Search Worlds Without End

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology The Book of Swords (2017), edited by Gardner Dozois. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Twelve (2018), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

As a child of just seven summers, Gunnhild finds herself fascinated with the powers of a witch-woman who is a concubine of her father's, a powerful Norse chieftain. She also finds another fascination in handsome and lordly Eirik, son of their king. When her mother dies, Gunnhild promises, "I will never yield", and that, "through me, our blood shall flow greatly".

Gunnhild has learned from her chieftain father the way the powerful use the weak. But there are other lessons and other power she seeks. Sent away to learn the magic of a pair of shamans, Gunnhild becomes a Spaewife - a knower of the Gods, a master in the ways of witchcraft and sorcery. Aided by her new abilities, Gunnhild marries Eirik. She is destined to become queen, and her magic is a fearsome complement to Eirik's strength. But Eirik's enemies are cunning, and Gunnhild is soon without his might.

If Gunnhild can keep the promise she made as a child to never yield, her family's blood will flow greatly, and the sons she bore Eirik will each become a king.

Her own struggles, though, are far from over...

This short story originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Januari 2010. It can also be found in the anthology Clarkesworld: Year Four (2013), edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

Housewife from Minneapolis becomes fighter of monsters.

Hamza and Yehat are The Coyote Kings best friends, one a disgruntled dishwasher and the other a video store clerk, but each brilliant in his own right. Yehat builds prototypes of space-age inventions in his spare time, while Hamza, a former English honors student who was kicked out of the university, writes lush, lyrical poems when he's not blockedwhich, these days, is nearly always.

When the gorgeous, mysterious Sherem shows up in E-Town decked out in desert finery, Hamza's creative spark is ignited. Who is this sophisticated woman that speaks arcane African tongues, quotes from obscure comics and Star Wars movies, yet seems somehow too ethereal for the world Hamza inhabits? And what is the lost artifact that she and a cast of coiffed collectors and criminal cultists so desperately seek? As Hamza falls blindly in love with Sherem, little does he know that he and Yehat play the biggest part of all in the recovery of the ancient relic and in the future of all living beings....

Hugo Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction, August 1958. There are no other known publications available at this time.

WFA nominated novella. It originally appeared (probably in abridged form) in Omni, December 1983. The story can also be found in the anhtologies The Fourth Omni Book of Science Fiction (1985), edited by Ellen Datlow, and Foundations of Fear: An Exploration of Horror (1992), edited by David G. Hartwell.

Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It's an unforgiving job, and Hart's got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.

Mercy never has a moment to herself. She's been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to "A Friend". Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.

If only Hart knew he's been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most--Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares--each other?

An imaginative story of a woman caught in an alternate world--where she will need to learn the skills of magic to survive

Nora Fischer's dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend's wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she's transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It's almost too good to be true.

Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora's new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally--and a reluctant one at that--is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel's student--and learning magic herself--to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her "real life" against the dangerous power of love and magic.

For lovers of Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (The Magicians and The Magician King) and Deborah Harkness's All Souls Trilogy (A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night).

Caught in a dreamscape, mistaken for a killer... will Alice find a way home?

Three years ago, Alice's identical twin sister took a gun to school and killed seven innocent kids; now Alice wears the same face as a monster. She's struggling with her identity, and with life in the small Australian town where everyone was touched by the tragedy. Just as Alice thinks things can't get much worse, she encounters her sister on a deserted highway. But all is not what it seems, and Alice soon discovers that she has stepped into a different reality, a dream world, where she's trapped with the nightmares of everyone in the community. Here Alice is forced to confront the true impact of everything that happened the day her twin sister took a gun to school . and to reveal her own secret to the boy who hates her most.

Marius don Hellespont and his apprentice, Gerd, are professional looters of battlefields. When they stumble upon the corpse of the King of Scorby and Gerd is killed, Marius is mistaken for the monarch by one of the dead soldiers and is transported down to the Kingdom of the Dead.

Just like the living citizens, the dead need a King -- after all, the King is God's representative, and someone needs to remind God where they are.

And so it comes to pass that Marius is banished to the surface with one message: if he wants to recover his life he must find the dead a King. Which he fully intends to do.

Just as soon as he stops running away.

This novelette originally appeared almost simultaneously in Lightspeed, September 2014, and the anthology Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales (2014), edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Nine (2015), edited by Jonathan Strahan and The Year's Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition (2015), edited by David Afsharirad.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

The first-ever collection of tales by the Victorian era's most prolific author of Christmas ghost stories!

Move over, Charles Dickens! The author of "A Christmas Carol" may be the most famous writer of Christmas ghost stories from the Victorian age, but the king of the genre was James Skipp Borlase (1839-1909), who published dozens of them over an extraordinarily long career spanning from 1864 to 1907. This volume collects thirteen of his best from rare and obscure provincial newspapers in England and Australia, none of them reprinted in over a century.

Contains the following:

• "Our Fellow Lodger; or, The Adventures of a Christmas Eve" (1864)
• "The Fiery Skull: A Tale of Magic and Spiritualism" (1866)
• "Bored to Death" (1875)
• "The Steel-Bound Valise, or, The Murder at the Old Stone Cross" (1875)
• "The Black Cat; or, The Witch-Branks of Loughborough: A Story of Two Leicestershire Christmas Eves" (1881)
• "Twelve Miles Broad" (1885)
• "The Weird Wooing; or, The Ghost-Guarded Treasure: A Tale of an Old-Time Christmas and New Year's Day" (1898)
• "Bride From the Dead: Tale of a Dreadful Christmas Wedding" (1899)
• "The Shrieking Skull; or, Haunted Wardley Hall: A Tale of Two Lancashire Christmas Eves" (1901)
• "The Spectre Horseman; or, Haunted Wye-Collier Hall: A Christmas Story" (1903)
• "The Haunted Silk Mill; or, The Ghost-Guarded Treasure" (1905)
• "Two Ghostly Swordsmen; or, The Duel on the Moor: A Christmas Story of Brandesburton" (1905)
• "Tale of Two Christmases" (1907)

1999, on the threshold of a new millennium, the novelist Daniel Langham lives a reclusive life on an idyllic Greek island, hiding away from humanity and the events of the past. All that changes, however, when he meets artist Caroline Platt and finds himself falling in love. But what is his secret, and what are the horrors that haunt him?

1935. Writer Jonathon Langham and Edward Vaughan are summoned from London by their editor friend Jasper Carnegie to help investigate strange goings on in Hopton Wood. What they discover there - no less than a strange creature from another world - will change their lives for ever.

What they become, and their link to the novelist of the future, is the subject of Eric Brown's most ambitious novel to date. Almost ten years in the writing, The Kings of Eternity is a novel of vast scope and depth, full of the staple tropes of the genre and yet imbued with humanity and characters you'll come to love.

In Ramsey Campbell's The Kind Folk, fairies are real... and they're coming for you.

Luke Arnold is a successful stage comedian who, with his partner Sophie Drew, is about to have their first child. Their life seems ideal and Luke feels that true happiness is finally within his grasp.

This wasn't always the case. Growing up in a loving but dysfunctional family, Luke was a lonely little boy who never felt that he belonged. While his parents adored him, the whole family knew that due to a mix-up at the hospital, Luke wasn't their biological child. His parents did the best they could to make the lad feel special. But it was his beloved uncle Terence who Luke felt most close to, a man who enchanted (and frightened) the lad with tales of the "Other"--eldritch beings, hedge folks, and other fables of Celtic myth.

When Terence dies in a freak accident, Luke suddenly begins to learn how little he really knew his uncle. How serious was Terence about the magic in his tales? Why did he travel so widely by himself after Luke was born, and what was he looking for? Soon Luke will have to confront forces that may be older than the world in order to save his unborn child.

"One of the greatest things I have put in my brain." - BOOK RIOT

"Motherfucking Sharks reads like it was carved into the floor of a sun-baked desert by an old testament prophet with a thirsty knife." - BEN LOORY, author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

With its strange, imaginative blend of horror, science fiction, romance and lyrical prose, Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow is a classic masterpiece of weird fiction. This series of vaguely connected stories is linked by the presence of a monstrous and suppressed book which brings fright, madness and spectral tragedy to all those who read it. An air of futility and doom pervade these pages like a sweet insidious poison. Dare you read it?

This collection has been called the most important book in American supernatural fiction between Poe and the moderns. H. P. Lovecraft, creator of the famed Cthulu mythos, whose own fiction was greatly influenced by this book stated that The King in Yellow 'achieves notable heights of cosmic fear'.

Table of Contents:

• The Repairer of Reputations
• The Mask
• In the Court of the Dragon
• The Yellow Sign
• The Demoiselle d'Ys
• The Prophets' Paradise
• The Street Of The Four Winds
• The Street of the First Shell
• The Street of Our Lady of the Fields
• Rue Barrée

Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature.

Amy, brooding on a family crisis, retreats to Central Park--from the frying pan straight into the fire! Out of her past swoops her old arch-enemy Kevin Malone, the neighborhood punk who used to bully her. Angrily chasing him now through an arched passage under a park roadway, she emerges into another world. Kevin's feverish imagination has transformed Central Park into the Fayre Farre, a land of danger, magic, and heroic adventure. Here, among castles, elves, monsters, wild men, battles, and prophecies, Kevin is a Prince and a legendary champion. He's also still a self-centered jerk with a chip on his shoulder, and he's lost control of his magnificent creation: chaos and destruction are sweeping the land. Despite Kevin's bravado, Amy sees that he desperately needs her help. Will she risk her life in such a thankless job, or just leave him to sort out his own mess? And either way, where will that leave her?

Race Worden was his name and he was a human being trying to live peacefully in his allotted niche on the colony world Mavia...until the day he moved a stone slab by mental projection. Until that moment, he had regarded himself as a simple pawn on the vast social board. But it raised him to a higher status at once.

On the eve of Princess Sophia's wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. Things are seldom as they seem here -- and when an errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.

When Nellie Gardner learns that she has inherited a turpentine estate from her long-lost grandfather, she throws everything she can think of in her pickup and flees to Georgia with her eleven-year-old son, Max, in tow.

August Redfern's "estate" is a decrepit farmhouse on a thousand acres of old pine forest, but Nellie sees it as the perfect refuge?a safe place to hide from her violent husband and the chance for a fresh start. But Max sees what his mother can't: Redfern Hill is no haven. Something lurks beneath the soil, ancient and hungry, with the power to corrupt hearts and destroy souls. And Nellie's return is about to wake it up.

L. Sprague de Camp was a master of the time travel and alternate history story. In many respects his novel Lest Darkness Fall founded alternate history, while "Aristotle and the Gun" is probably one of the best stories about tinkering with history ever written. In addition we include stories of time travel both backwards and forwards and de Camp's wonderful essay "Language for Time-Travelers". This is a collection of L. Sprague de Camp's SF best stories and essays dealing with time travel.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction - (2005) - essay by Harry Turtledove
• The Wheels of If - (1940) - novella
• Tiger in the Rain - (1970) - poem
• Balsamo's Mirror - (1976) - short story
• Time - (1967) - poem
• Aristotle and the Gun - (1958) - novelette
• Language for Time Travelers - (1938) - essay
• Faunas - (1968) - poem
• The Gnarly Man - (1939) - novelette
• Reward of Virtue - (1970) - poem
• A Gun for Dinosaur - (1956) - novelette
• Nahr al-Kalb - (1967) - poem
• Lest Darkness Fall - (1941) - novel
• Kaziranga, Assam - (1967) - poem
• The Isolinguals - (1937) - short story

Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies - and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.

Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the care of a network of volunteer "ad-hocs" who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.

Now, though, it seems the "ad hocs" are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself.

Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war: war for the soul of the Magic Kingdom, a war of ever-shifting reputations, technical wizardry, and entirely unpredictable outcomes.

Bursting with cutting-edge speculation and human insight, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom reads like Neal Stephenson meets Nick Hornby: a coming-of-age romantic comedy and a kick-butt cybernetic tour de force.

Download this book for free from the author's website.

Two new, original novellas--Donaldson's first publication since finishing the Thomas Covenant series--are a sure cause for celebration among his many fans.

In The King's Justice, a stranger dressed in black arrives in the village of Settle's Crossways, following the scent of a terrible crime. He even calls himself "Black," though almost certainly that is not his name. The people of the village discover that they have a surprising urge to cooperate with this stranger, though the desire of inhabitants of quiet villages to cooperate with strangers is not common in their land, or most lands. But this gift will not save him as he discovers the nature of the evil concealed in Settle's Crossways.

The "Augur's Gambit" is a daring plan created by Mayhew Gordian, Hieronomer to the Queen of Indemnie, a plan to save his Queen and his country. Gordian is a reader of entrails. In the bodies of chickens, lambs, piglets, and one stillborn infant he sees the same message: the island nation of Indemnie is doomed. But even in the face of certain destruction a man may fight, and the Hieronomer is utterly loyal to his beautiful Queen--and to her only daughter. The "Augur's Gambit" is his mad attempt to save a kingdom.

To save a galactic kingdom from revolution, Kindred mind-pairings were created to ensure each and every person would be seen and heard, no matter how rich or poor...

Joy Abara knows her place. A commoner from the lowly planet Hali, she lives a simple life--apart from the notoriety that being Kindred to the nobility's most infamous playboy brings.

Duke Felix Hamdi has a plan. He will exasperate his noble family to the point that they agree to let him choose his own future and finally meet his Kindred face-to-face.

Then the royal family is assassinated, putting Felix next in line for the throne... and accused of the murders. Someone will stop at nothing until he's dead, which means they'll target Joy, too. Meeting in person for the first time as they steal a spacecraft and flee amid chaos might not be ideal... and neither is crash-landing on the strange backward planet called Earth. But hiding might just be the perfect way to discover the true strength of the Kindred bond and expose a scandal--and a love--that may decide the future of a galaxy.

Welcome to the City Unspoken, where Gods and Mortals come to die.

Contrary to popular wisdom, death is not the end, nor is it a passage to some transcendent afterlife. Those who die merely awake as themselves on one of a million worlds, where they are fated to live until they die again, and wake up somewhere new. All are born only once, but die many times... until they come at last to the City Unspoken, where the gateway to True Death can be found

Wayfarers and pilgrims are drawn to the City, which is home to murderous aristocrats, disguised gods and goddesses, a sadistic faerie princess, immortal prostitutes and queens, a captive angel, gangs of feral Death Boys and Charnel Girls... and one very confused New Yorker

Late of Manhattan, Cooper finds himself in a City that is not what it once was. The gateway to True Death is failing, so that the City is becoming overrun by the Dying, who clot its byzantine streets and alleys... and a spreading madness threatens to engulf the entire metaverse.

Isserley picks up hitchhikers with big muscles. She, herself, is tiny-like a kid peering up over the steering wheel. She has a remarkable face and wears the thickest corrective lenses anyone has ever seen. Her posture is suggestive of some spinal problem. Her breasts are perfect; perhaps implants. She is strangely erotic yet somehow grotesque, vulnerable yet threatening. Her hitchhikers are a mixed bunch of men-trailer trash and travelling postgrads, thugs and philosophers. But Isserley is only interested in whether they have families and whether they have muscles. Then, it's only a question of how long she can endure her pain-physical and spiritual-and their conversation. Michel Faber's work has been described as a combination of Roald Dahl and Franz Kafka, as Somerset Maugham shacking up with Ian McEwan. At once humane and horrifying, Under the Skin takes us on a heart-thumping ride through dangerous territory-our own moral instincts and the boundaries of compassion. A grotesque and comical allegory announcing the arrival of an exciting talent, rich and assured.

This short story originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 9, March-April 2016.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny Magazine.

A stranger claiming knowledge of realms beyond the known world attempts to stop a war.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

The Haunted Looking Glass is the late Edward Gorey's selection of his favorite tales of ghosts, ghouls, and grisly goings-on. It includes stories by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, M. R. James, W. W. Jacobs, and L. P. Hartley, among other masters of the fine art of making the flesh creep, all accompanied by Gorey's inimitable illustrations.

Table of Contents:

• The Empty House - (1906) - shortstory by Algernon Blackwood
• August Heat - (1910) - shortstory by William Fryer Harvey
• The Signalman - (1866) - shortstory by Charles Dickens
• A Visitor from Down Under - (1926) - shortstory by L. P. Hartley
• The Thirteenth Tree - (1943) - shortstory by R. H. Malden
• The Body Snatcher - (1884) - shortstory by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Man-Size in Marble - (1887) - shortstory by E. Nesbit
• The Judge's House - (1891) - shortstory by Bram Stoker
• The Shadow of a Shade - (1869) - novelette by Tom Hood
• The Monkey's Paw - (1902) - shortstory by W. W. Jacobs
• The Dream Woman - (1930) - novelette by Wilkie Collins
• Casting the Runes - (1911) - novelette by M. R. James

After the King presents an outstanding collection of new fantasy stories by an extraordinary assemblage of some of the very best writers to ever continue the tradition Tolkien began with The Lord of the Rings.

Contents:

• Introduction - (1992) - essay by Jane Yolen
• Reave the Just - (1992) - novelette by Stephen R. Donaldson
• Troll Bridge - (1992) - shortstory by Terry Pratchett
• A Long Night's Vigil at the Temple - (1992) - novelette by Robert Silverberg
• The Dragon of Tollin - (1992) - shortstory by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
• Faith - (1992) - novelette by Poul Anderson and Karen Anderson
• In the Season of the Dressing of the Wells - (1992) - novella by John Brunner
• The Fellowship of the Dragon - (1992) - novelette by Patricia A. McKillip
• The Decoy Duck - (1992) - novelette by Harry Turtledove
• Nine Threads of Gold - (1992) - novelette by Andre Norton
• The Conjure Man - (1992) - shortstory by Charles de Lint
• The Halfling House - (1992) - novelette by Dennis L. McKiernan
• Silver or Gold - (1992) - novelette by Emma Bull
• Up the Side of the Air - (1992) - novelette by Karen Haber
• The Naga - (1992) - shortstory by Peter S. Beagle
• Revolt of the Sugar Plum Fairies - (1992) - shortstory by Mike Resnick
• Winter's King - (1992) - shortstory by Jane Yolen
• Götterdämmerung - (1992) - shortstory by Barry N. Malzberg
• Down the River Road - (1992) - novella by Gregory Benford
• Death and the Lady - (1992) - novelette by Judith Tarr

Answering an advertisement for a job as live-in tutor to a teenage boy, Christopher Beal arrives at the big, old house deep in the woods with no idea what he's getting into. His pupil is Lawrence Lundy, an odd boy who practices strange rituals by moonlight and is haunted - perhaps literally - by the spirit of his dead father. For mysterious reasons, his mother, Juliet, keeps him at home, isolated from the world. During the suffocating heat of a long summer, Christopher finds himself entangled in the madness of this strange household and must uncover a deadly secret, before it's too late...

Rachel Dove's and Richard Darrien's lives first intersect in Africa when Richard saves Rachel, a minister's daughter, from a flash flood. Years pass before they meet again: This time Rachel needs help escaping a Zulu tribe that would have her as their goddess and evading another man who wants her for his own.

WFA nominated novelette. It originally appeared in the anthology Full Spectrum 4 (1993), edited by Lou Aronica, Amy Stout and Betsy Mitchell. The story can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventh Annual Collection (1994), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, and Darkness: Two Decades of Modern Horror (2010). It is included in the collection Last Summer at Mars Hill: and Other Short Stories (1998).

WFA nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Love in Vein II: Eighteen More Tales of Vampiric Erotica (1997), edited by Poppy Z. Brite. The story is included in the collection Falling Idols (1998).

People tend to stay in their place in the town of Haddan. The students at the prestigious prep school don't mix with locals; even within the school, hierarchy rules, as freshman and faculty members find out where they fit in and what is expected of them. But when a body is found in the river behind the school, a local policeman will walk into this enclosed world and upset it entirely. A story of surface appearances and the truths submerged below.

Originally published by Apex Magazine in March 2011, this short story was later anthologized in The Book of Apex: Volume Three of Apex Magazine (2012) and collected in A Cathedral of Myth and Bone (2019).

Read the story for free online at Apex Magazine.

The year: 3975.

The man: Christopher Randolph Kellan.

The mission: Kill the king of the galaxy.

He is the Kingslayer.

Young Kit Kellan has led a rough-and-tumble life - knocking around the Vega System in his youth as a tiger hunter, a brawler, and a bouncer in a bar. But his real fight is just beginning. Summarily expelled from the prestigious Terra University, he is taken into custody by an agent of the System Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Kit's crime: thinking too much and thinking too well.

He's not in custody for long, however. Snatched from captivity by the People's Revolutionary Society, Kit sets out an epic adventure that will take him to the farthest reaches of the universe - as he is chosen to undertake a mission of extraordinary difficulty and danger: assassinate the Arbiter.

Just who is the Arbiter? He is the omnipotent ruler of the stars. Empires rise and fall, wars rage, planets vanish... all at the snap of his fingers. And as Kit discovers, it's not easy to kill the most powerful man in the universe.

He'll have to outsmart shadowy spies, battle deadly saboteurs, and match wits with women as beautiful as they are dangerous. In the end - if he lives to see the day - he might just make a discovery that will change him, and the galaxy, forever.

"An exciting novel of the future. One thrilling adventure to another, ending with a surprising climax. Highly recommended." (Los Angeles Daily News)

Contents:

• The Kingslayer - novella
• The Invaders - (1942) - novelette
• The Beast - (1942) - novelette
• Preface (The Kingslayer) - essay

This short story originally appeared in the anthology In Dreams (1992), edited by Paul J. McAuley and Kim Newman. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Tenth Annual Collection (1993), edited by Gardner Dozois.

This novella was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, November/December 2023.

The Strange Case of John Kingman is a novella by Murray Leinster. It originally appeared in Astounding Stories, May 1948. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Science Fiction Stories: 1949, edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty, The Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction Masterpieces (1983), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Robert Silverberg, and The Great Science Fiction Stories Volume 10, 1948 (1983), edited by Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg. The story is included in the collections The Best of Murray Leinster (1978) and First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster (1998).

Light and dark--this is the cursed birthright placed upon Clara and Natasha by their godfather, Drosselmeyer, whose power and greed hold an entire city in his sway. Charming Clara, the favorite, grows into a life of beauty and ease, while Natasha is relegated to her sister's shadow, ignored and unloved.

But Natasha seizes the opportunity for revenge one Christmas Eve, when Drosselmeyer arrives at the family gala with the Nutcracker, an enchanted gift that offers entry into an alternate world: the Kingdom of Sweets.

Following Clara into the glittering land of snow and sugar, Natasha discovers a source of power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who offers her own wondrous gifts... and chilling bargains. But as Natasha uncovers the truth about a dark destiny crafted long before her birth, she must reckon with forces both earthly and magical, human and diabolical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.

The shining pillar was nine or ten feet high and about a foot across. The top of it was flattened and rounded out. It was like a great golden pin thrust into the center of a shell. Within, Tom Blake saw a globe of reddish-gold that was neither solid nor gas. It began to move up and down the golden spike. At times, it flattened itself into a disc, or took the shape of a cylinder, or even a cone; then it became a globe again, and he wondered why it didn't tear itself loose from the spike that held it.

