches to get her hands on the controls and actually fly a ship, rather than watch computers do it for her.

The 'Pointers' - the elite 0.01% who control virtually all wealth - have seen the limitations of a plundered Earth and set their eyes on the stars. And now Dariusz and Sand, and a half-million ambitious men and women just like them, are sent out to extend the Pointers' and the Market's influence across the galaxy.

But the colony fleet is sabotaged and the ESS Adam Mickiewicz crashes, on an alien planet where one hemisphere is seared by perpetual daylight and the other shrouded in eternal night. The castaways have the chance to create society from scratch... if they're not destroyed by the hostile planet - or their own leaders - before they can even begin

Swashbucklers

Dan Hanks

When Cisco Collins returns to his home town thirty years after saving it from being swallowed by a hell mouth opened by an ancient pirate ghost, he realises that being a childhood hero isn't like it was in the movies. Especially when nobody remembers the heroic bits -- even the friends who once fought alongside him.

Struggling with single parenting and treated as bit of a joke, Cisco isn't really in the Christmas spirit like everyone else. A fact that's made worse by the tendrils of the pirate's powers creeping back into our world and people beginning to die in bizarre ways.

With the help of a talking fox, an enchanted forest, a long-lost friend haunting his dreams, and some 80s video game consoles turned into weapons, Cisco must now convince his friends to once again help him save the day. Yet they quickly discover that being a ghostbusting hero is so much easier when you don't have schools runs, parent evenings, and nativity plays to attend. And even in the middle of a supernatural battle, you always need to bring snacks and wipes...

The Streets of Ashkelon

Harry Harrison

A human trader living on a planet of innocent aliens with no religion is joined by a missionary determined to convert them to Christianity.

This short story originally appeared in New Worlds Science Fiction, #122 September 1962, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, September 2012. It has been reprinted many times. It can be found in the anthologies:

The story can be found in the collections Two Tales and Eight Tomorrows (1965), The Best of Harry Harrison (1976), Stainless Steel Visions (1993) and 50 in 50 (2001).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Ouroboros Wave

Jyouji Hayashi

Ninety years from now, a satellite detects a nearby black hole scientists dub Kali for the Hindu goddess of destruction. Humanity embarks on a generations-long project to tap the energy of the black hole, and found colonies on planets across the solar system. Earth and Mars and the moons Europa (Jupiter) and Titan (Uranus) develop radically different societies, with only Kali, that swirling vortex of destruction and creation, and the hated but crucial Artificial Accretion Disk Development association (AADD) in common.

Armed in Her Fashion

Kate Heartfield

In 1328, Bruges is under siege by the Chatelaine of Hell and her army of chimeras--humans mixed with animals or armour, forged in the deep fires of the Hellbeast. At night, revenants crawl over the walls and bring plague and grief to this city of widows.

Margriet de Vos learns she's a widow herself when her good-for-nothing husband comes home dead from the war. He didn't come back for her. The revenant who was her husband pulls a secret treasure of coins and weapons from under his floorboards and goes back through the mouth of the beast called Hell.

Margriet killed her first soldier when she was 11. She's buried six of her seven children. She'll do anything for her daughter, even if it means raiding Hell itself to get her inheritance back.

Margriet's daughter is haunted by a dead husband of her own, and blessed, or cursed, with an enchanted distaff that allows her to control the revenants and see the future. Together with a transgender man-at-arms who has unfinished business with the Chatelaine, a traumatized widow with a giant waterpowered forgehammer at her disposal, and a wealthy alderman's wife who escapes Bruges with her children, Margriet and Beatrix forge a raiding party like Hell has never seen.

Transcript of Interaction Between Astronaut Mike Scudderman and the OnStar Hands-Free A.I. Crash Adv

Grady Hendrix

Transcript of Interaction Between Astronaut Mike Scudderman and the OnStar Hands-Free A.I. Crash Advisor originally appeared in Lightspeed, June 2011.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Tenebrae

Ernest G. Henham

The narrator of Tenebrae inhabits a decaying, desolate mansion in the remote and wild countryside with his younger brother and their mad old uncle, driven insane by abuse of opium and alcohol. This nameless narrator is a morbid young man who passes most of his time in a room painted all black, poring over arcane manuscripts dealing with the mysteries of death, while sipping garishly coloured liquors brewed by his uncle or cups of coffee flavoured with arsenic.

When he falls in love with a neighbour, he looks forward to marrying her and trading his life of despondency for one of joy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, she finds him rather unpleasant company and instead falls in love with his brother. Driven to murderous jealousy, he resolves upon a brutal crime. But after the consummation of his terrible act, he finds himself haunted by a huge, monstrous spider. Is it a delusion brought on by incipient madness? the reincarnated soul of his murdered victim, returned for vengeance? or does it foretell a fate even more horrifying than can be possibly imagined?

Published in 1898, at the end of a decade in which English writers explored the literary possibilities of the Gothic with such characters as Dorian Gray, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula, and The Beetle, Ernest G. Henham's weird horror novel Tenebrae is reminiscent of the works of Poe. Perhaps unequalled in its extreme darkness and gloom, and yet at times grimly, though possibly unintentionally, hilarious, Tenebrae remains one of the strangest productions of this fertile literary period. This newly typeset edition includes the unabridged text of the first edition, as well as an introduction and notes by Gerald Monsman, the foremost scholar of Henham (1870-1946), who later published under the name John Trevena. Also featured is a reproduction of the cover of the incredibly scarce first edition.

The Feast of Bacchus

Ernest G. Henham

Copies of this Novel also appear under the author's actual Name: Ernest G. Henham.

In the remote hamlet of Thorlund stands the manor house known as the Strath, an eerie place that exercises a mysterious hold over anyone who enters it. The site of tragedy in 1742 when its owner, Sir John Hooper, turned highwayman and met his death on the gallows, the Strath has remained vacant for over a century, a pair of hideous masks its only occupants. When the novel opens, the Strath's new owner has just arrived from America to take possession of the house, but he is soon found horribly murdered. Now the next heir, young Charles Conway, has come to the Strath, and the house begins to work its baneful influence on him and on the local residents, causing them to behave in bizarre and violent ways. What is the connection between the sinister power of the Strath and the ghastly masks that adorn the wall? And once Conway and the others are drawn within the evil place, can any of them possibly survive?

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store

Keigo Higashino

When three delinquents hole up in an abandoned general store after their most recent robbery, to their great surprise, a letter drops through the mail slot in the store's shutter. This seemingly simple request for advice sets the trio on a journey of discovery as, over the course of a single night, they step into the role of the kindhearted former shopkeeper who devoted his waning years to offering thoughtful counsel to his correspondents. Through the lens of time, they share insight with those seeking guidance, and by morning, none of their lives will ever be the same.

At the Foot of the Lighthouse (Todai Moto Kurashi)

Erin Hoffman

I am American. We are all Americans.

The year is 1942. A Japanese-American girl's life is turned upside down by Executive Order 9066, and she must cope with a life confined to the barbed wire of an internment camp in the Arizona desert. There, she struggles to weigh her continued loyalty to her country (which has betrayed and ostracized everyone she loves) against a closely guarded family secret that could change the course of history.

This taut and affecting story is by Erin Hoffman, a San Francisco-based video game designer whose Chaos Knight fantasy series--starting with last year's Sword of Fire and Sea and continuing with the recently released Lance of Earth and Sky--is being published by Pyr Books.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

An Orc on the Wild Side

Tom Holt

Being the Dark Lord and Prince of Evil is not as much fun as it sounds, particularly if you are a basically decent person. King Mordak is just such a person. Technically he's more goblin than person, but the point is that he is really keen to be a lot less despicable than his predecessors.

Not that the other goblins appreciate Mordak's attempts to redefine the role. Why should they when his new healthcare program seems designed to actually extend life expectancy, and his efforts to end a perfectly reasonable war with the dwarves appear to have become an obsession?

With confidence in his leadership crumbling, what Mordak desperately needs is a distraction. Perhaps some of these humans moving to the Realm in search of great homes at an affordable price will be able to help?

Barking

Tom Holt

Duncan's boss doesn't think he's cut out to be a lawyer. He isn't a pack animal. He lacks the killer instinct. But when his best friend from school barges his way back into Duncan's life, along with a full supporting cast of lawyers, ex-wives, zombies, and snow-white unicorns, it's not long before things become distinctly unsettling. Hairy, even.

Blonde Bombshell

Tom Holt

The year is 2017. Lucy Pavlov is the CEO of PavSoft Industries, home of a revolutionary operating system that every computer in the world runs on. Her personal wealth is immeasurable, her intelligence is unfathomable, and she's been voted World's Most Beautiful Woman for three years running. To put it simply - she has it all.But not everything is quite right in Lucy's life. For starters, she has no memories prior to 2015. She also keeps having run-ins with a unicorn. And to make matters even worse, a bomb is hurtling through interstellar space, headed straight for Lucy - and the planet known as Earth.

Djinn Rummy

Tom Holt

When Kayaguchiya Integrated Circuits III, a genie, is released from the aspirin bottle he's been stuck in for 14 years, there's bound to be trouble. Jane had wanted to end her life in peace, but now she's got a genie, things look up - until the apocalypse rears its ugly head.

Doughnut

Tom Holt

The doughnut is a thing of beauty. A circle of fried doughy perfection. A source of comfort in trying times, perhaps. For Theo Bernstein, however, it is far, far more.Things have been going pretty badly for Theo Bernstein. An unfortunate accident at work has lost him his job (and his work involved a Very Very Large Hadron Collider, so he's unlikely to get it back). His wife has left him. And he doesn't have any money.Before Theo has time to fully appreciate the pointlessness of his own miserable existence, news arrives that his good friend Professor Pieter van Goyen, renowned physicist and Nobel laureate, has died.By leaving the apparently worthless contents of his safety deposit to Theo, however, the professor has set him on a quest of epic proportions. A journey that will rewrite the laws of physics. A battle to save humanity itself.This is the tale of a man who had nothing and gave it all up to find his destiny - and a doughnut.

Expecting Someone Taller

Tom Holt

All Malcolm Fisher did was run over a badger. Unfortunately the badger turned out to be Ingolf, last of the giants. With his dying breath he reluctantly gave Malcolm two gifts of power and made him ruler of the world.

Falling Sideways

Tom Holt

From the moment Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilization. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect-all are testament to man's ultimate supremacy. It is a noble story and so, of course, complete and utter fiction. For one man has discovered the hideous truth: that humanity's ascent to civilization has been ruthlessly guided by a small gang of devious frogs. The man's name is David Perkins, and his theory is not, on the whole, widely admired, particularly not by the frogs themselves, who had invested a great deal of time and effort in keeping the whole thing quiet.

Faust Among Equals

Tom Holt

The management buy-out of Hell wasn't going quite as well as had been hoped. For a start, there had been that nasty business with the perjurors, and then came the news that the Most Wanted Man in History had escaped, and all just as the plans for the new theme park, EuroBosch, were underway.

Flying Dutch

Tom Holt

It's amazing the problems drinking can get you into. One little swig from an oddly-shaped bottle and you go from being an ordinary Dutch sea-captain to an unhappy immortal, drifting around the world with your similarly immortal crew, unable to stay in port for long owing to side effects we won't go into right now. You become a creature of myth and legend. Worst of all, Richard Wagner writes an opera about you.

Little does Cornelius Vanderdecker, the Flying Dutchman, suspect that a chance encounter in an English pub might just lead to the end of his cursed life, one way or another.

Together with his crew, A BBC film unit (one of whom is still investigating Milk Marketing Board conspiracy theories), a scientists who invented everything, and Jane Doland, an undercover accountant for the National Lombard Bank, the Dutchman falls into a series of events which even the composer of The Ring of the Nibelungs might consider overly coincidental and chaotic.

Grailblazers

Tom Holt

Fifteen hundred years have passed and the Holy Grail is still missing, presumed ineffable. The knights have dumped the quest and now deliver pizzas, while the sinister financial services of the lost kingdom of Atlantis threatens the universe with fiscal Armageddon.

Here Comes the Sun

Tom Holt

All is not well with the universe - cutbacks have taken their toll, and the sun is dirty and late, thanks to being 30 billion miles overdue on its next service. None of the committees can agree on anything, and extreme measures seem called for.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages

Tom Holt

Polly is a real estate solicitor. She is also losing her mind. Someone keeps drinking her coffee. And talking to her clients. And doing her job. And when she goes to the dry cleaner's to pick up her dress for the party, it's not there. Not the dress - the dry cleaner's.And then there are the chickens who think they are people. Something strange is definitely going on - and it's going to take more than a magical ring to sort it out.From one of the funniest voices in comic fiction today comes a hilarious tale of pigs and parallel worlds.

Little People

Tom Holt

'I was eight years old when I saw my first elf.' And for unlikely hero Michael it was his last. Cruella, Michael's unfortunately named girlfriend, doesn't approve of his obsession with the little people. But the problem is that they won't leave him alone. And who can blame them when it's Michael's own stepfather who's responsible for causing them so much misery? Oh yes. Daddy George knows that elves can do so much more than gardening.

My Hero

Tom Holt

This is the story of Jane who finds the novel she is working on starts to write back. She's already realized novel writing isn't such a piece of cake after all, and the world of fiction is a far more complicated place than she ever imagined.

Nothing But Blue Skies

Tom Holt

There are many reasons why British summers are either non-existent or, alternatively, held on a Thursday. Many of these reasons are either scientific, mad, or both-but all of them are wrong, especially the scientific ones. The real reason why it rains perpetually from January 1st to December 31st is, of course, irritable Chinese Water Dragons. Karen is one such legendary creature. Ancient, noble, nearly indestructible and, for a number of wildly improbable reasons, working as a real estate agent, Karen is irritable quite a lot of the time. But now things have changed, and Karen's no longer irritable. She's furious.

Odds and Gods

Tom Holt

This is a comedy set in the Sunnyvoyde Residential Home. Wagner got it wrong. The Twilight of the Gods isn't really that cataclysmic. After all, there's a comfy chair, a welcoming fire and three meals a day.

Only Human

Tom Holt

Something is about to go wrong. Very wrong. What do you expect if the Supreme Being decides to get away from it all for a few days, leaving his naturally inquisitive son to look after the cosmic balance of things? A minor hiccup with a human soul and a welding machine soon leads to a violent belch, and before you know it the human condition-not to mention the lemming condition-is tumbling down the slippery slope to chaos.

Open Sesame

Tom Holt

There was something wrong! Just as the boiling water was about to be poured on his head and the man with the red book appeared and his life flashed before his eyes, Akram the Terrible, the most feared thief in Baghdad, knew this had happened before. Many times. And he was damned if he was going to let it happen again. Just because he was a character in a story didn't mean that it always had to end this way.

Meanwhile, back in Southampton, it's a bit of a shock for Michelle when she puts on her Aunt Fatima's ring and the computer and the telephone start to bitch at her for past misdemeanors. But that's nothing compared to the story that her kitchen appliances have to tell her.

Overtime

Tom Holt

Guy is a Mosquito pilot in World War II. He is surprised when his dead co-pilot apparently starts speaking to him as they are flying over Northern France. And before you can say 'Bomber Harris', Guy finds himself caught up in time and travel, a search for Richard the Lionheart and a damsel.

Paint Your Dragon

Tom Holt

Sculptress Bianca Wilson is a living legend. St. George is also a legend, but not living. However, when Bianca's sculpture of the patron saint and his scaly chum gets a bit too lifelike, it opens up a new can of wyrms. The dragon knows that in the battle between Good and Evil, Evil got a raw deal and is looking to set the record straight. And George (who cheated) thinks the record's just fine as it is.

Snow White and the Seven Samurai

Tom Holt

Once upon a time, everything was fine. Humpty Dumpty sat on his wall, Jack and Jill went about their lawful business, the Big Bad Wolf did what big bad wolves do, and the wicked queen plotted murder most foul. But the humans hacked, cried havoc, shut down the wicked queen's system, and corrupted her database-and suddenly everything was not fine at all. But at least we know that they'll all live happily ever after. Don't we?

The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse

Tom Holt

The team of commercial sorcerers at Dawson, Ahriman & Dawson can help with any metaphysical engineering project, large or small (though by definition they all tend to be pretty large).

They can also create massive great puddles of chaos that might one day swallow up the entire universe.

Take, for example, the decision to recruit a certain bearded fellow whose previous work experience mainly involves reindeer and jingle bells. It might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but is he really the best person to save the world from Tiamat the Destroyer, who has literally gone ballistic?

The Good, The Bad and The Smug

Tom Holt

New Evil.

Same as the Old Evil, but with better PR.

Mordak isn't bad, as far as goblin kings go, but when someone, or something, starts pumping gold into the human kingdoms it puts his rule into serious jeopardy. Suddenly he's locked in an arms race with a species whose arms he once considered merely part of a calorie-controlled diet.

Helped by an elf with a background in journalism and a masters degree in being really pleased with herself, Mordak sets out to discover what on earth (if indeed, that's where he is) is going on. He knows that the truth is out there. If only he could remember where he put it.

The Management Style of the Supreme Beings

Tom Holt

When the Supreme Being and his son decide that being supreme isn't for them any more, it's inevitable that things get a bit of a shake-up.

It soon becomes apparent that our new owners, the Venturi brothers, have a very different perspective on all sorts of things. Take Good and Evil, for example. For them, it's an outdated concept that never worked particularly well in the first place.

Unfortunately, the sudden disappearance of right and wrong, while welcomed by some, raises certain concerns amongst those still attached to the previous team's management style.

In particular, there's one of the old gods who didn't move out with the others. A reclusive chap, he lives somewhere up north, and only a handful even believe in him.

But he's watching. And he really does need to know if you've been naughty or nice.

The Outsorcerer's Apprentice

Tom Holt

A happy workforce is a productive workforce. At the moment, the Wizard's employees are neither. The goblins are upset with their working conditions, the dragonslayer has thrown a hissy fit over his medical insurance (or lack thereof) and everyone is upset about the terrible canteen coffee.

Yet the Wizard hasn't got time to worry about revolution in the workplace - he's about to see his brilliant business plan (based on entrepreneurial flair and involving one or two parallel worlds) disrupted by a clueless young man. Side effects may include a huge hole in the fabric of reality. This is almost certainly going to be a bad day at the office.

Valhalla

Tom Holt

As everyone knows, when great warriors die, their reward is eternal life in Odin's bijou little residence known as Valhalla. But Valhalla has just changed. It has grown. It has diversified. Just like any corporation, the Valhalla Group has had to adapt to survive. Unfortunately, not even an omniscient Norse god could have prepared Valhalla for the arrival of Carol Kortright, one-time cocktail waitress, last seen dead, and not at all happy.

When It's A Jar

Tom Holt

Maurice has just killed a dragon with a breadknife. And had his destiny foretold . . . and had his true love spirited away. That's precisely the sort of stuff that'd bring out the latent heroism in anyone. Unfortunately, Maurice is pretty sure he hasn't got any latent heroism.

Meanwhile, a man wakes up in a jar in a different kind of pickle (figuratively speaking). He can't get out, of course, but neither can he remember his name, or what gravity is, or what those things on the ends on his legs are called . . . and every time he starts working it all out, someone makes him forget again. Forget everything.

Only one thing might help him. The answer to the most baffling question of all.

WHEN IS A DOOR NOT A DOOR?

Who's Afraid of Beowulf

Tom Holt

Digging up the remains of an ancient band of Vikings, archaeologist Hildy is astounded when they rise from the dead, bearing an appetite for seagulls, a twelve-thousand-year-old grudge, and a thirst for war.

Wish You Were Here

Tom Holt

It was a busy day on Lake Chicopee, where an eclectic bunch of sightseers and tourists had the strange local residents rubbing their hands with delight. Among them was a young man from England, who was there because he knew about the legend of the ghost of Okeewana and what she promised.

Ye Gods!

Tom Holt

Being a hero bothers Jason Derry. It's easy to get maladjusted when your mom's a suburban housewife and your dad's the Supreme Being. It can be a real drag slaying monsters and retrieving golden fleeces from fire-spitting dragons, and then having to tidy your room before you can watch Star Trek. But it's not the relentless tedium of imperishable glory that finally brings Jason to the end of his rope; it's something so funny that it's got to be taken seriously. Deadly seriously.

Lark Ascending

Silas House

A timely, powerful story of survival set in the not-too-distant future, reminding us to always hold on to hope, even in the worst of times.

With fires devastating much of America, Lark and his family first leave their home in Maryland for Maine. But as the country increasingly falls under the grip of religious nationalism, it becomes clear that nowhere is safe, not just from physical disasters but also persecution. The family secures a place on a crowded boat headed to Ireland, the last place on earth rumored to be accepting American refugees.

Upon arrival, it turns out that the safe harbor of Ireland no longer exists either--and Lark, the sole survivor of the trans-Atlantic voyage, must disappear into the countryside. As he runs for his life, Lark finds two equally lost and desperate souls: one of the last remaining dogs, who becomes his closest companion, and a fierce, mysterious woman in search of her lost son. Together they form a makeshift family and attempt to reach Glendalough, a place they believe will offer protection. But can any community provide the safety that they seek?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Written while Irving was living abroad in Birmingham, England, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was first published in 1820. Along with Irving's companion piece Rip Van Winkle, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity.


Read this story online for free at Tor.com.

I Was a Teenage Slasher

Stephen Graham Jones

1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton - and a place where everyone knows everyone else's business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge.

Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.

Fardwor, Russia

Oleg Kashin

When a scientist experimenting on a humans in a sanatorium near Moscow gives growth serum to a dwarf oil mogul, the newly heightened businessman runs off with the experimenter's wife, and a series of mysterious deaths and crimes begins. Fantastical and wonderfully strange, this political parable has an uncanny resonance with today's Russia under Putin.

Oleg Kashin is a famous Russian journalist and activist who, in 2010, was beaten to within an inch of his life by unknown assailants in an attack most likely politically motivated by his reporting. The events of Fardwor, Russia! (the title is taken from a flag with a slogan--"Forward, Russia!"--gone wrong) could seem grotesque, if they did not so eerily echo the absurd state of affairs in modern Russia. Under Putin's regime, an author dares to criticize the state of affairs and affairs of the state only through veiled satire--and even then, as Kashin's experience shows, the threat of repercussions is real.

A witty, playful, brave, and incisive work that blends science fiction with political satire, Fardwor, Russia! is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary Russia--or the hilarious and frightening follies of power.

Shadowblade

Anna Kashina

A young sword prodigy must impersonate a lost princess and throw her life into a deadly political game, in this kinetic epic fantasy novel by the author of the award-winning Majat Code series.

Naia dreams of becoming a Jaihar Blademaster, but after assaulting a teacher, her future seems ruined. The timely intervention of a powerful stranger suddenly elevates her into elite Upper Grounds training. She has no idea that the stranger is Dal Gassan, head of the Daljeer Circle. Seventeen years ago he witnessed the massacre of Challimar's court and rescued its sole survivor, a baby girl. Gassan plans to thrust a blade into the machinations of imperial succession: Naia. Disguised as the legendary Princess Xarimet of Challimar, Naia must challenge the imperial family, and win. Naia is no princess, but with her desert-kissed eyes and sword skills she might be close enough...

Ashley Bell

Dean Koontz

The girl who said no to death.

Bibi Blair is a fierce, funny, dauntless young woman--whose doctor says she has one year to live.

She replies, "We'll see."

Her sudden recovery astonishes medical science.

An enigmatic woman convinces Bibi that she escaped death so that she can save someone else. Someone named Ashley Bell.

But save her from what, from whom? And who is Ashley Bell? Where is she?

Bibi's obsession with finding Ashley sends her on the run from threats both mystical and worldly, including a rich and charismatic cult leader with terrifying ambitions.

Here is an eloquent, riveting, brilliantly paced story with an exhilarating heroine and a twisting, ingenious plot filled with staggering surprises. Ashley Bell is a new milestone in literary suspense from the long-acclaimed master.

Always True to Thee, in My Fashion

Nancy Kress

Instead of simply designing clothes, fashion designers now create drug-induced emotional fashions, a new one every three months.

This short story originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, January 1997 and was reprinted in Lightspeed, January 2012. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 3 (1998), edited by David G. Hartwell. The story is included in the collection Beaker's Dozen (1998).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Flash Point

Nancy Kress

Science-fiction superstar and multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner Nancy Kress comes to YA in this brain-twisting thriller

How far would you go?

The Collapse has ransacked the economy, making work almost impossible to find and forcing Amy from college hopeful to sole provider for her terminally-ill grandmother and rebellious younger sister. To make ends meet, Amy auditions for a slot on a new reality TV show, which promises both a hefty salary and full medical benefits for her entire family. Somehow, she gets chosen, and she leaps to sign a contract despite her misgivings.

The show in which she'll take part has an irresistible premise: audience members can win millions by predicting the behavior of each member of the cast in a crisis. But the producers are willing to do anything to maintain ratings, including using blatant setups, 24/7 surveillance, and even state-of-the-art holographic technology to simulate danger. But soon, the danger becomes all too real, and Amy--on and off the camera--must fight for her life....

The Woman with the Flying Head and Other Stories

Yumiko Kurahashi

This is an English-language anthology dedicated to the short stories of Kurahashi Yumiko (1935-), a Japanese novelist of profound intellectual powers. The eleven stories included in this volume suggest the breadth of the author's literary production, ranging from parodies of classical Japanese literature to cosmopolitan avant-garde works, from quasi-autobiography to science fiction. Her subversive fiction defies established definitions of "literature", "Japan", "modernity" and "femininity", and represents an important intellectual aspect of modern Japanese women's literature.

Table of Contents:

  • An Extraterrestrial
  • We Are Lovers
  • The House of the Black Cat
  • The Woman with the Flying Head
  • The Trade
  • The Witch Mask
  • Spring Night Dreams
  • The Passage of Dreams
  • A Special Place
  • Flower Abstraction
  • The Long Passage of Dreams

The Quality of Descent

Megan Kurashige

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, October 2014.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Bash Bash Revolution

Douglas Lain

A compelling coming-of-age artificial intelligence novel from Philip K. Dick Award-nominated author Douglas Lain.

Seventeen-year-old Matthew Munson is ranked thirteenth in the state in Bash Bash Revolution, an outdated video game from 2002 that, in 2017, is still getting tournament play. He's a high school dropout who still lives at home with his mom, doing little but gaming and moping. That is, until Matthew's dad turns up again.

Jeffrey Munson is a computer geek who'd left home eight years earlier to work on a top secret military project. Jeff has been a sporadic presence in Matthew's life, and much to his son's displeasure insists on bonding over video games. The two start entering local tournaments together, where Jeff shows astonishing aptitude for Bash Bash Revolution in particular.

Then, as abruptly as he appeared, Matthew's father disappears again, just as he was beginning to let Jeff back into his life.

The betrayal is life-shattering, and Matthew decides to give chase, in the process discovering the true nature of the government-sponsored artificial intelligence program his father has been involved in. Told as a series of conversations between Matthew and his father's artificial intelligence program, Bash Bash Revolution is a wildly original novel of apocalypse and revolution, as well as a poignant story of broken family.

Witches of Ash and Ruin

E. Latimer

Seventeen-year-old Dayna Walsh is struggling to cope with her somatic OCD; the aftermath of being outed as bisexual in her conservative Irish town; and the return of her long-absent mother, who barely seems like a parent. But all that really matters to her is ascending and finally, finally becoming a full witch-plans that are complicated when another coven, rumored to have a sordid history with black magic, arrives in town with premonitions of death. Dayna immediately finds herself at odds with the bewitchingly frustrating Meiner King, the granddaughter of their coven leader.

And then a witch turns up murdered at a local sacred site, along with the blood symbol of the Butcher of Manchester-an infamous serial killer whose trail has long gone cold. The killer's motives are enmeshed in a complex web of witches and gods, and Dayna and Meiner soon find themselves at the center of it all. If they don't stop the Butcher, one of them will be next.

The Game of Smash and Recovery

Kelly Link

Sturgeon Award nominated short story. It originally appeard on Strange Horizons, October 17th 2015. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016, edited by Rich Horton and The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection (2016), edited by Gardner Dozois.

Read the full story for free at Strange Horizons.

Uncrashable Dakota

Andy Marino

In 1862, Union army infantryman Samuel Dakota changed history when he spilled a bottle of pilfered moonshine in the Virginia dirt and stumbled upon the biochemical secret of flight. Not only did the Civil War come to a much quicker close, but Dakota Aeronautics was born.

Now, in Andy Marino's Uncrashable Dakota, it is 1912, and the titanic Dakota flagship embarks on its maiden flight. But shortly after the journey begins, the airship is hijacked. Fighting to save the ship, the young heir of the Dakota empire, Hollis, along with his brilliant friend Delia and his stepbrother, Rob, are plunged into the midst of a long-simmering family feud. Maybe Samuel's final secret wasn't just the tinkering of a madman after all....

What sinister betrayals and strange discoveries await Hollis and his friends in the gilded corridors and opulent staterooms? Who can be trusted to keep the most magnificent airship the world has ever known from falling out of the sky?

Coals and Ash

Lyn McConchie

The world for some comes to an end, while for others it is a new beginning. Tam, who loves her privacy and hates children has her world interrupted by its ending. Faced with children with no parents and no one to look after them, she embarks on a journey that saves her and all those who she embraces.

Set in a post-apocalyptic Australia Lyn McConchie takes the reader to a place where nothing works properly and the future is bleak. But Lyn knows enough about survival to add a deep sense of realism in this novel, and a deep sense of care for others.

In a world that seems to have lost all hope, Lyn digs out the remnants of life and gives it new meaning.

Unearthed

Ashley McConnell

Beneath the earth it sleeps, upon your soul it feeds.

Ladylord

Sasha Miller

Lady Javere, nicknamed Javerri, is the favored child of Qai, Lord of Third Province. Though women are not allowed to rule, Javerri has been trained in all the skills of a Lord: she fights like a seasoned veteran, rides a horse like a man, and understands well the deadly games of political intrigue - all of which have prepared her for her father's dying wish. On his deathbed, Lord Qai names Javerri not only his heir, but also his son. By this unprecedented act, the life of Javerri is changed forever.

An Ever-Expanding Flash of Light

Timothy Mudie

This short story originally appeared in Lighspeed, September 2017.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

The Memory Keepers

Natasha Ngan

When you're chasing memories to survive, it's better to leave the past behind...

Seven is a thief with a difference - he steals downloadable memories from banks and memoriums to sell onto London's black market, trading secrets and hidden pasts for a chance at a future of his own. He makes sure he keeps some special stuff back to 'surf' himself though - it's the only real form of entertainment he can afford. But one night, as Seven is breaking into a private memorium in a wealthy part of London, he is caught in the act by one of its residents: Alba, the teenage daughter of London's most famous criminal prosecutor. Instead of giving him away, Alba promises to keep Seven's secret - as long as he allows her to go memory-surfing herself. In doing so, they discover a hidden memory about Seven's past, revealing a shocking secret about his childhood, the government and a mysterious experiment known as The Memory Keepers...

Now Seven and Alba will have to race against time to unlock the maze of The Memory Keepers - but can they keep themselves out of harm's way before the London Guard - and Alba's father - catches up with them?

Flowercrash

Stephen Palmer

Zaïdmouth is a far-future paradise. Its five communities are intertwined by artificial flower networks so complex they combine to create the virtual realities through which Zaïdmouth is run. Yet into this vivid world a bad seed is about to be sewn.

Mansuruquyn, Priestess-Interpreter, has broken the rules of the Shrine of the Crone. Exiled, she is forced to live in Zaïdmouth for one season. But who are the two mysterious men who run the empty inn in which she shelters? And what is their connection with the metal beasts of the Cemetery?

Nuïy is a young man leaving the stifling home he hates. Making for the Shrine of the Emerald Man, he discovers a world of order and domineering wills. But what secret plan do the leaders of the Shrine foment? And why do they embrace Nuïy's unique skill with such enthusiasm?

It is the fate of Mansuruqyun and Nuïy to come together in a struggle to determine the future of Zaïdmouth. There will be battles covert and open, betrayal and loyalty, capture and escape. But after all this, which single person will provide the blueprint for the future? Who can make a good flower from a bad seed?

Among the Beasts & Briars

Ashley Poston

Cerys is safe in the Kingdom of Aloriya. Here there are no droughts, disease, or famine, and peace is everlasting. It has been this way for hundreds of years, since the first king made a bargain with the Lady who ruled the forest that borders the kingdom. But as Aloriya prospered, the woods grew dark, cursed, and forbidden.

Cerys knows this all too well: When she was young, she barely escaped as the woods killed her friends and her mother. Now Cerys carries a small bit of the curse--the magic--in her blood, a reminder of the day she lost everything.

As a new queen is crowned, however, things long hidden in the woods descend on the kingdom itself. Cerys is forced on the run, her only companions a small and irritating fox from the royal garden and the magic in her veins. It's up to her to find the legendary Lady of the Wilds and beg for a way to save her home.

But the road is darker and more dangerous than she knows, and as secrets from the past are uncovered amid the teeth and roots of the forest, it's going to take everything she has just to survive.

The Kingdoms

Natasha Pulley

Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English-instead of French-the postcard is signed only with the letter "M," but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he's determined to find the writer.

The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire's Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.

The Mars House

Natasha Pulley

In the wake of environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee on Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. In Tharsis, January's life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to Mars's lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January's job choices, housing, and even transportation options are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to be surgically naturalized, a process that is always disabling and can be deadly.

When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January's future without immediate naturalization and ensure Gale's political future. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They're kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would wish. But as their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay - and January may be the only person standing in the way.

City of Ash and Red

Hye-young Pyun

Distinguished for his talents as a rat killer, the nameless protagonist of Hye-young Pyun's City of Ash and Red is sent by the extermination company he works for on an extended assignment in C, a country descending into chaos and paranoia, swept by a contagious disease, and flooded with trash. No sooner does he disembark than he is whisked away by quarantine officials and detained overnight. Isolated and forgotten, he realizes that he is stranded with no means of contacting the outside world. Still worse, when he finally manages to reach an old friend, he is told that his ex-wife's body was found in his apartment and he is the prime suspect. Barely managing to escape arrest, he must struggle to survive in the streets of this foreign city gripped with fear of contamination and reestablish contact with his company and friends in order to clear his reputation.

But as the man's former life slips further and further from his grasp, and he looks back on his time with his wife, it becomes clear that he may not quite be who he seems.

Crash Override: How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate

Zoë Quinn

Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work

You've heard the stories about the dark side of the internet - hackers, #gamergate, anonymous mobs attacking an unlucky victim, and revenge porn - but they remain just that: stories. Surely these things would never happen to you.

Zoë Quinn used to feel the same way. She is a video game developer whose ex-boyfriend published a crazed blog post cobbled together from private information, half-truths, and outright fictions, along with a rallying cry to the online hordes to go after her. They answered in the form of a so-called movement known as #gamergate - they hacked her accounts; stole nude photos of her; harassed her family, friends, and colleagues; and threatened to rape and murder her. But instead of shrinking into silence as the online mobs wanted her to, she raised her voice and spoke out against this vicious online culture and for making the internet a safer place for everyone.

In the years since #gamergate, Quinn has helped thousands of people with her advocacy and online-abuse crisis resource Crash Override Network. From locking down victims' personal accounts to working with tech companies and lawmakers to inform policy, she has firsthand knowledge about every angle of online abuse, what powerful institutions are (and aren't) doing about it, and how we can protect our digital spaces and selves.

Crash Override offers an up-close look inside the controversy, threats, and social and cultural battles that started in the far corners of the internet and have since permeated our online lives. Through her story - as target and as activist - Quinn provides a human look at the ways the internet impacts our lives and culture, along with practical advice for keeping yourself and others safe online.

The Trial and Execution of the Traitor George Washington

Charles Rosenberg

A thought-provoking novel that imagines what would have happened if the British had succeeded in kidnapping General George Washington.

British special agent Jeremiah Black, an officer of the King's Guard, lands on a lonely beach in the wee hours of the morning in late November 1780. The revolution is in full swing but has become deadlocked. Black is here to change all that.

His mission, aided by Loyalists, is to kidnap George Washington and spirit him back to London aboard the HMS Peregrine, a British sloop of war that is waiting closely offshore. Once he lands, though, the "aid by Loyalists" proves problematic because some would prefer just to kill the general outright. Black manages--just--to get Washington aboard the Peregrine, which sails away.

Upon their arrival in London, Washington is imprisoned in the Tower to await trial on charges of high treason. England's most famous barristers seek to represent him but he insists on using an American. He chooses Abraham Hobhouse, an American-born barrister with an English wife--a man who doesn't really need the work and thinks the "career-building" case will be easily resolved through a settlement of the revolution and Washington's release. But as greater political and military forces swirl around them and peace seems ever more distant, Hobhouse finds that he is the only thing keeping Washington from the hangman's noose.

Drawing inspiration from a rumored kidnapping plot hatched in 1776 by a member of Washington's own Commander-in-Chief Guard, Charles Rosenberg has written a compelling novel that envisions what would take place if the leader of America's fledgling rebellion were taken from the nation at the height of the war, imperiling any chance of victory.

Ash Minette

Felicity Savage

This short story originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1994, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, March 2013.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Flashforward

Robert J. Sawyer

A scientific experiment begins, and as the button is pressed, the unexpected occurs: everyone in the world goes to sleep for a few moments while everyone's consciousness is catapulted more than twenty years into the future. At the end of those moments, when the world reawakens, all human life is transformed by foreknowledge.

Jane Saint and the Backlash

Josephine Saxton

New readers will be amazed at Jane Saint's bizarre adventures on her journey through the sticky Quagmire of patriarchal ideas, and those who followed her in earlier travails will be delighted to meet up again with Mr Rochester the cat, the loyal demon Zip and Agatha Hardcastle the witch of Hepstonhall.

Table of Contents:

  • 1 - Introduction (Jane Saint and the Backlash) - essay
  • 9 - The Consciousness Machine (revised) - novelette
  • 43 - Jane Saint and the Backlash - [Jane Saint] - novella

Midnight Strikes

Zeba Shahnaz

Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom's glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation's most eligible (and pompous) bachelors--especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.

The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos... and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.

Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.

If she's going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions... if she can survive past midnight.

Fabulous Beasts

Priya Sharma

Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma is a horror novelette about a strange woman living in luxury with her lover, but irrevocably tied to her childhood of deprivation and dark secrets in northwest England. The woman recalls the unravelling of the family upon her uncle's release from prison.

This story is included in the anthology The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2016, edited by Paula Guran.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

Jack O'Dander

Priya Sharma

The sister of an abducted child is haunted by a sinister figure who may or may not be real...

Originally published on 4 October 2023, read it for free at Tor.com

Ormeshadow

Priya Sharma

Uprooted from Bath by his father's failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.

This historical novella is about a farming family, the Belmans; their estrangements, jealousies, adultery, abuse, and suicide, as seen through the eyes of Gideon Belman from childhood to young man. The Belman fabled fortune and personal myths are rooted in the Orme, a land named from the Norse word for dragon. The Orme legends become a cornerstone for Gideon when he loses everything that he loves. Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin.

Rag and Bone

Priya Sharma

Rag and Bone, by Priya Sharma, is about Tom, who buys unwanted household items and scavenges other materials (including bones) and resells them in an alternative 19th century Liverpool in which the wealthy use the poor for parts from the inside out, should they need them. Colorful, disturbing, and moving as Tom maneuvers warily between the masters he serves and the poor from whom he scavenges.

This story in included in Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eight and Paula Guran's The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2014.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Screwfly Solution

Raccoona Sheldon
James Tiptree, Jr.

This Nebula-winning and Hugo-nominated novelette was collected in Out of the Everywhere and Other Extraordinary Visions (1981) and Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (1990) and anthologized in The 1978 Annual World's Best SF (1978), Nebula Winners Thirteen (1980), Armageddons (1999) and Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology (2015).


Read this story online for free at the Sci Fiction archive.

At Cooney's

Delia Sherman

This novelette originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 18, September-October 2017.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny.

Cotillion

Delia Sherman

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction (2003), edited by Sharyn November. It was reprinted in Lightspeed, August 2012.

Read the full story for free at Lightispeed.

Gift from a Spring

Delia Sherman

This short story originally appeared in Realms of Fantasy, April 2008. It can also be found in the anthologies Year's Best Fantasy 9 (2009), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, and The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2009, edited by Rich Horton.

The Evil Wizard Smallbone

Delia Sherman

In a hilarious tale reminiscent of T. H. White, a lost boy finds himself an unlikely apprentice to the very old, vaguely evil, mostly just grumpy Wizard Smallbone.

When twelve-year-old Nick runs away from his uncle's in the middle of a blizzard, he stumbles onto a very opinionated bookstore. He also meets its guardian, the self-proclaimed Evil Wizard Smallbone, who calls Nick his apprentice and won't let him leave, but won't teach him magic, either. It's a good thing the bookstore takes Nick's magical education in hand, because Smallbone's nemesis--the Evil Wizard Fidelou--and his pack of shape-shifting bikers are howling at the borders. Smallbone might call himself evil, but compared to Fidelou, he's practically a puppy. And he can't handle Fidelou alone. Wildly funny and cozily heartfelt, Delia Sherman's latest is an eccentric fantasy adventure featuring dueling wizards, enchanted animals, and one stray boy with a surprising knack for magic.

The Faerie Cony-Catcher

Delia Sherman

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers (1998), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, December 2014. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (1999), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, So Fey: Queer Fairy Fiction (2007), edited by Steve Berman, and Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction (2012), edited by Brit Mandelo.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Fiddler of Bayou Teche

Delia Sherman

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (2007), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twenty-First Annual Collection (2008), edited by Kelly Link, Gavin J. Grant and Ellen Datlow.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Freedom Maze

Delia Sherman

Thirteen-year-old Sophie isn't happy about spending summer at her grandmother's old house in the Bayou. But the house has a maze Sophie can't resist exploring once she finds it has a secretive and playful inhabitant. When she makes an impulsive wish, she slips one hundred years into the past, to the year 1860. Once she makes her way, bedraggled and tanned, to what will one day be her grandmother's house, she is taken for a slave.

The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor

Delia Sherman

"The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor", by Delia Sherman, is a delightful tale set on the border of Wales. Young Tacy Gof has always wished to see the ghost of Cwmlech Manor, and she may yet get her wish when a new master moves in....

This story originally appeared in the anthology Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories, edited by Kelly Link, Gavin J. Grant.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Great Detective

Delia Sherman

When Sir Arthur Cwmlech's home is robbed and the Illogic Engine--his prize invention--stolen, it is only natural that he and his clever assistant Miss Tacy Gof consult with another inventor, the great Mycroft Holmes, about who has taken it. But it is really Mr. Holmes' Reasoning Machine who they are there to see, for it is only fitting for one automaton to opine on a matter concerning the fate of another of its kind. This charming story by award-winning fiction writer Delia Sherman is a delightful romp set within an a slightly altered version of one of our most beloved literary universes.

This story is included in the anthology The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 11 (2017), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Parwat Ruby

Delia Sherman

WFA nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1999. The story can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection (2000), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

The Porcelain Dove

Delia Sherman

Berthe Duvet, chambermaid to a French duchess, narrates this tale of eighteenth-century Paris, describing the dazzling world of Marie Antoinette, Beaumarchais, and the Marquis de Sade, already living in the shadow of the guillotine.

The Red Piano

Delia Sherman

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy and Horror (2009), edited by Ellen Datlow, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, August 2016.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Through a Brazen Mirror

Delia Sherman

A mirror foretold her execution--yet the sorceress Margaret would deny such a fate..would even sacrifice her daughter Elinor to shatter the mirror's prophecy. A witch, however, cannot spill the blood of her offspring and long remain of this world. And so, Margaret must somehow bring about her daughter's demise without death coming directly from her own hand......

Walpurgis Afternoon

Delia Sherman

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 2005. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Nineteenth Annual Collection (2006), edited by Ellen Datlow, Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link, Year's Best Fantasy 6 (2006), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer and Witches: Wicked, Wild & Wonderful (2012), edited by Paula Guran.

Young Woman in a Garden

Delia Sherman

In her vivid and sly, gentle and wise long anticipated first collection, Delia Sherman takes seemingly insignificant moments in the lives of artists or sailors—the light out a window, the two strokes it takes to turn a small boat—and finds the ghosts haunting them, the magic surrounding them. Here are the lives that make up larger histories, here are tricksters and gardeners, faeries and musicians, all glittering and sparkling, finding beauty and hope and always unexpected, a touch of wild magic.

Table of Contents:

  • "Young Woman in a Garden"
  • "The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor"
  • "The Red Piano"
  • "La Fée Verte"
  • "Walpurgis Afternoon"
  • "The Parwat Ruby"
  • "The Fairy Cony-Catcher"
  • "Sacred Harp"
  • "The Printer's Daughter"
  • "Nanny Peters and the Feathery Bride"
  • "Miss Carstairs and the Merman"
  • "The Maid on the Shore"
  • "The Fiddler of Bayou Teche"
  • "Land's End"

Young Woman in a Garden

Delia Sherman

This story can be found in the collection Young Woman in a Garden (2014) and is anthologized in Flying Cups and Saucers: Gender Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy (1998) and Xanadu 2 (1994).

Read the full story for free at Uncanny.

A Cast of Corbies

Mercedes Lackey
Josepha Sherman

A strange pall has settled over Alanda. Everywhere representatives of the Church seek to ferret out unauthorized magic -- and music, because it is magic at its roots, has come under suspicion. And that which is suspect, if it cannot be crushed altogether, must be stripped of its mystery, made tame and answerable to the power of the priests. Throughout the lands the Free Bards, those who will not or cannot join the priest-condoned Guild, are being driven away. But all who are Free are free to choose: to flee or to fight.

A Strange and Ancient Name

Josepha Sherman

Hauberin, ruler of a Faerie princedom, has never lived an easy life. A young man in an ageless court, and (most shamefully) part human, he has been the target of plots from the day he first ascended his throne. But the curse of a dying foe proves more dangerous than any plot.

Denied sleep until he dies, Hauberin can break the spell only by learning his mother's father's name--an ancient nomer which may set him free--but destroy him utterly.

To that end Hauberin must search Earth, the world from which his mortal mother came, a world where Cold Iron promises hot death to anyone of Faerie, and even the hint of magic can lead to a fiery end.

Child of Faerie, Child of Earth

Josepha Sherman

Percinet, half-human son of a queen of Faerie, falls in love with a mortal, the daughter of a medieval count, and leaves his realm of magic to defend her against her cruel stepmother, a secret sorceress.

King's Son, Magic's Son

Josepha Sherman

Having won his Faerie love, Ailanna, at great peril to himself, young Aidan finds himself torn between a call to aid his embattled half-brother, the king, and a mighty oath sworn to the Lord of Faerie.

Son of Darkness

Josepha Sherman

A refugee from the dark realm he was born to rule as wizard, Ilaron Highborn comes to the aid of Denise Sheridan, curator of an art museum in New York City threatened with destruction by a Sumerian demon.

The Horse of Flame

Josepha Sherman

Princess Marya, ruler of Astyan, finds her land imperiled when her innocent husband frees an evil being with awesome powers from a secret, locked room in the cellars of her castle.

The Shining Falcon

Josepha Sherman

Ljuba, the evil sorceress, plots to unleash dark forces over the world, while the exiled Maria, daughter of a betrayed lord, nurses the dying Prince of Kirtesk, formerly the shining falcon, back to health.

Flashback

Dan Simmons

The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result.

Nick may be a lost soul but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son. This flashback-addict becomes the one man who may be able to change the course of an entire nation turning away from the future to live in the past.

A provocative novel set in a future that seems scarily possible, FLASHBACK proves why Dan Simmons is one of our most exciting and versatile writers.

Flashback

Dan Simmons

This novelette originally appeared in the collection Lovedeath (1993). It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eleventh Annual Collection (1994).

The Growing

Susanne M. Beck
Okasha Skat’si

It's 2012. Do you know where your androids are? In the near future, the world will grow complacent and a brilliant, if misguided, mind will seek to capitalize on that complacency by providing the common man and royalty alike with just the convenience he needs to aid him in his day to day labors. But what if suddenly those companions were to turn on their masters, sowing the seeds of destruction and death across the land? What if man's helper became his killer, and no one knew why or how to stop it? The Growing is the story of such a post-apocalyptic vision, and of the brave men and women who give everything they have to save the world from its eventual destruction. It is also the story of two lonely hearts, bitter enemies at first, who learn to trust and to love again in a world falling down all around them. Koda Rivers is a Lakota veterinarian and shaman whose roots run deep in her culture and in the soil of her native Black Hills. Kirsten King, Ph.D., is a brilliant cyberscientist and the sole surviving member of President Hillary Clinton's Cabinet. Each drawn by her own mission to destroy the androids, they meet in fire and blood at the North Dakota facility where the insurgent machines are manufactured. The Growing has all the bells and whistles of a classical epic: sweeping battles, a heroic love story, Amazon warriors, a blind bard, the gods of the land and a monster or two. The challenges present are met by our two heroes and their companions. These include Dakota's remarkable father and her warrior brother, Tacoma; Maggie Allen, USAF Colonel and crack pilot; an extraordinary German Shepherd named Asimov; and the spirits of the land in their various forms.

A Rendezvous in Averoigne: The Best Fantastic Tales of Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

In 1927, H.P. Lovecraft wrote about Clark Ashton Smith: "In sheer daemonic strangeness and fertility of conception, Mr. Smith is perhaps unexcelled by any other writer dead or living. Who else has seen such gorgeous, luxuriant, and feverishly distorted visions of infinite spheres and multiple dimensions and lived to tell the tale?" If you relish horror or dark fantasy, and you have yet to discover Klarkash-Ton, you have a real treat in store. This beautifully produced Arkham House collection is a bejeweled corridor into the dark worlds of vampire-cursed Averoigne, Zothique of the dying sun, primordial Hyperborea (which, with its black, amorphous god Tsathoggua, is close in spirit to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos), and others. Smith is a consummate stylist whose evocations of lush exoticism and languid evil led critic Brian Stableford to call him "the poet of American Decadence," and yet his tales are also humorous--in a wry, macabre way. A Rendezvous in Averoigne collects 30 tales, with illustrations by J.K. Potter and an introduction by Ray Bradbury.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction (A Rendezvous in Averoigne) - essay by Ray Bradbury
  • The Holiness of Azédarac - (1933)
  • The Colossus of Ylourgne - (1934)
  • The End of the Story - (1930)
  • A Rendezvous in Averoigne - (1931)
  • The Last Incantation - (1930)
  • The Death of Malygris - (1934)
  • A Voyage to Sfanomoë - (1931)
  • The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan - (1932)
  • The Seven Geases - (1934)
  • The Tale of Satampra Zeiros - (1931)
  • The Coming of the White Worm - (1941)
  • The City of the Singing Flame - (1931)
  • The Dweller in the Gulf - (1960)
  • The Chain of Aforgomon - (1935)
  • Genius Loci - (1933)
  • The Maze of Maal Dweb - (1938)
  • The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis - (1932)
  • The Uncharted Isle - (1930)
  • The Planet of the Dead - (1932)
  • Master of the Asteroid - (1932)
  • The Empire of the Necromancers - (1932)
  • The Charnel God - (1934)
  • Xeethra - (1934)
  • The Dark Eidolon - (1935)
  • The Death of Ilalotha - (1937)
  • The Last Hieroglyph - (1935)
  • Necromancy in Naat - (1936)
  • The Garden of Adompha - (1938)
  • The Isle of the Torturers - (1933)
  • Morthylla - (1953)

Red World of Polaris: The Adventures of Captain Volmar

Clark Ashton Smith

Table of Contents:

  • Red World of Polaris: The Adventures of Captain Volmar - interior artwork by Jason Van Hollander
  • 1 - The Magellan of the Constellations - essay by Ronald S. Hilger and Scott Connors
  • 11 - Marooned in Andromeda - [Captain Volmar - 1] - (1930) - novelette
  • 39 - A Captivity in Serpens - [Captain Volmar - 2] - (1931) - novelette
  • 79 - The Red World of Polaris - [Captain Volmar] - novelette
  • 109 - The Ocean-World of Alioth - [Captain Volmar] - (1984) - short story
  • 113 - Captain Volmar and Crew: An Afterword - essay by Donald Sidney-Fryer

Tales of Zothique

Clark Ashton Smith

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction - (1995) - essay by Will Murray
  • The Empire of the Necromancers - (1932) - short story
  • The Isle of the Torturers - (1933) - short story
  • The Charnel God - (1934) - novelette
  • The Dark Eidolon - (1935) - novelette
  • The Voyage of King Euvoran - (1933) - novelette
  • The Weaver in the Vault - (1934) - short story
  • The Tomb-Spawn - (1934) - short story
  • The Witchcraft of Ulua - (1934) - short story
  • Xeethra - (1934) - novelette
  • In the Book of Vergama - (1935) - short story by The Last Hieroglyph
  • The Last Hieroglyph - (1935) - short story
  • Shapes of Adamant - (1984) - short story
  • Necromancy in Naat - (1936) - novelette
  • The Black Abbot of Puthuum - (1936) - novelette
  • The Death of Ilalotha - (1937) - short story
  • The Garden of Adompha - (1938) - short story
  • Zothique - (1951) - poem
  • The Master of the Crabs - (1948) - short story
  • Morthylla - (1953) - short story
  • Mandor's Enemy - (1984) - short story
  • The Dead Will Cuckold You - (1963) - short fiction
  • Postscript - (1995) - essay by Will Murray

The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies

Clark Ashton Smith

Not just any fantasy, horror, and science fiction author could impress H. P. Lovecraft into calling him “unexcelled by any other writer, dead or living” or compel Fritz Lieber to employ the worthy term sui generis. Clark Ashton Smith—autodidact, prolific poet, amateur philosopher, bizarre sculptor, and unmatched storyteller—simply wrote like no one else, before or since. This new collection of his very best tales and poems is selected and introduced by supernatural literature scholar S. T. Joshi and allows readers to encounter Smith’s visionary brand of fantastical, phantasmagorical worlds, each one filled with invention, terror, and a superlative sense of metaphysical wonder.

Contents:

  • ix - Introduction (The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies) - (2014) - essay by S. T. Joshi
  • 3 - The Tale of Satampra Zeiros - [Satampra Zeiros] - (1931) - short story
  • 16 - The Last Incantation - [Malygris] - (1930) - short story
  • 21 - The Devotee of Evil - (1933) - short story
  • 34 - The Uncharted Isle - (1930) - short story
  • 45 - The Face by the River - (2004) - short story
  • 52 - The City of the Singing Flame - (1940) - novelette
  • 70 - The Holiness of Azédarac - [Averoigne] - (1933) - novelette
  • 91 - The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1932) - novelette
  • 112 - Ubbo-Sathla - [Hyperborea] - (1933) - short story
  • 120 - The Double Shadow - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - short story
  • 133 - The Maze of the Enchanter - [Maal Dweb] - (1933) - short story (variant of The Maze of Maal Dweb)
  • 149 - Genius Loci - (1933) - short story
  • 167 - The Dark Eidolon - [Zothique] - (1935) - novelette
  • 195 - The Weaver in the Vault - [Zothique] - (1934) - short story
  • 208 - Xeethra - [Zothique] - (1934) - novelette
  • 229 - The Treader of the Dust - (1935) - short story
  • 238 - Mother of Toads - [Averoigne] - (1938) - short story
  • 247 - Phoenix - (1954) - short story
  • 261 - The Image of Bronze and the Image of Iron - (1965) - poem
  • 262 - The Memnons of the Night - (1917) - poem
  • 263 - The Demon, the Angel, and Beauty - (1922) - poem
  • 264 - The Corpse and the Skeleton - (1965) - poem
  • 266 - A Dream of Lethe - (1922) - poem
  • 268 - Ennui - (1918) - poem
  • 270 - The Litany of the Seven Kisses - (1922) - poem
  • 271 - In Cocaigne - (1922) - poem
  • 272 - The Flower-Devil - (1922) - poem
  • 273 - The Shadows - (1922) - poem
  • 274 - The Passing of Aphrodite - [Prose Pastels - 5] - (1934) - poem
  • 276 - To the Daemon - [Prose Pastels - 6] - (1943) - poem
  • 277 - The Abomination of Desolation - (1938) - poem
  • 278 - The Mirror in the Hall of Ebony - [Prose Pastels - 2] - (1934) - poem
  • 279 - The Touch-Stone - (1988) - poem (variant of The Touchstone 1965)
  • 280 - The Muse of Hyperborea - [Prose Pastels - 3] - (1934) - poem
  • 283 - The Last Night - (1912) - poem
  • 283 - Ode to the Abyss - (1912) - poem
  • 285 - A Dream of Beauty - (1911) - poem
  • 286 - The Star-Treader - (1912) - poem
  • 290 - Retrospect and Forecast - (1912) - poem
  • 290 - Nero - (1912) - poem
  • 293 - To the Daemon Sublimity - (1961) - poem (variant of To the Daemon of Sublimity)
  • 293 - Averted Malefice - (1912) - poem
  • 294 - The Eldritch Dark - (1912) - poem
  • 294 - Shadow of Nightmare - (1912) - poem
  • 295 - Satan Unrepentant - (1918) - poem
  • 297 - The Ghoul - poem
  • 298 - Desire of Vastness - (1922) - poem
  • 298 - The Medusa of Despair - (1913) - poem
  • 299 - The Refuge of Beauty - (1918) - poem
  • 299 - The Harlot of the World - (1915) - poem
  • 300 - Memnon at Midnight - (1918) - poem
  • 300 - Love Malevolent - (1922) - poem
  • 301 - The Crucifixion of Eros - (1918) - poem
  • 302 - The Tears of Lilith - (1922) - poem
  • 302 - Requiescat in Pace - (1920) - poem
  • 303 - The Motes - (1922) - poem
  • 304 - The Hashish-Eater: or, The Apocalypse of Evil - (1922) - poem
  • 319 - A Psalm to the Best Beloved - (1922) - poem
  • 320 - The Witch with Eyes of Amber - (1923) - poem
  • 320 - We Shall Meet - (1923) - poem
  • 322 - On Re-Reading Baudelaire - (1971) - poem (variant of On Reading Baudelaire 1923)
  • 322 - To George Sterling: A Validation - poem
  • 324 - Anterior Life - poem
  • 325 - Hymn to Beauty - poem
  • 326 - The Remorse of the Dead - poem
  • 326 - Exorcism - (1971) - poem
  • 327 - Nyctalops - (1929) - poem
  • 328 - Outlanders - (1937) - poem
  • 329 - Song of the Necromancer - (1937) - poem
  • 330 - To Howard Philips Lovecraft - poem
  • 331 - Madrigal of Memory - (1942) - poem
  • 332 - The Old Wheel-Whell - poem
  • 333 - The Hill of Dionysus - (1961) - poem
  • 334 - If Winter Remain - (1971) - poem
  • 335 - Amithaine - (1951) - poem
  • 336 - Cycles - (1963) - poem
  • 339 - Explanatory Notes (The Dark Eidolon and Other Fantasies) - essay by S. T. Joshi

The Emperor of Dreams

Clark Ashton Smith

From the vampire-haunted alleyways of mediaeval Averoigne to the shining spires of dying Zothique, Clark Ashton Smith weaves his literary sorcery, transporting us to forgotten realms of necromancies and nightmares, lost worlds and other dimensions. In the enchanted regions of Hyperborea, Atlantis and Xiccarph, encounter malefic magic and demonic deeds beneath the last rays of a fading sun...

