Search Worlds Without End

For as long as sixteen-year-old Adele can remember, the village of Oakvale has been surrounded by the dark wood--a forest filled with terrible monsters. A forest that light itself cannot penetrate.

Unlike her fellow villagers, Adele cannot avoid the dark wood.

Adele is one of a long line of guardians: women who secretly take on the form of a wolf, in order to protect their village.

But when accepting her fate means giving up the boy she loves, abandoning the future she imagined for herself, and breaking her own moral code, she must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her neighbors safe.

Dedicating herself to bringing her brother Cerrov, the rightful heir, to the Wolf Throne of Rhazaulle, Shalindra is taken captive in the mountain stronghold of her uncle Varis, the master of the dead who hopes to usurp the crown.

A DRAFT FROM THE PAST

There's something unnerving about the October north wind. It makes a wolf in the wilderness turn southward, in search of dangerous prey. It gets inside people's ears, opening their minds to bizarre ideas. It gets under their skin, inclining them to violence.

Of course there's the comet too, a spectacular one, tracked by ordinary people in back yards, and by not-so-ordinary cult members at the top of a makeshift observatory.

Something's gusting into Epsom, Minnesota. A witch in her quiet house feels it with dread. A young disc jockey feels it with confusion. A world-famous Norwegian poet greets it with triumph. And Professor Carl Martell listens to its song with worry--because Martell cannot tell a lie, but he knows one when he hears it.

In the United States of the bleak and menacing near future, teenagers have taken over the running of the country.

The all-powerful young have enacted laws that mandate retirement at the age of fifty five. From that point on, geriatrics, or Gerrys as they're called, lose all access to social services, health care, and medications. They undergo regular, mandatory physical examinations. Any elder found to be the slightest bit infirm undergoes euthanasia.

Mobile death vans, the dreaded Euth Wagons, patrol the streets, picking up the elderly for testing, executing them on the spot if they're in less than perfect heath.

The callous and murderous attitude of the young toward the elderly sets in motion a frightening revolution, an epic struggle, a literal battle of the ages. Young against old. The raw, unbridled energy and arbitrary whims of teenagers against the wisdom and thoughtfulness of experience.

It's thirty years in the future. In the Boston Minutemen locker room, Street Football League quarterback T.K. Mann prepares himself for the biggest, riskiest, most dangerous game of his life. At the age of thirty-four, T.K. is the oldest player in the ultraviolent sport of Professional Street Football, a phenomenally popular twenty-four-hour-long athletic event combining pro football with mixed martial arts and armed combat.

From its outlaw beginnings as a gang game played on urban streets, the SFL has rapidly risen to become the nation's most popular spectator sport. On every Sunday, armed and deadly players on SFL teams main and murder one another in front of huge television audiences. The International Broadcasting Company, the network that owns exclusive telecasting rights to SFL games, is not satisfied. The network wants more viewers, more team merchandise sales, more advertisers, more profits. To get that, they need to give the fans what they want, -- more violence and more death.

In the near future, travelers are electronically disassembled, transmitted through wires and reassembled at their destinations. A totally safe process. Except.... when sometimes travelers go in and don't come out. That becomes a problem for Saul Lukas. The Resurrectionist. His job - find lost travelers and get them out. Before the wires disrupts them so badly they can never come out again. At least not in human form.

Talinn Reaze and Bee serve as "Breezy," part of the United Colonial Force's elite Artificial Intelligence Troops. Trained for full integration since before Talinn's birth, they exceeded expectations and became one of the premier heavy tanks, leading assaults on several fronts of the long war against the Interstellar Defense Corps.

When they're thrown to a backwater base without cause, boredom becomes their main enemy--until the world falls out from under their treads and they begin to question everything they've ever known.

As they orient to their new reality, they have a decision to make: Uphold the status quo, or risk burning civilization to the ground?

Talinn and Bee always did have a fondness for fire.

LIMBO is a uniquely unusual, dazzling novel of the future that is unlike anything you have ever read- or are likely to read.

Dr. Martine, a neurosurgeon, flees a limited nuclear war to a forgotten island in the Indian Ocean. After 18 years of performing "humane" lobotomies on island natives, he sets out to rediscover the world. What he finds is a grotesque post-bomb society in which self-mutilation and installed prosthetic limbs are used to mute the urge to make war.

Bernard Wolfe, co-author of Really The Blues, grapples with the largest issues of our century in Limbo.

Jeremy has a dream: To be the greatest lightmaker for the greatest west coast rock band, RebelFire. But what can he do? He's just a kid. A kid trapped in a prison-like school.

Trapped in a world where dreams are "treated" with drugs - and roving patrols make sure you take your dose. Trapped in the Zone, where travel without a permit is impossible. Trapped under the all-controlling eye of spycams, sensors, and monitors. Trapped by the chip in his wrist that regulates everything Jeremy can - or can't - do. Trapped in a world where some far-off control freak can even decide what music he's allowed - or forbidden - to hear.

Jeremy's only choice is to shut up and do as he's ordered. But some people were never meant to be controlled...

Gary K. Wolfe has been a long-time reviewer for Locus magazine, and 1992 was his first full year with the magazine. This book collects most of his review columns (nearly 200 books) from the beginning of 1997 up to the end of 2001. Gary Wolfe is one of speculative fiction's smartest observers and wisest critics.

A collection of reviews by Gary Wolfe originally published in the monthly magazine, "Locus," from 1992-1996.

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in the German language anthology Tor zu den Sternen (litt: Gate to the Stars, 1981), edited by Peter Wilfert. The first English publication was in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, February 1984. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection (1985), edited by Gardner Dozois, Nebula Awards 20 (1985), edited by George Zebrowski, The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 11 (1985), Little People! (1991), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, Modern Classics of Fantasy (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois and Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction (2005), also edited by Dozois. It is included in the collections Endangered Species (1989) and The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009).

Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman invite you to tour the Shambles, that historic old Chicago neighborhood which miraculously survived the Great Fire of 1871. ('Ya can't burn Hell,' as one local politician laughingly remarked.) Uniquely Chicago, the Shambles offers an array of delights for the intrepid sightseer: Cereal House with its Terribly Strange Bed (be sure to fill out the 'next of kin' form if you stay the night: a quaint touch adding to the fun of an overnight visit); the House of Clocks boasts a collection of 20,000 time pieces Ñ make sure you arrive on the hour, for an unforgettable moment; the historic H.H. Holmes' House with the bars on his children's windows still intact; Saunders Park, a soothing respite from the city streets (if one is careful), with its gardens, statuary, ornamental lake and the infamous Petting Zoo (a favorite with children, but it's best not to bring your own); plus many more intriguing sights...

In the finest tradition of Charles Addams and Edward Gorey, our trustworthy guides Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman reveal the secrets of the Shambles, finding the best places to eat, (and where not to accept food under any circumstances), where to begin your walking tour, and when to run.

The Shambles has been called a place of dark magic and deadly menace. Many will insist there is no such place. Most pray it does not exist. Certainly, a spot not to be missed by any avid sightseer.

Come along... walk lively, now. The inhabitants of the Shambles are dying to meet you.

This lovely edition of A Walking Tour of the Shambles sports a cover by Gahan Wilson, America's reigning King of Whimsical Terrors, plus interior illustrations of Shambles' locales by Randy Broecker and Earl Geier, two daring Chicagoans.

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared the anthology Again, Dangerous Visions (1972), edited by Harlan Ellison. It can also be found in the anthology The Time Traveler's Almanac (2014), edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer and the collections Gene Wolfe's Book of Days (1981) and Castle of Days (1992).

This short story originally appeared in the anthology The Universe (1987), edited by Byron Preiss. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifth Annual Collection (1988), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF (1994), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, and The Big Book of Science Fiction (2016), edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. The story is included in the collection Endangered Species (1989).

Lovecraft mets Blade Runner. This is a stand-alone supernatural horror novel with a 30s noir atmosphere. Gene Wolfe can write in whatever genre he wants -- and always with superb style and profound depth. Now following his World Fantasy Award winner, Soldier of Sidon, and his stunning Pirate Freedom, Wolfe turns to the tradition of H.P. Lovecraft and the weird science tale of supernatural horror.

Set a hundred years in the future, An Evil Guest is a story of an actress who becomes the lover of both a mysterious sorcerer and private detective, and an even more mysterious and powerful rich man, who has been to the human colony on an alien planet and learned strange things there. Her loyalties are divided--perhaps she loves them both. The detective helps her to release her inner beauty and become a star overnight. And the rich man is the benefactor of a play she stars in. But something is very wrong. Money can be an evil guest, but there are other evils. As Lovecraft said, "That is not dead which can eternal lie."

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Swords & Dark Magic (2010), edited by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2011, edited by Rich Horton, and The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2011, edited by Paula Guran.

This short story originally appeared on Sci Fiction, February 5, 2003. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 9 (2004), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection Starwater Strains (2005).

This collection of fiction and nonfiction by one of sf's most luminescent writers includes "Gene Wolfe's Book of Days"--a cycle of 18 stories with holiday themes--and the collection "The Castle of the Otter" as well as speeches, essays, poems, and letters.

Arthurian legend collides with Main Street, USA, in Gene Wolfe's classic fantasy adventure. Castleview, Illinois, got its name from occasional sightings of a phantom castle on stormy nights--a place where the barrier between past and present is weak and strange things happen.

This short story originally appeared in Postscripts, Spring 2005. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection (2006), edited by Gardner Dozois, Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2006 Edition, edited by Rich Horton, and Year's Best Fantasy 6 (2006), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Kramer.

This short story originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, August 1996. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fourteenth Annual Collection (1997), edited by Gardner Dozois, Year's Best SF 2 (1997), edited by David G. Hartwell, and Robots (2005), edtied by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Strange Travelers (2000).

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Other Earths (2009), edited by Nick Gevers and Jay Lake. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 15 (2010), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.

Wolfe, whose tetralogy The Book of the New Sun was the most acclaimed science fiction work of the 1980s, offered his second collection of short fiction in 1990 to universal acclaim. This is a hefty volume of over 30 unforgettable stories in a variety of genres-- SF, fantasy, horror, mainstream-many of them offering variations on themes and situations found in folklore and fairy tales, and including two stories, "The Cat" and "The Map," which are set in the universe of his New Sun novels. Wolfe's deconstructions/reconstructions are provocative, multilayered, and resonant. This embarrassment of literary riches is a must for all Gene Wolfe fans, and anyone who loves a good tale beautifully told.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (1989) - essay
• A Cabin on the Coast - (1984) - shortstory
• The Map - (1984) - shortstory
• Kevin Malone - (1980) - shortstory
• The Dark of the June - (1974) - shortstory
• The Death of Hyle - (1974) - shortstory
• From the Notebook of Doctor Stein - (1974) - shortstory
• Thag - (1975) - shortstory
• The Nebraskan and the Nereid - (1985) - shortstory
• In the House of Gingerbread - (1987) - shortstory
• The Headless Man - (1972) - shortstory
• The Last Thrilling Wonder Story - (1982) - novelette
• House of Ancestors - (1968) - novelette
• Our Neighbour by David Copperfield - (1978) - shortstory
• When I Was Ming the Merciless - (1976) - shortstory
• The God and His Man - (1980) - shortstory
• The Cat - (1983) - shortstory
• The War Beneath the Tree - (1979) - shortstory
• Eyebem - (1970) - shortstory
• The HORARS of War - (1970) - shortstory
• The Detective of Dreams - (1980) - shortstory
• Peritonitis - (1973) - shortstory
• The Woman Who Loved the Centaur Pholus - (1979) - shortstory
• The Woman the Unicorn Loved - (1981) - novelette
• The Peace Spy - (1987) - shortstory
• All the Hues of Hell - (1987) - shortstory
• Procreation - (1983) - shortstory
• Lukora - (1988) - shortstory
• Suzanne Delage - (1980) - shortstory
• Sweet Forest Maid - (1971) - shortstory
• My Book - (1982) - shortstory
• The Other Dead Man - (1988) - shortstory
• The Most Beautiful Woman on the World - (1987) - shortstory
• The Tale of the Rose and the Nightingale (And What Came of It) - (1988) - novelette
• Silhouette - (1975) - novella

"Free Live Free," said the newspaper ad, and the out-of-work detective Jim Stubb, the occultist Madame Serpentina, the salesman Ozzie Barnes, and the overweight prostitute Candy Garth are brought together to live for a time in Free's old house, a house scheduled for demolition to make way for a highway.

Free drops mysterious hints of his exile from his homeland, and of the lost key to his return. And so when demolition occurs and Free disappears, the four make a pact to continue the search, which ultimately takes them far beyond their wildest dreams.

A collection with the stories assigned to specific dates within the year.

Contents:

• How the Whip Came Back (1970)
• Of Relays and Roses (1970)
• Paul's Treehouse (1969)
• St. Brandon (Excerpt from "Peace") (1975)
• Beautyland (1973)
• Car Sinister (1970)
• The Blue Mouse (1971)
• How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion (1973)
• The Adopted Father (1980)
• Forlesen (1974)
• An Article About Hunting (1973)
• The Changeling (1968)
• Many Mansions (1977)
• Against the Lafayette Escadrille (1972)
• Three Million Square Miles (1971)
• The War Beneath the Tree (1979)
• La Befana (1973)
• Melting (1974)

Locus Award winning and World Fantasy Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy (2004), edited by Al Sarrantonio. The story can also be found in the anthology Year's Best Fantasy 5 (2005), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. It is included in the collection Starwater Strains (2005).

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Moon Shots (1999), edited by Peter Crowther. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 5 (2000), edited by David G. Hartwell. The story is included in the collections Starwater Strains (2005) and The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009).

Gene Wolfe takes us to a future North America at once familiar and utterly strange. A young man and woman, Skip and Chelle, fall in love in college and marry, but she is enlisted in the military, there is a war on, and she must serve her tour of duty before they can settle down. But the military is fighting a war with aliens in distant solar systems, and her months in the service will be years in relative time on Earth. Chelle returns to recuperate from severe injuries, after months of service, still a young woman but not necessarily the same person-while Skip is in his forties and a wealthy businessman, but eager for her return.

Still in love (somewhat to his surprise and delight), they go on a Caribbean cruise to resume their marriage. Their vacation rapidly becomes a complex series of challenges, not the least of which are spies, aliens, and battles with pirates who capture the ship for ransom. There is no writer in SF like Gene Wolfe and no SF novel like Home Fires.

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, May 1973. The story can also be found in the anthologyThe Best of Analog (1978), edited by Ben Bova and the collections Gene Wolfe's Book of Days (1981) and Castle of Days (1992).

WFA nominated short story. It originally appeared in the antholgoy The Architecture of Fear (1987), edited by Peter D. Pautz and Kathryn Cramer. The story can also be found in the anthology Beyond the Woods: Fairy Tales Retold (2016), edited by Paula Guran. It is included in the collection Endangered Species (1989).

Gene Wolfe may be the single best writer in fantasy and SF today. His quotes and reviews certainly support that contention, and so does his impressive short fiction oeuvre. Innocents Aboard gathers fantasy and horror stories from the last decade that have never before been in a Wolfe collection. Highlights from the twenty-two stories include "The Tree is my Hat," adventure and horror in the South Seas, "The Night Chough," a Long Sun story, "The Walking Sticks," a darkly humorous tale of a supernatural inheritance, and "Houston, 1943," lurid adventures in a dream that has no end. This is fantastic fiction at its best.

Hugo- and Nebula-nominated Novella

Humans go into space for many reasons. For some it's adventure and excitement. Others, it's the solitude. And some choose it for their final resting place.

March Wildspring is a freelance cameraman, working on a documentary on the memorials drifting in the emptiness of space. Some are lovely, peaceful monuments to the deceased. Others are built not to honor the dead, but to trap the living. Memorial 19 is like nothing March has ever seen before. And when he and his crew enter it, they will not be allowed to leave unchanged...

Hugo Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1997. The story can also be found in the anthology The Best from Fantasy & Science Fiction: The Fiftieth Anniversary Anthology (1999), edited by Edward L. Ferman and Gordon Van Gelder. It is included in the collection Strange Travelers (2000).

Operation Ares depicts a dystopian future, with the United States controlled by an anti-technological leftist regime. The story traces protagonist John Castle's conflict with the government and his increasing involvement with a rebellion backed by a Martian colony which has severed its ties to the U.S. government.

The box is heavy, locked, and very old. The only clue to its contents is the name written in gold upon its lid: PANDORA. Bright teenager Holly Hollander is understandably curious about what's inside, but when the box is opened, death is unleashed... and Holly is the only one who can solve the deadly puzzle.

Living out his final days in a small midwestern town, an embittered elderly man, Alden Dennis Weer, explores his unique imagination, which has the power to obliterate time and reshape reality.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Return of the Dinosaurs (1997), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Mike Resnick. 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 collections Starwater Strains (2005) and The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009).

As a young parish priest, Father Christopher has heard many confessions, but his own tale is more astounding than any revelation he has ever encountered in the confessional... for Chris was once a pirate captain, hundreds of years before his birth.

Fresh from the monastery, the former novice finds himself inexplicably transported back to the Golden Age of Piracy, where an unexpected new life awaits him. At first, he resists joining the notorious Brethren of the Coast, but he soon embraces the life of a buccaneer, even as he succumbs to the seductive charms of a beautiful and enigmatic senorita. As the captain of his own swift ship, which may or may not be cursed, he plunders the West Indies in search of Spanish gold. From Tortuga to Port Royal, from the stormy waters of the Caribbean to steamy tropical jungles, Captain Chris finds danger, passion, adventure, and treachery as he hoists the black flag and sets sail for the Spanish mainland.

Where he will finally come to port only God knows....

Contents:

• Gene Wolfe - (1984) - essay by David G. Hartwell
• Logology - (1984) - essay by Gene Wolfe
• The Books in The Book of the New Sun - (1984) - essay by Gene Wolfe
• In Looking-Glass Castle - (1980)
• The Rubber Bend - (1974)
• The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton - (1977)
• When I Was Ming the Merciless - (1976)
• The HORARS of War - (1970)
• A Criminal Proceeding - (1980)
• The Detective of Dreams - (1980)
• British Soldier Near Rapier Antiaircraft Missile Battery Scans for the Enemy - (1984)
• Last Night in the Garden of Forking Tongues - (1984)
• The Computer Iterates the Greater Trumps - (1977)
• The Anatomy of a Robot - (1983) - essay by Gene Wolfe

This short story originally appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, March 2004. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 10 (2005), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection Starwater Strains (2005).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Orbit 20 (1978), edited by Damon Knight. It can also be found in the anthologies Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Eighth Annual Collection (1979), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Best Science Fiction Novellas of the Year #1 (1979), edited by Terry Carr, Nebula Winners Fourteen (1980), edited by Frederik Pohl, and The Dark Descent: The Evolution of Horror (1987), edited by David G. Hartwell. It is half of Tor Double #10: Sailing to Byzantium/Seven American Nights (1989, with Robert Siverberg) and is included in the collections The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (1980) and The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009).

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Mars Probes (2002), edited by Peter Crowther. 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 Starwater Strains (2005).

This short story originally appeared in the collection Strange Birds (2006). It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume One (2007), edited by Jonathan Strahan, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twentieth Annual Collection (2007), edited by Ellen Datlow, Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link, and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18 (2007), edited by Stephen Jones.

Gene Wolfe follows his acclaimed all-fantasy short story collection, Innocents Aboard, with a volume devoted primarily to his science fiction. The twenty-five stories here amply demonstrate his range, excellence, and mastery of the form. A few tantalizing samples:

"Viewpoint" takes on the unreality of so-called "reality" TV and imagines such a show done truly for real, with real guns. "Empires of Foliage and Flower" is in the classic Book of the New Sun series. "Golden City Far." is about dreams, high school, and finding love, which Wolfe says "is about as good a recipe for a story as I've ever found." You're sure to agree.

Table of Contents

• Introduction - essay
• Viewpoint - (2001) - novelette
• Rattler - (2004) - short story with Brian A. Hopkins
• In Glory Like Their Star - (2001) - short story
• Calamity Warps - (2003) - short story
• Graylord Man's Last Words - (2003) - short story
• Shields of Mars - (2002) - short story
• From the Cradle - (2002) - novelette
• Black Shoes - (2003) - short story
• Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon? - (1999) - short story
• Pulp Cover - (2004) - short story
• Of Soil and Climate - (2003) - short story
• The Dog of the Drops - (2002) - short story
• Mute - (2002) - short story
• Petting Zoo - (1997) - short story
• Castaway - (2003) - short story
• The Fat Magician - (2000) - short story
• Hunter Lake - (2003) - short story
• The Boy Who Hooked the Sun - (1985) - short story
• Try and Kill It - (1996) - novelette
• Game in the Pope's Head - (1988) - short story
• Empires of Foliage and Flower - (1987) - novelette
• The Arimaspian Legacy - (1987) - short story
• The Seraph From Its Sepulcher - (1991) - short story
• Lord of the Land - (1990) - novelette
• Golden City Far - (2004) - novelette

Hailed as "one of the literary giants of science fiction" by The Denver Post, Gene Wolfe is universally acknowledged as one of the most brilliant writers the field has ever produced. Winner of the World Fantasy Award for best fiction collection, Storeys from the Old Hotel contains thirty-one remarkable gems of Wolfe's short fiction from the past two decades, most unavailable in any other form.

Storeys from the Old Hotel includes many of Gene Wolfe's most appealing and engaging works, from short-shorts that can be read in single setting to whimsical fantasy and even Sherlock Holmes pastiches. It is a literary feast for anyone interested in the best science fiction has to offer.