The Red King was a living core of light with a reddish halo. From this distance, it seemed little more than a cloud. When the cloud moved and changed its shape, a nucleus of reddish gold moved and changed with it.

They said that if your mind could contact the mind of this sleeping being they called the Red King, your dreams would come true, your wishes be granted. The Red King slept, but one day he would awake, and die--and those who could not contact him, and hated the minority who could, said that when he awoke, all the stuff of his dreams would vanish.

But what was this world? And what was Tom Blake doing here?

He and Flo DeLee had been out in the quadrangle at Squantley College that night, the night Tom was about to propose and give her the ring with the tiny diamonds that he had saved for for so long. Flo told him of a dream she had had, about a Red King who granted wishes...

Tom laughed, but he didn't laugh long. Three bell-like notes sounded, and a bubble seemed to come down from the tower of the college. It absorbed Flo and she was gone. And when Tom ran after her, another bubble captured him.

Tom found himself in a strange world where a bewildering variety of people, some of them Earthmen or the descendants of Earthmen, lived in a medieval-like civilization, and plotted against a minority who were able to contact the Red King and obtain their hearts' desire. They rode giant cats, instead of horses, and many things were strange-yet, so much was familiar. Tom was captured by Gathun of the Tiger Heart, Grand Marshal of the Marches and leader of the enemies of Eldon, the realm of those who could talk to the Red King. Every newcomer to his world was to be brought before the Red King, to see if contact could be made.

What chance did these semi-barbarians among whom Blake had fallen have against the super-science of Tulp and the folk of Eldon? And why did they hate the people of Eldon, when Tulp was not only willing but eager to share all the benefits he had obtained from the Red King with the entire world?

Aided only by a trained bear and a monkey, a magician and an acrobat challenge the power of the evil Red King who rules the Forest Lands by spreading the red fever to those who refuse to pay him tribute.

A modern country boy caught in the crosshairs of an ancient empire. An assassin who's been hunting him from birth. Two traitors, once his enemies, now his loyal allies.

Nick isn't a warrior. He knows some basic karate, but that's it. So when an assassin turns up to settle a blood debt, Nick narrowly escapes with his life. In his haste, he unwittingly flees to Korelios, a place he thought existed only in his eccentric aunt's ancient legends. All too soon, he finds himself caught in the middle of a war, and he must make an impossible choice: do his duty or follow his heart. His choice will decide the fate of an entire civilisation.

This career retrospective celebrates the 80th birthday of baseball's greatest scribe, W. P. Kinsella (Shoeless Joe), as well as the 25th anniversary of Field of Dreams, the film that he inspired.

In addition to his classic baseball tales, W. P. Kinsella is also a critically-acclaimed short fiction writer. His satiric wit has been celebrated with numerous honors, including the Order of British Columbia.

Here are his notorious First Nation narratives of indigenous Canadians, and a literary homage to J. D. Salinger. Alongside the "real" story of the 1951 Giants and the afterlife of Roberto Clemente, are the legends of a pirated radio station and a hockey game rigged by tribal magic.

Eclectic, dark, and comedic by turns, The Essential W. P. Kinsella is a living tribute to an extraordinary raconteur.

WFA nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Dark Forces (1980), edited by Kirby McCauley. The story can also be found in the anthology Baker's Dozen: 13 Short Horror Novels (1987), edited by Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg. It is included in the collection Dark Gods (1985).

In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he's been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family's summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It's not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn't exactly as she appears.

Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.

In one of the most dazzling books of his celebrated career, Dean Koontz delivers a masterwork of page-turning suspense that surpasses even his own inimitable reputation as a chronicler of our worst fears-and best dreams. In The Taking he tells the story of a community cut off from a world under siege, and the terrifying battle for survival waged by a young couple and their neighbors as familiar streets become fog-shrouded death traps. Gripping, heartbreaking, and triumphant in the face of mankind's darkest hour, here is a small-town slice-of-doomsday thriller that strikes to the core of each of us to ask: What would you do in the midst of The Taking.

On the morning that will mark the end of the world they have known, Molly and Niel Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain on their roof. It has haunted their sleep, invaded their dreams, and now they rise to find a luminous silvery downpour drenching their small California mountain town. A strange scent hangs faintly in the air, and the young couple cannot shake the sense of something wrong.

As hours pass and the rain continues to fall, Molly and Niel listen to disturbing news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. Before evening, their little town loses television and radio reception. Then telephone and the Internet are gone. With the ceaseless rain now comes an obscuring fog that transforms the once-friendly village into a ghostly labyrinth. By nightfall the Sloans have gathered with some of their neighbors to deal with community damage...but also because they feel the need to band together against some unknown threat, some enemy they cannot identify or even imagine.

In the night, strange noises arise, and at a distance, in the rain and the mist, mysterious lights are seen drifting among the trees. The rain diminishes with the dawn, but a moody gray-purple twilight prevails. Soon Molly, Niel, and their small band of friends will be forced to draw on reserves of strength, courage, and humanity they never knew they had. For within the misty gloom they will encounter something that reveals in a terrifying instant what is happening to their world-something that is hunting them with ruthless efficiency. Epic in scope, searingly intimate and immediate in perspective, The Taking is an adventure story like no other, a relentless roller-coaster read that brings apocalypse to Main Street and showcases the talents of one of our most original and mesmerizing novelists at the pinnacle of his powers.

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in Science Fiction Age, September 1994 and can also be found in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighth Annual Collection (1995), edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.

This short story originally appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, #166, February 2015. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016, edited by Rich Horton.

Read the full story for free at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

After a warlord slaughters her patients, Sister Alessia quits the cloister and strikes out on her own to heal the victims of a brutal dynastic conflict. Her roaming forest camp unwittingly becomes the center of a vengeful peasant insurgency, raiding the forces of both sides to survive. Alessia struggles to temper their fury as well as tend wounds, consenting to ever greater violence to keep her new charges safe. When they uncover proof of a foreign conspiracy prolonging the bloodshed, Alessia risks the very lives she's saved to expose the truth and bring the war to an end.

It begins in a small Southwestern town. Then it spreads. Across the country a series of strange deaths have overtaken the living. And a stranger compulsion has overtaken the dead. In a travesty of life, they drift with bizarre purpose toward an unknown destination. The walkers have become an obsession for investigator Miles Huerdeen. His father is one of them. Now, lured into the shadow of the restless dead, Miles is a step closer to a secret as old as time... to a reality as dark as Hell. For Miles is following them into the deep end of an unfathomable nightmare.

There is no definitive census of all the intelligent species in the universe. Not only are there perennial arguments about what qualifies as intelligence, but each moment and everywhere, civilizations rise and fall, much as the stars are born and die. Time devours all.

Read this story online for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

The tiny cottage at the edge of Sanli Village--away from the villagers' noisy houses and busy clan shrines and next to the cool pond filled with lily pads, pink lotus flowers, and playful carp--would have made an ideal romantic summer hideaway for some dissolute poet and his silk-robed mistress from nearby bustling Yangzhou.

Read this story online for free at Lightspeed Magazine.

This short story originally appeared in Home Brew in 1923. It has been anthologized many times, and can also be found in the collection The Lurking Fear and Other Stories.

It was the basis for the 1994 movie Lurking Fear.

Twelve soul-chilling stories by the master of horror will leave you shivering in your boots and afraid to go out in the night. Only H.P. Lovecraft can send your heart racing faster than it's ever gone before. And here are the stories to prove it.

Table of Contents:

• The Lurking Fear - (1923)
• The Colour Out of Space - (1927)
• The Nameless City - (1921)
• Pickman's Model - (1927)
• Arthur Jermyn - (1935) - (variant of The White Ape 1920)
• The Unnamable - (1925)
• The Call of Cthulhu - (1928)
• The Moon-Bog - (1926)
• Cool Air - (1928)
• The Hound - (1924)
• The Shunned House - (1928)

Two siblings. Two brilliant talents. But only one Mozart.

Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish--to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she'll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age--her tyrannical father has made that much clear.

And as Nannerl's hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true--but his help may cost her everything

They needed the first girl born in the first minute of the first day of the first year of the twenty-first century. They needed her for an ad campaign that would put millions into the largest cosmetics company in Sweden.

This short story originally appeared in Fairy Tale Review, The Ocher Issue (2016), and was reprinted in Lightspeed, April 2018.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

When a terrestrial spaceship encounters intelligent aliens, the explorers from Earth activate their Freud simulacrum for its advice in handling the situation.

Randi Wade's world is spiraling into a dark labyrinth of secrets and lies. Her only friend is keeping something from her. Innocent victims are being savagely attacked and left for dead, all but their skins. There is an eerie connection between the crime scenes and her own father's murder nearly twenty years before, unsolved to this day. Despite this, Chief of Police Joe Urquhart, her father's former partner and best friend, beckons her to drop the case, drop everything. Is he protecting her, or something else? As the case unfolds, Randi is pulled ever closer to realizing her darkest fear: that werewolves do exist, and they'll do anything necessary to keep their secrets safe in this once quiet town... Even if it means killing their own. All the while, an eccentric but powerful family watches closely from inside the black iron gates of Blackstone Manor, as the horrendous truth behind it all begins to bubble toward the top. - The Skin Trade movie website.

For over half a century, Richard Matheson has enthralled and terrified readers with such timeless classics as I Am Legend, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Duel, Somewhere in Time, and What Dreams May Come. Now the Grand Master returns with a bewitching tale of erotic suspense and enchantment....

1918. A young American soldier, recently wounded in the Great War, Alex White comes to Gatford to escape his troubled past. The pastoral English village seems the perfect spot to heal his wounded body and soul. True, the neighboring woods are said to be haunted by capricious, even malevolent spirits, but surely those are just old wives' tales.

Aren't they?

A frightening encounter in the forest leads Alex into the arms of Magda Variel, an alluring red-haired widow rumored to be a witch. She warns him to steer clear of the wood and the perilous faerie kingdom it borders, but Alex cannot help himself. Drawn to its verdant mysteries, he finds love, danger... and wonders that will forever change his view of the world.

Other Kingdoms casts a magical spell, as conjured by a truly legendary storyteller.

This novelette originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1987. It can also be found in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifth Annual Collection (1988), edited by Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collections The King of the Hill and Other Stories (1991) and A Very British History (2013).

Lord Artos is on a historic quest - to search out the finest black horses ever known to man. He has vowed to drive the invading Saxons out of Britain, and he needs big, strong, powerful horses to carry his army into battle.

Galwyn, a young Roman-Celt, leaps at the chance to accompany the group, little guessing the adventure ahead of him - or the price he will have to pay for his loyalty...

Nebula Award nominated short story. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1965. The story can also be found in the anthology The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF (2009) edited by Mike Ashley.

Nebula nominated novelette. It first appeared in McDonald's collection Empire Dreams (1988) and was later anthologized in Datlow & Windling's The Year's Best Fantasy: Second Annual Collection (1989).

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Plugged In (2008) edited by L. Timmel Duchamp and Maureen McHugh. It was reprinted in Lightspeed, November 2011. The story is included in the collection After the Apocalypse: Stories (2011).

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Imaginary friends should be a comfort when other consolations fail. But what if these longed-for companions think different? What if they're none too pleased to be summoned? What if untamed magic can spawn creatures from daydreams or nightmares? Could something eerie half-glimpsed in a shadow actually be there?

Shadow Histories of the River Kingdom introduces a brand new fantasy setting from acclaimed author Juliet E McKenna. This volume brings together stories previously available in a range of publications, not all easily found, as well as some new material.