For the first time ever, this volume encompasses Clark Ashton Smith's entire career as a writer. Smith virtually stopped writing stories in 1937, for reasons that have never been satisfactorily explained, but he left behind a unique legacy of fantasy fiction which is as imaginative and decadent today as when it was first published in the pulp magazines more than half a century ago.

Contents: series are in [ ]

  • On Fantasy (1934), essay
  • Song of the Necromancer (1937), poem
  • The Abominations of Yondo (1926), short story
  • The Ninth Skeleton (1928), short story
  • The Last Incantation, [Malygris] (1930), short story
  • A Rendezvous in Averoigne, [Averoigne] (1931), short story
  • The Return of the Sorcerer, [Cthulhu Mythos] (1931), short story
  • The Tale of Satampra Zeiros, [Satampra Zeiros] (1931), short story
  • The Door to Saturn, [Hyperborea] (1932), short story
  • The Gorgon (1932), short story
  • The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan, [Hyperborea] (1932), short story
  • The Nameless Offspring (1932), novelette
  • The Empire of the Necromancers, [Zothique] (1932), short story
  • The Hunters from Beyond (1932), short story
  • The Isle of the Torturers, [Zothique] (1933), short story
  • The Beast of Averoigne, [Averoigne] (1933), short story
  • Genius Loci (1933), short story
  • Ubbo-Sathla, [Hyperborea] (1933), short story
  • The Kiss of Zoraida (1933), short story
  • The Seed from the Sepulcher (1933), short story
  • The Weaver in the Vault, [Zothique] (1934), short story
  • The Ghoul (1934), short story
  • The Charnel God, [Zothique] (1934), novelette
  • The Death of Malygris, [Malygris] (1934), short story
  • The Tomb-Spawn, [Zothique] (1934), short story
  • The Seven Geases, [Hyperborea] (1934), novelette
  • Xeethra, [Zothique] (1934), novelette
  • The Dark Eidolon, [Zothique] (1935), novelette
  • The Flower-Women, [Maal Dweb] (1935), short story
  • The Treader of the Dust (1935), short story
  • The Black Abbot of Puthuum, [Zothique] (1936), novelette
  • Necromancy in Naat, [Zothique] (1936), novelette
  • The Death of Ilalotha, [Zothique] (1937), short story
  • The Garden of Adompha, [Zothique] (1938), short story
  • Mother of Toads, [Averoigne] (1938), short story
  • The Double Shadow, [Poseidonis] (1933), short story
  • The Coming of the White Worm, [Hyperborea] (1941), short story
  • The Root of Ampoi (1949), short story
  • Morthylla, [Zothique] (1953), short story
  • An Offering to the Moon (1953), short story
  • The Theft of Thirty-nine Girdles, [Satampra Zeiros] (1958), short story
  • Symposium of the Gorgon (1958), short story
  • Told in the Desert (1964), short story
  • Prince Alcouz and the Magician(1977), short story
  • A Good Embalmer (1989), short story
  • The Mortuary (1971), poem
  • Afterword: The Lost Worlds of Klarkash-Ton,essay by Stephen Jones

The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

The Miscellaneous Writings of Clark Ashton Smith gathers together the adventure, juvenile and other non-fantastic fiction of Smith. While he is known best for his fantastic work, these adventure and mainstream stories shed light on the development of Smith's writing and his constantly evolving style. The Miscellaneous Writings is a perfect companion to the five volume Collected Fantasies set. As with that set, editors Scott Connors and Ron Hilger have prepared this volume by compared original manuscripts, various typescripts, published editions, and Smith's notes and letters, in order to prepare a definitive set of texts.

The Nameless Offspring

Clark Ashton Smith

It Is That Spawn Which the Hidden Dweller in the Vaults Has Begotten Upon Mortality.

This short story is included in the collections:

It first appeared in the June 1932 issue of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror available free on Internet Archives.

The Ninth Skeleton

Clark Ashton Smith

A bizarre and fantastic tale, about the procession of nine grisly skeletons that horrified the dreamy lover.

This short story is included in the collections:

It first appeared in the September, 1929 Issue of Weird Tales, available free on Internet Archives.

The Return Of The Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith

Selected carefully by well-respected editor Robert Weinberg and with an introduction by award-winning author Gene Wolfe, The Return of the Sorcerer: The Best of Clark Ashton Smith offers both readers and scholars a definitive collection of short fiction and short novels, by an overlooked master of fantasy, horror and science-fiction.

Table of Contents: [] contains series

  • Introduction The Return of The Sorcerer) (2009), essay by Gene Wolfe
  • The Return of The Sorcerer [Cthulhu Mythos] (1931), short story
  • The City of Singing Flame [Singing Flame, 1] (1931), novelette
  • Beyond The Singing Flame [Singing Flame, 2] (1931), novelette
  • The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] (1932), novelette
  • The Double Shadow [Poseidonis] (1933), short story
  • The Monster of The Prophecy (1932), novelette
  • The Hunters from Beyond (1932), short story
  • The Isle of The Torturers [Zothique] (1933), short story
  • A Night in Malnéant (1933), short story
  • The Chain of Aforgomon (1935), short story
  • The Dark Eidolon [Zothique] (1935), novelette
  • The Seven Geases [Hyperborea] (1934), novelette
  • The Holiness of Azédarac [Averoigne] (1933), novelette
  • The Beast of Averoigne [Averoigne] (1933), short story
  • The Empire of tThe Necromancers [Zothique] (1932), short story
  • The Disinterment of Venus [Averoigne] (1934), short story
  • The Devotee of Evil (1933), short story
  • The Enchantress of Sylaire [Averoigne] (1941), short story

A Sword of Bronze and Ashes

Anna Smith Spark

Kanda has a good life until shadows from her past return threatening everything she loves. And Kanda, like any parent, has things in her past she does not want her children to know. Red war is coming: pursued by an ancient evil, Kanda must call upon all her strength to protect her family. But how can she keep her children safe, if they want to stand as warriors beside her when the light fades and darkness rises?

The Big Flash

Norman Spinrad

Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Orbit 5 (1969), edited by Damon Knight. The story can also be found in World's Best Science Fiction: 1970, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr and The Road to Science Fiction 3: From Heinlein to Here (1979), edited by James Gunn. It is included in the collections No Direction Home (1975) and The Star-Spangled Future (1979).

Saint Vidicon to the Rescue

Christopher Stasheff

Tech troubleshooter Tony Ricci has been recruited by Saint Vidicon--the patron saint of computer geeks--to combat the forces of evil that wreak havoc within all things technological.

Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson

Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison--a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.

In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about Infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous...you'll recognize it immediately.

A Good Old-Fashioned Future

Bruce Sterling

From the subversive to the antic, the uproarious to the disturbing, the stories of Bruce Sterling are restless, energy-filled journeys through a world running on empty--The visionary work of one of our most imaginative and insightful modern writers.

They live as strangers in strange lands. In the worlds that have fallen--or should have. They wage battles in wars already lost and become heroes--and sometimes martyrs--in their last ditch efforts to preserve the dignity and individuality of humanity.

A hack Indian filmmaker takes the pulse of a wounded and declining civilization--21st century Britain. A pair of swashbuckling Silicon Valley entrepreneurs join forces to make a commercial killing--in organic underground slime and computer-generated jellyfish. A man in a Japanese city takes orders from a talking cat while pursuing a drama of danger and adventure that has become the very essence of his life.

From "The Littlest Jackal", a dark hilarious thriller of mercs and gunrunners set in Finland, to a stark vision of a post-atomic netherworld in his haunting tale "Taklamakan", Bruce Sterling once again breaks boundaries, breaks icons, and breaks rules to unleash the most dangerously provocative and intelligent science fiction being written today.

Table of Contents:

Trashlands

Alison Stine

A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: garbage is currency.

In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a "plucker," pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She's stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.

Amid the polluted landscape, Coral works desperately to save up enough to rescue her child from the recycling factories, where he is forced to work. In her stolen free hours, she does something that seems impossible in this place: Coral makes art.

When a reporter from a struggling city on the coast arrives in Trashlands, Coral is presented with an opportunity to change her life. But is it possible to choose a future for herself?

First, Become Ashes

K. M. Szpara

The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters.
His partner betrayed them to the Feds.

But Lark knows his magic is real, and he'll do anything to complete his quest.

For thirty years, the Fellowship of the Anointed isolated its members, conditioning them to believe that pain is power. That magic is suffering. That the world beyond the fence has fallen prey to monsters. But when their leader is arrested, all her teachings come into question.

Those touched by the Fellowship face a choice: how will they adjust to the world they were taught to fear, and how will they relate to the cult's last crusader, Lark? For Kane, survival means rejecting the magic he and his lover suffered for. For Deryn, the cult's collapse is an opportunity to prove they are worth as much as their Anointed brother. For Calvin, Lark is the alluring embodiment of the magic he's been seeking his entire life.

But for Lark, the Fellowship isn't over. Before he can begin to discover himself and heal a lifetime of traumas, he has a monster to slay.

Golubash, or Wine-Blood-War-Elegy

Catherynne M. Valente

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Federations (2009), edited by John Joseph Adams, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, January 2018. The story can also be found in the anthology War & Space: Recent Combat (2012), edited by Rich Horton and Sean Wallace. It is included in the collection Ventriloquism (2010).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Blood, Ash, Braids

Genevieve Valentine

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Operation Arcana (2015), edited by John Joseph Adams. Ik can also be found in the anthologies Year's Best Young Adult Speculative Fiction 2015 (2016), edited by Julia Rios and Alisa Krasnostein, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (2016), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Phoenix in the Ashes

Joan D. Vinge

Visions - Visions of love and conflict, anguish and Tomorrow. Of outcasts who must bridge the obsessions of two post Holocaust worlds; and an astronaut who finds her life's quest betrayed by a device from a alien past. A prince who became a beggar, with the power of the dragon; and a feudal serf who met a high tech lord, with he magic of a peddler. A Cat how had lost his mind powers and a Dreamweaver who had lost her mind. A barbarian priestess whose beauty challenged the world and whose child could melt the heart of an aliern God-on a crippled Earth that swam beneath a vast Cyclopean eye. The visions of Joan D Vinge.

Table of Contents:

  • Phoenix in the Ashes - (1978) - novelette
  • Afterword - Phoenix in the Ashes - essay
  • Voices from the Dust - (1980) - shortstory
  • Afterword - Voices from the Dust - essay
  • The Storm King - (1980) - novelette
  • Afterword - The Storm King - essay
  • The Peddler's Apprentice - (1975) - novelette and Vernor Vinge
  • Afterword - The Peddler's Apprentice - essay
  • Psiren - (1981) - novella
  • Afterword - Psiren - essay
  • Mother & Child - novella
  • Afterword - Mother and Child - essay

Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Kawai Strong Washburn

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.

Nainoa's family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods--a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family's legacy.

When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai'i--with tragic consequences--they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

The Battle Royale Slam Book

Nick Mamatas
Masumi Washington

The cult phenomenon Battle Royale has been lauded as a masterpiece and decried as exploitative gore, but it's always remained in the public consciousness. This collection of essays by some of the best science fiction, horror, and thriller writers working today explore the depth, details, and controversies surrounding Battle Royale in an intelligent, accessible fashion.

Project FarCry

Pauline Ashwell

While the human race spreads throughout the universe, a man gifted with telepathy considers his talent a curse, until a fateful encounter with an alien species convinces him about the potential of his powers.

The Lost Kafoozalum

Pauline Ashwell

Hugo Award nominated story. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fact -> Fiction, October 1960. The story can also be found in the anthology What If? Volume 2 (1981) edited by Richard A. Lupoff. It is included in the collection Unwillingly to Earth (1992).

Unwillingly to Earth

Pauline Ashwell

"A good, original, space-setting adventure" (Piers Anthony) from a Hugo Award nominee. Raised on a backwater miners' planet thousands of light-years from civilization, Lysistrata Lee is surprised to receive a scholarship to the most prestigious university in the galaxy. And in the process of getting an education, Lizzie manages to solve a murder, prevent a planetary war, and find a little romance.

Table of Contents:

Unwillingly to School

Pauline Ashwell

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, January 1958. The story is included in the collection Unwillingly to Earth (1992).

Mistress Masham's Repose

T. H. White

"She saw: first, a square opening, about eight inches wide, in the lowest step... finally she saw that there was a walnut shell, or half one, outside the nearest door... she went to look at the shell--but looked with the greatest astonishment. There was a baby in it."

So ten-year-old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, discovers the secret of her deteriorating estate: on a deserted island at its far corner, in the temple long ago nicknamed Mistress Masham's Repose, live an entire community of people--"The People," as they call themselves--all only inches tall. With the help of her only friend--the absurdly erudite Professor--Maria soon learns that this settlement is no less than the kingdom of Lilliput (first seen in Gulliver's Travels) in exile. Safely hidden for centuries, the Lilliputians are at first endangered by Maria's well-meaning but clumsy attempts to make their lives easier, but their situation grows truly ominous when they are discovered by Maria's greedy guardians, who look at The People and see only a bundle of money.

A Taste of Honey

Kai Ashante Wilson

Sturgeon and Hugo Award nominated novella.

Long after the Towers left the world but before the dragons came to Daluça, the emperor brought his delegation of gods and diplomats to Olorum. As the royalty negotiates over trade routes and public services, the divinity seeks arcane assistance among the local gods.

Aqib bgm Sadiqi, fourth-cousin to the royal family and son of the Master of Beasts, has more mortal and pressing concerns. His heart has been captured for the first time by a handsome Daluçan soldier named Lucrio. in defiance of Saintly Canon, gossiping servants, and the furious disapproval of his father and brother, Aqib finds himself swept up in a whirlwind romance. But neither Aqib nor Lucrio know whether their love can survive all the hardships the world has to throw at them.

A Taste of Honey is a new novella in the world of Kai Ashante Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.

Kaiju maximus®: 'So Various, So Beautiful, So New'

Kai Ashante Wilson

This story originally appeared in Fantasy Magazine, December 2015, Queers Destroy Fantasy! special issue. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Ten (2016), edited by Jonathan Strahan, and The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2016, edited by Paula Guran.

Super Bass

Kai Ashante Wilson

Gian returns to Sea-john from the Kingdom's wars certain that he has skills beyond killing, death and destruction. He needs to prove to himself that love is just as strong, if not stronger, than his hate. The Summer King gives him this opportunity.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Devil in America

Kai Ashante Wilson

Scant years after the Civil War, a mysterious family confronts the legacy that has pursued them across centuries, out of slavery, and finally to the idyllic peace of the town of Rosetree. The shattering consequences of this confrontation echo backwards and forwards in time, even to the present day.

This novelette is included in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine (2015), edited by Jonathan Strahan, Nebula Awards Showcase 2016, edited by Mercedes Lackey, and Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction (2018), edited by Irene Gallo.

Read this story online for free at Tor.com.

The Lamentation of Their Women

Kai Ashante Wilson

In Kai Ashante Wilson's The Lamentation of Their Women, the Prince of Darkness selects a young woman from the Bronx as his chief lieutenant. Content warning for mature themes and graphic violence.

This story is included in the anthologies The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2018, edited by Paula Guran, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Twelve (2018), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps

Kai Ashante Wilson

Critically acclaimed author Kai Ashante Wilson makes his commercial debut with this striking, wondrous tale of gods and mortals, magic and steel, and life and death that will reshape how you look at sword and sorcery.

Since leaving his homeland, the earthbound demigod Demane has been labeled a sorcerer. With his ancestors' artifacts in hand, the Sorcerer follows the Captain, a beautiful man with song for a voice and hair that drinks the sunlight.

The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive.

The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive.

The Eyeflash Miracles

Gene Wolfe

Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Future Power (1976), edtied by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. The story can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction of the Year #6 (1977), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collections The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (1980) and The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009).

Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture

Ytasha L. Womack

In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book's topics range from the "alien" experience of blacks in America to the "wake up" cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.

The Wizard of Washington Square

Jane Yolen

Under the fountain in Washington Square Park, there lives an incompetent wizard...

David has just moved to New York City from Connecticut, and he's a bit lonely. He hasn't made any friends yet, and the city is so big. But one Saturday afternoon in Washington Square Park, David and his dog, D. Dog, meet a girl named Leilah. Leilah tells David that there's a wizard in the park--a wizard who lives under the Washington Square fountain. At first, David thinks Leilah is just making things up--until he encounters the real live wizard! Unfortunately, the wizard's spells work at the most inconvenient times, and he accidentally turns David's dog into a marble statue. Before the wizard can change D. Dog back, a sneaky antiques dealer grabs the statue and races uptown to sell it. Can David's new friends help him get D. Dog back?

The Urashima Effect

E. Lily Yu

Sturgeon Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, #81 June 2013. It can also be found in the anthology Clarkesworld: Year Seven (2015), edited by Sean Wallace and Neil Clarke.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

The Teashop

Zoran Zivkovic

This story originally appeared in English in the collection 12 Collections & The Teashop (2007). It can also be found in the anthology Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2008 Edition, edited by Rich Horton. The story is included in the collection Compartments (2010). Translation into English by Alice Copple-Tosic.

Cowl

Neal Asher

In the far future, the Heliothane Dominion is triumphant in the solar system, after a bitter war with their Umbrathane progenitors. But some of the Umbrathane have escaped into the distant past, where they can position themselves to wreak havoc across time and undo their defeat. The most fanatical of them is the superhuman Cowl, more monstrous than any of the creatures outside his prehistoric redoubt.

Cowl sends his terrifying hyperdimensional pet, the torbeast, hunting through all the timelines for human specimens. It sheds its scales -- each one an organic time machine -- where its master orders. Anyone who picks one up is dragged back to the dawn of time, where Cowl awaits. Then the beast can feed, growing ever larger . . .

In our own near-future, Tack is one of U-gov's programmable killers. When a scale latches onto him, his doom seems inevitable, but the Heliothane have other ideas: they can use Tack against Cowl. Tack is no stranger to violence, but the Heliothane, hardened in their struggle for humanity's very existence, have much to teach him. He will need it all for his encounter with Cowl.

Once one of Tack's targets, Polly escaped with her life when a torbeast scale snatched her. Now, like Tack, she must learn fast as she is dragged back to Day Zero. To cheat death again, she will have to help him save the human race.

With Cowl, Neal Asher, acclaimed author of Gridlinked and The Skinner, has created his most powerful novel yet.

The Engineer ReConditioned

Neal Asher

Mysterious aliens...ruthless terrorists...androids with attitude...genetic manipulation...punch-ups with lasers...giant spaceships...what more do you want?

The Gabble and Other Stories

Neal Asher

In the eight years since his first full-length novel, "Gridlinked" was published by Pan Macmillan, Neal Asher has firmly established himself as one of the leading British writers of Science Fiction, and his novels are now translated in many languages. Most of his stories are set in a galactic future-scape called 'The Polity', and with this collection of marvellously inventive and action-packed short stories, he takes us further into the manifold diversities of that amazing universe. No one does monsters better than Neal Asher, so be prepared to revisit the lives and lifestyles of such favourites as the gabbleduck and the hooder, to savour alien poisons, the walking dead, the Sea of Death, and the putrefactor symbiont.

Gateways To Forever: The S-F Magazines from 1970 to 1980

Mike Ashley

This third volume in Mike Ashley's study of the science-fiction magazines, focuses on the turbulent years of the 1970s, when the United States emerged from the Vietnam War into an economic crisis. It saw the end of the Apollo moon programme and the start of the ecology movement. This proved to be one of the most complicated periods for the science-fiction magazines. Not only were they struggling to survive within the economic climate, they also had to cope with the death of the father of modern science fiction, John W. Campbell, Jr., while facing new and potentially threatening opposition. The market for science fiction diversified as never before, with the growth in new anthologies, the emergence of semi-professional magazines, the explosion of science fiction in college, the start of role-playing gaming magazines, underground and adult comics and, with the success of Star Wars, media magazines. This volume explores how the traditional science-fiction magazines coped with this, from the death of Campbell to the start of the major popular science magazine Omni and the first dreams of the Internet.

Science Fiction Rebels: The S-F Magazines from 1981 to 1990

Mike Ashley

Mike Ashley's acclaimed history of science-fiction magazines comes to the 1980s with Science-Fiction Rebels: The Story of the Science Fiction Magazines from 1981 to 1990. This volume charts a significant revolution throughout science fiction, much of which was driven by the alternative press, and by new editors at the leading magazines. The period saw the emergence of the cyberpunk movement, and the drive for, what David Hartwell called, 'The Hard SF Renaissance', which was driven from within Britain. Ashley plots the rise of many new authors in both strands: William Gibson, John Shirley, Bruce Sterling, John Kessel, Pat Cadigan, Rudy Rucker in cyberpunk, and Stephen Baxter, Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Neal Asher, Robert Reed, in hard sf. He also shows how the alternative magazines looked to support each other through alliances, which allowed them to share and develop ideas as science-fiction evolved.

The Rise of the Cyberzines: The Story of the S-F Magazines from 1991 to 2020

Mike Ashley

The Rise of the Cyberzines concludes Mike Ashley's five-volume series, which has tracked the evolution of the science-fiction magazine from its earliest days in the 1920s to its current explosion via the internet. This series has traced the ways in which the science-fiction magazine has reacted to the times and often led the way in breaking down barriers, for example in encouraging a greater contribution by women writers and stimulating science fiction globally. Magazines have continued to build upon past revolutions such as the 'new wave' and 'cyberpunk', producing a blend of high-tech science fiction and expansive speculative fiction that has broadened the understanding of science and its impact on society. This final volume, which covers the years 1991-2020, shows how the online magazine has superseded the print magazine and has continued to break down barriers, especially for the LGBTQ community and for writers of colour.

The Time Machines: The S-F Pulp Magazines, the Beginning to 1950

Mike Ashley

Originally conceived as a trilogy, this is the first of five volumes that chart the history of the science fiction magazine from the earliest days to the present. This first volume looks at the exuberant years of the pulp magazines. It traces the growth and development of the science fiction magazines from when Hugo Gernsback launched the very first, Amazing Stories, in 1926 through to the birth of the atomic age and the death of the pulps in the early 1950s. These were the days of the youth of science fiction, when it was brash, raw and exciting: the days of the first great space operas by Edward Elmer Smith and Edmond Hamilton, through the cosmic thought variants by Murray Leinster, Jack Williamson and others to the early 1940s when John W. Campbell at Astounding did his best to nurture the infant genre into adulthood. Under him such major names as Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and Theodore Sturgeon emerged who, along with other such new talents as Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, helped create modern science fiction. For over forty years magazines were at the heart of science fiction and this book considers how the magazines, and their publishers, editors and authors influenced the growth and perception of this fascinating genre.

Transformations: The S-F Magazines from 1950 to 1970

Mike Ashley

This is the second volume, which charts the history of the science fiction magazine from the earliest days to the present. The first volume Time Machines traced the development of the sf magazine from its earliest days and the creation of the first specialist magazine, Amazing Stories. Transformations takes up the story to reveal a turbulent period that was to witness the extraordinary rise and fall and rise again of science. Britain's foremost sf historian, Mike Ashley charts the sf boom years in the wake of the nuclear age that was to see the 'The Golden Age' of Science Fiction with the emergence of magazines such as Galaxy, Startling Stories and Fantastic, as well as authors like Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick and Frank Herbert. He then goes on to explore the bust years of 1954-1960 followed by the renaissance in the 1960s led by the new wave of British authors like Michael Moorcock and J.G. Ballard and the rise in interest of fantasy fiction, encouraged by Lord of the Rings and the Conan books of Robert E. Howard. Transformations concludes with an examination of the new found interest in sf magazines during the late 1960s and the incredibly influential roles Star Treck , the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and, above all, the first manned Moon landing played in transforming the sf magazine.

Wrong Side of the Moon

Francis Leslie Ashton
Stephen Ashton

Danger from Vega / Clash of Star-Kings

Avram Davidson
John Rackham

Danger from Vega

Shot down on an ennemy-occupied planet.

Clash of Star-Kings

The night the stars fell and the spacemen rose.

Planet of Exile / Mankind Under the Leash

Thomas M. Disch
Ursula K. Le Guin

Planet of Exile

The Earth colony of Landin has been stranded on Werel for ten years, and ten of Werel's years are over 600 terrestrial years, and the lonely and dwindling human settlement is beginning to feel the strain. Every winter, a season that lasts for 15 years, the Earthmen have neighbors: the humanoid hilfs, a nomadic people who only settle down for the cruel cold spell. The hilfs fear the Earthmen, whom they think of as witches and call the farborns. But hilfs and farborns have common enemies: the hordes of ravaging barbarians called gaals and eerie preying snow ghouls. Will they join forces or be annihilated?

Mankind Under the Leash

Ever since the alien Masters had taken control, domesticating mankind with their energy-technology and the all-powerful mental Leash, the human condition had changed from toil and trouble to Total Wish Fulfillment. Only the Dingoes, the obstinate ones who resisted the Masters' Leash, weren't invited to the cosmic party. Poor Dingoes!

Starhaven / The Sun Smasher

Edmond Hamilton
Ivar Jorgenson

Starhaven

Johnny Mantell, beachcomber and broke bum, is blamed for the accidental death of a tourist. Seeing no better alternative, he steals a Star Patrol ship and flies to Starhaven, an artificial planet made to protect pirates, murderers, and villains of all kinds: an anarchic planet free of social mores and constraints.

The Sun Smasher

"It can't be true! It must be some kind of hoax!"

These are the words that go spinning through Neil Banning's mind when the Greenville authorities tell him that the house he had grown up in, the aunt and uncle who had raised him, never existed. Soon Banning finds himself in jail, charged with disturbing the peace, and maybe insanity. But when a stranger from outer space visits his cell at midnight and hails him as the Valkar of Katuun. Banning decides that maybe the authorities are right and he is crazy. Because his only alternative is to believe the impossible: that he really is the Valkar of Katuun, exiled emperor of a star empire, and the personality of Neil Banning nothing more than an elaborate fraud.

It doesn't really matter, though, who is right. For Banning finds himself starnapped, on his way to Katuun, whether he likes it or not. And as Banning, or the Valkar, he has to save that star-world from the terror of the Sun Smasher or perish with the loyal subjects he might never even have known!

Lilith in a New Light: Essays on the George MacDonald Fantasy Novel

Lucas H. Harriman

Considered George MacDonald's greatest work, Lilith (1895) is among the most popular and profound fantasy novels of the Victorian era. This collection of critical essays is the first book-length study of this important literary work. The selections function in working dialogue with one another, driven by the central idea of liminality in fantasy literature. In addition to providing fresh interpretations of the novel, these essays implement esteemed background scholarship on Lilith, including that of notable author C.S. Lewis. Analytical topics include MacDonald's rhetorical strategy as a writer of prose romance, the implications of the novel's famous "endless ending," and the significance of Lilith in the development of modern fantasy.

British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays

Tobias Hochscherf
James Leggott

Written by international experts from a range of disciplines, these essays examine the uniquely British contribution to science fiction film and television. Viewing British SF as a cultural phenomenon that challenges straightforward definitions of genre, nationhood, authorship and media, the editors provide a conceptual introduction placing the essays within their critical context. Essay topics include Hammer science fiction films, the various incarnations of Doctor Who, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, and such 21st-century productions as 28 Days Later and Torchwood.

The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction

Jason W. Ellis
Swaralipi Nandi
Masood Ashraf Raja

In twelve critical and interdisciplinary essays, this text examines the relationship between the fantastic in novels, movies and video games and real-world debates about nationalism, globalization and cosmopolitanism. Topics covered include science fiction and postcolonialism, issues of ethnicity, nation and transnational discourse. Altogether, these essays chart a new discursive space, where postcolonial theory and science fiction and fantasy studies work cooperatively to expand our understanding of the fantastic, while simultaneously expanding the scope of postcolonial discussions.

Contents:

  • 1 - Foreword (The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction) - essay by Donald M. Hassler
  • 5 - Introduction (The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction) - essay by Swaralipi Nandi and Masood Ashraf Raja
  • 17 - Science Fiction as Experimental Ground for Issues of the Postcolonial Novel - essay by Michele Braun
  • 30 - Truth Is Stranger: The Postnational "Aliens" of Biofiction - essay by Karen Cardozo and Banu Subramaniam
  • 46 - Forms of Compromise: The Interaction of Humanity, Technology and Landscape in Ken MacLeod's Night Sessions - essay by Adam Frisch
  • 56 - The Language of Postnationality: Cultural Identity via Science Fictional Trajectories - essay by Chris Pak
  • 73 - The "Popular" Science: Bollywood's Take on Science Fiction and the Discourse of Nations - essay by Swaralipi Nandi
  • 88 - Postcolonial Ethics and Identity in Kirinyaga - essay by Jenn Brandt
  • 100 - The Frontier Myth and Racial Politics - essay by Angel Mateos-Aparicio Martin-Albo
  • 125 - Dystopia and the Postcolonial Nation - essay by Suparno Banderjee
  • 141 - Body Speaks: Communication and the Limits of Nationalism in Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis Trilogy - essay by Katherine R. Broad
  • 156 - Engineering a Comopolitan Future: Race, Nation, and World of Warcraft - essay by Jason W. Ellis
  • 174 - When "Nation" Stops Making Sense: Mexico and Giorgio Agamben's "State of Exception" in Children of Men - essay by Stacy Schmitt Rusnak
  • 188 - Fantastic Language/Political Reporting: The Postcolonial Science Fiction Illocutionary Force Is with Us - essay by Marleen S. Barr

A Day in Deep Freeze

Lisa Shapter

1963: Emran Greene is a successful corporate accountant, a hopeful soon-to-be-father, and an unremarkable husband - except for the lingering effects of an experimental wartime truth serum, his ex-boyfriend, the impossibility of his conceiving a child, and all of the other secrets he keeps from his wife and his employer. One of these, the secret of the lonely grave he visits regularly in Riverport's Castleview Cemetery, holds a tragedy that just won't stay gone...

Trash Sex Magic

Jennifer Stevenson

Sex is a force of nature. ""A woman stood behind him-no, no mere woman: a bombshell, a vamp, a va-va-voom-a gypsy queen, a menace from Venus."" Raedawn Somershoe lives in a trailer on the banks of the Fox River. She likes men and men like her. It runs in the family: her mother, Gelia, can seduce a man just by walking across a road. When they set their sights on a man, something magical happens. Alexander Caebeau drives a bucketloader for a construction company. He's lonely, homesick, tired of cutting down trees and putting up ugly buildings. He'd like to go back to the Bahamas, but his grandmother won't let him come home. When Alexander met Raedawn Somershoe, something magical happened. Raedawn has just lost her lover. Her mother is keeping secrets from her, her childhood sweetheart is coming home, riverfront developers want Rae and her family gone. She may just be falling in love with Alexander Caebeau. And the Fox River is beginning to rise. . .something magical is about to happen.

Ash Wednesday

Chet Williamson

In Merridale, semi-transparent blue apparitions have appeared. These aren't ghosts, exactly. They are visions of the dead in their final moments – the last seconds of their lives portrayed for all to see. They don't move, and they don't speak.

Ash Wednesday is a thoughtful horror story about what happens to people when they are forced to gaze into the face of death and, specifically, the face of their own personal dead: their friends and family, those they believed to be dead and gone. Murders are revealed, rapes and other crimes. People despair, and try to create new lives out of the wreckage. Two of these are Bradley Meyers, a vet already driven half-crazy by his experiences in Vietnam, confronted by the sight of his dead son, and now barely capable of containing his rage, and Jim Callender, whose son has died in the same accident, for which he is partly responsible. As Callender sinks into guilt, Meyers moves toward murder.

Bridge of Ashes

Roger Zelazny

He was the greatest telepath the world has ever known. he was Archimedes, Leonardo da Vinci, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and a Children of the Earth terrorist all rolled into one...He was Dennis Guise, idiot child, whose mind had been suffocated and nearly obliterated by a universe of other people's thoughts...And he was Earth's last hope against an enemy that had created the human race but would destroy it all again if Dennis Archimedes Leonardo Jean Jacques Humanity Guise could not meet this enemy on its own terms and win.

A Clash of Kings

A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 2

George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin, a writer of unsurpassed vision, power, and imagination, has created a landmark of fantasy fiction. In his widely acclaimed A Game of Thrones, he introduced us to an extraordinary world of wonder, intrigue, and adventure. Now, in the eagerly awaited second volume in this epic saga, he once again proves himself a master myth-maker, setting a standard against which all other fantasy novels will be measured for years to come.

Time is out of joint. The summer of peace and plenty, ten years long, is drawing to a close, and the harsh, chill winter approaches like an angry beast. Two great leaders--Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon--who held sway over an age of enforced peace are dead...victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns, as pretenders to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms prepare to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war.

As a prophecy of doom cuts across the sky--a comet the color of blood and flame--six factions struggle for control of a divided land. Eddard's son Robb has declared himself King in the North. In the south, Joffrey, the heir apparent, rules in name only, victim of the scheming courtiers who teem over King's Landing. Robert's two brothers each seek their own dominion, while a disfavored house turns once more to conquest. And a continent away, an exiled queen, the Mother of Dragons, risks everything to lead her precious brood across a hard hot desert to win back the crown that is rightfully hers.

A Clash of Kings transports us into a magnificent, forgotten land of revelry and revenge, wizardry and warfare. It is a tale in which maidens cavort with madmen, brother plots against brother, and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, the price of glory may be measured in blood. And the spoils of victory may just go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when rulers clash, all of the land feels the tremors.

Audacious, inventive, brilliantly imagined, A Clash of Kings is a novel of dazzling beauty and boundless enchantment--a tale of pure excitement you will never forget.

Sasha

A Trial of Blood and Steel: Book 1

Joel Shepherd

Sasha is a fighter, the like of which the highland country of Lenayin has never seen.

Spurning her royal heritage to be raised by the great warrior, Kessligh, her exquisite swordplay astonishes all who witness it. But Sasha is still young, untested in battle and often led by her rash temper. In the complex world of Lenayin loyalties, her defiant wilfulness is attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Lenayin is a land almost divided by its two faiths: the Verenthane of the ruling classes and the pagan Goeren-yai, amongst whom Sasha now lives. The Goeren-yai worship swordplay and honour and begin to see Sasha as the great spirit the Synnich who will unite them. But Sasha is still searching for what she believes and must choose her side carefully.

When the Udalyn people -- the symbol of Goeren-yai pride and courage -- are attacked, Sasha will face her moment of testing. How will she act? Is she ready to lead? Can she be the saviour they need her to be?

Her Majesty's Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 1

Christopher Stasheff

Matt read the forbidden runes and found himself in a world where reciting verses worked magic. He got himself locked in a dungeon, created a fire-breathing dragon, and eventually discovered a beautiful princess he swore to save. Little did he guess how hard that would be....

The Oathbound Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 2

Christopher Stasheff

Matt Mandrell, unsuspecting graduate student, never imagined his research would lead him to a strange scrap of parchment that would change his life forever....

Crossing the void of time and space, Matt is whisked away to an enchanted world where speaking in rhymes works the most dazzling magic. There he wins not only fame and power as the Lord High Wizard, but the heart of the beautiful Queen Alisande. His dreams are shattered, though, when he learns that he can't marry his true love; wizard or not, Matt is just a commoner in this bizarre land.

So Matt makes a foolish vow: to conquer a kingdom, any kingdom, if that's what it takes to claim his bride. But, as Matt discovers, in this world of enchantment, such an oath cannot be broken. He has truly committed himself to win a crown or die trying.

In search of lands to conquer, Matt sets his sights on neighboring Ibile, where the evil Gordorgrosso rules with an iron fist and sinister magic. Matt marches off against the tyrant, gathering a small band of unlikely allies, including a surly dracogriff, a well-spoken cyclop, and a damsel in distress. But against Gordogrosso's foul genius, Matt is going to need much more than a few stout-hearted companions and some clever rhymes....

Oathbound Wizard is the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up.

The Witch Doctor

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 3

Christopher Stasheff

Saul didn't have so many friends that he would give one up without a fight. So when Matt disappeared, Saul started a search that led through Matt's kitchen window -- straight into a world of magic and desperate danger!

Saul discovered that in this world, his love of verse made him a wizard. But his newfound magic earned him a dreadful foe: Queen Suettay, a false monarch without peer for wickedness and corruption. A fearsome sorceress herself, with armies steeped in evil ready to obey her every sinful command, she determined to break Saul's growing power -- or win his soul for Satan.

Fortunately, Saul earned some stalwart friends, as well: Gruesome the troll and young Squire Gilbert; Saul's own guardian angel, and the beautiful -- if unsubstantial -- Angelique. But he'd need the help of the mysterious Spider King to spin a web strong enough to trap this tyrant!

The Secular Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 4

Christopher Stasheff

THE WANDERING WIZARD

In sunny Latruria, the wicked old king was dead, and the new king spurned the rule of Evil. But turmoil began to spread, even across the border, when the new king also resisted Good! In nearby Merovence, Lord Wizard Matt Mantrell donned a disguise and set off to investigate--never dreaming that Latruria's sinister prime minister was mobilizing his minions...

"Minstrel" Matt sang his way south, dodging deadly enemies and music critics alike. He was teamed with a lovesick lad, menaced by a manticore, haunted by a ghost from Greece, and swept along in a flood of youngsters fleeing the provinces for the "glamour" of the city. But when they all washed up in the capital, harsh reality awaited them, not gold-paved streets.

And even harsher reality awaited Matt. The Lord Wizard faced the ultimate test of magic--and he would need a lot of help to pass!

My Son, the Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 5

Christopher Stasheff

A WORLD OF TROUBLES--TIMES TWO!

Matt Mantrell--Her Majesty's Wizard--conjured himself from magical Merovence to Jersey City for a long-delayed visit to his parents. Back in his hometown vicious, drug-dealing gangs had reduced Matt's old neighborhood to a wasteland, driven his father out of business, and forced his parents to the brink of destitution and homelessness. The only answer was for Matt to transport them--permanently--to Merovence.

But once back in that realm with his parents in tow, Matt found that Merovence and the neighboring Kingdom of Ibile faced imminent subjugation by the conquest-hungry Moors. As Queen Alisande led her army to engage the enemy head-on, Matt launched his own campaign--with the aid of his fledgling wizard father, the faithful dragon Stegoman, and a hapless tag-along thief. Grappling with djinnis, matching wits with a Moorish military genius, and trading spells with sinister sorcerers, they sought to root out the real enemy behind the mayhem: a cunning and deadly wizard who served the most evil master of all...

Don't lose any time! Join Christopher Stasheff and return to the wondrous, adventure-filled world of A Wizard in Rhyme!

The Haunted Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 6

Christopher Stasheff

CAN THE WIZARD OF RHYME SOLVE A ROYAL CRIME?

There's little love lost between the kindly monarchs of Merovence and the scheming sovereigns of Bretanglia. But when the brutish Prince Gaheris--heir apparent to the Bretanglian throne--is murdered during a brawl in a Merovence tavern, any pretense of civility between the two kingdoms flies out the window faster than the mysterious brigand who committed the dastardly deed.

While the outraged king and queen of Bretanglia declare their intention to lay siege to Merovence, royal wizard Matthew Mantrell suspects the slain prince was done in by one of his own "loyal" subjects.

As both sides gird for battle, Matt sets out--with trusty dragon in tow--to catch the killer. But the road to royal justice is rocky indeed, and a powerful sorcerer, a sinister cult of false druids, and a mischievous spirit are just some of the obstacles Matt must conquer--by wit or wizardry--to save his enchanted land from unholy forces of darkness...

The Crusading Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 7

Christopher Stasheff

THE WIZARD AT WAR

From beyond the mountains, a monstrous scourge sweeps down the steppes--a bloodthirsty barbarian horde, seemingly endless in numbers and hell-bent on conquest. With each nation that falls before their murderous onslaught, the marauders draw closer to Merovence, where good Queen Alisande rules with the help of her husband, Royal Wizard Matt Mantrell.

Now Matt and Alisande receive an urgent call for help from Jerusalem-- destined to be the barbarians' next target. But when Matt arrives in the Holy City to assess the imminent threat, he makes a shocking discovery: The power-mad khan who rules the ravaging minions is in league with a far greater and more dreadful enemy! With the aid of his old ally the djinn princess, a giant talking bird, and a fledgling enchantress with the power to change into a cat, Matt must call upon every resource, magical and mortal, to defy the triumph of pure evil...

The Feline Wizard

A Wizard in Rhyme: Book 8

Christopher Stasheff

A CAT-NAPPED PRINCESS

The feline sorceress Balkis has returned to Maracanda to reclaim her royal title. But a vengeful foe sprouts a diabolical scheme to spirit away the Princess of the Eastern Gate and send her tumbling forever through unknown worlds. Now an unprecedented search is begun, led by Balkis's mentor, Royal Wizard Matthew Mantrell.

But the hardship of finding his apprentice cannot compare to Balkis's own struggle to escape the strange world in which she has landed. With the aid of a soul-weary young boy named Anthony, Balkis mounts a magnificent, though treacherous, journey. Together they must rely on each other and their powers--both mortal and magic--to defy the forces of darkness and embrace the destiny they are fated to share...

White Trash Warlock

Adam Binder: Book 1

David R. Slayton

Not all magicians go to schools of magic.

Adam Binder has the Sight. It's a power that runs in his bloodline: the ability to see beyond this world and into another, a realm of magic populated by elves, gnomes, and spirits of every kind. But for much of Adam's life, that power has been a curse, hindering friendships, worrying his backwoods family, and fueling his abusive father's rage.

Years after his brother, Bobby, had him committed to a psych ward, Adam is ready to come to grips with who he is, to live his life on his terms, to find love, and maybe even use his magic to do some good. Hoping to track down his missing father, Adam follows a trail of cursed artifacts to Denver, only to discover that an ancient and horrifying spirit has taken possession of Bobby's wife.

It isn't long before Adam becomes the spirit's next target. To survive the confrontation, save his sister-in-law, and learn the truth about his father, Adam will have to risk bargaining with very dangerous beings... including his first love.

Clash of Iron

Age of Iron: Book 2

Angus Watson

LEADERS ARE FORGED IN THE FIRES OF WAR

Iron Age warriors Dug and Lowa captured Maidun castle and freed its slaves. But now they have conquered it, they must defend it.

A Roman invasion is coming from Gaul, but rather than uniting to protect their home, the British tribes battle each other - and see Maidun as an easy target.

Meanwhile, Lowa's spies infiltrate Gaul, discovering the Romans have recruited bloodthirsty British druids, and Maidunite Ragnall finds his loyalties torn when he meets Rome's charismatic general, Julius Caesar.

War is coming. Who will pay its price?

Shadow of the Scorpion

Agent Cormac Series

Neal Asher

Ian Cormac's Early Years!

Raised to adulthood during the end of the war between the human Polity and a vicious alien race, the Prador, Ian Cormac, is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn't remember. Cormac signs up with Earth Central Security and is sent out to help restore and maintain order on worlds devastated by the war.There he discovers that though the Prador remain as murderous as ever, they are not anywhere near as treacherous or dangerous as some of his fellow humans, some closer to him than he would like. Amidst the ruins left by wartime genocides, Cormac will discover in himself a cold capacity for violence and learn some horrible truths about his own past while trying to stay alive on his course of vengeance.

Gridlinked

Agent Cormac Series: Book 1

Neal Asher

Gridlinked is a science fiction adventure in the classic, fast-paced, action-packed tradition of Harry Harrison and Poul Anderson, with a dash of cyberpunk and a splash of Ian Fleming added to spice the mix.

Cormac is a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future where "runcibles" (matter transmitters controlled by AIs) allow interstellar travel in an eye blink throughout the settled worlds of the Polity. Unfortunately Cormac is nearly burnt out, "gridlinked" to the AI net so long that his humanity has begun to drain away. He has to take the cold-turkey cure and shake his addiction to having his brain on the net.

Now he must do without just as he’s sent to investigate the unique runcible disaster that's wiped out the entire human colony on planet Samarkand in a thirty-megaton explosion. With the runcible out, Cormac must get there by ship, but he has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Arian Pelter, who now follows him across the galaxy with a terrifying psychotic killer android in tow. And deep beneath Samarkand's surface there are buried mysteries, fiercely guarded.

This is fast-moving, edge-of-the-seat entertainment, and a great introduction to the work of one of the most exciting new SF talents in years.

The Line of Polity

Agent Cormac Series: Book 2

Neal Asher

Outlink station Miranda has been destroyed by a nanomycelium and, because of this method of sabotage, the alien bioconstruct, Dragon – a creature as untrustworthy as it is gigantic – is thought to be involved. Sent on the titanic Polity dreadnought, the Occam Razor, Agent Cormac must investigate this, and resolve the question of Masada, a world about to be subsumed when the line of polity is drawn across it.

But the biophysicist Skellor has not been captured, and controls something so potent that Polity AIs are prepared to hunt him down forever, to prevent him using it.

On Masada the rebellion can never rise above ground as the slave population is subjugated by orbital laser arrays controlled by the Theocracy in their cylinder worlds, and by the fact that they cannot leave their compounds. For the wilderness of Masada is without breathable air, and out there roam the monstrous hooders, siluroynes, and the weird and terrible gabbleducks.

Brass Man

Agent Cormac Series: Book 3

Neal Asher

The knight errant Anderson is hunting a dragon on the primitive Out-Polity world of Cull, little knowing that far away a man has resurrected a brass killing machine to assist in a similar hunt that encompasses star systems. When agent Cormac learns that an old enemy still lives, he sets out in pursuit aboard the attack ship Jack Ketch … whilst scientist Mika begins discovering the horrifying truth about that ancient technology ostensibly produced by the alien Jain, who died out five million years ago.

On a planet roamed by ferocious insectile monsters the people of Cull must struggle to survive, while they build the industrial base to reach their forefathers’ starship still orbiting far above them. An entity calling itself Dragon assists them, but its motives are questionable having created genetic by-blows of humans and the hideous local monsters, before growing bored with that game. And now Cull, for millennia geologically inactive, suffers earthquakes...

Meanwhile a brass killing machine seeks to escape a bloody past it can neither forget nor truly remember. So mindlessly will continue its search for sanity, which it might find in an instant or not for a thousand years.

Polity Agent

Agent Cormac Series: Book 4

Neal Asher

From 800 years in the future, a runcible gate is opened into the Polity and those coming through it have been sent specially to take the alien 'Maker' back to its home civilization in the Small Magellanic cloud. Once these refugees are safely through, the gate itself is rapidly shut down - because something alien is pursuing them. The gate is then dumped into a nearby sun.

From those refugees who get through, agent Cormac learns that the Maker civilization has been destroyed by pernicious virus known as the Jain technology. This, of course, raised questions: why was Dragon, a massive bioconstruct of the Makers, really sent to the Polity; why did a Jain node suddenly end up in the hands of someone who could do the most damage with it?

Meanwhile an entity called the Legate is distributing pernicious Jain nodes ...and a renegade attack ship, The King of Hearts, has encountered something very nasty outside the Polity itself.

Line War

Agent Cormac Series: Book 5

Neal Asher

The Polity is under attack from melded AI entity controlling the lethal Jain technology, but the attack seems to have no coherence. When one of Erebus’s wormships kills millions on the world of Klurhammon, a high-tech agricultural world of no real tactical significance, Cormac is sent to investigate, though he is struggling to control an ability no human being should possess, and beginning to question the motives of his AI masters.

Further attacks and seemingly indiscriminate slaughter ensue, but only serve to bring some of the most dangerous individuals in the Polity into the war. Mr Crane, the indefatigable brass killing machine sets out for vengeance. Orlandine, a vastly-augmented haiman who herself controls Jain technology, seeks a weapon of appalling power and finds allies from an ancient war.

Meanwhile Mika, scientist and Dragon expert, is again kidnapped by that alien entity and dragged to the heart of things; to wake the makers of Jain technology from their five million year slumber.

But Erebus’s attacks are not indiscriminate, and could spell the end of the Polity...

An Ember in the Ashes

An Ember in the Ashes: Book 1

Sabaa Tahir

Sabaa Tahir's AN EMBER IN THE ASHES is a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and pulse-pounding read. Set in a rich, high-fantasy world with echoes of ancient Rome, it tells the story of a slave fighting for her family and a young soldier fighting for his freedom.

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire's impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They've seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia's brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire's greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school's finest soldier--and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he's being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined--and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

A Torch Against the Night

An Ember in the Ashes: Book 2

Sabaa Tahir

Elias and Laia are running for their lives.

Following the events of the Fourth Trial, an army led by Masks hunts the two fugitives as they escape the city of Serra and journey across the vast lands of the Martial Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf--the Empire's most secure and dangerous prison--and save her brother, whose knowledge of Serric steel is the key to the Scholars' future. And Elias is determined to stay by Laia's side... even if it means giving up his own chance at freedom.

But Elias and Laia will have to fight every step of the way if they're going to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene--Elias's former friend and the Empire's newest Blood Shrike.

Helene's mission is horrifying, unwanted, and clear: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape... and kill them both.

A Reaper at the Gates

An Ember in the Ashes: Book 3

Sabaa Tahir

Beyond the Empire and within it, the threat of war looms ever larger.

The Blood Shrike, Helene Aquilla, is assailed on all sides. Emperor Marcus, haunted by his past, grows increasingly unstable, while the Commandant capitalizes on his madness to bolster her own power. As Helene searches for a way to hold back the approaching darkness, her sister's life and the lives of all those in the Empire hang in the balance.

Far to the east, Laia of Serra knows the fate of the world lies not in the machinations of the Martial court, but in stopping the Nightbringer. But while hunting for a way to bring him down, Laia faces unexpected threats from those she hoped would aid her, and is drawn into a battle she never thought she'd have to fight.

And in the land between the living and the dead, Elias Veturius has given up his freedom to serve as Soul Catcher. But in doing so, he has vowed himself to an ancient power that will stop at nothing to ensure Elias's devotion--even at the cost of his humanity.

A Sky Beyond the Storm

An Ember in the Ashes: Book 4

Sabaa Tahir

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

By his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory--or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life--and love--he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save--or destroy--all that he knows.

Then Will the Great Ocean Wash Deep Above

Apollo Quartet: Book 3

Ian Sales

It is April 1962. The Korean War has escalated and the US is struggling to keep the Russians and Chinese north of the 38th parallel. All the men are away fighting, but that doesn't mean the Space Race is lost. NASA decides to look elsewhere for its astronauts: the thirteen women pilots who passed the same tests as the original male candidates. These are the Mercury 13: Jerrie Cobb, Janey Hart, Myrtle Cagle, Jerri Sloan, Jan Dietrich, Marion Dietrich, Bernice Steadman, Wally Funk, Sarah Gorelick, Gene Nora Stumbough, Jean Hixson, Rhea Hurrle and Irene Leverton. One of these women will be the first American in space. Another will be the first American to spacewalk. Perhaps one will even be the first human being to walk on the Moon. Beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, deep in the Puerto Rico Trench north of San Juan, lies a film bucket from a KH-4 Corona spy satellite. It should have been caught in mid-air by a C-130 from the 6549th Test Group. That didn't happen. So the US Navy bathyscaphe Trieste II must descend twenty thousand feet to retrieve the bucket, down where light has never reached and the pressure is four tons per square inch. But there is more in the depths than anyone had expected, much more. This is not our world. But it very nearly was.

Flash

Archform: Beauty: Book 2

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Ten years ago, Jonat deVrai was a rising star in the Marines. But he shocked his superiors by walking away from the Corps after witnessing atrocity and hypocrisy during the Reclamation of Guyana. Starting his life over, he established himself as the world's expert on the effectiveness of "prod"-- product placement, the only advertising which viewers will allow through the sophisticated filters they all use against unwanted intrusions on their electronic link networks. Prod, reinforced with sublims and the "res" -- resonant frequencies, a form of sonic branding -- is the wave of the future.

Jonat now advises multinational corporations on their prod campaigns, his busy life only occasionally disturbed by vivid flashbacks to his military years. Then his comfortable world is upset when the Centre for Societal Research approaches him to study the effects of res and prod on political campaigns.

After a res-heavy political rally for Laborite Republican Senatorial candidate Juan Carlismo, armed thugs jump deVrai in a parking garage. A day later, a sniper ambushes him. What looked like a safe, lucrative contract has suddenly turned dangerous. The stakes raise further when deVrai foils a remote-controlled cydroid assassination attempt on a Popular Democrat candidate. Cydroids built from deVrai's stolen DNA are turning up dead throughout NorAm.

Suspicion and conspiracy race around Jonat. Who wants him dead? Candidate Juan Carlismo's use of prod is skirting the limits of legality. The Centre has its own obscure agenda and may want deVrai as a martyr. The terrorist group PAMD is targeting ascendents in deVrai's family. And one of his clients is known for holding legendary grudges - could he have gone over the edge?

With his life on the line, deVrai must sort flash from fact before it's too late.

Flash is a blend of all-out thriller and thoughtful social, political, and technological exploration that that gets into your mind in a way even res and prod could never match.

Ash

Ash

Malinda Lo

Cinderella retold

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Huntress

Ash

Malinda Lo

Nature is out of balance in the human world. The sun hasn't shone in years, and crops are failing. Worse yet, strange and hostile creatures have begun to appear. The people's survival hangs in the balance.

To solve the crisis, the oracle stones are cast, and Kaede and Taisin, two seventeen-year-old girls, are picked to go on a dangerous and unheard-of journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen. Taisin is a sage, thrumming with magic, and Kaede is of the earth, without a speck of the otherworldly. And yet the two girls' destinies are drawn together during the mission. As members of their party succumb to unearthly attacks and fairy tricks, the two come to rely on each other and even begin to fall in love. But the Kingdom needs only one huntress to save it, and what it takes could tear Kaede and Taisin apart forever.

The exciting adventure prequel to Malinda Lo's highly acclaimed novel Ash is overflowing with lush Chinese influences and details inspired by the I Ching, and is filled with action and romance.

Witchsign

Ashen Torment: Book 1

Den Patrick

Witchsign follows the stories of two siblings, Steiner and Kjellrunn, who live in a godforsaken province of the Scorched Republics.

The dragons are long dead, but the Solmindre Empire looms over the continent threatening, keen on eradicating any sign of the arcane that is associated with the dragons, the so called witchsign, by forcing every child to undergo the Invigilation. Those found positive to the taint of the dragons are taken away, and no one knows what happens to them.

Steiner had successfully passed his Invigilations, until a spiteful Hierarch of the Empire mistakenly assumes Steiner bears the witchsign instead of his sister, and he is taken away to Vladibogdan, a prison island hosting dangerous secrets, and dangerous magic. To Steiner's astonishment, the children taken away are not executed; on the contrary, they attend the four elemental schools of the Academy situated on the island, and they are forced to serve the Empire that uprooted them from their homes.

Without witchsign, Steiner's position is precarious. While he struggles to survive and outsmart his vicious enemies, Kjellrunn tries to master her skills and find a way to bring her brother back. In their respective quests, Steiner and Kjellrunn uncover conspiracies and secrets regarding their family, the Empire, and the entire world. But those aware of such knowledge are bound to be silenced. In a permanent fashion.

Stormtide

Ashen Torment: Book 2

Den Patrick

Steiner, blacksmith, hero, has taken a hammer to the Empire, freeing the dead and children with witchsign alike from their fiery prison. Now he plans to finish what he started.

Kimi, dragon-speaker, princess, must seek her father's court and win the support of his armies before news of her escape dooms her people.

Silverdust, ancient, dead, journeys to the heart of the empire as a prisoner to meet the Emperor for what he hopes will be the final time.

Kjellrun, witch, killer, still reeling from the loss of her uncle when she is ripped from her family, fears this power within her. But she must harness that force and soon if she hopes to survive.

Scattered by fortune, plagued by danger, Steiners crew rise against the dark rule that has cost them so much. The old gods are waking. The dragons are free. May gods help those who bear the sign of the witch.

The Empire's Ruin

Ashes of the Unhewn Throne: Book 1

Brian Staveley

The Annurian Empire is disintegrating. The advantages it used for millennia have fallen to ruin. The ranks of the Kettral have been decimated from within, and the kenta gates, granting instantaneous travel across the vast lands of the empire, can no longer be used.

In order to save the empire, one of the surviving Kettral must voyage beyond the edge of the known world through a land that warps and poisons all living things to find the nesting ground of the giant war hawks. Meanwhile, a monk turned con-artist may hold the secret to the kenta gates.

But time is running out. Deep within the southern reaches of the empire and ancient god-like race has begun to stir.

What they discover will change them and the Annurian Empire forever. If they can survive.

Ashes of Twilight

Ashes of Twilight: Book 1

Kassy Tayler

Wren MacAvoy works as a coal miner for a domed city that was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century to protect the royal blood line of England when astronomers spotted a comet on a collision course with Earth. Humanity would be saved by the most groundbreaking technology of the time. But after nearly 200 years of life beneath the dome, society has become complacent and the coal is running out. Plus there are those who wonder, is there life outside the dome or is the world still consumed by fire?

When one of Wren's friends escapes the confines of the dome, he is burned alive and put on display as a warning to those seeking to disrupt the dome's way of life. But Alex's final words are haunting. "The sky is blue."

Shadows of Glass

Ashes of Twilight: Book 2

Kassy Tayler

Wren's world has changed. The thing that she fought for, escaping the dome has come to fruition, but it's not the paradise she thought it would be. Most of the shiners have died, and according to James, she is to blame for many of the deaths, a burden which sits heavy on her shoulders. Still some have survived and Wren is determined to keep them safe as they fight to establish a home outside while hiding from the rovers who have weapons that can kill from far away. But as long as she has Pace she knows everything will be fine. Still Wren wonders, as she sees the smoke that continually pours forth from the dome, how did her friends inside fare? Will they ever find out if Lucy, David, Jill and Harry, along with Pace's mother survive the explosions?

Meanwhile, someone else has also seen the smoke. A band of explorers from across the sea arrive in an airship, curious about the dome, and offering help to those who survive. When Wren meets the handsome Levi Addison, she suddenly questions her love for Pace as Levi offers to show her the world from his airship. Does she really love Pace? Or was it just the circumstances that made her think she did? Meanwhile, word arrives from inside via Pip, and Wren is forced to go back inside the dome, a thing that terrifies her more than anything else, to save her friends. Once she's back inside will she be able to escape again?

