Search Worlds Without End

In the vast palace of the empress lives an orphan girl called Nothing. She slips within the shadows of the Court, unseen except by the Great Demon of the palace and her true friend, Prince Kirin, heir to the throne. When Kirin is kidnapped, only Nothing and the prince's bodyguard suspect that Kirin may have been taken by the Sorceress Who Eats Girls, a powerful woman who has plagued the land for decades. The sorceress has never bothered with boys before, but Nothing has uncovered many secrets in her sixteen years in the palace, including a few about the prince.

As the empress's army searches fruitlessly, Nothing and the bodyguard set out on a rescue mission, through demon-filled rain forests and past crossroads guarded by spirits. Their journey takes them to the gates of the Fifth Mountain, where the sorceress wields her power. There, Nothing discovers that all magic is a bargain, and she may be more powerful than she ever imagined. But the price the Sorceress demands for Kirin may very well cost Nothing her heart

Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man into the depths of the Devil's Forest.

Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early.

Bound by duty, secrets, and the love they share for one another, Mairwen, a spirited witch; Rhun, the expected saint; and Arthur, a restless outcast, will each have a role to play as the devil demands a body to fill the bargain. But the devil these friends find is not the one they expect, and the lies they uncover will turn their town--and their hearts--inside out.

This story originally appeared in StoryQuarterly in 2007 and was reprinted in Lightspeed, May 2011. It can also be found in the anthology Lightspeed: Year One (2011), edited by John Joseph Adams. The story is included in the collection Lungs Full of Noise (2013).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

While on her daily walk with her dog in a secluded woods, a woman comes across a note, handwritten and carefully pinned to the ground by stones. "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." But there is no dead body. Our narrator is deeply shaken; she has no idea what to make of this. She is new to this area, alone after the death of her husband, and she knows no one.

Becoming obsessed with solving this mystery, our narrator imagines who Magda was and how she met her fate. With very little to go on, she invents a list of murder suspects and possible motives for the crime. Oddly, her suppositions begin to find correspondences in the real world, and with mounting excitement and dread, the fog of mystery starts to fade into menacing certainty. As her investigation widens, strange dissonances accrue, perhaps associated with the darkness in her own past; we must face the prospect that there is either an innocent explanation for all this or a much more sinister one.

The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father's carer in his squalid home and her day job as a secretary at the boys' prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a handsome prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father's messes. When the beautiful, charismatic Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at the prison, Eileen is enchanted and unable to resist what appears to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.

Played out against the snowy landscape of coastal New England, blending true noir and the eerie, unforgettable books of Shirley Jackson and Flannery O'Connor, this mesmeric, terrifying, sublimely funny debut novel enthralls and shocks, and introduces one of the most original new voices in contemporary literature.

In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh's most exciting leap yet

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life's few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did so many of the village's children. Ina's gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina's home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.

Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people's desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord's family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year's end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, will prove to be very thin indeed.

This short story originally appeared in the anthology Solaris Rising 1.5: An Exclusive Ebook of New Science Fiction (2012), edited by Ian Whates. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection (2013), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Seven (2013), edited by Jonathan Strahan. The story is included in the collection Saint Rebor (2015).

Contents:

• 7 - Introduction (The Mighty Swordsmen) - essay by Hans Stefan Santesson
• 11 - Keeper of the Emerald Flame - [Thongor] - (1970) - novella by Lin Carter
• 65 - The Bells of Shoredan - [Dilvish] - (1966) - short story by Roger Zelazny
• 86 - Break the Door of Hell - [Traveller in Black] - (1966) - novelette by John Brunner
• 133 - The People of the Summit - short story by Björn Nyberg
• 149 - The Flame Bringers - [The Elric Saga] - (1962) - novelette by Michael Moorcock
• 187 - Beyond the Black River - [Conan] - (1935) - novella by Robert E. Howard

Neil O'Netty, a successful young historical novelist, is enjoying a leisurely driving tour through the rugged countryside and ancient hill towns of eastern Italy, when he is forced to seek assistance at a remote farmhouse. There he meets the beautiful Marisa, and her elderly relatives. What starts out as a brief idyllic interlude in his journey soon blossoms into a fierce, all-consuming affair with Marisa.

So intense is his passion for her, so complete the spell she casts over him, that Neil scarcely has the time or interest to consider the disturbing and mysterious signs around him--the vast decrepit house itself, with its hidden rooms and passageways, the bizarre sounds that echo through it, the gunshot in the night--that form the physical and spiritual maze in which he finds himself. Marisa's defiant and deathless eroticism is the thread that leads Neil into the nightmarish center of the labyrinth and propels the story to its shocking and unforgettable conclusion.

Two couples, both skeptical and desperate, are drawn together by a medium named Oona, a fragile, beautiful young woman who knows things that no other living person should know. Is her gift real, or is it the sign of a consuming madness? Can she lead them all to important truths, or will they be trapped in the tightening web of terror and death?