Welcome to the River Kingdom, where shadows can be all too solid and dangerous.

This novella was first published in Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2023.

Read the full story for free at the publisher's website here.

In the aftermath of World War II, two women with unusual gifts must protect a mysterious baby in a poignant tale of family, sacrifice and magic.

Barrie Anne Blythe and her aunt Charlotte have always known that the other residents of their small coastal community find them peculiar -- two women living alone on the outskirts of town. It is the price of concealing their strange and dangerous family secret.

But two events threaten to upend their lives forever. The first is the arrival of a mysterious abandoned baby with a hint of power like their own. The second is the sudden reappearance of Barrie Anne's long-lost husband -- who is not quite the man she thought she married.

Together, Barrie Anne and Charlotte must decide how far they are willing to go to protect themselves -- and the child they think of as their own -- from suspicious neighbors, the government, and even their own family...

In a possible far future animals have taken over and democratized the world where humans once ruled. Tim, a lonely slime mold, is worried about his human pet Mimi and her recent animal urges. He only wants her to be happy, but he doesn't know how to keep her from sneaking out and cavorting with the human pet next door or any number of feral humans in the neighborhood. But through his relationship with her, he learns what it truly means to make a commitment to someone else.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

This novelette originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1984. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection (1985), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Armageddons (1999), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. It can also be found in the collection The Tithonian Factor and Other Stories (1984).

With In the Palace of Repose, her debut collection of mostly unpublished work, Holly Phillips accomplished the improbable. The unknown Canadian author received critical acclaim and numerous honors including the 2006 Sunburst Award and nominations for the World Fantasy and Crawford Awards. Her accomplished prose sang with a unique voice, seamlessly blending emotion, insight, and craft.

Now, At the Edge of Waking presents her latest tales written with even more depth and range-including a new, never-published story. Portraying human reaction to dire change or extreme circumstance, combining the real intruded upon by the fantastic or the fantastic grounded in reality, Phillips describes the world as it is, as it may be, as something impossible yet entirely acceptable, enthralling the reader with her words.

Contents:

• Introduction (At the Edge of Waking) - (2012) - essay by Peter S. Beagle
• Brother of the Moon - (2007) - short story
• Castle Rock - (2012) - short story
• Cold Water Survival - (2009) - short story
• Country Mothers' Sons - (2010) - short story
• Gin - (2006) - short story
• Proving the Rule - (2008) - novella
• Queen of the Butterfly Kingdom - (2007) - short story
• Story Notes (At the Edge of Waking) - (2012) - essay
• The Long, Cold Goodbye - (2009) - novelette
• The Rescue - (2010) - short story
• Three Days of Rain - (2007) - short story
• Virgin of the Sands - (2006) - short story

This short story originally appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, November 1984. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection (1985), edited by Gardner Dozois, and Genometry (2001), edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. The story is included in the collection Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories (2005).

Read the full story for free at the Baen website.

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

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

WFA winning and Nebula nominated novelette. It first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2006. It was anthologized in Jonathan Strahan's The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume One, Rich Horton's Fantasy: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition and The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007: Twentieth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow, Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link. It was also included in the collections Holiday (2010) and You Have Never Been Here: New and Selected Stories (2014).

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

"Rosenbaum's The Ant King and Other Stories contains invisible cities and playful deconstructions of the form. In "Biographical Notes to 'A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, With Air-Planes,' by Benjamin Rosenbaum"--yes, his name is part of the title--the author imagines a world whose technologies and philosophies differ wildly from ours. The result is a commentary on the state of the art that is itself the state of the art."

Table of Contents:

• The Ant King: A California Fairy Tale - (2001)
• The Valley of Giants - (2004)
• The Orange - (2002)
• Biographical Notes to "A Discourse on the Nature of Causality, with Air-Planes" by Benjamin Rosenbaum - (2004)
• Start the Clock - (2004)
• The Blow - (2008)
• Embracing-the-New - (2004)
• Falling - (2005)
• Orphans - (2008)
• On the Cliff by the River - (2008)
• Fig - (2002)
• The Book of Jashar - (2003)
• The House Beyond Your Sky - (2006)
• Red Leather Tassels - (2003)
• Other Cities - (2003)
• Sense and Sensibility - (2008)
• A Siege of Cranes - (2006)

The Celts - that artistically rich, magnificent people whose legendary history culminated in the heroic reign of King Arthur - have long been a source of wonder for many. Their heritage is a treasure-trove: stories of epic heroism, of women who fought alongside their men, of giants and towering challenge, of ultimate sacrifice joyously given, of magnificent courage and high humour, of myth, magic, marvel - and through it all, the scarlet thread of tragic realism that governed a people beset by the constantly recurring threat of extinction.

Because the Celts themselves had no written tradition, Joy Chant has chosen to tell their magnificent legends as they had been told in their own time - by bards around a campfire, or at the courts of their High Kings. And for time and place she has chosen the last great Celtic court - that of King Arthur - setting each tale within a framework that includes a note about the historical or cultural background.

Each legend is illuminated by the paintings of George Sharp, who worked closely with the author and editor every step of the way. In addition to the full colour plates and the illustrations, David Larkin, art designer for the book, has selected Celtic decorative patterns, maps and reproductions of their marvelous bronze and gold artifacts to enhance the stories and notes.

The result is high drama, an extraordinary overview of the legends of the Celts, placing them in relation to the state of mind of Arthur's people as they gathered themselves for the final defense of their way of life. Here, then, is a unique volume that combines rich visual imagery with sweeping epic, and captures the lives of the Celts through the great historic myths that bred them.

A humorous short story written for Jay Lake's birthday in 2007. It was published by Tor.com several days after Lake passed away on June 1st 2014.

Read the full story on Tor.com.

Orestes was a cruel world, cold and inhospitable. Its first colonists were castaways from a crash landing, clinging to survival through the institution of strict socio-political controls. Over the generations life grew somewhat easier, but the code of honour remained. Misdeeds - and errors - were paid for with blood. At one time all miscreants were executed. Now a social death is imposed. Every Oresteian city has a colony of "ghosts": ostracised citizens who must survive, somehow, without help from the living. But galactic civilisation is spreading - and Orestes is in its path. The old ways are under scrutiny. And though the Oresteian aristocracy will fight for the status quo, they have not reckoned on the power of a thousand ghosts.

First published in Tähtivaeltaja magazine March, 1994

Can be read for free at Finnish Weird 3: Enter the Weird

Translated by J. Robert Tupasela

Cable worker Roy Neary, who, along with several other stunned bystanders, experience a close encounter of the first kind - witnessing UFOs soaring across the sky. After this life-changing event, the inexplicable vision of a strange, mountain-like formation haunts him. He becomes obsessed with discovering what it represents, much to the dismay of his wife and family.

Meanwhile, bizarre occurrences are happening around the world. Government agents have close encounters of the second kind - discovering physical evidence of extraterrestrial visitors in the form of a lost fighter aircraft from World War II and a stranded military ship that disappeared decades earlier only to suddenly reappear in unusual places. Roy continues to chase his vision to a remote area where he and the agents follow the clues that have drawn them to reach a site where they will have a close encounter of the third kind - contact.

A modern retelling of the legendary Arthurian tales from one of the twentieth centurys greatest writers.

Morte dArthur was one of the first books that John Steinbeck enjoyed reading as a child, and it became a favorite story to read to his own children. Here now is Steinbecks only work of fantasy literature - his modernization of Malorys adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, who together took the oath of knightship, swearing never to use violence without good purpose, to be merciful, to protect women, and never to fight for an unjust cause or personal gain. Here are the iconic and legendary tales of King Arthur, Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, Merlin, and Morgan le Fay.

Good King Julian of Aravis has been dead for two hundred years, but his kingdom still misses him. The current occupant of the throne is old and witless and has no heir. The true ruler of Aravis is the powerful Prince Bishop, who controls both church and state.

When the King comes home, all wishes will be granted.

Hail Rosmer wants to be an artist-not an ordinary artist, but a great artist, as great as the fabled Maspero, who painted the famous Archangel altarpiece in the Palace of Aravis and made Good King Julian's crown.

When the King comes home, all dreams will be made real.

One day, Hail sees a man catching fish from the river and eating it raw. The man's clothes are antique in fashion. He looks exactly like King Julian of Aravis. And there begins an adventure that takes Hail and her enigmatic companion from palace to wilderness to battlefield and teaches her, and the rest of Aravis, what happens when the King comes home in sober reality.

Exiled on Mars, Johnsmith Biberkopf escapes from a penal colony on the Red Planet and learns that his hallucinations are real--space and time can be manipulated! Kidnapped by Vikings who've sailed through the continua since ancient times, Johnsmith embarks on an epic adventure, an infinite journey through the multiverse. Facing alien menace, he learns the terrifying truth about the power of illusion!

The 12-year-old Pharoah, Pepy II, is a humanitarian soul, sneaking out of the palace at night in disguise to distribute largesse among the poor and downtrodden. But Pepy is threatened by the machinations of his sister and queen, who is plotting his murder so she can enjoy absolute rule -- a stunt she just might get away with since she can disguise the murder as a sacrifice to assuage a population panicked by the untimely and prophetic arrival of a phoenix on the palace walls.

The Walking-Stick Forest, by Anna Tambour, is a dark fantasy about a recluse who creates collectible walking sticks in post WWI Scotland by manipulating the woods somewhat like bonsais. He refuses a commission from a very rich, powerful man, never considering or caring about the consequences.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

A cycle of twelve narrative poems published between 1859 and 1885. This work has been published many times with varying tables of content.

Tennyson had a life-long interest in the legend of King Arthur and after the huge success of his poem 'Morte d'Arthur' he built on the theme with this series of twelve poems, written in two periods of intense creativity over nearly twenty years. Idylls of the King traces the story of Arthur's rule, from his first encounter with Guinevere and the quest for the Holy Grail to the adultery of his Queen with Launcelot and the King's death in a final battle that spells the ruin of his kingdom. Told with lyrical and dreamlike eloquence, Tennyson's depiction of the Round Table reflects a longing for a past age of valour and chivalry. And in his depiction of King Arthur he created a hero imbued with the values of the Victorian age - one who embodies the highest ideals of manhood and kingship.

This novella originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July-August 2016. It can also be found in the anthologies The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection (2017), edited by Gardner Dozois, and The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017, edited by Rich Horton.

Sturgeon Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Denver Quarterly (Fall, 2004). The story can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 10 (2005), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer.

In an African city, a nameless young woman living in the wards slowly begins to lose her identity: her skin color is peeling off, people are becoming invisible, and the city plans to destroy the train where they bury their dead. After the narrator is given a warning by her grandmother's dreamskin, things begin to fall apart. Struggling to hold onto a fluctuating reality, she prescribes herself insomnia in a desperate attempt to save her family.

Peaceful, happy, non-violent... the perfect society?

Or was it? As chief of Propaganda and Emotional Control, Joseph P. Lincoln had experience in coping with every potential threat to the system. But even he was ill-prepared to deal with the amazing woman from the past, whose arrival soon threw Lincoln's carefully ordered world into total chaos.

CENTURY OF THE MANIKIN is wise, witty and a unique treatment of the problems of cryogenesis.

From award-winning author Genevieve Valentine, a "gorgeous and bewitching" (Scott Westerfeld) reimagining of the fairytale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses as flappers during the Roaring Twenties in Manhattan.

Jo, the firstborn, "The General" to her eleven sisters, is the only thing the Hamilton girls have in place of a mother. She is the one who taught them how to dance, the one who gives the signal each night, as they slip out of the confines of their father's townhouse to await the cabs that will take them to the speakeasy. Together they elude their distant and controlling father, until the day he decides to marry them all off.