Table of Contents:

• 7 - Storeys from the Old Hotel: An Introduction - (1988) - essay
• 14 - The Green Rabbit from S'Rian - [Liavek] - (1985) - short story
• 32 - Beech Hill - (1972) - short story
• 38 - Sightings at Twin Mounds - (1988) - short story
• 43 - Continuing Westward - (1973) - short story
• 49 - Slaves of Silver - (1971) - short story
• 66 - The Rubber Bend - (1974) - novelette
• 86 - Westwind - (1973) - short story
• 94 - Sonya, Crane Wessleman, and Kittee - (1970) - short story
• 99 - The Packerhaus Method - (1970) - short story
• 105 - Straw - (1975) - short story
• 113 - The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton - (1977) - novelette
• 131 - To the Dark Tower Came - (1977) - short story
• 137 - Parkroads—A Review - (1987) - short fiction
• 140 - The Flag - (1988) - short story
• 142 - Alphabet - (1988) - short story
• 145 - A Criminal Proceeding - (1980) - short story
• 151 - In Looking-Glass Castle - (1980) - short story
• 164 - Cherry Jubilee - (1982) - novelette
• 191 - Redbeard - (1984) - short story
• 197 - A Solar Labyrinth - (1983) - short story
• 200 - Love, Among the Corridors - (1984) - short story
• 204 - Checking Out - (1986) - short story
• 207 - Morning-Glory - (1970) - short story
• 214 - Trip, Trap - (1967) - novelette
• 240 - From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton - (1983) - short story
• 245 - Civis Lapvtvs Svm - (1975) - short story
• 252 - The Recording - (1972) - short story
• 256 - Last Day - (1982) - short story
• 260 - Death of the Island Doctor - [Archipelago] - (1983) - short story
• 266 - On the Train - [Redwood Coast Roamer] - (1983) - short fiction
• 267 - In the Mountains - [Redwood Coast Roamer] - (1983) - short fiction
• 268 - At the Volcano's Lip - [Redwood Coast Roamer] - (1983) - short fiction
• 269 - In the Old Hotel - [Redwood Coast Roamer] - (1983) - short fiction
• 270 - Choice of the Black Goddess - [Liavek] - (1986) - novelette

Gene Wolfe is producing the most significant body of short fiction of any living writer in the SF genre. It has been ten years since the last major Wolfe collection, so Strange Travelers contains a whole decade of achievement. Some of these stories were award nominees, some were controversial, but each is unique and beautifully written.

Table of Contents

• Bluesberry Jam - (1996) - novelette
• One-Two-Three for Me - (1996) - short story
• Counting Cats in Zanzibar - (1996) - short story
• The Death of Koshchei the Deathless (a tale of old Russia) - (1995) - short story
• No Planets Strike - (1997) - short story
• Bed and Breakfast - (1996) - short fiction
• To the Seventh - (1996) - novelette
• Queen of the Night - (1994) - short story
• And When They Appear - (1993) - novelette
• Flash Company - (1997) - short story
• The Haunted Boardinghouse - (1990) - novelette
• Useful Phrases - (1993) - short story
• The Man in the Pepper Mill - (1996) - novelette
• The Ziggurat - (1995) - novella
• Ain't You 'Most Done? - (1996) - novelette

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Edges (1980), edited by Ursula K. Le Guin and Virginia Kidd, and was reprinted in Lightspeed, September 2013. The story is included in the collection Endangered Species (1989).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

From a literary perspective, this will certainly be the best collection of the year in science fiction and fantasy. Gene Wolfe, of whom The Washington Post said, "Of all SF writers currently active none is held in higher esteem," has selected the short fiction he considers his finest into one volume.

There are many award winners and many that have been selected for various Year's Best anthologies among the thirty-one stories, which include: "Petting Zoo," "The Tree Is My Hat," "The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories," "The Hero as Werewolf," "Seven American Nights," "The Fifth Head of Cerberus," "The Detective of Dreams," and "A Cabin on the Coast." Gene Wolfe has produced possibly the finest and most significant body of short fiction in the SF and fantasy field in the last fifty years, and is certainly among the greatest living writers to emerge from the genres. This is the first retrospective collection of his entire career.

It is for the ages.

Table of Contents:

• The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories - [Archipelago] - (1970) - short story
• Afterword (The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories) - essay
• The Toy Theater - (1971) - short story
• Afterword (The Toy Theater) - essay
• The Fifth Head of Cerberus - [The Fifth Head of Cerberus] - (1972) - novella
• Afterword (The Fifth Head of Cerberus) - essay
• Beech Hill - (1972) - short story
• Afterword (Beech Hill) - essay
• The Recording - (1972) - short story
• Afterword (The Recording) - essay
• Hour of Trust - (1973) - novelette
• Afterword (Hour of Trust) - essay
• The Death of Dr. Island - [Archipelago] - (1973) - novella
• Afterword (The Death of Dr. Island) - essay
• La Befana - (1973) - short story
• Afterword (La Befana) - essay
• Forlesen - (1974) - novelette
• Afterword (Forlesen) - essay
• Westwind - (1973) - short story
• Afterword (Westwind) - essay
• The Hero As Werwolf - (1975) - short story
• Afterword (The Hero as Werwolf) - essay
• The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton - (1977) - novelette
• Afterword (The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton) - essay
• Straw - (1975) - short story
• Afterword (Straw) - essay
• The Eyeflash Miracles - (1976) - novella
• Afterword (The Eyeflash Miracles) - essay
• Seven American Nights - (1978) - novella
• Afterword (Seven American Nights) - essay
• The Detective of Dreams - (1980) - short story
• Afterword (The Detective of Dreams) - essay
• Kevin Malone - (1980) - short story
• Afterword (Kevin Malone) - essay
• The God and His Man - (1980) - short story
• Afterword (The God and His Man) - essay
• On the Train - [Redwood Coast Roamer] - (1983) - short fiction
• Afterword (On the Train) - essay
• From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton - (1983) - short story
• Afterword (From the Desk of Gilmer C. Merton) - essay
• Death of the Island Doctor - [Archipelago] - (1983) - short story
• Afterword (Death of the Island Doctor) - essay
• Redbeard - (1984) - short story
• Afterword (Redbeard) - essay
• The Boy Who Hooked the Sun - (1985) - short story
• Afterword (The Boy Who Hooked the Sun) - essay
• Parkroads--A Review - (1987) - short fiction
• Afterword (Parkroads--A Review) - essay
• Game in the Pope's Head - (1988) - short story
• Afterword (Game in the Pope's Head) - essay
• And When They Appear - (1993) - novelette
• Afterword (And When They Appear) - essay
• Bed and Breakfast - (1996) - short fiction (variant of Bed & Breakfast)
• Afterword (Bed and Breakfast) - essay
• Petting Zoo - (1997) - short story
• Afterword (Petting Zoo) - essay
• The Tree Is My Hat - (1999) - novelette
• Afterword (The Tree Is My Hat) - essay
• Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon? - (1999) - short story
• Afterword (Has Anybody Seen Junie Moon?) - essay
• A Cabin on the Coast - (1984) - short story
• Afterword (A Cabin on the Coast) - essay

Back in print after two decades, this fantasy tells of a young man who lives in a village deep in the forest in medieval times. Mark finds himself torn between his hero worship for charming highwayman Wat and his growing suspicion of Wat's cold savagery. And Mother Cloot, who may have sorcerous powers, works in equally suspicious ways--perhaps for evil, perhaps for good.

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).

Hugo and Nebula Award nominated novella. The story originally appeared in the anthology Orbit 10 (1972), Damon Knight. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #2 (1973), edited by Terry Carr, Nebula Award Stories Eight (1973), edited by Isaac Asimov, The World Treasury of Science Fiction (1989), edited by David G. Hartwell and Modern Classics of Science Fiction (1991), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collection The Best of Gene Wolfe (2009). It was expanded to a the full novel The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972).

Back in print for the first time in more than a decade, Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus is a universally acknowledged masterpiece of science fiction by one of the field's most brilliant writers.

Far out from Earth, two sister planets, Saint Anne and Saint Croix, circle each other in an eternal dance. It is said a race of shapeshifters once lived here, only to perish when men came. But one man believes they can still be found, somewhere in the back of the beyond.

In The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Wolfe skillfully interweaves three bizarre tales to create a mesmerizing pattern: the harrowing account of the son of a mad genius who discovers his hideous heritage; a young man's mythic dreamquest for his darker half; the bizarre chronicle of a scientists' nightmarish imprisonment. Like an intricate, braided knot, the pattern at last unfolds to reveal astonishing truths about this strange and savage alien landscape.

"The Hero as Werwolf" combines SF, surrealism, and horror tropes, producing an unusual and unique concoction. Wolfe uses the original spelling of werwolf because that spelling describes a man who is to be feared because he became like a wolf, rather than someone who literally transforms into a wolf.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology The New Improved Sun (1975), edited by Thomas M. Disch. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction of the Year #5 (1976), edited by Terry Carr, Aliens Among Us (2000), edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann, and Supermen: Tales of the Posthuman Future (2002), edited by Gardner Dozois. 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). A chapbook editon appeared in 1991.

A superb collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a book that transcends all genre definitions. The stories within are mined with depth charges, explosions of meaning and illumination that will keep you thinking and feeling long after you have finished reading.

Table of Contents:

• The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories - (1970) - shortstory
• Alien Stones - (1972) - novelette
• La Befana - (1973) - shortstory
• The Hero as Werwolf - (1975) - shortstory
• Three Fingers - (1976) - shortstory
• The Death of Dr. Island - (1973) - novella
• Feather Tigers - (1973) - shortstory
• Hour of Trust - (1973) - novelette
• Tracking Song - (1975) - novella
• The Toy Theater - (1971) - shortstory
• The Doctor of Death Island - (1978) - novella
• "Cues - (1974) - shortstory
• The Eyeflash Miracles - (1976) - novella
• Seven American Nights - (1978) - novella

An American writer of travel guides in need of a new location chooses to travel to a small and obscure Eastern European country. The moment Grafton crosses the border he is in trouble, much more than he could have imagined. His passport is taken by guards, and then he is detained for not having it. He is released into the custody of a family, but is again detained. It becomes evident that there are supernatural agencies at work, but they are not in some ways as threatening as the brute forces of bureaucracy and corruption in that country. Is our hero in fact a spy for the CIA? Or is he an innocent citizen caught in a Kafkaesque trap?

In The Land Across, Gene Wolfe keeps us guessing until the very end, and after.

This short story originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October-November 1992 and was reprinted in Lightspeed, March 2012. The story can also be found in the collection Innocents Aboard: New Fantasy Stories (2004).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Sturgeon Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology The First Heroes: New Tales of the Bronze Age (2004), edited by Harry Turtledove and Noreen Doyle. The story can also be found in the anthologies Science Fiction: The Best of 2004, edtied by Karen Haber and Jonathan Strahan, and The Time Traveler's Almanac (2014), edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer. It is included in the collection Innocents Aboard: New Fantasy Stories (2004).

In a contemporary town in the American Midwest where he has no connections, an educated man recently released from prison is staying in a motel. He writes letters to his brother and to others, including a friend still in jail. When he meets a real estate agent who tells him he is the heir to a huge old house, long empty, he moves in, though he is too broke to even buy furniture, and is immediately confronted by supernatural and fantastic creatures and events.

His life is utterly transformed and we read on, because we must know more. We revise our opinions of him, and of others, with each letter. We learn things about magic, and another world, and about the sorcerer Mr. Black, who originally inhabited the house. And then perhaps we read it again.

Table of Contents:

• Foreword - essay
• Death of the Island Doctor - shortstory
• The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories - shortstory
• The Death of Dr. Island - (1973) - novella
• The Doctor of Death Island - (1978) - novella

An all new collection from an American literary icon...

The circus comes to town... and a man gets to go to the stars.

A young girl on a vacation at the sea meets the man of her dreams. Who just happens to be dead. And an immortal pirate.

A swordfighter pens his memoirs... and finds his pen is in fact mightier than the sword.

Welcome to Gene Wolfe's playground, a place where genres blend and a genius's imagination straps you in for the ride of your life.

The Wolfe at the Door is a brand new collection from one of America's premiere literary giants, showcasing some material never been seen before. Short stories, yes, but also poems, essays, and ephemera that gives us a window into the mind of a literary powerhouse whose world view changed generations of readers in their perception of the universe.

Hugo Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, June 8, 1981. The story can also be found in the anthologies Unicorns! (1982) edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois and The Best Science Fiction of the Year #11 (1982), edited by Terry Carr. It is included in the collection Endangered Species (1989).

This novella originally appeared in the anthology Full Spectrum 5 (1995), edited by Tom Dupree, Jennifer Hershey and Janna Silverstein. It can also be found in the anthologies Year's Best SF (1995), edited by David G. Hartwell, and The Secret History of Science Fiction (2009), edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel. The story is included in the collection Strange Travelers (2000).

There Are Doors is the story of a man who falls in love with a goddess from an alternate universe. She flees him, but he pursues her through doorways - interdimensional gateways - to the other place, determined to sacrifice his life, if necessary, for her love. For in her world, to be her mate... is to die.

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Redshift: Extreme Visions of Speculative Fiction (2001), edited by Al Sarrantonio. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 7 (2002), edited by David G. Hartwell and Karhryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection Starwater Strains (2005).

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Omni, December 1979. The story can also be found in the anthology Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Tenth Annual Collection (1981), edited by Gardner Dozois and the collections Endangered Species (1989) and Castle of Days (1992).

A unique anthology of all-new stories that challenges authors to throw down the gauntlet in an epic genre battle and demands an answer to the age-old question: Who is more awesome--robots or fairies?

Rampaging robots! Tricksy fairies! Facing off for the first time in an epic genre death match!

People love pitting two awesome things against each other. Robots vs. Fairies is an anthology that pitches genre against genre, science fiction against fantasy, through an epic battle of two icons.

On one side, robots continue to be the classic sci-fi phenomenon in literature and media, from Asimov to WALL-E, from Philip K. Dick to Terminator. On the other, fairies are the beloved icons and unquestionable rulers of fantastic fiction, from Tinkerbell to Tam Lin, from True Blood to Once Upon a Time. Both have proven to be infinitely fun, flexible, and challenging. But when you pit them against each other, which side will triumph as the greatest genre symbol of all time?

There can only be one... or can there?

Featuring an incredible line-up of authors including John Scalzi, Catherynne M. Valente, Ken Liu, Max Gladstone, Alyssa Wong, Jonathan Maberry, and many more, Robots vs. Fairies will take you on a glitterbombed journey of a techno-fantasy mash-up across genres.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe
• Build Me a Wonderland - short story by Seanan McGuire
• Quality Time - novelette by Ken Liu
• Murmured Under the Moon - short story by Tim Pratt
• The Blue Fairy's Manifesto - short story by Annalee Newitz
• Bread and Milk and Salt - short story by Sarah Gailey
• Ironheart - short story by Jonathan Maberry
• Just Another Love Song - short story by Kat Howard
• Sound and Fury - short story by Mary Robinette Kowal
• The Bookcase Expedition - short story by Jeffrey Ford
• Work Shadow/Shadow Work - short story by Madeline Ashby
• Second to the Left, and Straight On - short story by Jim C. Hines
• The Buried Giant - short story by Lavie Tidhar
• Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind from the Era of Humans for the First Time - short story by John Scalzi
• Ostentation of Peacocks - short story by Lila Bowen
• All the Time We've Left to Spend - short story by Alyssa Wong
• Adriftica - novelette by Maria Dahvana Headley
• To a Cloven Pine - short story by Max Gladstone
• A Fall Counts Anywhere - novelette by Catherynne M. Valente

An all-new anthology of eighteen classic myth retellings featuring an all-star lineup of award-winning and critically acclaimed writers.

Madeleine L'Engle once said, "When we lose our myths we lose our place in the universe." The Mythic Dream gathers together eighteen stories that reclaim the myths that shaped our collective past, and use them to explore our present and future. From Hades and Persephone to Kali, from Loki to Inanna, this anthology explores retellings of myths across cultures and civilizations.

Featuring award-winning and critically acclaimed writers such as Seanan McGuire, Naomi Novik, Rebecca Roanhorse, JY Yang, Alyssa Wong, Indrapramit Das, Carlos Hernandez, Sarah Gailey, Ann Leckie, John Chu, Urusla Vernon, Carmen Maria Machado, Stephen Graham Jones, Arkady Martine, Amal El-Mohtar, Jeffrey Ford, and more...

Table of Contents:

• xi - Introduction (The Mythic Dream) - essay by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe
• 1 - Phantoms of the Midway - short fiction by Seanan McGuire
• 24 - The Justified - short fiction by Ann Leckie
• 49 - Fisher-Bird - short fiction by Ursula Vernon [as by T. Kingfisher]
• 67 - A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy - short fiction by Rebecca Roanhorse
• 82 - Bridge of Crows - short fiction by JY Yang
• 97 - Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship Heaven Dwells Within - short fiction by Arkady Martine
• 112 - Wild to Covet - short fiction by Sarah Gailey
• 134 - !Cuidado! !Que Vienne El Coco! - short fiction by Carlos Hernandez
• 163 - He Fell Howling - short fiction by Stephen Graham Jones
• 181 - Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories - short fiction by Kat Howard
• 192 - Across the River - short fiction by Leah Cypess
• 207 - Sisyphus in Elysium - short fiction by Jeffrey Ford
• 220 - Kali_Na - short fiction by Indrapramit Das
• 243 - Live Stream - short fiction by Alyssa Wong
• 262 - Close Enough for Jazz - short fiction by John Chu
• 282 - Buried Deep - short fiction by Naomi Novik
• 313 - The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself - short fiction by Carmen Maria Machado
• 320 - Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers - short fiction by Amal El-Mohtar

Once upon a time in the desert, in a tower, on a spaceship, in the Other Country...

For centuries, storytellers have crafted timeless tales that have always found a place in our hearts. Here, a new generation of critically acclaimed, award-winning writers have taken up their mantle and shaped traditional and extraordinary fairy tales into something startling and electrifying.

From castles to canyons, a post-human landscape to a pixelated dungeon, from the far future to fantastical realms, The Starlit Wood transforms seventeen stories you thought you knew and takes you on a journey at once unexpected and familiar across time, space, and amazing new worlds.

Table of Contents:

• The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales - interior artwork by Stella Björg Björgvinsdóttir
• Introduction - essay by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe
• In the Desert Like a Bone - short story by Seanan McGuire
• Underground - short story by Karin Tidbeck
• Even the Crumbs were Delicious - short story by Daryl Gregory
• The Super Ultra Duchess of Fedora Forest - short story by Charlie Jane Anders
• Familiaris - short story by Genevieve Valentine
• Seasons of Glass and Iron - short story by Amal El-Mohtar
• Badgirl, the Deadman, and The Wheel of Fortune - short story by Catherynne M. Valente
• Penny for a Match, Mister? - short story by Garth Nix
• Some Wait - short story by Stephen Graham Jones
• The Thousand Eyes - short story by Jeffrey Ford
• Giants in the Sky - short story by Max Gladstone
• The Briar and the Rose - novelette by Marjorie M. Liu
• The Other Thea - novelette by Theodora Goss
• When I Lay Frozen - short story by Margo Lanagan
• Pearl - novelette by Aliette de Bodard
• The Tale of Mahliya and Mauhub and the White-footed Gazelle - short story by Sofia Samatar
• Reflected - short story by Kat Howard
• Spinning Silver - novelette by Naomi Novik

A chemistry student falls for his teacher and uncovers a centuries-old quest for the elixir of life

The morning after the death of his first love, Conrad Aybinder receives a bequest. Sammy Tampari was Conrad's lover. He was his teacher. And, it turns out, he was not just a chemist, but an alchemist, searching for a mythic elixir of life. Sammy's death was sudden, yet he somehow managed to leave twenty years' worth of his notebooks and a storage locker full of expensive, sometimes baffling equipment in the hands of his star student. The notebooks contain cryptic "recipes," but no instructions; they tell his life story, but only hint at what might have caused his death. And Sammy's research is littered with his favorite teaching question: What's missing?

As Conrad pieces together the solution, he finds he is not the only one to suspect that Sammy succeeded in his quest. And if he wants to save his father from a mysterious illness, Conrad will have to make some very difficult choices.

The Castle Homolky towers over the tiny Hungarian village of Lugos. Hungary ... a land of legends. Of vampires and werewolves. The House of the Wolf is a superbly plotted novel in which the experts at a gathering of folklorists find themselves trapped at Castle Homolky. They're not alone but being stalked and killed by a madman. Or, perhaps, the evidence points to a werewolf.

Time Thieves

"Mr. Mullion," one of the triplets said, looming up twenty feet away as Pete followed the smooth railing. He stopped, his heart racing, but he felt a break in the rail as he did so. He edged forward a foot or two and felt around with his boot until he discovered a step. In a moment, blood pounding in his temples, he was halfway down toward the lower level, taking two risers at a time, no matter what the danger of a fall. He heard the mechanical man start after him as he set foot on the cement floor.

Against Arcturus

It's the story of an Earth activist who's tagged for a subversion mission on a small planet off in the galaxy a ways. Seems that when Earth got overpopulated, humans set out for other planets to colonize, and now those planets are rival factions. The Arcturans are humans, too, but an offshoot who's presently at war with Earth. The small planet in question is resource-rich and quite desirable to both sides. Arcturus in presently in control, and Earth wants to be.

DARK OF THE WOODS

Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt though be in the field.
Thou shalt be blessed above all...

Our holy empire of the Alliance of mankind has fulfilled our destiny. Remember the many heroic humans who have died in conquering the stars for you. Therefore, do not let misguided sympathy toward inferior and conquered animals deter you from your inherent title of divine rulers of the universe. Do not lose this birthright by succumbing to the "attractions" of any alien creature. Remember the penalties imposed by the Supremacy of Man party for this transgression.

Our blessings be with you as you follow in the paths of your brothers and sisters. We have faith in mankind and we have faith in you. But, however, should you falter from the paths of righteousness, we have many willing hands eager to show you the error of your ways....

SOFT COME THE DRAGONS

Mutilated, mutant by-products of America's "Artificial Wombs" created by attempts at producing human weapons...

An American team of doctors sent to China to combat the runaway ultimate in biological warfare...

The genetically mutated daughter of LSD users, hiding her powers in order to survive society...

And Gabe, the vital, young man mistakenly locked in an antiseptic old-age ward...

The following stories are included in this book:

• "Soft Come the Dragons" (1967)
• "A Third Hand" (1970) [F&SF, Jan 1970]
• "The Twelfth Bed" (1968)
• "A Season for Freedom" (1977) - [revised and re-issued version of "Killerbot" (1969)]
• "The Psychedelic Children" (1968)
• "Dragon In the Land" (1969)
• "To Behold the Sun" (1967)

Star Quest

In a universe that had been ravaged by a thousand years of interplanetary warfare between the star-shattering Romaghins and the equally voracious Setessins, there seemed now but one thing that might bring the destruction to an end. That would be the right catalyst in the hands of the right people. The right catalyst could well be the individualist rebel, Tohm... he who had once been a simple peasant and who had been forcibly changed into a fearfully armored instrument of mechanical warfare--the man-tank Jumbo Ten. But the right people? Could they possibly be the hated driftwood of biological warfare--those monsters of a cosmic no-man's land--the Muties?

