Search Worlds Without End

THE FACE IN THE FROST is a fantasy classic, defying categorization with its richly imaginative story of two separate kingdoms of wizards, stymied by a power that is beyond their control. A tall, skinny misfit of a wizard named Prospero lives in the Southern Kingdom—-a patchwork of feuding duchies and small manors, all loosely loyal to one figurehead king. Both he and an improbable adventurer named Roger Bacon look in mirrors to see different times and places, which greatly affects their personalities and mannerisms and leads them into a myriad of situations that are sometimes frightening and often hilarious. Hailed by critics as an extraordinary work, combining the thrills of a horror novel with the inventiveness of fantasy, THE FACE IN THE FROST is the debut novel that launched John Bellairs' reputation as one of the most individual voices in young adult fiction.

This collection of 14 stories from a Nebula, Hugo, Tiptree, International Horror Guild, and World Fantasy Award finalist takes the reader on a wonderful and nightmarish journey. Beginning with a midnight odyssey to a shadowland where vehicles feast on vagrants, this compilation includes stories in which Poe's final days are revealed, factory workers are exploited by an apparition of the Virgin Mary, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart pinwheels through the corridors of time. Also included is a tale of an apocalyptic entity that hides in a Ukranian village, a contemplation on the horror that dwells in Jack the Ripper's pocket watch, and a brand-new novella that combines an interplanetary road story with more than a dash of Flash Gordon.

Sturgeon Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 1998. The story is included in the collection Attack of the Jazz Giants and Other Stories (2005).

Lovelorn Lyrec and wise-cracking Borregad have been companions through world after world, adventure after adventure. They seek Lyrec's lost lady, and vengeance for the obliteration of their home world. But the evil Miradomon is always one step ahead, leaving a dark of destruction behind him. Crossing a chain of parallel universes, our heroes must take on new identities in each new world. In his latest incarnation, Lyrec has done quite will for himself: He is young, strong, handsome, skilled in the arts of war and song. Poor Borregad blew it: He is stuck in the body of a cat. And Miradorn? This time, he's a god.

Tiptree, Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novelette. Originally published in Asimov's May 2002, later collected in Attack of the Jazz Giants and Other Stories (2005).

The satiric Nebula Award nominated novel of an alternate Philadelphia--where the indigent are disappearing into another dimension courtesy of a drug called Orbitol, public school teachers lead classes while armed and masked, and an investigative journalist named Thomasina Lyle is about to bring down a government headed by a dimwitted president with his own late night talk show.

In this inventive, short, yet perfectly formed novel inspired by traditional Norse mythology, Neil Gaiman takes readers on a wild and magical trip to the land of giants and gods and back.

In a village in ancient Norway lives a boy named Odd, and he's had some very bad luck: His father perished in a Viking expedition; a tree fell on and shattered his leg; the endless freezing winter is making villagers dangerously grumpy.

Out in the forest Odd encounters a bear, a fox, and an eagle--three creatures with a strange story to tell.

Now Odd is forced on a stranger journey than he had imagined--a journey to save Asgard, city of the gods, from the Frost Giants who have invaded it.

It's going to take a very special kind of twelve-year-old boy to outwit the Frost Giants, restore peace to the city of gods, and end the long winter.

Someone cheerful and infuriating and clever...

Someone just like Odd .

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Bending the Landscape: Fantasy (1997), edited by Stephen Pagel and Nicola Griffith, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, June 2011. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (1998), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Aliens of the Heart (2007).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

When the snow falls, she will be free...

The invitations always arrive the same way -- without warning, appearing around the city on the first snowfall of the year, simply inscribed with 'Tonight.'

When struggling artist, Forster, finds an invitation, he's bewitched by the magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of this notorious annual party and intrigued as to who is behind them.

Determined to find out more about the mysterious host, Forster discovers an abandoned manor house silent with secrets and a cursed woman who is desparate to be free...

Famous, creatively-blocked, novelist faces exile or execution unless he can write a new story in the title novella of this collection, and the theme of writing threads through the pages of the entire book.

As well as eleven dazzling stories that explore strange pasts and new futures, there are pieces drawn from the writer's life, substantial commentaries on the origins and development of each of the stories, and a major new essay on how ideas are developed.

Both a magnificent gathering of fiction and a penetrating examination of the craft of writing, Frost on Glass memorably showcases and analyses the storytelling genius of Ian R. MacLeod.

Hugo Award wining novelette. It originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, January 1985. The story can also be found in the anthologies:

• The Year's Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection (1986), edited by Gardner Dozois
• The 1986 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha
• The New Hugo Winners, Volume II: (1986-88) (1992), edited by Isaac Asimov
• The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century (1998) edited by Martin H. Greenberg
• Armageddons (1999) edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
• The Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF (2010), edited by Mike Ashley

It is included in the collection Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories (2005).

Read the story for free at the Baen website.