The girls, meanwhile, continue to dance, from Salon Renaud to the Swan and, finally, the Kingfisher, the club they come to call home. They dance until one night when they are caught in a raid, separated, and Jo is thrust face-to-face with someone from her past: a bootlegger named Tom whom she hasn't seen in almost ten years. Suddenly Jo must weigh in the balance not only the demands of her father and eleven sisters, but those she must make of herself.

With The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, award-winning writer Genevieve Valentine takes her superb storytelling gifts to new heights, joining the leagues of such Jazz Age depicters as Amor Towles and Paula McClain, and penning a dazzling tale about love, sisterhood, and freedom.

In an Indian village in the 1950s, a precocious child is born into a family of Dalit coconut farmers. King Rao will grow up to be the most accomplished tech CEO in the world and, eventually, the leader of a global, corporate-led government.

In a future in which the world is run by the Board of Corporations, King's daughter, Athena, reckons with his legacy--literally, for he has given her access to his memories, among other questionable gifts.

With climate change raging, Athena has come to believe that saving the planet and its Shareholders will require a radical act of communion--and so she sets out to tell the truth to the world's Shareholders, in entrancing sensory detail, about King's childhood on a South Indian coconut plantation; his migration to the U.S. to study engineering in a world transformed by globalization; his marriage to the ambitious artist with whom he changed the world; and, ultimately, his invention, under self-exile, of the most ambitious creation of his life--Athena herself.

The Immortal King Rao, written by a former Wall Street Journal technology reporter, is a resonant debut novel obliterating the boundaries between literary and speculative fiction, the historic and the dystopian, confronting how we arrived at the age of technological capitalism and where our actions might take us next.

Hugo Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1977. The story can also be found in the anthologies The 1978 Annual World's Best SF (1978), edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Arthur W. Saha, Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Seventh Annual Collection (1978), edited by Gardner Dozois, The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 23rd Series (1980), edited by Edward L. Ferman and Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons (2000) edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections The Persistence of Vision (1978) and The John Varley Reader (2004).

Hugo Award-nominated Short Story

This story originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 25, November-December 2018. It can also be found in the anthology The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Thirteen (2019), edited by Jonathan Strahan.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny.

The Secret Skin by Wendy N. Wagner is a sawmill gothic that begins with June Vogel's return to Storm Break, her family's estate. Things in the great house aren't what they used to be. Doors slam in the night. Faucets turn on, untouched. Something is always watching, whatever June does. And when her brother returns with his new bride, deceit and betrayal threaten to destroy everything she loves.

Hugo Award nominated novelette. It originally appeared on Sci Fiction, December 7, 2005. The story can also be found in the anthologies Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2006 Edition, edited by Rich Horton, Science Fiction: The Very Best of 2005, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Time Travel: Recent Trips (2014), edited by Paula Guran. It is included in the collections Things Will Never Be the Same: Selected Short Fiction, 1980 - 2005 (2007) and Horse of a Different Color: Stories (2013).

Read this story for free online at the SciFiction archive.

In a world where people shed their skin every seven years, it's just a fact of life that we will cast of all the attachments of our old life. With every moult we become a new person, and though we can discard the past, the skin remembers, brings it all back if we touch it. And when our loves are part of us, those memories of love can be bought, if you know the right people.

Introducing the new drug, Suscutin, that will prevent the moult. Now you can keep your skin forever. Now you never need to change who you are.

But it's not so simple for celebrity bodyguard Rose Allington, who suffers from a rare disease. Her moults come quickly, changing everything about her life, who she is, who she loves.

Meanwhile, her former client, superstar actor Max Black, is hooked on Suscutin, because he knows moulting could lose him everything. When one of his skins is stolen, and the theft is an inside job, he needs the best who ever worked for him on the job - even if she's no longer the same person.

Because Max has a film to make about the Stuck Six, the world famous sextet of lovers, who share a perfect life. The Six have trusted him to tell the love story that captivated the world.

The Loosening Skin peels away the layers of these stories, exploring our definitions of love, sex and friendship, and what it means to grow, and change.

All is not well in Glassholm. Life under the moon has always been so predictable: day follows night, wax phases to wane and, after the despair of every Darkday, a person's mood soars to euphoria at Full. So it has been for five hundred years, ever since the Lunane captured the moon and tethered it to the city.

Now, all that has changed. Amidst rumours of unsettling dreams and strange whispering children, society is disintegrating into unrest and violence. The very sea has turned against Glassholm and the island's luck monkeys have gone wild, distributing new fates to all and sundry. Turmoil is coming.

Three people find themselves at the eye of the storm: a former policeman investigating a series of macabre murders, an outsider artist embroiled in the murky intrigues of revolution, and a renegade engineer tasked with fixing the ancient machine at the city's heart. Each must fulfil their role or see Glassholm shaken apart, while all are subject to the machinations of their inscrutable and eternal monarch, The Moon King.

From award-winning author G. Willow Wilson, The Bird King is an epic journey set during the reign of the last sultan in the Iberian peninsula at the height of the Spanish Inquisition.

G. Willow Wilson's debut novel Alif the Unseen was an NPR and Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and it established her as a vital American Muslim literary voice. Now she delivers The Bird King, a stunning new novel that tells the story of Fatima, a concubine in the royal court of Granada, the last emirate of Muslim Spain, and her dearest friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker.

Hassan has a secret -- he can draw maps of places he's never seen and bend the shape of reality. When representatives of the newly formed Spanish monarchy arrive to negotiate the sultan's surrender, Fatima befriends one of the women, not realizing that she will see Hassan's gift as sorcery and a threat to Christian Spanish rule. With their freedoms at stake, what will Fatima risk to save Hassan and escape the palace walls?

As Fatima and Hassan traverse Spain with the help of a clever jinn to find safety, The Bird King asks us to consider what love is and the price of freedom at a time when the West and the Muslim world were not yet separate.

This short story originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Issue 11, July-August 2016.

Read the full story for free at Uncanny Magazine.

The newly crowned King Arthur is unsure of himself; worse, the people are unsure of him. Too many people want the throne, and treachery is everywhere. Merlin must do something before the king is betrayed, or murdered, or--worst of all--gets married. So Merlin magically places a sword into a slab of rock, lets it be known that whosoever removes the blade will rule all of England, and invites any man who would dare, to try to pull out the sword.

After a bit of showmanship, Arthur will draw the blade (with a little magical help, of course), and the people will rally around the young king.

Except someone else pulls the sword out first....

A massive series of powerful earthquakes on a worldwide scale reduce towns and cities to rubble and plunge the survivors into barbarism. Most of western Europe is dramatically uplifted, transforming the English Channel into a muddy desert, while elsewhere lands are plunged below sealevel and flooded.

Matthew Cotter, a Guernsey horticulturalist, finds himself one of only a handful of survivors on the former island. Cotter decides to trek across the empty seabed to England, in the faint hope that his daughter has somehow survived.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm--and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow's disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It's been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren't there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere--the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother's death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother'sdecades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she's been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

The Battle of Dorking is an imaginary tale of a German invasion of England written in 1871 by Sir George Tomkyns Chesny. It sparked great controversy when it was initially serialized anonymously in Blackwood's Magazine. It inflamed the English anxieties over the emergence of Germany as a great military power, and raised doubts about the preparedness of Britain for a possible war.

In the story, German invaders conquer England because they are better trained, better equipped, and have a vast conscript army. In turn, the story is both a thinly-veiled call to action by Chesny, as well as a well-crafted work of fiction.

As the townsfolk sleep, something creeps into the neighborhood. Hidden in shadows, its presence is as old as time itself, its intent not born of goodness.

Nick, a teenager who fancies himself a detective, wakes to find his carved masterpiece missing. Now a mystery is afoot, and Nick has his first assignment, to find out who or what is snatching up the town’s pumpkins and why.

Unfortunately, as with all great detectives, obstacles stand in Nick’s way—the neighborhood bully and his cronies, and the strange old lady and her dog who share the run-down house at the end of Nick’s block. As Nick investigates, an urban legend unravels . . . .

The Legend of The Pumpkin Thief.

Nick fears the legend as he embarks on the most dangerous adventure of his young life. Collecting clues, getting ever closer to the true nature of evil, he learns that curiosity comes with a high price.

The Crossroads of Time

Anothe instalment of Blake Walker's adventures on alternate Earths. Blake, a 1950s citizen of our own Earth is accidentally caught up in the chase for a telepathic psychopath who is looking for an alternate Earth to rule.

Mankind on the Run

Kil and Ellen Bruner were Class-A citizens, labelled as privileged and stable by the Key that every man, woman and child wore in the well-ordered world created after the Lucky War. Then Ellen vanished, and suddenly all Kil's privilege isn't enough to bring her back to him. The layers of intrigue he is able to unwrap show him only the beginning of a great plot against established society--a plot that somehow involves Ellen.

For the first time he feels doors closing around him, hears the official silence of the World Police, feels the great weight of authority's disapproval, and learns what it means to be a man alone. His desperate search for his wife will cost him everything he thought he believed in as he digs ever deeper into the ugly reality behind the façade of his world's peace and security, and finds himself at last.

The LICKING VALLEY COON HUNTERS CLUB is a science-fiction, action-adventure, mystery-P.I.-suspense, humorous horror novel. Yep, it really is. You have to read it to believe it.

Those of you who haven't read any of Hopkins' Zolotow tales, you have quite a treat in store. Those of you who are familiar with this intrepid P.I. won't be disappointed -- this is perhaps the best one to date.

Adventure stories don't normally make a point as well, but Raymond F. Jones is no ordinary adventure story writer. In this touching and beautiful tale, Morten Bradwell shares his son's adventures and learns a lesson he will never forget. Neither will you. For Morten Bradwell is one of the elite in a time and society where stupidity and ignorance have been conquered by genetic engineering. But his son Freeman is a Retard. The King of Eolim is the story of the Bradwell's search for a home that will truly be "home" for Free.

When a wealthy young woman, obsessed with a childhood vision of a magical Shining Palace, sets out with her true love to search for a legendary land, she discovers the devastated WorldBelow - the realm of the Grass King - and the terrifying Cadre, who take her prisoner, and demand she either restore the king's concubine... or replace her.

Every living creature on Earth, except dogs, is gripped by an enchanted sleep. One of the original Dalmatian puppies, all grown up since the first novel, is now the Prime Minister's mascot. Relying on her spotted parents Pongo and Missis for guidance, she assumes emergency leadership for the canine population of England. Awaiting advice from Sirius, the Dog Star, dogs of every breed crowd Trafalgar Square to watch the evening skies. The message they receive is a disturbing proposition, one that might forever destroy their status as "man's best friend."

When destiny calls, there's no fighting back.

Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief and a minstrel's son raised on tales of long-lost princes and magnificent quests. When he is claimed against his will as the missing son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds himself at the mercy of his new family's ruthless power plays and political ambitions.

Practically a prisoner, Kihrin discovers that being a long-lost prince is nothing like what the storybooks promised. The storybooks have lied about a lot of other things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he isn't the hero after all. For Kihrin is not destined to save the world.

He's destined to destroy it.

Jenn Lyons begins the Chorus of Dragons series with The Ruin of Kings, an epic fantasy novel about a man who discovers his fate is tied to the future of an empire.

Taking place nearly a century before the events of A Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compiles the first three official prequel novellas to George R. R. Martin's ongoing masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. These never-before-collected adventures recount an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living consciousness.

Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne, there was Dunk and Egg. A young, naïve but ultimately courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals--in stature if not experience. Tagging along is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg--whose true name (hidden from all he and Dunk encounter) is Aegon Targaryen. Though more improbable heroes may not be found in all of Westeros, great destinies lay ahead for these two... as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits.