Doom of the Green Planet

Save a life and it is your responsibility. Save a world and it is yours to protect forever. Such was the geasa of Diarmid Patrick O'Dowd, ex-starman. He had himself called down destruction on the Green Planet by destroying its creator and undermining its guiding Song. Now he must shield it from the aspirations of the next star-wanderer to set down on its lush fairy-tale landscape. For without its special "god" it would mean the end of that wonder world of swordsmen and sorcerers... and Diarmid himself had now to play that omnipotent role - even though he was but a marooned pilot and his opponent was the massed power of an organized stellar federation.

Fear that Man by Dean R. Koontz

The galaxy had forgotten war and evil-until the man without a past intervened.

Toyman by E.C. Tubb

They called their planet toy, but the games the toymen played involved the fate of worlds.

THE FALL OF THE DREAM MACHINE

When all the world's a stage, director Cockley will run it. If there was a single phrase that captured the public's attention more than any other in 1967, it was this one: "The Medium is the Message." Marshall McLuhan not only made a fortune with it, but established himself as a prophet and philosopher. When McLuhan says the printed word is doomed in our age of electronic communication, everyone listens. Somehow, no one seems to notice that McLuhan's own predictions are presented via the printed word and - by his own theories - are doomed from the start.

Still, it frightens me to think of a future where all artistic outlets are electronic, where all of life becomes an open, sterile, and public thing. In this novel, I have tried to shape a society that has advanced along the lines of the predictions in The Medium is the Message... and then advanced a little further - a little to far.

McLuhan says we are drawing - via electronics - together again into a Village Society. A quick look around at television, telephones, and the recorded messages of today's pop music groups makes this seem a reasonable statement. But what will follow this village stage? A Household society? And after that what will we have - and be?

This is not truly a horror story. Not Quite.

THE STAR VENTURERS

"Heard of you?" The princess spoke with a great weariness. "We hear about all the adventurers of the galaxy. So far all have failed. You will fail too. I know it--but I must go on trying to find the prince. When you are dead and scattered into atoms we shall find another strong man and try again."

"One day, perhaps, we shall succeed. Maybe you will, but I doubt it. You too will be destroyed like all the others."

With these words of confidence ringing in his ears, Big Bill Jarrett was sent out on an impossible journey--one he knew could kill him if he went, and would kill him if he didn't.

It is perhaps a hundred years in the future, our civilization is gone, and another is in place in North America, but it retains many familiar things and structures. Although the population is now small, there is advanced technology, there are robots, and there are clones.

E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person. He is a clone who lives on a third-tier shelf in a public library, and his personality is an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human.

A wealthy patron, Colette Coldbrook, takes him from the library because he is the surviving personality of the author of Murder on Mars. A physical copy of that book was in the possession of her murdered father, and it contains an important secret, the key to immense family wealth. It is lost, and Colette is afraid of the police. She borrows Smithe to help her find the book and to find out what the secret is. And then the plot gets complicated.

Interlibrary Loan is the brilliant follow-up to A Borrowed Man: the final work of fiction from multi-award winner and national literary treasure Gene Wolfe.

Hundreds of years in the future our civilization is shrunk down, but we go on. There is advanced technology, there are robots.

And there are clones.

E. A. Smithe is a borrowed person, his personality an uploaded recording of a deceased mystery writer. Smithe is a piece of property, not a legal human.

As such, Smithe can be loaned to other branches. Which he is. Along with two fellow reclones, a cookbook and romance wrtier, they are shipped to Polly's Cove, where Smithe meets a little girl who wants to save her mother, a father who is dead but perhaps not.

And another E. A. Smith... who definitely is.

The Acceleration Research Society, a mysterious organization maneuvering in secret, makes their headquarters at the top of Tokyo Midtown Tower, where the Archangel Metatron is enshrined. This completely invincible Legend-class Enemy guards the Society from all would-be attackers, and so the Seven Kings meet in order to devise some means to defeat the Enemy and the Acceleration Research Society along with it.

The secret plan they come up with necessitates that Silver Crow gain a new ability, Theoretical Mirror.

Although he's been ordered to obtain this ability--which can withstand even the instant death of Metatron's ultimate laser--abilities require action to trigger their manifestation, in contrast with the way Incarnate techniques are generated through the imagination. Thus, Haruyuki's powerful imagination won't help him this time!

While Haruyuki is stumped at how to even begin this difficult task, Ardor Maiden (a.k.a. Utai Shinomiya) begins relating a sad past...

Charles Cornick is his pack's enforcer and lives a harsh life, doing jobs other wolves can't - or won't. And his most recent task was rescuing Anna Latham from a life of brutality. This leaves him shot and wounded, but he's happy to pay the price. Charles is strongly drawn to Anna, and her growing 'Omega' powers will see his people through dangerous times.

Anna desperately needs her new mountainous home to be safer than the life she's left behind. But when a rogue werewolf starts murdering hikers, Charles and Anna are sent into the winter forests to investigate. Charles is still weak and will need Anna's strength as they discover a web of witchcraft that could drag down the whole pack. Including its leader Bran, Charles's father, head of a vast network of wolves. And if Bran weakens, dark madness could run like a fever through half a continent.

Shadows of Aggar - Book 1 - Amazons of Aggar Diana n'Athena is an Amazon working for the Terran empire on the medieval planet of Aggar. Her mission is to rescue a downed pilot/spy from Aggar's wilds. But when the Council of Aggar demands Diana be bonded to a Shadow in order to be allowed to make the journey, things get interesting. Shadows are exceptional guides and fighters, but Elana is something more -- she has the gift of the Blue Sight.

As the two women race against time to prevent an all-out intergalactic war, they become erotically entangled, complicating both their lives and putting their mission in danger.

Gwyn, dey Sorormin and Royal Marshal, is called to the aid of Llinolae, a Blue-Sighted woman and Ruler of Khirla. The brigand Terran Clan is launching bloody raids on Khirla and may be behind a traitorous plot within Llinolae's own household. Llinolae's gift allows her to see out-of-time to receive council from a very precious couple - one Amazon, one Blue-Sighted -- but even that is not enough. With the help of Gwyn's bond-mated Sandwolves, and friends Brit n'Minona and the Shadow Sparrow n'Sappho, Gwyn and Llinolae struggle side-by-side against the Clan and find themselves caught in an ever-strengthening bond of love.

Locus and Nebula Award winning and Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Universe 3 (1973), edited by Terrry Carr. The story can also be found in the anthologies:

• The Best Science Fiction of the Year #3 (1974), edited by Terry Carr
• Nebula Award Stories Nine (1974), edited by Kate Wilhelm
• The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume IV (1986, edited by Terry Carr
• Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction (1994), edited by Gardner Dozois
• Visions of Wonder (1996), edited by David G. Hartwell and Milton T. Wolf

It is half of Tor Double #25: Fugue State/The Death of Doctor Island (1990, with John M. Ford) and is included in the collections The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (1980), The Wolfe Archipelago (1983) and The Best of Gene Wolfe.

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appaered in Orbit 7 (1970), edited by Damon Knight. The story can also be found in the anthologies Nebula Award Stories Six (1971), edited by Clifford D. Simak, and The Road to Science Fiction 4: From Here to Forever (1982), edited by James Gunn. It is included in the collections The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories (1980), The Wolfe Archipelago (1983) and The Wolfe Archipelago (2009).

Following its acclaimed three-volume edition of the novels of science fiction master Philip K. Dick, The Library of America now presents a two-volume anthology of nine groundbreaking works from the golden age of the modern science fiction novel. Long unnoticed or dismissed by the literary establishment, these "outsider" novels have gradually been recognized as American classics. Here are genre-defining works by such masters as Robert Heinlein, Richard Matheson, James Blish, and Alfred Bester. The themes range from time travel (Fritz Leiber's The Big Time) to post-apocalyptic survival (Leigh Brackett's The Long Tomorrow), from the prospect of a future dominated by multinational advertising agencies (Pohl and Kornbluth's The Space Merchants) to the very nature of human identity in a technological age (Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human and Algis Budrys's Who?). The range of styles is equally diverse, by turns satiric, adventurous, incisive, and hauntingly lyrical. Grappling in fresh ways with a world in rapid transformation, these visionary novels opened new imaginative territory in American writing.

The first volume contains:

• Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth / The Space Merchants
• Theodore Sturgeon / More Than Human
• Leigh Brackett / The Long Tomorrow
• Richard Matheson / The Shrinking Man

The second volume contains:

• Robert Heinlein / Double Star
• Alfred Bester / The Stars My Destination
• James Blish / A Case of Conscience
• Algis Budrys / Who?
• Fritz Leiber / The Big Time

Following its acclaimed three-volume edition of the novels of science fiction master Philip K. Dick, The Library of America now presents a two-volume anthology of nine groundbreaking works from the golden age of the modern science fiction novel, works by turns satiric, adventurous, incisive, and hauntingly lyrical. Long unnoticed or dismissed by the literary establishment, these visionary "outsider" novels grappled in fresh ways with a world in rapid transformation and have gradually been recognized as American classics that opened new imaginative territory in American writing.

This first volume contains:

• Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth / The Space Merchants
• Theodore Sturgeon / More Than Human
• Leigh Brackett / The Long Tomorrow
• Richard Matheson / The Shrinking Man

Following its acclaimed three-volume edition of the novels of science fiction master Philip K. Dick, The Library of America now presents a two-volume anthology of nine groundbreaking works from the golden age of the modern science fiction novel, works by turns satiric, adventurous, incisive, and hauntingly lyrical. Long unnoticed or dismissed by the literary establishment, these visionary "outsider" novels grappled in fresh ways with a world in rapid transformation and have gradually been recognized as American classics that opened new imaginative territory in American writing.

This second volume contains:

• Robert Heinlein / Double Star
• Alfred Bester / The Stars My Destination
• James Blish / A Case of Conscience
• Algis Budrys / Who?
• Fritz Leiber / The Big Time

The tumultuous 1960s was a watershed decade for American science fiction. As the nation raced to the moon, acknowledged masters from the genre's "golden age" reached the height of their powers. As it confronted calls for civil rights and countercultural revolution, a "new wave" of brilliant young voices emerged, upending the genre's "pulp" conventions with newfound literary sophistication; female, queer, and nonwhite authors broke into the ranks of SF writers, introducing provocative new protagonists and themes. Here, in a deluxe, two-volume collector's set, editor Gary K. Wolfe gathers eight wildly inventive novels, the decade's best: Daniel Keyes' beloved Flowers for Algernon and Poul Anderson's madcap The High Crusade; Clifford D. Simak's Hugo Award-winning Way Station; Roger Zelazny's post-apocalyptic ...And Call Me Conrad (previously published as This Immortal); Joanna Russ' Picnic on Paradise, a pioneering work of feminist SF, and Samuel R. Delany's proto-cyberpunk space opera Nova; R.A. Lafferty's quirky, neglected, utterly original Past Master; and Jack Vance's haunting Emphyrio.

The first volume contains:

• Poul Anderson / The High Crusade
• Clifford D. Simak / Way Station
• Daniel Keyes / Flowers for Algernon
• Roger Zelazny / ... And Call Me Conrad (This Immortal)

The second volume contains:

• R. A. Lafferty / Past Master
• Joanna Russ / Picnic on Paradise
• Samuel R. Delany / Nova
• Jack Vance / Emphyrio

The tumultuous 1960s was a watershed decade for American science fiction. While acknowledged masters from the genre's golden age reached the height of their powers, a new wave of brilliant young voices emerged, upending the genre's pulp conventions with newfound literary sophistication. SF writers experimented and crossed boundaries, questioning their predecessors' often utopian faith in technological progress and boldly imagining new possibilities of human existence in novels that continue to astonish today.

Here, in the first volume of a two-volume collector's set, editor Gary K. Wolfe gathers four trailblazing novels that reveal the full range of the decade's creative intensities. In The High Crusade (1960), Poul Anderson celebrates the space operas of the pulp era, but with a madcap twist: when technologically advanced aliens touch down among the seeming primitives of medieval England, they find they have met their match. Clifford D. Simak's Hugo Award-winning Way Station (1963) follows the progress of an unassuming Civil War veteran whose rural Wisconsin homestead has, unbeknownst to his neighbors, become an unlikely nexus of intergalactic battle.

Daniel Keyes's much-loved best seller Flowers for Algernon (1966) imagines a near-future in which intelligence can be enhanced artificially--but Keyes downplays the speculative and technical possibilities of his premise in favor of intimate character study, taking the SF novel in daring new directions. In the postapocalyptic thriller This Immortal (1966)--published here under the author's preferred title ...And Call Me Conrad--Roger Zelazny weaves a skein of ancient myth and legend into his tale of mutant humans and blue aliens with the allusive daring and stylistic virtuosity that exemplify the New Wave at its best.

This first volume contains:

• Poul Anderson / The High Crusade
• Clifford D. Simak / Way Station
• Daniel Keyes / Flowers for Algernon
• Roger Zelazny / ... And Call Me Conrad (This Immortal)

The tumultuous 1960s was a watershed decade for American science fiction. While acknowledged masters from the genre's golden age reached the height of their powers, a new wave of brilliant young voices emerged, upending the genre's pulp conventions with newfound literary sophistication. Amid calls for civil rights and countercultural revolution, female, nonwhite, and other outsider authors broke into the ranks of SF writers, introducing provocative new protagonists and themes.

Here, in the second volume of a two-volume collector's set, editor Gary K. Wolfe presents four of the best novels from the final years of the decade. In R. A. Lafferty's utterly idiosyncratic and uncategorizable Past Master (1968), Renaissance philosopher Thomas More is summoned to Golden Astrobe in the year 2535: Can he save the planet's troubled utopia from its soulless technological perfection and ensure the survival of the faith? Joanna Russ introduces one of SF's first and most engaging female adventurers in her taut and edgy debut novel Picnic on Paradise (1968): the tough, sardonic, unforgettable Alyx, an ancient Phoenician mercenary teleported into the future to serve as guide and bodyguard for a band of stranded space tourists.

The first African American writer to make a name for himself in the genre, Samuel R. Delany was hailed as "the best science-fiction writer in the world" on the basis of Nova (1968), a white-hot, fast-paced, protocyberpunk interstellar adventure featuring a misfit crew on a high-stakes quest. Stumbling on a mysterious ancient text among his father's belongings, the son of a master woodcarver uncovers the key to revolutionary change in Jack Vance's Emphyrio (1969), a marvel of craftsmanship and visionary world-building set on remote, feudal, theocratic Halma.

This second volume contains:

• R. A. Lafferty / Past Master
• Joanna Russ / Picnic on Paradise
• Samuel R. Delany / Nova
• Jack Vance / Emphyrio

When Dragoons arrive in the Inner Space inexplicably, they put themselves - five regiments of battle-toughened Mech Warriors - up to the highest bidder.

Blood Lust!

When Odin's curse fell upon him, Haralk Swiftaxe, the young Norse warrior, lusty in love and battle, was fully human no longer. He was incensed with the animal rage of the god's devotees, the Berserkers. The snarling ferocious savagery of the bear possessed him. Immune to fire and steel, frenzied by the smell of blood and the sight of torn human flesh, he was driven to the worst of human deeds.... The stench of fear was meat and drink to him, and cowering women learned of his cruel, insatiable lust.

The bear screeched its ecstasy--yet at times the man dimly understood the horror. Could the demon god be killed, the spell lifted...? I fthere was a way, the price of failure would be high, greater than death itself....

Then she opened her mouth to scream-and recognised me. It was what I'd been waiting for. She froze. She looked into my eyes. She said, "It's you."

Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but you'd never suspect it. Nonstop sex and exercise will do that for you-and a diet with lots of animal protein. Jake is a werewolf, and after the unfortunate and violent death of his one contemporary, he is now the last of his species. Although he is physically healthy, Jake is deeply distraught and lonely.

Jake's depression has carried him to the point where he is actually contemplating suicide-even if it means terminating a legend thousands of years old. It would seem to be easy enough for him to end everything. But for very different reasons there are two dangerous groups pursuing him who will stop at nothing to keep him alive.

Here is a powerful, definitive new version of the werewolf legend-mesmerising and incredibly sexy. In Jake, Glen Duncan has given us a werewolf for the twenty-first century-a man whose deeds can only be described as monstrous but who is in some magical way deeply human.

One of the most original, audacious, and terrifying novels in years.

The community of Prosperous, Maine has always thrived when others have suffered. Its inhabitants are wealthy, its children's future secure. It shuns outsiders. It guards its own. And at the heart of Prosperous lie the ruins of an ancient church, transported stone by stone from England centuries earlier by the founders of the town...

But the death of a homeless man and the disappearance of his daughter draw the haunted, lethal private investigator Charlie Parker to Prosperous. Parker is a dangerous man, driven by compassion, by rage, and by the desire for vengeance. In him the town and its protectors sense a threat graver than any they have faced in their long history, and in the comfortable, sheltered inhabitants of a small Maine town, Parker will encounter his most vicious opponents yet.

All young Eyvind ever wanted was to become a great Viking warrior--a Wolfskin--and perform honorable deeds out in the name of his War fathergod, Thor. He can think of no future more glorious. And the chance to make it happen is his when his older brother Ulf is brought the tale of a magical land across the sea, a place where men with courage could go to conquer a land and bring glory to themselves. They set out to find this fabled land and discover a windswept and barren place, but one filled with unexpected beauty and hidden treasures... and a people who are willing to share their bounty.

Ulf's new settlement begins in harmony with the natives of the isles led by the gentle king Engus. And Eyvind finds a treasure of his own in the young Nessa, niece of the king, seer, and princess. His life will change forever as she claims his heart for her own.

But someone has come along to this new land who is not what he seems. Eyvind's heartfriend, Somerled, the strange and lonely boy Eyvind befriended so long ago has a secret--and his own plans for the future. The blood oath that they swore in childhood binds them in lifelong loyalty, and Somerled is calling in the debt of honor. What he asks might just doom Evyind to kill the only thing that he has ever truly loved.

Will the price of honor create the destruction of all that Eyvind holds dear?

Critically acclaimed fantasist Juliet Marillier returns with the start of a new fantasy saga, a wonderful love story set amidst high adventure. Wolfskin is a lush tale of the clash between the warlike Norsemen and the mysterious and magical people who live at the top of the world in the land that will become Scotland--and it is the story of the man and woman who forge a bond that will remake their world.

Being thrown overboard was a light punishment and Drake knew he had a good deal. What he didn't know was that this was only the start of a long journey that would take him far from his home and his love - and he would have to endure far worse before either could be regained.

This story features the adventures of Alfric Danborg, a banker by profession but a Yudonic knight by birth. In his travels he is required to face not only ogres, dragons, assassins and She Who Walks By Night but, worst of all, more senior bankers.

The epic journey of boy and wolf begins

Six thousand years ago. Evil stalks the land. According to legend, only twelve-year-old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it. Their journey together takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined. Torak and Wolf are terrified of their mission. But if they do not battle to save their world, who will?

It is early spring, a turbulent, perilous time of sudden storms, frozen river fractures and drifting ice. Fleeing from a demon intent on devouring his souls, Wolf is swept out to sea far from the forest and his pack. The ocean, too, teems with danger: sea wolves, sharks and hunters of the deep, and the demon is gaining ground. Torak and Renn must race to save their pack-brother, battling the harsh icy waves and merciless torrents. If they can't find Wolf in time, the bond between them will be severed forever....

Run wild with Wolf Brother for the last time in a Stone Age world we all want to be part of.

Born under the crumbling towers of her kingdom, Queen Talyien was the shining jewel and legacy of the bloody War of the Wolves. It nearly tore her nation apart. But her arranged marriage to the son of a rival clan heralds peace.

However, he suddenly disappears before their reign can begin, and the kingdom is fractured beyond repair.

Years later, he sends a mysterious invitation to meet. Talyien journeys across the sea in hopes of reconciling their past. An assassination attempt quickly dashes those dreams. Stranded in a land she doesn't know, with no idea whom she can trust, Talyien will have to embrace her namesake.

A Wolf of Oren-yaro is not tamed.

When Ron runs away, he ends up in Bordertown, a grim city that lies between the real world and the world of faerie, a place where elf and human gangs stalk the streets side by side, and where magic works better than technology. If the city doesn't kill him, it just may teach him what it is to be human.

Growing up is hard to do... especially if, like Ron, you've been cursed (blessed?) and changed into a half wolf/half human. But though he may look strange, there is nothing weird about his loyalty to his newfound friends, or in his attempts to stay true to himself in the deadly, shifting world of Bordertown.

Niall, Prince of Homana, key player in a prophecy that spans generations, should have been the treasured link between Cheysuli and Homanan. Yet neither of the peoples he is destined to someday rule feel anything but suspicion of Niall. Homanans fear him for his Cheysuli heritage, while Cheysuli refuse to accept him as their own because he has acquired neither a lir-shape nor the lir companion which is the true mark of the Cheysuli shapechangers.

And now, despite his precarious situation within the kingdom, Niall must undertake a journey to fulfill yet another link in the ancient prophecy. He must travel through war-torn lands to claim his bride--a mission which may prove his doom. For searching for both his destiny and his lir, Naill is about to be plunged into a dangerous maelstrom of intrigue, betrayal, and deadly Ihlini sorcer.

Also released as Wolf Tower

All her life, Claidi has endured hardship in the House, where she must obey a spoiled princess. Then a golden stranger arrives, living proof of a world beyond the House walls. Claidi risks all to free the charming prisoner and accompanies him across the Waste toward his faraway home. It is a difficult yet marvelous journey, and all the while Claidi is at the side of a man she could love. That is, until they reach his home... and the Wolf Tower.

Also released as Wolf Star.

Abducted from her wedding to Argul, Claidi finds herself crossing an ocean to a strange land, menaced by giant flowers, mysterious animals, and the Rise. At dusk each night there is the rising of the flaming Wolf Star and the landscape becomes a-lurk with Vrabburrs. Is she lost to Argul forever?