Remnants of Tomorrow

Ashes of Twilight: Book 3

Kassy Tayler

Wren's father takes her on a journey through the dome where she sees the after effects of the destruction caused by her friends and the blue coats who came into the tunnels. What he doesn't realize is that instead of subduing her, he is giving more purpose and fuel to her cause. When he realizes his plan has backfired, he sells Wren and her friends caught inside to the rovers. They manage to escape and add more fuel to the hatred between the rovers and the dome. Wren and her friends from inside the dome and America are caught in the middle as the battle escalates and whoever wins the battle wins the right to life.

It's up to Wren to make both sides see that the only way they can survive is by working together.

Ashfall

Ashfall: Book 1

Mike Mullin

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don't realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano. It has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years, and it will erupt again, changing the Earth forever.

Fifteen-year-old Alex is home alone when the supervolcano erupts. His town collapses into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence, forcing him to flee. He begins a harrowing trek in search of his parents and sister, who were visiting relatives 140 miles away.

Along the way, Alex struggles through a landscape transformed by more than a foot of ash. The disaster brings out the best and worst in people desperate for food, clean water, and shelter. When an escaped convict injures Alex, he searches for a sheltered place where he can wait--to heal or to die. Instead, he finds Darla. Together, they fight to achieve a nearly impossible goal: surviving the supervolcano.

Ashen Winter

Ashfall: Book 2

Mike Mullin

It's been over six months since the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. Alex and Darla have been staying with Alex's relatives, trying to cope with the new reality of the primitive world so vividly portrayed in Ashfall, the first book in this series. It's also been six months of waiting for Alex's parents to return from Iowa. Alex and Darla decide they can wait no longer and must retrace their journey into Iowa to find and bring back Alex's parents to the tenuous safety of Illinois. But the landscape they cross is even more perilous than before, with life-and-death battles for food and power between the remaining communities. When the unthinkable happens, Alex must find new reserves of strength and determination to survive.

Sunrise

Ashfall: Book 3

Mike Mullin

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors' constant companions. When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever--and unthinkable sacrifice.

If they fail... they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish. This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself.

Ashfall Legacy

Ashfall Legacy: Book 1

Pittacus Lore

Syd Chambers knows that there's life on other planets because he's descended from it. His father was from a distant world called Denza and has been missing--presumed dead--for years.

When Syd discovers a device his father left behind which shows not only that he's alive, but where he is, Syd must set out on a mission of his own. But along the way, he discovers a deadly, unbearable secret that could destroy Denza, Earth, and the universe.

Ashfall Prophecy

Ashfall Legacy: Book 2

Pittacus Lore

Syd Chambers grew up on Earth with his human mother and barely remembers his alien father from Denza, who left on a mission when Syd was very young. After leaving Earth, Syd learned the truth of his father's disappearance on the planet Ashfall--his father had died protecting a devastating secret about the history between humans and Denzans.

Syd is now faced with a choice--free humanity from imprisonment on Earth, which will allow them to come into physical power beyond their wildest dreams; or destroy Earth so that humans never have a chance to enslave, torment, and kill other species again. It has been prophesied that Syd is destined to become a world-killer, but Syd is determined to choose his own fate, and knows there must be another path forward that will honor his father's sacrifice.

Firedance

Ashlu Cycle: Book 1

Scott Baker

Streetfighter, fugitive, hero... Aubry Knight is now a powerful man with powerful friends. And someone wants to kill him.

Their opening shot is the death of one of Aubry's dearest friends. Their next attack is on Aubry's child. Knight is drawn inexorably toward New Africa, toward the mysteries of his own past, and toward a future that may take him far from Los Angeles and the only life he's ever known.

To win this battle, and save his family, Aubry Knight must defeat himself.

Drink the Fire From the Flame

Ashlu Cycle: Book 2

Scott Baker

From the award winning author of Firedance, comes this new novel in the Ashlu Cycle. King Asp has died the ritual death, but may live if his sword can be reforged; and the young potter Moth may become a wizard if he can survive.

Blood

Ashuak Chronicles: Book 1

Tony Shillitoe

>The Ashuak Chronicles, follows the fortunes of the new Ashuak Imperial General, Sukaal Vekesh, appointed to the southern province, Sekesu. Sukaal has more than rebels to worry about, he has problems within his own ranks also...

Passion

Ashuak Chronicles: Book 2

Tony Shillitoe

The second book in a fabulous trilogy of power and violence, love and hatred, slavery and the call to freedom.

Shana is sent to the marble mines of Ashua. She is the top gladiator in Vechwer but has angered too many influential people. Eventually escaping, she raises an army against those who feed her people to the dragons. Sukaal Veskesh, an Ashuak provincial governor and military leader who is trying to bring reform to relations between the Jaru and the Ashuak, is nearly defeated by Shana's band. Sukaal's moderate stance is obliterated when he is posted elsewhere, and his replacement institutes the cruel and violent rule that had been in place before Sukaal came?ucifixion is a new and even harsher punishment for the Jaru people.

And the dragon priests of Ashua are looking after their own intereststhey believe Alwyn is the key to finding the Genesis Stone, the stone the priests have promised to recover from the Alfwyn for the dragons. And time is running out for them all...

Freedom

Ashuak Chronicles: Book 3

Tony Shillitoe

Erin has to face the truth about himself. As the battle continues between those who want their freedom and those defending the absolute rule of the Ashuak, the dragon priests are discovering the dragons will not wait forever.

The End of the Story

Averoigne: Book 1

Clark Ashton Smith

A strange tale about a lamia who dwelt beneath the ruins of the Castle of Fausses flammes.

This short story is included in the collections:

It first appeared in the May, 1930 Issue of Weird Tales, available free on Internet Archives.

Zothique

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Book 16

Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith's influential Zothique sequence of stories, the majority of which were orignally published during the 1930s, collected in a signle volume. Number 16 in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, edited by Lin Carter.

Contents:

  • About Zothique, and Clark Ashton Smith: When the World Grows Old - essay by Lin Carter
  • Map of Zothique
  • Zothique (1951 poem)
  • Xeethra (1934)
  • Necromancy in Naat (1936)
  • The Empire of the Necromancers (1932)
  • The Master of the Crabs (1948)
  • The Death of Ilalotha (1937)
  • The Weaver in the Vault (1934)
  • The Witchcraft of Ulua (1934)
  • The Charnel God (1934)
  • The Dark Eidolon (1935)
  • Morthylla (1953)
  • The Black Abbot of Puthuum (1936)
  • The Tomb-Spawn (1934)
  • The Last Hieroglyph (1935)
  • The Isle of the Torturers (1933)
  • The Garden of Adompha (1938)
  • The Voyage of King Euvoran (1933)
  • Epilogue: The Sequence of the Zothique Tales - essay by Lin Carter

Hyperborea

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Book 29

Clark Ashton Smith

Contents:

  • [viii] - Hyperborea (map) - interior artwork by Lin Carter
  • ix - About Hyperborea and Clark Ashton Smith: Behind the North Wind - essay by Lin Carter
  • 3 - The Muse of Hyperborea - [Prose Pastels - 3] - (1934) - poem
  • 4 - The Seven Geases - [Hyperborea] - (1934) - novelette
  • 30 - The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - short story
  • 41 - The White Sybil - [Hyperborea] - (1934) - short story
  • 53 - The Testament of Athammaus - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - short story
  • 77 - The Coming of the White Worm - [Hyperborea] - (1941) - short story
  • 94 - Ubbo-Sathla - [Hyperborea] - (1933) - short story
  • 104 - The Door to Saturn - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - short story
  • 128 - The Ice-Demon - [Hyperborea] - (1933) - short story
  • 148 - The Tale of Satampra Zeiros - [Satampra Zeiros] - (1931) - short story
  • 164 - The Theft of Thirty-nine Girdles - [Satampra Zeiros] - (1958) - short story
  • 181 - The Abominations of Yondo - (1926) - short story
  • 190 - The Desolation of Soom - poem (variant of The Abomination of Desolation 1938)
  • 192 - The Passing of Aphrodite - [Prose Pastels - 5] - (1934) - poem
  • 195 - The Memnons of the Night - (1917) - poem
  • 197 - Notes on the Commoriom Myth-Cycle - essay by Lin Carter

Xiccarph

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Book 41

Clark Ashton Smith

Contents:

  • 3 - About Xiccarph and Clark Ashton Smith: Other Stars and Skies - essay by Lin Carter
  • 9 - To the Daemon: an Invocation - [Prose Pastels - 6] - poem (variant of To the Daemon 1943)
  • 15 - The Maze of Maal Dweb - [Maal Dweb] - (1933) - short story
  • 37 - The Flower-Women - [Maal Dweb] - (1935) - short story
  • 58 - Vulthoom - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1935) - novelette
  • 94 - The Dweller in the Gulf - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1933) - novelette
  • 121 - The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1932) - novelette
  • 147 - The Doom of Antarion - short story (variant of The Planet of the Dead 1932)
  • 168 - The Demon of the Flower - (1933) - short story
  • 185 - The Monster of the Prophecy - (1932) - novelette
  • 239 - Sadastor - (1930) - poem
  • 244 - From the Crypts of Memory - (1917) - poem

Poseidonis

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Book 59

Clark Ashton Smith

Contents:

  • 1 - About Poseidonis and Clark Ashton Smith: The Magic of Atlantis - essay by Lin Carter
  • 9 - An Editor's Note (Poseidonis) - essay by Lin Carter
  • 11 - The Muse of Atlantis - [Poseidonis] - poem (variant of From a Letter 1922)
  • 12 - The Last Incantation - [Malygris] - (1930) - short story
  • 18 - The Death of Malygris - [Malygris] - (1934) - short story
  • 33 - Tolometh - (1958) - poem
  • 35 - The Double Shadow - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - short story
  • 50 - A Voyage to Sfanomoë - [Poseidonis] - (1931) - short story
  • 59 - A Vintage from Atlantis - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - short story
  • 67 - Atlantis - [Poseidonis] - (1912) - poem
  • 71 - Editor's Note [2] (Poseidonis) - essay by Lin Carter
  • 73 - In Lemuria - (1921) - poem
  • 75 - An Offering to the Moon - (1953) - short story
  • 88 - The Uncharted Isle - (1930) - short story
  • 101 - Lemurienne - (1971) - poem (variant of The Lemurienne 1923)
  • 105 - Editor's Note [3] (Poseidonis) - essay by Lin Carter
  • 107 - The Epiphany of Death - (1934) - short story
  • 115 - Editor's Note [4] (Poseidonis) - essay by Lin Carter
  • 116 - In Cocaigne - (1922) - poem
  • 117 - Symposium of the Gorgon - (1958) - short story
  • 127 - The Venus of Azombeii - (1931) - novelette
  • 158 - The Isle of Saturn - (1951) - poem
  • 160 - The Root of Ampoi - (1949) - short story
  • 177 - The Invisible City - (1932) - short story
  • 202 - Amithaine - (1951) - poem
  • 203 - The Willow Landscape - (1931) - short story
  • 209 - The Shadows - (1922) - poem

Castle of Deception

Bard's Tale: Book 1

Mercedes Lackey
Josepha Sherman

A young bard faces webs of lies and deception in a world where nothing is as it seems - and everything is a trap for the unwary - When young Kevin became a bard's apprentice, he thought that his new life would be filled with excitement and adventure; so when his new Master's first task for him is a perfectly ordinary manuscript copying errand to the castle of Count Volmar his disappointment knew no bounds. Why the Count was not even involved in Court politics!

But when the Count's niece is kidnapped by elves and the Count asks for his help in recovering her, Kevin is convinced that the adventure he craves is at last at hand. What he cannot know is that the distressed damsel is not really Count Valmar's niece, that the abductors are not really elves - and that even the rescue is not what it appears to be.

The Chaos Gate

Bard's Tale: Book 4

Josepha Sherman

The Dark Elf Naitachal, once a Necromancer who gained power by depriving others of their life forces, is now happy in the more peaceful role of Bard. But shadows from his past linger.

Naitachal's Dark Elf clan sees him as the worst of traitors for daring to turn towards the Light. They mean to take revenge. They create a trap, the Chaos Gate, a sorcerous portal that is meant to draw him into their lands and into their power.

Only Kevin, once Naitachal's apprentice, now a full Bard and Count in his own castle, stands between the Dark Elf and certain doom. But can even the powers of Bardic Magic be enough to vanquish the Darkness?

Clash of Empires

Battlesaurus: Book 2

Brian Falkner

In the wake of his crushing victory at Waterloo, Napoléon unleashes his vicious French general Marc Thibault and his brigade of giant battlesaurs to strike terror across Europe. England stands alone, but an invasion is looming. Its only hope is a secret attack led by Willem, a magician's son, deep inside enemy territory, to the very heart of Napoléon's terrifying new army.

Deception and betrayal threaten the mission from its outset, but the courage and perseverance of Willem the "saur killer" and his compatriots lead to a clash of titanic proportions.

Flashpoint

Battletech: Book 50

Loren L. Coleman

THE PRICE OF VICTORY

David McCarthy returns to Kathil a hero -- one of the few surviving members of the First Kathil Uhlans, who fought so fiercely in the war to defeat the Clans. But David returns from Clan space with haunting memories of the cost of victory....

With the Federated Commonwealth on the brink of civil war, David joins the planetary militia on Kathil -- and steps into a powder keg. Opposing forces wrangle for control of the planet and its orbital shipyards, which berth a portion of FedCom's mighty WarShip fleet. The Eighth Regimental Combat Team -- loyal to Archon Katrina -- refuses to turn over control of the planet to the militia.

Caught in the power struggle between supporters of Katrina and those of her brother, Victor, McCarthy vows that he won't fail the people of his homeworld, even if that means leading his untested MechWarriors against the Eighth's superior firepower -- and dredging up a past he'd rather forget....

The Beast Player

Beast Player: Book 1

Nahoko Uehashi

Elin's family has an important responsibility: caring for the fearsome water serpents that form the core of their kingdom's army. So when some of the creatures mysteriously die, Elin's mother is sentenced to death as punishment. With her last breath, she manages to send her daughter to safety.

Alone and far from home, Elin soon discovers that she can communicate with both the terrifying water serpents and the majestic flying beasts that guard her queen. This skill gives her great power, but it also involves her in deadly plots that could cost her life. Can she save herself and prevent her beloved beasts from being used as tools of war? Or is there no escaping the terrible battles to come?

The Beast Warrior

Beast Player: Book 2

Nahoko Uehashi

Ten years after the fateful clash between two opposing sides of the Divine Kingdom of Lyoza, Elin lives a peaceful life with her family. She tries to stay as far away from her past as possible?the girl who communicated with creatures and befriended a Royal Beast wants no part in the power struggles of humans. But when Elin is called upon to investigate a mysterious illness that's stricken the Toda, she uncovers a startling plot?one that could threaten everything she holds dear.

In this thrilling sequel to The Beast Player, Elin must confront her destiny and heed the dire warnings of history. Is a final battle between the Toda and the Royal Beasts inevitable? And will it mean destruction for all?

Burning Ashes

Ben Garston: Book 3

James Bennett

The Lore is over. For Ben Garston, the fight is just beginning.

The uneasy truce between the human and the mythical world has shattered. Betrayed by his oldest friend, with a tragic death on his hands, there isn't enough whiskey in England to wash away the taste of Ben's guilt. But for a one-time guardian dragon, there's no time to sit and sulk in the ruins.

Because the Long Sleep has come undone. Slowly but surely, Remnants are stirring under the earth, unleashing chaos and terror on an unsuspecting modern world. Worse still, the Fay are returning, travelling across the gulfs of the nether to bring a final reckoning to Remnants and humans alike.

A war is coming. A war to end all wars. And only Ben Garston stands in the way ...

Fire & Ash

Benny Imura: Book 4

Jonathan Maberry

In the gripping conclusion to the action-packed "standard bearer" (Booklist) of zombie series, the threat of death is given new life.

Benny Imura and his friends have found the jet and Sanctuary—but neither is what they expected. Instead of a refuge, Sanctuary is a hospice, and the soldiers who flew the plane seem to be little more than bureaucrats who have given up hope for humanity's future. With Chong hovering between life and death, clinging to his humanity by a thread, Benny makes a startling discovery: A scientist may have discovered a cure for the zombie plague. Desperate to save Chong, Benny and his friends mount a search and rescue mission. But they're not the only ones on the hunt. The reapers are after the cure too, and they want to use it turn all the zombies into superfast shock troops—and wipe humanity off the face of the earth.

In this riveting conclusion to the Rot & Ruin series, the battle to end all battles is just beginning.

Ashes and Tombstones

Biotech Revolution

Brian Stableford

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Moon Shots (1999), edited by Peter Crowther. It can also be found in the anthologies Year's Best SF 5 (2000), edited by David G. Hartwell, The Eagle Has Landed: 50 Years of Lunar Science Fiction, (2019), edited by Neil Clarke. The story is included in the collection The Cure for Love and Other Tales of the Biotech Revolution (2007).

The Widowmaker Unleashed

Birthright Universe: Widowmaker: Book 3

Mike Resnick

Jefferson Nighthawk -- the Widowmaker -- is finally cured of his disease. A man in his sixties, who has been in a coma for a century, all he wants to do is live out his life peacefully and tend his garden...but he is continually sought out, not by his own enemies who are long dead, but by enemies made by his two clones, men he has never seen before, perfect strangers who are out to kill him. His retirement will have to be put on hold until he solves this ongoing and deadly problem.

Heart of Ash

Blood and Salt: Book 2

Kim Liggett

Ash may have escaped the immortal-worshipping cult that killed her mother, but the love of her life is still under its thrall. Dane has been possessed by his diabolical ancestor Coronado, a man who's fabulously wealthy, dripping with fame, and the leader of Europe's most dangerous immortal network. Dane begs Ash to join him at Coronado's castle in Spain, and swears that his blood bond with Ash is stronger than Coronado's hold over him. Ash is desperate to help Dane vanquish Coronado without having to sacrifice herself to the darkness. But when you're all in, blood and salt, the only way to hold on to the light might just be by setting everything on fire.

Wrath of Ashar

Book of the Kingdoms: Book 1

Angus Wells

In the north, a fire rages through the world-spanning forest of Beltrevan. Out of the flames is born a terrifying being with monstrous powers--Taws, Messenger of the fire-god Ashar. The ancient prophecies say he will raise a great Horde from the warlike tribes of the north to bring destruction to the peaceful Kingdoms of Tamur, Ust alich, and Kesh.

In the south, a young prophetess of the order of the Lady forsakes her vows of celibacy to bear a child, for the Book of Kyrie says that a champion will arise from Tamur to meet the challenge of the Usurper. The boy is named Kedryn. And as he nears manhood it seems that he may indeed be the child of prophecy, for he wields powers that none outside the Sisterhood have ever claimed. He may be the last, desperate hope for the survival of the Kingdoms, but the Usurper has learned of Kedryn as well, and his armies are on the march

Breaking Time

Breaking Time: Book 1

Sasha Alsberg

When a mysterious Scotsman suddenly appears in the middle of the road, Klara thinks the biggest problem is whether she hit him with her car. But, as impossible as it sounds, Callum has stepped out of another time, and it's just the beginning of a deadly adventure.

Klara will soon learn that she is the last Pillar of Time--an anchor point in the timeline of the world and a hiding place for a rogue goddess's magic. Callum believes he's fated to protect her at all costs after being unable to protect the previous Pillar, his best friend, Thomas. A dark force is hunting the Pillars to claim the power of the goddess--and Klara and Callum are the only two people standing in the way. Thrown together by fate, the two have to learn to trust each other and work together... but they'll need to protect their hearts from one another if they're going to survive.

Fracturing Fate

Breaking Time: Book 2

Sasha Alsberg

History tore them apart. Can they survive their future?

While consumed in a devastating battle with the demigod Llaw, Klara is mysteriously catapulted five hundred years into the past, suddenly alone and distraught that she and her fated love Callum killed the demigod at the expense of Callum's own life.

As the last Pillar of Time, an anchor point in the timeline of the world, Klara must navigate dangerous magic, confusing visions, and powerful adversaries to determine the fate of the world and avenge the life of her love.

But with all the treacherous enemies--magical and human alike--chasing Klara in 1500s Scotland, she has no idea what, and whom, she actually left behind on the battlefield in 2022. In a battle across history and the present, life and death, Klara must fight to choose her own fate.

Lost Mars: The Golden Age of the Red Planet

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 1

Mike Ashley

These ten short stories from the golden age of science fiction feature classic SF writers including H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury and J.G. Ballard, as well as lesser-known writers from the genre. An antique shop owner gets a glimpse of the red planet through an intriguing artefact. A Martian's wife contemplates the possibility of life on Earth. A resident of Venus describes his travels across the two alien planets. From an arid desert to an advanced society far superior to that of Earth, portrayals of Mars have differed radically in their attempt to uncover the truth about our neighbouring planet. Since the 1880s, writers of science fiction have delighted in speculating on what life on Mars might look like and what might happen should we make contact with the planet's inhabitants. In these stories, they reveal much about how we understand our place in the universe.

Contents:

  • A Martian Odyssey - [Tweel - 1] - (1934) - novelette by Stanley G. Weinbaum
  • The Time-Tombs - (1963) - novelette by J. G. Ballard
  • The Crystal Egg - (1897) - short story by H. G. Wells
  • Crucifixus Etiam - (1953) - short story by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
  • Ylla - [The Martian Chronicles] - (1950) - short story by Ray Bradbury
  • Without Bugles - (1952) - short story by E. C. Tubb
  • The Forgotten Man of Space - (1933) - short story by P. Schuyler Miller
  • The Great Sacrifice - (1903) - short story by Geo. C. Wallis [as by George C. Wallis]
  • Measureless to Man - (1962) - novelette by Marion Zimmer Bradley (variant of The Dark Intruder)
  • Letters from Mars - [Letters from the Planets - 2] - short story by W. S. Lach-Szyrma (variant of Letters from the Planets: Letter the Second 1887)

Moonrise: The Golden Age of Lunar Adventures

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 2

Mike Ashley

Before the Apollo 11 mission succeeded in landing on the Moon in 1969, writers and visionaries were fascinated by how we might get there and what we might find. The Greeks and Romans speculated about the Moon almost 2000 years before H.G. Wells or Jules Verne wrote about it, but interest peaked from the late 1800s, when the prospect of lunar travel became more viable. This anthology presents 11 short stories from the most popular magazines of the golden age of SF, including The Strand Magazine, Astounding Science Fiction, and Amazing Stories, and features classic SF writers as well as lesser-known writers for dedicated fans of the genre to discover.

Contents:

  • 7 - Introduction (Moonrise: The Golden Age of Lunar Adventures) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • 31 - Dead Centre - novelette by Judith Merril (variant of Dead Center 1954)
  • 67 - A Visit to the Moon - [Stories of Other Worlds - 1] - (1900) - short story by George Griffith
  • 93 - Sunrise on the Moon - short fiction by John Munro (variant of Sun-Rise in the Moon 1894)
  • 105 - First Men in the Moon (excerpt) - [Cavor] - short fiction by H. G. Wells
  • 151 - Sub-Satellite - [Sub-Satellite - 1] - (1928) - short story by Charles Cloukey
  • 175 - Lunar Lilliput - (1938) - novelette by William F. Temple
  • 221 - Nothing Happens on the Moon - (1964) - short story by Paul Ernst (variant of "Nothing Happens on the Moon" 1939)
  • 247 - Whatever Gods There Be - (1961) - short story by Gordon R. Dickson
  • 269 - Idiot's Delight - [Troons] - (1958) - novelette by John Wyndham (variant of The Moon A.D. 2044)
  • 317 - After a Judgement Day - (1963) - short story by Edmond Hamilton
  • 335 - The Sentinel - [A Space Odyssey] - (1951) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke

The End of the World : And Other Catastrophes

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 6

Mike Ashley

Sound the sirens! The end is here, and it comes in many forms in this new collection of apocalyptic short stories from the classic age of science fiction. Join humanity on the brink of destruction in 13 doom-laden visions from the 1890s to the 1960s, featuring rare tales from the Library's vaults.

Tales of plague seizing an over-polluted capital, a world engulfed in absolute darkness by some cosmic disaster, and of poignant dreams of a silent planet after the last echoes of humanity have died away.

Extreme climate change, nuclear annihilation, comet strike; calamities self-inflicted and from beyond the steer of humankind vie to deal the last blow in this countdown from the first whisper of possible extinction to the Earth's final sunrise.

Menace of the Machine: The Rise of AI in Classic Science Fiction

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 7

Mike Ashley

"It's a hazardous experiment," they all said, "putting in new and untried machinery."

Caution beware the menace of the machine: a man is murdered by an automaton built for playing chess; a computer system designed to arbitrate justice develops a taste for iron-fisted, fatal rulings; an AI wreaks havoc on society after removing all censorship from an early form of the internet.

Assembled with pieces by SF giants such as Isaac Asimov and Brian W Aldiss as well as the less familiar but no less influential input of earlier science fiction pioneers, this new collection of classic tales contains telling lessons for humankind's gradual march towards life alongside the thinking machine.

Menace of the Monster: Classic Tales of the Creatures from Beyond

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 8

Mike Ashley

The fact that humanity is not alone in the universe has long preoccupied our thoughts.

In this compelling new collection of short stories from SF's classic age our visions of 'other' are shown in a myriad of forms - beings from other worlds, corrupted lifeforms from our own planet and entities from unimaginable dimensions.

Amongst these tales, the humble ant becomes humanity's greatest foe, a sailor awakes in a hellish landscape terrified by a monstrous creature from the deep, an extra-terrestrial apocalypse devastates our world but also brings us together, and our race becomes the unwitting agent of another species' survival. Be prepared to face your greatest fears and relinquish your hold on reality as you confront the menace of the monster.

Contents:

  • The War of the Worlds (abridgement) - [The War of the Worlds] - (1920) - short story by H. G. Wells
  • The Cloud Men - (1911) - short story by Owen Oliver (variant of The Cloud-Men, Being a Foreprint from the London News Sheet of March 9, 1915)
  • The Dragon of St. Pauls - (1899) - short fiction by Reginald Bacchus and C. Ranger Gull
  • De Profundis - (1914) - short fiction by Coutts Brisbane
  • Dagon - (1919) - short story by H. P. Lovecraft
  • In Amundsen's Tent - (1928) - novelette by John Martin Leahy
  • King Kong - [King Kong] - (1933) - short story by Draycot M. Dell and Edgar Wallace
  • The Monster from Nowhere - (1939) - short story by Nelson S. Bond
  • Discord in Scarlet - [Space Beagle] - (1939) - novelette by A. E. van Vogt
  • Monster - (1950) - short story by John Christopher
  • Resident Physician - [Sector General] - (1961) - novelette by James White
  • Personal Monster - (1955) - short story by Margaret St. Clair [as by Idris Seabright]
  • Alien Invasion - (1954) - short story by Marcia Kamien
  • The Witness - (1951) - novelette by Eric Frank Russell

Beyond Time: Classic Tales of Time Unwound

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 11

Mike Ashley

Time travel has long been a staple of science fiction. Removing the bonds of time on a story allows for many interesting possibilities, but it also presents complicated problems and paradoxes.

In this collection, featuring stories from the 1880s to the 1960s, we are taken to the remote future and back to the distant past. We are trapped in an eternal loop and met with visitors and objects from the future. We come face to face with our past selves, and experience the chaos of living out of sync with everyone else in the universe.

These are just some of the thrilling narratives to discover as we unwind the constraints of time.

Contents:

  • Introduction (Beyond Time: Classic Tales of Time Unwound) - (2019) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • The Clock That Went Backward - (1881) - short story by Edward Page Mitchell
  • The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper - (1932) - short story by H. G. Wells
  • Omega - (1932) - short story by Amelia Reynolds Long
  • The Book of Worlds - (1929) - short story by Miles J. Breuer, M.D.
  • The Branches of Time - (1935) - short story by David R. Daniels
  • The Reign of the Reptiles - (1935) - novelette by Alan Connell
  • Friday, the Nineteenth - (1950) - short story by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
  • Look After the Strange Girl - (1953) - short story by J. B. Priestley
  • Manna - (1949) - novelette by Peter Phillips
  • Tenth Time Around - (1959) - novelette by J. T. McIntosh (variant of Tenth Time Round)
  • The Shadow People - (1958) - short story by Arthur Sellings
  • Thirty-Seven Times - (1957) - short story by E. C. Tubb
  • Dial 'O' for Operator - (1958) - novelette by Robert Presslie
  • Story Sources (Beyond Time: Classic Tales of Time Unwound) - (2019) - essay by Mike Ashley

Nature's Warnings: Classic Stories of Eco-Science Fiction

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 12

Mike Ashley

Science fiction has always confronted the concerns of society, and its greatest writers have long been inspired by the weighty issue of humanity's ecological impact on the planet. This volume explores a range of prescient and thoughtful stories from SF's classic period, from accounts of exhausted resources and ecocatastrophe to pertinent warnings of ecosystems thrown off balance and puzzles of adaptation and responsibility as humanity ventures into the new environments of the future.

Featuring stories crucial to the evolution of eco-science fiction from Philip K. Dick, Margaret St. Clair, J. D. Beresford and more, this timely collection is a trove of essential reading.

Contents:

  • 7 - Introduction (Nature's Warnings: Classic Stories of Eco-Science Fiction) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • 21 - Survey Team - (1954) - short story by Philip K. Dick
  • 39 - The Dust of Death - [The Doom of London] - (1903) - short story by Fred M. White
  • 59 - The Man Who Hated Flies - (1929) - short fiction by J. D. Beresford
  • 71 - The Man Who Awoke - [The Man Who Awoke - 1] - (1933) - novelette by Laurence Manning
  • 113 - The Sterile Planet - novelette by Nat Schachner (variant of Sterile Planet 1937) [as by Nathan Schachner]
  • 145 - Shadow of Wings - short fiction by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding [as by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding]
  • 175 - The Gardener - (1949) - short story by Margaret St. Clair
  • 191 - Drop Dead - (1956) - novelette by Clifford D. Simak
  • 229 - A Matter of Protocol - [Contact (Jack Sharkey)] - (1962) - short story by Jack Sharkey
  • 247 - Hunter, Come Home - (1963) - novelette by Richard McKenna
  • 297 - Adam and No Eve - (1941) - short story by Alfred Bester

Born of the Sun: Adventures in Our Solar System

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 14

Mike Ashley

On Mercury: How do you outrun the dawn and its lethal sunrise?

On Jupiter: When humans transfer their minds into the local fauna to explore the surface, why do they never return?

On Pluto: How long must an astronaut wait for rescue at the furthest reaches of the system?

We have always been fascinated by the promise of space and the distant lure of our fellow planets orbiting the Sun. In this new collection of classic stories, Mike Ashley takes us on a journey from the harsh extremes of Mercury to the turbulent expanses of Saturn and beyond, exploring as we go the literary history of the planets, the influence of contemporary astronomy on the imagination of writers, and the impact of their storytelling on humanity's perception of these hitherto unreachable worlds. Featuring the talents of Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Clare Winger Harris, and more, this collection offers a kaleidoscope of innovative thought and timeless adventures.

Contents:

  • 7 - Introduction: Solar Tour (Born of the Sun: Adventures in Our Solar System) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • 19 - Sunrise on Mercury - (1957) - short story by Robert Silverberg
  • 41 - The Hell Planet - (1932) - novelette by Leslie F. Stone
  • 97 - Foundling on Venus - (1954) - short story by Dorothy de Courcy and John de Courcy
  • 117 - The Lonely Path - (1961) - novelette by John Ashcroft
  • 175 - Garden in the Void - (1952) - novelette by Poul Anderson
  • 221 - Desertion - [City] - (1944) - short story by Clifford D. Simak
  • 245 - How Beautiful with Banners - (1966) - short story by James Blish
  • 261 - Where No Man Walks - (1952) - short story by E. R. James
  • 287 - A Baby on Neptune - (1929) - novelette by Miles J. Breuer, M.D. and Clare Winger Harris
  • 324 - Wait It Out - [Known Space] - (1968) - short story by Larry Niven

Yesterday's Tomorrows: The Story of Classic British Science Fiction in 100 Books

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 15

Mike Ashley

From the enrapturing tales of H. G. Wells to the punishing dystopian visions of 1984 and beyond, the evolution of science fiction from the 1890s to the 1960s is a fascinating journey to undertake. Setting out this span of years as what we can now recognize as the 'classic' period of the genre, Mike Ashley takes us on a tour of the stars, utopian and post-apocalyptic futures, worlds of AI run amok and techno-thriller masterpieces asking piercing questions of the present.

This book does not claim to be definitive; what it does offer is an accessible view of the impressive spectrum of imaginative writing which the genre's classic period has to offer. Towering science fiction greats such as Asimov and Aldiss run alongside the, perhaps unexpected, likes of C. S. Lewis and J. B. Priestley and celebrate a side of science fiction beyond the stereotypes of space opera and bug-eyed monsters; the side of science fiction which proves why it must continue to be written and read, so long as any of us remain in uncertain times.

Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 17

Mike Ashley

Astronauts constructing a new space station must avert destruction from a missile sent by an unknown enemy; a generation starship is rocked by revelations of who their secret passengers in the hold truly are; a life or death struggle tests an operating surgeon -- in orbit, with an alien patient never seen before. Since space flight was achieved, and long before, science fiction writers have been imagining a myriad of stories set in the depths of the great darkness beyond our atmosphere.

From generation ships -- which are in space so long that there will be generations aboard who know no planetary life -- to orbiting satellites in the unforgiving reaches of the vacuum, there is a great range of these insular environments in which thrilling, innovative, and deeply emotional stories may unfold. With the Library's matchless collection of periodicals and magazines at his fingertips, Mike Ashley presents a stellar selection of tales from the infinite void above us, including contributions from Judith Merril, Jack Vance, and John Brunner.

Contents:

  • 7 - Introduction (Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • 19 - Umbrella in the Sky - (1961) - short story by E. C. Tubb
  • 47 - Sail 25 - (1962) - novelette by Jack Vance (variant of Gateway to Strangeness)
  • 87 - The Longest Voyage - (1967) - novelette by Richard C. Meredith
  • 113 - The Ship Who Sang - [The Ship Who...] - (1961) - novelette by Anne McCaffrey
  • 139 - O'Mara's Orphan - [Sector General] - (1960) - novelette by James White
  • 185 - Ultima Thule - (1951) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
  • 207 - The Voyage That Lasted 600 Years - (1940) - novelette by Don Wilcox
  • 253 - Survival Ship - (1951) - short story by Judith Merril
  • 267 - Lungfish - (1957) - novelette by John Brunner
  • 317 - Story Sources (Spaceworlds: Stories of Life in the Void) - essay by Mike Ashley

Future Crimes: Mysteries and Detection Through Time and Space

British Library Science Fiction Classics: Book 18

Mike Ashley

Assignment 1: Find party responsible for murders by space virus.

Assignment 2: Investigate 'accidental' deaths on orbital solar shield.

Assignment 3: Apprehend criminal possessing short term time machine.

Science fiction meets crime in this new anthology exploring one of the genre's most popular themes: mystery and detection. Pitching detectives against time paradoxes, alien intruders, AI gone bad and psychic mutation are ten stories embodying the exciting range of the sub-genre, rarely given the recognition it deserves in the literary sphere. With fascinating settings such as robot society, asteroid belt space stations, and worlds similar to our own but uncannily altered, these stories are masterpieces of satisfying setups, memorable mysteries, and timeless twists.

Contents:

  • Introduction: Crimes Beyond Time - essay by Mike Ashley
  • Elsewhen - [Fergus O'Breen] - (1943) - novelette by Anthony Boucher
  • Puzzle for Spacemen - (1955) - novelette by John Brunner
  • Legwork - (1956) - novelette by Eric Frank Russell
  • Mirror Image - [Elijah Baley / R. Daneel Olivaw] - (1972) - short story by Isaac Asimov
  • The Flying Eye - [Paul Darraq] - short story by Jacques Futrelle (variant of The Secret Exploits of Paul Darraq, III: The Flying Eye 1912)
  • Nonentity - (1955) - short story by E. C. Tubb
  • Death of a Telepath - (1959) - short story by George Chailey
  • Murder, 1986 - (1970) - novelette by P. D. James
  • Apple - [Talents (Anne McCaffrey)] - (1969) - novelette by Anne McCaffrey
  • The Absolutely Perfect Murder - (1965) - short story by Miriam Allen deFord

Ashes of the Sun

Burningblade & Silvereye: Book 1

Django Wexler

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world in the start of Django Wexler's new epic fantasy trilogy.

Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.

Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

Upon a Burning Throne

Burnt Empire Saga: Book 1

Ashok K. Banker

From international sensation Ashok K. Banker, pioneer of the fantasy genre in India, comes the first book in a ground-breaking, epic fantasy series inspired by the ancient Indian classic, The Mahabharata

In a world where demigods and demons walk among mortals, the Emperor of the vast Burnt Empire has died, leaving a turbulent realm without a sovereign. Two young princes, Adri and Shvate, are in line to rule, but birthright does not guarantee inheritance: For any successor must sit upon the legendary Burning Throne and pass The Test of Fire. Imbued with dark sorceries, the throne is a crucible -- one that incinerates the unworthy.

Adri and Shvate pass The Test and are declared heirs to the empire. But there is another with a claim to power, another who also survives: a girl from an outlying kingdom. When this girl, whose father is the powerful demonlord Jarsun, is denied her claim by the interim leaders, Jarsun declares war, vowing to tear the Burnt Empire apart -- leaving the young princes Adri and Shvate to rule a shattered realm embroiled in rebellion and chaos...

A Dark Queen Rises

Burnt Empire Saga: Book 2

Ashok K. Banker

Queen Aqreen of Aquila leaves her husband Jarsun and flees across the Red Desert. She is determined to keep her daughter from being used by Jarsun to stake his claim to the Burning Throne of Hastinaga, seat of the all-powerful Burnt Empire. But Jarsun is vengeful and can summon legions of demoniac forces at will. The Red Desert is vast, and the journey dangerous.

Aqreen and Krushita's caravan of ten thousand wagons will take several years to reach the only safe harbor, the queendom of Reygar. Jarsun's pursuit is relentless and his vengeance terrible, but hope shines from the growing powers of little Krushita herself, along with the four-armed, twin-bodied Vanjhani wagon train leader and their band of valiant desert militia. Fierce battles are in store.

There are other players in this great game of demigods and mortals, each pursuing their own agendas. The powerful seer-mage Vessa seeks to join Krushita's talents with that of Drishya, an avatar destined to confront and kill Tyrak, Jarsun's diabolical son-in-law. Ladislew the assassin aligns with Tyrak for her own reasons. All paths culminate in a feverish finale on the hot sands of Reygar, as father, mother, and daughter confront each other in one ultimate showdown.

The Blind King's Wrath

Burnt Empire Saga: Book 3

Ashok K. Banker

The Demonlord Jarsun is poised to claim the Burning Throne and cement his rule over the Burnt Empire. Standing in his way is his daughter, now reincarnated into a new avatar named Krushni, who is determined to avenge her mother's death by his hand--and put an end to her father's reign of terror once and for all. Aligned with him is the vast army of the Empire, the One Hundred children of Emperor Adri, and their former guru, the legendary warrior Dronas.

Krushni has allies too. Also opposing the tyrant Jarsun are the children of his nephew Shvate--the supernaturally-gifted quintet known as the Five. But Krushni and The Five are vastly outnumbered, while other rogue individuals like Ladislew, the warrior-witch, serve their own secret agendas.

In this final volume of Banker's epic saga of the Krushan dynasty, the land of Hastinaga will be torn asunder as the final battle for the empire rages between father and daughter, uncle and nephew, lover and enemy. And the Burning Throne will revel in the violence of it all.

Slashback

Cal Leandros: Book 8

Rob Thurman

The eighth book in the Cal Leandros series that began with Nightlife, Slashback is clever, ironic and hugely entertaining urban fantasy in the vein of Jim Butcher by the New York Times bestselling author, Rob Thurman.

I stopped and let them circle me, first because it was intriguing and, second, because, honestly, what could they do? Only knives, but all armed, and that made them even more interesting. Interesting. Fun.

Play-time...

Taking on bloodthirsty supernatural monsters is how Caliban and Niko Leandros make a living. But years ago - before they became a force to be reckoned with - the brothers were almost victims of a very human serial killer.

Almost.

Unfortunately for them, that particular depraved killer was working as apprentice to a creature far more malevolent - the legendary Spring-heeled Jack. He's just hit town. He hasn't forgotten what the Leandros brothers did to his murderous protégé. He hasn't forgotten what they owe him

And now they are going to pay... and pay... and pay...

The Queen of Ashes

Caledon: Book 2

Deborah Turner Harris

Part two of the Caledon Saga.

For five years Queen Mhairi has endured a tumultuous monarchy. The lords, hungry for power and personal gain, are divided. But Mhairi has found a new friend amid the turmoil - Lady Mordance, the widow of the lord of Barruist. Confidant, advisor, and ally, Mordance is a welcome light among the petty lords.

But Mordance too seeks power over Caledon, and to further her ends she has made a pact with the inhabitants of the Mists. Caught between rebel lords and Mordance's witchcraft, Mhairi's very soul is in peril.

The dashing chieftain Rorin McRann has returned from abroad, but before he can help his queen, he is betrayed and imprisoned by his own kinsmen. Making his escape with the aid of the renegade Feyan, Lord Charion, he must undertake a terrifying journey into the very heart of the Mists to rescue Mhairi from the fate Mordance has planned for her. It is here he will confront the King of Bones - the dreaded ruler of the Mistlings - in mortal combat, to save all that he holds dear.

The Klarkash-Ton Cycle: Clark Ashton Smith's Cthulhu Mythos Fiction

Call of Cthulhu: Book 24

Clark Ashton Smith

Contents:

  • v - Introduction to The Klarkash-Ton Cycle - essay by Robert M. Price
  • 1 - The Ghoul - (1934) - shortstory
  • 8 - A Rendering from the Arabic - shortstory
  • 25 - The Hunters from Beyond - (1932) - shortstory
  • 44 - The Vaults of Abomi - shortstory
  • 67 - The Nameless Offspring - (1932) - novelette
  • 88 - Ubbo-Sathla - [Hyperborea] - (1933) - shortstory
  • 98 - The Werewolf of Averoigne - [Averoigne] - (1984) - shortstory
  • 115 - The Eidolon of the Blind - shortfiction
  • 133 - Vulthoom - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1935) - novelette
  • 162 - The Treader of the Dust - (1935) - shortstory
  • 172 - The Infernal Star - (1989) - novelette
  • 203 - Story Intros (The Klarkash-Ton Cycle) - essay by Robert M. Price

Time Travelers Strictly Cash

Callahan: Book 2

Spider Robinson

The second book continuing the stories of the neighborhood tavern to all of time and space. Pull up a chair, grab a glass and listen to stories spun by the most entertaining characters in this galaxy and beyond.

The Goddess Chronicle

Canongate Myth: Book 18

Natsu Kirino

From internationally bestselling crime writer Natsuo Kirino comes a mythical feminist noir about family secrets, broken loyalties, and the search from truth in a deceitful world.

In a place like no other, on a mystical island in the shape of tear drop, two sisters are born into a family of oracles. Kamikuu is admired far and wide for her otherworldly beauty; small and headstrong Namima learns to live in her sister's shadow. On her sixth birthday, Kamikuu is chosen to become the next Oracle, serving the realm of light, while Namima is forced to serve the realm of darkness--destined to spend eternity guiding the spirits of the deceased to the underworld.

As the sisters serve opposite fates, Namima embarks on a journey that takes her from the experience of first love to the aftermath of scalding betrayal. Caught in an elaborate web of treachery, she travels between the land of the living and the Realm of the Dead, seeking vengeance and closure.

At the heart of this exquisitely dark tale, Kirino masterfully reimagines the ancient Japanese creation myth of Izanami and Izanaki. A provocative, fantastical saga, The Goddess Chronicle tells a sumptuous story of sex, murder, gods and goddesses, and bittersweet revenge.

Changeling

Changeling: Book 1

Delia Sherman

Neef is a changeling, a human baby stolen by fairies and replaced with one of their own. She lives in "New York Between," a parallel Manhattan of elves, fairies, demons, and mythological spirits. Neef has always been protected by her (rat) nursemaid,Astris, until she winds up breaking Fairy Law. Now, unless she can meet the challenge of the Lady of Central Park, she'll be sacrificed to the bloodthirsty Wild Hunt. But Neef is a native New Yorker, streetwise and sharp, and she's determined to beat the rap.

The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen

Changeling: Book 2

Delia Sherman

Neef, the official Changeling of Central Park, has survived a life-threatening quest, but that's nothing compared to her first experiences at Changeling school. At Miss Van Loon's, she meets her counterparts from all over Manhattan, learns the basics of diplomacy, and, of course, gets in trouble. This time Neef must recover the Magic Mirror, or else New York Harbor's Mermaid Queen will turn all of the city's fresh water to salt—and everything will die.

Full Speed to a Crash Landing

Chaotic Orbits: Book 1

Beth Revis

Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter's rights won't get her far when she's got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew--and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.

But Ada doesn't care--all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen--until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there's more to Ada than meets the eye. He's not wrong--but he's so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her--at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker--and she may not be entirely sure who's manipulating who until it's too late...

A Dirty Job

Charlie Asher: Book 1

Christopher Moore

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay--until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.

It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.

Secondhand Souls

Charlie Asher: Book 2

Christopher Moore

In San Francisco, the souls of the dead are mysteriously disappearing--and you know that can't be good--in New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore's delightfully funny sequel to A Dirty Job.

Something really strange is happening in the City by the Bay. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone--or something--is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Death Merchant Charlie Asher is just as flummoxed as everyone else. He's trapped in the body of a fourteen-inch-tall "meat puppet" waiting for his Buddhist nun girlfriend, Audrey, to find him a suitable new body to play host.

To get to the bottom of this abomination, a motley crew of heroes will band together: the seven-foot-tall death merchant Minty Fresh; retired policeman turned bookseller Alphonse Rivera; the Emperor of San Francisco and his dogs, Bummer and Lazarus; and Lily, the former Goth girl. Now if only they can get little Sophie to stop babbling about the coming battle for the very soul of humankind...

The Last Abbot of Ashk'lan

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne

Brian Staveley

Story set in Staveley's Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. Contains spoilers for the first book in the series.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Essential Bordertown

Chronicles of the Borderlands: Book 4

Terri Windling
Delia Sherman

Contents:

  • Introduction - essay by Terri Windling
  • From the World to the Border - essay by Terri Windling
  • Oak Hill - (1998) - short story by Patricia A. McKillip
  • The Path from the True and Only Realm to the False Lands and the City of Illusion (Translation for Humans: How to Get from Elfland to Bordertown) - essay by Terri Windling
  • Dragon Child - (1998) - novelette by Midori Snyder
  • First Things First: So You Need a Place to Stay - essay by Terri Windling
  • Socks - novelette by Delia Sherman
  • The Gangs: And Life's Other Little Annoyances - essay by Terri Windling
  • Half Life - novelette by Donnárd Sturgis
  • What to Eat: A Tasteful Guide to Border Cuisine - essay by Terri Windling and Teresa Nielsen Hayden
  • Hot Water: A Bordertown Romance - short story by Ellen Kushner
  • The Music Scene: What's Up and What Ain't - essay by Terri Windling and Teresa Nielsen Hayden
  • Arcadia - short story by Michael Korolenko
  • Nightlife: Where to Find It - essay by Terri Windling
  • Changeling - novelette by Elisabeth Kushner
  • So You Want to Be a Star: Get Real - essay by Terri Windling
  • May This Be Your Last Sorrow - short story by Charles de Lint
  • Uptown: How the Other Half Lives - essay by Terri Windling
  • Rag - short story by Caroline Stevermer
  • The Peculiar Joy of Cooking on the Border - essay by Terri Windling and Teresa Nielsen Hayden
  • When the Bow Breaks - short story by Steven Brust
  • A Human Guide to Elvin Etiquette - essay by Terri Windling and Mimi Panitch
  • Argentine - novelette by Ellen Steiber
  • A Trueblood Guide to Human Peccadillos - essay by Terri Windling
  • Cover Up My Tracks with Rain - novelette by Micole Sudberg
  • Famous Last Words - essay by Terri Windling
  • How Shannaro Tolkinson Lost and Found His Heart - novelette by Felicity Savage

An Inch of Ashes

Chung Kuo (Recasting): Book 6

David Wingrove

The sixth installment of David Wingrove's director's cut of his epic vision of the future

It is 2206. As Chung Kuo's population continues to swell, the Seven—the ruling T'angs—are forced to make further concessions, laws must be relaxed and the House at Weinmar reopened. Change is coming, whether the Seven like it or not. The tides of unrest unleashed by earlier wars grow faster even than the population. DeVore secretly allies with newly appointed general, Hans Ebert. It seems that DeVore's plans are coming to fruition. But Ebert has his own schemes and plots—he intends to depose the Seven and control the whole of Chung Kuo. Includes more than 30 pages of character listing and Mandarin glossary.

A Clash of Cymbals

Cities in Flight: Book 4

James Blish

APOCALYPSE!

When the scientists of the wandering planet, journeying through inter-galactic space, heard the sound of hydrogen atoms coming into existence out of nothing, they realized that they had accidentally discovered the birthplace of continuous creation. They had lifted the curtain and caught an instant's glimpse of the Unknowable. But to have looked it full in the face could have been no more fatal... For later, much later, they were to learn that they had also uncovered mankind's Day of Judgment!

Also published as: The Triumph of Time

Crash Landing on Iduna

Crash Landing on Iduna: Book 1

Arthur Tofte

When a spaceship crashes, the survivors are in peril for their lives. When the planet and its inhabitants are unknown to the survivors, fear becomes tangible among them. When the survivors are a crippled man and his four children the odds against survival increase dramatically. When the entire family has lived a controlled, docile, protected life and has been deliberately kept passive by the managers of the society on earth from which they came, the situation looks hopeless. But when two of the survivors are Peder and Inga Evenson there is always hope. This is their story.

Survival Planet

Crash Landing on Iduna: Book 2

Arthur Tofte

For the thirteen years since the Evenson space yacht crash-landed on the richly vegetated planet of Iduna, Soren Evenson and his four children have lived among the native Thrulls--gentle, nonviolent, fishlike mammals.

But now the peaceful way of life on Iduna is being threatend. A scouting party of corrupt government leaders has come from Evensons' native planet, Earth, on pretext of finding a habitable planet for the starving billions they have left behind them.

It soon becomes apparent, though, that they do not intend to report back to the dying planet. They have decided to abandon Earth and rule Iduna instead.

CrashCourse

CrashCourse: Book 1

Wilhelmina Baird

In a world where viewers watch films with emotional implants, the balance between enjoyment and danger is very precarious. When Cass, Moke and Dosh sign a film contract they hope to earn enough to get off the planet, until the fiction turns out to be a killer reality.

ClipJoint

CrashCourse: Book 2

Wilhelmina Baird

Two years after taking part in a cyber-film to make enough money to leave Earth--a film that left their friend Dosh dead and them fleeing for their lives--Cass and Moke return to uncover the truth about the tragedy.

PsyKosis

CrashCourse: Book 3

Wilhelmina Baird

In order to avert imminent war, the Earth's government agrees to negotiate with alien invaders. The military's representative is Swordfish, a veteran of the Third Alien War. A delegation travels to meet the aliens--an enemy whose nature no human being will ever truly know or trust again

Spellcast

Crossroads Theater: Book 1

Barbara Ashford

Maggie Graham's life is a mess. First, she loses her job. Then, her bathroom ceiling collapses. Hoping a weekend getaway will restore her spirits, she drives to Vermont and stumbles upon the Crossroads Theatre. Although she has no intention of auditioning, she soon finds herself part of a very odd summer stock company that includes moody and mysterious director Rowan Mackenzie, a man with the uncanny ability to transform a train wreck of a show into something magical. Before the season ends, Maggie is determined to discover the truth about the Crossroads. She never imagines that she'll discover secrets about her past - and Rowan's - that will change their lives forever.

Spellcrossed

Crossroads Theater: Book 2

Barbara Ashford

It's not easy losing the love of your life...

But when Maggie Graham freed Rowan Mackenzie from the curse that bound him to this world, she took the first step toward her new life as director of the Crossroads Theatre. As a hectic new season begins, magic takes a back seat to ticket sales as Maggie balances the demands of her interfering board president and a company of actors that includes bewildered amateurs, disdainful professionals, a horde of children, and an arthritic dog. But magic is hard to banish from the old white barn, where memories lurk like ghosts in the shadowy wings and the unexpected is as time-honored a tradition as the curtain call. And when the tangled spells of the past turn Maggie's life upside down, it will take more than magic to ensure the happy-ever-after ending she longs for.

Killashandra

Crystal Singer: Book 2

Anne McCaffrey

At first Killashandra Ree's ambitions to become a Crystal Singer, get rich, and forget her past, were going just as she had hoped. But after she grew wealthy, a devastating storm turned her claim to useless rock. In short order she was broke, she had crystal sickness so bad she thought she was going to die, and the only way she could be true to the man she loved was to leave him....

The Return of the Sorcerer

Cthulhu Mythos

Clark Ashton Smith

Into the Dark Magic of the House of Carnby There Comes a Visitor of Dread.

This short story is included in the collections:

It first appeared in the September 1931 Issue of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror available free on Internet Archives.

Haunted

David Ash: Book 1

James Herbert

Three nights of terror at the house called Edbrook. Three nights in which David Ash, there to investigate a haunting will be the victim of horrifying and maleficent games. Three nights in which he will face the blood-chilling enigma of his own past. Three nights before Edbrook's dreadful secret will be revealed... And the true nightmare will begin. Remember with Fear!

The Ghosts of Sleath

David Ash: Book 2

James Herbert

Investigating a series of strange and ghostly occurrences in the otherwise peaceful town of Sleath, psychic detective David Ash is forced to confront the demons of his own past, which threaten to drive him to the brink of insanity.

Ash

David Ash: Book 3

James Herbert

Deep in the countryside, ghost hunter David Ash is investigating a mysterious, secluded stately home. Reports from locals regarding strange goings-on make him think the house is haunted...But not even David Ash's long professional history of warding off evil spirits can prepare him for the shocking discovery that awaits.

International Bestselling horror writer James Herbert weaves a terrifying narrative featuring his best-loved character, David Ash, the skeptical detective of the paranormal introduced in UK number one bestsellers, Haunted and The Ghosts of Sleath.

Prepare to be chilled to the marrow....

Ash Remains

Deadlands / Mall Rats: Book 4

Lily Herne

Everything's better with zombies - not. The electrifying final instalment of Lily Herne's Mall Rats series...

Struggling to cope with their physical and mental scars, the remaining Mall Rats limp back home to Cape Town. They think they have the answer to all the enclave's problems. They think they're going to get a hero's welcome. But things have changed since they've been gone. And not for the better...

Meanwhile, the Army of the Left is preparing to wipe out the dead once and for all. Its leaders think they've come up with a faultless plan. They think they have a secret weapon that will set the city free once and for all.

They're wrong.

Pitch Green

Dimensions in Death: Book 1

Andy Washburn
Berk Washburn

Seven years ago, as Camm Smith herded a pack of little trick-or-treaters past the decaying mansion in her hometown of Trona, California, her young neighbor Hugh disappeared, becoming the latest in a string of vanished children. Now a high school senior, Camm is still haunted by the old tragedy and is convinced the answer lies hidden in the abandoned house. Joining forces with her best friend, Cal--who happens to be Hugh's older brother--Camm naively begins a perilous search for the truth. Events quickly spiral out of control, however, and as more people begin to die, Camm and Cal discover it will take all of their combined ingenuity to fend of the evil being lurking deep within the bowels of the mansion and federal agents determined to keep old secrets permanently hidden. The two friends must race against the clock to discover the truth about the house before they, too, disappear without a trace.

Mojave Green

Dimensions in Death: Book 2

Andy Washburn
Berk Washburn

In Trona, California, an isolated mining town deep in the Mojave Desert, an unearthly creature preyed upon the town's folk for decades. Armed with secrets from a peculiar puzzle box, only Camm and Cal stood against the creature. Finally safe and far from the horror, the teenagers believe they have destroyed the monster--until they hear news that Trona's children are still disappearing. Caught in the nightmare since her childhood, Camm feels personally responsible for the town's children. As her life-long best friend, Cal feels responsible for Camm. With unsuspecting friends in tow, they return to warn the innocent people of Trona of the true nature of the creature.

But things have changed.

Death comes in a new form. The balance between dimensions is altered. Crossovers multiply. Trona is evacuated. Cal is pulled into another dimension. The situation spirals out of control.

Only Camm and a few misfits can stop the coming desolation--but it may already be too late.

Fatal Green

Dimensions in Death: Book 3

Andy Washburn
Berk Washburn

In an ongoing fight with the unearthly predators invading their small hometown of Trona, California, Camm and Cal have watched their feelings for each other deepen. However, well-meaning but misguided federal agents have torn them apart, arresting Cal and expanding the manhunt for Camm. Attempting to protect Camm, Cal strikes a deal with the agents to guide an expedition through the portal in the Searles Mansion to the parallel dimension of the deadly Mojave Green, where Cal's friend, Lenny is lost. The agents believe the mansion holds the secret to controlling alien crossovers and believe Cal can help them uncover an ancient secret. Not understanding what Cal is doing, Camm is devastated by Cal's apparent betrayal. Making matters worse, Agent Allen, Camm's secret ally, is compelled also to join the mission to save Lenny. Camm is left alone to face her worst nightmare: a seemingly indestructible creature of unknown origins who is filled with a burning hatred and an all-consuming desire to track her down and eat her alive.

Slash and Burn

Dr Siri Paiboun: Book 8

Colin Cotterill

Dr Siri never really wanted to be Laos's national coroner. And now that he is in his mid-70s, he longs to spend some time with his wife before the untimely death that is sure to befall him, according to the local fortune-teller. But retirement will have to wait (again) until he has completed one last job for the Lao government: supervising an excavation for the remains of a US fighter pilot who went down in the remote northern Lao jungle ten years earlier. And the stakes are high.

The presence of American soldiers in Laos is controversial, and the search party includes high-level politicians and scientists. So when a member of the party is found dead, Dr Siri suspects it may not have been an accident. Can Dr Siri get to the bottom of the MIA pilot's mysterious story before the body count rises and the fortune-teller's prediction comes true?

Amber and Ashes

Dragonlance: The Dark Disciple Trilogy: Book 1

Margaret Weis

The latest title from best-selling author and Dragonlance setting co-creator Margaret Weis, Amber and Ashes takes up where the War of Souls left off with the central character Mina. While following her story, this new trilogy will also explore the chaos that is post-war Krynn. This is Weis's first solo hardcover since the publication of the extremely popular Dragonlance title The Soulforge in 1998.

Phoenix and Ashes

Elemental Masters: Book 3

Mercedes Lackey

Eleanor Robinson's life had shattered when Father volunteered for the Great War, leaving her alone with a woman he had just married. Then the letter came that told of her father's death in the trenches and though Eleanor thought things couldn't get any worse, her life took an even more bizarre turn.