Featuring more than 160 all-new illustrations by Gary Gianni, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a must-have collection that proves chivalry isn't dead--yet.

Nothing is quite what it seems once Alice journeys through the looking-glass, and Carroll's wit is infectious as he explores concepts of mirror imagery, time running backward, and strategies of chess-all wrapped up in the exploits of a spirited young girl who parries with the Red Queen, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and other unlikely characters. In many ways, this sequel has had an even greater impact on today's pop culture than the first book.

Briony is free from the walls of Asperfell. But not from its strange and savage world.

Lost in the frozen wilderness, Briony leads her friends ever northward, in search of a rumored cave wherein lies their only hope of returning home to the kingdom of Tiralaen with Prince Elyan, the rightful heir to the throne, to save her people from civil war.

What she discovers instead is an impossible kingdom of opulence and decadence beyond her wildest imagining. Here, an ancient goddess is about to awaken once more... and she has never forgiven Briony's people for their intrusion into this world, nor the centuries of bloodshed that followed.

Caught in a deadly web of secrets and lies that stretches across generations, Briony holds the fate of two kingdoms in her hands. To leave this new world behind is to condemn its people to anguish and death. But to stay and fight, Briony must abandon her home and everyone she's ever loved--including Elyan.

To save one kingdom, the other must fall.

The king's heir of Ianon is long lost, vanished into the south. Her father refuses to name his son heir in her place, though that son is a mighty warrior. Then one day a young wanderer arrives with news that both breaks and heals the king's heart: his heir is dead, but before she died, she gave birth to a son. That child, now grown, has come to take her place. But the king's son will not surrender his hope of kingship to a boy without a father, though he claims to be the son of a god.

The poetic style and sweeping grandeur of The King of Elfland's Daughter has made it one of the most beloved fantasy novels of our time, a masterpiece that influenced some of the greatest contemporary fantasists. The heartbreaking story of a marriage between a mortal man and an elf princess is a masterful tapestry of the fairy tale following the "happily ever after."

An accident at the Moon Temple traps visitors inside the strange building, where a mysterious creature called the King of Distortion begins to whisper to them. Boogiepop comes to the rescue, but this might be a fight even he can't win. What happens when two entities that only exist in the minds of men square off against each other?

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

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

Kedryn, the young prince prophesied the sacred Book of Kyrie, has led the Three Kingdoms to victory over the barbaric northern Hordes commanded by the demonic Taws, the fire-born Messenger of the war-god Ashar.

But victory had a terrible price. Kedryn was blinded by an ensorcelled sword in his hour of triumph. Now he must journey into the abode of the dead, accompanied by his beloved Wynett, on a perilous quest to confront the shade of the warrior who wielded the blade. In Kedryn's absence, Taws the Messenger rises again, using his terrible magics to foment bloodshed and rebellion among the Kingdoms.

Years ago, the sacred Book of Kyrie prophesied that a champion would lead the Three Kingdoms in battle against the demonic sorcerer Taws and his barbarian Horde, sent by the wrathful war-god Ashar to tear the kingdoms apart.

When the young prince Kedryn Caitin defeated Taws and his forces, the Three Kingdoms joined in proclaiming him and his wise and beautiful bride, Wynett, heirs to the throne. Now comes the challenge of ruling nations--and Kedryn feels inadequate to the task.

As the Three Kingdoms forge a new leadership and Kedryn and Wynett begin their life together, all are certain that the battle is over at last. But concealed by darkness, Ashar's anger simmers and he waits. His minion may have failed. But his diabolical cause is not forgotten.

It is the ultimate quest for the ultimate treasure. Chasing a map tattooed on human skin. Across an omniverse of intersecting realities. To unravel the future of the future.

Kit Livingstone’s great-grandfather appears to him in a deserted alley during a tumultuous storm. He reveals an unbelievable story: that the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legend or the weekend hobby of deluded cranks, but pathways to other worlds. To those who know how to use them, they grant the ability to travel the multi-layered universe of which we ordinarily inhabit only a tiny part.

One explorer knew more than most. Braving every danger, he toured both time and space on voyages of heroic discovery. Ever on his guard and fearful of becoming lost in the cosmos, he developed an intricate code—a roadmap of symbols—that he tattooed onto his own body. This Skin Map has since been lost in time. Now the race is on to recover all the pieces and discover its secrets.

But the Skin Map itself is not the ultimate goal. It is merely the beginning of a vast and marvelous quest for a prize beyond imagining.

The Bright Empires series—from acclaimed author Stephen R. Lawhead—is a unique blend of epic treasure hunt, ancient history, alternate realities, cutting-edge physics, philosophy, and mystery. The result is a page-turning, adventure like no other.

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

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

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

The Song of King Gesar is one of the world's great epics, as significant for Tibetans as the Odyssey and Iliad for the ancient Greeks, and as the Ramayana and Mahabarata in India. Passed down in song from one generation to the next, it is sung by Tibetan bards even today.

Set partly in ancient Tibet, where evil spirits mingle with the lives of humans, and partly in the modern day, The Song of King Gesar tells of two lives inextricably entwined. Gesar, the youngest and bravest of the gods, has been sent down to the human world to defeat the demons that plague the lives of ordinary people. Jigmed is a young shepherd, who is visited by dreams of Gesar, of gods and of ancient battles while he sleeps.

So begins an epic journey for both the shepherd and the king. The wilful child of the gods will become Gesar, the warrior-king of Ling, and will unite the nation of Tibet under his reign. Jigmed will learn to see his troubled country with new eyes, and, as the storyteller chosen by the gods, must face his own destiny.

The fourth in Doris Lessing's visionary novel cycle "Canopus in Argos: Archives". It is a mix of fable, futuristic fantasy and pseudo-documentary accounts of 20th-century history.

Trapped in the Depths of Halley's Comet, the Futuremen Battle Fourth-Dimensional Monsters in a Titanic Struggle to Save the System's Solar Energy!....

This novel is included in the collection, The Collected Captain Future: Man of Tomorrow, Volume Three (2010).

It first appeared in the summer, 1942 Issue of Captain Future magazine.

Kit Brightling, rescued as a foundling and raised in a home for talented girls, has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the Isles' Crown Command and become one of the few female captains in Queen Charlotte's fleet. Her ship is small, but she's fast--in part because of Kit's magical affinity to the sea. But the waters become perilous when the queen sends Kit on a special mission with a partner she never asked for.

Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, may be a veteran of the Continental war, but Kit doesn't know him or his motives--and she's dealt with one too many members of the Beau Monde. But Kit has her orders, and the queen has commanded they journey to a dangerous pirate quay and rescue a spy who's been gathering intelligence on the exiled emperor of Gallia.

Kit can lead her ship and clever crew on her own, but with the fate of queen and country at stake, Kit and Rian must learn to trust each other, or else the Isles will fall....

When the discovery of a mass grave in northern Maine reveals the grim truth behind the disappearance of a religious community, private detective Charlie Parker is drawn into a violent conflict with a group of zealots intent on tracking down a relic that could link them to the slaughter. Haunted by the ghost of a small boy and tormented by the demonic killer known as Mr. Pudd, Parker is forced to fight for his lover, his friends...and his very soul.

Hero or Killer?

In a startling future that's coming closer every year, Chet Kinsman is an astronaut ace who has done everything in space--including committying the first murder. It's a secret he can never escape, not even on the Moon, where he's head of the first U.S. lunar colony.

But suddenly, a series of shocking yet strangely inevitable circumstances forces Kinsman to confront his hidden past and decide Earth's destiny. In a desperate countdown to nuclear annihilation, Kinsman struggles against a deadly paradox: if he rescues the world, he may end up destroying himself.Hero or Killer?

In a startling future that's coming closer every year, Chet Kinsman is an astronaut ace who has done everything in space---including committing the first murder. It's a secret he can never escape, not even on the Moon, where he's head of the first U.S. lunar colony.

But suddenly, a series of shocking yet strangely inevitable circumstances forces Kinsman to confront his hidden past and decide Earth's destiny. In a desperate countdown to nuclear annihilation, Kinsman struggles against a deadly paradox: if he rescues the world, he may end up destroying himself.

Jack, a Walker, is in danger. He's learned a secret and earned an enemy. And Mage of Four, Mage of Luck, is a powerful enemy. He must flee the world of Lostwithal. He must flee to Kemolo, our world. The secret could mean the end of all worlds, not just his own.

When the fearsome Epicene threatens to realease the deadly Last Humans and destroy the universe, Jack, the King's Tramp, must catch the Mage of Four and prevent disaster.

The Epicene has been destroyed and its creator defeated. Snatched from the battlefield by the shadowy Gray Men, Jack, the King's Tramp, and his companions from Earth find themselves in a strange and treacherous labyrinth outside time. Here, in the Undermoment, the Gray Men have labored for millennia to tear down the fabrics separating the three human worlds and create a Utopia. However, there is an intruder among them who secretly plans to destroy the universe and everyone within it. When the awful truth is revealed, Jack finds his sword, his magic, and his knack for happy coincidences all useless, for in this final battle his nemesis is the Last Human: the Queen of Noise, whose every shriek brings chaos and death.

The Blood King is Book Two in The Chronicles of the Necromancer fantasy adventure series by Gail Z. Martin. It is the sequel to The Summoner, and picks up the action one day after The Summoner ends.

In The Blood King, sequel to The Summoner, Tris Drayke races against time to gain the skills he needs to challenge his half-brother Jared for the throne of Margolan and defeat the dark mage Arontala before the Obsidian King can be loosed from the abyss. Pursued by assassins and caught in a dangerous web of intrigue, Tris' greatest danger is his own magic. The fate of his kingdom, his lady and his soul hang in the balance. As Margolan plunges into darkness under the yoke of a tyrant, Tris leads an unlikely insurrection, knowing that if he fails, death will be the least of his worries...

Chung Kuo. For three thousand years, as the Great Wheel turned and a dozen mighty dynasties rose and fell, this was the name the Han- the Chinese- gave their land: Chung Kuo, the "Middle Kingdom".

Now, at the turn of the twenty-second century, it has come to mean much more. For more than a hundred years the Empire of the Han has encompassed all of the world, the Earth's bloated population of 36 billion contained in its vast, hive-like cities. War, famine and political instability are things of the past. The Council of Seven- Han lords, each more powerful than the greatest of the ancient Emperors- rule Chung Kuo with an absolute authority, their boast that they have ended Change and stopped the Great Wheel turning.

Yet at the moment of its supreme strength and confidence, Chung Kuo is suddenly vulnerable. A new generation of powerful young merchants begin to challenge the authority of the Seven, demanding Change. But Change means war and a return to the savageries of the past.

The Middle Kingdom is the first volume in an epic future history, breathtaking in its scope. Criss-crossed by human patterns of love and betrayal, heroism and treachery, intrigue and excitement, it is one of the most outstanding achievements of recent times.

The year is 2196. The great Empire of Ice, Chung Kuo, has finally been shaken after more than a century of peace enforced by brutal tyranny. The Minister of the Edict—an official responsible for licensing all technology that could lead to Change—has been assassinated. The seven ruling T'ang struggle to maintain Stasis, even as their mile-high, continent-spanning cities descend into chaos. Amid the chaos, the rebels responsible for the assassination seize the opportunity to effect Change. But the assassination was orchestrated by those far closer to the ruling power and this betrayal, the first of many, will lead them all into the world-shattering War of Two Directions.

Facing the gallows for defending his honor-by killing the captain of the guard-the mighty Conan jumps feet first into a rescue attempt of one of his fellow prisoners. When Conan learns his rescuers are the daring Rebels of the White Rose, he joins their blood-soaked insurrection.