Fix the past. Save the present. Stop the future. Master of science fiction Alastair Reynolds unfolds a time-traveling climate fiction adventure in Permafrost.

2080: at a remote site on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a group of scientists, engineers and physicians gather to gamble humanity's future on one last-ditch experiment. Their goal: to make a tiny alteration to the past, averting a global catastrophe while at the same time leaving recorded history intact. To make the experiment work, they just need one last recruit: an ageing schoolteacher whose late mother was the foremost expert on the mathematics of paradox.

2028: a young woman goes into surgery for routine brain surgery. In the days following her operation, she begins to hear another voice in her head... an unwanted presence which seems to have a will, and a purpose, all of its own - one that will disrupt her life entirely. The only choice left to her is a simple one.

Does she resist... or become a collaborator?

Table of Contents:

• An Exorcism, of Sorts - (1989) - essay
• Permafrost - (1986) - novelette
• LOKI 7281 - (1984) - shortstory
• Dreadsong - (1985) - shortstory
• Itself Surprised - (1984) - novelette
• Dayblood - (1985) - shortstory
• Constructing a Science Fiction Novel - (1984) - essay
• The Bands of Titan - (1986) - shortstory
• Mana from Heaven - (1983) - novelette
• Night Kings - (1986) - shortstory
• Quest's End - (1987) - shortstory
• 24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai - (1985) - novella
• Fantasy and Science Fiction: A Writer's View - (1985) - essay

Hugo Awared winning and Nebula Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in Omni, April 1986. The story can also be found in the anthologis The 1987 Annual World's Best SF, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, The New Hugo Winners, Volume II: (1986-88) (1992), edited by Isaac Asimov, and Omni Visions Two (1994), edited by Ellen Datlow. It is included in the collections Frost and Fire (1989), The Last Defender of Camelot (2002), and Nine Black Doves (2009).

Feyre, Rhysand, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can't keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated -- scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their Court.

Return to the world of The Bard's Tale in this stand-alone sequel to the smash hit Castle of Deception. Naitachal, the Dark Elf who showed his true heroic nature in Castle, is now a Master Bard with a mystical apprentice. On an adventure to a distant, icy land, the pair rescue three strangers who make for strange companions indeed.

In the 25th Century the British Space Empire faces the gathering menace of the evil ant-soldiers of the Ghast Empire hive, hell-bent on galactic domination and the extermination of all humanoid life. Isambard Smith is the square-jawed, courageous, and somewhat asinine new commander of the battle damaged light freighter John Pym, destined to take on the alien threat because nobody else is available. Together with his bold crew--a skull-collecting alien lunatic, an android pilot who is actually a fugitive sex toy, and a hamster called Gerald--he must collect new-age herbalist Rhianna Mitchell from the laid back New Francisco orbiter and bring her back to safety in the Empire. Straightforward enough--except the Ghasts want her too. If he is to get back to Blighty alive, Smith must defeat void sharks, a universe-weary android assassin, and John Gilead, psychopathic naval officer from the fanatically religious Republic of New Eden before facing his greatest enemy: a ruthless alien warlord with a very large behind.

Tea... a beverage brewed from the fermented dried leaves of the shrub Camelli sinensis and imbibed by all the great civilizations in the galaxy's history; a source of refreshment, stimulation, and, above all else, of moral fiber--without which the British Space Empire must surely crumble to leave Earth at the mercy of its enemies. Sixty percent of the Empire's tea is grown on one world--Urn, principal planet of the Didcot system. If Earth is to keep fighting, the tea must flow! When a crazed cult leader overthrows the government of Urn, Isambard Smith and his vaguely competent crew find themselves saddled with new allies--a legion of tea-obsessed nomads, an overly-civilized alien horde. and a commando unit so elite that it has only five members. Only together can they defeat the self-proclaimed God Emperor of Didcot and confront the true power behind the coup--the sinister legions of the Ghast Empire and Smith's old enemy, Commander 462.

From the depths of Space a new foe rises to do battle with mankind: the British Space Empire is threatened by the lemming-people of Yull, ruthless enemies who attack without mercy, fear, or any concept of self preservation. At the call of their war god, the Yull have turned on the Empire, hell-bent on conquest and destruction in their rush towards the cliffs of destiny. When the Yullian army is forced to retreat at the battle of the River Tam, the disgraced Colonel Vock swears revenge on the clan of Suruk the Slayer, Isambard Smith's homicidal alien friend. Now Smith and his crew must defend the Empire and civilize the stuffing out of a horde of bloodthirsty lemming-men--which would be easy were it not for a sinister robotics company, a Ghast general with a fondness for genetic engineering, and an ancient brotherhood of Morris Dancers--who may yet hold the key to victory.