Dragged to the hearth by her stepmother Alison, Eleanor was forced to endure a painful and frightening ritual during which the smallest finger of her left hand was severed and buried beneath a hearthstone. For her stepmother was an Elemental Master of Earth who practiced the darker blood-fueled arts. Alison had bound Eleanor to the hearth with a spell that prevented her from leaving home, caused her to fade from people's memories, and made her into a virtual slave.

Months faded into years for Eleanor, and still the war raged. There were times she felt she was losing her mind--times she seemed to see faces in the hearth fire.

Reginald Fenyx was a pilot. He lived to fly, and whenever he returned home on break from Oxford, the youngsters of the town would turn out to see him lift his aeroplane--a frail ship of canvas and sticks--into the sky and soar through the clouds.

During the war, Reggie had become an acclaimed air ace, for he was an Elemental Master of Air. His Air Elementals had protected him until the fateful day when he had met another of his kind aloft, and nearly died. When he returned home, Reggie was a broken man plagued by shell shock, his Elemental powers vanished.

Eleanor and Reginald were two souls scourged by war and evil magic. Could they find the strength to help one another rise from the ashes of their destruction?

Trickster in the Ashes

Ever: Book 3

Felicity Savage

Since his birth in the back of a truck, Crispin Kateralbin has been a daemon handler, a trapeze artist, a fighter pilot, a street entertainer, a deckhand, a dock laborer, and a wanted man.

Now the war that divided Oceania for a hundred years is over, and Crispin has achieved wealth and anonymity as a middleman for a drug-smuggling monopolist.

On the far side of the continent, Crispin's first lover Rae Akila has joined a cult that worships daemons.

And in Okimako, Mickey Ash fights Greater Significance for the right to live.

When these three come together again, the world will change.

Empire from the Ashes

Fifth Imperium

David Weber

Contents:

  • Mutineers' Moon
  • The Armageddon Inheritance
  • Heirs of Empire

For Colin MacIntyre, it began with a routine training flight over the moon. For Dahak, a self-aware Imperial battleship, it began millennia ago, standing guard against an unknown enemy which once devastated the galaxy-and now has returned. So Dahak grabbed MacIntyre's ship and informed him that he was drafted to be its new captain and lead the fight against the ancient enemy.

MacIntyre had doubts that he could handle the job, but Dahak had definitely picked the right man. Before it was all over, MacIntyre would:

Defeat a cadre of mutineers, formerly part of Dahak's crew, kept alive through untold generations by alien technology, who have been secretly manipulating life on earth for thousands of years...

Mobilize the planet into a fighting force that might have a slender chance of stopping the ancient alien menace from eradicating all intelligent life in its path...

And resurrect the ancient galactic empire, which had fallen into chaos and barbarism, with himself as Emperor-which meant that he immediately became the target of a plot to assassinate him, and strand his son and daughter on a planet where their chances of surviving in a superstitious pre-tech society would be zero for the average human...

Fortunately for the galaxy, Colin MacIntyre and his heirs have never even heard of average, and anyone, human or alien, who got in their way was going to be very, very sorry.

King of Ashes

Firemane Saga: Book 1

Raymond E. Feist

The first volume in legendary master and New York Times bestselling author Raymond E. Feist's epic heroic fantasy series, The Firemane Saga--an electrifying tale of two young men whose choices will determine a world's destiny.

For centuries, the five greatest kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace. But the balance of power is destroyed when four of the kingdoms violate an ancient covenant and betray the fifth: Ithrace, the Kingdom of Flames, ruled by Steveren Langene, known as "the Firemane" for his brilliant red hair. As war engulfs the world, Ithrace is destroyed and the Greater Realms of Tembria are thrust into a dangerous struggle for supremacy.

As a Free Lord, Baron Daylon Dumarch owes allegiance to no king. When an abandoned infant is found hidden in Daylon's pavilion, he realizes that the child must be the missing heir of the slain Steveren. The boy is valuable--and vulnerable. A cunning and patient man, Daylon decides to keep the baby's existence secret, and sends him to be raised on the Island of Coaltachin, home of the so-called Kingdom of Night, where the powerful and lethal Nocusara, the "Hidden Warriors," legendary assassins and spies, are trained.

Years later, another orphan of mysterious provenance, a young man named Declan, earns his Masters rank as a weapons smith. Blessed with intelligence and skill, he unlocks the secret to forging King's Steel, the apex of a weapon maker's trade known by very few. Yet this precious knowledge is also deadly, and Declan is forced to leave his home to safeguard his life. Landing in Lord Daylon's provinces, he hopes to start anew.

Soon, the two young men--an unknowing rightful heir to a throne and a brilliantly talented young swordsmith--will discover that their fates, and that of Garn, are entwined. The legendary, long-ago War of Betrayal has never truly ended... and they must discover the secret of who truly threatens their world.

Flash Gordon

Flash Gordon

Arthur Byron Cover

Flash Gordon, aided by his friends Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov, attempts to prevent Ming the Merciless of Mongo from destroying the earth.

The Lion Men of Mongo

Flash Gordon: Book 1

Con Steffanson

THE LION MEN OF MONGO is the first of a series inspired by the world famous comic strip FLASH GORDON, read daily and Sunday by millions of fans throughout the world.

After crash landing on the planet Mongo, Flash, Dale, and the eminent scientist, Dr. Zarkov, fight against the evil forces of Emperor Ming, who seeks to perpetuate his rule by ruthless and savage methods.

The Plague of Sound

Flash Gordon: Book 2

Con Steffanson

Second in a series of novels based on the original comic strip sequences. Thrill to a spaceship captured in a magnetic field and pulled beneath the earth into an underground city. Flash Gordon jumps to safety only to be caught in the web of a giant man-eating spider, then saved by a titian-haired beauty. Pan, a lunatic musician, seeks to rule a planet by the shattering effects of ultra-high frequency sound. Only Earth's greatest hero stands between him and success.

The Space Circus

Flash Gordon: Book 3

Con Steffanson

Flash Gordon is kidnapped and forced to perform as a trapeze artist in a circus of slaves. Flash foils his captors and forms an expedition to end the tyranny on the planet Mesmo.

The Time Trap of Ming XIII

Flash Gordon: Book 4

Bruce Cassiday

From centuries in the future, a descendant of Ming the Merciless sends a crew of assassins back through time to change the course of history by killing Flash Gordon!!

The Witch Queen of Mongo

Flash Gordon: Book 5

Bruce Cassiday

Victimized by a psychic teenage prankster, Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, and Dr. Zarkov find themselves instantly transported to the planet Mongo, where Flash is captured and drugged by the ravishing witch Queen Azura and her evil cohort -- none other than Ming the Merciless, Jr! But Zarkov and Dale escape to Arboria, and enlist the aid of Prince Barin, who, by use of a brilliant ruse, sets in motion a series of violent encounters and hair's breadth escapes that place Flash's life in imminent peril.

The War of the Cybernauts

Flash Gordon: Book 6

Bruce Cassiday

Twelve detection satellites mysteriously vanish while on routine space probes. Dr. Zarkov and Flash Gordon are sent to investigate. They encounter an amazing series of adventures when their space ship crashes on a gypsy planet inhabited by robots and plagued by an endless war. Two beautiful queens cast interested eyes toward Flash's visage. Zarkov's scientific genius saves our heroic pair from certain annihilation.

Flashing Swords! #1

Flashing Swords: Book 1

Lin Carter

Contents:

  • ix - Of Swordsmen and Sorcerers - essay by Lin Carter
  • 1 - The Sadness of the Executioner - [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
  • 15 - Morreion - [Dying Earth] - novella by Jack Vance
  • 69 - The Merman's Children - [The Merman's Children] - novella by Poul Anderson
  • 129 - The Higher Heresies of Oolimar - [Amalrik the Mangod] - novella by Lin Carter

Flashing Swords! #2

Flashing Swords: Book 2

Lin Carter

Contents:

  • ix - Flashing Swords and Black Magicians - essay by Lin Carter
  • 3 - The Rug and the Bull - [Pusadian] - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
  • 45 - The Jade Man's Eyes - [The Elric Saga] - novelette by Michael Moorcock
  • 99 - Toads of Grimmerdale - [Witch World Secrets] - novella by Andre Norton (variant of The Toads of Grimmerdale)
  • 157 - Ghoul's Garden - [Brak] - novelette by John Jakes

Flashing Swords! #3: Warriors and Wizards

Flashing Swords: Book 3

Lin Carter

Contents:

  • 11 - Warriors and Wizards: The Introduction - essay by Lin Carter
  • 17 - L. Sprague de Camp - essay by Lin Carter
  • 19 - Two Yards of Dragon - [Incorporated Knight] - novelette by L. Sprague de Camp
  • 61 - Fritz Leiber - essay by Lin Carter
  • 63 - The Frost Monstreme - [Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser] - novelette by Fritz Leiber
  • 111 - Andre Norton - essay by Lin Carter
  • 113 - Spider Silk - novelette by Andre Norton
  • 175 - Lin Carter - essay by Lin Carter
  • 177 - The Curious Custom of the Turjan Seraad - [Amalrik the Mangod] - novelette by Lin Carter
  • 217 - Avram Davidson - essay by Lin Carter
  • 219 - Caravan to Illiel - novella by Avram Davidson

Flashing Swords! #4: Barbarians and Black Magicians

Flashing Swords: Book 4

Lin Carter

Contents:

  • Of Warriors and Wizards - essay by Lin Carter
  • Jack Vance - (1976) - essay by Lin Carter
  • The Bagful of Dreams - novelette by Jack Vance
  • Poul Anderson - essay by Lin Carter
  • The Tupilak - novelette by Poul Anderson
  • John Jakes - essay by Lin Carter
  • Storm in a Bottle - novella by John Jakes
  • Katherine Kurtz - essay by Lin Carter
  • Swords Against the Marluk - novelette by Katherine Kurtz
  • Michael Moorcock - (1976) - essay by Lin Carter
  • The Lands Beyond the World - novella by Michael Moorcock

Flashing Swords! #5: Demons and Daggers

Flashing Swords: Book 5

Lin Carter

Contents:

  • vii - Where Magic Reigns - essay by Lin Carter
  • 1 - Tower of Ice - [Dilvish] - novella by Roger Zelazny
  • 56 - A Thief in Korianth - novelette by C. J. Cherryh
  • 94 - Parting Gifts - novelette by Diane Duane
  • 131 - A Dealing with Demons - [The Ebenezum Trilogy] - novelette by Craig Shaw Gardner
  • 159 - The Dry Season - novelette by Tanith Lee

Ashes of the Tyrant

Forgotten Realms: Brimstone Angels: Book 4

Erin M. Evans

In the wake of the war brought on by the Sundering, Farideh's adopted father Mehen has been called back by the clan that cast him out, and Farideh and Havilar mean to go with him. Just as Mehen confronts the head of his former clan, a clutch of young dragonborn is found in the catacombs, brutally murdered, an infernal summoning circle that looks all-too-familiar to Farideh, nearby.

Out of Space and Time

Frontiers of Imagination: Book 43

Clark Ashton Smith

An artist, poet, and prolific contributor to Weird Tales, Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1967) is an influential figure in the history of pulp fiction. A close correspondent and collaborator with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, Smith was widely celebrated as a master by his contemporaries. Back in print for the first time since 1971, Out of Space and Time showcases the many facets of Smith's unique prose that make him one of the greatest American writers of macabre and fantastic tales.

Here are tales of Averoigne, tales belonging to the Cthulhu, stories of sheer horror, and one or two of sardonic comedy. Jeff VanderMeer provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.

Contents:

  • v - Introduction (Out of Space and Time) - essay by Jeff VanderMeer
  • xv - Clark Ashton Smith: Master of Fantasy - (1942) - essay by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei
  • 3 - The End of the Story - [Averoigne] - (1930) - novelette
  • 25 - A Rendezvous in Averoigne - [Averoigne] - (1931) - shortstory
  • 43 - A Night in Malnéant - (1933) - shortstory
  • 51 - The City of the Singing Flame - [Singing Flame - 1] - (1931) - novella
  • 100 - The Uncharted Isle - (1930) - shortstory
  • 115 - The Second Interment - (1933) - shortstory
  • 129 - The Double Shadow - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - shortstory
  • 144 - The Chain of Aforgomon - (1935) - novelette
  • 165 - The Dark Eidolon - [Zothique] - (1935) - novelette
  • 198 - The Last Hieroglyph - [Zothique] - (1935) - shortstory
  • 218 - Sadastor - (1930) - poem
  • 222 - The Death of Ilalotha - [Zothique] - (1937) - shortstory
  • 236 - The Return of the Sorcerer - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1931) - shortstory
  • 257 - The Testament of Athammaus - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - shortstory
  • 280 - The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - shortstory
  • 291 - Ubbo-Sathla - [Hyperborea] - (1933) - shortstory
  • 303 - The Monster of the Prophecy - (1932) - novelette
  • 347 - The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1932) - novelette
  • 367 - From the Crypts of Memory - (1917) - poem
  • 369 - The Shadows - (1922) - poem

Lost Worlds

Frontiers of Imagination: Book 48

Clark Ashton Smith

An artist, poet, and prolific contributor to Weird Tales, Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1967) is an influential figure in the history of pulp fiction. A close correspondent and collaborator with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, Smith was widely celebrated as a master by his contemporaries. Back in print for the first time since 1971, Lost Worlds brings together twenty-three of Smith's classic stories, all of which were originally published in Weird Tales. Rather than center his works on heroes, Smith created fantastical worlds around which he built cycles of stories. Included here are tales from the realms of Averoigne, Zothique, Hyperborea, and others. Told in lush poetic prose, these haunting stories bring to life dark, dreamlike realms full of gothic monsters and mortals. Jeff VanderMeer provides an introduction for this Bison Books edition.

Contents:

  • viii - Introduction (Lost Worlds) - essay by Jeff VanderMeer
  • 3 - The Tale of Satampra Zeiros - [Satampra Zeiros] - (1931) - shortstory
  • 18 - The Door to Saturn - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - shortstory
  • 42 - The Seven Geases - [Hyperborea] - (1934) - novelette
  • 67 - The Coming of the White Worm - [Hyperborea] - (1941) - shortstory
  • 85 - The Last Incantation - [Malygris] - (1930) - shortstory
  • 91 - A Voyage to Sfanomoë - [Poseidonis] - (1931) - shortstory
  • 101 - The Death of Malygris - [Malygris] - (1934) - shortstory
  • 119 - The Holiness of Azédarac - [Averoigne] - (1933) - novelette
  • 144 - The Beast of Averoigne - [Averoigne] - (1933) - shortstory
  • 159 - The Empire of the Necromancers - [Zothique] - (1932) - shortstory
  • 171 - The Isle of the Torturers - [Zothique] - (1933) - shortstory
  • 190 - Necromancy in Naat - [Zothique] - (1936) - novelette
  • 214 - Xeethra - [Zothique] - (1934) - novelette
  • 239 - The Maze of Maal Dweb - [Maal Dweb] - (1933) - shortstory
  • 255 - The Flower-Women - [Maal Dweb] - (1935) - shortstory
  • 271 - The Demon of the Flower - (1933) - shortstory
  • 283 - The Plutonian Drug - (1934) - shortstory
  • 296 - The Planet of the Dead - (1932) - shortstory
  • 311 - The Gorgon - (1932) - shortstory
  • 325 - The Letter from Mohaun Los - (1932) - novelette (variant of Flight into Super-Time)
  • 366 - The Light from Beyond - (1933) - novelette
  • 390 - The Hunters from Beyond - (1932) - shortstory
  • 410 - The Treader of the Dust - (1935) - shortstory

Girls of Paper and Fire

Girls of Paper and Fire: Book 1

Natasha Ngan

Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumored beauty has piqued the king's interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.

Girls of Storm and Shadow

Girls of Paper and Fire: Book 2

Natasha Ngan

Lei, the naive country girl who became a royal courtesan, is now known as the Moonchosen, the commoner who managed to do what no one else could. But slaying the cruel Demon King wasn't the end of the plan---it's just the beginning. Now Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans. The journey is made even more treacherous thanks to a heavy bounty on Lei's head, as well as insidious doubts that threaten to tear Lei and Wren apart from within.

Meanwhile, an evil plot to eliminate the rebel uprising is taking shape, fueled by dark magic and vengeance. Will Lei succeed in her quest to overthrow the monarchy and protect her love for Wren, or will she fall victim to the sinister magic that seeks to destroy her?

Girls of Fate and Fury

Girls of Paper and Fire: Book 3

Natasha Ngan

"Don't struggle, Lei-zhi. It's time to take you back to the Hidden Palace. You're going home."

The final pages of Girls of Storm and Shadow brought a jaw-dropping conclusion that had the fates of Lei and Wren hanging in uncertainty. But one thing was certain - the Hidden Palace was the last place that Lei would ever consider home. The trauma and tragedy she suffered behind those opulent walls would plague her forever. She could not be trapped there with the sadistic king again, especially without Wren.

The last Lei saw of the girl she loved, Wren was fighting an army of soldiers in a furious battle to the death. With the two girls torn apart and each in terrorizing peril, will they find each other again or have their destinies diverged forever?

Ashes

Graced: Book 5

Amanda Pillar

Aria Ash shouldn't exist...

Born to a were mother and vampire father, Aria Ash is the perfect blend of two races, and in their world, that's a death sentence. Hunted for as long as she can remember, she now hides in plain sight in the city of Skarva, and will do anything to keep her secret safe.

Sebastian Talien is an alpha were with a troubled past. Ever since his pack went rogue and tried to kill three innocent pups, he's been dedicated to rescuing children in need. Now an invitation has him heading to Skarva, to help a child he thought he'd failed...

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 1

Grimgar: Book 1

Ao Jyumonji

Level 1: Whisper, Chant, Prayer, Awaken

Haruhiro awakens to darkness and amnesia, among a group of strangers who can only remember their own names...and nothing else. When they make it into the light, they discover Grimgar?a fantasy world that's like something out of an RPG game. Without apparent skills or knowledge of their surroundings, Haruhiro and his newfound friends band together to form an adventuring party. Only by cooperating, using their wits, and learning new skills can they hope to survive in this dangerous land of monsters and magic.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 2

Grimgar: Book 2

Ao Jyumonji

Level 2: Everything is Precious

DANGER IN THE DUNGEON

With a little experience under their belts, Haruhiro and the others decide it's time to level up. They head to a new dungeon, the Cyrene Mines, where Haruhiro expects things to go smoothly--but they don't. The mines were the site of tragedy in the past--and tragedy may soon strike again! Not only does a member of their party go missing, but a giant kobold is on the loose. Will the adventurers gain the experience they seek--or lose everything in the attempt?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 3

Grimgar: Book 3

Ao Jyumonji

The light novel fantasy epic that inspired a critically-acclaimed anime!

Level Three: You Have to Accept That Things Won't Always Go Your Way...

"Choco. Wait, could it be that Choco...?"

Haruhiro and his comrades have become famous due to achievements no one expected from them. With his comrades more confident, Haruhiro is still agonizing over what to do when more experienced volunteer soldiers come to him. Among them is a girl whose name is still in Haruhiro's memories.

At that same time, the town of Alterna moves to retake the Deadhead Watching Keep held by orcs. Looking to earn some of the reward money, Haruhiro's party ends up joining their first raid alongside Renji and Choco.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 4

Grimgar: Book 4

Ao Jyumonji

The light novel fantasy epic that inspired a critically-acclaimed anime!

Level Four: The Leaders and The Led

"Don't scare me like that, Moguzo."

"Sorry, sorry."

Moguzo let out an embarrassed laugh and scratched the back of his head. Still, he sure is bleeding a lot, Haruhiro thought. With all that blood, it's impossible to tell what kind of face he's making. But, well, it looks like he's fine somehow.

Haruhiro and his party reached the end of one major battle. However, with there being some comrades they couldn't save, they couldn't be entirely happy with how things were. Meanwhile, because they managed to accomplish more than anyone had expected, some members of the party receive offers from other teams wanting to poach them, too. As Haruhiro agonizes over what to do as a leader, he is forced to come to grips with what the party wants to do once again.

The story of adventure born from the ashes now enters a new stage!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 5

Grimgar: Book 5

Ao Jyumonji

The light novel fantasy epic that inspired a critically-acclaimed anime!

Level Five: Hear Me Out And Try Not to Laugh...

"...So, this thing, what do you think it is?"

It has now been some months since the party came to the Wonder Hole. Haruhiro and his companions have been slowly but steadily improving their skills as they clear the labyrinth. One day, while exploring, they find a "hole" they've never seen before. A hole that, as far as they know... wasn't there when they passed through the area three days earlier. It may lead to a new and unexplored area, which would be highly profitable for them if they are the first to set foot in it. Haruhiro is hesitant on whether to go inside or not, but Team Tokimune, a group known for being full of eccentrics, but still highly capable, appear and propose exploring it together.

The tale of adventure born from the ashes continues with new encounters.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 6

Grimgar: Book 6

Ao Jyumonji

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WE'RE TURNING BACK?

Level 6: Towards a Glory Not Worth Taking

The Dusk Realm has begun to attract attention as a new hunting ground. However, all is not well-there's been a rise in cultist and white giant activity, and massive new monsters have emerged! Together with Soma, the head of the Day Breakers, Haruhiro and the Tokkis get caught up in large-scale military offensive against the inhabitants of the Dusk Realm. Can they make it back to the Day Realm-and if the way is cut off, where will they go?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 7

Grimgar: Book 7

Ao Jyumonji

TO FIND A WAY HOME

Level 7: The Rainbow on the Other Side

Haruhiro and the others narrowly escape the Dusk Realm, only to find themselves in a world that isn't Grimgar-a world where the sun never rises. Abandoned by Lala and Nono, the party must rely on their own wits to survive in this World of Night. But when a faint chance of returning home to Grimgar appears, will they take it, even if it means risking their lives? And is Grimgar truly their home-or is it somewhere else entirely?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 8

Grimgar: Book 8

Ao Jyumonji

Level 8: And so we Walk for Tomorrow

DON'T SPLIT THE PARTY!

Haruhiro and his team have fought their way back to Grimgar-only to emerge in a harsh and desolate region, beset by orcs and undead! When a series of misfortunes separates them from each other, the individual members do what they must to survive, including teaming up with the factions they find. What they don't expect, however, is to end up facing each other as enemies! When friend becomes foe, how does one win?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 9

Grimgar: Book 9

Ao Jyumonji

Level 9: Here and Now, to Far, Far Away

SOLITUDE

As the battle against the orc Jumbo and his group Forgan descends into utter chaos, the party faces a crisis unlike any before: Ranta has betrayed them to join Forgan. From there, they are split up again and fight an intense retreating battle. Not knowing where their friends are, or if they're safe, Haruhiro and his comrades must face the greatest challenge of all in the misty Thousand Valley... being alone!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 10

Grimgar: Book 10

Ao Jyumonji

Level 10: Love Songs Won't Reach

THIS WORLD AND BEYOND

Leaving Thousand Valley for Alterna, Haruhiro and team are attacked on the road by massive ape-like monsters that force them to flee to a hidden orc village for safety. Meanwhile, a volunteer soldier lies on the verge of death in the mountains, recalling fragments of the world he once inhabited. What is the true nature of this world called Grimgar... and what will tomorrow hold for them all?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 11

Grimgar: Book 11

Ao Jyumonji

Level 11: At That Time, We Each Dreamed on Our Own Paths

REGRETS

Ranta flees desperately across Thousand Valley, pursued by Takasagi. Meanwhile, Haruhiro and his companions are struggling to cope with the death of one of their own when a chance at resurrection presents itself... for a price. How far will they go to get their friend back?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 12

Grimgar: Book 12

Ao Jyumonji

Level 12: That was the Beginning of a Legend Revolving Around a Certain Island and Dragons

Still trying to find a way to return to Alterna, Haruhiro and his party fetch up on the shores of the sea. Falling in with a mysterious pirate girl named Momohina, the group ventures forth to the Emerald Archipelago, rumored abode of dragons from ages past. What they aren't expecting, though, is to find a secret pirate haven?at the exact moment that it's being attacked by dragons!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 13

Grimgar: Book 13

Ao Jyumonji

WELCOME TO PARANO!

Level. 13 - Heart, Open, A New Door

Saying goodbye to Yume, Haruhiro and the remainder of the party travel onward to the free city of Vele. On the way, a standard job escorting a trading caravan turns into something none of them could have foreseen when they run into something from legend: the mysterious, traveling campsite of a famed sorcerer. But the real shock comes when they enter the camp?and find themselves teleported to yet another new world, one that's definitely not the one they wanted to find!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 14

Grimgar: Book 14

Ao Jyumonji

SEEING THINGS

Level 14: parano-mania [parano_mania]

Scattered once again in Parano, the other world where dream monsters and mages run wild, Haruhiro and his comrades must push through trickery and illusions alone, without their trusty comrades by their sides. Can they make it back to Grimgar?and what awaits them if they do?!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 14.5

Grimgar: Book 14

Ao Jyumonji

OLD FRIENDS, NEW TALES

Level 14.5: Things Cannot Remain the Same & If I Could Meet You Again

While Team Haruhiro is trapped in Parano, life in Grimgar continues! Far away from Alterna, Ranta struggles to survive behind enemy lines while concealing his identity behind a mask. Meanwhile, Yume trains her hardest to become strong for her comrades and to reforge her very self.

Six other tales round out this special anthology of Volumes 14+ and 14++, revealing new stories about the party's early days in Alterna.

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 15

Grimgar: Book 15

Ao Jyumonji

Level 15: A Fleeting New Game Plus

BEGINNING OF THE END

Haruhiro and his companions wake in darkness yet again, with no memories but their names. This time, they step into a world where Alterna has been destroyed! Piecing together the skills their bodies remember and the memories that Merry retained, they race to Grimgar's frontier in search of aid-only to find the forces of Arabakia preparing to take Alterna back. The adventure born from the ashes enters its endgame!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 16

Grimgar: Book 16

Ao Jyumonji

Level 16: Without Even Knowing the Reason for Our Goodbye

HELLOS AND GOODBYES

The Arabakia Kingdom Expeditionary Force took back Alterna by the skin of its teeth, but Haruhiro is ground down by the weight of everything he's lost. When one of Haruhiro's party is taken hostage, they are forced onto a dangerous mission--to somehow forge an alliance with goblins! As the team struggles against insurmountable odds, an old ally appears...!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 17

Grimgar: Book 17

Ao Jyumonji

Level 17: Someday We Shall Bid Farewell to These War-Torn Days

A LIFE OR DEATH BATTLE

With the Frontier Army newly independent and an alliance with the goblin king achieved, Haruhiro and his team are sent on a vital infiltration mission to disrupt the enemy from within and take Mount Grief. But despite working alongside members of Shinohara's Orion, Team Renji, and the Tokkis, their goals prove to be further out of reach than they ever imagined. Forget the mission--can the team even survive?

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 18

Grimgar: Book 18

Ao Jyumonji

Level 18: The World Hates Me

A WORLD OF PAIN

The Frontier Army has finally captured Mount Grief, but before they can mourn those they've lost along the way, a messenger from the dwarven kingdom comes begging for help! The dwarves are under siege in the Kurogane Mountain Range, and Haruhiro and his friends must repel the invasion! To reach the kingdom, they have to travel across the Quickwind Plains, a treacherous land of giants and monsters. What awaits them on the other side just might change the world forever!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Vol. 19

Grimgar: Book 19

Ao Jyumonji

Level 19: To Embrace This World Is Pain

THE ALL-CONSUMING VOID

Haruhiro's party has suffered crushing losses attempting to flee the Ironblood Kingdom. No one had the power to prevent Jumbo's gruesome slaughter of Kuzaku, or the orc's great black eagle feasting upon Setora... No one except the No-Life King sleeping inside Merry. With his awakening comes great upheaval, and now the fearsome sekaishu has overrun Grimgar, eating away at the world. Soldiers, innocents, and even those who ought to be dead fight for survival in the chaos--but at every step, their self-spun tales of adventure in a world stained black may very well end.

The Future Is Japanese

Haikasoru Anthology Series: Book 1

Nick Mamatas
Masumi Washington

A web browser that threatens to conquer the world. The longest, loneliest railroad on Earth. A North Korean nuke hitting Tokyo, a hollow asteroid full of automated rice paddies, and a specialist in breaking up virtual marriages. And yes, giant robots. These thirteen stories from and about the Land of the Rising Sun run the gamut from fantasy to cyberpunk, and will leave you knowing that the future is Japanese!

Contributors include cyberpunk legends Pat Cadigan and Bruce Sterling, New York Times bestselling author Catherynne Valente, the enormously popular and prolific Japanese writer Hideyuki Kikuchi, and hot new writers Rachel Swirsky, David Moles, and Ken Liu--who have won or been nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards.

Table of Contents:

  • Foreword - essay by Masumi Washington
  • Revolving Around a Rising Sun - essay by Nick Mamatas
  • Mono no Aware - shortstory by Ken Liu
  • The Sound of Breaking Up - shortstory by Felicity Savage
  • Chitai Heiki Koronbin - shortstory by David Moles
  • The Indifference Engine - shortstory by Project Itoh
  • The Sea of Trees - shortstory by Rachel Swirsky
  • Endoastronomy - shortstory by Toh EnJoe
  • In Plain Sight - shortstory by Pat Cadigan
  • Golden Bread - shortstory by Issui Ogawa
  • One Breath, One Stroke - shortstory by Catherynne M. Valente
  • Whale Meat - shortstory by Ekaterina Sedia
  • Mountain People, Ocean People - shortstory by Hideyuki Kikuchi
  • Goddess of Mercy - novelette by Bruce Sterling
  • Autogenic Dreaming: Interview with the Columns of Clouds - shortstory by TOBI Hirotaka

Phantasm Japan: Fantasies Light and Dark, From and About Japan

Haikasoru Anthology Series: Book 2

Nick Mamatas
Masumi Washington

The secret history of the most famous secret agent in the world. A bunny costume that reveals the truth in our souls. The unsettling notion that Japan itself may be a dream. The tastiest meal you'll never have, a fedora-wearing neckbeard's deadly date with a yokai, and the worst work shift anyone--human or not--has ever lived through. Welcome to Phantasm Japan.

Table of Contents:

  • Gary A. Braunbeck: "Shikata Ga Nai: A Bag Lady's Tale"
  • Nadia Bulkin: "Girl, I Love You"
  • Quentin S. Crisp: "The Last Packet of Tea"
  • Project Itoh: "From the Nothing, With Love"
  • Yusaku Kitano: "Scissors or Claws, and Holes"
  • Jacqueline Koyanagi: "Kamigakari"
  • Alex Dally MacFarlane: "Inari Updates the Map of Rice Fields"
  • Zachary Mason: "Five Tales of Japan"
  • Miyuki Miyabe: "Chiyoko"
  • James A. Moore: "He Dreads the Cold"
  • Lauren Naturale: "Her Last Appearance"
  • Tim Pratt: "Those Who Hunt Monster Hunters"
  • Benjanun Sriduangkaew: "Ningyo"
  • Seia Tanabe: "The Parrot Stone"
  • Joseph Tomaras: "Thirty-Eight Observations on the Nature of the Self"
  • Dempow Torishima: "Sisyphean"
  • Sayuri Ueda: "Street of Fruiting Bodies"

Hanzai Japan: Fantastical, Futuristic Stories of Crime

Haikasoru Anthology Series: Book 3

Nick Mamatas
Masumi Washington

Hanzai Japan: Fantastical, Futuristic Stories of Crime From and About Japan --

The latest in Haikasoru's anthology series that began with the acclaimed The Future is Japanese, Hanzai Japan gathers weird crime and mystery stories from an international list of best-selling authors and some of the brightest, and darkest, new writers working today.

A murderer doing time in Hell. A girl who just wants to win her high school band contest... no matter what it takes. Sumo wrestlers with a supernatural secret. A future Tokyo where vampires are menial laborers nursing long-held grudges against humanity. And even a very conscientious, if unstable, Universal Transverse Mercator projection. These crime and mystery stories from and about Japan explore myth, technology, the sharpness of a sleuth's mind, and the darkness in the hearts of criminals. Read these stories and learn that hanzai means crime!

  • Ray Banks
  • Libby Cudmore
  • Brian Evenson
  • Kaori Fujino
  • Jyouji Hayashi
  • Naomi Hirahara
  • Yumeaki Hirayama
  • Violet LeVoit
  • Yusuke Miyauchi
  • S. J. Rozan
  • Hiroshi Sakurazaka
  • Setsuko Shinoda
  • Jeff Somers
  • Genevieve Valentine
  • Carrie Vaughn

Red Dragon

Hannibal Lecter: Book 1

Thomas Harris

A quiet summer night...a neat suburban house...and another innocent, happy family is shattered - the latest victims of a grisly series of hideous sacrificial killings that no one understands, and no one can stop. Nobody lives to tell of the unimaginable carnage. Only the blood-stained walls bear witness.

All hope rests on Special Agent Will Graham, who must peer inside the killer's tortured soul to understand his rage, to anticipate and prevent his next vicious crime. Desperate for help, Graham finds himself locked in a deadly alliance with the brilliant Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the infamous mass murderer who Graham put in prison years ago.

As the imprisoned Lecter tightens the reins of revenge, Graham's feverish pursuit of the Red Dragon draws him inside the warped mind of a psychopath, into an unforgettable world of demonic ritual and violence, beyond the limits of human terror.

The Silence of the Lambs

Hannibal Lecter: Book 2

Thomas Harris

As part of the search for a serial murderer nicknames "Buffalo Bill," FBI trainee Clarice Starling is given an assignment. She must visit a man confined to a high-security facility for the criminally insane and interview him.

That man, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, is a former psychiatrist with unusual tastes and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of The Silence of the Lambs--an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.

Hannibal

Hannibal Lecter: Book 3

Thomas Harris

You remember Hannibal Lecter: gentleman, genius, cannibal. Seven years have passed since Dr. Lecter escaped from custody. And for seven years he's been at large, free to savor the scents, the essences, of an unguarded world. 

But intruders have entered Dr. Lecter's world, piercing his new identity, sensing the evil that surrounds him. For the multimillionaire Hannibal left maimed, for a corrupt Italian policeman, and for FBI agent Clarice Starling, who once stood before Lecter and who has never been the same, the final hunt for Hannibal Lecter has begun. All of them, in their separate ways, want to find Dr. Lecter. And all three will get their wish. But only one will live long enough to savor the reward.

Hannibal Rising

Hannibal Lecter: Book 4

Thomas Harris

Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.

He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him.

Hannibal's uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki.

Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France.

But Hannibal's demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn.

He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death's prodigy.

Heart of Iron

Heart of Iron: Book 1

Ashley Poston

Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09--one of the last remaining illegal Metals--has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him.

Ana's desperate effort to save D09 leads her on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship that could offer all the answers. But at the last moment, a spoiled Ironblood boy beats Ana to her prize. He has his own reasons for taking the coordinates, and he doesn't care what he'll sacrifice to keep them.

When everything goes wrong, she and the Ironblood end up as fugitives on the run. Now their entire kingdom is after them--and the coordinates--and not everyone wants them captured alive.

What they find in a lost corner of the universe will change all their lives--and unearth dangerous secrets. But when a darkness from Ana's past returns, she must face an impossible choice: does she protect a kingdom that wants her dead or save the Metal boy she loves?

Soul of Stars

Heart of Iron: Book 2

Ashley Poston

Once Ana was an orphaned space outlaw. Then she was the Empress of the Iron Kingdom. Now, thought dead by most of the galaxy after she escaped from the dark AI program called the HIVE, Ana is desperate for a way to save Di from the HIVE's evil clutches and take back her kingdom.

Ana's only option is to find Starbright, the one person who hacked into the HIVE and lived to tell the tale. But when Ana's desperation costs the crew of the Dossier a terrible price, Ana and her friends are sent spiraling through the most perilous reaches of the Iron Kingdom to stop the true arbiter of evil in her world: an ancient world-ending deity called the Great Dark.

Their journey will take their sharp-witted pilot, Jax, to the home he never wanted to return to and the dangerous fate he left behind. And when Robb finds out who Jax really is, he must contend with his own feelings for the boy he barely knows, and question whether he truly belongs with this group of outcasts.

When facing the worst odds, can Ana and her crew of misfits find a way to stop the Great Dark once and for all?

Scimitar

Highlander: Book 2

Ashley McConnell

For centuries the legendary sword has brought death and the Quickening. Now the sword has mysteriously been delivered into Joe Dawson's hands, with instructions that tell Dawson the secret society of mortals who have observed immortals.

The Captive Soul

Highlander: Book 8

Josepha Sherman

In Captive Soul, warrior Duncan McLeod and his friend Methos notice a particular sword on display in a NY museum. Methos recognises the weapon from his days in Ancient Egypt.

Three millennia past, Methos aided the Ancient Egyptian pharaohs when the Hyksos invaded. He reluctantly becomes a spy inside the Hyksos royal house, when he meets the Immortal - and thoroughly insane - Prince Khyan. Methos misses his chance to take the madman's head, a mistake that returns to haunt him as the Oldest Immortal returns to find his sword, killing all in his path.

A Dark and Hollow Star

Hollow Star Saga: Book 1

Ashley Shuttleworth

Choose your player.

The "ironborn" half-fae outcast of her royal fae family.
A tempestuous Fury, exiled to earth from the Immortal Realm and hellbent on revenge.
A dutiful fae prince, determined to earn his place on the throne.
The prince's brooding guardian, burdened with a terrible secret.

For centuries, the Eight Courts of Folk have lived among us, concealed by magic and bound by law to do no harm to humans. This arrangement has long kept peace in the Courts--until a series of gruesome and ritualistic murders rocks the city of Toronto and threatens to expose faeries to the human world.

Four queer teens, each who hold a key piece of the truth behind these murders, must form a tenuous alliance in their effort to track down the mysterious killer behind these crimes. If they fail, they risk the destruction of the faerie and human worlds alike. If that's not bad enough, there's a war brewing between the Mortal and Immortal Realms, and one of these teens is destined to tip the scales. The only question is: which way?

Wish them luck. They're going to need it.

A Cruel and Fated Light

Hollow Star Saga: Book 2

Ashley Shuttleworth

After thwarting the man behind the gruesome ironborn murders--and breaking several fae laws to do so--all Arlo wants is a quiet summer. As the deity of luck's Hollow Star, capable of bringing about endless possibilities, this shouldn't be too much to ask, right?

But someone is still trying to summon the mythical Seven Deadly Sins. All signs point to immortal meddling, and if this is the gods' attempt at returning to the Mortal Realm, it's Arlo they're going to use to do it.

When Queen Riadne offers to host Arlo at the Seelie Summer palace, she jumps at the chance. She'll get to see more of Vehan and Aurelian and perhaps even work out her complicated feelings for the gorgeous ex-Fury, Nausicaä. But no one trusts the infamous Queen of Light, even as Arlo wonders if she's just been greatly misunderstood.

With the Summer Solstice quickly approaching, everyone expects Riadne to finally challenge the High King for his crown. And as Arlo struggles to get control of her powers and take charge of her destiny, she'll soon be faced with a choice that won't only change the fate of the Mortal Realm forever but could condemn it to a cruelty the likes of which the Courts have never known.

A Grim and Sunken Vow

Hollow Star Saga: Book 3

Ashley Shuttleworth

The die is cast.
The era of Spring is over.

Riadne's bloody coup on the Summer Solstice changed Arlo's life forever. In one fell swoop and a fool's bargain, she lost both her family and free will to the newly crowned High Queen. Now, with Arlo forced to use her powers as Luck's Hollow Star to help summon the rest of the seven deadly sins, Riadne stands closer than ever to achieving her dark goals.

And Arlo isn't the only one trapped in a frightening new role. Her ex-Fury girlfriend, Nausicaä, is determined to do whatever it takes to stay by Arlo's side, even if that means becoming Riadne's pet assassin. Aurelian and Vehan, torn apart, struggle to survive on their own.

Meanwhile, Celadon has been revealed as Riadne's illegitimate son--and heir to both Spring and Summer, the ultimate offense in the faerie world. But the High Prince has secret plans of his own, plans made all the more complicated when the beautiful and deadly immortal Hunter Lethe takes an interest in him...

Five budding legacies will need more than luck if they hope to stand a chance against the greatest adversary the Courts have faced. For nothing's more dangerous than a faerie tale... except the one who tells it, and maybe what they're going to need is no longer that story's hero but its villain.

Ashes of Victory

Honor Harrington: Book 9

David Weber

Proclaimed a dead woman by the People's Republic of Haven, Honor Harrington has escaped her prison with half a million others and will tip the balance in favor of the Allies.

The Horsegirl

Horsegirl: Book 1

Constance Ash

This is a fabulous tale about a girl rejects her heritage and upbringing to do what she has always wanted and dreamed of doing, being with horses. After going to learn of horses she grows up and comes into her identity.

The Stalking Horse

Horsegirl: Book 2

Constance Ash

She danced to the music of magic, danger, and love … Glennys had come to the dazzling city of St. Lucien to seek her fortune. No longer under the protection of Baron Fulk, unable to return to her strict Alaminite folk, she soon found work as a Horse Skiller with the Queen's Opera. But her Heart's true desire is to appear with the Opera … performing onstage in the intricate and demanding horse-dance. And Glynnys has the gift that could make her the greatest of all dancers. But to reveal her gift is to expose her true identity, for only one of the noble blood has the power. And amid the courtly intrigues of St. Lucien, to claim her birthright could put Glennys is gravest peril …

The Stallion Queen

Horsegirl: Book 3

Constance Ash

Finding refuge with her followers in the Saquave Wilderness after abandoning their homeland, Glennys reigns as the Stallion Queen, living in harmony with all creatures of the wild, until an unexpected stranger darkens her door.

The Door to Saturn

Hyperborea

Clark Ashton Smith

Beyond Sea and Sky the Wizard Eibon Pursues His Outlandish Wanderings.

This short story is included in the collections:

It first appeared in the January 1931 Issue of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror available free on Internet Archives.

The Crash of Empire

Imperial Stars: Book 3

Jerry Pournelle
John F. Carr

Empires do not grow old gracefully. As the edifice of ancient government succumbs to entropy, as civil war reigns, the result is indeed "interesting times," the times of interstellar Huns locked in mortal combat with Imperial storm troopers.

Contents:

  • The Crash of Empires - essay by Jerry Pournelle
  • Pebble Among the Stars - (1976) - novelette by Gregory Benford (variant of Seascape)
  • The Claw and the Clock - [Federation of Humanity] - (1971) - novelette by Christopher Anvil
  • The Only Thing We Learn - (1949) - short story by C. M. Kornbluth
  • Remembering Vietnam - (1987) - essay by H. J. Kaplan
  • Blessed Are the Meek - (1955) - short story by G. C. Edmondson
  • Limiting Factor - (1954) - short story by Theodore R. Cogswell
  • Triage - (1976) - short story by William Walling
  • Hyperdemocracy - [Editorial (Astounding)] - (1958) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
  • Chain Reaction - (1957) - novelette by Algis Budrys
  • Earthman's Burden - (1954) - short story by Morton Klass
  • Blood Bank - (1952) - novella by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
  • Here, There Be Witches - [The Philosophical Corps] - (1970) - novelette by Everett B. Cole
  • The Buzz of Joy - [Tower to the Sky] - (1989) - short story by Phillip C. Jennings
  • Second Contact - (1988) - novella by W. R. Thompson
  • The Quest - (1896) - poem by Rudyard Kipling

Wasteland of Flint

In the Time of the Sixth Sun: Book 1

Thomas Harlan

Acclaimed as one of SF's most exciting new talents, Thomas Harlan took readers by storm with his remarkable Oath of Empire series, a thrilling blend of alternate history, high fantasy, and military adventure. The books in the series, including The Shadow of Ararat, The Gate of Fire, The Storm of Heaven, and The Dark Lord, not only earned Harlan rave reviews but gained him two nominations for Best New Writer of the Year.

Now Thomas Harlan draws upon his extensive knowledge of history, politics, strategy and tactics to create a brilliant new science fiction epic set in an alternate future in which the Aztec Empire rules the earth and an interstellar empire.

Led by the ambitions of the powerful, world-girdling Empire of the Méxica, the human race has spread out among the stars, only to discover a perilous universe once ruled by vast interstellar civilizations that suddenly vanished, leaving behind their mysterious artifacts.

Dr. Gretchen Andersson, a xeno-archeologist and second-class citizen of the empire, has made a career of searching for those First Sun artifacts. She has suddenly been recalled by her employer and sent to discover the fate of a missing survey team. To her consternation, she discovers that her team is to travel on an imperial warship, under a Japanese commander, instead of using a Company vessel. Worse, an Aztec aristocrat, Green Hummingbird--an imperial judge who is also a brujo, or sorcerer—is in command of the rescue mission. Clearly, there is more to this assignment than rescuing a team of company scientists from a dead world. In the company of Green Hummingbird, Gretchen will discover that there is far more to Ephesus III than meets the eye.

For the vast, rocky wasteland of the seemingly dead planet hides a secret life, and may hold treasures far too deadly for the empire to ever allow her to discover.

House of Reeds

In the Time of the Sixth Sun: Book 2

Thomas Harlan

In five short centuries, the mighty Empire of the Méxica, descendants of the ancient Aztecs allied with Imperial Japan, has spread out to conquer the Earth, left the homeworld, and set its sights on the stars. But the universe is a dangerous place, filled with hidden powers and the relics of ancient civilizations. The Méxica are only the latest of the great Imperial powers to reach for the stars.

But that doesn't stop Imperial Méxica from claiming control.

Xenoarcheologist Gretchen Anderssen had hoped to enjoy her well-earned vacation. She hadn't seen her home-world or her children for many months. But the Company has other plans for her - when she checks in for her transport, she finds new orders for her team. It looks like only a small diversion - a quick trip to the Planet Jagen, to investigate reports of a possible First Sun artifact. She doesn't have to run an excavation, or even gain possession of the artifact. Just file a report. But it smells bad, says Gretchen's Hesht companion, Magdalena. David Parker, the Company pilot assigned to Anderssen's analysis team agrees. And they are so right.

Gretchen, Magdalena, and Parker find themselves in very dangerous territory indeed. Because, unbeknownst to anyone at the Company, the Imperial Méxican Priesthood has decided to wage a war on Jagan - a war not of conquest or defense, but a "flowery war", planned and fomented for the purpose of blooding the Emperor's youngest son. Gretchen and her team are headed right into the middle of the battle.

It may be a War of Flowers, but many people will die, and blood will flow in the streets.

Land of the Dead

In the Time of the Sixth Sun: Book 3

Thomas Harlan

It's a small change in our history: imagine that the Japanese made contact with the Aztec Empire. Instead of small-pox and Christianity, they brought an Imperial alliance, samurai ethics, and technology. By the time of these books, the Emperor in Mexico City rules not just the entire planet Earth, but a growing interplanetary Empire. But the Galaxy is not a hospitable place, and there are other powers, both new and very very old, who would stop the spread of the power in Anuhuac.

A weapon of the Old Ones, from the time of the First Sun, has been found in a region of space. It must be investigated, then tamed or destroyed to keep it from the hands of opposing powers. Gretchen Anderssen, freelance archeologist and specialist in First Sun artifacts, has been hired by her old mentor Green Hummingbird, agent of the Mirror Service, to join him in the study. They will be joined by old friends, and some old enemies as well.

Mist, Metal, and Ash

Ink, Iron, and Glass: Book 2

Gwendolyn Clare

Worlds collide in this thrilling sequel to the epic, imaginative, acclaimed fantasy Ink, Iron, and Glass.

In an alternate 19th-century Italy, Elsa has an incredible gift: she can craft new worlds with precise lines of script written in books. But political extremists have stolen the most dangerous book ever scribed?one that can rewrite the Earth itself.

Now Elsa must track down the friend who betrayed her and recover the book before its destructive power is unleashed. Can she handle the secrets she'll uncover along the way?including the ones hiding in her own heart?

Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing

Interfictions: Book 1

Delia Sherman
Theodora Goss

Nineteen writers dig into the imaginative spaces between conventional genres--realistic and fantastical, scholarly and poetic, personal and political--and bring up gems of new fiction: interstitial fiction.

This is the literary mode of the new century, a reflection of the complex, ambiguous, and challenging world that we live in. These nineteen stories, by some of the most interesting and innovative writers working today, will change your mind about what stories can and should do as they explore the imaginative space between conventional genres. The editors garnered stories from new and established authors in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, and also fiction translated from Spanish, Hungarian, and French. The collection features stories from Christopher Barzak, Colin Greenland, Holly Phillips, Rachel Pollack, Vandana Singh, Anna Tambour, Catherynne Valente, Leslie What, and others.

Contents:

  • Introduction (Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing) - essay by Heinz Insu Fenkl
  • Alternate Anxieties - shortstory by Karen Jordan Allen
  • What We Know About the Lost Families of -- -- House - shortstory by Christopher Barzak
  • Black Feather - shortstory by K. Tempest Bradford
  • A Map of the Everywhere - shortstory by Matthew Cheney
  • The Utter Proximity of God - shortstory by Michael J. DeLuca
  • When It Rains, You'd Better Get Out of Ulga - shortstory by Adrián Ferrero
  • Timothy - shortstory by Colin Greenland
  • A Drop of Raspberry - shortstory by Csilla Kleinheincz
  • Queen of the Butterfly Kingdom - shortstory by Holly Phillips
  • Burning Beard: The Dreams and Visions of Joseph Ben Jacob, Lord Viceroy of Egypt - shortstory by Rachel Pollack
  • Pallas at Noon - shortstory by Joy Marchand [as by Joy Remy ]
  • The Shoe in SHOES' Window - shortstory by Anna Tambour
  • Rats - shortstory by Veronica Schanoes
  • Emblemata - shortstory by Léa Silhol
  • Willow Pattern - shortstory by Jon Singer
  • Hunger - shortstory by Vandana Singh
  • Climbing Redemption Mountain - shortstory by Mikal Trimm
  • A Dirge for Prester John - shortstory by Catherynne M. Valente
  • Post hoc - shortstory by Leslie What
  • Afterword: The Space Between - essay by Delia Sherman and Theodora Goss

Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing

Interfictions: Book 2

Delia Sherman
Christopher Barzak

Delving deeper into the genre-spanning territory explored in Interfictions, the Interstitial Arts Foundation's first groundbreaking anthology, Interfictions 2 showcases twenty-one original and innovative writers. It includes contributions from authors from six countries, including the United States, Poland, Norway, Australia, France, and Great Britain.

Newcomers such as Alaya Dawn Johnson, Theodora Goss, and Alan DeNiro rub shoulders with established visionaries such as Jeffrey Ford (The Drowned Life), Brian Francis Slattery (Liberation),Nin Andrews (The Book of Orgasms), and M. Rickert (Map of Dreams). Also featured are works byWill Ludwigsen, Cecil Castellucci, Ray Vukcevich, Carlos Hernandez, Lavie Tidhar, Elizabeth Ziemska, Peter M. Ball, Camilla Bruce, Amelia Beamer, William Alexander, Shira Lipkin, Lionel Davoust, Stephanie Shaw, and David J. Schwartz.

Colleen Mondor, of the well-known blog Chasing Ray, interviews the editors for the afterword.

Henry Jenkins, ex-director of MIT's Comparative Media Studies program and now a member of USC's Annenberg School for Communication and School of Cinematic Arts, provides a fantastic introduction sure to set readers' imaginations alight.

Interfictions 2 is here and ready to be read, discussed, taught, blogged, taken apart, and re-interpreted.

Contents

  • Introduction: On the Pleasures of Not Belonging - essay by Henry Jenkins
  • The War Between Heaven and Hell Wallpaper - shortstory by Jeffrey Ford
  • Remembrance Is Something Like a House - shortstory by Will Ludwigsen
  • The Long and Short of Long-Term Memory - shortstory by Cecil Castellucci
  • The Score - novelette by Alaya Dawn Johnson
  • The Two of Me - shortstory by Ray Vukcevich
  • The Assimilated Cuban's Guide to Quantum Santeria - novelette by Carlos Hernandez
  • Shoes - shortstory by Lavie Tidhar
  • Interviews After the Revolution - shortstory by Brian Francis Slattery
  • Count Poniatowski and the Beautiful Chicken - shortstory by Elizabeth Ziemska
  • Black Dog: A Biography - shortstory by Peter M. Ball
  • Berry Moon: Laments of a Muse - shortstory by Camilla Bruce
  • Morton Goes to the Hospital - shortstory by Amelia Beamer
  • After Verona - shortstory by William Alexander
  • Valentines - shortstory by Shira Lipkin
  • (*_*?) ~ ~ ~ ~ (-_-): The Warp and the Woof - novelette by Alan DeNiro
  • The Marriage - shortstory by Nin Andrews
  • Child-Empress of Mars - shortstory by Theodora Goss
  • L'Isle Close - shortstory by Lionel Davoust
  • Afterbirth - novelette by Stephanie Shaw
  • The 121 - shortstory by David J. Schwartz
  • Afterwords: An Interstitial Interview - essay by Colleen Mondor and Christopher Barzak and Delia Sherman

The Portable Door

J. W. Wells & Co.: Book 1

Tom Holt

Starting a new job is always stressful, but when Paul Carpenter arrives at the office of H.W. Wells he has no idea what trouble lies in store. Because he is about to discover that the apparently respectable establishment now paying his salary is in fact a front for a deeply sinister organization that has a mighty peculiar agenda. It seems that half the time his bosses are away with the fairies. But they're not, of course. They're away with the goblins.

In Your Dreams

J. W. Wells & Co.: Book 2

Tom Holt

Ever been offered a promotion that seems too good to be true? The kind where you snap their arm off to accept, then wonder why all your long-serving colleagues look secretly relieved, as if they're off some strange and unpleasant hook? It's the kind of trick that deeply sinister companies like J.W. Wells & Co. pull all the time. Especially with employees who are too busy mooning over the office intern to think about what they're getting into. And it's why, right about now, Paul Carpenter is wishing he'd paid much less attention to the gorgeous Melze, and rather more to a little bit of job description small-print referring to 'pest' control.

Earth, Air, Fire and Custard

J. W. Wells & Co.: Book 3

Tom Holt

J.W. Wells seemed to be a respectable establishment, but the company now paying Paul Carpenter's salary is, in fact, a deeply sinister organization with a mighty peculiar management team. Paul thought he was getting the hang of it-particularly when he fell head over heels for his strangely alluring colleague, Sophie-but death is never far away when you work at J.W. Wells. Our love-struck hero is about to discover that custard is definitely in the eye of the beholder. And that it really stings.

You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps

J. W. Wells & Co.: Book 4

Tom Holt

Colin Hollinghead is a young man going nowhere fast. Working for his dad might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but starting at the bottom in the widget-making industry has, predictably, lost its appeal. And now the business is in trouble. At least his father has a plan to turn things around-a new work force that will improve profit margins and secure the company's future for all eternity. The deal looks great on paper, but they do say that the devil is in the detail-and the arch fiend definitely seems to be involved in some capacity. Colin needs help. Perhaps his new friend from J.W. Wells & Co. (Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants) can help...

The Better Mousetrap

J. W. Wells & Co.: Book 5

Tom Holt

It touches all our lives-our triumphs and tragedies, our proudest achievements, our most traumatic disasters. Alloyed of love and fear, death and fire, and the inscrutable acts of the gods, insurance is indeed the force that binds the universe together. Hardly surprising, therefore, that Frank Carpenter, one of the foremost magical practitioners of our age, felt himself irresistibly drawn to it. Until, that is, he met Jane, a high-flying corporate heroine with an annoying habit of falling out of trees and getting killed. Repeatedly. It's not long before Frank and Jane find themselves face to face with the greatest enigma of our times: When is a door not a door? When it's a mousetrap.

May Contain Traces of Magic

J. W. Wells & Co.: Book 6

Tom Holt

There are all kinds of products. The good ones. The bad ones. The ones that stay in the garage moldering for years until your garden gnome makes a home out of it. Most are harmless if handled properly, even if they do contain traces of peanuts. But some are not-not the ones that contain traces of magic. Chris Popham wasn't paying enough attention when he talked to his SatNav. Sure, she gave him directions, never talked back to him, and always led him to his next spot on the map with perfect accuracy. She was the best thing in his life. So was it really his fault that he didn't start paying attention when she talked to him? In his defense, that was her job. But when 'Take the next right' turned into 'Excuse me,' that was when the real trouble started. Because sometimes a GPS isn't a GPS-sometimes it's an imprisoned soul trapped inside a metal box that will do anything it can to get free. And some products you just can't return.

Those Who Hunt the Night

James Asher Chronicles: Book 1

Barbara Hambly

Who's been killing the vampires of London, tearing open their coffins to let in lethal sunshine as they sleep--and then drinking their blood?

Traveling with the Dead

James Asher Chronicles: Book 2

Barbara Hambly

After a career spying for Queen Victoria, James Asher enjoyed a quiet retirement until he met the vampire Don Simon, an immortal Spaniard who taught him about the secret society of bloodsucking undead.

Now, one of the vampires, the Earl of Ernchester, has turned his back on Britain. When Asher spots him boarding a train for Paris in the company of an Austrian spy, he springs into action. If the immortals can forge an alliance with England's enemies, then the Empire is doomed. Asher tails the Earl to Paris and across the continent, plunging into the heart of a terrifying conspiracy of the undead - with the fate of the British Empire at stake.

Blood Maidens

James Asher Chronicles: Book 3

Barbara Hambly

The new 'James Asher' vampire novel from the best-selling author - It's 1911. War is coming, and according to one of the vampires of St. Petersburg, the Kaiser is trying to recruit vampires. James Asher, Oxford don and formerly on His Majesty's Secret Service, is forced to team up again with his vampire partner Don Simon Ysidro for a journey to the subarctic Russian capital. Are they on the trail of a rogue vampire with a plan to achieve the power to walk in daylight? Asher wonders. Or is Ysidro's real agenda to seek the woman he once loved?

Magistrates of Hell

James Asher Chronicles: Book 4

Barbara Hambly

James Asher finds himself once more in alliance with vampire Don Simon Ysidro, as their investigations takes them to far-off Peking . . . October, 1912. James Asher, his wife Lydia, and the old occultist and vampire-hunter Dr Solomon Karlebach have journeyed to the new-born Republic of China to investigate the rumour that the mindless Undead – the Others that even the vampires fear – have begun to multiply in the caverns of the hills west of Peking. Alongside his old vampire partner, Don Simon Ysidro, Asher embarks on a sinister hunt, while somewhere in the city’s cold gray labyrinth lurk the Peking vampires, known as the Magistrates of Hell – with an agenda of their own . . .

The Kindred of Darkness

James Asher Chronicles: Book 5

Barbara Hambly

When James Asher and his wife Lydia's baby daughter Miranda is kidnapped by the Master Vampire of London, the stakes are high: blindly follow the Master Vampire's instructions, keep out of the way of the human networks that serves the vampires, destroy the interloper who seeks to seize control of the London Nest, and find the key to the Nest's tortuous inner workings: The Book of the Kindred of Darkness.