Also released as Wolf Queen

Claidi is eager to reunite with her fiance Argul-but when she finally reaches his camp, she finds that someone has been spreading ugly lies about her, and Argul is nowhere to be found. Undaunted, Claidi sets out to search for him. Her quest brings her to the icy threshold of a tower, and within it she encounters another shadow from her past-a powerful woman Claidi believes is her mother. But the truth is far more complicated, andClaidi once again finds herself at the dark center of conspiracy and intrigue. Claidi's third journal will hold readers to the very last page.

At last, Claidi and her beloved Argul are free to get married. But before they can start their life together, Claidi must face her past. They return to her birthplace, the House, to rescue the other slaves-and find that there has been a revolution, sparked by Claidi's escape. Then the two are urgently summoned by Oronel Novendot of the Wolf Tower, who tells her that Ustareth is alive. Ustareth, the mother of Argul and Venn, the science-sorceress, who has perhaps manipulated each of them for their entire lives. Now she wants them all to visit her-But to what end?

The Viking king Authun leads his men on a raid against an Anglo-Saxon village. Men and women are killed indiscriminately, but Authun demands that no child be touched. He is acting on prophecy-a prophecy that tells him that the Saxons have stolen a child from the gods. If Authun, in turn, takes the child and raises him as an heir, the child will lead his people to glory.

But Authun discovers not one child, but twin baby boys. After ensuring that his faithful warriors, witnesses to what has happened, die during the raid, Authun takes the children and their mother home, back to the witches who live on the troll wall. And he places his destiny in their hands.

So begins a stunning multivolume fantasy epic that will take a werewolf from his beginnings as the heir to a brutal Viking king down through the ages. It is a journey that will see him hunt for his lost love through centuries and lives, and see the endless battle between the wolf, Odin, and Loki, the eternal trickster, spill over into countless bloody conflicts from our history and our lives.

This is the myth of the werewolf as it has never been told before and marks the beginning of an extraordinary new fantasy series.

The last fight between the werewolf clans spilled onto the streets of New Orleans - and now the whole city's on red alert. Martial law has gone into effect. Mediums, ghost hunters, and other supernatural pundits have taken over the media, swarming the Big Easy to expose the hard truth about lycanthropes. And to make matters worse, a beastly killer is clawing up humans...

Secret government operative Sasha Trudeau doesn't like what she's seeing - a series of brutal and bloody slayings that appear to be wolf-like attacks. It might be the work of a copy cat killer - vampire or Unseelie or some other enemy of the Seelie clan. But while Sasha races to find suspects and motives, the panic level is rising - and the city's human population is clamoring for an all-out wolf hunt...

Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

As Tracker follows the boy's scent--from one ancient city to another; into dense forests and across deep rivers--he and the band are set upon by creatures intent on destroying them. As he struggles to survive, Tracker starts to wonder: Who, really, is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And perhaps the most important questions of all: Who is telling the truth, and who is lying?

Siggy Aleksov sees demons and talks with creatures she knows aren't really there. Taken from her family as a child, she is dogged by memories of abandonment, abuse, and mental health issues. Siggy suffers from a hot temper, cluster headaches, caffeine addiction, and terminal foul language.

She complicates her life even more when she saves the life of a talented assassin sent to kill her. Deciding to get the hell out of Dodge, Siggy travels to the Alaska bush to find out who she really is. The answer is more fantastic that she could have imagined--and she can imagine a lot.

From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the story, you know only half the truth. Get ready for the mystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of...

Dean Koontz's Prodigal Son

Every city has secrets. But none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who’s traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Detective Carson O’Connor is cool, cynical, and every bit as tough as she looks. Her partner Michael Maddison would back her up all the way to Hell itself–and that just may be where this case ends up. For the no-nonsense O’Connor is suddenly talking about an ages-old conspiracy, a near immortal race of beings, and killers that are more—and less—than human. Soon it will be clear that as crazy as she sounds, the truth is even more ominous. For their quarry isn’ t merely a homicidal maniac—but his deranged maker.

From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the legend, you know only half the truth. Here is the mystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of...

Dean Koontz's City of the Night

They are stronger, heal better, and think faster than any humans ever created—and they must be destroyed. But not even Victor Helios—once Frankenstein—can stop the engineered killers he's set loose on a reign of terror through modern-day New Orleans. Now the only hope rests in a one-time "monster" and his all-too-human partners, Detectives Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison. Deucalion' s centuries-old history began as Victor's first and failed attempt to build the perfect human–and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first Deucalion must destroy a monstrosity not even Victor' s malignant mind could have imagined—an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind' s collective nightmare with one purpose: to replace us.

From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the legend, you know only half the truth. Now the mesmerizing saga concludes....

Dead and Alive

As a devastating hurricane approaches, as the benighted creations of Victor Helios begin to spin out of control, as New Orleans descends into chaos and the future of humanity hangs in the balance, the only hope rests with Victor’s first, failed attempt to build the perfect human. Deucalion’s centuries-old history began as the original manifestation of a soulless vision–and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first they must face a monstrosity not even Victor’s malignant mind could have conceived–an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind’s collective nightmare with powers, and a purpose, beyond imagining.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz raises the stakes—and the suspense—taking his Frankenstein saga to a dynamic new level with the riveting story of a small town under siege, where good and evil, destruction and creation, converge as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Frankenstein: Lost Souls

The war against humanity has begun. In the dead hours of the night, a stranger enters the home of the mayor of Rainbow Falls, Montana. The stranger is in the vanguard of a wave of intruders who will invade other homes . . . offices . . . every local institution, assuming the identities and the lives of those they have been engineered to replace. Before the sun rises, the town will be under full assault, the opening objective in the new Victor Frankenstein’s trajectory of ultimate destruction. Deucalion—Victor’s first, haunted creation—saw his maker die in New Orleans two years earlier. Yet an unshakable intuition tells him that Victor lives—and is at work again. Within hours Deucalion will come together with his old allies, detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, Victor’s engineered wife, Erika Five, and her companion Jocko to confront new peril. Others will gather around them. But this time Victor has a mysterious, powerful new backer, and he and his army are more formidable, their means and intentions infinitely more deadly, than ever before.

Dean Koontz’s enthralling Frankenstein series has redefined the classic legend of infernal ambition and harrowing retribution for a new century and a new age. Now the master of suspense delivers an unforgettable novel that is at once a thrilling adventure in itself and a mesmerizing conclusion to his saga of the modern monsters among us.

Frankenstein: The Dead Town

The war against humanity is raging. As the small town of Rainbow Falls, Montana, comes under siege, scattered survivors come together to weather the onslaught of the creatures set loose upon the world. As they ready for battle against overwhelming odds, they will learn the full scope of Victor Frankenstein’s nihilistic plan to remake the future—and the terrifying reach of his shadowy, powerful supporters.

Now the good will make their last, best stand. In a climax that will shatter every expectation, their destinies and the fate of humanity hang in the balance.

The bleak nightmare of the nuclear winter has abated, but the Earth is scarred, its ecosystems poisoned, many of its life forms mutated and struggling for existence. Here, in the torn remnants of American, Ryan Cawdor and his warrior survivalists stake their claim as the inheritors of Deathlands, their unforgiving world.

The mountains of the Arctic Circle are shaken with ceaseless tremors as the frozen earth Threatens to swallow itself. Trapped in the hostile landscape by a mat-trans jump, Ryan and companions find the ultimate challenge to their will to survive. The odds dwindle when they become the new bounty in a struggle for dominance between a group of Neanderthals and descendants of a military garrison stranded generations ago.

Deathlands. A perilous journey through uncharted territory.

Seeking to avenge his brother's murder, Doc Savage and his daring crew become involved in a desperate hunt for the lost treasure of the pirate, Henry Morgan. Stalking them every inch of the way is the archfiend, El Rabanos, and his strange ally, the werewolf's paw!

Lester Dent authored this book under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

More information about Brand of the Werewolf available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

Join the 11th Doctor and Amy on their travels through time and space in the TARDIS and influence the story with your decisions. Choose a direction and let the adventures begin.

Enter the extraordinary, action-filled world that became Legend--as the exciting Drenai adventure continues to unfold . . .

A mighty warrior and a feared assassin among the Drenai, Waylander the Slayer is now a man hunted by his own people--with a fortune in gold offered as grim reward for his murder. But this is only one of many evils closing in on Waylander and his daughter, Miriel, the beautiful and deadly Battle Queen of Kar-Barzac.

For, once separated, father and daughter face certain death as the sorcerers and demons, soldiers and shamans of three empires summon their blackest, most destructive powers in an effort to annihilate these two most gifted Drenai warriors.

White Wolf marks a return to the bestselling Drenai series and David Gemmell’s most popular hero of all, Druss the Legend.

Skilgannon the Damned had vanished from the pages of history. No-one knew where he had gone, following the terrible triumph at Perapolis, and the assasins sent by the Witch Queen could find no trace of his passing. Three years later, a murderous mob gathers outside a monastery, faced by a single, unarmed priest. In a few terrifying seconds their world is changed for ever, and word spreads across the lands of the East -- Skilgannon is back.

Now he must travel across a perilous, demon-haunted realm seeking a mysterious temple and the ageless goddess who rules it. With assassins on his trail and an army of murderous foes ahead, the Damned sets off on a quest to bring the dead to life. But he does not travel alone. The man beside him is Druss the Legend.

In this tale of love, betrayal and treachery, in a world torn by war, White Wolf examines the nature of heroism and friendship and the narrow lines dividing good and evil.

In the bleak northern crown of the world, war is coming

Maniye's father is the Wolf clan's chieftain, but she's an outcast. Her mother was queen of the Tiger and these tribes have been enemies for generations. Maniye also hides a deadly secret. All can shift into their clan's animal form, but Maniye can take on tiger and wolf shapes. She refuses to disown half her soul so escapes, rescuing a prisoner of the Wolf clan in the process. The killer Broken Axe is set on their trail, to drag them back for retribution.

The Wolf chieftan plots to rule the north and controlling his daughter is crucial to his schemes. However, other tribes also prepare for strife. Strangers from the far south appear too, seeking allies in their own conflict. It's a season for omens as priests foresee danger and a darkness falling across the land. Some say a great war is coming, overshadowing even Wolf ambitions. A time of testing and broken laws is near, but what spark will set the world ablaze?

The popular fantasy novel Tinker introduced the inventor-heroine of the same name, who lives in a near-future Pittsburgh, which shares an interdimensional border with the land of the elves. In this sequel, Wolf Who Rules, the elven noble whose destiny is intertwined with Tinker, finds himself besieged from all sides. Viceroy and head of the Wind Clan, he had been able to guarantee the safety of everyone in his realm, but faced with an oni invasion, he has had to call in royal troops and relinquish his monopoly of Pittsburgh, which is now entirely stranded on Elfhome. He now struggles to keep the peace between the humans, the newly arrived Stone Clan, the royal forces, a set of oni dragons, the half-oni children who see themselves as human, and the tengu trying to escape their oni enslavement. Meanwhile, Tinker strives to solve the mystery of a growing discontinuity in Turtle Creek. She's plagued with inexplicable nightmares that may hold the keys to Pittsburgh's future. The only clue from the Queen's oracle to help Tinker is a note with five English words on it: Follow the Yellow Brick Road. Oni, and dragons and tengu - oh my!

'My name is Elkie Bernstein. I live in North Wales and I kill werewolves.'

When Elkie finds herself fighting for her life against something that shouldn't exist she is faced with the grim reality that werewolves are real and she just killed one. Part diary, part instruction manual Elkie guides the reader through 25 ways you can kill a werewolf, without any super powers, and how she did it.

The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne.

Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his talented protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire.

When the pair investigates the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of Imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: Will they abandon the laws they've sworn to uphold, in order to protect the Empire?

A Justice's work is never done.

The Battle of Galen's Vale is over, but the war for the Empire's future has just begun. Concerned by rumors that the Magistratum's authority is waning, Sir Konrad Vonvalt returns to Sova to find the capital city gripped by intrigue and whispers of rebellion. In the Senate, patricians speak openly against the Emperor, while fanatics preach holy vengeance on the streets.

Yet facing down these threats to the throne will have to wait, for the Emperor's grandson has been kidnapped - and Vonvalt is charged with rescuing the missing prince. His quest will lead him -- and his allies Helena, Bressinger and Sir Radomir -- to the southern frontier, where they will once again face the puritanical fury of Bartholomew Claver and his templar knights -- and a dark power far more terrifying than they could have imagined.

THE TIME OF JUDGEMENT IS AT HAND

The Empire of the Wolf is on its knees, but there's life in the great beast yet.

To save it, Sir Konrad Vonvalt and Helena must look beyond its borders for allies - to the wolfmen of the southern plains, and the pagan clans in the north. But old grievances run deep, and both factions would benefit from the fall of Sova.

Even these allies might not be enough. Their enemy, the zealot Bartholomew Claver, wields infernal powers bestowed on him by a mysterious demonic patron. If Vonvalt and Helena are to stand against him, they will need friends on both sides of the mortal plane - but such allegiances carry a heavy price.

As the battlelines are drawn in both Sova and the afterlife, the final reckoning draws close. Here, at the beating heart of the Empire, the two-headed wolf will be reborn in a blaze of justice... or crushed beneath the shadow of tyranny.

These are not your mother's fairy tales...

Did you ever wonder how the dwarves felt after Snow White ditched them for the prince? Do you sometimes wish Cinderella hadn't been so helpless and petite? Are you ready to hear the Giant's point of view on Jack and his beanstalk? Then this is the book for you.

Thirteen award-winning fantasy and science fiction writers offer up their versions of these classic fairy tales as well as other favorites, including The Ugly Duckling, Ali Baba, Hansel and Gretel, and more. Some of the stories are funny, some are strange, and others are dark and disturbing -- but each offers something as unexpected as a wolf at the door.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2000) - essay by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• The Months of Manhattan - (2000) - short story by Delia Sherman
• Cinder Elephant - (2000) - short story by Jane Yolen
• Instructions - (2000) - poem by Neil Gaiman
• Mrs. Big: "Jack and the Beanstalk" Retold - (2000) - short story by Michael Cadnum
• Falada: The Goose Girl's Horse - (2000) - short story by Nancy Farmer
• A Wolf at the Door - (2000) - short story by Tanith Lee
• Ali Baba and the Forty Aliens - (1999) - short story by Janeen Webb
• Swans - (2000) - short story by Kelly Link
• The Kingdom of Melting Glances - (2000) - short story by Katherine Vaz
• Hansel's Eyes - (2000) - short story by Garth Nix
• Becoming Charise - (2000) - short story by Kathe Koja
• The Seven Stage a Comeback - (2000) - poem by Gregory Maguire
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses - (2000) - short story by Patricia A. McKillip

The eldest daughter is often doomed in fairy tales. But Bella - Isabella Beauchamps, daughter of a wealthy merchant - vows to escape the usual pitfalls.

Anxious to avoid the Traditional path, Bella dons a red cloak and ventures into the forbidden forest to consult with "Granny," the local wisewoman.

But on the way home she's attacked by a wolf - who turns out to be a cursed nobleman! Secluded in his castle, Bella is torn between her family and this strange man who creates marvelous inventions and makes her laugh - when he isn't howling at the moon.

Breaking spells is never easy. But a determined beauty, a wizard (after all, he's only an occasional werewolf) and a little godmotherly interference might just be able to bring about a happy ending.

The House of the Wolfings is a romantically reconstructed portrait of the lives of the Germanic Gothic tribes, written in an archaic style and incorporating a large amount of poetry. Morris combines his own idealistic views with what was actually known at the time of his subjects' folkways and language. He portrays them as simple and hardworking, galvanized into heroic action to defend their families and liberty by the attacks of imperial Rome.

Morris's Goths inhabit an area called the Mark on a river in the forest of Mirkwood, divided into the Upper-mark, the Mid-mark and the Nether-mark. They worship their gods Odin and Tyr by sacrificing horses, and rely on seers who foretell the future and serve as psychic news-gatherers.

The men of the Mark choose two War Dukes to lead them against their enemies, one each from the House of the Wolfings and the House of the Laxings. The Wolfing war leader is Thiodolf, a man of mysterious and perhaps divine antecedents, whose ability to lead is threatened by his possession of a magnificent dwarf-made mail-shirt which, unknown to him, is cursed. He is supported by his lover the Wood Sun and their daughter the Hall Sun, who are related to the gods.

Hweilan went into the Feywild a girl focused on avenging her family's death, and emerged a brutal killer. Nendawen the Hunter has anointed her his Hand in destroying the demonic and undead forces of his nemesis--the murderer of her family--Jagen Ghen. But while she managed to survive long enough to become the Hand of the Hunter, the war with Jagen Ghen has just begun. And while she is hunting them--they are likewise hunting her. It will take every trick of the Fox, every drop of Lore, and every ounce of will she has to stand against Jagen Ghen, but Hweilan will have her chance to avenge her family--or die trying.

Talbot Uskevren, the second son of one of Selgaunt's most powerful families, fights a deadly battle within himself. Like most men of his station, Talbot spends his days honing his sword fighting skills, and unlike others, practicing the art of acting. Now, Talbot will put both of these talents to the test when a rival House comes looking for blood. The only way for Talbot to survive against the Black Brotherhood is to let the inner wolf loose, and the only way for him to live in Selgaunt's society is to keep the wolf chained.

Black Wolf continues the story of the Uskevrens' second son, introduced in the story "Thirty Days" from The Halls of Stormweather. An exciting tale of werewolves in the Forgotten Realms, this is the fouth book in the Sembia series.

Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn't worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road, the boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the boy hadn't spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.

Ox was seventeen when he found out the boy's secret, and it painted the world around him in colours of red and orange and violet.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his blood-red eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.

It's been three years since that fateful day -- and the boy is back. Except now he's a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

The strange planet known as Tanegawa's World is owned by TransRifts Inc, the company with the absolute monopoly on interstellar travel. Hob landed there ten years ago, a penniless orphan left behind by a rift ship. She was taken in by Nick Ravani and quickly became a member of his mercenary biker troop, the Ghost Wolves.

Ten years later, she discovers the body of Nick's brother out in the dunes. Worse, his daughter is missing, taken by shady beings called the Weathermen. But there are greater mysteries to be discovered--both about Hob and the strange planet she calls home.

A dazzling new series, a pure adrenaline rush, debuts with Jane Hawk, a remarkable heroine certain to become an icon of suspense

"I very much need to be dead."

These are the chilling words left behind by a man who had everything to live for--but took his own life. In the aftermath, his widow, Jane Hawk, does what all her grief, fear, and fury demand: find the truth, no matter what.

People of talent and accomplishment, people admired and happy and sound of mind, have been committing suicide in surprising numbers. When Jane seeks to learn why, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America. Her powerful enemies are protecting a secret so important--so terrifying--that they will exterminate anyone in their way.

But all their power and viciousness may not be enough to stop a woman as clever as they are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless--and who is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

"No time to delay. Do what you were born to do. Fame will be yours when you do this."

These are the words that ring in the mind of mild-mannered, beloved schoolteacher Cora Gundersun--just before she takes her own life, and many others', in a shocking act of carnage. When the disturbing contents of her secret journal are discovered, it seems certain that she must have been insane. But Jane Hawk knows better.

In the wake of her husband's inexplicable suicide--and the equally mysterious deaths of scores of other exemplary individuals--Jane picks up the trail of a secret cabal of powerful players who think themselves above the law and beyond punishment. But the ruthless people bent on hijacking America's future for their own monstrous ends never banked on a highly trained FBI agent willing to go rogue--and become the nation's most wanted fugitive--in order to derail their insidious plans to gain absolute power with a terrifying technological breakthrough.

Driven by love for her lost husband and by fear for the five-year-old son she has sent into hiding, Jane Hawk has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them.

"I could be dead tomorrow. Or something worse than dead."

Jane Hawk knows she may be living on borrowed time. But as long as she's breathing, she'll never cease her one-woman war against the terrifying conspiracy that threatens the freedom--and free will--of millions. Battling the strange epidemic of murder-suicides that claimed Jane's husband, and is escalating across the country, has made the rogue FBI agent a wanted fugitive, relentlessly hunted not only by the government but by the secret cabal behind the plot. Deploying every resource their malign nexus of power and technology commands, Jane's enemies are determined to see her dead... or make her wish she was.

Jane's ruthless pursuers can't stop her from drawing a bead on her prey: a cunning man with connections in high places, a twisted soul of unspeakable depths with an army of professional killers on call. Propelled by her righteous fury and implacable insistence on justice, Jane will make her way from southern Southern California to the snow-swept slopes of Lake Tahoe to confront head-on the lethal forces arrayed against her. But nothing can prepare her for the chilling truth that awaits when she descends the crooked staircase to the dark and dreadful place where her long nightmare was born.

"We're rewriting the play, and the play is this country, the world, the future. We break Jane's heart, we'll also break her will."

She was one of the FBI's top agents until she became the nation's most-wanted fugitive. Now Jane Hawk may be all that stands between a free nation and its enslavement by a powerful secret society's terrifying mind-control technology. She couldn't save her husband, or the others whose lives have been destroyed, but equipped with superior tactical and survival skills--and the fury born of a broken heart and a hunger for justice--Jane has struck major blows against the insidious cabal.

But Jane's enemies are about to hit back hard. If their best operatives can't outrun her, they mean to bring her running to them, using her five-year-old son as bait. Jane knows there's no underestimating their capabilities, but she must battle her way back across the country to the remote shelter where her boy is safely hidden... for now. As she moves resolutely forward, new threats begin to emerge: a growing number of brain-altered victims driven hopelessly, violently insane. With the madness spreading like a virus, the war between Jane and her enemies will become a fight for all their lives--against the lethal terror unleashed from behind the forbidden door.

Since the beginning Jane Hawk has been resolute in her quest to take down the influential architects of an accelerating operation to control every level of society via an army of mind-altered citizens. At first, only Jane stood against the "Arcadian" conspirators, but slowly others have emerged to stand with her, even as there are troubling signs that the "adjusted" people are beginning to spin viciously out of control.

Jane will require all her resources - and more - as she confronts those at the malevolent, impregnable center of power as she wages her final battle against a terrifying conspiracy - for vengeance, for justice, and for humanity's freedom.

Legends, no matter how outlandish, are often grounded in reality. This has been the guiding principle behind the exhilarating career of Jeremy Logan, the "enigmologist" -- an investigator who specializes in analyzing phenomena that have no obvious explanation. Logan has often found himself in situations where keeping an open mind could mean the difference between life and death, and that has never been more true than now.