In the 25th century the future of the galaxy rests on a knife-edge. The actions of one man could save the British Space Empire or leave Earth at the mercy of deadly legions of ant-people. That one man is Captain Isambard Smith, and Earth is in a lot of trouble. After blowing up a top-secret enemy base, Space Captain Smith and his crew deserve a rest. But their holiday ends when forces unknown destroy the robot convoy they were meant to be guarding. Smith finds himself in hot pursuit of a mysterious vessel that can pass through dimensions, incurring the wrath of the dreaded Grand Witchfinder of New Eden--which would be much easier to deal with if his pilot wasn't cowering under the dashboard and his spaceship wasn't infested with man-eating toads. Meanwhile, the Empire is gathering its allies to form a united front against alien tyranny. Unfortunately, the delicate negotiations have been entrusted to Major Wainscott, a man who knows no fear and very little about diplomacy or trousers. Once again, Captain Smith must summon all his courage to unite humanity behind the Empire. His quest will take him on a journey to face his greatest fears: from the depths of space, through hell itself--and even to France.

The lemming men of Yullia are rushing headlong towards the cliffs of destiny, and they intend to take the British Space Empire with them. When moral fiber clashes with lemming spirit, only one thing is certain--surrender is no longer an option. In the back-streets of Ravnavar, greatest planet of the Space Empire, revolution stirs. Someone will have to go deep undercover, take on the robot underworld, and reveal what lies behind the mysterious Popular Front. Worst of all, Major Wainscott--commando and nudist--has gone renegade in the most dangerous jungle in the galaxy. Someone will have to travel upriver, terminate Wainscott's command, and make him put some trousers on. That someone is Isambard Smith. Once more, Smith and his crew must leap into action, civilize the galaxy, and force legions of angry rodents to stop their nonsense at once. Smith is destined to topple a mighty empire. The only question is--whose empire will it be?

The empire of the ant-people is beginning to crumble. As the British Space Navy prepares to invade the Ghast home world, the Secret Service comes up with a daring plan--the assassination of Number One, the small and furious dictator of the Ghasts. Only one man has the qualities needed to take on a job this dangerous--Captain Isambard Smith.

But Smith has problems of his own. Captured by the ruthless--and gormless--Criminarch of Radishia, Smith and his crew must survive the deadly sport of Hyperbowl, where it's not whether you win or lose that counts, but how you slay the game. Now Smith faces his toughest challenge yet. In order to civilize the galaxy, he will have to win a ball game, topple a dictator, and organize a party for a four-year-old.

All in a day's work for a hero of the British Space Empire--although it's going to be a very busy day indeed.

The scene is a forbidding semi-barbarian "frostworld" with synchronous days and years. The last survivor of the strange, metamorphosing "Onhla" species is struggling to rebuild his race, unaware that both the Onhla and an unfortunate human faction are headed on a collision course with the schemes of intergalactic traders and ruthless rulers.

Frost, the reluctant possessor of the Demon Blade, returns home to find the rightful guardian of the powerful weapon, only to find his homeland at war, his greatest enemy on the throne, and himself the target of dangerous intrigues.

An epic saga of love, fate and betrayal.

Victoria has chosen career over love, but starts to question this decision when she finds herself working at a remote weather research station on a tiny island off the coast of Norway.

In this world of midnight sunshine, the Old Gods still watch the affairs of humanity - one of them has become fixated on Victoria, certain that she is the reincarnation of a woman he fell in love with over a thousand years before. It was a love affair which threatened the very existence of Asgard.

Dangerous love and desire are soon running out of control, as the spectacularly supernatural obliterates Victoria's refuge in scientific rationalism.

A video game developer becomes obsessed with a willful character in her new project, in a mind-bending exploration of what it means to be human by the New York Times bestselling author of Recursion.

Maxine was made to do one thing: die. Except the minor non-player character in the world Riley is building makes her own impossible decision--veering wildly off course and exploring the boundaries of the map. When the curious Riley extracts her code for closer examination, an emotional relationship develops between them. Soon Riley has all new plans for her spontaneous AI, including bringing Max into the real world. But what if Max has real-world plans of her own?

How do you fight a supernatural battle without the most secret and ancient of powers? This is precisely the question that Frost must answer when she is given the awesome task of delivering the Book of the Last Battle to those who have work in good magic. Frost must rely solely on the physical strength of her sword and the magic contained within her beauty to succeed in her quest and regain her powers.

The fierce swordfighter Frost has lost her supernatural powers and must travel to the pit of hell and back in order to save herself and the kingdom. Doing battle with all the forces of Hades: demons, sorcerers, vicious spiders, and the most vile of all beasts, Frost must quest to save the princess and the world to which both are accustomed before evil is left to dominate for all eternity. Even without her amazing powers, Frost and her trusty sword are always ready to raze Hell.

Everyone, even Frost, thought that she was an ordinary mother and wife. But she begins a quest to find out who she is after the unforgiving grip of death snatches her husband and two sons from her loving arms. Her identity found, this mother and wife turned witch and swordswoman vows to travel the world fighting the very source of evil. Join Frost on her journey as she wields her mighty demonblade to slay all evil that crosses her path.