Fog Heart was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly, and awarded the International Horror Guild's honors for Best Novel.

Those childhood fears... those nameless terrors... they're real this time.

Ned has known about phantoms since he was very young. You have to hide from them, under your bed covers. You can’t peek, because then you’ll see that they’re real. Then there’s no taking it back.

When Ned is almost ten, his parents move him from the city to a small town called Lynnhaven. Lynnhaven has its own ghosts—stories of people long gone and a ruined, abandoned spa that still remains. Ned seems to adapt well, befriending several local old-timers and spending his days fishing and playing. However, he slowly becomes aware that there is something dark waiting for him, and he associates it with the decrepit spa. He knows that sooner or later he will have to face his phantom...

To some, the lights were beautiful... to others, they were a warning.

When Martin Lasker first sees the mutilated cow on Bondarevsky's farm, he wonders what on earth could have caused it. But as more and more disasters occur and strange lights start to appear in the quiet town of Millville, Lasker is drawn into the mystery.

Now, he is convinced something larger must be happening.

To the small-town citizens of Millville, the lights all mean something different.

To Marge Calder they are neon lights. To Joe Garfield, they are a warning. To the Pomar children, they are a miracle, Our Lady returned. To Father Lombardy, they are evil made manifest. To Studevant, the Police Chief, they are mindless destruction.

For Lasker, the most important questions are: where these lights could come from, and what could they mean?

But the answers to these questions may be more painful than anyone expected...

Bobby had almost convinced himself his lover's death was an accident. It wasn't his fault. Once the uncontrollable tingling began in his hands, he could only watch in horror as they killed her. But then he saw the jogger. As his eyes followed the man, he felt that same eerie power flowing into his arms and legs, and he found himself running with inhuman animal grace to overtake the runner. When the race turned into a chase, a reign of terror began. Night after night the beast will silently stalk the city streets, its bloody jaws and tearing claws leaving only death in its wake.

Imagine an Age of Exploration full of alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.

Fleeing an inquisition, physician Stephen Parris follows Sinclair to an island that perches upon the farthest horizon, bringing his daughter Catherine with him. The island teems with fantastical animals and alluring mysteries... and may even harbor the most coveted secret of all... in this novel by David Walton.

Three outsiders share a destiny...

Proud Cheela is heart of the South Tribe, existing amid the stark beauty of Antartctica. She shares Mythmaker's visions of change, but Old Woman warns her that hunters fight chnge more than they fight death.

West Australian Morgan Welwyn is a heretic, exiled for his love of Dark Time mech 'n tech. He discovers a secret in an old observatory and makes the mistake of sharing it.

Kass is Sub-Commander of an abandoned biosphere orbiting Earth. Despite her fear of insanity, she carries out forbidden mind experiments. Experiments which cost her dearly.

Can this unlikely trio prevent their peoples repeating the devastating mistakes of the twenty-first century? Can they read the Map of Power?

A compelling and utterly plausible vision of the future from an extraordinary new writer.

In the not too distant future, and in a specially constructed marina off the US coast, a young woman works to communicate with a killer whale. Then one day the impossible happens: the whale speaks.

The Blood-Thirsty Agent #1

t's the easiest assignment a British intelligence agent could hope for. Lucy Harker needs only see the secret plans of the Nautilus safely across the Atlantic. As German spies are largely a fantasy of newspapers, she anticipates no activities more strenuous than hiding her heritage as Dracula's dhampir daughter. Then among her fellow Titanic passengers she discovers the incognita Countess Karnstein--and it seems the seductive vampire is in Germany's service. Can Agent Harker stake Carmilla before her own heart--and her loyalty to the British Empire--are subverted by questions as treacherous as a night-cloaked iceberg?

In a land on the brink of peace -- watched jealously by a ruthless cult from across the sea and beset by hidden enemies -- five extraordinary humans must serve as sword and shield of the Gods.

Auraya is one.

Her heroism saved a village from destruction; now Auraya has been named Priestess of the White. The limits of her unique talents must be tested in order to prove her worthy of the honor and grave responsibility awarded to her. But a perilous road lies ahead, fraught with pitfalls that will challenge the newest servant of the gods. An enduring friendship with a Dreamweaver -- a member of an ancient outcast sect of sorcerer-healers -- could destroy Auraya's future. And her destiny has set her in conflict with a powerful and mysterious, black-clad sorcerer with but a single purpose: the total annihilation of the White. And he is not alone . . .

Helena. Beautiful, young, enigmatic. She's a daughter of the Holy Isle who became a Christian Saint and the heroine of Welsh legend. In 296, the emperor Contantius come to Britian and falls in love with Princess Eilan, known as Helana to the Romans. She is also the daughter of King Coel and the high Priestess of Avalon. Helena see's a chance to marry the bloodlines of ancient royal families, and their myths and traditions. But she has to contend with the politics of Rome, the ill fortunes of war and the irresistable rise of a powerful new religion...