Even with the vampire Don Simon Ysidro on their side, there's no guarantee that anything - or anyone - is who or what they appear to be. Nor is there any certainty that they'll see their child again - or survive the experience themselves.

Darkness on His Bones

James Asher Chronicles: Book 6

Barbara Hambly

When James Asher is found unconscious in the cemetery of the Church of St. Clare Pieds-Nus with multiple puncture-wounds in his throat and arms, his wife, Lydia, knows of only one person to call: the vampire Don Simon Ysidro. Old friend and old adversary, he is the only one who can help Lydia protect her unconscious, fevered husband from the vampires of Paris.

Why James has been attacked - and why he was called to Paris in the first place - Lydia has no idea. But she knows that she must find out, and quickly. For with James wavering between life and death, and war descending on the world, their slim chance of saving themselves from the vampires grows slimmer with each passing day...

Pale Guardian

James Asher Chronicles: Book 7

Barbara Hambly

During the carnage of World War One, James Asher joins forces with the vampires of Europe to counter an even deadlier threat.

The vampires call them 'The Others'. Neither living nor dead, the revenants are mindless and unstoppable--and in the carnage of the First World War, governments already running short of men to throw into battle might be very interested in soldiers who don't ask questions and are hard to kill. Front-line volunteer nurse Lydia Asher is horrified to learn that someone has found a way to control revenants, and is creating them for this purpose.

Back in London, Lydia's husband, former spy James Asher, is even more appalled to learn that revenants are beginning to show up in England, on the loose. Since revenants devour vampires, the vampires of Europe--most of whom are at the Front, feeding completely unnoticed on the dying--join forces with the Ashers to find the source of the threat before the world is overwhelmed.

Prisoner of Midnight

James Asher Chronicles: Book 8

Barbara Hambly

Vampire Don Simon Ysido has been captured and held aboard a ship heading to the US to act as a slave, and Dr Lydia Asher must stop it... at any cost.

March, 1917. The goal of every government involved in the Great War has been achieved: industrialist Spenser Cochran has drugged and enslaved a vampire, Don Simon Ysidro, to do his bidding, and is now on the way to the US aboard a luxury ship.

Horrified, Dr Lydia Asher secures her passage on the vessel to rescue her friend from Cochran's chemical thrall. Meanwhile, her husband makes a dangerous alliance with the vampires of Paris to send Lydia the information she needs about the drug.

As they cross the Atlantic evidence mounts that another vampire is hiding aboard the ship, indiscriminately murdering passengers. Lydia knows she must solve both cases before the ship docks, and that breaking Cochran's hold on Don Simon will not be enough... She must kill him.

Flashmob

John Smith: Book 2

Christopher Farnsworth

As a fixer for America's one percent, John Smith cleans up the messes of those rich enough to afford him. But he's no ordinary gun for hire. Smith is a man of rare gifts, including the ability to read minds. Arriving at the wedding of Kira Sadeghi, a reality television celebrity he recently saved from kidnappers, Smith witnesses a group of gunmen open fire, hitting the bride and others. Though he's unarmed, Smith cripples one of the killers and is able to pry one word from his mind: "Downvote."

Eager to learn more, Smith hacks into the brain of an FBI agent investigating the attack to discover the Bureau has been investigating a nefarious new threat called "Downvote," an encrypted site on the "dark net" that lists the names of celebrities and offers a hefty bounty for anyone who can kill them--unleashing an anonymous and deadly flashmob with a keystroke.

Finding a mastermind on the internet is like trying to catch air--unless you're John Smith. Motivated by money and revenge, he traces a series of electronic signatures to a reclusive billionaire living at sea, accompanied by a scary-smart female bodyguard who becomes Smith's partner in his quest. The hunt for their prey will lead from Hong Kong to Reykjavik to a luxury gambling resort deep in the Laotian jungle. Yet always this criminal mastermind remains one step ahead.

The only way Downvote's creator can stop Smith is to kill him... because while this diabolical genius can run, there's no hiding from a man who can read minds.

Dante's Girl

Kayla Steele: Book 1

Natasha Rhodes

First of all, she's trying to hold down her job at the perfume counter of a large department store, whilst staying on top of her pile of mounting bills. As if that wasn't enough, she's also on a mission to learn the Dark Arts so that she can avenge the death of her boyfriend and bring down the cabal of supernatural entities that is stalking the streets of LA. Then, of course, there's the dead boyfriend himself, Karrel Dante. She's really got no idea where that relationship is going at the moment...

The Last Angel

Kayla Steele: Book 2

Natasha Rhodes

An angel is found murdered on the streets of Sunset Boulevard. To the media gossip mongers, it's the biggest story ever. To the Hunters, an underground monster-fighting hit-squad, it's just another case of whodunnit. To Kayla Steele, their youngest and newest member, it means a last, desperate chance to bring her murdered fiancé back from the dead, and to others with a far darker purpose it is the means to destroy the human race. If the Hunters are to stop the onset of Armageddon they must join forces with their most hated enemies, the werewolves...

Circus of Sins

Kayla Steele: Book 3

Natasha Rhodes

When young vampire-hunter Kayla Steele is bitten by a werewolf, she thinks it's the end of her world. However, little does she know that the real end of the world is not that far away.

Master vampire Harlequin has made a deal with the Devil and is now planning to commit the ultimate sin -- killing an angel -- which will trigger an ancient curse and bring about war in Heaven.

Age of Ash

Kithamar: Book 1

Daniel Abraham

Kithamar is a center of trade and wealth, an ancient city with a long, bloody history where countless thousands live and their stories unfold.

This is Alys's.

When her brother is murdered, a petty thief from the slums of Longhill sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives.

Swept up in an intrigue as deep as the roots of Kithamar, where the secrets of the lowest born can sometimes topple thrones, the story Alys chooses will have the power to change everything.

Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Norville: Book 2

Carrie Vaughn

Celebrity werewolf and late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard and not seen, but when she's invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of the country's supernaturals, her face gets plastered all over national TV. Before long Kitty's inherited a brand-new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city, an über-hot Brazilian were-jaguar, and a Bible-thumping senator who plans to expose Kitty as the monster he truly believes her to be. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone's itching for a fight - and she's about to be caught in the middle.

Crashlander

Known Space: Book 7

Larry Niven

Crashlander Beowulf Shaeffer has long been one of the most popular characters in Known Space. Now, for the first time ever, Larry Niven brings together all the Beowulf Shaeffer stories--including a brand-new one--in one long tale of exploration and adventure! PLUS--an all-new framing story that pulls together all of Beowulf Shaeffer's adventures and allows Shaeffer and his family to make a clean start at life once and for all!

Table of Contents:

  • Ghost - novelette
  • Neutron Star - (1966) - novelette
  • At the Core - (1966) - novelette
  • Flatlander - (1967) - novelette
  • Grendel - (1968) - shortstory
  • The Borderland of Sol - (1975) - novelette
  • Procrustes - (1993) - novella

Kojiki

Kojiki: Book 1

Keith Yatsuhashi

Every civilization has its myths. Only one is true.

When eighteen year old Keiko Yamada's father dies unexpectedly, he leaves behind a one way ticket to Japan, an unintelligible death poem about powerful Japanese spirits and their gigantic, beast-like Guardians, and the cryptic words: "Go to Japan in my place. Find the Gate. My camera will show you the way."

Alone and afraid, Keiko travels to Tokyo, determined to fulfil her father's dying wish. There, beneath glittering neon signs, her father's death poem comes to life. Ancient spirits spring from the shadows. Chaos envelops the city, and as Keiko flees its burning streets, her guide, the beautiful Yui Akiko, makes a stunning confession -- that she, Yui, is one of a handful of spirits left behind to defend the world against the most powerful among them: a once noble spirit now insane. Keiko must decide if she will honour her father's heritage and take her rightful place among the gods.

Kokoro

Kojiki: Book 2

Keith Yatsuhashi

On the planet of Higo, without the guidance of the Great Spirits, its people are descending into religious civil war. Baiyren Tallaenaq, Prince of Higo, is exiled after causing the death of his mother.

Freed from his responsibilities and the looming war, he steals their greatest weapon--a giant, sentient, armoured suit--and uses it to open a Portal to a world he never knew existed. A world called 'Earth'... home of a magical young woman called Keiko.

Moon-Flash

Kyreol: Book 1

Patricia A. McKillip

Kyreol, daughter of a Healer, knew that beyond the dangerously swirling rapids of Fourteen Falls lay nothing but darkness...

Newly betrothed, Kyreol still burned with the old, haunting questions. Where had her mother disappeared to so long ago? What lay beyond the edge of the world? And what was the meaning of the Moon-Flash, sign of life and hope to her people?

Then one day the Hunter came to her, a mysterious and powerful stranger who entered her dreams. Suddenly she knew what she must do. She must leave home, following the River to the place where the world ends - and then beyond.

She did not yet know that when you leave the world behind, it is forever.

Legacy of Ash

Legacy Trilogy: Book 1

Matthew Ward

A shadow has fallen over the Tressian Republic.

Ruling families - once protectors of justice and democracy - now plot against one another with sharp words and sharper knives. Blinded by ambition, they remain heedless of the threat posed by the invading armies of the Hadari Empire.

Yet as Tressia falls, heroes rise.

Viktor Akadra is the Republic's champion. A warrior without equal, he hides a secret that would see him burned as a heretic. Josiri Trelan is Viktor's sworn enemy. A political prisoner, he dreams of reigniting his mother's failed rebellion. And yet Calenne Trelan, Josiri's sister, seeks only to break free of their tarnished legacy; to escape the expectation and prejudice that haunts the family name.

As war spreads across the Republic, these three must set aside their differences in order to save their home. Yet decades of bad blood are not easily set aside. And victory - if it comes at all - will demand a darker price than any of them could have imagined.

A Love Story Written on Water

Legends of the Burnt Empire: Book 1

Ashok K. Banker

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, Issue 103, December 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Son of Water and Fire

Legends of the Burnt Empire: Book 2

Ashok K. Banker

This novelette originally appeared in Lightspeed, Issue 104, January 2019.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Terrible Oath

Legends of the Burnt Empire: Book 3

Ashok K. Banker

This novelette originally appeared in Lightspeed, Issue 105, February 2019.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

A Hundred Thousand Arrows

Legends of the Burnt Empire: Book 4

Ashok K. Banker

This novelette originally appeared in Lighstpeed, Issue 106, March 2019.

Read the full story for fre at Lightspeed.

The Seeds of War

Legends of the Burnt Empire: Book 5

Ashok K. Banker

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, Issue 107, April 2019.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The Babylon Eye

Linked Worlds: Book 1

Masha du Toit

Elke Veraart is in prison. She used to be an eco-terrorist, hunting down poachers to protect endangered species. Now she's facing the grim reality of life behind bars. Just as Elke is about to give up hope she is offered a chance to win back her freedom. All she has to do is find a missing dog.

Meisje is no ordinary dog. She's cybernetically enhanced, a valuable living weapon. She's also lost, hungry, and alone. As Elke closes in on Meisje she finds her admiration for the resourceful cyber-dog growing. And Meisje begins to wonder if she could trust the woman on her trail.

Then Elke discovers that she's not the only one hunting the cyber-dog, and that her orders have changed. She must do more than find Meisje. She has to kill her.

Elke has to make an impossible choice: her freedom, or Meisje's life. Or is there another way? It's risky, but Elke could use the secrets she's uncovered to save them both.

The Real

Linked Worlds: Book 2

Masha du Toit

The Muara. A ruined sea-side resort, shattered by the weather, buried in sand. Three children scavenge a living on the abandoned beaches and in the sand-swamped houses. This is their home and its desolation is their security... but their safety is an illusion.

Under the sands of the Muara, in an underground room, is a secret that could destroy them and everything they know.

The Strange

Linked Worlds: Book 3

Masha du Toit

Constable Elke Veraart and her cyber-dog Meisje are peace keepers, patrolling the Babylon Eye. It's a good job, but there must be more to life than chasing smugglers and settling domestic disputes.

Then three children ask Elke to find their mother, who's been missing for more than a year. The search attracts the wrong kind of attention. Elke and her young friends are in desperate danger.

Unable to resist the powers that have been unleashed against her, Elke is swept out of the Babylon Eye and into another world. While she struggles to regain her freedom, the children are unprotected. They must face, all alone, a new danger that stalks the corridors of the Babylon Eye.

The Temple of Fire

Lost World-Lost Race Classics: Book 16

Fred Ashley

From the first to the last page The Temple of Fire never lets up, sending its heroes into swamp-infested seas and uncharted islands; pitting them against underwater monsters, people with webbed feet, gigantic flying skate fish, flesh-eating plants, and an ancient, not-too-friendly civilization, with some mean-spirited high priests thrown in for good measure. There's so much excitement you'll find yourself out of breath after just turning a few pages!

The Education of Junior Number 12

Machine Dynasties

Madeline Ashby

This novelette originally appeared on the Angry Robot website, December 2011. It can also be found in the anthologies:

Read the full story for free at Angry Robot.

vN: The First Machine Dynasty

Machine Dynasties: Book 1

Madeline Ashby

Amy Peterson is a self-replicating humanoid robot known as a VonNeumann.

For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother's past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks her mother, Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive.

Now she carries her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive, and she's learning impossible things about her clade's history - like the fact that she alone can kill humans without failsafing...

iD: The Second Machine Dynasty

Machine Dynasties: Book 2

Madeline Ashby

Javier is a self-replicating humanoid on a journey of redemption. Javier's quest takes him from Amy's island, where his actions have devastating consequences for his friend, toward Mecha where he will find either salvation... or death.

reV: The Third Machine Dynasty

Machine Dynasties: Book 3

Madeline Ashby

Publication of this novel has been delayed to 2020.

In the final instalment of the influential Machine Dynasty series, the rapture for which the self-replicating humanoids were engineered finally comes to pass.

Now that the failsafe that once kept synthetic beings from harming humans has been hacked, all vNare discovering the promise -- and the peril -- of free will. Her consciousness unleashed across computer systems all across the world, the vicious vN Portia stands poised to finally achieve her lifelong dream of bringing feeble, fleshy humanity to its knees.

The battle between Portia and granddaughter Amy comes to its ultimate conclusion. Can Amy get her family to the stars before Portia destroys every opportunity for escape and freedom?

The Last Incantation

Malygris: Book 1

Clark Ashton Smith

A poetic and fanciful tale about a king who invoked the aid of magic to summon his lost love.

This short story is included in the collections;

It first appeared in the June, 1930 Issue of Weird Tales, available free on Internet Archives.

The Death of Malygris

Malygris: Book 2

Clark Ashton Smith

Even in death, the mighty wizard proved himself greater than his peers - a story of weird sorcery.

This short story is included in the collections:

It first appeared in the April, 1934 Issue of Weird Tales, available free on Internet Archives.

Mason's Rats

Mason's Rats

Neal Asher

This short story originally appeared in Orion #2, November 1992, and was reprinted in Asimov's Science Fiction, April-May 2005. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 11 (2005), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.

The Musashi Flex

Matador: Book 9

Steve Perry

Under the Galactic Confederation, there are very few ways to rise above your caste. One is to become a player in the extreme martial arts game known as the Musashi Flex. In the early 23rd century, three people will enter its violent culture: a battle-scarred veteran, an infiltrator, and a cunning upstart. Their fates will entwine--and be decided--in the bloody arena of the Flex. And if they survive, their story will become legend.

Crank Palace

Maze Runner

James Dashner

Newt has been to hell and back with his friends.

The Glade. The Maze. The Scorch. The inner halls of WICKED. But now he has a burden that can't be shared with Thomas and the others - the Flare. And Newt can't bear the thought of his friends watching him descend into madness as he succumbs to the virus.

Leaving only a note, Newt departs the Berg before the Gladers return from their mission into Denver, Colorado. From there, he experiences the gritty nightmare of life on the streets, running from the infected and those hunting them, until he ends up in the Crank Palace, the last dumping ground of those without hope. Although Newt thought he was running away from his friends to save them from himself, along the way he meets a young mother named Keisha and her son, Dante, who end up saving Newt in a way he could never have imagined.

The Maze Runner

Maze Runner: Book 1

James Dashner

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he's not alone. When the lift doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him into the Glade - a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they got into the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they've closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up - the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more suprising yet is the message she delivers. Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

The Scorch Trials

Maze Runner: Book 2

James Dashner

The Scorch Trials picks up where The Maze Runner left off. The Gladers have escaped the Maze, but now they face an even more treacherous challenge on the open roads of a devastated planet. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. Can Thomas survive in such a violent world?

The Death Cure

Maze Runner: Book 3

James Dashner

Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted. but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprints for the cure to the Flare with a voluntary test. What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have forseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what the Wicked says. The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine. Will anyone survive to Death Cure?

The Kill Order

Maze Runner: Book 4

James Dashner

Book four in the blockbuster Maze Runner series that spawned a movie franchise and ushered in a worldwide phenomenon! And don't miss The Fever Code, the highly-anticipated series conclusion that finally reveals the story of how the maze was built!

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth, killing most of the population.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened. They survived. But now a virus is spreading. A virus that fills humans with murderous rage.

They're convinced that there's a way to save those who are left--if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some you're worth more dead than alive.

The end is only the beginning.

The Maze Runner, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure are all now major motion pictures featuring the star of MTV's Teen Wolf, Dylan O'Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Aml Ameen; Will Poulter; and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

The Fever Code

Maze Runner: Book 5

James Dashner

Book five in the blockbuster Maze Runner series that spawned a movie franchise and ushered in a worldwide phenomenon! Don't miss the highly-anticipated series conclusion that finally reveals the story of how Thomas and WICKED built the Maze. Also look for James Dashner's newest bestselling series--The Mortality Doctrine: The Eye of Minds, The Rule of Thoughts, and The Game of Lives!

Once there was a world's end.
The forests burned, the lakes and rivers dried up, and the oceans swelled.
Then came a plague, and fever spread across the globe. Families died, violence reigned, and man killed man.
Next came WICKED, who were looking for an answer. And then they found the perfect boy.
The boy's name was Thomas, and Thomas built a maze.
Now there are secrets.
There are lies.
And there are loyalties history could never have foreseen.
This is the story of that boy, Thomas, and how he built a maze that only he could tear down.
All will be revealed.

The Maze Runner and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials are now major motion pictures featuring the star of MTV's Teen Wolf, Dylan O'Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Aml Ameen; Will Poulter; and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. The third movie, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, will hit screens in 2018.

Mickey7

Mickey7: Book 1

Edward Ashton

Dying isn't any fun... but at least it's a living.

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there's a mission that's too dangerous--even suicidal--the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal... and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7's fate has been sealed. There's a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.

Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.

That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.

Antimatter Blues

Mickey7: Book 2

Edward Ashton

Edward Ashton's Antimatter Blues is the thrilling follow up to Mickey7 in which an expendable heads out to explore new terrain for human habitation.

Summer has come to Niflheim. The lichens are growing, the six-winged bat-things are chirping, and much to his own surprise, Mickey Barnes is still alive--that last part thanks almost entirely to the fact that Commander Marshall believes that the colony's creeper neighbors are holding an antimatter bomb, and that Mickey is the only one who's keeping them from using it. Mickey's just another colonist now. Instead of cleaning out the reactor core, he spends his time these days cleaning out the rabbit hutches. It's not a bad life.

It's not going to last.

It may be sunny now, but winter is coming. The antimatter that fuels the colony is running low, and Marshall wants his bomb back. If Mickey agrees to retrieve it, he'll be giving up the only thing that's kept his head off of the chopping block. If he refuses, he might doom the entire colony. Meanwhile, the creepers have their own worries, and they're not going to surrender the bomb without getting something in return. Once again, Mickey finds the fate of two species resting in his hands. If something goes wrong this time, though, he won't be coming back.

Miss Savage Fang, Vol. 1: The Strongest Mercenary in History Is Reincarnated as an Unstoppable Noblewoman

Miss Savage Fang: Book 1

Kakkaku Akashi

DAINTY ON THE OUTSIDE, FEROCIOUS ON THE INSIDE

Mylene has it all: She's the daughter of nobility, she boasts incredible aptitude with magic and the blade, and she possesses striking vermilion-tinged locks that signify she's been chosen by God. Yet this elegant warrior hides a shocking secret--inside her lurks the soul of the strongest mercenary in history, Savage Fang. In his past life, Savage Fang cut down countless foes of superior ability for his employers with nothing but cunning and strength. Now reborn as Mylene, this former sellsword will use her past experience and newfound powers to shape the world as she sees fit... even if she has to get her aristocratic peers involved along the way!

Miss Savage Fang, Vol. 2: The Strongest Mercenary in History is Reincarnated as an Unstoppable Noblewoman

Miss Savage Fang: Book 2

Kakkaku Akashi

NEW FRIENDS, FAMILIAR FOES

Now that things have quieted down at school, Mylene settles into a fulfilling routine, surrounded by adoring friends... until one day, when she notices a student following her everywhere and casting suspicious glances at her. The girl turns out to be none other than Melissa, Priestess of Eltania. But why exactly is Melissa so intent on observing Mylene? As her search for answers grows increasingly hectic, the next major event in Mylene's life arrives--the school's annual Genius Festival! Little does she know, however, that the cultists who have designs for her plan to use it to sow death and disorder...

Splashdance Silver

Mocklore Chronicles: Book 1

Tansy Rayner Roberts

Kassa Daggersharp has just heard word that her dad's dead and she's heir to a vast silver treasure-trove from the famous Splashdance pirate ship.

But in grand pirate tradition, the last will and testament of Vicious Bigbeard Daggersharp doesn't actually say where the silver is. And to add to Kassa's woes, everyone - from legendary royal champion and pin-up boy Aragon Silversword to the the Emperor Lady Talle - seems to be trying to find and claim the silver for themselves.

This hilarious story of the race for the Splashdance silver is about pirates and politics, treasure and traitors, epic adventures, magical mysteries, nearly-true-love and things which glint in the night.

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

Moribito: Book 1

Nahoko Uehashi

You've never read a fantasy novel like this one! The deep well of Japanese myth merges with the Western fantasy tradition for a novel that's as rich in place and culture as it is hard to put down.

Balsa was a wanderer and warrior for hire. Then she rescued a boy flung into a raging river -- and at that moment, her destiny changed. Now Balsa must protect the boy -- the Prince Chagum -- on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea. As they travel across the land of Yogo and discover the truth about the spirit, they find themselves hunted by two deadly enemies: the egg-eating monster Rarunga . . . and the prince's own father.

Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness

Moribito: Book 2

Nahoko Uehashi

In the marvelous sequel to the novel MORIBITO: GUARDIAN OF THE SPIRIT, Balsa returns to her native land to fight a corrupt ruler and face her own demons.

Balsa returns to her native Kanbal to clear the name of Jiguro, her dear mentor, who saved her life when she was six years old. But what should be a visit of truth and reconciliation becomes a fight for her life when she learns that Jiguro had been a member of King Rogsam's personal bodyguard. After Jiguro fled Kanbal with her, Rogsam sent the other bodyguards after them one by one--Jiguro's best friends, whom he had to kill to protect Balsa. Now, with the help of two Kanbalese children, Balsa must unwind the conspiracy surrounding Jiguro and the mystery of the Guardians of the Dark.

A Boy and His Tank

New Kashubia: Book 1

Leo Frankowski

AND THE STREETS WERE MADE OF GOLD....

He was a rugged, hardened combat veteran who had gone to hell and back--in virtual reality! Now he had to face the real thing...

The planet New Kashubia started out as a gas giant, but when its sun went supernova, lighter elements were blasted into space. All that was left was a ball of heavy metals, heated to 8,000 degrees. As it cooled, tungsten solidified first at the surface, and layers of other metals continued down to a ball of mercury at the center. The sun meanwhile evolved into a pulsar with a deadly beam of radiation that baked the planet's surface. The New Kashuhians lived inside the planet, in tunnels drilled in a thousand foot thick layer of solid gold.

Still without carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, or even dirt, the colonists were the poorest people in the universe.

But when they combined virtual reality with tank warfare, giving their warriors symbiosis with their intelligent tanks, neither war nor the galaxy would ever be the same. Not to mention sex...

The War Against Earth

New Kashubia: Book 2

Leo Frankowski
Dave Grossman

A general in virtual reality warfare, now he was in danger of becoming a low-ranking corpse in realtime!

New Kashubia was a planet rich in heavy metals, but utterly lacking in carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Even dirt had to be imported at great expense. The colonists, moved there from Earth against their will, lived in tunnels drilled through solid gold but still were the poorest people in the universe. Since their only resource was people, they sent draftees out as mercenaries, fighting in tanks in symbiosis with a highly intelligent computer. And Mickolai Derdowski had fought bravely and brilliantly for nearly a decade, losing many friends in the process, and risen to the rank of General--he thought.

But then he found out that it was all in virtual reality. The war had been faked, no one had died, and he was still just a tank commander, not a general at all. But New Kashubia had been well paid by the planet that had hired the mercenaries for the war they had faked, severe food rationing back home was no longer necessary, and people could now afford such extravagant luxuries as food, homes and clothing.

There was just one problem. A real war was looming on the horizon and this one couldn't be settled in cyberspace. A lot of people might get really, permanently killed. Such as Mickolai...

Kren of the Mitchegai

New Kashubia: Book 3

Leo Frankowski
Dave Grossman

The virtual-reality mercenaries of a boy and his tank face a new menace -- and there's nothing virtual about it!

First, the involuntary colonists of New Kashubia rescued their planet from crushing debt by becoming virtual-reality mercenaries, then they successfully revolted against the oppressive government of Earth, but now they are menaced by the Mitchegai, a species whose biology has made them inherently evil. The carnivorous adults lay and abandon vast numbers of eggs, some of which grow into vegetarian juveniles, which are the adults' only food supply. Their culture has no family life, they eat only meat, have nothing like sex, and their main pleasures are gambling, art, and killing each other. They are an ancient civilization, millions of years old, with thousands of densely populated star systems in their realm. Lacking an immune system, they must completely sterilize any planet before they colonize it. The region of the galaxy they occupy is rapidly expanding... and Human Space is their next frontier!

Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA, Vol. 1

NGE: ANIMA: Book 1

Ikuto Yamashita

A light novel series exploring an alternate ending to one of the most influential anime series of all time!

What if reluctant hero Ikari Shinji had saved the world? Now, at seventeen years old, he is the defacto leader of the EVA team. Under the leadership of Commander Katsuragi Misato, the Evangelion suits have been updated with advanced designs and powers, in preparation for the possible return of the monstrous Angels. Four copies of Ayanami Rei have been tasked with operating a global anti-Angel search-and-destroy program. But when one of these clones goes rogue, it's up to Shinji to stop her.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA, Vol. 2

NGE: ANIMA: Book 2

Ikuto Yamashita

THE SHADOW IN THE SKY

Tensions run high as the black giant Armaros looms threateningly over planet Earth, armed with the mighty Spear of Longinus. The pilots race to avert disaster, but Rei Quatre throws a wrench in their plans by kidnapping Misato! Meanwhile, Shinji is confronted by a strange white Evangelion that looks just like Eva-02, piloted by a familiar face. Can Shinji and his comrades save the world yet again, or are the forces arrayed against them just too strong this time?

Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA, Vol. 3

NGE: ANIMA: Book 3

Ikuto Yamashita

ARMAGEDDON, ALL OVER AGAIN

Severely wounded in battle with Armaros, Shinji struggles to shoulder the responsibility of being Earth's savior yet again. Meanwhile, Asuka adjusts to her strange new body, and the clones Trois and Quatre continue their quest for their own identities. But their enemy wields the power of a god, and it's going to take every single one of them working together to prevent a reprise of the Human Instrumentality Project.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA, Vol. 4

NGE: ANIMA: Book 4

Ikuto Yamashita

APOCALYPSE NOW

A chunk of the growing moon breaks off and hurtles toward Earth, spelling immediate doom for the planet even as the Lance of Longinus continues to suck it dry. Shinji moves to destroy the deadly asteroid before it can make contact, but is felled by a horrifying, unforeseen force. Can he be resurrected once more before it's too late? Or are Earth's defenders finally out of miracles?

Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA, Vol. 5

NGE: ANIMA: Book 5

Ikuto Yamashita

ONE FINAL DREAM

Sacrificing himself to shield Earth from the devastation of the Third Impact, Shinji's mind floats untethered from his body. He lingers in a space where time stands still, trapped in the moment of the impact. As Armaros swallows Heurtebise and defeat seems near, Asuka tries to use the memories of their classroom days together to wake Shinji from his new, shattered reality.

A Flash of Hex

Occult Special Investigator: Book 2

Jes Battis

After a series of brutal murders, Occult Special Investigator Tess Corday is convinced the identity of the killer is locked in her own head. The only question is-how many rules is she willing to break to get to the truth?

Ashes of Honor

October Daye: Book 6

Seanan McGuire

It's been almost a year since October "Toby" Daye averted a war, gave up a county, and suffered personal losses that have left her wishing for a good day's sleep. She's tried to focus on her responsibilities—training Quentin, upholding her position as Sylvester's knight, and paying the bills—but she can't help feeling like her world is crumbling around her, and her increasingly reckless behavior is beginning to worry even her staunchest supporters.

To make matters worse, Toby's just been asked to find another missing child…only this time it's the changeling daughter of her fellow knight, Etienne, who didn't even know he was a father until the girl went missing. Her name is Chelsea. She's a teleporter, like her father. She's also the kind of changeling the old stories warn about, the ones with all the strength and none of the control. She's opening doors that were never meant to be opened, releasing dangers that were sealed away centuries before—and there's a good chance she could destroy Faerie if she isn't stopped.

Now Toby must find Chelsea before time runs out, racing against an unknown deadline and through unknown worlds as she and her allies try to avert disaster. But danger is also stirring in the Court of Cats, and Tybalt may need Toby's help with the biggest challenge he's ever faced.

Toby thought the last year was bad. She has no idea.

Skin of the Sea

Of Mermaids and Orisa: Book 1

Natasha Bowen

A way to survive.
A way to serve.
A way to save.

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata--a mermaid--collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable--she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it.

To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There's the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail....

Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she doesn't, then she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

Soul of the Deep

Of Mermaids and Orisa: Book 2

Natasha Bowen

One life.
One choice.
One sacrifice.

To save those closest to her, Simi traded away everything: her freedom, her family, and the boy she loves. Now she is sworn to serve a new god, watching over the Land of the Dead at the bottom of the ocean.

But when signs of demons begin to appear, it's clear there are deeper consequences of Simi's trade. These demons spell the world's ruin... and because of Simi, they now have a way into the human realm.

With the fate of the world at stake, Simi must break her promise and team up with a scheming trickster of a god. And if they succeed, perhaps Simi can also unbreak her heart along the way, and find herself again.

In Ashes Lie

Onyx Court: Book 2

Marie Brennan

The year is 1666. The King and Parliament vie for power, fighting one another with politics and armies alike. Below, the faerie court has enemies of its own. The old ways are breaking down, and no one knows what will rise in their place.

But now, a greater threat has come, one that could destroy everything. In the house of a sleeping baker, a spark leaps free of the oven -- and ignites a blaze that will burn London to the ground. While the humans struggle to halt the conflagration that is devouring the city street by street, the fae pit themselves against a less tangible foe: the spirit of the fire itself, powerful enough to annihilate everything in its path.

Mortal and fae will have to lay aside the differences that divide them, and fight together for the survival of London itself . . .

Out of Space and Time: Volume I

Out of Space and Time: Book 1

Clark Ashton Smith

Table of Contents:

  • 7 - Clark Ashton Smith: Master of Fantasy - (1942) - essay by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei
  • 13 - The End of the Story - [Averoigne] - (1930) - novelette
  • 35 - A Rendezvous in Averoigne - [Averoigne] - (1931) - short story
  • 53 - A Night in Malnéant - (1933) - short story
  • 61 - The City of the Singing Flame - [Singing Flame] - (1940) - novelette (variant of City of Singing Flame)
  • 109 - The Uncharted Isle - (1930) - short story
  • 125 - The Second Interment - (1933) - short story
  • 139 - The Chain of Aforgomon - (1935) - novelette
  • 159 - The Dark Eidolon - [Zothique] - (1935) - novelette
  • 191 - The Double Shadow - [Poseidonis] - (1933) - short story

Out of Space and Time: Volume II

Out of Space and Time: Book 2

Clark Ashton Smith

Table of Contents:

  • 7 - Clark Ashton Smith: Master of Fantasy - (1974) - essay by uncredited
  • 13 - The Last Hieroglyph - [Zothique] - (1935) - short story
  • 33 - Sadastor - (1930) - poem
  • 39 - The Death of Ilalotha - [Zothique] - (1937) - short story
  • 53 - The Return of the Sorcerer - [Cthulhu Mythos] - (1931) - short story
  • 75 - The Testament of Athammaus - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - short story
  • 99 - The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan - [Hyperborea] - (1932) - short story
  • 111 - Ubbo-Sathla - [Hyperborea] - (1933) - short story
  • 123 - The Monster of the Prophecy - (1932) - novelette
  • 167 - The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis - [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] - (1932) - novelette
  • 189 - From the Crypts of Memory - (1917) - poem
  • 191 - The Shadows - (1922) - poem

A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Outlander: Book 6

Diana Gabaldon

Eagerly anticipated by her legions of fans, this sixth novel in Diana Gabaldon's bestselling Outlander saga is a masterpiece of historical fiction from one of the most popular authors of our time.

Since the initial publication of Outlander fifteen years ago, Diana Gabaldon's New York Times bestselling saga has won the hearts of readers the world over -- and sold more than twelve million books. Now, A Breath of Snow and Ashes continues the extraordinary story of 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser and his 20th-century wife, Claire.

The year is 1772, and on the eve of the American Revolution, the long fuse of rebellion has already been lit. Men lie dead in the streets of Boston, and in the backwoods of North Carolina, isolated cabins burn in the forest.

With chaos brewing, the governor calls upon Jamie Fraser to unite the backcountry and safeguard the colony for King and Crown. But from his wife Jamie knows that three years hence the shot heard round the world will be fired, and the result will be independence -- with those loyal to the King either dead or in exile. And there is also the matter of a tiny clipping from The Wilmington Gazette, dated 1776, which reports Jamie's death, along with his kin. For once, he hopes, his time-traveling family may be wrong about the future.

World Walkers

Owner Series

Neal Asher

Neal Asher presents his spectacular standalone novel set within the Owner Trilogy!

He can jump between worlds. But can he save his own?

As a totalitarian Inspectorate tightens its grip, one man discovers the power to slip through the gaps and traverse alternate universes. World Walkersby Neal Asher is an exhilarating standalone novel set within the Owner Trilogy.

Ottanger is a rebel and mutant on an Earth governed by a ruthless Committee. But after its Inspectorate experiments on him, Ottanger realizes the mutation allows him to reach alternate worlds. The multiverse is revealed in all its glory and terror - and he understands that he can finally flee his timeline.

Then Ottanger meets the Fenris, an evolved human, visiting his Earth from the far future. He'd engineered the original world walking mutation, so those altered could escape the Committee's nightmarish regime. Yet this only worked for a few, and millions continued to suffer. And Ottanger sees that that Committee will become unstoppable if not destroyed.

However, the Fenris has drawn yet another threat to Ottanger's Earth. With the power of its trillion linked minds, it craves world-walking biotech and will do anything to get it. As conflict looms at home, and war threatens the multiverse--the Fenris, Ottanger and his companions must prepare for a galaxy-altering battle...

The Departure

Owner Series: Book 1

Neal Asher

Earth

An overpopulated world is under the brutal, high-tech thumb of the Committee. Towering robot shepherds, pain-inducers, and reader guns maintain control over masses of zero-asset citizens, but for the elite this not enough. Twelve billion must human beings must die before the Earth can be stabilized, and the Argus satellite laser network is almost ready.

Waking in a crate destined for an incinerator, Alan Saul remembers only pain and his torturer's face. But he has company: Janus, a rogue AI inhabiting the forbidden hardware in his skull. Saul intends to stop Argus and get his revenge on the Committee–once he finds out who he used to be.

Mars

Abandoned by the Committee, the Antares Base faces extinction. The colonists there will not be returning to Earth nor will they be receiving any additional supplies or support. Unless they are very ingenious, they will run out of resources and be dead within five years.

As if that's not dire enough, Varalia Delex finds herself caught in a violent power struggle with the base's ruthless political officers–who see everyone else as expendable. As spilled blood turns the Red Planet even redder, Var discovers that Mars holds very new and interesting ways to die.

Zero Point

Owner Series: Book 2

Neal Asher

Earth’s Zero Asset citizens no longer face extermination from orbit. Thanks to Alan Saul, the Committee’s network of control is a smoking ruin and its robotic enforcers lie dormant. But power abhors a vacuum and, scrambling from the wreckage, comes the ruthless Serene Galahad. She must act while the last vestiges of Committee infrastructure remain intact – and she has the means to ensure command is hers. On Mars, Var Delex fights for the survival of Antares Base, while the Argus Space Station hurls towards the red planet. And she knows whomever, or whatever, trashed Earth is still aboard. Var must save the base, while also dealing with the first signs of rebellion. And aboard Argus Station, Alan Saul’s mind has expanded into the local computer network. In the process, he uncovers the ghastly experiments of the Humanoid Unit Development, the possibility of eternal life, and a madman who may hold the keys to interstellar flight. But Earth’s agents are closer than Saul thinks, and the killing will soon begin.

Jupiter War

Owner Series: Book 3

Neal Asher

War threatens to destroy Earth's last hope in the final installment of the Owner trilogy!

Alan Saul is now part human and part machine. He craves the stars, yet his human side still controls him; he can't leave his to sister die. He must leave Argus Station and stage a dangerous rescue. But Saul's robots make his crew feel increasingly redundant, sowing the seeds of mutiny and betrayal.

Serene Galahad, Earth's ruthless dictator, hides her crimes from a cowed populace as she desperately readies a new attack on Saul. She aims to destroy her enemy in a vicious display of violence.

The Scourge limps back to Earth, its earlier mission to annihilate Saul a failure. Some members of the decimated crew plan to murder Galahad before she has them murdered for their failure, but Clay Ruger plans to negotiate for his life. Events build to a climax as Ruger holds humanity's greatest asset--seeds to rebuild a dying Earth. This stolen Gene Bank data is offered at a price, but what will Galahad pay for humanity's future?

Neal Asher has been thrilling science fiction fans for over a decade with his Polity series. Jupiter War brings his new Owner trilogy to a stunning conclusion.

The Bone Season

Paige Mahoney: Book 1

Samantha Shannon

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others' minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city--Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly--as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Mime Order

Paige Mahoney: Book 2

Samantha Shannon

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London.

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take center stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.

Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

The Song Rising

Paige Mahoney: Book 3

Samantha Shannon

Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population.

But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilizing the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it...

The Mask Falling

Paige Mahoney: Book 4

Samantha Shannon

Dreamwalker Paige Mahoney has eluded death again. Snatched from the jaws of captivity and consigned to a safe house in the Scion Citadel of Paris, she finds herself caught between those factions that seek Scion's downfall and those who would kill to protect the Rephaim's puppet empire.

The mysterious Domino Program has plans for Paige, but she has ambitions of her own in this new citadel. With Arcturus Mesarthim-her former enemy-at her side, she embarks on an adventure that will lead her from the catacombs of Paris to the glittering hallways of Versailles. Her risks promise high reward: the Parisian underworld could yield the means to escalate her rebellion to outright war.

As Scion widens its bounds and the free world trembles in its shadow, Paige must fight her own memories after her ordeal at the hands of Scion. Meanwhile, she strives to understand her bond with Arcturus, which grows stronger by the day. But there are those who know the revolution began with them-and could end with them...

Ash Ock

Paratwa Saga: Book 2

Christopher Hinz

The beautiful maiden Jewel is the center of her parent's joy. She is the embodiment of their true love and she has grown up surrounded by peace and love in abundance.

Jewel's world cruelly shatters when her parents are suddenly killed and she and her uncle Eoin are forced to flee. Leaving the only home she has ever known, Jewel learns that her parents, caught in a tangle of a tragic prophecy, had hidden in the marshland for years to protect the secret knowledge that Jewel is the last of the line of the Janus Jaravhor, the dreaded sorcerer of Strang. That she might be the one person in the world who could unlock the mysterious Dome that is told to hold all of Janus's secrets. And that King Maolmordha now knows of her existence and will stop at nothing to find her.

Pain and loss follow and Jewel must make her way alone. Rescued by a traveling band of Weathermasters, exalted magicians who control the heavens for the rich and powerful, she is taken to High Darioneth and is accepted into this tightly knit community.

Not just accepted, but loved, for one of the young weathermasters beheld her and his heart was lost.

Jewel is left with the promise of true love and a powerful secret. But which path will she choose--and who will suffer if she makes the wrong choice?

Crash Deluxe

Parrish Plessis: Book 3

Marianne de Pierres

Parrish Plessis, sometime coup leader, paid assassin and ex-bodyguard, is finding life tough. Betrayed by the enigmatic Loyl Daac, and still under blood debt to the deadly Cabal Coomera, Parrish is trying to hold together the little empire she's inherited in the Tert, live up to the expectations of the many strays and waifs she's accumulated, and attempt to flush the high-tech parasite from her system before she becomes something so much less than human. Not an ideal lifestyle, Parrish would be the first to admit, but she can make everything alright again if she can manage just one little task. Bring down the media. Just another day for Parrish Plessis …

Alien Archaeology

Polity

Neal Asher

This novella originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2007. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection (2008), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Galactic Empires (2008), edited by Neil Clarke. The story is included in the collection The Gabble and Other Stories (2008).

Jack Four

Polity

Neal Asher

This high-octane adventure is set in the same world as Neal Asher's acclaimed Polity universe. It's a thrilling, fast-paced standalone novel, perfect for fans of Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter.

Created to die-determined to live...

Jack Four-one of twenty human clones-has been created to be sold. His purchasers are the alien prador and they only want him for their experimentation program. But there is something different about Jack. No clone should possess the knowledge that's been loaded into his mind. And no normal citizen of humanity's Polity worlds would have this information.

The prador's king has been mutated by the Spatterjay virus into a creature even more monstrous than the prador themselves. And his children, the King's Guard, have undergone similar changes. They were infected by the virus during the last humans-versus-prador war, now lapsed into an uneasy truce. But the prador are always looking for new weapons - and their experimentation program might give them the edge they seek.

Suzeal trades human slaves out of the Stratogaster Space Station, re-engineering them to serve the prador. She thinks the rewards are worth the risks, but all that is about to change. The Station was once a zoo, containing monsters from across known space. All the monsters now dwell on the planet below, but they aren't as contained as they seem. And a vengeful clone may be the worst danger of all.

Lockdown Tales

Polity

Neal Asher

Best-selling author Neal Asher was far from idle during the isolation of lockdown; he kept himself occupied in the best way possible: he wrote. And his imagination was clearly in overdrive. Five brand new novellas and novelettes and one novella reworked and expanded from a story first published in 2019. Together, they form Lockdown Tales, exploring the latter days of the Polity universe and beyond. What lies in wait for humanity after the Polity has gone?

Six stories, 150,000 words of fiction that crackle with energy, invention and excitement. Within their pages you will encounter prador, hoopers, sassy A.I.s, resurrected Golem, a mutated giant whelk that can ravage an island, hooders, megalomaniacs, war drones, Penny Royal, an intriguing sfnal take on High Planes Drifter and another with echoes of Robinson Crusoe... In fact, everything you might expect from concentrated Neal Asher and more.

Table of Contents:

  • An Introduction (Lockdown Tales) - essay
  • The Relict - [Polity Universe] - short fiction
  • Monitor Logan - [Polity Universe] - novella
  • Bad Boy - [Polity Universe] - short fiction
  • Plenty - [Polity Universe] - short fiction
  • Dr. Whip - [Polity Universe] - short fiction
  • Raising Moloch - [Polity Universe] - short fiction

Moral Biology

Polity

Neal Asher

Analog Anlab Readers Award Finalist Novella

A first-contact team visits an alien planet where the aliens have a defense system meant to keep anyone from crossing in either direction.

This novella originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, May-June 2020. Read it for free at the publisher's website.

Snow in the Desert

Polity

Neal Asher

This short story originally appeared in Spectrum SF, May 2002. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 8 (2003), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection The Gabble and Other Stories (2008).

Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck

Polity

Neal Asher

This novelette originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2005, and was reprinted in Clarkesword Magazine, Issue 107, August 2015. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection (2006), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Mammoth Book of Kaiju (2016), edited by Sean Wallace. The story is included in the collection The Gabble and Other Stories (2008).

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

War Bodies

Polity

Neal Asher

Long ago, the Cyberat left Earth to co-evolve with machines. Now, led by the powerful dictator Castron, their Old Guard believe that machines should replace the physical body. But these beliefs are upended with the arrival of the human Polity -- and their presence ignites rebellion.

Prador Moon

Polity: Book 1

Neal Asher

Neal Asher takes on first contact, Polity style.

This original novel recounts the first contact between the aggressive Prador aliens, and the Polity Collective as it is forced to retool its society to a war footing. The overwhelming brute force of the Prador dreadnaughts causes several worlds and space stations to be overrun. Prador Moon follows the initial Polity defeats, to the first draws, and culminates in what might be the first Polity victory, told from the point of view of two unlikely heroes.

Hilldiggers

Polity: Book 2

Neal Asher

A terrible war once raged between the two rival planets within a distant solar system. Over the centuries their human inhabitants had ‘adapted’ themselves to the extremely different conditions of their new homes, far outside Polity influence..

In the midst of this merciless conflict, one side encountered a bizarre object suspected of being a cosmic superstring employed as a new weapon by the rival side. Their attack on it caused the object to collapse into four parts, each found to be packed either with alien technology or some unknown form of life. Pending further study, these were quickly encased inside four separate Ozark cylinders, and stored in a massively secure space station in orbit.

Sometime later, while conducting research on this alien entity they now call ‘the Worm’, a female scientist falls pregnant and susequently gives birth to quads. She then inexplicably commits suicide by walking directly out into space…

The war was finally brought to an end by use of new weapons arising as a result of research of the Worm. These were employed by giant space dreadnoughts nicknamed ‘hilldiggers’ –– and their destructive power created new mountain ranges out of the vanquished planet’s terrain. Twenty years after the dust has settled, those four exceptionally talented orphans have grown up to assume varying degrees of power and influence within a post-war society.

And one of this exceptional breed now seems determined to gain total control over the deadly hilldiggers. But why?

The Technician

Polity: Book 4

Neal Asher

The Theocracy has been dead for twenty years, and the Polity rules on Masada. But the Tidy Squad consists of rebels who cannot accept the new order. Their hate for surviving theocrats is undiminished, and the iconic Jeremiah Tombs is at the top of their hitlist.

Escaping his sanatorium Tombs is pushed into painful confrontation with reality he has avoided since the rebellion. His insanity has been left uncured, because the near mythical hooder called the Technician that attacked him all those years ago, did something to his mind even the AIs fail to understand. Tombs might possess information about the suicide of an entire alien race.

The war drone Amistad, whose job it is to bring this information to light, recruits Lief Grant, an ex-rebel Commander, to protect Tombs, along with the black AI Penny Royal, who everyone thought was dead. The amphidapt Chanter, who has studied the bone sculptures the Technician makes with the remains of its prey, might be useful too.

Meanwhile, in deep space, the mechanism the Atheter used to reduce themselves to animals, stirs from slumber and begins to power-up its weapons.

A Clash of Symbols: The Triumph of James Blish

Popular Writers of Today: Book 24

Brian Stableford

Brian Stableford discusses all of James Blish's significant work, his major and minor themes, and places his career in the perspective of science fiction history during the post-war period.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction - essay
  • Foundation Stones - essay
  • Tectogenesis and Pantropy - essay
  • Cities in Flight - essay
  • Experiments in Thought - essay
  • Experiments in Adventure - essay
  • Juveniles - essay
  • After Such Knowledge - essay
  • Conclusion - essay
  • Biography & Bibliography - essay

Clark Ashton Smith: A Critical Guide to the Man and His Work, Second Edition

Popular Writers of Today: Book 78

Steve Behrends

Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) was a major writer of fantasy and science fiction during the first half of the twentieth century. Together with H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, Smith was one of the "Three Musketeers" of legendary Weird Tales magazine, and contributed some of the most distinctive (and controversial) fantastic fiction to ever appear in Hugo Gernsback's Wonder Stories. His "City of the Singing Flame" and "Vaults of Yoh-Vombis" are acknowledged classics in the field, but represent only two selections from a career that produced more than one hundred short stories and over five hundred poems.

His imagination roamed the exotic realms of Zothique, Poseidonis, and Averoigne, settings for piquant and colorful tales of beauty and death--stories that value image and atmosphere over plot and action, told in a richly ornate prose-style that has won him ardent admirers, and has influenced such writers as Ray Bradbury, Jack Vance, and Bruce Sterling.

This Second Edition of the first book-length study of Smith--a substantial examination of his life and works, his artistic evolution and literary heritage--includes a supplementary suite of essays that delve into the most interesting aspects of Smith's fiction, plus Smith's own tale of Mars, "Mnemoka," unpublished in his lifetime, but resurrected here from the fragments of its burned manuscript.

Drawing on unpublished materials and correspondence, and conversations with surviving friends and colleagues, critic Steve Behrends paints a portrait of Clark Ashton Smith as a gifted, stubborn iconoclast, one of the last surviving Romantics in the heyday of Realism--a man born outside his time, whose escape lay in the dream-journeys of his fiction and poetry.

The Shattered Oath

Prince of the Sidhe: Book 1

Josepha Sherman

Eirithan, ruler of Sidhe, is paranoid about threats to his throne, even when none exist. Swayed by political intriguers, he is convinced that his younger brother, Ardagh, is guilty of treason. His honor falsely destroyed, Ardagh suffers the worst of all possible fates -- banishment to the land of humans. He is lost and alone in a world of Christian kings and Viking raiders.

Forging the Runes

Prince of the Sidhe: Book 2

Josepha Sherman

Banished from the world of humans after being framed, elven prince Ardagh struggles to find a place for himself and is called upon to defend Ireland against the evil magic of an Anglo-Saxon menace.

Quantum Leap: The Novel

Quantum Leap: Book 1

Ashley McConnell

Convinced that a human can time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett steps into his Quantum Leap accelerator and is transported into someone else's life.

Too Close for Comfort

Quantum Leap: Book 2

Ashley McConnell

When Dr. Sam Beckett leaps into the middle of a men's encounter group, circa 1990, and meets a younger Al, he risks destroying the Quantum Leap Project for all time.

The Wall

Quantum Leap: Book 3

Ashley McConnell

After leaping into the life of Missy, a six-year-old living in 1961 Berlin, Dr. Sam Beckett must watch helplessly as the Berlin Wall is erected but becomes empowered when he leaps into the body of the adult Missy.

Prelude

Quantum Leap: Book 4

Ashley McConnell

In 1993, at a New Mexico research laboratory, Dr. Sam Beckett and Admiral Al Calavicci embark on an experiment in time travel called Project Quantum Leap and find themselves battling a determined foe out to stop the project.

Random Measures

Quantum Leap: Book 7

Ashley McConnell

Sam embarks on a new time-hopping adventure that transforms him into a part-Native American bartender even as Al, back home, copes with the reappearance of one of his wives.

Magic Lost, Trouble Found

Raine Benares: Book 1

Lisa Shearin

Raine is a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, she can usually take care of herself. But when her friend Quentin, a no-quite-reformed thief, steals and amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, Raine finds herself wrapped up in more trouble than she cares for. She likes attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting her down is not her idea of a good time. The amulet they're after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when Raine takes possession of the item, it takes possession of her.

Now her moderate powers are increasing beyond anything she could imagine - but is the resumé enchancement worth her soul?

Armed & Magical

Raine Benares: Book 2

Lisa Shearin

"My name is Raine Benares. Until last week I was a seeker, a finder of things lost and people missing. Now I'm psychic roommates with the Saghred, an ancient stone with cataclysmic powers. Just me, the stone, and all the souls its ingested over the centuries. Crowded doesn't even begin to describe it. All I want is my life back, which means getting rid of the stone and the power it possesses.

"To sort things out, I head for the Isle of Mid, home to the most prestigious sorcery school, as well as the Conclave, the governing body for all magic users. Its also home to power-grubbing mages who want me dead and goblins who see me as a thief. As if that's not enough, Mid's best student spellsingers are disappearing left and right, and I'm expected to find them. Lives are at stake, goblins are threatening to sue, mages are getting greedier, and the stone's power is getting stronger by the hour. This could get ugly."

The Trouble with Demons

Raine Benares: Book 3

Lisa Shearin

For seeker Raine Benares, a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid couldn't come at a worse time. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides.Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen.

Bewitched & Betrayed

Raine Benares: Book 4

Lisa Shearin

Raine Benares is a seeker. She finds lost things and missing people - usually alive. But now she's been bonded with the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone of unlimited power, and must hunt down its escapees. Especially since one of them is also hunting her.

Con & Conjure

Raine Benares: Book 5

Lisa Shearin

Raine Benares is a seeker who finds lost things and people. Ever since the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that's given her unlimited power, has bonded to her, the goblin king and the elves have wanted to possess its magic themselves. Which means a goblin thief and her ex-fiancé - an elven assassin - are after her. To survive, she'll need the help of her notorious criminal family.

All Spell Breaks Loose

Raine Benares: Book 6

Lisa Shearin

"My name is Raine Benares--and it sucks to be me right now. I'm a seeker who found the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that gave me unlimited powers I never wanted. Now I've lost the rock--and the magic it gave me--to a goblin dark mage whose main goals are my death and world domination. This is more than incentive enough for a little trip to the goblin capital of Regor with a small band of good friends, not-so-good friends, and one outright enemy. Don't ask. All we need to do is destroy the Saghred, kill the mage, and put a renegade goblin prince on the throne. Did I mention I'll be doing that with no magic?"

Ashes, Ashes

Ravage: Book 1

Rene Barjavel

In the storyline, a civilization much more advanced than ours falls to its knees when electricity suddenly disappears. Chaos, disease, and famine ensue, which readers witness through the adventures of a small group of survivors led by François Deschamps. The group leaves Paris and starts a journey toward Provence where the survivors will create a new patriarchal society with Deschamps as their leader.

SpellCrash

Ravirn: Book 5

Kelly McCullough

Ravirn--umpteenth great-grandson of one of the three Fates--is a talented sorcerer and a computer hacker extraordinaire in a world where magic has merged with 21st century technology. But even though he's the best hacker around, there are some things that even he can't fix.

Necessity--the sentient computer that runs the multiverse--is still broken, and the only thing that can repair her is a massive reboot. But while Necessity is offline, anyone with enough power can attempt to seize control of the entire multiverse. As the time for the reboot draws near, four clear contenders emerge: Zeus, Hades, Fate, and Eris--all Gods from the Greek mythos who are more than a match for any man, even a demi-god like Ravirn. Now, in order to protect Necessity, Ravirn has to utilize all of his skills as a mage and fight to prevent complete chaos--even if it costs him his life...

The Soldier

Rise of the Jain: Book 1

Neal Asher

Humanity, artificial intelligences, and monstrous aliens clash over control of deadly technology in this explosive beginning to Neal Asher's newest Polity series.

In a far corner of space, on the very borders between humanity's Polity worlds and the kingdom of the vicious crab-like prador, is an immediate threat to all sentient life: an accretion disc, a solar system designed by the long-dead Jain race and swarming with living technology powerful enough to destroy entire civilizations.

Neither the Polity or the prador want the other in full control of the disc, so they've placed an impartial third party in charge of the weapons platform guarding the technology from escaping into the galaxy: Orlandine, a part-human, part-AI haiman. She's assisted by Dragon, a mysterious, spaceship-sized alien entity who has long been suspicious of Jain technology and who suspects the disc is a trap lying-in-wait.

Meanwhile, the android Angel is planning an attack on the Polity, and is searching for a terrible weapon to carry out his plans--a Jain super-soldier. But what exactly the super-soldier is, and what it could be used for if it fell into the wrong hands, will bring Angel and Orlandine's missions to a head in a way that could forever change the balance of power in the Polity universe.

In The Soldier, British science fiction writer Neal Asher kicks off another Polity-based trilogy in signature fashion, concocting a mind-melting plot filled with far-future technology, lethal weaponry, and bizarre alien creations.

The Warship

Rise of the Jain: Book 2

Neal Asher

The dangers of ancient technology loom over the Polity in the sequel to The Soldier, Neal Asher's latest action-packed space opera series.

The haiman Orlandine, charged with safeguarding lethal Jain tech swirling inside an accretion disc located in the distant reaches of space, has weaponized a black hole to eliminate the threat. But others are suspicious of her motives, and both the Polity AIs and the leaders of the alien prador kingdom dispatch fleets of warships in anticipation of conflict.

As the black hole continues to eat its way through the planets in the accretion disc, making its way towards a dead sun, it becomes clear the disc has been hiding a larger secret. Nefarious forces with ulterior motives have manipulated Orlandine into deploying the black hole, triggering a series of larger events that will uncover a danger far older than even the Polity itself.

From British science fiction writer Neal Asher, The War Ship picks up right where its predecessor, The Soldier, left off, showcasing Asher's unique take on cutting-edge and fast-paced science fiction.

The Human

Rise of the Jain: Book 3

Neal Asher

A Jain warship has risen from the depths of space, emerging with a deadly grudge and a wealth of ancient yet lethal technology. It is determined to hunt down the alien Client, and will annihilate all those who stand in its way. So Orlandine must prepare humanity's defense.

Both humanity and the Prador thought their ancient foe--the Jain--had perished in a past age. And they resolve to destroy these outliers at any cost. Orlandine wants the Client's inside knowledge to act, but the Client has her own agenda. Earth Central therefore looks to the Prador for alliance, after the Jain destroy their fleet. However, not everyone is happy with this, and some will do anything to shatter this fragile coalition.

As the Jain warship makes its way across the galaxy, it seems unstoppable. Human and Prador forces alike struggle to withstand its devastating weaponry. Orlandine's life work is to neutralize Jain technology, so if she can't triumph, no one can. But will she become what she's vowed to destroy?

Escape Velocity

Rod Gallowglass: Book 1

Christopher Stasheff

As the Lords plan a coup that will destroy democracy in the Interstellar Dominion Electorates, telepaths Dar and Samantha, sought by the police, desperately try to warn Terra of the danger.

The Warlock in Spite of Himself

Rod Gallowglass: Book 2

Christopher Stasheff

Rod Gallowglass is a man of science who does not believe in magic.

Gramarye is a world of witches and warlocks. Of strange abilities and phenomena. A world where society mirrors Earth's own Middle Ages, and a world headed for doom.

Rod Gallowglass must become a part of the local fabric to save the world from both itself and external forces that threaten its existence. But to do so, he must put aside his own convictions and beliefs, and become a warlock, in spite of himself.

A grand adventure mixing science fiction with elements of fantasy, this is the book that launched a whole series.