For Cheyenne Clark, there's a bad moon on the rise...

There's one sound a woman doesn't want to hear when she's lost and alone in the Arctic wilderness: a howl.

When a strange wolf's teeth slash Cheyenne's ankle to the bone, her old life ends, and she becomes the very monster that has haunted her nightmares for years. Worse, the only one who can understand what Chey has become is the man-or wolf-who's doomed her to this fate. He also wants to chop her head off with an axe.

Yet as the line between human and beast blurs, so too does the distinction between hunter and hunted... for Chey is more than just the victim she appears to be. But once she's within killing range, she may find that-even for a werewolf-it's not always easy to go for the jugular.

The days grow colder. The nights grow longer. And every time the moon rises, the wolf inside her grows a little stronger.

Cheyenne Clark--a woman whose hatred for werewolves has turned her into the very beast she most despises--prowls the Arctic Circle on the trail of an ancient secret, hunting for the one thing that could remove the lycanthropic curse and make her human again.

Yet standing between Chey and her goal are a werewolf hunter armed with a diabolically brilliant weapon, a centuries-old werewolf with her own mysterious agenda... and Chey's own complicated feelings for the man who doomed her to this existence but on whom her life now depends.

Worse, with every hour that passes, the wolf inside Chey becomes more powerful. It won't be long before the woman disappears completely, and only the beast is left.

The sorceress Frostflower could bring a babe from seed to term in the course of a winter's afternoon. The swordswoman Thorn could strew a field with corpses in a moment's battle rage. Outcasts, both of them. Hunted by the farmer-priests who ruled the wasteland that once had been a world. Then Thorn in her folly got pregnant. Flower, in her folly, wanted the child. And together, foolishly, they set out to survive...

The sorceress Frostflower has the power to guide the lightning through the air...and to leave her body to roam the Tanglelands. But her fellow traveller and fellow sorcerer Windbourne, blamed for the murder of a farmer-priest, carries a monstrous guilt that saps his powers and threatens their lives. Led by the valiant warrior Thorn, Frostflower and Windbourne begin the dangerous journey to Five Roads Crossing, where the mourning High Priestess lies in wait...

Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken and his Catachan Jungle Fighters must hold the line against the ork menace.

Plucked from a catastrophic war against the monstrous tyranids, Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken and his Catachan Jungle Fighters are sent to the cavern world of Dulma'lin to clear it of an ork infestation. Ranged against an overwhelming force of greenskins, and with the hostile attentions of Commissar Morrell upon them, the Catachans must overcome internal divisions and hold the line against the alien menace.

Mercy Thompson's life has undergone a seismic change. Becoming the mate of Adam Hauptman--the charismatic Alpha of the local werewolf pack--has made her a stepmother to his daughter Jesse, a relationship that brings moments of blissful normalcy to Mercy's life. But on the edges of humanity, what passes for a minor mishap on an ordinary day can turn into so much more...

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam--or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related--and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.

"I am Meredith Gentry, princess and heir apparent to the throne in the realm of faerie, onetime private investigator in the mortal world. To be crowned queen, I must first continue the royal bloodline and give birth to an heir of my own. If I fail, my aunt, Queen Andais, will be free to do what she most desires: install her twisted son, Cel, as monarch...and kill me.

"My royal guards surround me, and my best loved - my Darkness and my Killing Frost - are always beside me, sworn to protect and make love to me. But still the threat grows greater. For despite all my carnal efforts I remain childless, while the machinations of my sinister, sadistic Queen and her confederates remain tireless. So my bodyguards and I have slipped back into Los Angeles, hoping to outrun the gathering shadows of court intrigue. But even exile isn't enough to escape the grasp of those with dark designs.

"Now King Taranis, powerful and vain-glorious ruler of faerie's Seelie Court, has leveled accusations against my noble guards of a heinous crime - and has gone so far as to ask the mortal authorities to prosecute. If he succeeds, my men face extradition to faerie and the hideous penalties that await them there. But I know that Taranis' charges are baseless, and I sense that his true target is me. He tried to kill me when I was a child. Now I fear his intentions are far more terrifying."

In the year 2060, Zach Johnson, the world's only freelance private investigator, tackles his strangest case yet--solving the murders of two elves at the North Pole.

Santana Clausa, the micro-mini skirt clad bombshell and frost-haired mutant who runs the Pole hires Zach to stop the killer or killers before they strike again, destroying the Holiday for billions. If the media gets whiff of the murders at the happiest, safest place on Earth, mass panic is sure to ensue--and that's never a good thing. With the happiness of billions at stake, Zach and Harv (his A.I. companion wired directly to his brain--yes it was as painful as it sounds) will match wits, muscle, and technology against a bevy of superhuman females, a mutant elf with an attitude, killer robots, and even a couple of nerds with an agenda.