Logan travels to an isolated writers' retreat deep in the Adirondacks to finally work on his book when the remote community is rocked by the grisly discovery of a dead hiker on Desolation Mountain. The body has been severely mauled, but the unusual savagery of the bite and claw marks call into question the initial suspicions of a wild bear attack. When Logan is asked to help investigate, he discovers no shortage of suspects capable of such an attack -- and no shortage of locals willing to point the finger and spread incredible rumors. One rumor, too impossible to believe, has even the forest ranger believing in werewolves.

John Shannow, The Jerusalem Man, lived in a world that had toppled on its axis. Civilization had been replaced by ruthlessness and savagery. Relentless in his quest for peace, Shannow followed a path that led only to bloodshed and sorrow.

Abaddon, the Lord of the Pit, sought to plunge mankind into a new Satanic era. His Hellborn army spewed forth from the Plague Lands with an unholy force stemming from human sacrifice. For it was the blood of innocents that fueled the corrupted Sipstrassi Stones of Power--the source of Abaddon's might.

But the Hellborn made a fatal mistake--they took the woman who had stolen Shannow's heart. He would move Heaven and Earth to save her or he would die trying.

In the fourth and final book of the King of Ys series, Gratillonius and the Ysan survivors have one final chance to rebuild in the wake of inconceivable destruction.

As legendary as King Arthur's Court and as mystical as Atlantis, the fabled kingdom of Ys has finally fallen, the victim of invading hordes and vengeful gods. Destitute, the remaining Ysans put their faith in their longtime leader, Gratillonius, who protected the city-state of Ys for two decades before it succumbed to the malevolent forces surrounding it. Now more vulnerable than ever, Gratillonius and the Ysans set out to rebuild their beloved city, first with wood and then with stone, providing a fortress against the elements and the marauding King Niall maqq Echach, still on his years-long quest to see Ys turned to dust. While the Dark Ages begin to rise across Europe, the Ysans and their king grasp one last time for survival--lest their history be lost forever.

The Dog and the Wolf is the final book in Poul and Karen Anderson's King of Ys series, which also includes Roma Mater, Gallicenae, and Dahut.

Magic has never been a part of Reandn's life. Almost gone from Keland when he was born, there is no trace of it left by the time he enters training with the King's Wolves, the elite force that patrols the king's lands.

Magic has never been a part of Reandn's life. Until the people under his care start dying. Until the threat extends to his family, and until he finds himself struggling through disorienting attacks of weakness that turn the very act of going out on patrol into an unacceptable risk.

Someone, somewhere, is trying to draw magic back into Keland, and they don't care what-or who-is destroyed in the process!

Magic is back in Reandn's world--and when wizards use it to slaughter his Remote Wolf Patrol, he is left adrift in a society still reeling from the changes wrought by magic's return.

But King's Keep offers him a chance to regain his rank: Escort the beloved Higborn woman through the rebel-torn Resioran border to King's Keep. Soon enough Reandn is embroiled in wizard's treachery. To make it out alive--to keep Kalena alive and prevent a catastrophic wizard war--he'll have to face his own worst enemy.

Magic.

A distinguished compilation of two classic fantasy novels, Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Areté, in one volume

This omnibus of two acclaimed novels is the story of Latro, a Roman mercenary who while fighting in Greece received a head injury that deprived him of his short-term memory but gave him in return the ability to see and converse with the supernatural creatures and the gods and goddesses, who invisibly inhabit the ancient landscape. Latro forgets everything when he sleeps. Writing down his experiences every day and reading his journal anew each morning gives him a poignantly tenuous hold on himself, but his story's hold on readers is powerful indeed, and many consider these Wolfe's best books.

Latro, a mercenary soldier from the north, has suffered a head wound in battle but has developed the ability to see and converse with all of the invisible gods, goddesses, ghosts, demons, and werewolfves that inhabit the land.

Of all mortals Latro was the least favoured - or the most. The wound that had destroyed his memory had given him the ability to see the unseen: the world of the gods, the demi-gods and the fabulous.

Latro forgets everything when he sleeps. Writing down his experiences every day and reading his journal anew each morning gives him a poignantly tenuous hold on himself, but his story's hold on readers is powerful indeed. The two previous novels, combined in Latro in the Mist (Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete) are generally considered classics of contemporary fantasy. Latro now finds himself in Egypt, a land of singing girls, of spiteful and conniving deities. Without his memory, he is unsure of everything, except for his desire to be free of the curse that causes him to forget.

Darkness Grows in the Empire...

Naseru, known as "The Anvil," will stop at nothing to sit upon the Throne of Rokugan. When dark forces rise in the City of Night, he must act swiftly. To save his beloved Empire, Naseru must learn to wield the most unlikely weapon of all -- justice.

Son of both god and mortal, his destiny must be death or power everlasting.

The setting is a world of eternal winter, where once thrived hit climates and exquisite luxury. Saphay, neglected daughter of a sub-king in the civilised west, is sent off to marry a leader of the barbaric Jafn...not realizing that her own father has arranged for her to be betrayed and abducted on his perilous journey.

Escaping her pursuers, then dragged into the depths of an arctic sea, Saphay is miraculously discovered by her Jafn betrothed. She is still alive, though entombed in an ice pyramid, and their marriage proceeds as intended. However, when it becomes evident that Saphay is not only carrying a child already but is also the focus of a sorcerous and preternatural force, dark suspicions are aroused about the infant's true origin... Driven out into the icy wilderness to face certain death, Saphay somehow manages to reach unwelcome shelter. There her son can grow up safely in exile, while displaying all the skills of a future hero... and a future god.

Killed by the power of the god Zezeth, his true father, Lionwolf has been cast into a bleak and icy hell lit just by a cold blue sun. Here he and others of the living dead must wage endless combat and war, to appease the whim of a deathly King whose face is made of stone. But when Lionwolf encounters the King's wife, she is none other than the beautiful, god-fashioned Chillel, his own former lover - and nemesis.

As Lionwolf struggles in the toils of Hell, elsewhere in the hell-cold ice-age of the mortal earth, men and women work out their own destinies. An empire has fallen. Ru Karismi, Capital of the Kings, has been abandoned to the poisons of the White Death. Reivers cross the lands of the Jafn and the Ruk, preying wherever they wish. Against this unsettled backdrop, Jemhara the sorceress determines to save the Magician Thryfe from a dire self-inflicted punishment, and Saphay, now a goddess of the far north, seeks to lead her people to a new world. And from the depths of an ice-locked sea Zezeth's other terrifying son, the mountainous whale-leviathan Brightshade, is once more rising for vengeance.

Searching for the beautiful witch Jemhara, the magician Thryfe at last finds her in the reinvented town of Kandexa, where a strange and passionate wooing begins. From this union a son is born - golden-skinned, red-haired, blue-eyed - and thus the Lionwolf returns to the world of men.

Unaware of this birth, his original mother the goddess Saftri has begun her own search for her lost love Athluan... while elsewhere the black and shining ones, the Children of Chillel, seek to establish claims on the ice-locked planet. Beyond, over, under all, the evil god Zzth rages and plans the ruin of these separate and immortal lives.

Strafed by the tumult of such conflicting powers, the be-wintered realm of mortals can only wait to learn its destiny.

A Dragon is dead.

Corta Helio, one of the five family corporations that rule the Moon, has fallen. Its riches are divided up among its many enemies, its survivors scattered. Eighteen months have passed .

The remaining Helio children, Lucasinho and Luna, are under the protection of the powerful Asamoahs, while Robson, still reeling from witnessing his parent's violent deaths, is now a ward--virtually a hostage-- of Mackenzie Metals. And the last appointed heir, Lucas, has vanished of the surface of the moon.

Only Lady Sun, dowager of Taiyang, suspects that Lucas Corta is not dead, and more to the point--that he is still a major player in the game. After all, Lucas always was the Schemer, and even in death, he would go to any lengths to take back everything and build a new Corta Helio, more powerful than before. But Corta Helio needs allies, and to find them, the fleeing son undertakes an audacious, impossible journey--to Earth.

In an unstable lunar environment, the shifting loyalties and political machinations of each family reach the zenith of their most fertile plots as outright war erupts.

Luna: Wolf Moon continues Ian McDonald's saga of the Five Dragons.

The novel tells the story of the land that people travel to when they dream, and how a young boy finds courage and strength in fighting, but also in accepting, his own deepest fears and nightmares.

Kim is an average German schoolboy who hates math but loves to read the latest copy of Star Fighter. His daydreaming life spirals into a nightmare when his parents inform him that his little sister Rebecca has fallen into a mysterious coma after her appendicectomy. A visitor from the realm of Magic Moon, the wizard Themistocles, tells him there is only one way to free her from the enchantment of eternal sleep: Kim himself must travel into the land of dreams and save her from the dark wizard Boraas, who has captured her soul.

So his next dream pulls Kim into Magic Moon, where he must fly a spaceship, disguise himself as a dark warrior, fight dangerous monsters and fantastical creatures, and journey ever-onward through forests and mountains to the end of the world, only to find out that the answer to saving Rebecca -- and Magic Moon -- lies within himself.

The wizard Themistocles appears to Kim and urges him to return to Magic Moon, the land that people travel to when they dream. When the young boy arrives, he finds the magic realm dramatically changed.

Two years have passed since Kim's first voyage to the magical dream realm of Magic Moon, but then his old friend and advisor, the wizard Themistocles, appears to him in everyday situations, making him realize that something is wrong and that he must return to Magic Moon. After some trouble trying, Kim succeeds, only to find the dream realm very different from how it used to be: machines and greed have found their way into the simple life of the inhabitants, and an overall bitterness even affects his old friends Rangarig and Gorg.

Kim discovers an even more terrifying secret: the children of Magic Moon are mysteriously disappearing; some of them even appear, oblivious to anything around them, in Kim's world! Apparently, the dwarves, who have mysteriously appeared along with the machines, seem to be behind this, but the secret goes much deeper than that, the children or "moon children" have powers to communicate with Satan. These children also have a spiritual connection with living things and the weather like plants, animals, wind, and rain. Their connections can also mix sometimes and can the ability to use the other powers.

For his characters alone in this book, Anthony Boucher deserves awards. They are other-worldly (a ghost who gets killed--?); an air-breathing squid-like Martian who is a brilliant bartender of mixes for two humans who revolutionize the use of robotics and androids; some mummified creatures who have a cannibalistic way of coming alive when unexpected; a Lilliputian demon who can't manage the simplest of tasks when asked; and of course, the title player, a college professor-turned-werewolf for love. Not enough? How about a murder that costs the killer more than his life by summoning a creature from his own imagination? Just ask Gorgo, Dugg Quinby, Wolfe Wolf, Guzub, and Snulbug (but don't ask the latter for tomorrow's newspaper. He might bring it and a lot of surprises too.)

Contents:

• 7 - The Compleat Werewolf - [Fergus O'Breen] - (1942) - novella
• 63 - The Pink Caterpillar - [Fergus O'Breen] - (1945) - shortstory
• 74 - Q. U. R. - (1943) - shortstory
• 99 - Robinc - (1943) - shortstory
• 119 - Snulbug - (1941) - shortstory
• 136 - Mr. Lupescu - (1945) - shortstory
• 141 - They Bite - (1943) - shortstory
• 154 - Expedition - (1943) - shortstory
• 170 - We Print the Truth - (1943) - novella
• 240 - The Ghost of Me - (1942) - shortstory

After several years' absence and the loss of his memory, Andrew Blake returns to earth only to find himself accused of being a werewolf.

The Wolf's Hour is a 1989 World War II adventure novel with a twist by Robert R. McCammon. A British secret agent goes behind German lines to stop a secret weapon from being launched against the Allies. The twist is that this agent is a werewolf. The book also includes some of the agent's history, namely how he became a werewolf.

Christopher Snow is the best-known resident of 12,000-strong Moonlight Bay, California. This is because 28-year-old Chris has xeroderma pigmentosum (XP)--a light-sensitivity so severe that he cannot leave his house in daylight, cannot enter a normally-lit room, cannot sit at a computer. Chris's natural element is the night, and his parents, both academics, chose to live in Moonlight Bay because in a small town Chris can make the nightscape his own--roaming freely through the town on his bike, surfing in the moonlight, exploring while most people sleep.

But Chris's brilliant mother, a scientist, was killed in a car accident 2 years ago, and as the book opens his father, Steven Snow, is dying of cancer; Chris's protected life is about to change forever. We meet Chris as he is carefully preparing himself to go out in the late-afternoon sun to visit the hospital. In his last moments of life his father tells Chris he is "sorry" and that Chris should "fear nothing"--cryptic words that Chris cannot really relate to.

Steven Snow's body is removed to the hospital basement for transport to the funeral home/crematorium, and when Chris goes downstairs for a final moment of farewell, he witnesses a frightening and clandestine encounter: the funeral director and another man Chris doesn't recognize are substituting the body of a hitchhiker for Steven Snow's body–which is being taken not to the crematorium but to some secret destination.

For Chris, this scene is the first intimation of a conspiracy that he will come to realize envelopes many of his townspeople. His parents knew of it and wanted to protect Chris from it. His best friend has had hints of something wrong because of the frightening nocturnal visitors that have come to his beachhouse. And the first person to try to explain to Chris what's going on--and warn him about the special danger he himself is in--will be hideously murdered.

In the 24 hours this book encompasses, Christopher Snow will find out that, sheltered though he's been, he has the soul of a fighter and an adventurer. By the end of the book he will have killed a man, will have discovered the role his own mother played in the birth of the conspiracy, will have come to recognize the extraordinary guardians that, unknown to him, have watched over him for years. He will realize that some people hate him, others revere him, and neither his own life nor those of anyone he knows will ever be the same.

Moonlight Bay, California: a safe, secluded small town that is at its most picturesque in the gentle nighttimes that inspired its name. But now, somewhere in the night, children are disappearing.

When he sets out to find the missing five-year-old son of a former sweetheart, Christopher Snow believes that the lost children are still alive. He is convinced the disappearances have everything to do with the catastrophic effects of secret research conducted deep within Fort Wyvern. To keep those secrets, extremely violent and powerful forces are willing to conceal even the most heinous crimes.

Never before in Dean Koontz's phenomenal writing career has he created a character quite like Christopher Snow: a creation so complex, so fascinating that the author has felt compelled to return to him. Fans of Fear Nothing already know why. Those who meet him for the first time in Seize the Night will soon join millions of others whose imaginations have been touched by this unique character and the extraordinary, eerie world of Moonlight Bay.

"Spear-age, sword-age:
shields are shattered.
Wind-age, wolf-age:
before the world founders
no man will show mercy to another."

Wuruyaaria: city of werewolves, whose raiders range over the dying northlands, capturing human beings for slaves or meat. Wuruyaaria: where a lone immortal maker wages a secret war against the Strange Gods of the Coranians. Wuruyaaria: a democracy where some are more equal than others, and a faction of outcast werewolves is determined to change the balance of power in a long, bloody election year.

Their plans are laid; the challenges known; the risks accepted. But all schemes will shatter in the clash between two threats few had foreseen and none had fully understood: a monster from the north on a mission to poison the world, and a stranger from the south named Morlock Ambrosius.

Nazhuret, the reluctant philosopher-hero of R. A. MacAvoy's award-winning bestseller Lens of the World, is embarking on his final adventure. He must unwillingly end a long period of exile and once again take up the sword in defense of freedom. His old friend the King is suddenly and unexpectedly assassinated, leaving the kingdom in chaos. Nazhuret interrupts the peace of his old age to endure the horrors of war and the supernatural realm of the dead. Before his journey comes to an end, he must test his wisdom to its limit in the face of danger and treachery. He is accompanied by his beloved daughter Nahvah and, as Nazhuret's final debt of honor is paid, he faces the darker side of human nature with both of their lives at stake.

"No longer to be regarded as a footnote to the literary history of Jane Austen's Northanger septet, Eliza Parsons's Castle of Wolfenbach (1793) now secures its proper place as both a work of historical importance and a highly readable Gothic novel in its own right with this fine edition. Diane Long Hoeveler's thoughtful introduction opens new perspectives on Parsons's achievement in the field of what might be called "international" Gothic in her creation of an "ideologically bifurcated female Gothic, part liberal and part conservative" in its political outlook. This new edition both supplants earlier editions of this pivotal Gothic and tells us much about how the Gothic novel evolved in the late 1790s as an historical reflector of the fears, beliefs, and prejudices of a revolutionary, yet reactionary, era." -- Frederick S. Frank, Professor Emeritus of English, Allegheny College, and author of The First Gothics.

Matilda Weimar flees her lecherous and incestuous uncle and seeks refuge in the ancient Castle of Wolfenbach. Among the castle's abandoned chambers, Matilda will discover the horrifying mystery of the missing Countess of Wolfenbach. But when her uncle tracks her down, can she escape his despicable intentions?

One of the seven "horrid novels" named in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, Castle of Wolfenbach is perhaps the most important of the early Gothic novels, predating both The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Monk.

This edition reprints the complete text of the 1793 edition and includes a new introduction by Diane Long Hoeveler, one of the foremost modern scholars of Gothic literature and feminism.

"The dead don't talk. I don't know why." But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Meet Odd Thomas, the unassuming young hero of Dean Koontz's dazzling New York Times bestseller, a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who offers up his heart in these pages and will forever capture yours.

Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it's different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live—an unforgettable fable for our time destined to rank among Dean Koontz's most enduring works.

I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it. Odd Thomas never asked for his special ability. He's just an ordinary guy trying to live a quiet life in the small desert town of Pico Mundo. Yet he feels an obligation to do right by his otherworldly confidants, and that's why he's won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death. But when a childhood friend disappears, Odd discovers something worse than a dead body and embarks on a heart-stopping battle of will and wits with an enemy of exceptional cunning. In the hours to come there can be no innocent bystanders, and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope.

You're invited on an unforgettable journey through a world of terror and transcendence to wonders beyond imagining. And you can have no better guide than Odd Thomas.

Loop me in, odd one. The words, spoken in the deep of night by a sleeping child, chill the young man watching over her. For this was a favorite phrase of Stormy Llewellyn, his lost love. In the haunted halls of the isolated monastery where he had sought peace, Odd Thomas is stalking spirits of an infinitely darker nature.

As he steadfastly journeys toward his mysterious destiny, Odd Thomas has established himself as one of the most beloved and unique fictional heroes of our time. Now, wielding all the power and magic of a master storyteller at the pinnacle of his craft, Dean Koontz follows Odd into a singular new world where he hopes to make a fresh beginning—but where he will meet an adversary as old and inexorable as time itself.

Only a handful of fictional characters are recognized by first name alone. Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is one such literary hero, who has come alive in readers’ imaginations as he explores the greatest mysteries of this world and the next with his inimitable wit, heart, and quiet gallantry. Now Koontz follows Odd as he is drawn onward, to a destiny he cannot imagine. Haunted by dreams of an all-encompassing red tide, Odd is pulled inexorably to the sea, to a small California coastal town where nothing is as it seems.

Once presided over by a flamboyant Hollywood mogul during the Roaring ’20s, the magnificent West Coast property known as Roseland is now home to a reclusive billionaire financier and his faithful servants. And, at least for the moment, it’s also a port in the storm for Odd Thomas and his traveling companion, the inscrutably charming Annamaria, the Lady of the Bell. In the wake of Odd’s most recent clash with lethal adversaries, the opulent manor’s comforts should be welcome. But there’s far more to Roseland than meets even the extraordinary eye of Odd, who soon suspects it may be more hell than haven.

A harrowing taste of Roseland’s terrors convinces Odd that it’s time to hit the road again. Still, the prescient Annamaria insists that they’ve been led there for a reason, and he’s promised to do his best for the ghost on horseback. Just how deep and dreadful are the mysteries Roseland and her masters have kept for nearly a century? And what consequences await whoever is brave, or mad, enough to confront the most profound breed of evil? Odd only knows. Like his acclaimed creator, the irresistible Odd Thomas is in top-notch form-as he takes on what may well be the most terrifying challenge yet in his curious career.

How do you make sure a crime that hasn't happened yet, never does? That's the critical question facing Odd Thomas, the young man with a unique ability to commune with restless spirits and help them find justice and peace. But this time, it's the living who desperately need Odd on their side. Three helpless innocents will be brutally executed unless Odd can intervene in time. Who the potential victims are and where they can be found remain a mystery. The only thing Odd knows for sure is who the killer will be: the homicidal stranger who tried to shoot him dead in a small-town parking lot.

With the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock riding shotgun and a network of unlikely allies providing help along the way, Odd embarks on an interstate game of cat and mouse with his sinister quarry. He will soon learn that his adversary possesses abilities that may surpass his own and operates in service to infinitely more formidable foes, with murder a mere prelude to much deeper designs. Traveling across a landscape haunted by portents of impending catastrophe, Odd will do what he must and go where his path leads him, drawing ever closer to the dark heart of his long journey-and, perhaps, to the bright light beyond.

Odd Thomas is back where it all started... because the time has come to finish it. Since he left his simple life in the small town of Pico Mundo, California, his journey has taken him to places strange and wonderful, mysterious and terrifying. Across the land, in the company of mortals and spirits alike, he has known kindness and cruelty, felt love and loss, saved lives and taken them--as he's borne witness to humanity's greatest good and darkest evil. Again and again, he has gone where he must and done what he had to do--for better or worse--with his courage and devotion sorely tested, and his soul forever changed. Every triumph has been hard won. Each sacrifice has taken its toll.

Now, whatever destiny drives him has finally steered his steps home, where those he cares for most surround him, the memory of his tragically lost true love haunts him, and one last challenge--vast and dreadful--awaits him. For Odd Thomas, born to serve a purpose far greater than himself, the wandering is done. Only the reckoning remains.

Some people would do anything for love... even go to war... forever. What happened to Ene the Conqueror, and He, of Troiia, after the end of the Troiian War and they departed for home, reunited at last? It doesn't go well for either of them, it turns out. You think war is hell? Try being married to these two. This legendary couple finds themselves trapped on a world where madness reigns and blood flows daily. To escape, Ene must hunt and kill the bastard son of a god and He must weave stories night after night hoping to stay alive long enough for his bride to rescue him...