King Kobold Revived

Rod Gallowglass: Book 3

Christopher Stasheff

Christopher Stasheff wrote the original King Kobold in 1971. Twelve years later, based on feedback from readers as well as his own personal dissatisfaction with the book, he decided to rewrite the story. *** While King Kobold Revived follows the same basic outline as the original 1971 edition, the book has been totally redone. The author had twelve years between the two writings to mull things over and it shows. The plot is much tighter, the characters much more developed and the writing more fluid.

Enter the fantastic world of Gramarye once again, where magic lives with science and the Warlock in Spite of Himself, Rod Gallowglass, is once again called upon to save the planet from marauding evil... if he can overcome the insidious mental fog that clouds his mind and threatens his powers.

The Warlock Unlocked

Rod Gallowglass: Book 4

Christopher Stasheff

In Gramarye, where everyone who is anyone is a witch, and where Rod Gallowglass has only just begun to learn of the awesome powers he possesses, a battle between worlds has begun. In the fight to preserve freedom, Rod is about to learn if his strength will be enough to save his precious world--and all democracy--from destruction.

The Warlock Enraged

Rod Gallowglass: Book 5

Christopher Stasheff

Protecting the planet Gramarye from a band of renegade sorcerers, the Gallowglass family suffers a weakening in their collective psychic powers, forcing warlock Rod Gallowglass to confront his alter-ego.

The Warlock Wandering

Rod Gallowglass: Book 6

Christopher Stasheff

On the magical planet Gramarye, 500 years from their own time, Rod and Gwen Gallowglass are held captive in an alternative universe--a world where purple-skinned, fur-kilted men challenge them in primitive battle. Lost within time and space, and unable to communicate with the combative natives, Rod and Gwen must fight for their freedom and survival.

The Warlock Is Missing

Rod Gallowglass: Book 7

Christopher Stasheff

When their parents suddenly disappear, the four Galloglass siblings--Magnus, Cordelia, Geoffrey, and Gregory--must combine the skills of their mother's power and their father's training in order to save them.

The Warlock Heretical

Rod Gallowglass: Book 8

Christopher Stasheff

The enemies of the land of Gramarye plot to overtake the land by tempting the clergy with visions of power that will lead to war against the throne, and warlock Rod Gallowglass must stop them or burn at the stake for his failure.

The Warlock's Companion

Rod Gallowglass: Book 9

Christopher Stasheff

Rod Gallowglass's faithful cybernetic steed, Fess, has had a long life and many grand adventures. Now the Gallowglass children are going to hear the truth about Fess's other masters--from the young, spoiled joyrider to the revolutionary hero to the crew of a pirate ship--straight from the horse's mouth.

The Warlock Insane

Rod Gallowglass: Book 10

Christopher Stasheff

Armed with his superior technological knowledge, Rod Gallowglass has proved to be equal to the challenges of the planet Gramarye, until an evil sorcerer sets out to destroy him on the battlefield of the mind.

The Warlock Rock

Rod Gallowglass: Book 11

Christopher Stasheff

When the townspeople of Gramarye become mesmerized by the beat of strange floating musical crystals, Rod Gallowglass sets out to uncover their mysterious origins before he loses his children to their sinister charm.

Warlock and Son

Rod Gallowglass: Book 12

Christopher Stasheff

When Warlock's young son, Magnus, embarks on his own adventurous journeys around the world, Warlock cannot resist following him, but when Magnus is faced with danger and the responsibilities of growing up, he is on his own.

The Warlock's Last Ride

Rod Gallowglass: Book 13

Christopher Stasheff

THE FINAL ADVENTURE IN THE PHENOMENAL SERIES After an incredible 35-year run, the story of Ron Gallowglass--The Warlock in Spite of Himself--comes to its fantastic finale in the weird and wonderful world of GramaryeWhen Gwendolyn--the witch-wife of Rod Gallowglass, the Lord High Warlock of Gramarye--suddenly dies, she leaves behind a husband dangerously unhinged by grief and a land without a Protector.

When Gwendolyn--the witch-wife of Rod Gallowglass, the Lord High Warlock of Gramarye--suddenly dies, she leaves behind a husband dangerously unhinged by grief and a land without a Protector.

A Wizard in Mind

Rogue Wizard: Book 1

Christopher Stasheff

Magnus D'Armand, the renegade son of Rod Gallowglass, Warlock of Gramarye, has set out to prove himself twice the hero and liberator his father ever was. However, Magnus has inherited not only his father's awesome psychic gifts, but his uncanny knack for getting into trouble as well.

Bored and in search of excitement, Magnus D'Armand has asked his sentient starship to find him a world in need of revolution. But on the lost colony world of Petrach, he finds far more than he's bargained for. Not only have a brace of warring princes plunged the planet into a dark age of bloodshed and betrayal, but a mysterious rival from Magnus's past is plotting his destruction. Even the Rogue Wizard will need a miracle to get himself out of this one!

A Wizard in Bedlam

Rogue Wizard: Book 2

Christopher Stasheff

The wizard DeCade died generations ago, leading the last great revolt of the Planet Melange's churls against their despotic feudal masters. His bones were broken and lost; only his songs remain.

The Churl Dulain joined the Resistance in his youth-an exile Resistance, devoted to readying the churls for their next great attempt at freedom. Now that moment nears. Back on Melange for the first time in year, Dulain must now hasten that revolt... or die.

The Giant Gar is the mysterious stranger whom no one knows, a power greater than he seems. More powerful, perhaps, than churls, masters, or even the Resistance...

A Wizard in Absentia

Rogue Wizard: Book 3

Christopher Stasheff

Tired of standing in the shadow of his parents--the most powerful sorcerers on the planet--Magnus Gallowglass sets out on his own adventure across the galaxy.

A Wizard in War

Rogue Wizard: Book 4

Christopher Stasheff

The medieval planet of Maltroit seems to be repeating Earth's bloody history in the worst possible manner. It's up to the Rogue Wizard to give the downtrodden a crash course in democracy, so before you can say "Magna Carta," he's bent the course of history by teaching the nobles the rudiments of democracy, and schooling the peasants in the basics of radical politics.

A Wizard in Peace

Rogue Wizard: Book 5

Christopher Stasheff

Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But this time the Rogue Wizard may have encountered a tyrant even he can't overthrow: a stern Protector who dictates the very thoughts of his "loyal" subjects. So successful if his regime that Magnus is hard-pressed to find anyone willing to oppose it--until a misguided handful of would-be aristocrats unwittingly provides a spark of rebellion.

Here is Christopher Stasheff in top form: swashbuckling, stylish, and slightly subversive adventure from the author of the bestselling "Warlock" chronicles.

A Wizard in Chaos

Rogue Wizard: Book 6

Christopher Stasheff

Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy.

The Rogue Wizard has met his match--a crumbled civilization on a distant colony planet, where all hope has been lost to war and greed. The history and knowledge of the colonists has been forgotten over the centuries, and the people have reverted to a medieval state. It seems impossible to restore peace and order--until Gar discovers the hidden knowledge harbored in the countryside's hollow hills.

A Wizard in Midgard

Rogue Wizard: Book 7

Christopher Stasheff

On a planet modeled after the Norse interpretation of Earth, the Warlock's son Gar Pike and a young girl he saves may not be able to bring together three races who have hated one another since the beginning of time.

A Wizard and a Warlord

Rogue Wizard: Book 8

Christopher Stasheff

During his last flight for peace and democracy on a forgotten planet, Gar Pike somehow managed to get himself a new traveling companion: Alea, a young with a certain amount of psychic ability--and a heavy dose of attitude to boot.

Now he can't get anything done. The ship feels like it's shrinking, and Alea's always around, asking questions, sticking her nose in, and generally making a nuisance of herself. When they finally land of their next target planet, she even tries to convince him that the people there don't need his help, since they have no government to overthrow! Obviously, Alea isn't cut out for this business.

However, as Gar continues to stick his nose where it doesn't belong, he wonders: Could it be that a planet without any government can survive peacefully and happily? And stranger still: Could it be that having Alea around isn't so bad after all?

A Wizard in the Way

Rogue Wizard: Book 9

Christopher Stasheff

Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play by the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy.

A Wizard in the Way

When his longtime traveling companion settled down and got married, Gar Pike?the Rogue Wizard?had thought it would be even better to work alone: no distractions, no disagreements, no one to care about but himself. But he wasn't alone for long. He recently managed to saddle himself with a new companion: Alea, a young woman with a certain amount of psychic ability and a heavy dose of attitude to boot. The funny thing is, he's beginning to like having her around?particularly when they land on the planet of Oldeira.

The problems Gar and Alea encounter on Oldeira include not only the tyrannical Wizard Lords who rule the provinces, but also the attitude that has been beaten and bred into their serfs. To complicate matters, Gar and Alea adopt two desperate peasants who are perfect examples of the mind-set of the entire lower class. How to raise morale and shape these people into a force that will overcome their oppressors while not getting caught or killed themselves?these are all questions that Gar and Alea must answer fast. And the only way to do it is: The Way.

A Wizard in a Feud

Rogue Wizard: Book 10

Christopher Stasheff

When Gar Pike?the Rogue Wizard?and his traveling companion Alea land their ship on a planet harboring a lost colony to do some minor repairs to the ship's computer, they decided to take some time for shore leave, and explore. It's not long before they meet one of the indigenous life forms of the planet: Fairies.

As Gar and Alea explore more of the world and meet more of the inhabitants, they quickly come to realize that every clan is feuding with their neighboring clans. Though everyone secretly wants peace, nobody will listen to those with the courage to preach it, those who have been sent into exile for wanting everyone to get along.

Posing as traders and healers, Gar and Alea team up with the Fairies, the Wee Folk, the Druid priests, and two particularly courageous exiles to reintroduce the abandoned Druidic religious tradition to the people and, hopefully, reintroduce peace to all the clans.

Under the nom de guerre of Gar Pike, renegade psychic wizard Magnus D'Armand travels the stars fighting injustice and oppression, like his father, Rod Gallowglass, the Warlock in Spite of Himself. But unlike his famous father, Magnus refuses to play by the rules, sowing the seeds of freedom and revolution throughout the galaxy.

When Gar and Alea land their ship on a planet for computer system maintenance, they aren't expecting to run into Fairies, Wee Folk, Druid priests, and feuding clans transplanted from Scotland and then forgotten. Can they, along with two courageous exiles and the psychic powers of the Fairies, and Wee Folk, bring peace and order to this world?

A Christmas Dinner with the Man in the Moon

Ron Miller Science Fiction Classics: Book 14

Washington Gladden

Washington Gladden was a noted clergyman, theologian and social reformer whose many books on these subjects were highly respected. It may have come as a surprise to his admirers to find this delightful fantasy, first published in a children's magazine in 1880. And although Gladden was writing with tongue clearly in cheek, he displays a good knowledge of and appreciation for technology, science and astronomy. Indeed, this story contains one of the first mentions of the need of a life support system for lunar explorers.

Ash and Silver

Sanctuary: Book 2

Carol Berg

Ever since the Order of the Equites Cineré stole his memory, his name, and his heart, thinking about the past makes Greenshank's head ache. After two years of rigorous training, he is almost ready to embrace the mission of the Order--to use selfless magic to heal the troubles of Navronne. But on his first assignment alone, the past comes racing back, threatening to drown him in conspiracy, grief, and murder.

He is Lucian de Remeni--a sorcerer whose magical bents for portraiture and history threaten the safety of the earth and the future of the war-riven kingdom of Navronne. He just can't remember how or why.

Fighting to unravel the mysteries of his power, Lucian must trace threads of corruption that reach from the Pureblood Registry into the Order itself, the truth hidden two centuries in the past and beyond the boundaries of the world...

How Dark the World Becomes

Sasha Naradnyo: Book 1

Frank Chadwick

Sasha Naradnyo is a gangster. He's a gangster with heart, sure, but Sasha sticks his neck out for no man. That's how you stay alive in Crack City, a colony stuffed deep into the crust of the otherwise unlivable planet Peezgtaan. Alive only--because if you're human, you don't prosper, at least not for long. Sasha is a second generation City native. His parents came to this rock figuring to make it big, only to find that they'd been recruited as an indentured labor force for alien overlords known as the Varoki.

Now a pair of rich young Varoki under the care of a beautiful human nanny are fleeing Peezgtaan, and Sasha is recruited to help. All things considered, he'd rather leave the little alien lordlings to their fate, but certain considerations--such as Sasha's own imminent demise if he remains--make it beneficial for him to take on the job.

But Sasha discovers his simple choice has thrust him into the midst of a political battle that could remake the galactic balance of power and save humanity from slow death by servitude. Now all he has to do is survive and keep his charges alive on a hostile planet undergoing its own revolution.

But it's the galaxy that had better watch out. For now the toughest thug in Crack City has gotten his first taste of real freedom. He likes it, and wants more.

The stunning debut of a nonstop science fiction noir thriller from legendary game creator Frank Chadwick.

Come the Revolution

Sasha Naradnyo: Book 2

Frank Chadwick

Sasha Naradnyo had come a long way from the slums of Crack City on the planet Peezgtaan--from Human gangster to head of security for Tweezaa e-Traak, the Varoki heiress to the largest fortune in the history of the Stellar Commonwealth. Then the largest nation on the Varoki home world collapsed into riots and civil war, a murderously anti-human Varoki fanatic made his bid for power, and the head of the Secret Police decided to take a personal interest in Sasha.

Now Sasha must navigate the violence and anarchy of a growing revolution, come to grips with ghosts from his past who have suddenly turned up alive, make common cause with resistance fighters who want him dead, expose a conspiracy which will shake the Commonwealth to its foundations... and do it all without losing his soul.

Graceling

Seven Kingdoms: Book 1

Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore’s best-selling, award-winning fantasy Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable yet strong Katsa, a smart, beautiful teenager who lives in a world where selected people are given a Grace, a special talent that can be anything from dancing to swimming. Katsa’s is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his thug. Along the way, Katsa must learn to decipher the true nature of her Grace . . . and how to put it to good use. A thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure (and steamy romance!) that will resonate deeply with adolescents trying to find their way in the world.

Awards: Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, winner of the SIBA Book Award/YA, Indies Choice Book Award Honor Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, 2008 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Amazon.com’s Best Books of 2008, 2008 Booklist Editors’ Choice, Booklist’s 2008 Top Ten First Novels for Youth, 2009 Amelia Bloomer List, BCCB 2009 Blue Ribbon List

Don’t miss the sequel Fire, also a New York Times bestseller and ALA Best Book for Young Adults, winner of the 2010 Cybil for YA Fantasy/Sci Fi and the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award.

Fire

Seven Kingdoms: Book 2

Kristin Cashore

She is the last of her kind...

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.

Exquisitely romantic, this companion to the highly praised Graceling has an entirely new cast of characters, save for one person who plays a pivotal role in both books. You don't need to have read Graceling to love Fire. But if you haven't, you'll be dying to read it next.

Bitterblue

Seven Kingdoms: Book 3

Kristin Cashore

The long-awaited companion to New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Winterkeep

Seven Kingdoms: Book 4

Kristin Cashore

For the past five years, Bitterblue has reigned as Queen of Monsea, heroically rebuilding her nation after her father's horrific rule. After learning about the land of Torla in the east, she sends envoys to the closest nation there: Winterkeep--a place where telepathic foxes bond with humans, and people fly across the sky in wondrous airships. But when the envoys never return, having drowned under suspicious circumstances, Bitterblue sets off for Winterkeep herself, along with her spy Hava and her trusted colleague Giddon. On the way, tragedy strikes again--a tragedy with devastating political and personal ramifications.

Meanwhile, in Winterkeep, Lovisa Cavenda waits and watches, a fire inside her that is always hungry. The teenage daughter of two powerful politicians, she is the key to unlocking everything--but only if she's willing to transcend the person she's been all her life.

Seasparrow

Seven Kingdoms: Book 5

Kristin Cashore

Hava sails across the sea toward Monsea with her sister, the royal entourage, and the world's only copies of the formulas for the zilfium weapon she saved at the end of Winterkeep. During the crossing, Hava makes an unexpected discovery about one of the ship's crew, but before she can unravel the mystery, storms drive their ship off course, wrecking them in the ice far north of the Royal Continent. The survivors must endure a harrowing trek across the ice to make it back to Monsea. And while Queen Bitterblue grapples with how to carry the responsibility of a weapon that will change the world, Hava has a few more mysteries to solve--and a decision to make about who she wants to be in the new world Bitterblue will build.

Shadow of Ashland

Shadow of Ashland: Book 1

Terence M. Green

I have a memory of her outline in the darkened room, of the sway of the mattress, of the cool sheets wrapped about us, and of the tastes of her mouth as the lightning flashed finally in the skies, I remember the feel of her fingers as they trailed along my shoulder, and how much I needed that touch.

"Things have to be settled, or they never go away."

Only weeks before she dies in March, 1984, Leo Nolan's mother shows her son a rose she says was just given to her by her brother, Jack, who disappeared 50 years earlier. After her death, letters from Jack begin to arrive at the family home. They are postmarked 1934. The final one is from Ashland, Kentucky.

Leo heads to Ashland, to track down the source of the letters... And to find out why they are arriving now, after 50 years.

Time shifts. Time runs underground, then surfaces. It is 1934, and Leo experiences the Great Depression and the ghosts of the past as no one has in 50 years, in Ashland, where dreams die and are born again.

A Witness to Life

Shadow of Ashland: Book 2

Terence M. Green

In the acclaimed Shadow of Ashland, Terence M. Green introduced us to the poignant beauty and rich history of his own family. Publishers Weekly called Shadow of Ashland "wonderfully imagined and poetically told.... With Leo's narration as evocative as the pages of a newly discovered family album, this proves a remarkably affecting literary work that the publisher rightly compares to Jack Finney's Time and Again."

Now in A Witness to Life, with his spare but powerful style, Green examines the meaning of life, family, death--the connections that bind us all. The story begins at the moment of Martin Radley's death. His soul, free to drift back over his life, searches for meaning in a welter of change and occasional tragedy. He bears silent witness to his defining moments and the enigmatic patterns of his life.

As Martin grows in a young man in Canada, he meets Maggie Curtis. Soon they are married, have a daughter and son, and are enjoying life. But Maggie dies suddenly, leaving Martin ill-equipped to be the single parent of two teenagers. He does a bad enough job that he loses their respect and the warmth of their affection that he desperately desires. Lost in a muddle, he falls passionately in love with Gertrude McNulty, twenty years younger. He marries her and they have a child. A new wife, a new daughter, new pieces for the puzzle, but as he tries to pull together a new life, his old one slips away. His son, Jack, leaves for the promise of work in the U.S. and disappears. His older daughter marries, withdrawing into her new family, and in a few years Gertrude dies, and Martin once again is left alone to raise a child. Martin is a good man who has failed at something important to him, and now all his love and attention are devoted to his young daughter, for decades. When death finally takes him, Martin is still looking for answers. Now, he has come full circle and has found only a few answers but, perhaps, redemption.

St. Patrick's Bed

Shadow of Ashland: Book 3

Terence M. Green

"There's a line drawn across your life. You cross the line forever."

When Leo Nolan's father dies in 1995, his stepson, Adam, now twenty-one, finally asks the question that he has never asked, the question he could never ask. He asks it simply. "Is my father alive?"

St. Patrick's Bed, the sequel to the highly acclaimed, World Fantasy Award finalists Shadow of Ashland and A Witness to Life, revisits Leo's family, eleven years after the momentous visit to Ashland, Kentucky.

Thus begins this new odyssey to Dayton, Ohio, to the past, accompanied by family ghosts and the hard truths of the present. Leo's quest is both simple and complex: the need in the human heart for redemption, resolution and homecoming.

Ash Kickers

Smoke Eaters: Book 2

Sean Grigsby

Dragons vs Firefighters vs the Phoenix. The scorching fantasy sequel to Smoke Eaters.

With ex-firefighter Cole Brannigan in command of the Smoke Eaters, the dragon menace is under control. Thanks to non-lethal Canadian tech, the beasts are tranquilized and locked up, rather than killed. But for Tamerica Williams, this job filled with action and danger, has become tediously routine.

When a new threat emerges, a legendary bird of fire - the Phoenix - it's the perfect task for Williams. But killing the Phoenix just brings it back stronger, spreading fire like a plague and whipping dragons into a frenzy. Will it prove to be too much excitement, even for adrenalin-junkie Williams?

Snow Like Ashes

Snow Like Ashes: Book 1

Sara Raasch

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now the Winterians' only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter's magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter's defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee. Training to be a warrior--and desperately in love with her best friend, Winter's future king--she would do anything to help Winter rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter's magic, Meira decides to go after it herself--only to find herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics--and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Ice Like Fire

Snow Like Ashes: Book 2

Sara Raasch

It's been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring's king, Angra, disappeared--thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria's lost chasm of magic. The last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders Meira and Theron on a mission to discover the chasm's secrets, Meira plans on using the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe--even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Jannuari--leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell's growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, Mather decides to take Winter's security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken Kingdom and protect his people from new threats?

As the web of power and deception is woven tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom--and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter but for the world.

Frost Like Night

Snow Like Ashes: Book 3

Sara Raasch

Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading--and no one is safe.

Meira will do anything to save her world. With Angra trying to break through her mental defenses, she desperately needs to learn to control her own magic--so when the leader of a mysterious Order from Paisly offers to teach her, Meira jumps at the chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she's learning to control--and make the biggest sacrifice of all.

Mather will do anything to save his queen. He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira--and finally tell her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the war--and protecting Meira--slips farther and farther out of reach.

Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But when she's freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth behind Summer's slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.

As Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together... or lose everything.

Dark Star Durning, Ash Falls White

Song of the Last Kingdom: Book 2

Amélie Wen Zhao

The Demon Gods have risen. Skies' End has fallen to the colonizers. And Lan and Zen have chosen sides.

But they will not fight together.

Though Lan inherited the power of the Silver Dragon, she understands the path she must take. She believes the Demon Gods to be the cause of war, conflict, and turmoil, and that the future of the Last Kingdom depends on their being eliminated forever. Worse, she knows that if the Elantians manage to bind one of the legendary beings, their army will be unstoppable. To save her kingdom and her people, Lan will need to find the only mythical weapon capable of destroying the Demon Gods: the Godslayer.

Zen is sure that the only way to free the Last Kingdom is to use the power of the Demon Gods. When he bound the Black Tortoise, he paid the ultimate price: to inherit its strength, he will forfeit his body, his mind, and his soul. Yet one Demon God is not enough against the might of the colonizers. In the ruins of the northern Mansorian lands slumbers a magical army of demonic practitioners capable of facing off against the Elantians--but Zen must find the Seal to awaken them to fight by his side.

At the center of both Lan's and Zen's journeys is one city: Shaklahira, a former stronghold of the Imperial Court that vanished without a trace when the Elantians invaded. Its location is a mystery, and both are sure that it holds the answers they need, but the past it hides might be more dangerous than anything they've faced yet.

The battle for the Last Kingdom rages on. But to win the war, Lan will have to decide: Can she face the boy she loves again? And when she does, can she kill him to free her people?

Ashes Reborn

Souls of Fire: Book 4

Keri Arthur

The clock is ticking as Emberly--a phoenix capable of taking human form--races to take revenge against the sadistic and mysterious Rinaldo. The elusive rebel leader threatens to keep killing until he is given all of the research about a plaguelike virus derived from vampire blood.

Forced to reach out to the Paranormal Investigations Team for help, Emberly and her partner, Jackson, must decide who to trust as they follow the trail of dead bodies. When classified information is leaked and their safe house is ambushed, Emberly's suspicions are confirmed--someone at PIT has betrayed them.

A final battle looms and Emberly will need to command all her powers--or watch the world turn to ash....

The Skinner

Spatterjay Series: Book 1

Neal Asher

To the Line planet Spatterjay come three travellers: Janer brings the eyes of a hornet Hive mind, and an agenda he would rather not own; Erlin comes to find Ambel – the ancient sea captain who can teach her to live; and Sable Keech is a man with a vendetta he will not give up, though he has been dead for seven hundred years.

The world is mostly ocean, where all but a few visitors from the Human Polity remain safely in the island Dome. Outside, the native hoopers risk the voracious appetite of the planet’s fauna in their struggle for life and life eternal. Somewhere out there is Spatterjay Hoop himself, and monitor Keech will not rest until he can bring this legendary renegade to justice – for crimes so hideous Keech can never forget.

Pursuing rumour, Keech learns that Hoop has become something monstrous: his body roaming free on an island wilderness, whilst his living head is confined in a box on board one of the old captain's ships. Janer, the eternal tourist, is bewildered by this place where sails speak and the people just will not die, but his bewilderment turns to anger when he learns the Hive mind’s intentions. Erlin thinks she has all the time she will ever need to find the answers she requires, and could not be more wrong. And so these three travel and search, not knowing that one of the brutal Prador is about to pay a surreptitious visit, intent on exterminating witnesses to wartime atrocities, nor do they know how terrible is the price of immortality on Spatterjay.

As the fortunes of these travellers unwittingly converge, a major hell is about to erupt in this chaotic waterscape ... where minor hell is already a remorseless fact of everyday life – and death.

The Voyage of the Sable Keech

Spatterjay Series: Book 2

Neal Asher

The reification Sable Keech, a walking dead man, is the only one to have been resurrected by nanochanger. Did he succeed because he was infected by the Spatterjay virus, or because he came late to resurrection in a tank of seawater? Tracing the man’s journey in a ship also named after him, Taylor Bloc wants to know. He also wants so much else – adulation, power, control – and will go to any lengths to get it. And he has brought the means.

An ancient hive mind, almost incomprehensible to the human race, has sent an agent to the world. Does it want to obtain the poison sprine – effective against those made virtually indestructible by the Spatterjay virus? Janer must find it and stop it.

Erlin, still faced with the ennui of immortality, has her solitude rudely interrupted by a very angry whelkus titanicus, and begins the strangest of journey’s. Captain Ambel’s own journey, from Olian’s – where the currency of death his kept in a vault – is equally as strange. But he must reap the harvest of Erlin’s mistake, and survive.

Deep in the ocean the virus has wrought a terrible change that will affect them all. Something dormant for ten years is breaking free, and once again the aftershocks of an ancient war will focus on this watery world. And Sniper, for ten years the Warden of Spatterjay, finally takes delivery of his new drone shell. It’s much better than his old one: powerful engines, more lethal weapons, thicker armour.

He’s going to need it.

Orbus

Spatterjay Series: Book 3

Neal Asher

In charge of an old cargo spaceship, the Old Captain Orbus flees a violent and sadistic past, but he doesn't know that the lethal war drone, Sniper, is a stowaway, and that the past is rapidly catching up with him. His old enemy the Prador Vrell, mutated by the Spatterjay virus into something powerful and dangerous, has seized control of a Prador dreadnought, murdering its crew, and is now seeking to exact vengeance on those who tried to have him killed.

Their courses inexorably converge in the Graveyard, the border realm lying between the Polity and the Prador Kingdom, a place filled with the ruins left by past genocides and interplanetary war. But this is the home of the Golgoloth, monster to a race of monsters, the place where a centuries-long cold war is being fought.

Meanwhile, the terrifying Prador King is coming, prepared to do anything to ensure Vrell's death and keep certain deadly secrets buried ...and somewhere out there something that has annihilated civilizations is stirring from a slumber of five million years. The cold war is heating up, fast.

Speculative Japan 2: The Man Who Watched the Sea and Other Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy

Speculative Japan: Book 2

Issui Ogawa
Yasumi Kobayashi

The second book of the groundbreaking Speculative Japan series, this volume presents a selection of never-before published translations covering a broad range of speculative fiction... from gritty SF to soft fantasy, it offers glimpses into the diverse and rich imaginations of modern Japanese authors.

"...the stories you'll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual -- and sometimes uncomfortable -- thoughts. That is as it should be."
--David Brin, preface to Speculative Japan Volume 1

While the first volume in the Speculative Japan series concentrated on outstanding works from authors positioned solidly in the SF field, we have deliberately widened the scope of this volume to include stories that are a bit outside the usual definition of "science fiction", choosing instead to concentrate on "speculative" in an attempt to explore a bit of the immense universe of the Japanese imagination. Most of these authors are appearing in English for the first time, and are sure to open up new dimensions in reading pleasure in a variety of genres.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction - essay by Darrell Schweitzer
  • A Gift from the Sea - short fiction by Awa Naoko
  • Freud - short fiction by To Enjo
  • The Whale That Sang on the Milky Way Network - short fiction by Ohara Mariko
  • Old Vohl's Planet - short fiction by Ogawa Issui
  • The Big Drawer - short fiction by Riku Onda
  • Emanon: A Reminiscence - short fiction by Kajio Shinji
  • Midst the Mist - short fiction by Koji Kitakuni
  • The Man Who Watched the Sea - short fiction by Kobayashi Yasumi
  • Melk's Golden Acres - short fiction by Takagi Nobuko
  • Q-Cruiser Basilisk - short fiction by Tani Koshu
  • Mountaintop Symphony - short fiction by Nakai Norio
  • Open Up - short fiction by Hori Akira
  • Perspective - short fiction by Yamao Yuko

The Grendel Affair

SPI Files: Book 1

Lisa Shearin

We're Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. Things that go bump in the night, the monsters you thought didn't exist? We battle them and keep you safe. But some supernatural baddies are just too big to contain, even for us...

When I moved to New York to become a world famous journalist, I never imagined that snagging a job at a seedy tabloid would change my career path from trashy reporter to undercover agent. I'm Makenna Fraser, a Seer for SPI. I can see through any disguise, shield, or spell that a paranormal pest can come up with. I track down creatures and my partner, Ian Byrne, takes them out.

Our cases are generally pretty routine, but a sickle-wielding serial killer has been prowling the city's subway tunnels. And the murderer's not human. The fiend in question, a descendant of Grendel--yes, that Grendel--shares his ancestor's hatred of parties, revelry, and drunkards. And with New Year's Eve in Times Square only two days away, we need to bag him quickly. Because if we don't find him--and the organization behind him--by midnight, our secret's out and everyone's time is up.

The Dragon Conspiracy

SPI Files: Book 2

Lisa Shearin

After solving The Grendel Affair, the agents have another SPI File to investigate...

We're Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. We battle the real monsters of myth and legend, but this Halloween, we're searching for diamonds...

A gala opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has attracted the upper crust of Manhattan--and thieves. A trio of vile harpies attacks the crowd and steals the stars of the exhibition: a colorful cluster of seven cursed diamonds known as the Dragon Eggs.
In the right mage's hands, each stone can pack a magical wallop. Together they have the power to "cure" the supernaturals of the tristate area--but for many of those vampires and werewolves, that means turning into dust.

I'm Makenna Fraser, a seer for SPI. With the help of my partner, Ian, and the other agents, I have twenty-four hours to prevent total global panic, find the diamonds, and save the supernatural community. No biggie...

The Brimstone Deception

SPI Files: Book 3

Lisa Shearin

Men in Black meets Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum in the new urban fantasy novel starring seer Makenna Fraser and her fellow agents at Supernatural Protection & Investigation.

The agents of Supernatural Protection & Investigations (SPI) know that fighting evil is a full-time job, especially when a new designer drug--with mind-blowing side effects--hits the streets...

It's called Brimstone. And after the first few hits, you'll see every supernatural beast sharing the sidewalk, train, or office with you. After that, you'll start seeing the really scary stuff.

I'm Makenna Fraser, seer for the SPI. And the collateral damage caused by Brimstone is something I'd like to unsee: dead drug dealers missing their hearts--and souls. Because your local pusher doesn't stand a chance against the new cartel muscling its way into New York. And since the drug can only be produced with magic and molten brimstone fresh from Hell, that means a rift to the underworld is open somewhere in the city.

And when--not if--the cartel loses control of it, well...

It's going to be Hell on earth.

The Ashes of Tomorrow

Star Trek: Coda: Book 2

James Swallow

The crews of Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, and William Riker unite to prevent a cosmic-level apocalypse--only to find that some fates really are inevitable.

THE FUTURE IS AT WAR WITH THE PAST.

The epic Star Trek: Coda trilogy continues as friends become foes, the Temporal Apocalypse accelerates, and the catastrophe's true cause is revealed.

Kobayashi Maru

Star Trek: Enterprise: Book 12

Andy Mangels
Michael A. Martin

To protect the cargo ships essential to the continuing existence of the fledgling Coalition of Planets, the captains of the United Earth's Starfleet are ordered to interstellar picket duty, with little more to do than ask "Who goes there" into the darkness of space.

Captain Jonathan Archer of the Enterprise seethes with frustration, wondering if anyone else can see what he sees. A secret, closed, militaristic society, convinced that their survival hangs by a thread, who view their neighbors as a threat to their very existence - the Spartans of ancient Greece, the Russians of the old Soviet Union, the Koreans under Kim Il-sung - with only one goal: attain ultimate power, no matter the cost. The little-known, never-seen Romulans seem to live by these same principles. The captain realizes that the bond between the signers of the Coalition charter is fragile and likely to snap if pushed. But he knows that the Romulans are hostile, and he believes they are the force behind the cargo ship attacks. If asked, Archer can offer no proof without endangering his friend's life. To whom does he owe his loyalty: his friend, his world, the Coalition? And by choosing one, does he not risk losing all of them? What is the solution to a no-win scenario?

The Ashes of Eden

Star Trek: Shatnerverse: Odyssey: Book 1

Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Judith Reeves-Stevens
William Shatner

Now William Shatner brings his unique blend of talents as actor, writer, director, and producer, to tell the story only he can, of Captain Kirk's greatest adventure...

The time: six months prior to the launch of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B and the tragic loss of Captain James T. Kirk in deep space.

The place: Earth, where the galaxy's most renowned hero must now face the specter of retirement and a life devoid of challenge and excitment. But in the apparent twilight of his career, Kirk's path takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious young woman offers him an irresistible adventure-- a perilous voyage to an uncharted planet where he will confront the ultimate threat to the fragile peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and the ultimate temptation-- a chance to recapture his youth.

The Kobayashi Maru

Star Trek: The Original Series: Book 47

Julia Ecklar

A freak shuttlecraft accident -- and suddenly Captain Kirk and most of his senior officers find themselves adrift in space, with no hope of rescue, no hope of repairing their craft, or restoring communications -- with nothing, in short but time on their hands.

Time enough for each to tell the story of the Kobayashi Maru -- the Starfleet Academy test given to command cadets. Nominally a tactical exercise, the Kobayashi Maru is in fact a test of character revealed in the choices each man makes -- and does not make.

Discover now how Starfleet Cadets Kirk, Chekov, Scotty, and Sulu each faced the Kobayashi Maru... and became in turn Starfleet officers.

Vulcan's Forge

Star Trek: The Original Series: Giant Novels: Book 12

Josepha Sherman
Susan Shwartz

Just over a year ago, Captain James T. Kirk was lost to the Nexus while saving the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B from destruction. Aboard the science ship Intrepid II, Captain Spock, commanding some of his old crewmates, must face the loss of his closest friend. But while still in mourning for one friend, he must come to the aid of another. Decades ago, Spock had teamed up with David Rabin, the young son of a Starfleet Captain, to fight an attempted coup on Vulcan that would have turned the planet's people away from the path of logic. Now a Starfleet officer, Captain David Rabin has been assigned to a harsh desert world much like Vulcan, where the Federation is determined to protect the lives of the inhabitants. But Rabin's efforts are being sabotaged and he has asked for Spock's help against the unknown forces that may well destroy the society he had come to save. While reflecting on his youthful adventure with David Rabin, Spock joins with Rabin to face and enemy out of their past and confront deadly Romulan treachery. In the process Spock will decide if the path of his life now leads back toward the family traditions he had once sought to escape.

Vulcan's Heart

Star Trek: The Original Series: Giant Novels: Book 13

Josepha Sherman
Susan Shwartz

2239. Now a diplomat for the United Federation of Planets, Spock agrees to a bonding with Saavik, his former protege and an accomplished Starfleet officer in her own right. More than a betrothal but less than a wedding, the sacred Vulcan rite is attended by both Spock's father, Sarek, and a nervous young Starfleet officer named Jean-Luc Picard. Plans for the consummation of the pair's union are thrown off course when Spock receives a top-secret communication that lures him into the heart of the Romulan empire. Enmeshed in the treacherous political intrigues of the Romulan capital, undone by a fire that grows ever hotter within his blood, Spock must use all his logic and experience to survive a crisis that will ultimately determine the fate of empires!

Vulcan's Soul

Star Trek: The Original Series: Vulcan's Soul

Josepha Sherman
Susan Shwartz

Contents:

  • Exodus - novel by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz
  • Exiles - novel by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz
  • Epiphany - novel by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz

Exodus

Star Trek: The Original Series: Vulcan's Soul: Book 1

Susan Shwartz
Josepha Sherman

Ambassador Spock has married his fellow Vulcan Starfleet officer, Captain Saavik, but he and his wife have little time to enjoy their newlywed status before both of them are plunged into the heart of a clandestine war. Pursuing his hope of uniting Vulcan and Romulus after centuries of hostility between them, Spock finds himself inadvertently drawn into conflict with a long-lost race -- also of Vulcan descent -- who are set on the destruction of the weakened Romulan Empire. Together with the surviving members of Captain James T. Kirk's old crew, Spock and Saavik are forced to abandon the aegis of the Federation and wage their own secret war behind the scenes. And even as their relationship deepens, their future is threatened as Spock's dream of peace leads him into deadly danger...

One year after the end of the Dominion War, the Romulan Star Empire comes under attack by a mysterious and alarmingly powerful enemy calling itself the Watraii, a species with a long-standing vendetta against the Romulans. Yet though they remain tenuously allied, the Federation, the Romulans, and the Klingons are unready to become embroiled in another sustained conflict, forcing Ambassador Spock, Admiral Uhura, Admiral Chekov, Captain Saavik, and some unexpected allies to defy their governments in order to meet the new threat head-on. But the first blood drawn may prove to be among the dearest of all.

Unknown to the defenders, the secret behind the Watraii's attack is buried in Vulcan's violent ancient past, during the time of Surak himself, when the proto-Romulans -- staunch opponents of Surak's reforms -- were compelled to take their chances among the cold and distant stars. Now Spock must begin the first leg of a long and dangerous road to learn the truth... before his hopes for the future become ashes.

Exiles

Star Trek: The Original Series: Vulcan's Soul: Book 2

Susan Shwartz
Josepha Sherman

Following on from the events of Vulcan's Soul: Exodus, a bloody war is raging between the Romulans and the mysterious Watraii. Ambassador Spock, pursuing his dream of ending the centuries-old enmity between Romulus and Vulcan, must find and penetrate the home base of the Watraii, where long-hidden secrets that link this newly-discovered people to the ancient Vulcan race are finally revealed. Through masterful use of flashbacks to an earlier time in Vulcan civilization, Josepha Sherman and Susan Schwartz bring the history of Vulcan to life as never before in a stirring tale of explorers who took their chances amidst the cold and distant stars.

Tensions remain high as the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire attempt to maintain their fragile post-Dominion War peace in the wake of the brutal attack by the mysterious Watraii that ended with the loss of Admiral Pavel Chekov. When Admiral Uhura receives intelligence regarding a Watraii base that may contain more than one surprise, she sends Ambassador Spock, Captain Saavik, Ruanek, Captain Montgomery Scott, and Lieutenant Commander Data on a covert mission to learn its secrets....

But the true secrets of the Watraii have their basis millennia in the past. In the time of Surak, Vulcans were at a crossroads, on the cusp of either embracing logic or succumbing to emotion and destroying themselves. With Surak's blessing, a group of Vulcans left their turbulent homeworld to find their destiny among the stars -- but the stars prove themselves even more unforgiving than the sands of Vulcan's deserts, as Karatek, the reluctant leader of the exiles, must struggle to hold the community together.

Epiphany

Star Trek: The Original Series: Vulcan's Soul: Book 3

Susan Shwartz
Josepha Sherman

As the hidden truth about the Romulans' early history is revealed at last, its implications for the future play out as Spock and his allies reach across a gulf of both time and space in an attempt to bridge the gap that separates the longscattered offshoots of the Vulcan people. And though the reunification he hopes to achieve will come at a terrible cost, failure could mean centuries of sorrow and chaos for untold millions.

The distant past: The great ships have left war-torn Vulcan behind and, after a most arduous journey, have arrived at their destination. Two worlds become the new home of the exiles: Romulus is a verdant paradise, one much different from their desert home, while Remus is a barren wasteland, albeit one that is laden with natural resources. When Karatek and his family find themselves trapped on Remus with no hope of joining their brothers and sisters on Romulus, it sparks a conflict that leads the exiles into vicious civil war.

One year after the Dominion War: The Watraii are determined to destroy the Romulan Star Empire. Ambassador Spock is equally determined to learn their secret. With the aid of his wife Captain Saavik and the U.S.S. Alliance, his old comrades Scotty, Uhura, and Chekov, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise, Spock executes a daring plan to bring about peace before the Alpha Quadrant is once again plunged into war....

Flashback

Star Trek: Voyager: Episode Novelizations: Book 2

Diane Carey

A hundred years before the Starship Voyager was transported to the Delta Quadrant, Lieutenant Tuvok served under one of Starfleet's most famous officers: Captain Hikaru Sulu of the Starship Excelsior. Now those days have come back to haunt him. While traveling through an uncharted nebula, Tuvok is besieged by recurring memories of his time with Captain Sulu-- repressed memories that may well kill him unless their source is determined in time. To save her closest friend, Captain Kathryn Janeway follows Tuvok to the century-old bridge of the Excelsior during a desperate battle. There Tuvok, Captain Janeway, Captain Sulu and Commander Janice Rand must face a menace to galactic life unlike anything known before...

Backlash

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Book 4

Aaron Allston

Repercussions from the dark side's fatal seduction of Jacen Solo and the mysterious plague of madness afflicting young Jedi continue to wreak havoc galaxy-wide. Having narrowly escaped the deranged Force worshippers known as the Mind Walkers and a deadly Sith hit squad, Luke and Ben Skywalker are in pursuit of the now Masterless Sith apprentice. It is a chase that leads to the forbidding planet Dathomir, where an enclave of powerful dark side Force-wielders will give Vestara the edge she needs to escape--and where the Skywalkers will be forced into combat for their quarry and their lives.

Meanwhile, Han and Leia have completed their own desperate mission, shuttling madness-stricken Jedi from Coruscant to safe haven in the Transitory Mists and beyond the grasp of Galactic Alliance Chief of State Natasi Daala. But the bold maneuver has intensified Daala's fury, and she is determined to shatter Jedi Order resistance once and for all.

Yet no greater threat exists than that which still waits in the depths of the distant Maw Cluster: A being of pure, ravenous dark-side energy named Abeloth calls out across the stars to Jedi and Sith alike. For some it may be the ultimate source of answers crucial to their survival. For others it could be the ultimate weapon of conquest. But for all, it is a game-changing--and life-altering--encounter of untold magnitude and a tactical gambit with unimaginable consequences.

The Force Unleashed

Star Wars: Force Unleashed: Book 1

Sean Williams

"The Sith always betray one another.... I'm sure you'll learn that soon enough."

The overthrow of the Republic is complete. The Separatist forces have been smashed, the Jedi Council nearly decimated, and the rest of the Order all but destroyed. Now absolute power rests in the iron fist of Darth Sidious--the cunning Sith lord better known as the former Senator, now Emperor, Palpatine. But more remains to be done. Pockets of resistance in the galaxy must still be defeated and missing Jedi accounted for... and dealt with. These crucial tasks fall to the Emperor's ruthless enforcer, Darth Vader. In turn, the Dark Lord has groomed a lethal apprentice entrusted with a top-secret mission: to comb the galaxy and dispatch the last of his masters' enemies, thereby punctuating the dark side's victory with the Jedi's doom.

Since childhood, Vader's nameless agent has known only the cold, mercenary creed of the Sith. His past is a void; his present, the carrying out of his deadly orders. But his future beckons like a glistening black jewel with the ultimate promise: to stand beside the only father he has ever known, with the galaxy at their feet. It is a destiny he can realize only by rising to the greatest challenge of his discipleship: destroying Emperor Palpatine.

The apprentice's journeys will take him across the far reaches of the galaxy, from the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk to the junkyard planet of Raxus Prime. On these missions, the young Sith acolyte will forge an unlikely alliance with a ruined Jedi Master seeking redemption and wrestle with forbidden feelings for his beautiful comrade, Juno Eclipse. And he will be tested as never before–by shattering revelations that strike at the very heart of all he believes and stir within him long-forgotten hopes of reclaiming his name... and changing his destiny.

The Force Unleashed II

Star Wars: Force Unleashed: Book 2

Sean Williams

As ruthless apprentice to Darth Vader, Starkiller was mercilessly schooled in the ways of the dark side, commanded to exterminate the last of the purged Jedi Order, and groomed for the ultimate Sith power play: assassination of the Emperor. He served without question, killed without remorse, and lost his heart without warning to beautiful Imperial fighter pilot Juno Eclipse, never suspecting that he was just a tool in the schemes of his masters--until it was too late to escape their lethal betrayal.

Juno mourned Starkiller as dead... but now he is back, purged of all memories and programmed to kill. And as fate brings Juno and Starkiller closer to reuniting, with Darth Vader determined not to lose his assassin a second time, they will both have to make a stand. The prize is freedom. The punishment for failing will be eternal enslavement to the dark side of the Force...

A Crash of Fate

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: Book 2

Zoraida Córdova

Izzy and Jules were childhood friends, climbing the spires of Batuu, inventing silly games, and dreaming of adventures they would share one day. Then, Izzy's family left abruptly, without even a chance to say goodbye. Izzy's life became one of constant motion, traveling from one world to the next, until her parents were killed and she became a low-level smuggler to make ends meet. Jules remained on Batuu, eventually becoming a farmer like his father, but always yearning for something more.

Now, thirteen years after she left, Izzy is returning to Batuu. She's been hired to deliver a mysterious parcel, and she just wants to finish the job and get gone. But upon arrival at Black Spire Outpost she runs smack into the one person who still means something to her after all this time: Jules.

The attraction between them is immediate, yet despite Jules seeming to be everything she's ever needed, Izzy hesitates. How can she drag this good-hearted man into the perilous life she's chosen?

Jules has been trying to figure out his future, but now all he knows for certain is that he wants to be with Izzy. How can he convince her to take a chance on someone who's never left the safety of his homeworld?

When Izzy's job goes wrong, the two childhood friends find themselves on the run. And all their secrets will be revealed as they fight to stay alive?

Race to Crashpoint Tower

Star Wars: The High Republic - Third Series: Book 2

Daniel José Older

The Republic Fair is coming! Visitors from all over the galaxy are traveling to the planet Valo for a massive, awe-inspiring festival celebrating the Republic. While his fellow Valons prepare for the fair, Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram is hiding out in his favorite place: a dingy garage filled with mechanical parts and tools. But when a security alarm goes off on the nearby hilltop nicknamed Crashpoint Peak, he ventures out with his trusty droid V-18 to investigate. There he discovers that someone has knocked out Valo's communications tower--a frightening sign that Valo, and the Republic Fair, are in danger. Sure enough, as Ram races to warn the Jedi, the dreaded Nihil unleash a surprise attack! It's up to Ram to face down the enemy at Crashpoint Tower and send a call for help to the Republic. Luckily, he's about to get some assistance from unexpected new friends...

Flashfire

Starfist: Book 11

David Sherman
Dan Cragg

Packed with hard-core action written by battle-savvy combat veterans, the explosive Starfist series has become hugely popular across America. Now the saga of the courageous Marines continues in Flashfire, as the 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) ventures to the edge of Human Space to fight a number of enemies... some on their own side.

Tensions erupt between the Confederation and several frontier worlds when civilians are shot dead at an army base on the planet Ravenette. Enraged, the Ravenette government and nine neighboring planets form a coalition, and their first act of secession is to overrun Ravenette's Confederation garrison. With the armed forces of ten worlds seizing the brutal upper hand, the embattled troops need help–now–and they need it bad.

Enter the Marines of the 34th FIST. As the nearest ready-to-deploy unit, the team is sent to Ravenette with orders to hold the line until reinforcements arrive. The upcoming operation promises to be no picnic, for while sophisticates may ridicule the backward ways of the uncouth frontier folk, no one scoffs at their fighting ability.

Charlie Bass doesn't mince words for his men in Company L's third platoon. Two army divisions–perhaps thirty thousand soldiers–are being overwhelmed, and somebody expects a thousand Marines to save the day. As pompous Confederation generals wreak even more havoc than the enemy, there are those who call the mission suicide... but not the Marines.

Of course it sounds hopeless, but for Marines like Charlie Bass and the rest of the 34th FIST, accomplishing the impossible comes with the territory.

Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1: Book 1

Ashley McConnell

Colonel Jack O'Neill lives in retirement, one year after his interplanetary expedition to Abydos. But when a hostile force of aliens resembling the late Ra and his Chulakins invades Earth through the Stargate and kidnaps a female officer, O'Neill is called back to duty to lead a platoon back through the Stargate and eliminate this new threat. Back in Abydos, O'Neill is reunited with Egyptologist Daniel Jackson to help the team determine from which world through the Stargate this new danger originated from.

The Price You Pay

Stargate SG-1: Book 2

Ashley McConnell

The Stargate has been breached by the serpent god Apophis, whose legions threaten to overwhelm Earth in a brutal conquest. Only Colonel Jack O'Neill possesses the courage and cunning to lead an elite group of specialists through the Stargate to halt the invasion. If they fail, they risk being trapped in an alternate universe forever.

The First Amendment

Stargate SG-1: Book 3

Ashley McConnell

Colonel Jack O'Neill and his SG-1 team are about to show a reporter who has violated the security of the Stargate base that the success of this project will not be jeopardized for the sake of a headline-and that the truth can be far more dangerous than any outsider could ever imagine.

The Morpheus Factor

Stargate SG-1: Book 4

Ashley McConnell

On the world of P4V-837, the SG-1 team encounters a race of friendly natives. But the team begins experiencing hallucinations that grow darker with the passing hours-and become unwilling participants in a brutal conflict in which their subconscious minds have become the deadliest weapons of all.

Clark Ashton Smith

Starmont Reader's Guide: Book 49

Steve Behrends

A critical guide to the life and work of Clark Ashton Smith.

A Company of Stars

Starship Troupers: Book 1

Christopher Stasheff

By the 26th century, humanity had begun its expansion to the stars, and the Interstellar Dominion Electorates reigned over a unified Terra -- but New York was still New York, Broadway was still Broadway, and live theater was bigger and better than ever.

The excited theater pioneers of the newly formed Star Company were dedicated to taking their act on the road -- and out to the stars. They were far too busy with tryouts to pay any attention to current events and the constant harangues of the reactionary LORDS party on the public wallscreens.

Then the Lords party turned its attack on theater and its "timeless repertory of immorality." Suddenly the Star Company was off on a madcap race to finish its preparations, buy a ship and hire a pilot, and lift off Terra before it was grounded forever... or worse!

We Open on Venus

Starship Troupers: Book 2

Christopher Stasheff

The Star Company, a renegade theatre troupe, was run off of Earth, so they set their sites on New Venus. The name sounded good, but life on the planet was thoroughly regulated by Amalgamated Petroleum--where even the air and water came at a high cost. Enter the Star Company, with its incendiary mix of veteran troupers, innocent ingenues, and volatile prima donnas. When Amalgamated approved a production of MACBETH, little did anybody imagine how much trouble those three witches would stir up!

A Slight Detour

Starship Troupers: Book 3

Christopher Stasheff

The fledgling Star Company lands on the prosperous colony planet of Citadel only to discover that the world they have selected for their latest performance is a Puritan world where even the sight of female limbs is considered shocking and theater is forbidden!

Crashing Heaven

Station: Book 1

Al Robertson

A diamond-hard, visionary new SF thriller. Nailed-down cyberpunk ala William Gibson for the 21st century meets the vivid dark futures of Al Reynolds in this extraordinary debut novel.

With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality - ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue.

With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick Hugo Fist, a virtual ventriloquist's dummy tied to Jack's mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home.

Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity's. But with Fist's software licence about to expire, taking Jack's life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?

Ashes of Man

Sun Eater: Book 5

Christopher Ruocchio

The galaxy is burning.

With the Cielcin united under one banner, the Sollan Empire stands alone after the betrayal of the Commonwealth. The Prophet-King of the Cielcin has sent its armies to burn the worlds of men, and worse, there are rumors... whispers that Hadrian Marlowe is dead, killed in the fighting.

But it is not so. Hadrian survived with the help of the witch, Valka, and together they escaped the net of the enemy, having learned a terrible truth: the gods that the Cielcin worship are real and will not rest until the universe is dark and cold.

What is more, the Emperor himself is in danger. The Prophet-King has learned to track his movements as he travels along the borders of Imperial space. Now the Cielcin legions are closing in, their swords poised to strike off the head of all mankind.

Memories of Ash

Sunbolt Chronicles: Book 2

Intisar Khanani

In the year since she cast her sunbolt, Hitomi has recovered only a handful of memories. But the truths of the past have a tendency to come calling, and an isolated mountain fastness can offer only so much shelter. When the High Council of Mages summons Brigit Stormwind to stand trial for treason, Hitomi knows her mentor won't return--not with Arch Mage Blackflame behind the charges. Armed only with her magic and her wits, Hitomi vows to free her mentor from unjust imprisonment. She must traverse spell-cursed lands and barren deserts, facing powerful ancient enchantments and navigating bitter enmities, as she races to reach the High Council. There, she reunites with old friends, planning a rescue equal parts magic and trickery. If she succeeds, Hitomi will be hunted the rest of her life. If she fails, she'll face the ultimate punishment: enslavement to the High Council, her magic slowly drained until she dies.

Into the Ashes

Taine McKenna Adventures: Book 3

Lee Murray

No longer content to rumble in anger, the great mountain warriors of New Zealand's central plateau, the Kahui Tupua, are preparing again for battle. At least, that's how the Maori elders tell it. The nation's leaders scoff at the danger. That is; until the ground opens and all hell breaks loose. The armed forces are hastily deployed; NZDF Sergeant Taine McKenna and his section tasked with evacuating civilians and tourists from Tongariro National Park. It is too little, too late. With earthquakes coming thick and fast and the mountains spewing rock and ash, McKenna and his men are cut off. Their only hope of rescuing the stranded civilians is to find another route out, but a busload of prison evacuees has other ideas. And, deep beneath the earth's crust, other forces are stirring.

"INTO THE ASHES is a kick-ass thriller with twists you will never see coming! Lee Murray serves up a nail-biter of a weird-science action adventure. Brava!" --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of DEEP SILENCE and V-WARS

Arabella of Mars

The Adventures of Arabella Ashby: Book 1

David D. Levine

Since Newton witnessed a bubble rising from his bathtub, mankind has sought the stars. When William III of England commissioned Capt. William Kidd to command the first expedition to Mars in the late 1600s, he proved that space travel was both possible and profitable.

Now, one century later, a plantation in a flourishing British colony on Mars is home to Arabella Ashby, a young woman who is perfectly content growing up in the untamed frontier. But days spent working on complex automata with her father or stalking her brother Michael with her Martian nanny is not the proper behavior of an English lady. That is something her mother plans to remedy with a move to an exotic world Arabella has never seen: London, England.

However, when events transpire that threaten her home on Mars, Arabella decides that sometimes doing the right thing is far more important than behaving as expected. She disguises herself as a boy and joins the crew of the Diana, a ship serving the Mars Trading Company, where she meets a mysterious captain who is intrigued by her knack with clockwork creations. Now Arabella just has to weather the naval war currently raging between Britain and France, learn how to sail, and deal with a mutinous crew... if she hopes to save her family remaining on Mars.

Arabella of Mars, the debut novel by Hugo-winning author David D. Levine offers adventure, romance, political intrigue, and Napoleon in space!

Arabella and the Battle of Venus

The Adventures of Arabella Ashby: Book 2

David D. Levine

The swashbuckling Arabella Ashby is back for brand new adventure in the ongoing story of her life among the stars.

Arabella's wedding plans to marry Captain Singh of the Honorable Mars Trading Company are interrupted when her fiancé is captured by the French and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp on swampy Venus. Now, Arabella must find passage to an enemy-controlled planet in the middle of a war, bribe or fight her way past vicious guards, and rescue her Captain.

To do this she must enlist the help of the dashing privateer, Daniel Fox of the Touchstone and build her own clockwork navigational automaton in order to get to Venus before the dread French general, Joseph Fouché, the Executioner of Lyon.

Once on Venus, Arabella, Singh, and Fox soon discover that Napoleon has designed a secret weapon, one that could subjugate the entire galaxy if they can't discover a way to stop Fouché, and the entire French army, from completing their emperor's mandate.

Arabella The Traitor of Mars

The Adventures of Arabella Ashby: Book 3

David D. Levine

Hail the conquering heroes!

The tyrant, Napoleon, has been defeated with Arabella and the crew of the Diana leading the final charge. But, victory has come at a tremendous cost. Britain's savior, Lord Nelson, has not survived the final battle and the good people of the Diana must now return to London as both heroes and pallbearers.

At last husband and wife, Arabella and Captain Singh seem to have earned the attention of great men, ones who have new uses in mind for the Mars Company captain and his young wife. Both Company and Crown have decided that it is time to bring Mars into the folds of Empire, and they think Singh is the perfect man to do it.

Now, Arabella must decide between staying loyal to the man she loves and the country of her father or betraying all that she has known to fight alongside the Martians in a hopeless resistance against the Galaxy's last remaining superpower.

Pashazade: The First Arabesk

The Arabesk Trilogy: Book 1

Jon Courtenay Grimwood

Part mystery, part speculative fiction, and wholly unforgettable, Jon Courtenay Grimwood's celebrated Arabesk series portrays the dark, hard-boiled story of a man out to prove his innocence in an alternate world where the facts aren't always the same as the truth... and murder isn't the worst that can happen.

t's a twenty-first century hauntingly familiar--and yet startlingly different from our own. Here the United States brokered a deal that ended World War I, and the Ottoman Empire never collapsed. And lording it over all sits the complex, seductive, and bloodthirsty North African metropolis of El Iskandryia. Almost nothing is what it seems to be in El Isk, and Ashraf Bey is no exception.

Neither the rich Ottoman aristocrat everyone thinks he is, nor the minor street criminal once shipped off to prison when he fell foul of his Chinese Triad employers--the fact is that Raf has as little idea who he is as anyone else.

With few clues and no money, all Raf has is a surname hinting at noble heritage and an arranged marriage to a woman who hates him. But nothing Ashraf al Mansur learns about himself is as unexpected--or as terrifying--as the brutal murder he's accused of committing. Now, as a hunted man with the welfare of a precocious young girl in his irresponsible hands, Raf must race after a killer through an unforgiving city as foreign to him as the truth he'll uncover about himself.