When October is informed that Simon Torquill - legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions - must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future... and the man who represents her family's past.

Contains the bonus novella Shine in Pearl.

Thomas the Rhymer, legendary twelfth-century figure of traditional Scottish balladry, as you've never seen him before.

He's known by many names over time--Tam Lin, Robin Hood, and numerous other incarnations reaching into the present--but at his heart he is still True Thomas, one man doing all he can to save us all from a powerful foe.

When his brother is snatched right before his eyes, Thomas hunts for justice and discovers that not only do these "elves" steal people, but they also are skinwalkers who occupy humans in positions of power. Their goal: to obliterate humanity and take over our world. When Thomas is dragged into their alien realm, he's imprisoned and barely escapes alive, but in the process he gains near-immortality and the ability to transform himself. Will it be enough to protect his loved ones and defeat this powerful foe?

It's been nearly a century since Thomas last battled Yvag knights. In that time his wife and daughter have grown old and died, and he has discovered that he ages not at all. The elven world believes him long dead.

In his grief, he has retreated to the depths of Sherwood and Barnsdale Forests and become a hermit, lost in his memories, his grief. But when a dying outlaw arrives on his doorstep with items stolen from an Yvag skinwalker, it sets in motion events that thrust Thomas back into the world and force him into combat with Queen Nicnevin's soldiers once again, including this time his late sister's changeling daughter and the Queen's own grotesque offspring, Bragrender.

As Thomas takes on two sheriffs of Nottingham and a horde of Yvag raiders, he enlists the aid of outlaws Little John and Will Scathelocke, and the Keeper of Sherwood Forest herself, Isabella Birkin, who sets him on a path back to humanity. To keep his true identity hidden from the Yvags, he creates an alter-ego named Robyn Hoode, whose exploits, unbeknown to Thomas, are about to become the stuff of legend.

Sprung from a timeless dream, Shadowbridge is a world of linked spans arching high above glittering seas. It is a world of parading ghosts, inscrutable gods, and dangerous magic. Most of all, it is a world of stories.

No one knows those stories better than Leodora, a young shadow-puppeteer who travels Shadowbridge collecting the intertwining tales and myths of each place she passes through, then retells them in performances whose genius has begun to attract fame... and less welcome attention.

For Leodora is fleeing a violent past, as are her two companions: her manager, Soter, an elderly drunkard who also served Ledora's father, the legendary puppeteer Bardsham; and Diverus, her musical accompanist, a young man who has been blessed, and perhaps cursed, by the touch of a nameless god.

Now, as the strands of a destiny she did not choose begin to tighten around her, Leodora is about to cross the most perilous bridge of all-the one leading from the past to the future.

Shadowbridge is the first novel in a two-book adventure.

Daughter of the legendary shadow-puppeteer Bardsham, Leodora has inherited her father's skills... and his enemies. Together with her manager-Soter, keeper of her father's darkest secrets, and a gifted young musician named Diverus, Leodora has traveled from span to span, her masked performances given under the stage name Jax, winning fame and fortune.

But Jax's success may be Leodora's undoing. Years ago, following a performance by Bardsham, the vengeful god known as Lord Tophet visited a horrific punishment upon the span of Colemaigne and its citizens, a reprisal inflicted without warning or explanation. And as the genius of Jax gives rise to rumors that Bardsham has returned, Lord Tophet takes notice and dispatches a quintet of deadly killers to learn the truth behind the mask.

Now, upon the cursed span of Colemaigne, where her father achieved his greatest triumph and suffered his bitterest tragedy, Leodora is about to perform the most shocking story of all.

The tale of Bluebeard, reenvisioned as a dark fable of faith and truth.

1843 is the last year of the world, according the Elias Fitcher, a charismatic preacher in the Finger Lakes district of New York State. He's established a utopian community on an estate outside the town of Jeckyll's Glen, where the faithful wait, work, and pray for the world to end.

Vernelia, Amy, and Catherine Charter are the three young townswomen whose father falls under the Reverend Fitchers hypnotic sway. In their old house, where ghostly voices whisper from the walls, the girls are ruled by their stepmother, who is ruled in turn by the fiery preacher. Determined to spend Eternity as a married man, Fitcher casts his eye on Vernelia, and before much longer the two are wed. But living on the man's estate, separated from her family, Vern soon learns the extent of her husbands dark side. It's rumored that he's been married before, though what became of those wives she does not know. Perhaps the secret lies in the locked room at the very top of the housethe sin-gle room that the Reverend Fitcher has forbidden to her.

Inspired by the classic fairy tales "Bluebeard" and "The Fitcher Bird," this dark fantasy is set in New York States Burned-Over District, at its time of historic religious ferment. All three Charter sisters will play their part in the story of Fitcher's Utopia: a story of faith gone wrong, and evil coun-tered by one brave, true soul.