But Conan's struggles are only beginning, for the road to the throne is defended by the Final Guard--indestructible warriors made of stone. Conan must draw steel against these indomitable foes and pray that Krom will guide his blade both strong and true.

Widely acclaimed for his work completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time saga, Brandon Sanderson now begins a grand cycle of his own, one every bit as ambitious and immersive.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

Queen Everleigh Blair of Bellona has survived the mass murder of the royal family, become a fearsome warrior trained by an elite gladiator troupe, and unleashed her ability to destroy magic. After surviving yet another assassination attempt orchestrated by the conniving king of Morta, Evie has had enough. It's time to turn the tables and take the fight to her enemies.

There is no better opportunity to strike than during the Regalia Games, a time when warriors, nobles, and royals from all the kingdoms come together to compete in various sporting events. With the help of her loyal friends, Evie goes on the attack at the Regalia, but things don't turn out the way she hopes. Soon, she is facing a terrifying new threat, and she will have to dig deep and learn even more about her growing magic if she has any chance of defeating her foes.

Because to secure her throne and ensure her kingdom's survival, Evie must think like a true Bellonan: she must outsmart and outwit her enemies... and crush the king.

Nahri's life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad--and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of a devastating battle, Nahri must forge a new path for herself. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she's been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her family--and one misstep will doom her tribe..

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid--the unpredictable water spirits--have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It's a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city's gates... and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.

An exciting fantasy adventure set in Marion Zimmer Bradley's popular world of Darkover

Court life for Prince Gareth Elhalyn, grandson of the legendary Regis Hastur, has become unbearable. In a desperate attempt to escape, Gareth appeals to his powerful grandmother, Linnea, and with her blessing, disguises himself and travels to the barbarous, warlike Dry Towns where no one will recognize a prince. In the Dry Towns, Gareth overhears rumors of deadly, illegal Terran blasters and stumbles upon a terrible reality no one could have suspected.

Meanwhile, Linnea has never ceased to search for her lost daughter, Kierestelli, whom she and Regis were forced to send into hiding with the native chieri. Almost by chance, Linnea reconnects along the telepathic relays with Kierestelli, now called Silvana of Nevarsin Tower. Silvana, convinced that her parents abandoned her, rejects her mother's overture and returns to her hidden home among the chieri. But the chieri once roamed the stars themselves, and they have no forgotten the terror of warfare in space--lessons that they pass on to Silvana.

Unknown to the ruling Comyn, danger now fills the skies above Darkover, and Silvana holds half the key to protecting their world. Gareth holds the other half, if he can only stay alive long enough to discover where that key is....

Star Kings are a race of non-humans who characteristically disguise themselves as humans -- but humans with a difference. Power alone is their goal -- a goal that is sought no matter the price in ordinary "human" life. Kerth Gerson was NOT a Star King, but he was looking for one -- a very specail Star King, a Star King who had murdered his parents many years before. All Gerson knew was that the Star King's name was Attel Malagate. Throughout endless galaxies of space, Gerson hunted down his Star King and finally found him....

It is God's year 54, many years before the Demon Wars, in the land of Corona. The roads are unsafe to travel; goblins and bloodthirsty Powries search out human prey. Two religions struggle fiercely for control. Bran Dynard, a monk of the fledgling religion of Abelle, returns from his mission in a far-off land with a book of mystical knowledge and a beautiful and mysterious new wife. But he soon realizes that the world he left behind has changed, and his dream of spreading the wisdom he learned to his fellow monks is crushed. Forced to hide his wife and his precious book, Bran must decide whom he can trust and where he should now place his faith.

Twenty years later, the situation has grown darker and more desperate. Only the Highwayman travels freely, his sword casting aside both Powries and soldiers. The people need a savior, but is the Highwayman on a mission of mercy... or vengeance?

Searching for his long-lost father, Bransen Garibond is tricked into journeying across the Gulf of Corona to the wild lands of Vanguard, where he is pressed into service in a desperate war against the brutal Samhaist, Ancient Badden.

On an Alpinadoran lake, just below Ancient Badden's magical ice castle, several societies, caught in the web of their own conflicts, are oblivious to Ancient Badden's devastating plans to destroy them.

Bransen becomes the link between the wars, and if he fails, all who live on the lake will perish, and all of northern Honce will fall under the shadow of the merciless and vengeful Samhaists.

The Ancient is part of the Saga of the First King, a four-book series that chronicles the early days of Corona, the same world as Salvatore's bestselling DemonWars saga.

The vast road network of Honce, completed a decade before, had brought great optimism to the people of the land. Commerce could travel more freely and so could armies, and those armies, it was hoped, would rid the land at long last of the vicious, bloody cap dwarfs and goblins. For the first time, the many individual kingdoms, the holdings of Honce, would be brought closer together, perhaps even united. For the last few years, those promises had become a nightmare to the folk, as two powerful lairds fought for supremacy of a hoped-for united kingdom.

Bransen Garibond, the Highwayman, held little real interest in that fight. To him the warring lairds were two sides of the same coin. Whichever side won, the outcome for the people of Honce would be the same, Bransen believed. A journey north, however, taught Bransen that his views were simplistic at best, and that some things--like honor and true friendship-- might truly matter.

In The Dame, Bransen's road becomes a quest for the truth, of Honce and of himself, a quest to put right over wrong. That path is fraught with confusion and fraud, and a purposeful blurring of morality by those who would seek to use the Highwayman's extraordinary battle skills and popularity among the commonfolk for their own nefarious ends.

The war of Honce drags on, and the roads and seas are littered with bodies. To everyone's stunned disbelief, Yeslnik the Fool has tipped the war's scales in his favor. The reign of the newly self-appointed King Yeslnik is already distinguished as the most bloody and merciless in Honce history.

Trapped, Dame Gwydre and Father Artolivan concoct a desperate plot to join forces with Laird Ethelbert, the lesser of two vicious evils. But Ethelbert's paid assassins slew Jameston Sequin and nearly did the same to Bransen.

Embittered by it all, Bransen seeks to extricate himself from the selfish goals of all of combatants. But in an odd twist of fate and crossed loyalties, Bransen sees in his old nemesis, Bannagran--the Bear of Honce and the man who slew his adoptive father - a darker image of his own heart. Allies and battle lines become tangled, motives indistinguishable as old friends become enemies and old enemies become allies.

A new novel of high fantasy and adventure featuring martial arts masters Dhulyn and Parno.

Fulfilling their Mercenary contract, Dhulyn and Parno have accepted the surrender of Prince Edmir, heir to the Tegriani Realm. The Common Rule of the Mercenary Brothers states that prisoners taken by them go free and unharmed. But when the War Commander who hired them refuses to honor this agreement, the duo break their contract and escape with the prince. And thus they take the first step along a path that might lead Dhulyn to the truth about her past?or bring them to a magical trap from which there may be no escape

Mark Chaos was a long way from home. He had spent many years fighting in the Beast war, which had begun as an affair to honor but ended in a bloodbath for all the Humans of the House of Stars. Yet Beasts and Humans were exactly alike - except that ten thousand years before the Beasts had originated from zoological gene banks under the deft hands of the construct surgeons.

The war was a terrible thing, even more terrible because its leaders never knew they were being tricked and guided by one man - a man who came from a universe which no longer existed. He was Heljanita the Toymaker, who spun a crooked wheel that distorted minds and dimensions.

And Heljanita was particularly interested in Mark Chaos.

The tale of a skeletal sharpshooter who used a strange squeaking weapon was told around backwoods campfires. To most it was just a legend, but for some it became a terrifying reality -- especially those whose skulls were shattered by the deadly "disappearing bullets." Doc Savage dodges flying death as he tracks the spectral killer who defies every law of nature!

Lester Dent authored this novel under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

In the Kingdom of Calbia, the most far-flung plot of the century is already under way. The Man of Bronze and his daring companions join the revolutionary forces of Conte Cozonac but soon find themselves the intended victims of the most fearsome weapons the world has ever seen!

Harold A. Davis authored this novel under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

The Talking Devil

Doc Savage is the target of a new, malevolent foe -- the spirit of the King of Evil, who utters murderous commands through an ancient Chinese Devil Doll. Is Doc cursed? Or has a maniacal criminal genius discovered the ultimate key to Doc's destruction? To survive, the Man of Bronze plunges into a terrifying struggle that can end only one way -- death!

This is # 113 in the Doc Savage Novels series.

More information about The Talking Devil available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

The Ten Ton Snakes

A war hero running for his life and a mysteriously heavy cargo of exotic snake skins send Doc and his crew racing into the steaming jungles of Brazil. There, the Man of Bronze unearths a bizarre secret buried for centuries -- and battles a sinister force that marks him for instant execution!

This is # 114 in the Doc Savage Novels series.

More information about The Ten Ton Snakes available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

Lester Dent authored both novels under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

Pirate Isle

A murderous madman is holding a South Sea atoll in terror. His aim? Nothing less than pirating the secret of turning sea water into gold. His obsession? Set a deadly trap -- then obliterate the Man of Bronze and his bold crew!

This is # 115 in the Doc Savage Novels series.

More information about Pirate Isle available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

The Speaking Stone

To unlock the secret of a mysterious talking stone, Doc travels to an ancient utopia high in the mountains. A vicious army of vipers are hot on his heels, racing him to the city in the clouds. To get the secret, Doc's awesome talents are soon tested when he must protect the lives of his crew -- and the lives of everyone in the city!

This is # 116 in the Doc Savage Novels series.

More information about The Speaking Stone available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

Lester Dent authored both novels under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

The Laugh of Death

Doc's trusty crew suddenly disappears. The only clue is an unearthly laughter that arises from nowhere and destroys the will. Doc, alone, must save his sidekicks before they die -- but when the laughter attacks him, the Man of Bronze becomes the helpless puppet of evil!

This is # 119 in the Doc Savage Novels series.

More information about The Laugh of Death available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

The King of Terror

A ruthless madman is plotting to rule the world. His ingenious plan involves an enigmatic woman, a psychotic surgeon, and a strange and powerful fog that muddles men's minds. First, they have to kill Doc Savage. And Doc's vengeance begins only after he is dead!

This is # 120 in the Doc Savage Novels series.

More information about The King of Terror available at the Hidalgo Trading Company website.

Lester Dent authored both novels under pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.

The Chelsea Flower Show - hardly the most exciting or dangerous event in the calendar, or so the Doctor thinks. But this is Chelsea 426, a city-sized future colony floating on the clouds of Saturn, and the flowers are much more than they seem.

As the Doctor investigates, he becomes more and more worried. Why is shopkeeper Mr Pemberton acting so strangely? And what is Professor Wilberforce's terrible secret?

They are close to finding the answers when a familiar foe arrives, and the stakes suddenly get much higher. The Sontarans have plans of their own, and they're not here to arrange flowers...

'They called it Enamour. It turned minds, sold merchandise, and swayed elections. And it did its job far too well...'

In the city-state of Geath, the King lives in a golden hall, and the people want for nothing. Everyone is happy and everyone is rich. Or so it seems. When the Doctor, Amy and Rory look beneath the surface, they discover a city of secrets. In dark corners, strange creatures are stirring. At the heart of the hall, a great metal dragon oozes gold.

Then the Herald appears, demanding the return of her treasure... And next come the gunships. The battle for possession of the treasure has begun, and only the Doctor and his friends can save the people of the city from being destroyed in the crossfire of an ancient civil war. But will the King surrender his new-found wealth? Or will he fight to keep it...?

A BBC Books adventure book based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor.