Reign of Ash

The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga: Book 2

Gail Z. Martin

Blaine McFadden survived six years in the brutal Velant prison colony, exiled for murder. When war devastates his homeland of Donderath, it also destroys the intentional magic on which Donderath and its fellow kingdoms rely. Blaine and a small group of fellow exiles return to a lawless wasteland where unrestrained magic storms appear and disappear unpredictably, and monsters roam the ruins.

Yet rumours persist that the seeds of a new magic rest with a dangerous, ancient ritual and a handful of survivors who have disappeared. McFadden resolves to find these survivors and work the ritual, despite the danger, to restore the magic and end the chaos. He rallies a small and desperate army for a last stand, knowing that if they fail, the civilisation of the Ascendant Kingdoms dies with them.

A Study in Ashes

The Baskerville Affair: Book 3

Emma Jane Holloway

As part of her devil's bargain with the industrial steam barons, Evelina Cooper is finally enrolled in the Ladies' College of London. However, she's attending as the Gold King's pet magician, handcuffed and forbidden contact with even her closest relation, the detective Sherlock Holmes.

But Evelina's problems are only part of a larger war. The Baskerville affair is finally coming to light, and the rebels are making their move to wrest power from the barons and restore it to Queen Victoria. Missing heirs and nightmare hounds are the order of the day—or at least that's what Dr. Watson is telling the press.

But their plans are doomed unless Evelina escapes to unite her magic with the rebels' machines—and even then her powers aren't what they used to be. A sorcerer has awakened a dark hunger in Evelina's soul, and only he can keep her from endangering them all. The only problem is... he's dead.

A Curse of Ash and Embers

The Blackbone Witches: Book 1

Jo Spurrier

A dead witch. A bitter curse. A battle of magic.

Some people knit socks by the fire at night. Gyssha Blackbone made monsters.

But the old witch is dead now, and somehow it's Elodie's job to clean up the mess.

When she was hired at Black Oak Cottage, Elodie had no idea she'd find herself working for a witch; and her acid-tongued new mistress, Aleida, was not expecting a housemaid to turn up on her doorstep.

Gyssha's final curse left Aleida practically dead on her feet, and now, with huge monsters roaming the woods, a demonic tree lurking in the orchard and an angry warlock demanding repayment of a debt, Aleida needs Elodie's help, whether she likes it or not.

And no matter what the old witch throws at her, to Elodie it's still better than going back home.

The Backlash Mission

The Blackcollar Series: Book 2

Timothy Zahn

The second book in the Blackcollar series finds an elite fighting force at the forefront of an epic alien war once again

Denver, Earth. The twenty-fifth century. After a devastating alien invasion, the Terra Democratic Empire is occupied by the Ryqril race. The once-heroic resistance warriors known as the blackcollars now serve as strong-arm security for Denver's criminal elements.

When Allen Caine completes his year-long blackcollar training on the planet Plinry, he and his elite team head to Earth to strike out against the Ryqril puppet government. But there's no way of knowing whether the remaining blackcollars in Denver will be with him, or against him....

Ash: A Secret History

The Book of Ash

Mary Gentle

There is more than one history of the world...

In the mid-fifteenth century there was Burgundy, the jewel of Europe-opulent and powerful, the undisputed center of an uncivilized world.

In an epoch of war and madness there was Ash. A girl born in mud and dung, she slew her first men while only eight. Scarred and ravaged, but still beautiful, she rose up to lead a great mercenary army before the age of twenty-and followed a sacred voice wise in the bloody ways of battle to a pinnacle unattainable to even the most potent of legends.

In a time when empires and alliances shifted like sand-when Mithras the bull was worshipped freely alongside the Christ-a great cloud arose out of Africa to darken the sun. The Visigoths came with their terrible machines-powered by magic or a science unknown to this day-and aimed their irresistible might toward the rich Burgundian prize, wrenching the wheel of civilization in an unknown and unexpected direction. And with their coming, one incomparable warrior raised on Destiny's ash heap became more that anyone thought one woman could ever be.

Note: The contents of this novel was also separately published in four parts as A Secret History / Carthage Ascendant / The Wild Machines / Lost Burgundy.

A Secret History

The Book of Ash: Book 1

Mary Gentle

There is more than one history of the world...

In the mid-fifteenth century there was Burgundy, the jewel of Europe-opulent and powerful, the undisputed center of an uncivilized world.

In an epoch of war and madness there was Ash. A girl born in mud and dung, she slew her first men while only eight. Scarred and ravaged, but still beautiful, she rose up to lead a great mercenary army before the age of twenty--and followed a sacred voice wise in the bloody ways of battle to a pinnacle unattainable to even the most potent of legends.

In a time when empires and alliances shifted like sand--when Mithras the bull was worshipped freely alongside the Christ--a great cloud arose out of Africa to darken the sun. The Visigoths came with their terrible machines-powered by magic or a science unknown to this day--and aimed their irresistible might toward the rich Burgundian prize, wrenching the wheel of civilization in an unknown and unexpected direction. And with their coming, one incomparable warrior raised on Destiny's ash heap became more that anyone thought one woman could ever be.

Carthage Ascendant

The Book of Ash: Book 2

Mary Gentle

In a brutal age of bloodshed and miracles where dark sorcery has extinguished the sun, the fate of Western Europe, Africa--and perhaps all the world--rests in the hands of a warrior woman named Ash.

The undefeated legions that are the army of Carthage rampage across the kingdoms of Europe. Beneath a sunless sky, Burgundy alone stands in the path of the Visigoth horde and their legendary slave general, the Faris. Deep in enemy territory lies a living stone idol of frightening power that must be destroyed if anyone is to survive, a being that whispers in Ash's soul, that has guided her through every military campaign, that only she and her enemy--her twin--can hear.

But there is an even greater evil that lurks at Carthage, one that created the stone idol and shaped Ash's existence. It plots with deadly purpose the final annihilation that will wipe Burgundy from the face of the earth. For Burgundy lies at the heart of it all--the richest prize in Europe and the key to the world--the jewel of the Carthaginian campaign.

The Wild Machines

The Book of Ash: Book 3

Mary Gentle

There is More Than One History Of The World...

In an unremembered past of savagery, magic, and miracles, one figure blazed like a fiery comet across the blood-soaked fields of Europe and North Africa -- a fierce combatant and brilliant strategist named Ash, unequalled in battle, who vanished into the mists of a history long forgotten, until now.

The armies of the Visigoth Empire have smashed the might of Europe, plunging the conquered lands into unnatural night.Only Burgundy fights on, battered but unbeaten, still warm in the embrace of the sun. It is the heart of the continent, supreme in culture and force of arms. But the beleaguered Duchy's ultimate fate lies in the hands of its rightful ruler, Duke Charles, trapped behind the walls of Dijon -- a city under siege by the brutal soldiers of the Faris, Ash's dark twin. Like Ash, the Faris hears the words of the dread machinery that seeks the extermination of all humankind. Unlike Ash, she heeds them.

Fresh from the horrors of Carthage -- and the apocalyptic seductions of the Wild Machines -- Ash must decide whether to lead an army to near-certain doom, in an attempt to lift the siege of Dijon. For if the great city falls, and Charles dies, the sun will rise on the world no more... and humanity will descend into a darkness without end.

Lost Burgundy

The Book of Ash: Book 4

Mary Gentle

There is more than one history of the world...

In a barbarous age in a world now forgotten, an extraordinary figure stood formidable on the European battlefield--a remarkable female warrior and strategist without equal... save one.

Dijon, the once-proud capital of Burgundy, has been pounded into near submission. The merciless soldiers of the Visigoth Empire stand hungrily at the gate, and at their fore, the beautiful, deadly Faris, unwittingly bred to tbe the instrument of a machine intelligence that seeks the end of humanity. The sun gutters weakly overhead like a dying candle, as the Wild Machines once again flex their dark, demonic power.

Ash, like her warrior twin, hears the Wild Machines' call--but unlike the Faris, Ash will not be their tool. For within Dijon's crumbling walls a fragile hope has bloomed: one who bears in her royal blood the ability to hold the dread Machines at bay. But defeating their dark plans will take a miracle--and ultimately, only Ash herself stands between Burgundy's implacable enemies and all humanity.

Lost Burgundy

The stunning conclusion to the remarkable true chronicles of Ash.

Empire of Sand

The Books of Ambha: Book 1

Tasha Suri

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.

When Mehr's power comes to the attention of the Emperor's most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.

Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance...

Realm of Ash

The Books of Ambha: Book 2

Tasha Suri

The Ambhan Empire is crumbling. A terrible war of succession hovers on the horizon. The only hope for peace lies in the mysterious realm of ash, where mortals can find what they seek in the echoes of their ancestors' dreams. But to walk there requires a steep price.

Arwa is determined to make the journey. Widowed by a brutal massacre, she's pledged service to the royal family and will see that pledge through to the end. She never expected to be joined by Zahir, the disgraced, illegitimate prince who has turned to forbidden magic in a desperate bid to save those he loves.

Together, they'll walk the bloody path of their shared past. And it will call into question everything they've ever believed... including whether the Empire is worth saving at all.

Gate Crashers

The Breach: Book 1

Patrick S. Tomlinson

The only thing as infinite and expansive as the universe is humanity's unquestionable ability to make bad decisions.

Humankind ventures further into the galaxy than ever before... and immediately causes an intergalactic incident. In their infinite wisdom, the crew of the exploration vessel Magellan, or as she prefers, "Maggie," decides to bring the alien structure they just found back to Earth. The only problem? The aliens are awfully fond of that structure.

A planet full of bumbling, highly evolved primates has just put itself on a collision course with a far wider, and more hostile, galaxy that is stranger than anyone can possibly imagine.

The Jasmine Throne

The Burning Kingdoms: Book 1

Tasha Suri

Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent's household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini's chambers.

But when Malini witnesses Priya's true nature, their destines become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess seeking to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

The Oleander Sword

The Burning Kingdoms: Book 2

Tasha Suri

The prophecy of the nameless god--the words that declared Malini the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa--has proven a blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the throne that fate offered her. But even with the strength of the rage in her heart and the army of loyal men by her side, deposing her brother is going to be a brutal and bloody fight.

The power of the deathless waters flows through Priya's blood. Thrice born priestess, Elder of Ahiranya, Priya's dream is to see her country rid of the rot that plagues it: both Parijatdvipa's poisonous rule, and the blooming sickness that is slowly spreading through all living things. But she doesn't yet understand the truth of the magic she carries.

Their chosen paths once pulled them apart. But Malini and Priya's souls remain as entwined as their destinies. And they soon realize that coming together is the only way to save their kingdom from those who would rather see it burn--even if it will cost them.

The Lotus Empire

The Burning Kingdoms: Book 3

Tasha Suri

Malini has claimed her rightful throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa, just as the nameless gods prophesied. Now, in order to gain the support of the priesthood who remain loyal to the fallen emperor, she must consider a terrible bargain: Claim her throne and burn in order to seal her legacy-or find another willing to take her place on the pyre.

Priya has survived the deathless waters and now their magic runs in her veins. But a mysterious yaksa with flowering eyes and a mouth of thorns lies beneath the waters. The yaksa promises protection for Ahiranya. But in exchange, she needs a sacrifice. And she's chosen Priya as the one to offer it.

Two women once entwined by fate now stand against each other for the sake of their respective homes. But when a new enemy rises, they will once again find themselves fighting together to prevent their kingdoms, and their futures, from burning to ash.

Ember and Ash

The Castings World

Pamela Freeman

The old ones will have their revenge.Two peoples have been fighting over the same land for a thousand years. Invaders crushed the original inhabitants, and ancient powers have reluctantly given way to newer magics. But Ember was to change all this with a wedding to bind these warring people together - until her future goes up in flames.

Ember's husband-to-be is murdered by a vengeful elemental god, who sees peace as a breach of faith. Set on retribution, she enlists the help of Ash, son of a seer. Together they will pit themselves against elementals of fire and ice in a last attempt to end the conflicts that have scarred their past. They must look to the present, as old furies are waking to violence and are eager to reclaim their people.

Chaos Unleashed

The Chaos Born Trilogy: Book 3

Drew Karpyshyn

The Legacy, a magical barrier protecting humanity from Chaos, has crumbled.

Four unlikely champions, each touched with Chaos magic at birth, are all that can stop the return of Daemron the Slayer. Armed with the Talismans of power the four champions, the Children of Fire, must find the Keystone, a fabled place where, or so it is said, the Legacy can be restored.

But even the noblest heart can be twisted by the tainted magic of Chaos...

The End of the Story

The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 1

Clark Ashton Smith

Published in chronological order, with extensive story and bibliographic notes, this series not only provides access to stories that have been out of print for years, but gives them a historical and social context. Series editors Scott Conners and Ronald S. Hilger excavated the still-existing manuscripts, letters and various published versions of the stories, creating a definitive "preferred text" for Smith's entire body of work. This first volume of the series, brings together 25 of his fantasy stories, written between 1925 and 1930, including such classics as "The Abominations of Yondo," "The Monster of the Prophecy," "The Last Incantation" and the title story.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction (The End of the Story) • essay by Ramsey Campbell
  • A Note on the Texts (The End of the Story) • essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • To the Daemon (1943) • poem by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Abominations of Yondo (1926) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Sadastor (1930) • poem by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Ninth Skeleton (1928) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Last Incantation [Malygris] (1930) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The End of the Story [Averoigne] (1930) • novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Phantoms of the Fire (1930) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • A Night in Malnéant (1933) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Resurrection of the Rattlesnake (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Thirteen Phantasms (1936) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Venus of Azombeii (1931) • novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Tale of Satampra Zeiros [Satampra Zeiros] (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Monster of the Prophecy (1932) • novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Metamorphosis of the World (1951) • novelette by Clark Ashton Smith (variant of The Metamorphosis of Earth)
  • The Epiphany of Death (1934) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • A Murder in the Fourth Dimension (1930) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith (variant of Murder in the Fourth Dimension)
  • The Devotee of Evil (1933) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Satyr [Averoigne] (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Planet of the Dead (1932) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Uncharted Isle (1930) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Marooned in Andromeda [Captain Volmar • 1] (1930) • novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Root of Ampoi (1949) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Necromantic Tale (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Immeasurable Horror (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • A Voyage to Sfanomoë [Poseidonis] (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Story Notes (The End of the Story) • essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • "The Satyr": Alternate Conclusion [Averoigne] (1931) • short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • From the Crypts of Memory (1917) • poem by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Bibliography (The End of the Story) • essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger

The Door to Saturn

The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 2

Clark Ashton Smith

Published in chronological order, with extensive story and bibliographic notes, this series not only provides access to stories that have been out of print for years, but gives them a historical and social context. Series editors Scott Conners and Ronald S. Hilger excavated the still-existing manuscripts, letters and various published versions of the stories, creating a definitive "preferred text" for Smith's entire body of work. This second volume of the series brings together 20 of his fantasy stories.

Table of Contents: [] contains series

  • Introduction (The Door to Saturn) (2007), essay by Tim Powers
  • A Note on the Texts (The Door to Saturn), essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • The Door to Saturn [Hyperborea] (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Red World of Polaris [Captain Volmar] (2003), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Told in the Desert (1964), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Willow Landscape (1931), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • A Rendezvous in Averoigne [Averoigne] (1931), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Gorgon (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • An Offering to the Moon (1953), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Kiss of Zoraida (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Face by the River (2004), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Ghoul (1934), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Kingdom of the Worm (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • An Adventure in Futurity (1931), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Justice of the Elephant (1931), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Return of the Sorcerer [Cthulhu Mythos] (1931), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The City of the Singing Flame [Singing Flame, 1] (1941), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith (variant of The City of Singing Flame 1931)
  • A Good Embalmer (1989), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Testament of Athammaus [Hyperborea] (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • A Captivity in Serpens [Captain Volmar, 2] (1931), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Letter from Mohaun Los (1932), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith (variant of Flight into Super-Time)
  • The Hunters from Beyond (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Story Notes (The Door to Saturn), essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • Alternate Ending to "The Return of the Sorcerer", short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Bibliography (The Door to Saturn), essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • About the Editors (The Door to Saturn), essay by uncredited

A Vintage from Atlantis

The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 3

Clark Ashton Smith

A Vintage from Atlantis is the third of five volumes that collects all of Clark Ashton Smith's tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, faithfully following Smith's manuscripts. It includes, in chronological order, all of his stories from "The Holiness of Azédarac" (November 1933) to "The Colossus of Ylourgne" (June 1934). This volume also features an introduction by Michael Dirda, as well as extensive notes on each story.

Table of Contents: [] contains series

  • Introduction (A Vintage From Atlantis), essay by Michael Dirda
  • A Note on the Texts (A Vintage from Atlantis), essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • The Holiness of Azédarac [Averoigne] (1933), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Maker of Gargoyles [Averoigne] (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Beyond the Singing Flame [Singing Flame • 2] (1931), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Seedling of Mars [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] (1931), novelette by E. M. Johnston and Clark Ashton Smith (variant of The Planet Entity) [as by Clark Ashton Smith]
  • The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis [Mars (Clark Ashton Smith)] (1932), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Eternal World (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Demon of the Flower (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Nameless Offspring (1932), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • A Vintage from Atlantis [Poseidonis] (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Weird of Avoosl Wuthoqquan [Hyperborea] (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Invisible City (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Immortals of Mercury (1932), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Empire of the Necromancers [Zothique] (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Seed from the Sepulcher (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Second Interment (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Ubbo-Sathla [Hyperborea] (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Double Shadow [Poseidonis] (1933), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Plutonian Drug (1934), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Supernumerary Corpse (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Colossus of Ylourgne [The Colossus of Ylourgne] (1934), novelette by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The God of the Asteroid (1932), short story by Clark Ashton Smith (variant of Master of the Asteroid)
  • Story Notes (A Vintage From Atlantis), essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger
  • The Flower-Devil (1922), poem by Clark Ashton Smith
  • Bibliography (A Vintage From Atlantis), essay by Scott Connors and Ron Hilger

The Maze of the Enchanter

The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 4

Clark Ashton Smith

This series presents Clark Ashton Smith's fiction chronologically, based on composition rather than publication. Editors Scott Connors and Ron Hilger have compared original manuscripts, various typescripts, published editions, and Smith's notes and letters, in order to prepare a definitive set of texts.

The Maze of the Enchanter includes, in chronological order, all of his stories from "The Mandrakes" (February, 1933) to "The Flower-Women" (May, 1935). This volume also features an introduction, and extensive notes on each story.

The Last Hieroglyph

The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 5

Clark Ashton Smith

he Last Hieroglyph is the fifth of five volumes that collect all of Clark Ashton Smith's tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, faithfully following Smith's manuscripts. It includes, in chronological order, all of his stories from "The Dark Age" (April 1938) to "The Dart of Rasasfa" (July 1961). This volume also features an introduction by Richard A. Lupoff, as well as extensive notes on each story.

The Abyss Triumphant

The Complete Poetry and Translations of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 1

Clark Ashton Smith

Clark Ashton Smith was one of the most remarkable and distinctive American poets of the twentieth century. His tremendous output of poetry, totaling nearly 1000 original poems written over a span of more than fifty years, is of the highest craftsmanship and runs the gamut of subject matter from breathtaking "cosmic" verse about the stars and galaxies to plangent love poetry to pungent satire to delicate imitations of Japanese haiku.

This edition prints, for the first time, Smith's entire poetic work, including hundreds of uncollected and unpublished poems. The poems have been arranged chronologically by date of writing, so far as can be ascertained. This first volume includes poetry from the first two to three decades of Smith's career, when he published such noteworthy volumes as The Star-Treader (1912), Ebony and Crystal (1922), andSandalwood (1925).

Smith's early work was written under the tutelage of the celebrated California poet George Sterling, but Smith quickly surpassed his mentor in the writing of cosmic and lyric verse. Smith's greatest poetic triumph, perhaps, was The Hashish-Eater, a poem of nearly 600 lines that strikingly evokes the myriad suns of unbounded space and the baleful monsters that may lurk therein. But Smith could also write such touching elegies as "Requiescat in Pace," a dirge for a woman whose death affected him deeply.

The Wine of Summer

The Complete Poetry and Translations of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 2

Clark Ashton Smith

This second volume of Clark Ashton Smith's complete original poetry contains the poems he wrote in the decades following the death in 1926 of his early mentor, George Sterling. Although much affected by Sterling's passing, Smith carried on in his poetic work, seeking new modes of expression and expanding his range beyond the cosmic and lyrical verse that had dominated his early career.

Having taught himself French in the mid-1920s, Smith began composing original poems in French, also translating them into English or translating his earlier English poems into French. Although Smith wrote relatively little verse during the period of his extensive writing of fantastic fiction (1929–35), he resumed work in the later 1930s, especially under the influence of his friends Eric Barker and Madelynne Greene, for whom he wrote the poetic cycle entitled The Hill of Dionysus. In the late 1940s he experimented with imitations of Japanese haiku, and in the 1950s, having taught himself Spanish, he wrote numerous original poems in Spanish. Also among his later output are a number of witty satires on the vagaries of modern poetry. In its entirety, Clark Ashton Smith's work stands as one of the great literary contributions to twentieth-century poetry.

All poems have been textually corrected by consultation with manuscripts and early appearances, and have been extensively annotated by editors S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz. This volume also contains an exhaustive commentary on all the poems and a complete title and first line index.

The Flowers of Evil and Others

The Complete Poetry and Translations of Clark Ashton Smith: Book 3

Clark Ashton Smith

In addition to being a prolific and innovative poet in his own right, Clark Ashton Smith was a noted translator of French and Spanish poetry. Teaching himself French in the mid-1920s, Smith undertook the ambitious program of translating the entirety of Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil) into English.

Over the next several years he succeeded in translating all but six of the 157 poems that comprised the definitive (1868) edition of Les Fleurs du mal. Smith would begin with a relatively literal prose translation and would later render it into verse; in the end, Smith versified about a third of the poems, the rest remaining in prose.

His mentor George Sterling testified to the remarkable spiritual affinity between Smith and Baudelaire, rendering him the perfect translator of this difficult poet. Smith also translated other noteworthy French poets-Paul Verlaine, Victor Hugo, Alfred de Musset, and Théophile Gautier, among others-as well as such obscure poets as Marie Dauguet and Tristan Klingsor. In the 1940s Smith taught himself Spanish, making splendid verse translations of such poets as Amado Nervo, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer, and and Jorge Isaacs. The great majority of the poems included in this volume are unpublished.

The current edition presents, for the first time, Smith's complete translations in French and Spanish, also printing the French and Spanish texts on facing pages. All texts are annotated by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz.

The Crafters

The Crafters: Book 1

Bill Fawcett
Christopher Stasheff

They are a great family of witches and warlocks, alchemists and spellcasters. From generation to generation, from the Old World to the Salem trials and beyond, they hand down their secrets, their potions, even their family familiar... a will-o'-the-wisp called Willow. They are masters of sorcery, of power, of love. They are... The Crafters

Table of Contents:

  • vii - Prologue (The Crafters) - short fiction by Bill Fawcett
  • 1 - The Alchemist and the Witch - novelette by Christopher Stasheff
  • 35 - Of Art and Science - poem by Judith R. Conly
  • 37 - A Cup of Chaos - novelette by Wendy Wheeler
  • 61 - The Seal of Solomon - novelette by Robert Sheckley
  • 84 - The Seeing Stone - short story by Jody Lynn Nye
  • 103 - Education - novelette by Doug Houseman and Anna O'Connell
  • 135 - A Little Learning - novelette by Esther M. Friesner
  • 160 - A Spell for Brass Buttons - novella by Ru Emerson
  • 210 - The Summoning - short story by Katherine Kurtz
  • 224 - Unholy Alliance - novelette by Morgan Llywelyn
  • 245 - Epilogue (The Crafters) - essay by Bill Fawcett

Blessings and Curses

The Crafters: Book 2

Bill Fawcett
Christopher Stasheff

Witches and warlocks, alchemists and scientists, the Crafters are a talented family. The birth of a new nation sees the beginning of a clan whose far-flung branches take root in the civilized cities and on the wild frontier.

In this second bewitching volume, a new generation of Crafters must come to terms with their Talent in an age of science and reason. Spread across the globe, the descendants of Amer Crafter are a varied lot, from proud Americans to spoiled young English gentry.

Table of Contents:

  • ix - Prologue (Blessings and Curses) - essay by Bill Fawcett
  • 1 - Belonging - short story by Barbara Delaplace
  • 12 - Franklin's Salamander - short story by Wendy Wheeler
  • 32 - "... A Fortune in Ireland" - novelette by Morris G. McGee
  • 57 - Her American Cousin - novelette by Esther M. Friesner
  • 100 - Whose Ghost There? - novella by Christopher Stasheff
  • 153 - Ironsides and Cottonseed Oil - novelette by Ru Emerson
  • 191 - Miss Crafter's School for Girls - novelette by Jody Lynn Nye
  • 225 - The Dream Country - novelette by Robert Sheckley
  • 256 - Oppression - poem by Judith R. Conly
  • 257 - Remember the Almost - short story by Morgan Llywelyn
  • 269 - A Cursed Booty - short story by Brian M. Thomsen

To the King a Daughter

The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: Book 1

Andre Norton
Sasha Miller

To the King a Daughter begins the cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: the four powers of the world who have been warring for centuries. The Clan of Ash is slowly dying, their totem tree in the sacred square withering away to nothing. There is a prophecy that a daughter of Ash will rise again, but none have survived the mass killings, thereby rendering the prophecy unfillable.

But deep in the swamps, in the care of the witch-healer all need and all fear, there is a young girl-woman who can not be the witch's daughter; a girl who, in fact, by virtue of her beauty and elegance and simmering power, can only be a Daughter of Ash, the one who will rise to fulfill the prophecy--and the destiny of her birthright.

Knight or Knave

The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: Book 2

Andre Norton
Sasha Miller

Times are changing in Rendelsham. The old King is dead, and the foolish Prince Florian has assumed the throne. Florian's mother, Queen Ysa of the House of Oak, still controls the land from behind the scences, but her job grows more difficult every day. Her unworthy, headstrong son is harder to control than her husband was, and she must spend more time than ever masking her own movements. Her husband's illegitimate daughter Ashen, heir to the nearly dead House of Ash, still causes trouble by her very existence, and must never be given an opening to the throne. The barbarian Sea-Rover clan presents problems from the edge of the Bog, Ysa's newest magical ally has been exposed as a traitor, and nothing is going as Ysa had planned.

And still the unknown yet encroaching threat from the North continues to grow.

Through births and deaths, marriages and duels, love and betrayal, magic and force, the four Houses of Rendelsham can only survive by the strength of their unity--but is unity possible in such a court of intrigue as this one?

A Crown Disowned

The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: Book 3

Andre Norton
Sasha Miller

A Crown Disowned is the third volume of the cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan that began with To the King a Daughter and was continued in Knight or Knave.

The earth is shaking and splitting as the forces from the North draw nearer. The Ice Dragon Riders are speaking to the land, and more fire mountains awaken in the Bog. Rohan seeks to join forces with Tusser, leader of the Bog-folk, as Queen Ysa raises an army to clear the Bog.

War draws closer until even the Queen cannot deny it any longer. Raids from the North increase and for the first time, the Riders of the Ice Dragons appear. It is time for the Queen to give up her game of pitting one faction against another. Four great armies assemble and they all march under the same banner. Though they do not--cannot--represent the Four Trees, this is nevertheless seen as a good omen.

Many good men from all four armies fall in battle, yet the Great Foulness is still at large. Is the combined might of the four powers enough to free the land from evil?

Dragon Blade

The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: Book 4

Andre Norton
Sasha Miller

Over a year has passed since the defeat of the Great Foulness, and the ravaged earth has begun to heal. Lost for generations, the signet rings of the Four Great Houses---Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan---have been restored to their rightful heirs. And Ashen NordornQueen, mistress of the Land of Ever Snow, looks forward to a life of peace and happiness with her beloved husband and their newborn son---only to learn that an ancient evil still threatens all that she holds dear.

The Mother Ice Dragon, the fearsome progenitor of her deadly breed, has awakened from slumber to menace the world anew. Legend holds that only the Dragon Blade, forged from the scales of her vanquished mate, can slay the deadly female dragon, but the Dragon Blade has been lost for ages.

As Ashen embarks on a perilous quest to find the mystic sword, she leaves her castle and homeland in the care of her closest friends, including Rannore, Lady of the Rowan, who soon faces danger of a different sort....

Dragon Blade continues the saga begun in To the King a Daughter and continued in Knight or Knave and A Crown Disowned.

The Knight of the Red Beard

The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: Book 5

Andre Norton
Sasha Miller

Having rebuilt the NordornLand from rubble, Ashen and Gaurin rule justly and fairly over a reinvigorated land. Beloved by their kingdom, they now turn their attention to the next generation of Nordorn royalty.

Responsible Bjaudin, heir to the throne, focuses on his studies and Hegrin, Queen of Rendel, rears her own growing brood. But the youngest siblings, Elin and Mikkel, seem destined to alter the future of the NordornLand--for better or for worse.

Thirteen-year-old Elin craves power, and believes her new alliance with the evil Ysa may help her achieve it.

Eleven-year-old Mikkel stows away on a Sea-Rover ship, hoping for a brief adventure. But when the ship is attacked, Mikkel is taken prisoner, and soon his bonds to the NordornLand are the last thing on his mind.

Through births and deaths, celebration and wars, Ashen and Gaurin have worked tirelessly to bring peace and prosperity to their kingdom. But it appears that this era of peace may be at its end. This final installment of the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan brings the series to a thrilling climax worthy of these fascinating characters.

The Deer King, Vol. 1: Survivors

The Deer King: Book 1

Nahoko Uehashi

Van, a former soldier made slave, toils away endlessly in a salt mine. An unexpected chance at liberation drops in his lap when a pack of infected dogs passes through, killing everyone but him and a young girl he names Yuna. Van hopes to make a peaceful life for them both now that they've escaped. However, the disease that cleared out the mine begins to spread, endangering the nation and placing Van and his ward at the center of a conflict greater than any the world has ever seen.

Thus begins a tale of ecosystems, viruses, and cultural relations.

The Deer King, Vol. 2: Returners

The Deer King: Book 2

Nahoko Uehashi

Van's chase to rescue the kidnapped Yuna leads him to the Ahfal Oma, the People of the Fire Horse. They reveal that the sickness plaguing Aquafa is no random resurgence but a carefully orchestrated revenge plan, and they want the leader of the Lone Antlers to join. Van can't abide a destructive quest that threatens all of Aquafa, but he's still only one man. And how can a single man stop a disease--especially one that already lives within him?

The Empire of Ashes

The Draconis Memoria: Book 3

Anthony Ryan

In the White Drake's war, the price of freedom is paid in blood and fire...

For hundreds of years, the Ironship Trading Syndicate was fueled by drake blood--and protected by the Blood-blessed, those few who could drink it and wield fearsome powers. But now the very thing that sustained the corporate world threatens to destroy it.

A drake of unimaginable power has risen, and it commands an army of both beasts and men. Rogue Blood-blessed Claydon Torcreek, Syndicate agent Lizanne Lethridge and Ironship captain Corrick Hilemore have been spread to disparate corners of the world, but they are united in their desire to defeat the White Drake and the Spoiled who follow it.

Humanity itself is at stake, but with the aid of ancient knowledge, revolutionary technology and unexpected allies, all hope is not lost. Saving the world will require sacrifice, as Clay, Lizanne and Hilemore will see all they know either consumed by flames or reborn from the ashes.

Burn the Ashes

The Dystopia Triptych: Book 2

John Joseph Adams
Christie Yant
Hugh Howey

We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes.

In Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451, that's the motto of the Firemen who hunted down and burned books wherever they found them. Bradbury warned of a world where our literary history is taken from us. In BURN THE ASHES, some of the best science fiction authors working today continue to explore the dystopic worlds they introduced in IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

Edited by John Joseph Adams, Christie Yant, and Hugh Howey, THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of dystopian fiction. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH--before the dystopia--focuses on society during its descent into absurdity and madness. BURN THE ASHES--during the dystopia--turns its attention to life during the strangest, most dire times. OR ELSE THE LIGHT--after the dystopia--concludes the saga with each author sharing their own vision of how we as a society might crawl back from the precipice of despair.

BURN THE ASHES features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Scott Sigler, Cadwell Turnbull, Karin Lowachee, Caroline M. Yoachim, Adam-Troy Castro, An Owomoyela, Tobias S. Buckell, Tim Pratt, Rich Larson, Alex Irvine, Darcie Little Badger, Violet Allen, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, and Dominica Phetteplace.

Babylon's Ashes

The Expanse: Book 6

James S. A. Corey

The final war has started. The protomolecule, fairly quiescent since the opening of the gates, has identified its enemy and is arming itself for battle. Humanity is at most a tool in its post-human arsenal. When people, ships, and even places begin to disappear, Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have to face the fact that the thing they've been hauling through the depths of space only appears to be Detective Miller. The time when the protomolecule's agenda and humanity's overlapped has passed.

As the protomolecule takes control of the ancient networks and relays, the final battle begins. Holden and his allies are faced with the decision of whether to blow the gates, trapping humanity in beads of disconnected worlds, or engage in a battle that they can only lose no matter who wins.

A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.

The Free Navy - a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships - has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets. The colony ships heading for the thousand new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them.

James Holden and his crew know the strengths and weaknesses of this new force better than anyone. Outnumbered and outgunned, the embattled remnants of the old political powers call on the Rocinante for a desperate mission to reach Medina Station at the heart of the gate network.

But the new alliances are as flawed as the old, and the struggle for power has only just begun. As the chaos grows, an alien mystery deepens. Pirate fleets, mutiny, and betrayal may be the least of the Rocinante's problems. And in the uncanny spaces past the ring gates, the choices of a few damaged and desperate people may determine the fate of more than just humanity.

Flash Fire

The Extraordinaries: Book 2

T. J. Klune

Through bravery, charm, and an alarming amount of enthusiasm, Nick landed himself the superhero boyfriend of his dreams. Now instead of just writing stories about him, Nick actually gets to kiss him. A lot. But having a superhero boyfriend isn't everything Nick thought it would be - he's still struggling to make peace with his own lack of extraordinary powers.

When new Extraordinaries begin arriving in Nova City - siblings who can manipulate smoke and ice, a mysterious hero who can move objects with their mind, and a drag queen superhero with the best name and the most-sequined costum anyone has ever had - it's up to Nick and his friends Seth, Gibby, and Jazz to determine who is virtuous and who is villainous.

And new Extraordinaries aren't the only things coming to light. Long-held secrets and neglected truths are surfacing that challenge everything Nick knows about justice, family, and being extraordinary. Which is a lot to handle when Nick really just wants to finish his self-insert bakery AU fanfic.

Will it all come together in the end or will it all go down in flames?

Dragon Unleashed

The Fallen Empire: Book 2

Grace Draven

Magic is outlawed in the Krael Empire and punishable by death. Born with the gift of earth magic, the free trader Halani keeps her dangerous secret closely guarded. When her uncle buys a mysterious artifact, a piece of bone belonging to a long-dead draga, Halani knows it's far more than what it seems.

Dragas haven't been seen for more than a century, and most believe them extinct. They're wrong. Dragas still walk among the denizens of the Empire, disguised as humans. Malachus is a draga living on borrowed time. The magic that has protected him will soon turn on him--unless he finds a key part of his heritage. He has tracked it to a group of free traders, among them a grave-robbing earth witch who fascinates him as much as she frustrates him with her many secrets.

Unbeknownst to both, the Empire's twisted empress searches for a draga of her own, to capture and kill as a trophy. As Malachus the hunter becomes the hunted, Halani must risk herself and all she loves to save him from the Empire's machinations and his own lethal birthright.

The Haunting of Barry Allen

The Flash / Arrow Crossover: Book 1

Clay Griffith
Susan Griffith

An original novel by Clay Griffith & Susan Griffith based on the hit Warner Bros. series created by Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns

Speeding through Central City, Barry Allen is met with a startling sight--the Flash, older, battered, and badly injured. Before he can speak, the doppelgänger is gone.

Then Barry begins experiencing glitches in his powers--moments that leave him ghostly and immobile in the middle of missions. When a group of his enemies--including Pied Piper, Weather Wizard, and Peekaboo--chooses this time to launch a new assault, the Flash seeks help from his most trusted ally.

Oliver Queen - the Arrow.

A Generation of Vipers

The Flash / Arrow Crossover: Book 2

Clay Griffith
Susan Griffith

The second original novel based on the hit Warner Bros. TV show Arrow and concluding the first crossover between The Flash and Arrow novels!

Continuing from the events of THE FLASH: THE HAUNTING OF BARRY ALLEN, team Arrow and team Flash seek to eliminate the bizarre energy that threatens to kill the Scarlet Speedster. Their quest takes them to Markovia, where they must get past an army of mercenaries and assassins to face the enigmatic Count Wallenstein.

Pillar of Ash

The Four Pillars: Book 4

H. M. Long

Yske, daughter of the legendary warrior priestess Hessa, has dedicated her life to medicine and pacifism in service to Aita, the Great Healer. When her twin brother Berin, hungry for glory, gathers a party to investigate rumours of strange sightings in the Unmade -- shadows in the darkness at the end of the world -- Yske joins the mission, to keep him safe.

Their journey east takes them through primal forests, walking paths last trod when gods were at war and ancient, powerful beasts were defeated and bound. And the closer they get to the Unmade, the more strange and terrible things haunt them from the shadows, corruptions in nature and monstrous creatures of moss and bone.

Earning the respect of Berin and his warriors, Yske must forge a place for mercy and healing in a world of violence and sacrifice. She must survive murderous ambushes and brutal sieges and take her place at the centre of the oldest war of all.

Thrust into a desperate conflict of survival, Yske and Berin will wage the final war with the gods -- in the shadow of a vast and ancient tree, the fate of creation is about to be decided.

Ash and Quill

The Great Library: Book 3

Rachel Caine

The unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone and Paper and Fire unite to save the Great Library of Alexandria from itself in this electrifying adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.

Hoarding all the knowledge of the world, the Great Library jealously guards its secrets. But now a group of rebels poses a dangerous threat to its tyranny....

Jess Brightwell and his band of exiles have fled London, only to find themselves imprisoned in Philadelphia, a city led by those who would rather burn books than submit. But Jess and his friends have a bargaining chip: the knowledge to build a machine that will break the Library's rule.

Their time is running out. To survive, they'll have to choose to live or die as one, to take the fight to their enemies--and to save the very soul of the Great Library....

Clash of Eagles

The Hesperian Trilogy: Book 1

Alan Smale

Imagine a world where the Roman Empire never fell... In AD 1218, Praetor Gaius Marcellinus, commander of the 33rd Legion, invades Nova Hesperia, a land inhabited by Powhatani, Iroqua and Cahokiani. In search of gold, he and his men find only death. Marcellinus is taken prisoner, but his life is spared. To survive he must re-evaluate his allegiances and find a new place in a strange land.

On the Storm Planet

The Instrumentality of Mankind: Casher O'Neill

Cordwainer Smith

Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Galaxy Magazine, February 1965. The story can also be found in the anthologies A Day in the Life (1972) edited by Gardner Dozois, The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels (1980), edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg, and Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction (1994), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Quest of the Three Worlds (1966) and When the People Fell (2007).

Quest of the Three Worlds

The Instrumentality of Mankind: Casher O'Neill

Cordwainer Smith

Four novellas with the same main character Caher O'Neill.

Contains:

Cash Crash Jubilee

The Jubilee Cycle: Book 1

Eli K. P. William

In a metropolis where information and images are inseparable from the city itself, and all citizens wear a computer system that records their movements from moment to moment, Amon Kenzaki works as a Liquidator. His job is to capture bankrupt citizens and banish them to BankDeath Camps where they are forever cut off from the action-transaction economy.

Every night, Amon dreams of a mysterious forest, and with his savings steadily accumulating, looks forward to the day that he can finally afford to go there. But when he is charged for an incredibly expensive action called"jubilee" that he is sure he never performed, he finds himself caught up in a struggle between dark corporate forces and must fight to preserve his financial existence.

Among Thieves

The Kin: Book 1

Douglas Hulick

Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side. But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors-a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.

Sworn in Steel

The Kin: Book 2

Douglas Hulick

Drothe has killed a legend, burned down part of the imperial capital, and unexpectedly elevated himself into the underworld's elite. And as the city's newest 'Gray Prince', Drothe's learning just how good he used to have it.

With no time to build support, Drothe is already being called out by other Gray Princes. And when one dies, all signs point to Drothe. Members of the thieves' guilds begin choosing sides, mostly against him, for what promises to be another gang war. Then Drothe is approached by someone who can solve all his problems and also offer him redemption. But the cost may be just too high. Out of options, Drothe's finds himself travelling to the empire's bitterest enemy. He has a price on his head, but one last plan in mind.

Blades of the Old Empire

The Majat Code: Book 1

Anna Kashina

Kara is a mercenary - a Diamond warrior, the best of the best, part of the Majat Guild. When her tenure to Prince Kythar comes to an end, he wishes to retain her services, but must accompany her back to her Guild to negotiate her continued protection.

When they arrive they discover that the prince's sworn enemy, the Kaddim, have already paid the Guild to engage her services - to capture and hand over the prince (who she has grown very fond of).

A warrior brought up to respect both duty and honour, what happens when her sworn duty proves dishonourable?

The Guild of Assassins

The Majat Code: Book 2

Anna Kashina

The sequel to Blades of the Old Empire.

Kara has achieved something that no Majat has ever managed – freedom from the Guild!

But the Black Diamond assassin Mai has been called back to face his punishment for sparing her life. Determined to join his fight or share his punishment, Kara finds herself falling for Mai.

But is their relationship – and the force that makes their union all-powerful – a tool to defeat the overpowering forces of the Kaddim armies, or a distraction sure to cause the downfall of the Majat?

Assassin Queen

The Majat Code: Book 3

Anna Kashina

Defeated by the Majat forces, Nimos and the other Kaddim Brothers retreat to their secret fortress in the southern mountains. Nimos knows that the Majat's victory is only temporary: during the flight, he managed to place a mark on Kara, one of the top-ranked Diamond Majat. His mind magic would now allow him to use this mark to confer her fighting skill to the Kaddim warriors and turn her loyalties to their side.

The new Majat Guildmaster, Mai, is planning a march against the Kaddim. His key ally, Prince Kyth Dorn, is instrumental in these plans: Kyth's magic gift can protect the Majat against the Kaddim mind control powers. But Mai and Kyth are having trouble getting over their rivalry for Kara's affections - even after they realize that this rivalry is the least of their worries, at least for the moment. Something about Kara is not right...

The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 10

Mike Ashley

The art of writing great science fiction is that it challenges the imagination, pushing it to extreme limits and in this anthology, selecting some of the best modern science fiction from the last fifty years, twenty leading authors of the genre ask the question 'What if...?' and then give their own very personal views of the changes and surprises which may befall humanity in the centuries to come. In Ulla, Ulla Eric Brown recounts the first manned Martian expedition and discovers that H. G. Wells may have been right after all. In The Infinite Assassin Greg Egan polices the dimensions, seeking those who are taking over their alternate selves. Geoffrey A. Landis takes us into the depths of a black hole in Approaching Perimelasma. Is the ultimate Utopia heaven or hell? Robert Sheckley finds out in the classic A Ticket to Tranai. These and other stories by James White, Eric Frank Russell, Robert Reed, H. Beam Piper and H. Chandler Elliot make this one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking science fiction anthologies in lightyears.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction: The Next Step - essay by Mike Ashley
  • Ulla, Ulla - (2002) - short story by Eric Brown
  • Deathday - (1991) - novelette by Peter F. Hamilton
  • The Infinite Assassin - (1991) - short story by Greg Egan
  • Anachron - (1954) - short story by Damon Knight
  • Firewatch - (1982) - novelette by Connie Willis
  • At the 'Me' Shop - (1995) - novelette by Robert Reed
  • Vinland the Dream - (1991) - short story by Kim Stanley Robinson
  • A Ticket to Tranai - (1955) - novelette by Robert Sheckley
  • The Exit Door Leads In - (1979) - short story by Philip K. Dick
  • What Have I Done? - (1952) - short story by Mark Clifton
  • Finis - (1906) - short story by Frank Lillie Pollock
  • The Last Days of Earth: Being the Story of the Launching of the "Red Sphere" - (1901) - short story by Geo. C. Wallis
  • Approaching Perimelasma - (1998) - novelette by Geoffrey A. Landis
  • The Pen and the Dark - (1966) - novelette by Colin Kapp
  • Inanimate Objection - (1954) - novelette by H. Chandler Elliott
  • The Very Pulse of the Machine - (1998) - short story by Michael Swanwick
  • High Eight - (1965) - novelette by Keith Roberts
  • Shards - (1962) - short story by Brian W. Aldiss
  • Except My Life³ - (1991) - novelette by John Morressy
  • Into Your Tent I'll Creep - (1957) - short story by Eric Frank Russell
  • A Death in the House - (1959) - short story by Clifford D. Simak
  • Refugium - short story by Stephen Baxter

The Mammoth Book of Sorcerers' Tales

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 11

Mike Ashley

Twenty-three spellbinding tales of sorcery, wizardry and witchcraft, of the ceaseless battle between good and evil.

From dark lords and epic clashes between the forces of good and evil to a child's struggle to control magical powers for the first time this wonderfully varied collection comprises stories by the most outstanding writers of fantasy: A. C. Benson, James Bibby, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Louise Cooper, Ralph Adams Cram, Peter Crowther, Esther M. Friesner, Tom Holt, Doug Hornig, Diana Wynne Jones, Michael Kurland, Tim Lebbon, Ursula K. Le Guin, Richard A. Lupoff, Michael Moorcock, John Morressy, Tim Pratt, David Sandner, Lawrence Schimel and Mike Resnick, Darrell Schweitzer, Clark Ashton Smith, Steve Rasnic Tem and Robert Weinberg.

Table of Contents:

  • Foreword: Spellbound - essay by Mike Ashley
  • Ten Things I Know About the Wizard - (1983) - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem
  • Villaggio Sogno - novelette by Richard A. Lupoff
  • The Game of Magical Death - (1987) - short story by Doug Hornig
  • The Infestation - short story by Tom Holt
  • The Witch's Bicycle - (2002) - novelette by Tim Pratt
  • The Sage of Theare - juvenile - (1982) - novelette by Diana Wynne Jones
  • Timekeeper - (1990) - novelette by John Morressy
  • The Double Shadow - (1933) - short story by Clark Ashton Smith
  • The Rite Stuff - novelette by Michael Kurland
  • Master of Chaos - (1964) - short story by Michael Moorcock
  • Seven Drops of Blood - (1992) - short story by Robert Weinberg
  • To Become a Sorcerer - (1991) - novelette by Darrell Schweitzer
  • No. 252 Rue M. Le Prince - (1895) - short story by Ralph Adams Cram
  • The Bones of the Earth - (2001) - short story by Ursula K. Le Guin
  • The Closed Window - (1903) - short story by A. C. Benson
  • Disillusioned - (1995) - short story by Mike Resnick and Lawrence Schimel
  • In the Realm of Dragons - (1998) - novelette by Esther M. Friesner
  • Forever - novelette by Tim Lebbon
  • The Wizard of Ashes and Rain - (2001) - short story by David Sandner
  • The Walker Behind - (1987) - short story by Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • The Last Witch - short story by James Bibby
  • Last Rites (excerpt from Star Ascendant) - (1994) - short fiction by Louise Cooper
  • The Eternal Altercation - novelette by Peter Crowther

The Mammoth Book of New Jules Verne Adventures: New Tales by the Heirs of Jules Verne

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 12

Eric Brown
Mike Ashley

Jules Verne, one of the founding fathers of science fiction, was the author of such thrilling and perennial favorites as Around the World in Eighty Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, as well as more than sixty other novels of adventure and exploration. One hundred years after his death, this magnificent new collection celebrates Verne's amazing vision. A host of today's top science fiction authors pay homage to Verne's genius with a series of stories inspired by his groundbreaking imagination and original characters.

In this anthology are extraordinary voyages of discovery and adventure from the four corners of the globe, and even within it. Following the tradition of Verne's original tales, Ian Watson tells of a journey deep into the center of the Earth, where Verne himself does battle with occultist Nazis, and Adam Roberts takes us to latter-day California, where a descendant of Verne's character Hector Servadac is preparing for the end of the world as we know it. These and many more compelling adventures add up to an anthology that will introduce a new generation to the wonder of Jules Verne and delight readers already familiar with the master.

Contents:

  • Introduction: Return to the Centre of the Earth - (2005) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • A Drama on the Railway - (2005) - shortstory by Stephen Baxter
  • Jehan Thun's Quest - (2005) - novelette by Brian Stableford
  • Six Weeks in a Balloon - (2005) - shortstory by Eric Brown
  • Londre au XXIe Siècle - (2005) - shortstory by James Lovegrove
  • Giant Dwarfs - (2005) - novelette by Ian Watson
  • Cliff Rhodes and the Most Important Journey: A Land at the End of the Working Day Story - (2005) - novella by Peter Crowther
  • The True Story of Barbicane's Voyage - (2005) - novelette by Laurent Genefort (trans. of Le véritable voyage de Barbicane 1999)
  • Columbiad - (1996) - shortstory by Stephen Baxter
  • Tableaux - (2005) - novelette by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre
  • The Secret of the Nautilus - (2005) - novelette by Michael Mallory
  • Doctor Bull's Intervention - (2005) - novelette by Keith Brooke
  • The Very First Affair - (2005) - novelette by Johan Heliot
  • Eighty Letters, Plus One - (2005) - shortstory by Kevin J. Anderson and Sarah A. Hoyt
  • The Adventurers' League - novelette by Justina Robson
  • Hector Servadac, fils - (2005) - novelette by Adam Roberts
  • The Mysterious Iowans - (2005) - novelette by Paul Di Filippo
  • Old Light - (2005) - shortstory by Tim Lebbon
  • The Selene Gardening Society - (2005) - shortstory by Molly Brown
  • A Matter of Mathematics - (2005) - novelette by Tony Ballantyne
  • The Secret of the Sahara - novelette by Richard A. Lupoff
  • The Golden Quest - (2005) - shortstory by Sharan Newman
  • The True Story of Wilhelm Storitz - (2005) - shortstory by Michel Pagel
  • The Shoal - (2005) - shortstory by Liz Williams

The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 15

Mike Ashley

Here are 25 stories of science fiction that push the envelope, by the biggest names in an emerging new crop of high-tech futuristic SF - including Charles Stross, Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton and Neal Asher. High-tech SF has made a significant comeback in the last decade, as bestselling authors successfully blend the super-science of 'hard science fiction' with real characters in an understandable scenario. It is perhaps a reflection of how technologically controlled our world is that readers increasingly look for science fiction that considers the fates of mankind as a result of increasing scientific domination. This anthology brings together the most extreme examples of the new high-tech, far-future science fiction, pushing the limits way beyond normal boundaries.

Table of Contents:

  • Extreme Science Fiction - essay by Mike Ashley
  • Anomalies - (2001) - short story by Gregory Benford
  • ... And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon - (2003) - short story by Paul Di Filippo
  • Crucifixion Variations - (1998) - novelette by Lawrence Person
  • The Pacific Mystery - novelette by Stephen Baxter
  • Flowers from Alice - (2003) - short story by Charles Stross and Cory Doctorow
  • Merlin's Gun - (2000) - novelette by Alastair Reynolds
  • Death in the Promised Land - (1995) - novella by Pat Cadigan
  • The Long Chase - (2002) - short story by Geoffrey A. Landis
  • Waterworld - (1994) - novelette by Stephen L. Gillett, Ph.D. and Jerry Oltion
  • Hoop-of-Benzene - novelette by Robert Reed
  • The New Humans - (1909) - novelette by B. Vallance
  • The Creator - (1935) - novelette by Clifford D. Simak
  • The Girl Had Guts - (1957) - novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
  • The Region Between - (1970) - novella by Harlan Ellison
  • The Days of Solomon Gursky - (1998) - novella by Ian McDonald
  • Wang's Carpets - (1995) - novelette by Greg Egan
  • Undone - (2001) - novelette by James Patrick Kelly
  • Judgment Engine - (1995) - novelette by Greg Bear
  • Stuffing - short story by Jerry Oltion

The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 16

Mike Ashley

Here is the future of fantasy--25 short stories from top contemporary writers. This collection embraces all the newest forms of fantasy in vogue, from urban fantasy and extreme dystopian fiction, to alternate history and entire new fantasy worlds.

Table of Contents:

  • 1 - Beyond the Impossible - essay by Mike Ashley
  • 5 - Senator Bilbo - short story by Andy Duncan
  • 23 - Sandmagic - novelette by Orson Scott Card
  • 43 - Dream a Little Dream for Me ... - novelette by Peter Crowther
  • 71 - Lost Wax - short story by Leah Bobet
  • 81 - Save a Place in the Lifeboat for Me - novelette by Howard Waldrop
  • 107 - I Am Bonaro - short story by John Niendorff
  • 113 - The Old House Under the Snow - novelette by Rhys Hughes
  • 149 - Banquet of the Lords of Night - short story by Liz Williams
  • 161 - Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely - short story by David D. Levine
  • 171 - Master Lao and the Flying Horror - novelette by Lawrence Person
  • 205 - Using It and Losing It - short story by Jonathan Lethem
  • 215 - The All-At-Once Man - novelette by R. A. Lafferty
  • 237 - Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani - short story by William Hope Hodgson
  • 257 - Boatman's Holiday - short story by Jeffrey Ford
  • 275 - The Detweiler Boy - novelette by Tom Reamy
  • 317 - The Fence at the End of the World - short story by Melissa Mia Hall
  • 325 - Elric at the End of Time - novelette by Michael Moorcock
  • 373 - Cup and Table - short story by Tim Pratt
  • 391 - I, Haruspex - novelette by Christopher Priest
  • 435 - Radio Waves - novelette by Michael Swanwick
  • 461 - Tower of Babylon - novelette by Ted Chiang
  • 491 - Jack Neck and the Worry Bird - novelette by Paul Di Filippo
  • 513 - The Dark One - novelette by A. A. Attanasio
  • 541 - A Ring of Green Fire - short story by Sean McMullen

The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 17

Mike Ashley

Many readers are attracted to science fiction for that singular moment when a story expands your imagination, enabling you to see something in a new light. Not all SF works this way! This volume collects the very best of it that does, with 25 of the finest examples of mind-expanding and awe-inspiring science fiction.

The storylines range from a discovery on the Moon that opens up vistas across all time to a moment in which distances across the Earth suddenly increase and people vanish. These are tales to take you from the other side of now to the very end of time - from today''s top-name contributors including Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Silverberg, Gregory Benford and Robert Reed.

Table of Contents:

  • vii - Acknowledgments (The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF) - (2009) - essay by uncredited
  • ix - Introduction: That Sense of Wonder - (2009) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • 1 - Out of the Sun - (1958) - short story by Arthur C. Clarke
  • 9 - The Pevatron Rats - (2009) - novelette by Stephen Baxter
  • 30 - The Edge of the Map - [Susanna and Ivo] - (2006) - short story by Ian Creasey
  • 47 - Cascade Point - (1983) - novella by Timothy Zahn
  • 105 - A Dance to Strange Musics - (1998) - novelette by Gregory Benford
  • 131 - Palindromic - (1997) - short story by Peter Crowther
  • 156 - Castle in the Sky - (2009) - novelette by Robert Reed
  • 191 - The Hole in the Hole - [Wilson Wu and Irving - 1] - (1994) - novelette by Terry Bisson
  • 224 - Hotrider - (1991) - short story by Keith Brooke
  • 237 - Mother Grasshopper - (1997) - short story by Michael Swanwick
  • 255 - Waves and Smart Magma - (2009) - novelette by Paul Di Filippo
  • 282 - The Black Hole Passes - [Eight Worlds] - (1975) - novelette by John Varley
  • 309 - The Peacock King - (1965) - short story by Larry McCombs and Ted White
  • 325 - Bridge - [Cities in Flight] - (1952) - novelette by James Blish
  • 355 - Anhedonia - (2009) - novelette by Adam Roberts
  • 380 - Tiger Burning - (2006) - novelette by Alastair Reynolds (variant of Tiger, Burning)
  • 407 - The Width of the World - (1983) - short story by Ian Watson
  • 421 - Our Lady of the Sauropods - (1980) - short story by Robert Silverberg
  • 438 - Into the Miranda Rift - (1993) - novella by G. David Nordley
  • 504 - The Rest Is Speculation - (2009) - short story by Eric Brown
  • 524 - Vacuum States - (1988) - short story by Geoffrey A. Landis

The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 18

Mike Ashley

Contents:

  • The End of All Things - (2010) - essay by Mike Ashley
  • When We Went to See the End of the World - (1972) - shortstory by Robert Silverberg
  • The End of the World - (2002) - shortstory by Sushma Joshi
  • The Clockwork Atom Bomb - (2005) - shortstory by Dominic Green
  • Bloodletting - (1994) - shortstory by Kate Wilhelm
  • When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth - (2006) - novelette by Cory Doctorow
  • The Rain at the End of the World - (1999) - shortstory by Dale Bailey
  • The Flood - (1998) - shortstory by Linda Nagata
  • The End of the World Show - (2006) - shortstory by David Barnett
  • Fermi and Frost - (1985) - shortstory by Frederik Pohl
  • Sleepover - (2010) - novelette by Alastair Reynolds
  • The Last Sunset - (1996) - shortstory by Geoffrey A. Landis
  • Moments of Inertia - (2004) - novelette by William Barton
  • The Books - shortstory by Kage Baker
  • Pallbearer - (2010) - novella by Robert Reed
  • And the Deep Blue Sea - (2005) - shortstory by Elizabeth Bear
  • The Meek - (2004) - shortstory by Damien Broderick
  • The Man Who Walked Home - (1972) - shortstory by James Tiptree, Jr.
  • A Pail of Air - (1951) - shortstory by Fritz Leiber
  • Guardians of the Phoenix - (2010) - novelette by Eric Brown
  • Life in the Anthropocene - (2010) - shortstory by Paul Di Filippo
  • Terraforming Terra - (1998) - novelette by Jack Williamson
  • World Without End - (2010) - shortstory by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre
  • The Children of Time - (2005) - shortstory by Stephen Baxter
  • The Star Called Wormwood - (2004) - shortstory by Elizabeth Counihan

The Mammoth Book of Time Travel SF

The Mammoth Book of...: Book 19

Mike Ashley

This thought-provoking collection not only takes us into the past and the future, but also explores what might happen if we attempt to manipulate time to our own advantage.

These stories show what happen once you start to meddle with time and the paradoxes that might arise. It also raises questions about whether we understand time, and how we perceive it. Once we move outside the present day, can we ever return or do we move into an alternate world? What happens if our meddling with Nature leads to time flowing backwards, or slowing down or stopping all together? Or if we get trapped in a constant loop from which we can never escape. Is the past and future immutable or will we ever be able to escape the inevitable?

These are just some of the questions that are raised in these challenging, exciting and sometimes amusing stories by Kage Baker, Simon Clark, Fritz Leiber, Paul Levinson, Christopher Priest, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Silverberg, Michael Swanwick, John Varley and many others.