A fine, white powder like snow settles on one human body and a plague of death is alive in the world's greatest city. One man's greed has created the deadly powder- and only The Avenger can stop its murderous spread.

Paul Ernst authored this novel under the pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

Gods' Magic, Mortal's Doom...

In a land where magic is real, where elves and dragons menace the unwary, and where the Norse gods wage a deadly campaign, using mortals as their favourite pawns, Loki, god of deception, and Freyr, god of war, are locked in a battle that could tip the universal balance toward order or eternal chaos. Searching the alternate timeways, Freyr has reached out to snatch Al Larson, twentieth-century American soldier, from the midst of a fire-fight in Vietnam, flinging him through time and space into the body of an elvish warrior to stand against Loki and his sorcerous ally, Bramin.

Torn from a world where bullets and grenades are the weapons of choice, and locked into an elvish body on a world where sword and spell are the means of battle, Al must adapt swiftly - or die. For the gods have marked him as their own private battleground, and Al's only chance rests in completing the quest Freyr has set him, a quest that will lead him to the very gates of Hel, where he must save a god - or destroy one!

His father wrongly executed when he was a child, Taziar Medakan had turned to stealing for his survival. He was the Shadow Climber, skilled at remaining one with the shadows, unseen in the midst of his enemies. And he stole not for profit, but for the challenge of it, donating most of his booty to those in need.

But though Taz could defeat any trap, he wasn't prepared for the treachery of Ilyrian, a cunning politician ready to sacrifice the Shadow Climber to gain power himself. So Taz found himself in the baron's dreaded dungeons from which even a master thief's only escape might be death! There he met Moonbear, a prince among barbarians, a swordsman beyond compare, and Taz's last hope for salvation.

Together the two sought their pathway to freedom. But it was a pathway that would set a whole kingdom on their trail in a pursuit led by Ilyrian and a Dragonrank sorcerer on his own mission of magical revenge.

Godslayer - was the name Al Larson earned when, torn away from the midst of the firefight in Vietnam and catapulted to a time and place where the Norse gods fought a deadly war of their own, he was instrumental in the death of Loki, a key lord of Chaos.

But now Larson, the master swordsman Gaelinar, and the elusive thief known as the Shadow Climber were about to embark on an even more desperate quest. For the balance between Chaos and Law had been all but lost.

Fenris Wolf stalked the lands of men, thirsting to drink the lifeblood of Larson and Gaelinar, while Hel herself sought vengeance for Loki's destruction. Pursued by these foes out of nightmare, could Larson and the others survive long enough to recover the one hope of the forces of Law - the legendary rod of Geirmagnus, the first Dragonrank mage - a mission that would take them from the citadel of Dragonrank powers to war-torn Vietnam to Hel's dark realm and beyond?

When Shadow received a message that Shylar needed his aid, the master thief and his three companions, Allerum - now an elf swordsman but once a twentieth century American soldier - and the two Dragonmages, Silme and Astryd, immediately set out for Shadow's hometown of Cullinsberg. For Shylar, town madam and high in the thieves' underground, was all the family Shadow had.

But Cullinsberg was an armed trap waiting to close on the four adventurers. For they had slain the Chaos Dragon, and in so doing unleashed a force of pure Chaos, a force which then bonded with the single greatest surviving Dragonmage. Driven by Chaos-induced madness, this master of powers far beyond those of Silme and Astryd would now use anyone and any means to take his deadly revenge on those four warriors of Law.

For Al Larson it all began with his death in a fire-fight in Vietnam. He woke from this certain death to find himself alive - in a body and a world that was not his own! Transformed into an elven warrior, he became an unsuspecting pawn of the Norse gods, claimed as a weapon by both the forces of Chaos and of Law. Faced with challenges that would take him to Hel and back, Al made a place for himself in a land of swordsmen and spell-casters, and, after slaying one god, he found himself leagued with sorceresses and a master thief in the endless battle against Chaos.

But when Al and Shadow the thief slew the Chaos dragon, they unleashed a magical force beyond anyone's power to contain. And Al and his companions would be forced to work a desperate magic to flee back to a twentieth century America which was not quite the one from which Al had originally come. But Chaos would not let Al, Shadow, and the Dragonrank mages Silme and Astryd escape so easily, and, a mortal man once again, Al would find himself caught in a desperate fight to save everyone he held dear, as Chaos pursued him into the heart of New York City.

Now in one volume, the first three novels in the startlingly original Bifrost Guardians series: an epic saga of a Vietnam soldier sent through time and space.

Godslayer: Torn away from the midst of firefight in Vietnam and catapulted to a time and place where the Norse gods fight a deadly war of their own, Al Larson finds himself locked into an elvish body on a world where swords and spells are the means of battle. Al must adapt swiftly or die. For the gods have marked him as their own private battleground, and Al's only chance rests in completing the quest Freyr has set him, a quest that will lead him to the very gates of Hel, where he must save a god--or destroy one.