The multiple award-winning author of The Dreamthiefs Daughter and The Skrayling Tree delivers a stirring new novel in his beloved Elric the Eternal Champion saga. When Una, granddaughter of Oona the Dreamthiefs Daughter and Count Ulric von Bek, is left alone at the family house in Yorkshire Dales, all kinds of strange visitors start appearing. They believe that she will lead them to the White Wolfs son, control of whom will give them immense power. They are also searching for The Runestaff, a manifestation of the Holy Grail that Unas family has protected for centuries. Only with the help of the White Wolfs son will Una be able to prevent the power of The Runestaff from falling into the hands of the most evil creatures in creation.

Summer camp is a traditional teenage rite of passage, but when you add supernatural powers to the typically high dosage of adolescent hormones - you get an even more combustible mix. Sixteen-year-old werewolf twins Kate and Logan Danvers are none too thrilled at being shipped off to a supernatural youth leadership conference in West Virginia.

From the moment they arrive at the camp, the twins sense something is off and they react in their usual manner - Logan reserving judgement and surveying the setup, while Kate charges forward determined to get answers. Kate and Logan quickly ascertain that most of the conference attendees have already formed hostile factions, leaving the twins and a few other misfits to band together.

What seems like teen hormones in overdrive becomes something much more dangerous, even deadly. Add in a strange magic-warded cabin in the woods and a local history rife with curses and macabre legends, and it becomes clear this was a really, really bad place to build a camp for teenage supernaturals.

For Kate and Logan Danvers, sixteen-year-old twins of the werewolf Alpha, nothing could ruin a summer faster than the words "supernatural teen leadership conference." They expected a boring week of earnest political discussions and team-building exercises. Instead, in Wolf's Bane, they got a crash-course in real-life leadership, when the camp imploded and the twins and their new friends fled into the West Virginia forest.

Now, in Wolf's Curse, the group has taken refuge in a magically warded cabin only to discover that they might have been safer taking their chances with the demon outside. Trapped in a dark witch's sanctuary, surrounded by hell hounds, the twins will need to hone their leader and team building skills fast. There are battles to be waged and mysteries to be solved. Friendships to be forged in conflict and lost in betrayal. Even romances spark to life amid the turmoil. It might not be the way Kate and Logan expected to spend their week, but it will certainly be a summer camp to remember.

Harry is dead. Having left him abandoned and alone in pre-war Britain, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah try to solve the mystery of his death. But the only witness is in a lunatic asylum, driven mad by what he has seen. He tells of murder and mutilation, of living trees and long-dead legends, of wolfmen and war... And of a mysterious stranger known only as the Doctor. Can it be true that Harry discovered the last resting place of the Holy Grail? Why are the flowers and trees in a Somerset village in full bloom at Christmas? And is it just a coincidence that Harry died under a full moon?

In an empire on the brink of implosion, the Society of the Phoenix is the only alternative to catastrophe. Yet it is regarded by the rulers of the Concord as treasonable and a greater threat than the ominous rumblings of a Bond uprising. The Phoenix is led by Alex Ransom, once the first born of the House of DeKoven Woolf, but Commander Ransom now lies in an underground infirmary, critically wounded and comatose after a vital foray into Concord territory.

But the mission of the Phoenix remains steadfast, and a new leader emerges: Jael the Outsider. Meanwhile, one of the original founders of the Phoenix, Dr. Erica Radek, fights for Ransom's life as hard as she fights for the survival of the Concord. Erica also has a third mission: to find Lady Adrien Eliseer, who has vanished without a trace from the Two Systems. Erica knows that Adrien is the key to Alex's survival.

As war looms, the Concord must face the Phoenix, and only one will rise from the ashes.

Kidnapped as a young girl, her psychic powers harnessed by a madman, Memory lives a caged and isolated existence... until she comes face-to-face with a wolf. Labelled an empath by her bad-tempered rescuer, Memory knows that her 'gift' is nothing so bright. It is a terrible darkness that means she will always be hunted.

But Memory is free now and she intends to live. A certain growly wolf can just deal with it.

Alexei prefers to keep his packmates at bay, the bleak history of his family a constant reminder that mating, love, hope is not for him. But Memory, this defiant and fearless woman who stands toe-to-toe with him awakens the most primal part of his nature--and soon, he must make a choice: risk everything or lose Memory to a murderous darkness that wants to annihilate her from existence...

Makstarn was ugly, an outcast in the midst of the beautiful people of his tribe. Where they were tall and slender, he was short and squat. Where they were golden, touched with the beauty of the dawn, he was black and hairy... and hated by those of his own generation. It little mattered that the Elders respected him for what he was... and for what his father, Max Quest, had been; the young were all that mattered.

And their hatred drove him at last from the tribe, and on an impossible journey in search of the memory of his father... and in search of his own manhood.

VAELIN AL SORNA RETURNS

Anthony Ryan's debut novel Blood Song--the first book of the Raven's Shadow series - took the fantasy world by storm. Now, he continues that saga with The Wolf's Call, which begins a thrilling new story of razor-sharp action and epic adventure.

Peace never lasts.

Vaelin Al Sorna is a living legend, his name known across the Realm. It was his leadership that overthrew empires, his blade that won hard-fought battles - and his sacrifice that defeated an evil more terrifying than anything the world had ever seen. He won titles aplenty, only to cast aside his earned glory for a quiet life in the Realm's northern reaches.

Yet whispers have come from across the sea - rumours of an army called the Steel Horde, led by a man who believes himself a god. Vaelin has no wish to fight another war, but when he learns that Sherin, the woman he lost long ago, has fallen into the Horde's grasp, he resolves to confront this powerful new threat.

To this end, Vaelin travels to the realms of the Merchant Kings, a land ruled by honor and intrigue. There, as the drums of war thunder across kingdoms riven by conflict, Vaelin learns a terrible truth: that there are some battles that even he may not be strong enough to win.

The compelling sequel to The Reindeer People , a saga of magic and triumph in an ancient world.

Kerlew stared at the immense stone that jutted up from the tundra. Power radiated from it like heat from a fire. It attracted the boy and filled him with fear.

And then he was alone.

There was a brush of sound, of dark moving shadows and then the sudden flash of a glistening eye. He pressed his palms back against the stone's rough surface and faced the night creatures that surrounded him.

The magic is strong in Kerlew. Every day it grows, reaching out to the Wolf spirit that will be his guide. But the magic in Kerlew that calls to the beasts and to the spirit world also calls to Carp, the evil old shaman, who follows Kerlew and his mother, Tillu, across the frozen wastes. When he finds them, he will bind them to him, and shape Kerlew's powers for his own uses.

"Who'd want to kill a dumb cartoon bunny?"

That's what Eddie Valiant wants to know. He's the toughest private eye in Los Angeles, and he'll handle anything - if you're human. If you're a Toon, that's another story.

Eddie doesn't like Toons - those cartoon characters who live side-by-side with humans. Not the way they look, and especially not the way they talk: word-filled balloons come out of their mouths and then disintegrate, leaving dust all over his rug.

Eddie will work for a Toon if his cash supply is low enough. So he reluctantly agrees when Roger Rabbit, a Toon who plays straight man (or should that be straight rabbit) in the Baby Herman cartoon series, asks him to find out who's been trying - unsuccessfully - to buy his contract from the DeGreasy Brothers syndicate.

Then Rocco DeGreasy is murdered - and Roger is the prime suspect! The rabbit is also, as Eddie soon discovers, very, very dead.

Who censored Roger Rabbit? And who shot Rocco DeGreasy? Was it Roger, or was it Rocco's hot-cha-cha girlfriend, Jessica Rabbit? Why had Jessica - a pretty steamy number for a Toon - ever married a dopey bunny in the first place? And why does everybody want Roger's battered old teakettle?

As Eddie combs L.A. from the executive suites of the DeGreasy Brothers to Sid Sleaze's porno comic studio, he uncovers art thefts, blackmail plots... and the cagiest killer he's ever faced.

In Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, author Gary K. Wolf has created a wonderfully skewed - and totally believable - world compounded of equal parts Raymond Chandler, Lewis Carroll, and Warner Brothers. This riotously surreal spoof of the hard-boiled detective novel is packed with action and laughs. From first page to last, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is sheer delight.

Celebrated author Gary K. Wolf's cult classic and highly praised novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is the basis for the blockbuster Walt Disney/Steven Spielberg Academy Award winning film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Welcome to Toontown where cartoon characters - Toons - live side-by-side with humans. The whole Who Framed Roger Rabbit cast is here: Roger Rabbit, Eddie Valiant, Baby Herman, and of course Jessica Rabbit, the sultriest woman ever "drawn that way." They're up to their old tricks in a whimsical new mystery by Toontown's original creator, the man who first brought these delightful creatures to life.

Who P-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit? opens with a call from Roger to hard-boiled private eye Eddie Valiant. Roger suspects that Jessica is baking her carrot cakes for movie heartthrob Clark Gable. The scandal threatens to rob Roger of the Rhett Butler role in the soon-to-be-filmed Toon musical comedy Gone with the Wind.

Investigating Jessica's alleged affair, valiant Eddie finds adultery turning to murder. In no time flat, he's up to his fedora in a nasty web of deceit, intrigue, and Hollywood corruption including reports from all over of a swindling, cheating, blackmailing.... Roger!!?!?! Something is really p-p-p-popping in Toontown!

Some of the wildest creatures seen in fiction (and real life) abound: Police Sergeant Bulldog Bascomb, a full-blooded hound with razor-sharp teeth sunk into Eddie's case: Heddy, Eddie's sister and possible prime suspect; Kirk Enigman, a very "shadow"-y guy; and Joellyn, Jessica's twin sister, shockingly different in one small way! As if this isn't enough, human luminaries run fast and furious. In addition to Gable, David O. Selznick, Carole Lombard (Baby Herman's latest plaything), and Vivien Leigh (Valiant's dalliance?) all play a role.

Who P-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit? is a comically brilliant sequel, as unique and original as the first time we saw Roger and Jessica together in Wolf's Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, the book that kicked off the whole Toon craze. This version includes an author's sketch of Roger Rabbit PLUS autographs of Gary K. Wolf AND Roger Rabbit himself!

Hard-boiled gumshoe Eddie Valiant lands a plum job as Gary Cooper's bodyguard while Coop scouts locations for his next movie-a screwball comedy titled Hi, Toon! But Eddie's dream job quickly turns into a nightmare. The film's being shot in Toontown, and Coop's co-star turns out to be none other than Roger Rabbit. Eddie's a big fan of Coop. Of Roger? Not so much.

Now a sinister hoodlum is threatening to murder Coop if the movie gets made. Before long, Eddie, Coop, Roger, and the ever-glamorous Jessica Rabbit are embroiled in a mystery that could destroy Toontown. When Roger bites off more Toonish trouble than Eddie can swallow, the answer to the question Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? suddenly becomes no laughing matter.

"Even the Incredible Hulk calls Who Wacked Roger Rabbit? a SMASH!" -Stan Lee Includes an author's sketch of Roger Rabbit PLUS autographs of Gary K. Wolf AND Roger Rabbit himself! The detective on the cover is portrayed by Mr. Wolf.

A swashbuckling adventure following privateer Ross Tremayne introduces Jacey Bedford's magical alternate history series, Rowankind

Britain, 1801. King George's episodic sanity is almost as damaging as his madness. First Consul Napoleon is gathering his forces in France. The disease of democracy is spreading. The world is poised on the brink of the modern era, but the rowankind, long a source of free labor, have shaken off their bonds.

Some have returned to laru to find freedom with the Fae; others are trying to find a place in the world, looking for fair treatment under the law. The course of the industrial revolution may change forever.

Wild magic is on the rise. Creatures of legend are returning to the world: kelpies, pixies, trolls, hobs, and goblins. Ross and Corwen, she a summoner witch and he a wolf shapechanger, have freed the rowankind from bondage, but now they are caught in the midst of the conflict, while trying their best to avoid the attention of the Mysterium, the government organization which would see them hanged for their magic.

When an urgent letter calls Corwen back to Yorkshire, he and Ross become embroiled in dark magic, family secrets, and industrial treachery. London beckons. There they discover a missing twin, an unexpected friend, and an old enemy--called Walsingham.

Reared in secret because of a birth defect, Yorath, prince and heir to the throne of Mel'Nir, only learns of his heritage after many adventures and encounters and then must decide what course his life will follow. Sequel to "A Princess of the Chameln" and second book of the "Rulers of Hylor" trilogy.

The epic struggle begun in THE SUM OF ALL MEN continues in BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF. Gaborn has managed to drive off Raj Ahten, but Ahten is far from defeated. Striking at far-flung cities and fortresses and killing dedicates, Ahten seeks to draw out the Earth King from his seat of power, in order to crush him. But as they weaken each other's forces in battle, the armies of an ancient and implacable enemy issue forth from the very bowels of the Earth. . .

For years, those bringing SF into the classroom have had to improvise their course materials from anthologies and collections not designed for classwork. Now, David G. Hartwell, award-winning anthologist, and Professor Milton T. Wolf, Vice President of the Science Fiction Research Association, present a carefully selected reading anthology reflecting the SF field in all its modern diversity. Here are Golden Age writers like John W. Campbell and Jack Williamson, and here also are towering latter-day titans like Gene Wolfe and Ursula K. Le Guin, along with today's popular writers such as Greg Bear, Robert Jordan, and Vernor Vinge.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - essay by David G. Hartwell and Milton T. Wolf
• Critics - (1956) - essay by Damon Knight
• The Ship Who Sang - (1961) - novelette by Anne McCaffrey
• Blood Music - (1983) - novelette by Greg Bear
• Paperjack - (1991) - novelette by Charles de Lint
• Forever Yours, Anna - (1987) - shortstory by Kate Wilhelm
• The Golden Age of Science Fiction Is Twelve - (1984) - essay by David G. Hartwell
• Mr. Boy - (1990) - novella by James Patrick Kelly
• Jamboree - (1969) - shortstory by Jack Williamson
• The Death of Doctor Island - (1973) - novella by Gene Wolfe
• Ender's Game - (1977) - novelette by Orson Scott Card
• "What Do You Mean... Human?" - (1959) - essay by John W. Campbell, Jr.
• Bears Discover Fire - (1990) - shortstory by Terry Bisson
• One Down, One to Go - (1990) - shortstory by Philip José Farmer
• Sur - (1982) - shortstory by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Introduction (England Swings SF) - (1968) - essay by Judith Merril
• Doing Lennon - (1975) - shortstory by Gregory Benford
• A Tupolev Too Far - (1989) - novelette by Brian W. Aldiss
• Them Old Hyannis Blues - (1992) - shortstory by Judith Tarr
• Paradise Charted - (1980) - essay by Algis Budrys
• Masque of the Red Shift - (1965) - novelette by Fred Saberhagen
• Redemption in the Quantum Realm - (1994) - shortstory by Frederik Pohl
• Devil You Don't Know - (1978) - novelette by Dean Ing
• The Eye of the World (extract) - (1990) - shortstory by Robert Jordan
• Split Light - (1994) - shortstory by Lisa Goldstein
• Science Fiction & The Adventures of the Spherical Cow - (1988) - essay by Kathryn Cramer
• The Sun Spider - (1987) - novelette by Lucius Shepard
• Science Fiction and "Literature" -- or, The Conscience of the King - (1979) - essay by Samuel R. Delany
• Souls - (1982) - novella by Joanna Russ
• Overdrawn at the Memory Bank - (1976) - novelette by John Varley
• The Girl Who Was Plugged In - (1973) - novelette by James Tiptree, Jr.
• Burning Chrome - (1982) - novelette by William Gibson
• Towards an Aesthetic of Science Fiction - (1975) - essay by Joanna Russ
• Identifying the Object - (1990) - novelette by Gwyneth Jones
• The Mountain to Mohammed - (1992) - shortstory by Nancy Kress
• Wall, Stone, Craft - (1993) - novella by Walter Jon Williams
• Boobs - (1989) - shortstory by Suzy McKee Charnas
• To Bring in Fine Things: The Significance of Science Fiction Plots - (1989) - essay by Brian Stableford
• Spider Silk - (1976) - novelette by Andre Norton
• A Braver Thing - (1990) - novelette by Charles Sheffield
• Getting Real - (1991) - novelette by Susan Shwartz
• True Names - (1981) - novella by Vernor Vinge
• Science Fiction: A Selective Guide to Scholarship - (1996) - essay by Gary K. Wolfe

Shapeshifting mercenary Aralorn leads a dangerous existence. Now she must return home for her noble father, the Lyon of Lambshold, has passed away. But when Aralorn and her companion Wolf arrive, they find he's not dead, but ensorcelled by the ae'Magi, using him as a conduit to destroy Aralorn and Wolf. She must overcome this mysterious mist or fall to the blackest of magic.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology World Fantasy 1983: Sixty Years of Weird Tales (1983), edited by Robert Weinberg. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection (1984), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Magicats! (1984), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collections Endangered Species (1989) and The Castle of the Otter (2016).

This short story originally appeared in Light Years and Dark: Science Fiction and Fantasy Of and For Our Time (1984), edited by Michael Bishop. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection (1985) and The Furthest Horizon: SF Adventures to the Far Future (2000), both edited by Garnder Dozois. The story is included in Endangered Species (1989).

Ragnar Blackmane is a legend of the Space Wolves, the youngest warrior ever to rise to command a Great Company. As he battles the forces of Abaddon the Despoiler on the war-ravaged world of Cadia, Ragnar remembers the events that brought him to this place and time, and relates two great sagas from his past, each bringing him into conflict with brother Space Marines from other Chapters, the secretive Dark Angels and savage Flesh Tearers. As these tales influence the events of the present, Ragnar comes to realise that his past actions have consequences.

This omnibus contains three books in the Space Wolf series by William King and Lee Lightner

Wolfblade
The ancient Navigator House of Belisarius has long been bound to the mighty Space Wolves as allies. In return for the means to navigate the treacherous warp, the Space Wolves provide an honour guard of elite warriors--the Wolfblade--to protect the House. When Ragnar takes up his duties on ancient Terra he soon becomes embroiled in an assassination plot that reaches into the very depths of Imperium!

Sons of Fenris
Ragnar Blackmane is a legend within the hallowed ranks of the Space Wolves--his exploits are legendary and his courage is limitless. When Ragnar is sent to investigate reports of Chaos attacks on the planet Hyades, he encounters his Chapter's most bitter rivals--the Dark Angels Space Marines. As old feuds come to the fore, both sides call in reinforcements and the situation quickly escalates out of control. Can these two ancient rivals call a truce and work together or will the savage forces of Chaos exploit the infighting and complete their nefarious plans?

Wolf's Honour
Following events described in Sons of Fenris, the Space Wolves find themselves under attack from all sides by the Thousand Sons Chaos Space marines. In a last-ditch attempt to stop their ancient enemy, Ragnar and his battle-brothers launch a lightning strike on the Thousand Sons' base. Will the Space Wolves triumph, and can Ragnar retrieve the Spear of Russ from his nemesis, the Chaos Space Marine Madox?

The howling fury of the Space Wolves is about to be unleashed! On the grim death world of Fenris, the sparse population faces a daily battle for survival against lethal monsters and rival tribes. But Fenris is also home to the mighty Space Wolves Chapter of Space Marines, the Emperor's elite warriors in a universe full of aliens, heretics and mutants.

The adventures of Ragnar begin when he is revived from a savage death in battle and inducted into the ranks of the Space Wolves. But can the ferocious Ragnar conquer the beast within and fulfil his destiny on the battlefields of the 41st millennium?

Written by William King, the Space Wolf Omnibus is a searing collection of the novels Space Wolf, Ragnar's Claw and Grey Hunter.

On the grim death-world of Fenris, the Space Wolves Chapter selects its aspirants from the best and brightest of the young tribesmen. Ragnar of the Thunderfist tribe finds his life changed forever when he is chosen.

After being revived from a savage death on the battlefield, Ragnar is recruited into the fearsome Space Wolves Chapter. He is then thrown into a galactic war against the dark forces of Chaos. However, the implanting of the Canis Helix unleashes his primal instincts and Ragnar must fight to control the beast within him.

A deadly plague is ravaging the planet of Aerius and millions of Imperial citizens are dying. Inquisitor Sternberg turns to the fearsome Space Wolves for aidin the recovery of the ancient Talisman of Lykos, which he believes can cure the corruption ravaging the world.

Ragnar Blackmane and his squad of Blood Claws embark on a near-suicidal mission to retrieve the talisman before it is too late. But this is no ordinary plague, and the servants of Nurgle await the Space Wolves. Will they be able to overcome the forces of Chaos, or is Aerius doomed?

Ragnar Blackmane is unique among the Space Wolves in that he ascended to the Wolf Guard without ever being a Grey Hunter. But how did he manage such a feat? The beginnings of that story are told here...

When the Spear of Russ, an ancient relic of the Space Wolves once wielded by Leman Russ himself, is stolen, the Chapter seeks its return on the world of Garm. But when they are ambushed by the forces of Chaos the enraged Space Wolves learn that there is more to the attack than they could have guessed, for an ancient enemy of the Chapter is propehsied to be reborn...

The ancient Navigator House of Belisarius has long been bound to the mighty Space Wolves as allies. In return for the means to navigate the treacherous warp, the Space Wolves provide an honour guard of elite warriors--the Wolfblade--to protect the House.

When Ragnar, exiled to Terra for his role in the loss of the Spear of Russ, takes up his duties on ancient Terra he soon becomes embroiled in an assassination plot that reaches into the very depths of Imperium! Unused to the delicate political machinations, Ragnar must resort to the howling fury of the Wolves if he is to save this noble dynasty and regain his honour!

When reports reach Terra of a Chaos incursion on Hyades, Ragnar Blackmane and his Wolfblade brothers are sent to investigate. But once there, they find that all is not what it seems.

The Dark Angels, ancient rivals of the Space Wolves, are present and eager to allow old feuds to come to the fore. When both Chapters call in reinforcements, the situation quickly escalates out of control--and there is still the threat of renegades and traitors waiting for them...

For ten thousand years, the Thousand Sons have sought revenge upon the Space Wolves for the destruction of their home world of Prospero. Now, the time may have come for their final victory. When the Chapter comes under attack, it falls to Ragnar Blackmane and his brothers to launch a lightning strike on the Thousand Sons in a last ditch attempt to stop their ruinous plans.