Table of Contents:

  • Introduction: Time After Time - essay by Mike Ashley
  • Caveat Time Traveler - (2009) - short story by Gregory Benford
  • Century to Starboard - (2004) - short story by Liz Williams
  • Walk to the Full Moon - (2002) - novella by Sean McMullen
  • The Truth About Weena - (1998) - novelette by David J. Lake
  • The Wind Over the World - (1996) - novelette by Steven Utley
  • Scream Quietly - (2005) - short story by Sheila Crosby
  • Darwin's Suitcase - (2007) - short fiction by Elisabeth Malartre
  • Try and Change the Past - (1958) - short story by Fritz Leiber
  • Needle in a Timestack - (1983) - short story by Robert Silverberg
  • Dear Tomorrow - short fiction by Simon Clark
  • Time Gypsy - (1998) - novelette by Ellen Klages
  • The Catch - (2004) - novelette by Kage Baker
  • Real Time - (1989) - short fiction by Lawrence Watt-Evans
  • The Chronology Protection Case - (1995) - novelette by Paul Levinson
  • Women on the Brink of a Cataclysm - (1994) - novelette by Molly Brown
  • Legions in Time - (2003) - novelette by Michael Swanwick
  • Coming Back - (1982) - short story by Damien Broderick
  • The Very Slow Time Machine - (1978) - novelette by Ian Watson
  • After-Images - (1983) - short story by Malcolm Edwards
  • "In the Beginning, Nothings Lasts ..." - (2007) - short fiction by Mike Strahan
  • Traveller's Rest - (1965) - short story by David I. Masson
  • Twember - (2012) - short story by Steve Rasnic Tem
  • The Pusher - (1981) - short story by John Varley
  • Palely Loitering - (1979) - novelette by Christopher Priest
  • Red Letter Day - (2010) - short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Lasher

The Mayfair Witches Saga: Book 2

Anne Rice

At the center: the brilliant an beautiful Rowan Mayfair, queen of the coven, and Lasher, the darkly compelling demon whom she finds irresistible and from whose evil spell and vision she must now flee. She takes with her their terrifying and exquisite child, one of "a brood of children born knowing, able to stand and talk on the first day."

Rowan's attempt to escape Lasher and his pursuit of her and their child are at the heart of this extraordinary saga. It is a novel that moves around the globe, backward and forward through time, and between the human and demonic worlds. Its many voices--of women, of men, of demons and angels, present and past--haunt and enchant us. With a dreamlike power, the novel draws us through twilight paths, telling a chillingly hypnotic story of occult and spiritual aspirations and passion.

A Song of Ash and Moonlight

The Middlemist Trilogy: Book 2

Claire Legrand

THE OLD WAR IS OVER. A NEW ONE IS JUST BEGINNING.

The curse plaguing the Ashbourne and Bask families has finally been broken, but Farrin, the eldest Ashbourne daughter, still struggles to find peace. Unflappable and tireless, her composure masks a seething sorrow. Since her mother abandoned the family, Farrin has been their rock?managing her father's temper, running the estate, keeping tight control over her dangerous musical power, and ignoring her own need for rest, distraction, and most of all, love.

In Ryder Bask, Farrin's stubborn strength has met its match. The man infuriates her. He's coarse, arrogant, annoyingly handsome. He's as tired of their feuding parents as she is, and he brims with some secret anger that mirrors Farrin's frustrated rage.

But Farrin must work with every ally she can - even the man she has been raised to hate. With every rising dawn, the Middlemist weakens further. Anointed magicians are disappearing. A fiery Olden creature is stalking Farrin. Strange visions haunt the High Queen Yvaine. And as Farrin and Ryder race to find stolen loved ones, they begin to realize a horrifying truth:

The gods are not dead. They're waking up. And someone is hunting them.

City of Ashes

The Mortal Instruments: Book 2

Cassandra Clare

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go -- especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil -- and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings -- and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Man with No Name

The Nanashi Series: Book 1

Laird Barron

Nanashi was born into a life of violence. Delivered from the mean streets by the Heron Clan, he mastered the way of the gun and knife and swiftly ascended through yakuza ranks to become a dreaded enforcer. His latest task? He and an entourage of expert killers are commanded to kidnap Muzaki, a retired world-renowned wrestler under protection of the rival Dragon Syndicate.

It should be business as bloody usual for Nanashi and his ruthless brothers in arms, except for the detail that Muzaki possesses a terrifying secret. A secret that will spawn a no-holds barred gang war and send Nanashi on a personal odyssey into immortal darkness.

The Shadow of Ararat

The Oath of Empire: Book 1

Thomas Harlan

In what would be A.D. 600 in our history, the Empire still stands, supported by the Legions and Thaumaturges of Rome. Now the Emperor of the West, the Augustus Galen Atreus, will come to the aid of the Emperor of the East, the Augustus Heraclius, to lift the siege of Constantinople and carry a great war to the very doorstep of the Shahanshah of Persia. It is a war that will be fought with armies both conventional and magical, with bright swords and the darkest necromancy.

Against this richly detailed canvas of alternate history and military strategy, Thomas Harlan sets the intricate and moving stories of four people. Dwyrin MacDonald is a Hibernian student at a school for sorcerers in Upper Egypt, until he runs afoul of powerful political interests and is sent off half-trained to the Legions. His teacher, Ahmet,undertakes to follow Dwyrin and aid him, but Ahmet is drawn into service with the queen of Palmeyra. Thyatis is a young female warrior, extensively trained by her patron in the arts of covert warfare. And Maxian Atreus is Galens youngest brother, a physician and sorcerer. He has discovered that an enemy of Rome has placed a dreadful curse on the City, which must be broken before Rome can triumph. Woven with rich detail you'd expect from a first-rate historical novel, while through it runs yarns of magic and shimmering glamours that carry you deeply into your most fantastic dreams

The Gate of Fire

The Oath of Empire: Book 2

Thomas Harlan

The Gate of Fire continues Tom Harlan's remarkable fantasy epic, following the increasingly dangerous conflicts both military and sorcerous. The sorcerer Dahak plots from his hidden citadel to regain the Peacock Throne. Prince Maxian, having raised both Julius Ceasar and Alexander the Great from the dead, now considers how to use them to free Rome from the curse of the Oath. Thyatis has fled with the widowed Queen of Persia to a hidden island; Dwyrin's thaumaturgic unit is shattered as Zoe discovers the destruction of Palmyra and, as its new queen, vows revenge against Rome. And in Mecca, Ahmet's friend and Palmyra's lieutenant Mohammed receives a vision, and a command, and the power to strive against the forces of darkness.

The Storm of Heaven

The Oath of Empire: Book 3

Thomas Harlan

The great three-sided war continues, Rome against Persia against the tribes of the desert now commanded by Mohammed of Mekkah. The tide is turning against the Eastern Empire--the Emperor Heraclius lies bedridden in Constantinople and his brother Theodore has lost a great battle to the tribes. In the West, Rome lies devastated by the long-pent eruption of Vesuvius. And in the hidden valley of Damawand, the Persion sorcerer Dahak plots his revenge.

Among the lost are the Princess Shirin, vanished in the explosion of Vesuvius that wrought so much destruction, and Thyatis, still living but broken in mind and body. Her struggle will mirror the torment of the Empire, as it rebuilds its strength and purpose after so much destruction.

But there is hope for the West. Prince Maxian, horrified at being the cause of so many deaths, has come to realize that the Oath need not be broken; it can be changed by a skilled sorcerer. And in Judea, young Dwyrin is coming into his full powers, honed by sorcerous combat with his friend Odenathus, who now leads the shattered remnants of the army of Palmyra. And among the Goths north of the Danuvius, a new legion is being forged, by a very old general.

The Dark Lord

The Oath of Empire: Book 4

Thomas Harlan

Tom Harlan brings his Oath of Empire series to a shattering conclusion in The Dark Lord.

In what would be the 7th Century AD in our history, the Roman Empire still stands, supported by the twin pillars of the Legions and Thaumaturges of Rome. The Emperor of the West, the Augustus Galen Atreus, came to the aid of the Emperor of the East, the Avtokrator Heraclius, in his war with the Sassanad Emperor of Persia. But despite early victories, that war has not gone well, and now Rome is hard-pressed. Constantinople has fallen before the dark sorceries of the Lord Dahak and his legions of the living and dead. Now the new Emperor of Persia marches on Egypt, and if he takes that ancient nation, Rome will be starved and defeated.

But there is a faint glimmer of hope. The Emperor Galen's brother Maxian is a great sorcerer, perhaps the equal of Dahak, lord of the seven serpents. He is now firmly allied with his Imperial brother and Rome. And though they are caught tight in the Dark Lord's net of sorcery, Queen Zoe of Palmyra and Lord Mohammed have not relinquished their souls to evil.

A Day of Fallen Night

The Roots of Chaos

Samantha Shannon

In A Day of Fallen Night, we are swept back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.

Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms -- but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow -- exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

The Priory of the Orange Tree

The Roots of Chaos: Book 1

Samantha Shannon

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

The Ashes of Worlds

The Saga of Seven Suns: Book 7

Kevin J. Anderson

Galactic empires clash, elemental beings devastate whole planetary systems, and the factions of humanity are pitted against each other. Heroes rise and enemies make their last stands in the climax of an epic tale seven years in the making. Acclaim for The Saga of Seven Suns'Anderson weaves action, romance, and science with a rousing plot reflecting the classic SF of Clarke and Herbert and the glossy cinematic influence of Lucas and Spielberg.' --- Publishers Weekly *Starred Review* 'Kevin Anderson has created a fully independent and richly conceived venue for his personal brand of space opera, a venue that nonetheless raises fruitful resonances with Frank Herbert's classic Dune series.' --- Scifi.com'Everything about Anderson's latest is BIG-the war, the history, the aliens. These are elemental forces battling here, folks. Yet the characters are always the heart of the story, and their defeats and triumphs give perspective to it all.' --- Starlog 'A soaring epic . . . a space opera to rival the best the field has ever seen.' --- Science Fiction Chronicle'Colorful stuff . . . bursting with incidents, concepts, and a massive cast of characters, matching well-thought-out SF ideas with melodrama and interfamily strife.' --- SFX

The Jasad Heir

The Scorched Throne: Book 1

Sara Hashem

Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic was outlawed. Its royal family murdered. At least, that's what Sylvia wants people to believe. The Heir of Jasad escaped the massacre, and she intends to stay hidden, especially from the armies of Nizahl that continue to hunt her people.

But a moment of anger changes everything. When Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, Sylvia accidentally reveals her magic--and captures his attention. Now Sylvia's forced to make a deal with her greatest enemy: Help him hunt the rebels in exchange for her life.

A deadly game begins. Sylvia can't let Arin discover her identity, even as hatred shifts into something more between the Heirs. And as the tides change around her, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she abandoned.

The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.

The Shaman

The Star Stone: Book 1

Christopher Stasheff

Now Christopher Stasheff, author of the spellbinding fantasy series A Wizard in Rhyme, begins a new epic saga, The Star Stone. Here, in Book One, THE SHAMAN, he weaves a vibrant tapestry of heroes and villains, of an exotic and magical world where strange peoples struggle for solace and freedom and even for happiness. Join him now, and wrap yourself in the wonder of his world.

Ohearn was a simple man, big and strong and kindly, respected among his Biri clansmen. Then fate--and the Ulin, who were all but gods--intervened, and Ohearn's life, his clan, and his very world changed forever.

The Ulin were the Elder Race, giants, unspeakably powerful in arms and in magic. All were selfish; most were tyrants who scorned the short-lived Younger Races: men, elves, and all the rest. Some capricious Ulin sported with mankind; one among their number, Ulahane the Red, dedicated himself to reaping a harvest of human terror and anguish.

Only one among the Ulin, Lomallin, stood opposed to Ulahane and his schemes. Lomallin gathered some few like-minded allies and worked to protect the human creatures, to teach them and nurture their talents.

Inevitably, Ulahane and Lomallin became deadlocked in their struggle. It had been prophesied that one day Lomallin could win--but to triumph, he must first die. Until then, the contest for the fate of the Younger Races would be fought by humans who served the Ulin...

Ohearn knew little of the world beyond his clan. But when his wife fell ill and Ulahane's lackeys detained the shaman who could help her, Ohearn's path became clear. He led a band of warriors against the enemy stronghold. With the half-elf trickster Lucoyo at his side, Ohearn wrested the wise man from the Scarlet One's prison--and launched a battle whose scope he could never have anticipated. The beacon of freedom flared, and its flames would sweep forest and prairie, cities and towns, mountains and deserts and all the farthest lands. But the cost of freedom would be high indeed, for Ulahane proved to be an implacable foe. He was determined that either Lomallin's human charges would be annihilated--or Lomallin himself would die!

The Sage

The Star Stone: Book 2

Christopher Stasheff

THE MAKING OF A HERO

Generations ago, Ohaern had played the hero's part in toppling the fearsome Ulahane from the tyrant's throne. His reward had been to spend an eternity with the goddess Rahani--and the years had spun away in a tapestry of bliss.

Now humankind had again fallen beneath a despot's heel. Ulahanes son Bolenkar, conceived in savagery and raised in brutality, visited horror upon all the sorry earth. Tenderhearted Rahani turned to her champion to save the world again, but the years had sapped Ohaern's mortal strength. His long-sleeping body awoke aged and stiff and weary. He could guide the fight against Bolenkar, for his wealth of craft and wisdom remained intact. But a younger man must strike the killing blow.

Like a swordsmith seeking to craft a sword, Ohaern sought the raw material from which to craft a hero. He chose the outcast bully Culaehra: a scoundrel, despicable and lazy--but one who might be shaped into something better. And the fire in which he would be forged would cleanse the filth from his soul, leaving behind that which was fine and sharp.

Whether he would be sharp enough to topple a godling, only mortal combat would decide...

Join Christopher Stasheff in this world of wonder, where common mortals face utmost peril in their search for freedom and justice, in the fabled land of The Star Stone.

Lord of Snow and Shadows

The Tears of Artamon: Book 1

Sarah Ash

Three kingdoms. One man.
A destiny written in blood.
An epic new fantasy series begins...

Seemingly always the outsider, Gavril Andar - an impoverished young painter - yearns to join the privileged circles of Muscobar polite society. However, unbeknownst to him, he does have royal blood in his veins: the dark and powerful blood of a father he never knew - the Drakhaon, ruler of the isolated northern kingdom of Azhkendir. And when the Drakhaon is brutally murdered, an unwilling Gavril is forced to take up the mantle of both his father's rule - and his power. For blood will out. And the Drakhaon's carries within it a taint that gives its bearer access to awesome, unimagined magics - but at a soul-shattering price.

Now trapped in this bleak, mist-shrouded land full of superstition and racked by bitter rivalries, Gavril faces an awesome task. He must find his father's killer and unite his fractured kingdom against those who see it as weak, defenceless and ripe for invasion before he pays the price of kinship and succumbs to the dread curse that uncoils within him...

Richly imagined, full of intrigue, magic and dark romance and boasting a cast of superbly-drawn players, LORD OF SNOW AND SHADOWS is the first book in a thrilling new trilogy and marks the triumphant return of one of fantasy's most original and exciting voices.

Prisoner of Ironsea Tower

The Tears of Artamon: Book 2

Sarah Ash

A weaver of tales, a caster of spells, and a writer of rare imagination, Sarah Ash lends her unique vision to epic fantasy. In this captivating continuation to her story, the author of Lord of Snow and Shadows revisits a realm filled with spirits and singers, daemons and kings.

Gavril Nagarian has finally cast out the dragon-daemon from deep within himself. The Drakhaoul is gone--and with it all of Gavril's fearsome powers. Though no longer besieged by the Drakhaoul's unnatural lusts and desires, Gavril has betrayed his birthright and his people. He has put the ice-bound princedom of Azhkendir at risk and lost.

Emerging from his battle with the Lord Drakhaon scarred but victorious, Eugene of Tielen exacts a terrible price. He arrests the renegade warlord Gavril Nagarian for crimes against the Rossiyan Empire and sentences him to life in an insane asylum--for the absence of the Drakhaoul is slowly driving Gavril mad. But Eugene has another motive as well. He longs to possess the Drakhaoul--at any cost to his kingdom and his humanity. With Gavril locked inside the Iron Tower, three women keep his memory alive. His mother returns to the warmer climes of her homeland, where she foments the seeds of rebellion. A young scullery maid whose heart is broken by Gavril's arrest sends her spirit out to the Ways Beyond. And even the emperor's new wife is haunted by her remembrances of the handsome young painter who once captured her soul.

The five princedoms of a shattered empire are reunited. The last of Artamon's ruby tears adorns Eugene's crown. But peace is as fragile as a rebel's whisper--and a captive's wish to be free.

Glowing with the powers of light and darkness, Prisoner of the Iron Tower will astonish and enthrall you, as courtly intrigue collides with the fantastic--and good and evil become as nebulous as the outlines of a dream.

Children of the Serpent Gate

The Tears of Artamon: Book 3

Sarah Ash

Gavril Nagarian, Lord Drakhaon of Azhkendir, is believed dead - perished in the heat of battle. Yet he still lives, and is entrusted with a sacred mission: to rescue the aged Magus, who has been kidnapped and in whose possession are the five priceless rubies that compose the fabled Tears of Artamon. Ancient law decrees that whoever possesses the stones has the power to impose his will over the Empire of New Rossiya. But the task exacts a cost. The drakhaoul that destroyed his forebears has penetrated Gavril's psyche and is gaining power over his soul. As these dark forces seek immortality inside him, so Gavril must feed on the blood of innocents - or die.

Toppled by the loss of the Tears of Artamon, Emperor Eugene of Tielen is tormented by his own daemon, but he must defend his lands against King Enguerrand of Francia who claims ownership of the Tears. Yet both men share a common goal: to destroy Gavril Nagarian and the Drakhaoul that lives within him once and for all.

Ingenious and unforgettable, Children of the Serpent Gate delivers a thrilling conclusion to the epic trials of a man of honour in a world in chaos - one that can only be laid to rest by an Emperor's Tears.

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf

The Tribe: Book 1

Ambelin Kwaymullina

"There will come a day when a thousand Illegals descend on your detention centers. Boomers will breach the walls. Skychangers will send lightning to strike you all down from above, and Rumblers will open the earth to swallow you up from below.... And when that day comes, Justin Connor, think of me."

Ashala Wolf has been captured by Chief Administrator Neville Rose, a man who is intent on destroying Ashala's Tribe--the runaway Illegals hiding in the Firstwood. Injured, vulnerable, with her Sleepwalker ability blocked, Ashala is forced to succumb to the machine that will pull secrets from her mind.

And right beside her is Justin Connor, her betrayer, watching her every move.

Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 1

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 1

Kotei Kobayashi

A homebody's worst nightmare!

Three years into her life as a shut-in, vampire Terakomari Gandesblood (Komari for short), awakens to find she's been appointed as a Commander in the Mulnite Imperial Army! The thing is, her new unit consists solely of belligerent ruffians who revolt against their superiors at the slightest hint of weakness. Although Komari hails from a line of vampires as powerful as they are prestigious, her refusal to drink blood has made her the picture of mediocrity--scrawny, un-coordinated, and inept at magic. With the odds stacked against her, will the help of her trusty (and slightly infatuated) maid Vill be enough for this recluse to blunder her way to success? Or will Komari rue the day she ever left the safety of her room?

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 2

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 2

Kotei Kobayashi

This means war!

When Komari unintentionally disrespects one of her fellow Crimson Lords, Flöte Mascarail, things escalate until she finds herself pitted against the other generals in a deadly competition where the loser gets fired (read: blown up).Though most of her opponents are as tough as nails, Komari finds an unlikely ally in Sakuna Memoir, a newly appointed Crimson Lord who shares both her timidity and love of reading. If only Vill weren't so jealous! But while all this is playing out, a sinister plot involving the assassination of key politicians in the Empire brews. With so much going on, will this shut-in vampire ever get a moment's peace?!

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 3

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 3

Kotei Kobayashi

Can a murderer be a pacifist?

Komari has finally earned a vacation, and she's soaking it all in at a beach resort. That's when Nelia Cunningham, a commander from the Gerra-Aruka Republic, appears before her with an outrageous proposal: Together, they'll take over the world.

At the same time, a commander from the Heavenly Paradise named Karla Amatsu shows up and offers Komari the exact opposite proposition: Together, they'll usher in world peace. Before long, the two nations' clashing agendas drag the whole world into war! Rudely pulled from her summer holiday, Komari holds the key to the conflict in her hands. Without it, the war may never end.

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 4

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 4

Kotei Kobayashi

Fresh off her success in the Six Nations War, Komari is invited to the Heavenly Paradise, a Far Eastern nation where cherry blossoms dance in perpetuity. There, she learns that one of her new allies, Karla Amatsu, is participating against her will in a weeklong ritual to determine the next ruler of the country. Always looking to shirk her duties, Komari writes the whole thing off as someone else's problem... until Karla announces that the vampire girl will be assisting her in a battle to the death against the opposing candidate on the final day of the competition! But with multiple foreign parties attempting to influence the outcome of the proceedings and a terrorist plot developing in the background, can these two reluctant commanders really come out on top?!

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 5

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 5

Kotei Kobayashi

Knock, knock. It's the Church!

A wave of religious fervor overtakes the Mulnite Empire as it prepares to receive a diplomatic visit from Spica La Gemini, the Pope of the Holy Church. But when the Empress goes missing on the day of Spica's arrival, it falls to Komari to tide things over with the guest of honor. Needless to say, our accident-prone heroine totally botches it by thoughtlessly expressing skepticism about God and organized faith, inciting the Pope to declare war on the Mulnite Empire. Soon, Komari and her fellow Crimson Lords are stretched thin quelling insurrections from angry believers. And to make matters worse, Komari's loyal maid Vill has been whisked away to the Pope's headquarters! Can Komari really pull through without the aid of her most ardent supporter?

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 6

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 6

Kotei Kobayashi

A hot springs whodunit!

As the Imperial Capital recovers from the rebellion stoked by Inverse Moon, Komari learns that an honors student from the Mulnite Military Academy will be joining her unit as an officer. Esther Claire is kind, considerate, and very excited to be working under the commander she idolizes... but can a straitlaced girl like her really gain the respect of the Seventh Unit's unruly rank and file? Meanwhile, Komari's friends meet in secret to plan her birthday celebration at a hot springs resort in Esther's hometown. But shortly after everyone arrives, a blizzard puts the hotel on lockdown, and a murderer starts killing off the guests one by one! Does Komari have what it takes to find the culprit before she meets a grisly end?

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 7

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess: Book 7

Kotei Kobayashi

Here comes the bride!

After returning from her hot springs vacation, Komari is immediately thrust into another crisis when Lingzi Ailan, the princess of the Enchanted Lands, shows up at the Mulnite Imperial Palace begging for help. Apparently, the grand chancellor of the Enchanted Lands is in the process of overthrowing the current ruler, and he's forcing Lingzi to marry him to solidify his grasp on power. Sympathetic to Lingzi's plight, Komari agrees to travel to the girl's homeland to help break off her marriage. There's just one catch--the only way Komari can get the public to accept the cancelation of the wedding is to pass herself off as Lingzi's true love! But in the background of the grand chancellor's coup, something terrifying is brewing...

The Flowers of Vashnoi

The Vorkosigan Saga

Lois McMaster Bujold

Still new to her duties as Lady Vorkosigan, Ekaterin is working together with expatriate scientist Enrique Borgos on a radical scheme to recover the lands of the Vashnoi exclusion zone, lingering radioactive legacy of the Cetagandan invasion of the planet Barrayar. When Enrique's experimental bioengineered creatures go missing, the pair discover that the zone still conceals deadly old secrets.

The Walled Orchard

The Walled Orchard

Tom Holt

Eupolis of Pallene, a playwright and satirist in his early 20s, recounts what purports to be the world's first autobiography, presenting a vivid – if revisionist – picture of Golden Age Athens during the Peloponnesian War and the invasion of Sicily.

Eupolis is married to Phaedra, beautiful and faithless, and is in rivalry (for his woman as well as for the comic crown) with Aristophanes. Athens is about to go to war with Sicily, but the preparations for the voyage are ominous, and the campaign is a comedy of errors.

Contents

  • Goatsong (novel)
  • The Walled Orchard (novel)

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

The Watchmaker: Book 1

Natasha Pulley

1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a sweeping, atmospheric narrative that takes the reader on an unexpected journey through Victorian London, Japan as its civil war crumbles long-standing traditions, and beyond. Blending historical events with dazzling flights of fancy, it opens doors to a strange and magical past.

The Bedlam Stacks

The Watchmaker: Book 2

Natasha Pulley

In 1859, ex-East India Company smuggler Merrick Tremayne is trapped at home in Cornwall after sustaining an injury that almost cost him his leg. On the sprawling, crumbling grounds of the old house, something is wrong; a statue moves, his grandfather's pines explode, and his brother accuses him of madness.

When the India Office recruits Merrick for an expedition to fetch quinine--essential for the treatment of malaria--from deep within Peru, he knows it's a terrible idea. Nearly every able-bodied expeditionary who's made the attempt has died, and he can barely walk. But Merrick is desperate to escape everything at home, so he sets off, against his better judgment, for a tiny mission colony on the edge of the Amazon where a salt line on the ground separates town from forest. Anyone who crosses is killed by something that watches from the trees, but somewhere beyond the salt are the quinine woods, and the way around is blocked.

Surrounded by local stories of lost time, cursed woods, and living rock, Merrick must separate truth from fairytale and find out what befell the last expeditions; why the villagers are forbidden to go into the forest; and what is happening to Raphael, the young priest who seems to have known Merrick's grandfather, who visited Peru many decades before.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow

The Watchmaker: Book 3

Natasha Pulley

1888. Five years after they met in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel Steepleton, an unassuming translator, and Keita Mori, the watchmaker who remembers the future, are traveling to Japan. Thaniel has received an unexpected posting to the British legation in Tokyo, and Mori has business that is taking him to Yokohama.

Thaniel's brief is odd: the legation staff have been seeing ghosts, and Thaniel's first task is to find out what's really going on. But while staying with Mori, he starts to experience ghostly happenings himself. For reasons Mori won't--or can't--share, he is frightened. Then he vanishes.

Meanwhile, something strange is happening in a frozen labor camp in Northern Japan. Takiko Pepperharrow, an old friend of Mori's, must investigate.

As the weather turns bizarrely electrical and ghosts haunt the country from Tokyo to Aokigahara forest, Thaniel grows convinced that it all has something to do with Mori's disappearance--and that Mori may be in serious danger.

The Fall of the Kings

The World of Riverside

Ellen Kushner
Delia Sherman

WFA nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Bending the Landscape: Fantasy (1997), edited by Nicola Griffith and Stephen Pagel. The story can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eleventh Annual Collection (1998), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

The Fall of the Kings

The World of Riverside: Book 2

Ellen Kushner
Delia Sherman

This stunning follow-up to Ellen Kushner's cult-classic novel, Swordspoint, is set in the same world of labyrinthine intrigue, where sharp swords and even sharper wits rule. Against a rich tapestry of artists and aristocrats, students, strumpets, and spies, a gentleman and a scholar will find themselves playing out an ancient drama destined to explode their society's smug view of itself–and reveal that sometimes the best price of uncovering history is being forced to repeat it.

Generations ago the last king fell, taking with him the final truths about a race of wizards who ruled at his side. But the blood of the kings runs deep in the land and its people, waiting for the coming together of two unusual men, Theron Campion, a young nobleman of royal lineage, is heir to an ancient house and a modern scandal. Tormented by his twin duties to his family and his own bright spirit, he seeks solace in the University. There he meets Basil St. Cloud, a brilliant and charismatic teacher ruled by a passion for knowledge–and a passion for the ancient kings. Of course, everyone now knows that the wizards were charlatans and the kings their dupes and puppets. Only Basil ins not convinced–nor is he convinced that the city has seen its last king…

Kingdom of Ash

Throne of Glass: Book 7

Sarah J. Maas

Aelin Galathynius's journey from slave to assassin to queen reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world...

She has risked everything to save her people - but at a tremendous cost. Locked in an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will to endure the months of torture inflicted upon her. The knowledge that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, but her resolve is unravelling with each passing day...

With Aelin imprisoned, Aedion and Lysandra are the last line of defence keeping Terrasen from utter destruction. But even the many allies they've gathered to battle Erawan's hordes might not be enough to save the kingdom. Scattered throughout the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian must forge their own paths to meet their destinies. And across the sea Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen - before she is lost to him.

Some bonds will deepen and others be severed forever, but as the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight if they are to find salvation - and a better world.

Prince of Fire and Ashes

Tielmaran Chronicles: Book 3

Katya Reimann

Magic, gods, and history build to a stunning climax in Katya Reimann's Tielmaran Chronicles.

Tielmark's free prince sits imperiled by the relentless conspiracies of the neighboring Bissanty Empire. Sorceress Gaultry Blas, blessed by Tielmaran's goddess-twins, returns to her homeland yearning for peace, but instead discovers a conspiracy of evil magics. The coven of witches sworn to defend the prince's crown have gathered to attend the dying Duchess of Melaudiere, who protects their throne's unborn heir. They also have an unpleasant truth: In years past, the witches failed their oath to Tielmark. If they fail again, their lives and those of their descendants will be lost.

Forest-born Gaultry, tuned more to action than politics, navigates tricky court intrigue and is determined to work with the Common Brood witches to break the ancient Bissanty claims.

But Gaultry is stalked by a hidden Tielmaran-born enemy who is bent on shattering Bissanty chains at any cost. This enemy has waited fifty years for the alignment of the stars that will allow Tielmark's prince ascent to a kingly throne. She will not let Gaultry get in her way-for this enemy has been planning from before Gaultry's birth how to stop her.

From the intricate infighting of Tielmark's court to the barren sun-bleached battlegrounds at Tielmark's farthest border, Gaultry must call on her magic, courage, and spirit to overcome the obstacles to her realm's rightful kingship.

When the great treachery is finally exposed in a brutal endgame played out under Tielmark's towering border mountains, Gaultry and members of the Common Brood will call upon their deepest powers to crown a king-or kill the hopes of their kingless realm.

Washington's Dirigible

Timeline Wars: Book 2

John Barnes

The second volume in the time travel/parallel universe series sends Pittsburgh private eye Mark Strang, trained with nightmarish weaponry and teamed with the woman of his dreams, to an alternative 1776, where he becomes his own worst enemy.

Timesplash

Timesplash: Book 1

Graham Storrs

It started out as something underground, edgy and cool. Then Sniper took it all too far and timesplashing became the ultimate terrorist weapon.

Scarred by their experiences in the time traveling party scene, Jay and Sandra are thrown together in what becomes the biggest manhunt in history: the search for Sniper, Sandra's ex-boyfriend and a would-be mass murderer.

Set in the near future, Timesplash is a fast-paced action thriller. Filled with great characters, a sprinkling of romance, and a new and intriguing take on time travel, Timesplash is ultimately a very human tale about finding bravery through fear, and never giving up.

True Path

Timesplash: Book 2

Graham Storrs

The most wanted man in America is about to destroy the entire nation... or save it.

It's 2066 and Sandra has kept a low profile for 16 years, working as a tech in a quiet British university, hoping her past would never catch up with her. But it has.

When Jay hears Sandra has been kidnapped, he drops everything and goes to the U.S. to find her. But Sandra's kidnapper is not an ordinary criminal. He's America's most-wanted terrorist - a man driven to to free his country from religious oppression at any cost. Sandra, still suffering from the fallout of earlier timesplashes, refuses to help create the biggest timesplash ever, which would unleash a wave of destruction that the rebels hope will kickstart a new American revolution.

When Cara, Sandra's teenage daughter, is taken by one of the many factions on the ground in Washington D.C., Sandra's resolve is shaken, and Jay is forced into a race against time to stop the deaths of millions or save Sandra and her daughter.

Sandra and Jay must ultimately decide between what is right for them and what is right for all in this thrilling continuation of the Timesplash series.

Foresight

Timesplash: Book 3

Graham Storrs

Jay and Sandra are back--fighting to save a world on the edge of destruction.

In the middle of a bizarre global catastrophe that looks suspiciously like the mother of all timesplashes, Sandra Malone discovers that the corporation she works for is spying on her. To find out why, she sets off to track down the culprits. What she discovers catapults Sandra, her daughter, and everyone around her into a deadly struggle to prevent a disaster.

Now working in European Military Intelligence in Berlin, Jay Kennedy begins to suspect that the shock that hit the world was something more sinister and dangerous than even a timesplash. In the midst of the chaos that has engulfed the world, Jay learns that Sandra is in danger and that their daughter has gone after her. This turn of events threatens to distract him from solving a puzzle on which the fate of the whole world might hang.

With time running out, Jay is torn between the possibility of losing Sandra, and the desperate need to stop a new kind of time-travel technology that could destroy the planet.

Smoke and Ashes

Tony Foster: Book 3

Tanya Huff

Fledgling wizard Tony is now an assistant director on "Darkest Night," the syndicated TV series about a vampire detective. But it's hard to concentrate on the latest episode when a Demonic Convergence is allowing lesser demons entry to our world, and the sexy stuntwoman, Leah, is also an immortal Demongate whose death would open the way to unimaginable peril. Can Tony halt the Convergence, keep Leah alive, and still have a career? Or will his artistic ambitions-not to mention the rest of the world-go up in smoke?

Dark Intelligence

Transformation: Book 1

Neal Asher

One man will transcend death to seek vengeance. One woman will transform herself to gain power. And no one will emerge unscathed...

Thorvald Spear wakes in hospital, where he finds he's been brought back from the dead. What's more, he died in a human vs. alien war which ended a whole century ago. But when he relives his traumatic final moments, he finds the spark to keep on living. That spark is vengeance. Trapped and desperate on a world surrounded by alien Prador forces, Spear had seen a rescue ship arriving. But instead of providing backup, Penny Royal, the AI within the destroyer turned rogue. It annihilated friendly forces in a frenzy of destruction, and, years later, it's still free. Spear vows to track it across worlds and do whatever it takes to bring it down.

Isobel Satomi ran a successful crime syndicate. But after competitors attacked, she needed more power. Yet she got more than she bargained for when she negotiated with Penny Royal. She paid it to turn her part-AI herself, but the upgrades hid a horrifying secret. The Dark AI had triggered a transformation in Isobel that would turn her into a monster, rapidly evolving into something far from human.

Spear hires Isobel to take him to the Penny Royal AI's last known whereabouts. But he cheats her in the process and he becomes a target for her vengeance. And as she is evolves further into a monstrous predator, rage soon wins over reason. Will Spear finish his hunt, before he becomes the hunted?

This is the first volume in a no-holds-barred adventure set in Asher's popular Polity universe.

War Factory

Transformation: Book 2

Neal Asher

Thorvald Spear, resurrected from his death over a hundred years earlier, continues to hunt Penny Royal, the rogue AI and dangerous war criminal on the run from Polity forces. Beyond the Graveyard, a lawless and deadly area in deep space, Spear follows the trail of several enemy Prador, the crab-like alien species with a violent history of conflict with humanity.

Sverl, a Prador genetically modified by Penny Royal and slowly becoming human, pursues Cvorn, a Prador harboring deep hatred for the Polity looking to use him and other hybrids to reignite the dormant war with mankind.

Blite, captain of a bounty hunting ship, hands over two prisoners and valuable memplants from Penny Royal to the Brockle, a dangerous forensics entity under strict confinement on a Polity spaceship that quickly takes a keen interest in the corrupted AI and its unclear motives.

Penny Royal meanwhile continues to pull all the strings in the background, keeping the Polity at bay and seizing control of an attack ship. It seeks Factory Station Room 101, a wartime manufacturing space station believed to be destroyed. What does it want with the factory? And will Spear find the rogue AI before it gets there?

War Factory, the second book in the Transformation trilogy, is signature space opera from Neal Asher: breakneck pacing, high-tech science, bizarre alien creatures, and gritty, dangerous far-future worlds.

Infinity Engine

Transformation: Book 3

Neal Asher

A man battles for his life, two AIs vie for supremacy and a civilization hangs in the balance...

Several forces now pursue rogue artificial intelligence Penny Royal, hungry for revenge or redemption. And the Brockle is the most dangerous of all. This criminal swarm-robot AI has escaped its confinement and is upgrading itself, becoming ever more powerful in anticipation of a deadly showdown.

Events also escalate aboard the damaged war factory station where Penny Royal was constructed. Here Thorvald Spear, alien prador, and an assassin drone struggle to stay alive, battling insane AIs and technology gone wild. Then the Weaver arrives - last of the Atheter, resurrected from a race that suicided two million years ago. But what could it contribute to Penny Royal's tortuous plans?

And beyond the war factory a black hole conceals a tantalizing secret which could destroy the Polity. As AIs, humans and prador clash at its boundary, will anything survive their explosive final confrontation?

Transmetropolitan, Vol. 7: Spider's Thrash

Transmetropolitan: Book 7

Warren Ellis
Darick Robertson

The truth hurts. That's old news to outlaw journalist Spider Jerusalem, but what's changed is how high the stakes have become. Long a thorn in the side of the powerful and the hypocritical, Jerusalem has made an enemy of the new President of the United States--a man who happens to be crazier than a rabid rattlesnake and twice as mean.

Now, driven underground with his loyal(and filthy) assistants, deprived of all of his comforts and hunted like a rabbit at the dog track, Jerusalem prepares for his greatest coup yet--provided, of course, that he can survive this afternoon.

Crash

Twinmaker: Book 2

Sean Williams

M. T. Anderson meets Cory Doctorow in the exciting sequel to Twinmaker, from #1 New York Times bestseller Sean Williams, who also coauthors the Troubletwisters series with Garth Nix.

Clair and Jesse have barely been reunited when the world is plunged into its biggest crisis since the Water Wars. The d-mat network is broken. The world has ground to a halt. People are trapped, injured, dying. It's the end of the world as Clair knows it--and it's partly her fault. Now she's been enlisted to track down her friend Q, the rogue AI who repeatedly saved her life--and who is the key to fixing the system. Targeted by dupes, abandoned by her friends, and caught in a web of lies that strike at the very essence of who she is, Clair quickly finds powerful and dangerous allies. But if she helps them, will she be leading her friend straight into a trap? Caught between pro- and anti-d-mat philosophies, in a world on the brink of all-out war, Clair must decide where she stands--and who she stands with, at the end.

Ashes of Candesce

Virga: Book 5

Karl Schroeder

A world of endless sky, with no land, no gravity: this is Virga. Beginning in the seminal science fiction novel Sun of Suns, the saga of this striking world has introduced us to the people of stubborn pride and resilience who have made Virga their home; but also, always lurking beyond the walls of the world, to the mysterious threat known only as Artificial Nature. In The Sunless Countries, history tutor Leal Hieronyma Maspeth became the first human in centuries to learn the true nature of this threat. Her reward was exile, but now, in Ashes of Candesce, Artificial Nature makes its final bid to destroy Virga, and it is up to Leal to unite the quarrelling clans of her world to fight the threat.

Ashes of Candesce brings together all the heroes of the Virga series, and draws the diverse threads of the previous storylines together into one climactic conflict. Blending steampunk styling with a far-future setting and meditations on the posthuman condition, Ashes of Candesce mixes high adventure and cutting-edge ideas in a fitting climax to one of science fiction's most innovative series.

Neferata

Warhammer: Time of Legend: Blood of Nagash: Book 1

Josh Reynolds

The start of a new Time of Legends story arc featuring mummies

Neferata is a queen without a kingdom. Lahmia has fallen, her vampire children have scattered and she is reduced to draining blood from the beasts of the mountains. After a chance encounter with a party of dwarfs, she sets her sights on a capital for her new empire - the stronghold of Silver Pinnacle. She calls her allies to battle - but can she truly trust Ushoran, Lord of Masks, and his bestial Strigoi vampires?

Master of Death

Warhammer: Time of Legend: Blood of Nagash: Book 2

Josh Reynolds

An ancient follower of the Great Necromancer seeks power over death itself.

W'soran, one of the first vampires and former pupil of the Great Necromancer Nagash, plots to unravel the secrets of life and death. But his hunt for power is interrupted by a civil war in Mourkain, the mountain nation ruled by his former ally, Ushoran. Now W'soran must battle old friends and new enemies as he weaves a complex web of treachery and deceit in order to anoint himself the Master of Death...

The Return of Nagash

Warhammer: Time of Legend: The End Times: Book 1

Josh Reynolds

An ancient evil returns to the Warhammer World

The End Times are coming. As the forces of Chaos threaten to drown the world in madness, Mannfred von Carstein and Arkhan the Black put aside their difference and plot to resurrect the one being with the power to stand against the servants of the Ruinous Powers and restore order to the world - the Great Necromancer himself. As they set about gathering artefacts to use in their dark ritual, armies converge on Sylvania, intent on stopping them. But Arkhan and Mannfred are determined to complete their task. No matter the cost, Nagash must rise again.

The Rise of Nagash

Warhammer: Time of Legend: The Rise of Nagash

Mike Lee

The story of Nagash - father of the vampires - in one big volume

Nagash is the first necromancer and the supreme lord of undeath. He wrested the secrets of dark magic from the elves and perverted them to suit his ends. When the priest-kings of Nehekhara stood united against him, he broke their armies and sacked their cities. He raised the largest army of the dead the world has ever known and became an immortal dark god. His deeds are legend. This is his story.

Nagash the Sorcerer

Warhammer: Time of Legend: The Rise of Nagash: Book 1

Mike Lee

The new, high-profile Warhammer fantasy series Time of Legends from Darkblade co-author Mike Lee. Nagash the Sorcerer tells the story of the rise of Nagash, a priest king whose quest for immortality damned Nehekhara and its people forever.

Nagash the Unbroken

Warhammer: Time of Legend: The Rise of Nagash: Book 2

Mike Lee

The second in the Time of Legends series on Nagash deals with the return of the sorcerer to power and the rise of vampires.

The powerful sorcerer Nasgash is defeated, but begins to rebuild his strength in the Mountains of Cripple peak. There he builds an alliance with Skaven, and plans his revenge.

Nagash Immortal

Warhammer: Time of Legend: The Rise of Nagash: Book 3

Mike Lee

In the tunnels of Nagashizzar, a new threat to the realm of the undead is rising. Nagash must call upon all his reserves of power to defeat the skaven assault and continue his unholy reign. But when Nagash realises he can use his enemy for his own nefarious needs, an uneasy alliance is struck and a vast, nightmarish army is formed. The necromancer launches his final attack on the lands of Nehekhara, sweeping all before him. Only one man dare stand in his way - Alcadizzar, a peerless warrior and the leader of a defiant force. Their confrontation will not just decide the fate of Nehekhara, but of all the Old World.

M'Lady Witch

Warlock's Heirs: Book 1

Christopher Stasheff

Confident in her power as daughter of the High Warlock, Cordelia Gallowglass decides she can take her time deciding whether to accept Prince Alain's offer of marriage, until she finds out she has enemies who oppose the union.

Quicksilver's Knight

Warlock's Heirs: Book 2

Christopher Stasheff

A young, brave warlock's son finds his loyalties divided between two women, including the beautiful bandit Quicksilver, who has stolen a lord's land for herself, and the sultry witch Moraga, who will do anything for the throne of Gramarye.

The Spell-Bound Scholar

Warlock's Heirs: Book 3

Christopher Stasheff

Overview In this first "Warlock" novel in years, the adventures of the Gallowglass family continue with the youngest son, Gregory. This most eligible bachelor with a true heart is an ultimate challenge for the family's nemesis, Moraga. Through her spells, she will bring him under her power.

Here Be Monsters

Warlock's Heirs: Book 4

Christopher Stasheff

You are invited to a Warlock wedding...

B.Y.O.M. (Bring Your Own Monster).

The perennially popular Gallowglass family has three weddings to plan. But what Warlock wedding could be complete without an army of monsters threatening the planet?

We Unleash the Merciless Storm

We Set the Dark on Fire: Book 2

Tehlor Kay Mejia

Being a part of the resistance group La Voz is an act of devotion and desperation. On the other side of Medio's border wall, the oppressed class fights for freedom and liberty, sacrificing what little they have to become defenders of the cause.

Carmen Santos is one of La Voz's best soldiers. She spent years undercover, but now, with her identity exposed and the island on the brink of a civil war, Carmen returns to the only real home she's ever known: La Voz's headquarters.

There she must reckon with her beloved leader, who is under the influence of an aggressive new recruit, and with the devastating news that her true love might be the target of an assassination plot. Will Carmen break with her community and save the girl who stole her heart--or fully embrace the ruthless rebel she was always meant to be?

My Life as a White Trash Zombie

White Trash Zombie: Book 1

Diana Rowland

Angel Crawford is a loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the parish morgue--and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Before she knows it she's dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey--just when she's hungriest!

Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat. Literally.

Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues

White Trash Zombie: Book 2

Diana Rowland

Angel Crawford is finally starting to get used to life as a brain-eating zombie, but her problems are far from over. Her felony record is coming back to haunt her, more zombie hunters are popping up, and she's beginning to wonder if her hunky cop-boyfriend is involved with the zombie mafia. Yeah, that's right--the zombie mafia.

Throw in a secret lab and a lot of conspiracy, and Angel's going to need all of her brainpower--and maybe a brain smoothie as well--in order to get through it without falling apart.

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse

White Trash Zombie: Book 3

Diana Rowland

Our favourite white trash zombie, Angel Crawford, has enough problems of her own, what with dealing with her alcoholic, deadbeat dad, issues with her not-quite boyfriend, the zombie mafia, industrial espionage and evil corporations. Oh, and it's raining, and won't let up.

But things get even crazier when a zombie movie starts filming in town, and Angel begins to suspect that it's not just the plot of the movie that's rotten. Soon she's fighting her way through mud, blood, bullets and intrigue, even as zombies, both real and fake, prowl the streets.

Angel's been through more than her share of crap, but this time she's in way over her head. She'll need plenty of brainpower to fit all the pieces--and body parts--together in order to save herself, her town, and quite possibly the human race.

How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back

White Trash Zombie: Book 4

Diana Rowland

Our favorite zombie Angel Crawford has come a long way from her days as a pain-pill-addicted high school dropout with a felony record. After a year highlighted by murder, kidnapping, and the loss of her home, all she wants to do is kick back, relax, and maybe even think about college.

But when key members of the "Zombie Mafia" go missing, she has no choice but to get involved. Angel is certain Saberton Corporation is behind the disappearances, yet she can't shake the sense that a far deeper conspiracy is at work. With the small band of friends she can trust, Angel strikes out to track down the missing zombies.

But when unexpected danger threatens to destroy her, all the brains and bravado in the world may not be enough to keep her from going to pieces.

White Trash Zombie Gone Wild

White Trash Zombie: Book 5

Diana Rowland

Angel Crawford has buried her loser past and is cruising along in undead high gear--that is, until a murder-by-decapitation sends her on a hazardous detour. As Angel hunts for the killer, she uncovers a scheme that would expose zombies to the public and destroy the life she's built, and she's determined not to rest until she finds out who's behind it.

Soon she's neck-deep in lies, redneck intrigue, zombie hunters, and rot-sniffing cadaver dogs. It's up to her to unravel the truth and snuff out the conspiracy before the existence of zombies makes headline news and she's outed as a monster.

But Angel hasn't quite escaped the pill-popping ghosts of her past--not with an illicit zombie pharmaceutical at her fingertips. Good thing she's absolutely sure she can handle the drug's unpredictable side effects and still take down the bad guys...or maybe she's only one bad choice away from being dead meat--for real this time.

Angel knows a thing or two about kicking ass, but now the ass she needs to kick might be her own.

White Trash Zombie Unchained

White Trash Zombie: Book 6

Diana Rowland

Angel Crawford has finally pulled herself together (literally!) after her disastrous dismemberment on Mardi Gras. She's putting the pieces of her life back in order and is ready to tackle whatever the future holds.

Too bad the future is a nasty bitch. There's a new kind of zombie in town: mindless shamblers, infectious and ravenous.

With the threat of a full-blown shambler pandemic looming, and a loved one stricken, Angel and the "real" zombies scramble to find a cure. Yet when Angel uncovers the true reason the plague is spreading so quickly, she adds "no-holds-barred revenge" to her to-do list.

Angel is busting her ass dealing with shambling hordes, zombie gators, government jerks, and way too many mosquitos, but this white trash chick ain't giving up.

Good thing, since the fate of the world is resting on her undead shoulders.

In an Orchard Grown from Ash

Wind-Up Garden: Book 2

Rory Power

The Argyros siblings have lost everything. With their father dead and their family home captured, they're no longer the rulers of their fractured kingdom--and no longer bound to each other.

In the frozen north, Rhea struggles to wield her newly inherited command over death and to find her place in an increasingly distrustful rebel group. Chrysanthi travels to a distant, war-torn land in search of her elusive brother Nitsos, certain that he is there on a dangerous mission to restore the family to its former glory, this time with himself at its head. And Lexos, now stripped of all his power and a political prisoner of the Domina family, is left to rot in a hauntingly desolate palace with nothing but thoughts of revenge.

Alone and farther apart than they've ever been, the siblings must reckon with the pain of their past and find a new path forward--or risk their own destruction.

On Wings of Magic

Witch World: The Turning: Book 3

Andre Norton
Sasha Miller
Patricia Matthews

In the triumphant conclusion to the three-book series Witch World: The Turning, when the Witches of Estcarp combined their powers to prevent the invasion of Karsten, the world was plunged into chaos. Now the survivors struggle to defeat the invaders and rebuild their shattered lives.

Table of Contents:
• The Chronicler • short story by Andre Norton
• We, the Women • novel by Patricia Matthews [as by Patricia Mathews]
• Falcon Magic • novel by Sasha Miller

The King of Bones and Ashes

Witches of New Orleans: Book 1

J. D. Horn

Magic is seeping out of the world, leaving the witches who've relied on it for countless centuries increasingly hopeless. While some see an inevitable end of their era, others are courting madness--willing to sacrifice former allies, friends, and family to retain the power they covet. While the other witches watch their reality unravel, young Alice Marin is using magic's waning days to delve into the mystery of numerous disappearances in the occult circles of New Orleans. Alice disappeared once, too--caged in an asylum by blood relatives. Recently freed, she fears her family may be more involved with the growing crisis than she ever dared imagine.

Yet the more she seeks the truth about her family's troubled history, the more she realizes her already-fragile psyche may be at risk. Discovering the cause of the vanishings, though, could be the only way to escape her mother's reach while determining the future of all witches.

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 1

Yashakiden: Book 1

Hideyuki Kikuchi

After a devastating earthquake that left most of Japan in ruins, the district ward of Shinjuku in Tokyo has opened up a doorway into another dimension--becoming the halfway-house suspended between the mortal world and the supernatural.

Setsura Aki, undercover P.I., is considered the best "man hunter" in the business. He allies himself with friend and rival, Doctor Mephisto--a wizard of physical and spiritual surgery. Together, they battle the evil forces that overrun the city.

Coming from the deepest and darkest parts of China, four immortal demons, led by the Princess of vampires, have surmounted four thousand years of space and time to seize control of Shinjuku and make it their own.

It is up to Setsura and Mephisto to uncover their new formidable foes' dark plans for the city. Can the duo stop them before they plunge the living populace into a new level of fear and slavery none can escape?

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 2

Yashakiden: Book 2

Hideyuki Kikuchi

A vicious vampire gang four thousand years in the making has awakened from its slumber in order to seize control of Demon City Shinjuku. Princess, Kikiou, Ryuuki and Shuuran are as persistent as they are merciless, especially when the target of their attacks is Setsura Aki.

A treacherous house of reptiles built of giant leeches and poisonous snakes--Ryuuki's ghost koto "Silent Night" and his malevolent demon qi--Shinjuku's heavily armed police becoming vampires and attacking its own citizens--

Demon City is transforming into Vampire City before their very eyes.

To make matter worse, despite his wizardly powers, Setsura is assaulted by Shuuran and is turning himself. His trusted friend and colleague, Doctor Mephisto, shows ominous signs of becoming a slave to their wills. Setsura has never before experienced such dangers in his life!

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 3

Yashakiden: Book 3

Hideyuki Kikuchi

The immortal vampire gang led by "Princess"--Kikiou, Ryuuki and Shuuran--is slowly but inexorably taking over Demon City Shinjuku. Its citizens and the administration alike are turning into vampires. Mephisto has apparently allied himself with them of his own accord.

Setsura Aki stands alone on the brink of extinction, tested by one desperate counterattack after the next. Intending to snuff out his life once and for all, Princess unleashes the self-regenerating Kazikli Bey (better known abroad as Vlad the Impaler, the original Dracula).

Meanwhile, concerned about the worsening state of affairs in Shinjuku, a team of foreign legionnaires--Special Forces Operational Detachment "F"--is dispatched to Demon City.

This Medusa of a supernatural face-off has grown another head. The confusion deepens and Shinjuku's fate hangs in the balance. But what is Mephisto really up to?

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 4

Yashakiden: Book 4

Hideyuki Kikuchi

As the immortal Demon Princess inexorably transforms Demon City Shinjuku into a vampire metropolis, Setsura infiltrates her manor house alone. There he encounters the puppet paramours and "picture soldiers" created by the warlock Kikiou.

The witch Galeen Nuvenberg once again comes to the rescue. But that only draws her into Princess's crosshairs as well.

Meanwhile, panicked by the growing vampire hordes in Shinjuku, the Japanese government and its American allies resolve to sterilize the city with nuclear weapons. As if taunting the stranded and isolated Setsura, the countdown to disaster has begun.

Yashakiden: The Demon Princess, Vol. 5

Yashakiden: Book 5

Hideyuki Kikuchi

Princess, the legendary evil vampire from ancient China, and her followers Kikiou and Ryuuki have unleashed the plague of vampirism upon the already debauched and depraved city on the edge of the abyss. As more and more of Shinjuku's citizens turn into creatures of the night, a secret government plan is hatched to annihilate Demon City with a nuclear device.

As the clock ticks down, beautiful manhunter Setsura Aki enters Princess's kingdom to retrieve Princess's hostage--the Prime Minister of Japan. There he meets a mysterious mask maker from a bygone era and undergoes a transformation. But will it be in time to save Shinjuku?

Meanwhile, the Demon Physician--Doctor Mephisto--remains a voluntary prisoner in Princess's camp. To what end--and whose side is the good doctor truly on?

And in Shinjuku's Magic Town, Tonbeau Nuvenberg and the Doll Girl find the portal to Princess's kingdom--a box sealed by magic. To open the box, they must do the impossible: access the timeline of the Universe itself--the Akashic Records.

Yukikaze

Yukikaze: Book 1

Chohei Kambayashi

More than thirty years ago, a hyper-dimensional passageway suddenly appeared over the continent of Antarctica. Fighters from the mysterious alien force known as the JAM poured through the passage, the first wave an attempted terrestrial invasion. Their ferocity was unquestionable, their aim unknown. Humanity, united by a common enemy, managed to repel the invaders, chasing them back through the passageway to the strange planet nicknamed "Fairy."

The task of finishing the battle was given to the newly formed FAF, a combat force created to go to Fairy and eliminate the JAM bases once and for all. Now, in the midst of a war with no end in sight, Second Lieutenant Rei Fukai carries out his missions in the skies over Fairy. Attached to Tactical Combat and Surveillance Unit 3 of the Special Air Force, his duty is to gather information on the enemy and bring it back to base—no matter the human cost. His only constant companion in this lonely task is his fighter plane, the sentient FFR-31 Super Sylph, call sign: Yukikaze.

Good Luck, Yukikaze

Yukikaze: Book 2

Chohei Kambayashi

The alien JAM have been at war with humanity for over thirty years... or have they? Rei Fukai of the FAF's Special Air Force and his intelligent plane Yukikaze have seen endless battles, but after declaring "Humans are unnecessary now," and forcibly ejecting Fukai, Yukikaze is on her own. Is the target of the JAM's hostility really Earth's machines? And have the artificial intelligences of Earth been acting in concert with the JAM to manipulate Yukikaze? As Rei tries to ascertain the truth behind the intentions of both sides, he realizes that his own humanity may be at risk, and that the JAM are about to make themselves known to the world at large.

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits

Zoey Ashe: Book 1

Jason Pargin

Nightmarish villains with superhuman enhancements.

An all-seeing social network that tracks your every move.

Mysterious, smooth-talking power players who lurk behind the scenes.

A young woman from the trailer park.

And her very smelly cat.

Together, they will decide the future of mankind.

Get ready for a world in which anyone can have the powers of a god or the fame of a pop star, in which human achievement soars to new heights while its depravity plunges to the blackest depths. A world in which at least one cat smells like a seafood shop's dumpster on a hot summer day.

This is the world in which Zoey Ashe finds herself, navigating a futuristic city in which one can find elements of the fantastic, nightmarish and ridiculous on any street corner. Her only trusted advisor is the aforementioned cat, but even in the future, cats cannot give advice. At least not any that you'd want to follow.

Will Zoey figure it all out in time? Or maybe the better question is, will you? After all, the future is coming sooner than you think.

Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick

Zoey Ashe: Book 2

Jason Pargin

In the futuristic city of Tabula Ra$a, Zoey Ashe is like a fish so far out of water that it has achieved orbit. After inheriting a criminal empire, the twenty-three year-old finds herself under threat from all sides as a rogue's gallery of larger-than-life enemies think they smell weakness.

On the eve of the world's most lavish and ridiculous Halloween celebration, a steamer trunk-sized box arrives at Zoey's door and she is shocked to find that it contains a disemboweled corpse. She is even more shocked when that corpse, controlled by an unknown party, rises and goes on a rampage through the house. Speaking in an electronic voice, it publicly accuses Zoey of being its murderer. This is the kind of thing that almost never happened at her old job.

The city was already a ticking time bomb of publicity-hungry vigilantes with superhuman enhancements and Zoey knows this turn of events is unlikely to improve the situation. Now, she and her team of high-tech tricksters have to solve this bizarre murder while simultaneously keeping Tabula Ra$a from descending into chaos.

Zoey Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia

Zoey Ashe: Book 3

Jason Pargin

Zoey Ashe wakes up every day feeling like she's trying to steer a battleship while tied to the propeller. The twenty-three-year-old heiress to a criminal empire is navigating a futuristic world of high-tech liars and cutthroats, forced to learn the rules of a devious game she never asked to play. Now she's facing a crisis that is both bigger and stranger than all that came before:

The gleaming new city of Tabula Ra$a is hosting its massive annual music festival, which every year precedes the equally massive annual drunken riot. This is all organized by Zoey's people, including the riot. As her advisors explain, the citizens need a little controlled chaos now and then. Zoey, however, fears the chaos will not stay controlled for long.

When a horrific crime is broadcast live on an all-seeing social network, Zoey and her team suspect a carefully-stage hoax arranged by one of the Tabula Ra$a's shadowy power players. But in a city in which lies are always served in layers, even that explanation will prove far too simple.