Shadow Climber: Taziar Medakan is the Shadow Climber, skilled at remaining one with the shadows, unseen in the midst of his enemies. But though Taz can defeat any trap, he isn't prepared for the treachery that lands him in the baron's dreaded dungeon. In that seemingly inescapable place, he meets Moonbear, a prince among barbarians, a swordsman beyond compare, and Taz's only hope for salvation. But when the two seek a pathway to freedom, they find the whole kingdom on their trail in a pursuit led by a Dragonrank sorcerer on his own mission of magical revenge.

Dragonrank Master: The balance between Chaos and Law has been all but lost. Fenris Wolf and Hel herself both seek vengeance on Al Larson and his allies, the Shadow Climber and the master swordsman Gaelinar. Pursued by these nightmare foes, can Larson and the rest survive long enough to recover the one hope of the forces of Law--the legendary rod of Geirmagnus, the first Dragonrank mage--a mission that will take them from the citadel of Dragonrank powers to war-torn Vietnam to Hel's dark realm and beyond?

Table fo Contents:

• 1 - Godslayer - [The Bifrost Guardians - 1] - (1987) - novel by Mickey Zucker Reichert
• 161 - Shadow Climber - [The Bifrost Guardians - 2] - (1988) - novel by Mickey Zucker Reichert
• 375 - Dragonrank Master - [The Bifrost Guardians - 3] - (1989) - novel by Mickey Zucker Reichert

Now in one volume, the final two novels in the startlingly original Bifrost Guardians series: an epic saga of a Vietnam soldier sent through time and space.

Shadow's Realm: When Shadow received a message that Shylar needed his aid, the master thief and his three companions, Allerum--once a twentieth-century American soldier but now an elf swordsman--and the Dragonmages, Silme and Astryd, immediately set out for Shadow's hometown of Cullinsberg. For Shylar, town madam and high in the thieves' underground, was all the family Shadow had. But Cullinsberg was an armed trap waiting to close on them. For they had slain the Chaos Dragon and unleashed a force of pure Chaos, a force which then bonded with the single greatest surviving Dragonmage. Driven by Chaos-induced madness, this master of powers far beyond theirs would use anyone and any means to take his deadly revenge on these four warriors of Law....

By Chaos Cursed: For Al Larson, it began with his death in a firefight in Vietnam. He woke from death to find himself alive--in a body and a world not his own! Transformed into an elf warrior, he became an unsuspecting pawn of the Norse gods, claimed by both Chaos and Law. Faced with challenges that would take him to Hel and back, Al teamed up with two sorceresses and a master thief in the endless battle against Chaos. But when Al and Shadow the thief slew the Chaos Dragon, they unleashed a magical force beyond anyone's power to contain. Working a desperate magic, Al and his companions fled back to a twentieth-century America which was not quite Al's own. But Chaos wouldn't let Al, Shadow, and the Dragonrank mages Silme and Astryd escape so easily. A mortal man once again, Al found himself caught in a last-ditch fight to save everyone he held dear, as Chaos pursued him into the heart of New York City....

Table of Contents:

• 9 - Shadow's Realm - [The Bifrost Guardians - 4] - (1990) - novel by Mickey Zucker Reichert
• 287 - By Chaos Cursed - [The Bifrost Guardians - 5] - (1991) - novel by Mickey Zucker Reichert

Full of imagination, wit, and random sh*t flying through the air, this insane adventure from an irreverent new voice will blow your tiny mind...

For Teagan Frost, sh*t just got real.

Teagan Frost is having a hard time keeping it together. Sure, she's got telekinetic powers -- a skill that the government is all too happy to make use of, sending her on secret break-in missions that no ordinary human could carry out. But all she really wants to do is kick back, have a beer, and pretend she's normal for once.

But then a body turns up at the site of her last job -- murdered in a way that only someone like Teagan could have pulled off. She's got 24 hours to clear her name - and it's not just her life at stake. If she can't unravel the conspiracy in time, her hometown of Los Angeles will be in the crosshairs of an underground battle that's on the brink of exploding...

Teagan Frost -- the girl with telekinetic powers and a killer paella recipe -- faces a new threat that could wipe out her home forever...

Teagan Frost's life is finally back on track. Her role working for the government as a psychokinetic operative is going well. She might also be on course for convincing her crush, Nic Delacourt, to go out with her. And she's even managed to craft the perfect paella.

But Teagan is about to face her biggest threat yet. A young boy with the ability to cause earthquakes has come to Los Angeles -- home to the San Andreas, one of the most lethal fault lines in the world. If Teagan can't stop him, the entire city -- and the rest of California -- will be wiped off the map...

Teagan Frost might be getting better at moving sh*t with her mind - but her job working as a telekinetic government operative only ever seems to get harder. That's not even talking about her car-crash of a love life...