With the aid of brothers long thought lost, Ragnar seeks to retrieve the Spear of Russ, and not only save the day, but regain his honour. But his nemesis, the sorceror Madox, has claimed the spear and stand between the Young Wolf and his victory.

The feral warrior-kings of Fenris, the Space Wolves are the sons of Leman Russ. Savage heroes, few can match their ferocity in battle. After half a century apart, Space Wolves Ingvar and Gunnlaugr are reunited.

Sent to defend an important shrine world against the plague-ridden Death Guard, the Grey Hunters clash with the pious Sisters of Battle, who see the Space Wolves as little better than the enemy they fight. As enemies close in around them and treachery is revealed, Gunnlaugr and his warriors must hold the defenders together--even as hidden tensions threaten to tear their pack apart.

The feral warrior-kings of Fenris, the Space Wolves are the sons of Leman Russ. Savage heroes, few can match their ferocity in battle. As events on the plague-wracked world of Ras Shakeh spin out of control, the Imperium descends upon the world in force.

Njal Stormcaller, Space Wolves Rune Priest, arrives to reinforce the embattled Jarnhamar pack, and finds his battle-brothers at one another's throats, each pursuing their own agendas. Meanwhile, the forces of the Ecclesiarchy arrive to retake their world and uncover the sinister secret behind Ras Shakeh's corruption, a secret that threatens the survival of the Imperium itself'

The Space Wolves are a proud and fierce Chapter, who have a long and storied history. Not all of their sagas, however, are glorious. There are secrets buried deep in their past, and enemies eternal, earned by acts committed in a lost and half-forgotten age.

When the worlds of Fenris come under attack from a malevolent daemon tide, all who serve the Fang answer. War engulfs the Space Wolves as never before, but amongst the carnage lurks a greater horror: the return of their lost brothers, the dark legacy of Russ. Can the Space Wolves survive the revelation of the Wulfen?

CONTENTS:
Curse of the Wulfen by David Annandale
Legacy of Russ by Robbie MacNiven

The life of a traveling merchant is a lonely one, a fact with which Kraft Lawrence is well acquainted. Wandering from town to town with just his horse, cart, and whatever wares have come his way, the peddler has pretty well settled into his routine-that is, until the night Lawrence finds a wolf goddess asleep in his cart. Taking the form of a fetching girl with wolf ears and a tail, Holo has wearied of tending to harvests in the countryside and strikes up a bargain with the merchant to lend him the cunning of "Holo the Wisewolf" to increase his profits in exchange for taking her along on his travels. What kind of businessman could turn down such an offer? Lawrence soon learns, though, that having an ancient goddess as a traveling companion can be a bit of a mixed blessing. Will this wolf girl turn out to be too wild to tame?

Following his good fortune in Pazzio, Lawrence is confident that he is on the path to realizing his dream of becoming a town merchant. One ill-informed business decision, though, leaves him teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and ruin! With no assets to his name - other than the cunning of his fetching traveling companion, Holo the Wisewolf - Lawrence may need to resort to illicit means to put his affairs in order. With all of the merchant's plans hinging on one beautiful young shepherdess - for whose vocation Holo holds no affection - Lawrence's prospects, both personal and professional, are looking grim!

Having narrowly escaped financial ruin, Lawrence turns his attention to helping Holo find her ancient homeland in the North. But how long can a traveling merchant afford to wander the countryside looking for a village that he suspects may have ceased to exist long ago? When a rival merchant sets his sights on Lawrence's beautiful companion, though, can Lawrence truly be confident that Holo will remain by his side? Has the time come when Lawrence must ask himself whether his relationship with the Wisewolf is business or pleasure?

Continuing their journey north, Lawrence and Holo stop in the village of Tereo in hopes of finding a local abbey where they might uncover more information regarding the fate of Holo's ancient home, Yoitsu. Soon after their arrival, though, the companions are caught up in a local dispute between Tereo and the neighboring town of Enberch that could cost Lawrence and Holo both their fortunes and their lives! With the Wisewolf's help, can Lawrence devise a way to save an entire town from ruin - and his skin and that of his traveling companion in the process?

Arriving in the town of Lenos, Lawrence and Holo take a respite from their travels north - but a true businessman never rests! It isn't long before an opportunity for profit presents itself to Lawrence, one that could fulfill his dreams of owning his own establishment. But as always, the promise of great reward carries great risk - and risk is never greater than when one plans to use a wisewolf as collateral! As Lawrence and Holo feel the ties binding them stretched thin, has the time come for the pair to go their separate ways?

As Holo and Lawrence begin the final leg of their journey, Lawrence decides to accompany Holo to her ancient home of Yoitsu, if only to forestall their parting just a bit longer. Boarding a ship from the port of Lenos (much to the chagrin of the wisewolf, who is none too fond of water!), the pair's fate becomes entangled with that of a boy named Col, whose tale of his circumstances - combined with the gossip of the sailors - leads to a shocking revelation about Holo's homeland!

In a break from Lawrence and Holo's ongoing adventures, author Isuna Hasekura presents "Side Colors," a series of short vignettes focusing on the fans' favorite characters.

Hearing rumors of a "leg bone of the wolf" being used as an artifact of the Church to showcase its power, Lawrence and Holo head to the site to gather more information. Holo can't just turn away from what might be a relic of her own kind, after all. Of course, upon arrival, the travelers find that the town is the center of a giant trade dispute! Seems that Col will be getting a lesson in microeconomics!

The capture of a narwhal and the ensuing power struggle between the northern and southern districts of Kerube has Lawrence caught in the middle! Backed into a corner by his own trade guild, can the merchant find a way to extricate himself from this delicate situation? And what of the wolf bone from Holo's pack? Can the Wisewolf of Yoitsu manage to keep her rage and frustration in check?

After the turmoil in Kerube, Lawrence and his companions make for the Kingdom of Winfiel across the sea. Their destination is the great abbey of Brondel, said to hold the wolf bones they seek. Arriving in the kingdom, they hear tell that the abbey, normally prosperous due to its great wool trade, has fallen into a financial crisis. Worse, the most powerful economic force in the world-the Ruvik Alliance-is entering the kingdom with its eye upon the abbey's land holdings...

As with the first Side Colors volume, Side Colors II departs once more from Lawrence and Holo's travels north, taking the reader off the beaten path to explore three exquisite side stories. Remember, it's not so much about the destination, as it is the journey...

To obtain a map of the northlands, Lawrence and company leave the Kingdom of Winfiel and return to Kerube. Seeking out a silversmith of notorious reputation, they are introduced to the beautiful Fran Vonely who offers to provide what they seek. However, Fran's map comes with a price-in exchange, the party must travel with her to a village where an angel is said to have alighted and discover the truth behind the legend. But what of the rumor that a witch lives in that very same village...?

This collection of short stories from the world of Spice & Wolf features three new vignettes from Lawrence and Holo's journeys, as well as a novella that follows Norah the shepherdess and her faithful sheepdog, Enek, as they put the city of Ruvinheigen behind them and try to forge a new path for themselves...

Having arranged to receive a map of the northlands from the silversmith, Lawrence's pleasure at imagining that he'll be able to travel to Yoitsu with Holo lasts but a moment, for when they revisit the town of Lenos, they immediately become entangled in the schemes that surround a forbidden book. The book is said to contain forbidden arts that might threaten Yoitsu itself, but to get it, Lawrence would have to return to his trading route, leaving insufficient time for him to go with Holo to Yoitsu. Faced with the harsh reality of this decision, what will Lawrence's solution be?!

The Myuri mercenary band--a troop named for one of Holo's old comrades. In order to find them, Lawrence and company make for Lesko, a town dominated by the copper-trading Debau Company. Rumors of the Debau Company's schemes to both open more mines and seize control of the northern lands swirl, along with rumors that they're concentrating military power in the town in preparation. But when Lawrence and Holo arrive in Lesko, they discover a surprisingly cheerful and peaceful place. What is really happening? Find out as the end of Holo the Wisewolf and Lawrence the traveling merchant's long journey draws close to its end!

With the Debau Company's plans to introduce a new currency, the town of Lesko is brimming with hopes and dreams. And with Holo by his side, Lawrence has decided to open a shop. But just before he can, he is confronted by two men who bring him Col's traveling bag. A rift within the Debau Company separates Holo and Lawrence, who find themselves pulled apart yet again. What will become of the merchant and the wolf? The finale of their tale is at hand!

Several years have passed since the incidents surrounding the Coin of the Sun. Having received a letter from Holo, Norah the former shepherdess and Eve the merchant woman travel north--and on the way, they end up in the same wagon as Diana the alchemist! Were Lawrence and Holo able to find happiness for themselves?

In addition to an epilogue covering the days immediately after the events of Volume 16, this final book in the Spice and Wolf series includes three new short stories!

The long-awaited continuation of the tale of Holo the Wise Wolf and the merchant Lawrence! Over ten years after Holo and Lawrence open "Bathhouse Spice and Wolf" in Nyohhira, the two climb up the mountain in order to help at the festival in Sverner. But Lawrence has an additional objective: to find more information about a new hot spring town near Nyohhira...

Blissful days continue for the ex-merchant and the wolf as they pass the days together in their mountain home. Ever since Col and Myuri set off on a journey of their own, the bathhouse has been a little shorthanded so a new hire was brought on. But this newcomer is a wolf, just like Holo and the problems with her joining the staff seem endless...

After a short summer, lively with guests, the bathhouse Spice & Wolf greets the momentary calm that is autumn.

The unusually enthusiastic Holo and an exasperated Lawrence want to have their fill of what the mountain-bound Nyohhira has to offer in autumn.

After a walk in the mountains the two return to the bathhouse with a basket-full of goodies, and there is a crowd of people at the entrance.

"I do not quite know what it might be, but it smells of many beasts."

The reason these sudden, out-of-season guests came to bathhouse is, Spice & Wolf!

For Lawrence, the seed of all his worries is none other than his adorable only daughter, Myuri, who recently left home. Ever since her departure, this worrisome father has become more haggard and anxious with each passing day. Unable to ignore it any longer, his wife, Holo, entrusts the bathhouse to their friends and proposes that they embark on a journey of their own. To visit their daughter, of course. For the first time in over ten years, their cart returns to the road once again, rumbling along slowly, heavily laden with memories, emotions, and promises to fulfill. Though it's been a long time since they last traveled, the loving couple won't have to go far before they begin to hear rumors of Myuri-or rather, Saint Myuri?! What has that wild girl done now?

With the Nyohira bathhouse in good hands, Lawrence and Holo continue their journey, exploring the world anew. Of course, it wouldn't be much of an adventure if they didn't run into some new faces--and some old ones, too. So when their old friend Elsa asks them to investigate a cursed mountain to discover the secret of the wandering alchemists and a fallen angel, of course they accept. It may be some time yet until they catch up with Col and Myuri... who have somehow gotten into a bit of matrimonial trouble of their own?!

Holo and Lawrence earn themselves another spot in the history books after they save Saronia from being swallowed in debt. In return for their help, the two receive an enviable reward--a noble title. While Lawrence is beyond delighted, Holo and Elsa are wary of the generous gift. Perhaps their fears are warranted, because it seems the title comes with a shady plot of land tied to the legend of a giant serpent!

Between more stories of summer adventure and moments of parting with friends new and old, Holo and Lawrence have at least a few more journeys in them.

The Tonneburg woods are in danger... or so says the forest ranger who approaches Holo and Lawrence with a curious request--help convince his lord to not chop down the trees that have always provided for their people. Sadly, Lord Tonneburg hasn't made this decision lightly. He must banish any heretical rumors that he worships the forest, as well as pay off his family's debts to the city of Kerube. As their investigation continues, Holo and Lawrence quickly realize the merchant at the center of these issues of faith and trade is none other than Eve Bolan, who claims to need a vast amount of lumber to aid the Twilight Cardinal's righteous cause. Is she using Col's title as a cover to make obscene amounts of profit, or is there more to this story than meets the eye...?

Only an endless space war could have produced the Roger Burlingame. A war that had caused Earth to turn starships into instruments of total destruction. A war that had so drained Earth of resources that the Roger Burlingame was kept in service long after it should have been scrapped.

Now, light years from Earth, the great starship had sighted a quarry almost certain to defeat it in a fair fight. The captain's nerve was gone; the crew were on the verge of mutiny. And command had passed to a fanatical young first officer hungry for his first kill.

War had turned into hell--and this was a voyage of the damned...

Starhunt is an expansion of Yesterday's Children (1972).

The first work in David Gerrold's Star Wolf trilogy, this tale pits the human members of the Star Wolf space vessel against the superhuman Morthan crew. Captain Jonathan Korie, hampered by the loss of most of the human fleet to the Morthans and a nearly disabled ship of his own, faces the Morthan threat driven by the need for survival and the desire for revenge. A classic of military science fiction, the Star Wolf trilogy combines rapid action with powerful studies of military character.

With an introduction by Spider Robinson

The Morthans were physically and mentally superior. Descended from humans, they were now, literally, "more-than" human... and considered the human race to be little better than animals. They would stop at nothing to conquer the remaining human-controlled worlds.

Docked for repairs after a harrowing battle with a Morthan ship, Jonathan Korie and his crew discover they have a Morthan imp aboard — a Morthan weapon so quick they have no chance of catching it, so clever they have no hope of outsmarting it and so deadly they have no choice but to try.

With an introduction by D.C. Fontana

The Morthans were physically and mentally superior. Descended from humans, they were now, literally, "more-than" human ... and considered the human race to be little better than animals. They would stop at nothing to conquer the remaining human-controlled worlds.

Formerly a never-filmed script for Star Trek: The Next Generation, this conclusion to the Star Wolf trilogy finds Executive Officer Korie and the crew of the Star Wolf answering a distress call from a mysteriously lifeless ship. On board the Norway, they discover half-wave, half-particle clusters of golden light — and a dead man. The lights are the energy form of bloodworms, a fatal infestation that feeds off the energy of living bodies, which scientists on the Norway have developed for use in the Alliance's war against the Morthans. Officer Korie's struggle between his conscience and his desire for vengeance will determine not only the safety of the Star Wolf, but the fate of the enemies he's sworn to destroy.

Gary K. Wolfe examines the life and work of British author David Lindsay, most famous for his novels "A Voyage to Arcturus," "The Haunted Woman," and "The Devil's Tor."

An annotated bibliography and criticism of Gene Wolfe's early science fiction and non-fiction writing.

Morgan Chane was a Starwolf - a member of the most infamous band of interstellar pirates in the galaxy. He had flown with the raiding packs, rockets screaming, to plunder the rich and slaughter the helpless.

But Morgan Chane was also a Terran, adopted as a child into the Starwolf clan. And when a quarrel erupted, Chane discovered that the Starwolves weighed his alien birth more heavily than all the years of comradeship. Now he is cast out of the clan, and running for his life.

But where, in all the galaxy, can a Starwolf expect to find refuge?

Contents:

• The Weapon from Beyond [Starwolf # 1] (1967) - novel
• The Closed Worlds [Starwolf # 2] (1968) - novel
• World of the Starwolves [Starwolf # 3] (1968) - novel

The stars whispered: Die, Starwolf! Die!

Morgan Chane was an Earthman by parentage, but he had been born on the pirate-world Varna, whose heavy gravity had developed strength and incredibly quick reflexes in him. When he was old enough, he joined the raider-ships that looted the starworlds, and fought side by side with the dreaded Starwolves of Varna.

But then there was a fight among them. Chane killed their leader, and the other Starwolves turned on him. He barely got away alive – wounded near death, his Starwolf pursuers following him across the galaxy.

And there was nowhere he could seek refuge, for no world lift a hand to save one of the hated Starwolves.

This novel is contained in the Omnibus Starwolf

When Morgan Chane and his comrades of John Dilullo's interstellar mercenaries invaded the Close World of Arkuu in search of a lost Terran expedition, they found a planet of strange menace. Incredibly powerful monsters prowled though Arkuu's dense jungles, and the ghosts of the planet's past haunted its ancient deserted cities. The Arkuuns themselves fought grimly to drive the Terrans away. But at last Chane discovered the Free-Faring, the terrible alien secret of Arkuu... and suddenly he knew why no Terran had ever left the Closed Worlds alive.

This novel is contained in the Omnibus Starwolf

Morgan Chane was an Earthman by parentage, but he had been born on the pirate-world Varna, whose heavy gravity had developed strength and incredibly quick reflexes in him. When he was old enough, he joined the raider-ships that looted the starworlds, and fought side by side with the dreaded Starwolves of Varna.

But then there was a fight among them. Chane killed their leader, and the other Starwolves turned on him. He barely got away alive - wounded near death, his Starwolf pursuers following him across the galaxy.

And there was nowhere he could seek refuge, for no world lift a hand to save one of the hated Starwolves.

This novel is contained in the Omnibus Starwolf

The Eternal Emperor ruled countless worlds across the galaxy. Vast armies and huge fleets awaited his command. But when he needed a "little" job done right, he turned to Mantis Team and its small band of militant problem solvers.

Just then the Emperor needed to pacify the Wolf Worlds, the planets of an insignificant cluster that had raised space piracy to a low art.

And Mantis Team could use all the men it needed -- as long as it needed no more than two.

Gifted with courage, strength, and the intelligence to know when to fight, Sun Wolf is the greatest mercenary in a land overrun by war. With his first lieutenant, Starhawk - a woman more deadly than any man - at his side, he has laid waste to countless cities, taking the best of their treasures for himself, and distributing the rest among his bloodthirsty crew.

Then a woman comes to him, an emissary from the town of Mandrigyn, a lush port city recently sacked by a powerful, mad wizard of unmatched abilities. She offers Sun Wolf untold riches for the use of his army, but the captain is not fool enough to wage war against a magician. He refuses her offer, but that is not the end of it. The women of Mandrigyn can be very persuasive.

Once, it was said, Wensha had been a city of witches, summoning and controlling demons for their evil magic. But in nearby Tandieras, Kaltha claimed to have found their lost book of spells to perform only white magic. When Sun Wolf arrived, he discovered increasing signs of evil magic and demon-controlling spells. And he realized, too late, that a new swarm of demons was trying to lure him to his death....

Sun Wolf knew he had the power of magic, but he needed a master wizard to teach him to fully use his skills. But there was no one who could do the job. When he was called upon to help old friends against the ancient wizard, he did - thus ensuring a curse that would be executed, unless Sun Wolf could harness his own powers and find a way out....

Dion was a healer and a wolfwalker, and the unique telepathic bond that she shared with the wolf Gray Hishn sometimes seemed to amplify her sensitivity to her patients. But she never guessed how strong that bond could be, or what kind of power it could wield, until she found herself lost in the wilderness, with angry slavers at her heels and war on the horizon.

Suddenly she and her fellow travelers were fighting for their lives in the snowy winter wastes, where the wolves were their only guides, the greatest secret of the ancients their only salvation... and Dion their only hope to survive.

TO TOUCH THE STARS

She was Dion the Wolfwalker, and through her telepathic bond with the Gray Ones, she could hear the packsong and run with the wolves. And now, as fate ripped from her almost everything she held dear, her wolfbond became her only reason to live, for she could not deny the Call of the wolves to help them. Driven by the need of the Gray Ones, she would seek out and confront the mysterious beings of the sky--the ones who had once brought death to the world. In eight hundred years, no human had survived that contact. But Dion could not avoid it. Only by facing the aliens could she save herself... and the future of the wolves!

Raised on a foreign world where telepathic wolves hunt in the mountains and mysterious aliens guard against the encroachment of humanity, Nori has grown up scouting in the wilderness. Like her mother before her, she searches for dangers that could devastate the isolated towns scattered across the countryside.

But the wolves have already encountered those forces. Now, disturbed by the sense of death along the broken cliffs of Ariye, they reach out to one who can help them. Unsuspecting, Nori answers the Grey Ones' call-only to find herself mentally bonded to a half-grown, ferocious wolf.

Spies and assassins stalk the scouts and wolfwalkers while a deadly threat, once thought to be contained, spreads across the land. Caught between the wolves and the horror of plague, and with hired hunters at her heels, Nori is hounded deep into the wilderness to begin a journey that must end in victory... or death.

In Beacon Hills, a mountain lion is blamed for a spate of vicious attacks; Scott McCall wishes the cause was that simple. Unfortunately, hiding his werewolf identity, especially from Allison Argent, while fighting his need to shift, is only one problem. Keeping his mysterious, murderous Alpha off his back (literally), avoiding hunters, deciphering strange dreams about flames and impending doom . . . is really eating into lacrosse practice and hang-out time. So when Jackson Whittemore doesn't show for his date with Lydia, Scott hopes that helping Allison track down their buddy will be simpler. Derek--whose hunger for vengeance blinds him to the dangers that lie in wait--and Stiles are also looking, but the worried teens' search is leading right to the preserve from Scott's nightmare. They aren't the only ones in the woods, and their little trip starts looking less like a rescue mission and more like an elaborate trap--one that will force them to make the choice between killing and being killed....

A new threat has arrived from the future-but this time it's not after Sarah Connor and her son, John! Still, the fate of humanity rests in their hands, and they find themselves in a race to stop a cyborg killing machine from murdering a man who doesn't even realize the important part he may play in the time before Judgment Day arrives!

Helen Damnation's rebellion against the Reapers has spread. All across post-nuclear Britain, the fires of revolution are beginning to burn. But her old enemy Tereus Winterborn still intends to rule supreme, and has a new ally in Dr Mordake, the creator of Project Tindalos - now monstrously transfigured by the forces he unleashed at Hobsdyke.

Their target is Helen's closest ally: the last Grendelwolf, Gevaudan Shoal. The worst tortures of all await him in the cells of the Pyramid. At Hobsdyke, in the tunnels beneath Graspen Hill, the legacy of the Night Wolves is waiting for him - along with secrets about Helen that threaten to tear both Gevaudan and the resistance apart.

With the Reapers poised to strike at the first sign of weakness, a series of brutal killings breaks out behind rebel lines - and the evidence leads back to Gevaudan's door. With all those closest to Helen turning against her, she faces her greatest challenge yet as Winterborn begins his bid for ultimate power.

Nightside the Long Sun is the beginning of the science fiction masterpiece from Gene Wolfe, Book of the Long Sun

Life on the Whorl, and the struggles and triumphs of Patera Silk to satisfy the demands of the gods, will captivate readers yearning for something new and different in science fiction, for the magic of the future.