The erratic decisions of a prophecy-obsessed king have drained Innis Lear of its wild magic, leaving behind a trail of barren crops and despondent subjects. Enemy nations circle the once-bountiful isle, sensing its growing vulnerability, hungry to control the ideal port for all trade routes.

The king's three daughters - battle-hungry Gaela, master manipulator Reagan, and restrained, starblessed Elia - know the realm's only chance of resurrection is to crown a new sovereign, proving a strong hand can resurrect magic and defend itself. But their father will not choose an heir until the longest night of the year, when prophecies align and a poison ritual can be enacted.

Refusing to leave their future in the hands of blind faith, the daughters of Innis Lear prepare for war - but regardless of who wins the crown, the shores of Innis will weep the blood of a house divided.

STRIKE FAST, LOVE HARD, LIVE FOREVER

This is the motto of the Lady Knights--sworn to fealty under a struggling kingdom, promised to defend the prospective heir, Banna Mora.

But when a fearsome rebellion overthrows the throne, Mora is faced with an agonizing choice: give up everything she's been raised to love, and allow a king-killer to be rewarded--or retake the throne, and take up arms against the newest heir, Hal Bolingbrooke, Mora's own childhood best friend and sworn head of the Lady Knights.

Hal loathes being a Prince; she's much more comfortable instated on the Throne of Misrule, a racous underground nether-court where passion rules all. She yearns to live up to the wishes of everyone she loves best--but that means sacrificing her own heart, and so she will disappoint everyone until the moment she can rise to prove those expectations wrong.

And between these two fierce Princes is the woman who will decide all their fates--Lady Isarna Hotspur, the fiery and bold knight whose support will turn the tides of the coming war.

Tessier explores the terrible, destructive power of an obsessive and perverted love.

It begins when Jeff Lisker, a successful businessman in California's high-tech computer industry, returns to Connecticut for his father's funeral. He fixes on Georgianne Slaton, an old friend from high school and now a suburban wife and mother, as the object of his desire and sets out to make her his own. No matter that Georgianne is happily married and has not thought of him in years; Jeff must have her - whatever the cost. Slowly and with insidious power, the reader is drawn into the increasingly twisted world created by Jeff's unbalanced mind as he plots a murderous path to the fulfillment of his pathological dreams. "Rapture" is a riveting tale of horror that depends not upon invasive super-natural forces but upon the even more frightening force of a mind gone mad.

Contents:

• Finishing Touches - (1986) - novel
• Father Panic's Opera Macabre - (2001) - novella

...for life and light!

A provocative and thrilling adventure set in the world of the High Republic, 150 years before the storytelling of Phase I. Meet mysterious cult members, daring explorers, Jedi peacekeepers and more!

A trio of adventure-seekers set off to find the legendary Planet X and save the galaxy as they know it!

Despite rumors of conflict between the Jedi and the Path of the Open Hand, two of the Republic's most powerful prospecting families announce a contest to chart new hyperlanes.

Under the guise of joining the competition, Dass Leffbruk and Sky Graf recruit Jedi padawan Rooper Nitani, only to reveal their real plan: find the mysterious and legendary Planet X. The trio's quest takes an unexpected turn when they meet members of the Path of the Open Hand, forcing the heroes to put their goals aside to help the Jedi--and the galaxy--before it's too late.

In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is...different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. What she's done is so disgraceful, she can't even allow herself to think of it. Unfortunately, the past cannot be ignored. So Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery.

But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something. What that something is, she doesn't know. Tess just knows that the open road is a map to somewhere else--a life where she might belong.

Returning to the spellbinding world of the Southlands she created in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling novel Seraphina, Rachel Hartman explores self-reliance and redemption in this wholly original fantasy.

At the bottom of the world lies a Serpent, the last of its kind. Finding the Serpent will change lives.

Tess is a girl on a mission to save a friend.
Spira is a dragon seeking a new identity.
Marga is an explorer staking her claim on a man's world.
Jacomo is a priest searching for his soul.

There are those who would give their lives to keep it hidden. And those who would destroy it.

But the only people who will truly find the Serpent are those who have awakened to the world around them--with eyes open to the wondrous, the terrible, and the just.

Vivien Le Fay Morgan, a practicing initiate of the Hermetic Path, has the ability to transform herself into magical images, and here she becomes Morgan Le Fay, sea priestess of Atlantis and foster daughter to Merlin. Desperately in love with Vivien, Wilfred Maxwell works by her side at an isolated seaside retreat, investigating these occult mysteries. They soon find themselves inextricably drawn to an ancient cult through which they learn the esoteric significance of the magnetic ebb and flow of the moontides.

Lilith Le Fey is a strange woman by the standards of pre-war British society. She lives alone, practices ancient magic, and is searching for a priest to help her change the world. She finds that priest in Rupert Malcolm, a renowned neurological doctor with a prickly personality. Malcolm is a vital man, but time and again, he chooses to allow his vitality to be sacrificed to the norms of the society. When he meets Lilith, he undergoes a deep spiritual transformation.