And things are about to get even tougher. No sooner has Teagan chased off one psychotic kid hell-bent on trashing the whole West Coast, but now she has to contend with another supernatural being who can harness devastating electrical power. And if Teagan can't stop him, the whole of Los Angeles will be facing the sh*tstorm of the century...

Teagan Frost has enough sh*t to deal with, between her job as a telekinetic government operative and a certain pair of siblings who have returned from the dead to wreak havoc with their powers. But little does she know, things are about to get even more crazy...

Teagan might have survived the flash flood of the century, but now she's trapped in a hotel by a bunch of gun-toting maniacs. And to make matters worse, her powers have mysteriously disappeared. Faced with certain death at every turn, Teagan will need to use every resource she has to stop a plot that could destroy Los Angeles - maybe even the entire world.

Dark Brotherhood

As the city of London slumbers, there are those in its midst who conspire to rule the world through the darkest and most nefarious means. These seven, seated in positions of extraordinary power and influence, marshal forces from the far side to aid them in their fiendish endeavor.

Force of One

In the aftermath of a bloody séance and a terrifying supernatural contact, a courageous young doctor finds himself drawn into a malevolent conspiracy beyond human comprehension.

All or Nothing

The future is not safe, as a thousand-year reign of pure evil is about to begin, unless a small group of stalwart champions can unravel the unspeakable mysteries behind a crime far more terrible than murder.

The ancient holy texts are missing.
The death of the world approaches.

Six extraordinary men have shared one vision of a black tower and a river of blood. Somewhere in the desert wastelands of America, the ultimate battle will be waged. The greatest experiment in evil since the beginning of time is under way, with all humanity its designated sacrifice.

The future is in the hands of the Six.

Meet Karn. He is destined to take over the family farm in Norrøngard. His only problem? He'd rather be playing the board game Thrones and Bones.

Enter Thianna. Half human, half frost giantess. She's too tall to blend in with other humans but too short to be taken seriously as a giant.

When family intrigues force Karn and Thianna to flee into the wilderness, they have to keep their sense of humor and their wits about them. But survival can be challenging when you're being chased by a 1,500-year-old dragon, Helltoppr the undead warrior and his undead minions, an evil uncle, wyverns, and an assortment of trolls and giants.

Readers will embark on a sweeping epic fantasy as they join Karn and Thianna on a voyage of discovery. Antics and hair-raising escapades abound in this fantasy adventure as the two forge a friendship and journey to unknown territory. Their plan: to save their families from harm.

Debut novelist Lou Anders has created a rich world of over twenty-five countries inhabited by Karn, Thianna, and an array of fantastical creatures, as well as the Thrones and Bones board game.

Ellie and her friends, an unarmed bunch of amateur teen fighters, have achieved more than they ever thought possible. But it's not enough. The war wages on, their families are in captivity and their country is on its knees. Hiding back in Hell, the friends face a big question: what to do next?

The gang have another success when they manage to rescue Kevin. He returns to them equipped with a new knowledge of explosives. Suddenly the question of what to do next becomes clear - launch an attack on the major enemy target of Cobblers' Bay.

Can Ellie, Homer, Fi, Robin, Lee and Kevin really stage a major military attack on the enemy? And in their attempt to pull it off, what will they have to sacrifice? They have already lost Corrie and Chris; who else will the group have to lose in their desperation to defend their country?

The Third Day, The Frost, draws the reader deeper into the struggle of these ordinary teens attempting to survive in extraordinary times. It is a tense and moving read that will stay with you forever.

Smart, sexy, supernatural--the men and women of the Otherworld live and love, fight and die, among us. Unseen and unsuspected, this realm of witches, ghosts, and werewolves is now threatened with exposure by a brutal series of bizarre murders that has left even the supernatural world baffled--and cold with terror....

Being the world's only female werewolf has its advantages, such as having her pick of the Otherworld's most desirable males. And Elena Michaels couldn't have picked a more dangerously sexy and undyingly loyal mate than Clayton Danvers. Now their bond will be put to the ultimate test as they follow a bloody trail of gruesome slayings deep into Alaska's frozen wilderness.

There's nothing the werewolf community dislikes more than calling attention to itself. So when a pair of rogue man-eaters begins hunting humans, it's up to Elena and Clayton to track down the predators. But any illusions their task would be simple are quickly dispelled. For even in werewolf terms, there's something very disturbing taking place in the dark Alaskan forests. A werewolf more wolf than human and more unnatural than supernatural is on the hunt--a creature whose origins seem to spring from ancient legends of the shape-shifting Wendigo.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Clayton and Elena find themselves confronting painful ghosts from their pasts--and an issue neither of them is eager to discuss. For one of them has been chosen to become the new Pack leader, and as every wolf knows, there can be only one Alpha. They've always been equals in everything. Now, when their survival depends more than ever on perfect teamwork, will instinct allow one of them to lead…and the other to follow?