Enormous in breadth and scope, Wolfe's ambitious new work opens out into a world of wonders, of gods and humans, aliens and machines, and mysterious adventures far out in space and deep inside the human spirit. It is set on a ship-world whose origins are shrouded in legend, ruled by strange gods who appear infrequently to their worshippers on large screens, and peopled by a human race changed by eons of time, yet familiar.

Lake of the Long Sun is the second volume in the Book of the Long Sun series from science fiction and fantasy master Gene Wolfe

It is the far future, and the giant spaceship, The Whorl, has traveled for forgotten generation towards its destination. Lit inside by the artificial Long Sun, The Whorl is so huge that you can see whole cities in the sky. And now the gods of The Whorl begin to intervene in human affairs. A god speaks to Patera Silk, a clergyman at work in the schoolyard of his church. Silk must go on a quest to save his church and his people.

A Nebula Award Finalist and Winner of the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, Caldé of the Long Sun is the third volume in science fiction Grand Master Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun tetralogy.

Journeying aboard the generational starship the Whorl, the young priest Patera Silk becomes a prophet and revolutionary as he questions his faith while confronting a crime lord in a saga where "[Wolfe] continues to prove himself one of the genre's most literate writers and luminescent thinkers" (Library Journal).

Exodus from the Long Sun concludes Gene Wolfe's masterful sci-fi epic series, the Book of the Long Sun

It is the far future, and the giant spaceship, The Whorl, has traveled for forgotten generations toward its destination.

Lit inside by the artificial Long Sun, The Whorl is so huge that whole cities can be seen in the sky. And the gods of The Whorl have begun to intervene in human affairs. An entirely unexpected future awaits as Patera Silk and the other inhabitants are confronted with the world of an alien race.

Wolfe's great work is complete, with the mysterious fullness of life itself.

Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est.

Contents:

• 5 - The Shadow of the Torturer - [Book of The New Sun - 1] - 1980
• 249 - The Claw of the Conciliator - [Book of The New Sun - 2] - 1981
• 483 - The Sword of the Lictor - [Book of The New Sun - 3] - 1982
• 715 - The Citadel of the Autarch - [Book of The New Sun - 4] - 1983

The Shadow of the Torturer is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession -- showing mercy toward his victim.

The second volume of "The Book of the New Sun". The torturer Severian continues his journey of exile to the city Thrax, carrying with him the ancient executioner's sword and the Claw of the Conciliator, a gem of extraterrestrial power and beauty which no one man is meant to possess.

Banished for the sin of mercy, Severian, one of the ancient guild of Torturers, flees from exile.

In a mountain wilderness Severian, the disgraced apprentice torturer, has reached his place of exile - Thrax, the city of Windowless Rooms, where he must take up his post as Lictor, executioner and torturer. However, he flees the city and heads into the mountains. There he meets the Alzabo, in whom those eaten seem to live on, adopts a son only to lose him in battle and discharges an old debt to vengeance. As his exile takes stranger and stranger turns, he encounters fanged aliens who hide behind masks of beauty, and meets the mysterious Dr Talos . . .

Severian the Torturer continues his epic journey across the lands of Urth, carrying with him the Claw of the Conciliator and the great sword, Terminus Est. All his travels are leading towards a destiny that he dare not refuse.

Severian, formerly a member of the Torturers' Guild and now Autarch of Urth, travels beyond the boundaries of time and space aboard the Ship of Tzadkiel on a mission to bring the New Sun to his dying planet.

Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est.

This edition contains the first two volumes of this four volume novel, The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator.

This book has recently been re-printed as part of the SF Masterworks series - see the new image below.

Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory.

Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est.

This edition contains the second two volumes of this four volume novel, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch.

This book has recently been re-printed as part of the SF Masterworks series - see the new image below.

Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est.

This edition contains the first two volumes of this four volume novel, The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator.

Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory.

Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est.

This edition contains the second two volumes of this four volume novel, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the Autarch.

On Blue's Waters is the start of a major new work by Gene Wolfe, the first of three volumes that comprise The Book of the Short Sun, which takes place in the years after Wolfe's four-volume Book of the Long Sun. Horn, the narrator of the earlier work, now tells his own story.

Though life is hard on the newly settled planet of Blue, Horn and his family have made a decent life for themselves. But Horn is the only one who can locate the great leader Silk, and convince him to return to Blue and lead them all to prosperity. So Horn sets sail in a small boat, on a long and difficult quest across the planet Blue in search of the now legendary Patera Silk.

The story continues in In Green's Jungles and Return to the Whorl.

Gene Wolfe's In Green's Jungles is the second volume, after On Blue's Waters, of his ambitious SF trilogy, The Book of the Short Sun.

It is again narrated by Horn, who has embarked on a quest from his home on the planet Blue in search of the heroic leader Patera Silk. Now Horn's identity has become ambiguous, a complex question embedded in the story, whose telling is itself complex, shifting from place to place, present to past. Horn recalls visiting the Whorl, the enormous spacecraft in orbit that brought the settlers from Urth, and going thence to the planet Green, home of the blood-drinking alien inhumi. There, he led a band of mercenary soldiers, answered to the name of Rajan, and later became the ruler of a city state. He has also encountered the mysterious aliens, the Neighbors, who once inhabited both Blue and Green. He remembers a visit to Nessus, on Urth. At some point, he died. His personality now seemingly inhabits a different body, so that even his sons do not recognize him. And people mistake him for Silk, to whom he now bears a remarkable resemblance.

In Green's Jungles is Wolfe's major new fiction, The Book of the Short Sun, building toward a strange and seductive climax.

Gene Wolfe's Return to the Whorl is the third volume, after On Blue's Waters and In Green's Jungles, of his ambitious SF trilogy The Book of the Short Sun . . . It is again narrated by Horn, who has embarked on a quest in search of the heroic leader Patera Silk. Horn has traveled from his home on the planet Blue, reached the mysterious planet Green, and visited the great starship, the Whorl and even, somehow, the distant planet Urth. But Horn's identity has become ambiguous, a complex question embedded in the story, whose telling is itself complex, shifting from place to place, present to past. Perhaps Horn and Silk are now one being. Return to the Whorl brings Wolfe's major new fiction, The Book of the Short Sun, to a strange and seductive climax.

Six hundred years old, the Imperial Merchant Ship Chathrand is a massive floating outpost of the Empire of Arqual. And it is on its most vital mission yet: to deliver a young woman whose marriage will seal the peace between Arqual and its mortal enemy, the Mzithrin Empire. But Thasha, the young noblewoman in question, may be bringing her swords to the altar.

For the ship's true mission is not peace but war-a war that threatens to rekindle an ancient power long thought lost. As the Chathrand navigates treacherous waters, Thasha must seek unlikely allies-including a magic-cursed deckhand, a stowaway tribe of foot-high warriors, and a singularly heroic rat-and enter a treacherous web of intrigue to uncover the secret of the legendary Red Wolf.

In the heart of the singing desert, the people are fading from the world. Mothers bear few live children, the warriors and wardens are hard-pressed to protect those who remain, and the vash'ai--the great cats who have called the people kithren for as long as there have been stories--bond with fewer humans each year. High above, the Sun Dragon sings a song of life and love while far below, the Earth Dragon slumbers as she has since the beginning of time. Her sleep is fitful, and from the darkness of her dreams come whispers of war... and death.

Sulema is a newly minted warrior of the people and a true Ja'Akari--a daughter of the unforgiving desert. When a mysterious young man appears in her home of Aish Kalumm, she learns that the Dragon King is dying in distant Atualon. As the king fades, so does the magic that sings the Earth Dragon to sleep.

There are those who wish to keep the dragon trapped in endless slumber. Others would tap her power to claim it for their own. And there are those who would have her wake, so they might laugh as the world burns.

Jian begins a brutal and bloody climb up the ranks of the Daechen as the Emperor's long plans near fruition.

Sulema is likewise initiated into the ways of Atualon and the power of Atulfah, and finds that her father's bright city is built on a foundation of dark and terrible secrets.

Hafsa Azeina begins a trek down paths stranger and more dangerous than even she could have imagined.

And the Zeeranim must face not only their traditional, external enemies, but treachery and betrayal from within.

Sulema Ja'Akari, heir to the throne of the Dragon King, lies near death, imprisoned by her half brother Pythos. To survive, she must agree to rescue the one person who holds the key to unseating the usurper--a quest that will take Sulema across the vast, apocalyptic desert of the Seared Lands.

Overwhelmed by the responsibility, Sulema seeks to flee, but is captured and cast into the arena. There she must fight to the death against Kishah, whose very name means "vengeance." Kishah, who is Sulama's closest friend and fellow warrior, Hannei.

Across the world, vast forces gather. Fleeing a swarm of invaders, the child queen Maika seeks to lead her people across the wasteland to safety. Jian the half-breed prince musters an army from the Twilight Lands, while Ismai the Lich King gathers an undead horde, determined to reclaim the Dragon crown.

Yet the greatest threat lies below. Sajani the earth dragon stirs. If she wakes, the world will be destroyed. Only the heir to the Dragon King may sing Sajani back to sleep... if there still is time.

"We must be bound to one another then. Bound by hell-forged chains and fate-haunted circumstance. Well, then - let it be thus so - and men will have cause to tremble and flee when they hear the names of Elric of Melnibone and Stormbringer, his sword. We are two of a kind - produced by an age which has deserted us. Let us give this age cause to hate us."

Imrryr, the dreaming city; Yyrkoon, the hated usurper; Cymoril, the beloved... all had fallen to the fury and unearthly power of the albino prince and his terrible sword. An Elric faced at last the fate that was to be his in this haunted era - that he must go forth, sword and man as one, and havoc and horror would be forever at his forefront until he found his Purpose that was yet obscured to him.

Firekeeper only vaguely remembers a time when she didn't live with her "family," a pack of "royal wolves"-bigger, stronger, and smarter than normal wolves. Now her pack leaders are sending her back to live among the humans, as they promised her mother years ago.

Some of the humans think she may be the lost heir to their throne. This could be good-and it could be very, very dangerous. In the months to come, learning to behave like a human will turn out to be more complicated than she'd ever imagined.

But though human ways might be stranger than anything found in the forest, the infighting in the human's pack is nothing Firekeeper hasn't seen before. That, she understands just fine. She's not your standard-issue princess-and this is not your standard-issue fairy tale.

A tale of humane wolves, beastly men, and a brilliant heroine who must find her way in a dangerous world

Raised by intelligent, language-using wolves, brought back to the human society at the court of Hawk Haven, young Firekeeper had to learn to cope with human society and its complexities... and discovered that, for someone raised in a wolf pack, the politics of a royal court were neither complex nor wholly unfamiliar.

But the happy ending of Through Wolf's Eyes has proved to have consequences. Hawk Haven and Bright Bay are unifying, but the power balance of the neighboring lands is threatened by this prospect. New intrigues abound. The rulers of Bright Bay, it transpires, have been hoarding a collection of forbidden magical artifacts... which Queen Gustin took with her when she abdicated, intending to use them to restore her power. Melina Shield is still scheming to obtain them, and she's older, smarter, and more devious than the Queen. And the even-more-devious civil service of neighboring New Kelvin would like to get their hands on that magic as well....

Which will make life very hard for Firekeeper. Because the powers of the world have decided who'll be required to obtain those much-contended-for magical articles. It'll be her.

Jane Lindskold's Through Wolf's Eyes, Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart, and The Dragon of Despair told the story of Firekeeper, the young girl raised by sentient, language-using wolves who is then plunged back into human society, where her training as a pack animal stands her in good stead amidst political and dynastic intrigues. Now, in Wolf Captured, the focus returns to Firekeeper and her wolf companion Blind Seer, as they find themselves kidnapped and dragged overseas, and forced to maneuver for their lives in an unfamiliar and dangerous new society.

The Liglimoshti worship animals and portents, which rule their lives. And the Liglimoshti are aware, as the other countries are not, that Royal animals like Truth and Blind Seer exist, are intelligent, and can speak to each other. They've kidnapped Firekeeper and Blind Seer because they've never before heard of a human who could talk to animals. They want to see what Firekeeper can do. They want her to teach them how to do it.

Firekeeper's more than willing to talk to the animals there. But she fears that Liglim's Royal animals are being held in polite and unobtrusive bondage. She wants to find out the truth -- and, if necessary, free them...

In Through Wolf's Eyes, Jane Lindskold introduced Firekeeper, the young girl raised by intelligent, language-using wolves. Abducted back into human society, Firekeeper found that, in the world of deadly human political intrigues, her training as a pack animal served her well.

Later, in Wolf Captured, Firekeeper and her lupine companion Blind Seer found themselves kidnapped and dragged overseas, to the unfamiliar land of Liglimon, where humans have a different relationship to intelligent animals. Now, still in Liglimon, Firekeeper and Blind Seer respond to a request for assistance from Truth, the soothsayer-jaguar.

Then, while helping Truth, Firekeeper and her companion come across evidence of elaborate investigations into kinds of ancient magics taboo in Liglimoshti culture. It appears more people in Liglimon are willing to flout this taboo than anyone cares to admit, and Firekeeper and Blind Seer decide their duty is to find out more.

But Truth knows more than she's telling. She can see and trace future timelines for particular individuals, which in the past has led her into madness. Since then, the Voice that guided her out of that madness has continued to speak to her, and it's not her friend.

Eventually Truth realizes that her Voice may well be a person the Liglimoshti call "The Meddler" -- a dangerous trickster figure. But Truth doesn't own up to this until far too late...

Compellingly told, rich with real people and real animals, WOLF HUNTING is the latest and strongest in an increasingly and rewarding sequence of fantasy epics.

Raised in the wild by intelligent, language-using wolves, in her teens Firekeeper was abducted back into the lands of men, where her upbringing as a wolf helped her survive the deadly intrigues of human beings.

One of the first things she learned in Hawk Haven was that magic was a thing to be feared and despised. Long ago, all the human kingdoms were ruled by powerful sorcerers. Then a plague came and the sorcerers died. Nobody misses them. Much was lost--but still, nobody misses them.

Yet as Firekeeper has travelled and grown wiser in the ways of human beings, she's learned that the true story was more complex. In coming to the country of the Liglim, she, Derian Carter, and Blind Seer discovered that magic is still working in the world, and that it isn't always the evil they'd been warned against. But it also turned out that the old plague specifically targeted magic users. And when Firekeeper and her friends learned to open the gates between worlds, the plague came back with them.

Firekeeper, Blind Seer, and Derian Carter survived the plague: not unchanged, but still themselves. Now Firekeeper is determined to learn the nature of the plague--and if she can, to end it forever. What happens next will be the culmination of the remarkable fantasy epic that began with Through Wolf's Eyes.

Blind Seer has run at Firekeeper's side since the wolf-woman first crossed the Iron Mountains into human-held lands. Now it's her turn to run alongside the blue-eyed wolf as he sets out in search of someone who can teach him how to use his magical gift--on his own unique terms.

The pair's search will take them to the far side of the world in the company of allies who include a young woman scarred by war, a falcon who believes himself a traitor, and an old friend... or possibly enemy. Together they will fight battles from before they were born, climb mountains, cross badlands, eventually unveiling a threat that will reshape not only Blind Seer, but his belief in what he most desires.

Firekeeper has always believed that her heart is a wolf's heart.

Now the time has come for her to prove it. Blind Seer's search for a teacher of the magical arts brought him and Firekeeper to Rhinadei, a land rich in magical lore, but intolerant of those who would rebel against its core precepts. Now, eager to aid Wythcombe, his new teacher, Blind Seer agrees to lend his keen senses to the hunt for Kabot--Wythcombe's childhood rival and leader of a band of fanatical blood mages.

In this hunt, Firekeeper runs as ever at Blind Seer's side. Rounding out their pack are Laria and Ranz, two young humans with potent magical gifts of their own; Farborn, a yarimaimalom falcon; Wythcombe himself, and the ever enigmatical Meddler.

Yet, despite the versatility of this pack, Kabot's blood mages miraculously elude them, leaving behind the tantalizing scent of more power than they should possess. Suspicion builds that Kabot has acquired a new ally: an ally who may be one of their own pack turned traitor.

The time has come for Leman Russ, primarch of the Space Wolves, to fulfil his vow and attempt to stop Warmaster Horus before he breaks through to the Segmentum Solar.

In the face of opposition from three of his brother primarchs, Russ withdraws the Space Wolves legion from Terra and makes all haste for Horus's position.

Reports from Malcador the Sigillite's agents suggest that Horus is utterly changed, and infused with a diabolical power so great that no man can stand against him. A warrior of Fenris would never willingly abandon his oaths, but with Horus beyond the touch of mortal blades, the Lord of Winter and War may have doomed himself for the sake of honour...

When Daine is summoned by the wolf pack that saved her life a year earlier, she knows she has to go. She and Numair travel to Dunlath Valley to answer the call. But when they arrive, Daine realizes with a shock that it's not just the animals whose lives are threatened; people are in danger too. Dunlath's rulers have discovered black opals in their valley and are dead set on mining the magic these stones embody. Daine learns that Dunlath's lord and lady plan to use this power to overthrow King Jonathan -- even if it means irreversibly damaging the land and killing their workers.

On a mission to save both her animal friends and her human ones, Daine has to master her wild magic in order to fight for the kingdom and triumph over the would-be usurpers.

Shizukuishi, a small town tucked away in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is home to the law practice of one Sora Oushuu. His devotion to justice ensures that he is good at what he does, but he also has a secret: The white dog he looks after is actually a wolf. This wolf also happens to be his brother, Fuuka, who can return to human form only when the two are alone. The brothers found themselves in this strange state of affairs many years ago, and ever since, their paths have repeatedly crossed with an old enemy of Sora's. Their journey has been long, but Sora is beginning to see a glimmer of what lies at the end.

One of five stories inspired by the same painting by John Jude Palencar. Anthologized in The Palencar Project and later in The Year's Best SF 18.

Read this story online for free at Tor.com.

Biffy, newly minted Alpha of the London Pack, is not having a good Christmas. His Beta abandoned him, his werewolves object to his curtain choices, and someone keeps leaving babies on his doorstep.

Professor Randolph Lyall returns home to London after twenty years abroad, afraid of what he might find. With his pack in chaos and his Alpha in crisis, it will take all his Beta efficiency to set everything to rights. Perhaps, in the process, he may even determine how to mend his own heart.

Delicate Sensibilities?
Contains men who love other men and have waited decades to do so.

Wait, where does this one fit?
The Supernatural Society novellas stand alone and may be read in any order. But if you're a stickler, this story chronologically follows Imprudence and ties specifically to events in Timeless. Look for surprise appearances from popular side characters and the occasional strategic application of italics.

The Warrior King Arthor, Eagle of Thor, must lead his people not only against their own ancient sorceries, but against the worldly empire that would make Britain's destiny a footnote to its own. Already rolling on the roads from Tintagel to Camelot is the great wheel that will become the Round Table.

But the perilous order promised by Arthor's victory is threatened by forces beyond human ken. For Merlin has descended into Hell, to fend with the Fire Lords who give the Universe its shimmering form. And for the young king himself, there is a sacred Grail, and an Earthly love, to seek.

Han Alister thought he had already lost everyone he loved. But when he finds his friend Rebecca Morley near death in the Spirit Mountains, Han knows that nothing matters more than saving her. The costs of his efforts are steep, but nothing can prepare him for what he soon discovers: the beautiful, mysterious girl he knew as Rebecca is none other than Raisa ana'Marianna, heir to the Queendom of the Fells. Han is hurt and betrayed. He knows he has no future with a blueblood. And, as far as he's concerned, the princess's family killed his own mother and sister. But if Han is to fulfill his end of an old bargain, he must do everything in his power to see Raisa crowned queen.

Meanwhile, some people will stop at nothing to prevent Raisa from ascending. With each attempt on her life, she wonders how long it will be before her enemies succeed. Her heart tells her that the thief-turned-wizard Han Alister can be trusted. She wants to believe it--he's saved her life more than once. But with danger coming at her from every direction, Raisa can only rely on her wits and her iron-hard will to survive--and even that might not be enough.

The Gray Wolf Throne is an epic tale of fierce loyalty, unbearable sacrifice, and the heartless hand of fate.

A near-future Earth has shaken off the devastating colonization by alien Lokaran invaders and totalitarian rule by the alien's puppets, the Earth First party. But now Earth is flung into galactic intrigue and war. The Lokaron empire teeters on the edge of a fratricidal meltdown and a cabal of ancient enemies hope to use Earth as a proxy to destroy the empire and rule over a new Galactic dark age.

Now Captain Andrew Roark, the son of heroes of the rebellion and an officer trained in Lokaran space warfare tactics, joins with a highly capable Lokar who opposes the empire but wishes to see it transformed rather than destroyed. Together they must uncover a conspiracy to control Earth, and then obtain the secret key to defeating it. War for galactic control looms, and freedom for Earth--so recently escaped from under the boot-heel of one oppressor--is once again in the balance.

"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?

Louisiana, 2065. A lot has changed in the 43rd year of the Kurian Order. Possessed of an unnatural and legendary hunger, the bloodthirsty Reapers have come to Earth to establish a New Order built on the harvesting of enslaved human souls. They rule the planet. They thrive on the scent of fear. And if it is night, as sure as darkness, they will come.

On this pitiless world, the indomitable spirit of mankind still breathes in Lieutenant David Valentine. Brought into the special forces of The Wolves--an elite guerilla force sworn to win back Earth--this is Valentine's first command in the Kurian Zone. Driven by the losses of his past and the hope of a future, Valentine is in it to win. No matter how long it takes. No matter what doom of fate awaits him beyond his wildest nightmares.

Fight. Kill. Survive.

This is the way of The Wolves.

"If The Red Badge of Courage had been written by H.P. Lovecraft." --Paul Witcover, author of Waking Beauty

The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose - to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood - and her world - whole.

THE WIZARD KNIGHT springs from the myths, legends and literature of times past. A teenager passes from Earth to a magical realm of seven worlds, where he is given a hero's adult body and named Able. Though forced to act as a man, inside he is still a boy, even as he sets off to find his destined sword and become a knight. In his quest he battles giants, meets gods, heroes and a sorceress (who repeatedly tries to seduce him), and serves the mercurial dragon king Arnthor in a way that could end everything.

This is the Omnibus edition containing both The Knight and The Wizard.