In the tenth age of the star kings of II Galaxy... in that far off day of a far off future when mankind has spread beyond the Home Cluster, there was a man called Dragonard. Dragonard the Beast some called this fallen warrior of the immortal Lords of the Exchange who ruled and owned a million worlds. But Dragonard the Last Hope thought others when the terrible rumor spread that the star kings were finally dying. Dragonard did not know what to believe until he found himself torn from his prison, turned loose on a strange planet as a human weapon to be plunged into the heart of a cosmic mystery. But whose weapon was he? And what was his real mission? And above all how could he free himself to act for the real good of the people?

Treason within, war from without.

Torn asunder by the nightmares of a mad king, the elven realm of Silvanesti has nearly been restored to its former grandeur. But the elf Porthios, returning to his homeland, launches a rebellion against young Gilthas, his own nephew.

Gilthas's troubles are multiplied by threats from green dragons and from the Knights of Takhisis. Now, with Porthios at his throat, Gilthas must choose between blood and honor.

Douglas Nile's new Dragonlance novel is filled with treachery and intrigue among the elves during the Chaos War, the backdrop for The New York Times best-selling novel; Dragons of Summer Flame.

First launched over a decade ago, the Preludes series has continued to prove popular with Dragonlance fans. This digital release of Flint the King showcases a new look that is also reflected in the other recovers of this series. The title features cover art from lead Dragonlance saga artist Matt Stawicki.

Before the War of the Lance

The peaceful life of Flint Fireforge is disturbed when he is forced to leave Solace and return to his dwarven homeland to investigate his brother's murder. As he delves into the mystery, unexpected allies and unseen enemies join the fight of truth against treachery.

Flint soon discovers that to bring his brother's killer to justice, he must either die or become king. He's not sure which choice might be worse.

Kith-Kanan commits the ultimate heresy by falling in love with a human. But his twin brother, Sithas--the firstborn ruler of all Silvanesti elves--declares war on the humans, and Kith-Kanan must fight in the terrible Kinslayer Wars. Novels published in the 1990 Dragonlance Preludes Trilogy have already sold more than 500,000 copies. Black-and-white illustrations.

The first book in the historical Kingpriest trilogy, which chronicles the origins and development of a noted figure from the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, linking this new series to one of the most popular trilogies in the entire Dragonlance saga.

The Kingpriests have reigned for centuries in the name of Paladine, the supreme god of good. But danger lurks in the empire's heart. The Kingpriest has foreseen his own death, and dark forces converge on the Temple, vying to control the throne.

Following a prophetic dream, a high priestess of Paladine sets forth in search of a worker of miracles, one who can lead the way to the triumph of light over darkness: the Lightbringer, the true chosen of the gods.

Sorcery: A Threat to the Glory of Istar.

Twenty years have passed since Beldinas the Kingpriest assumed the throne. His is a realm of unsurpassed grandeur and wealth, a testament to the mightiest age of the empire of Istar.

But evil exists in this great realm, threatening the peace and sanctity of the province. Beldinas must turn to his most loyal lieutenant, Cathan, for help. Following Cathan's lead, the Knights of the Divine Hammer strive to extinguish a foul sorcery that will stop at nothing to serve its own dark ends.

The final title in the historical Kingpriest trilogy. This titles completes the exploration of a key part of Dragonlance history. The era explored in this novel, although referred to frequently throughout many Dragonlance novels, is being finely detailed for the first time. In addition, this title features popular characters that appear throughout the Dragonlance Legends trilogy.

The second title in an all-new Dragonlance series for young readers!

The Dying Kingdom continues a new series of Dragonlance adventures written specifically for readers ages 10 and up. Sized to fit the young reader market, the series features a new band of young companions who band together for friendship and excitement during the golden age of the Dragonlance world. Author Tim Waggoner has written frequently for young readers, and his novels and short stories have been nominated for numerous writing awards.

A climactic battle of magic and steel from the New York Times best-selling author of The Legend of Huma!

The Titans have gained the Fire Rose and seized the ogre realms from the Grand Khan Golgren. With the powerful artifact created by the god, Sirrion, they have literally recreated the capital, Garantha, and they intend to remold the people next. Although the Titans believe Golgren is dead, the half-breed survives. With few he can trust and facing magic, treachery, and distrustful gods, Golgren must find the answer in his own past if he has any hope of overcoming the Titans and the powers of the Fire Rose. In doing so, however, he risks becoming a pawn of the gargoyle king.

Once the mighty fortress had stood strong, defended by the mightiest of all Drenai heroes, Druss, the Legend. But now a tyrannical, mad emperor had seized control of the fortress, and his twisted will was carried throughout the land by the Joinings --- abominations that were half-man, half-beast. Tenaka Khan was a half-breed himself, hated by the Drenai for his Nadir blood and despised by the Nadir for his Drenai ancestry. But he alone had a plan to destroy the emperor. The last heroes of the Drenai joined with him in a desperate gamble to bring down the emperor -- even at the cost of their own destruction.

Science fiction emerged in Russia considerably earlier than its English version and instantly became the hallmark of Russian modernity. We Modern People investigates why science fiction appeared here, on the margins of Europe, before the genre had even been named, and what it meant for people who lived under conditions that Leon Trotsky famously described as "combined and uneven development."

Russian science fiction was embraced not only in literary circles and popular culture, but also by scientists, engineers, philosophers, and political visionaries. Anindita Banerjee explores the handful of well-known early practitioners, such as Briusov, Bogdanov, and Zamyatin, within a much larger continuum of new archival material comprised of journalism, scientific papers, popular science texts, advertisements, and independent manifestos on social transformation.

In documenting the unusual relationship between Russian science fiction and Russian modernity, this book offers a new critical perspective on the relationship between science, technology, the fictional imagination, and the consciousness of being modern.

Contents:

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Science Fiction and the Making of Russian Modernity
• CONQUERING SPACE
• TRANSCENDING TIME
• GENERATING POWER
• CREATING THE HUMAN AFTERWOR(L)D
• RUSSIAN SCIENCE FICTION AND THE UN-MAKING OF MODERNITY
• Chronology
• Notes
• Further Reading
• Index

The fields at Chickamauga, Georgia--America's oldest national military park--claimed 35,000 casualties during the Civil War. Any good guide will tell you that the grounds are haunted. The battlefield even has its own resident haunt, called Old Green Eyes for his tell-tale luminous gaze. It has long been said that Old Green Eyes intends no harm to those who respect the park. He is no menace, but a guardian of the dead. While he walks, the dead may sleep secure in the knowledge that their rest will be undisturbed. While Old Green Eyes patrols the battlefield, there is nothing to fear, for graves are not robbed and bones are not moved.

But suddenly a different phenomenon starts puzzling and frightening visitors, causing tours to be canceled and rangers to quit their jobs. These new ghosts are no illusions carved out of the low-rolling fog. One by one, the solemn-faced spirits in ragged uniforms show themselves, and one by one, they point a determined arm off into the distance. Why do the soldiers march again, and what has become of their unblinking custodian? The spirits need a go-between, someone who can speak to them, and for them.

Eden Moore is not interested.

But the ghosts aren't taking no for an answer.

Twelve million years ago, a war touched the Earth briefly. Now, in Antarctica, an archaeological team has discovered the detritus of the conflict. And it's alive.

Twelve million years ago, a creature evolved that was capable of consuming all life in the universe. Now someone, or something, is desperate enough to want to revive it.

Outside the ordered universe, things move. They're hungry. And something has given them the scent of our space/time.

In the far future, the Doctor has learnt of the war and feels he must intervene -- but it's more than just a local conflict of interest. One of the groups of combatants is from his own future, and the other has never, ever, existed.

Conor mac Ardan is now clan chief of the Darini.

Tara's Hill has become a haven and refuge for all those who were made homeless by the barbarian Scálda.

A large fleet of the Scálda's Black Ships has now arrived and Conor joins Eirlandia's lords to defeat the monsters. He finds treachery in their midst...and a betrayal that is blood deep.

And so begins a final battle to win the soul of a nation.

In this compelling and thought-provoking fantasy set in the world of The Two Princesses of Bamarre, Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine introduces a spirited heroine who must overcome deeply rooted prejudice--including her own--to heal her broken country.

Peregrine strives to live up to the ideal of her people, the Latki--and to impress her parents: affectionate Lord Tove, who despises only the Bamarre, and stern Lady Klausine. Perry runs the fastest, speaks her mind, and doesn't give much thought to the castle's Bamarre servants, whom she knows to be weak and cowardly.

But just as she's about to join her father on the front lines, she is visited by the fairy Halina, who reveals that Perry isn't Latki-born. She is Bamarre. The fairy issues a daunting challenge: against the Lakti power, Perry must free her people from tyranny.

With The Sword of the Lady, Rudi Mackenzie's destiny was determined. Now he returns to Montival in the Pacific Northwest, where he will face the legions of the Prophet. To achieve victory, Rudi must assemble a coalition of those who had been his enemies a few months before and forge them into an army that will rescue his homeland.

Only then will Rudi be able to come to terms with how the Sword has changed him, as well as the world, and assume his place as Artos, High King of Montival...

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?

For a long, brutal century, the Kingdom of Lower Egypt has been occupied by the "Vile Asiatics," the conquerors called the Shepherd Kings. With their horses and chariots they overwhelmed the armies of Egypt and swept over the Delta and the sacred cities.

Iry, daughter of an old noble house, the Sun Ascendant, has been enslaved by the bearded conquerors. But her new master is born of a different blood, son of the priestess of an ancient rite, the cult of the Horse Goddess and her avatar, the White Mare. The Mare's priestess-servant is dead--and the Mare chooses Iry, the child of a land without horses, to be her successor.

Meanwhile, in the wider world, the Pharaoh of Upper Egypt is arming to take back the lost kingdom. He forms such an alliance as his ancient land has never seen before, with the seafarers of Crete and the White Mare's servant, and rides to war against the Shepherd Kings.

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn't... then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.

In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks--refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister's offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister's son--cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful--and the way forward becomes less clear.

Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he's willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to The New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon of 2009--The Magicians.

The Magicians was praised as a triumph by readers and critics of both mainstream and fantasy literature. Now Grossman takes us back to Fillory, where the Brakebills graduates have fled the sorrows of the mundane world, only to face terrifying new challenges.

Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.

The Magician King is a grand voyage into the dark, glittering heart of magic, an epic quest for the Harry Potter generation. It also introduces a powerful new voice, that of Julia, whose angry genius is thrilling. Once again Grossman proves that he is the modern heir to C.S. Lewis, and the cutting edge of literary fantasy.

The third book in Rae Carson's award-winning The Girl of Fire and Thorns fantasy trilogy. Elisa, the seventeen-year-old sorcerer-queen, will travel into an unknown enemy's realm to win back her true love, save her kingdom, and uncover the final secrets of her destiny. Veronica Roth called The Girl of Fire and Thorns "intense, unique... definitely recommended."

Perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and George R. R. Martin's style of sweeping and deeply satisfying epic fantasy, the third and final book in the trilogy takes the young queen on a journey more dangerous than any she has faced before. Elisa will stand before the gate of the enemy. And she must rise up as champion--even to those who have hated her--or her kingdom will fall. Full of sorcery, adventure, sizzling romance, and secrets that challenge everything she believes, this is a bold and powerful conclusion to an extraordinary trilogy.

The distant Forest Province had been torn apart by corruption and rebellion. On the direct orders of her king, Tevra, Colonel of the Light Cavalry, arrives in this strange land with instructions to restore order - at swordpoint, if need be.

Yet no steel blade can hold sway in a realm where shapes of death can be fashioned from the still of the air. And even the most ungodly works of the sorcerers pale before the mysterious powers of the Forest King himself - but is he Tevra's ally, or her deadliest foe?

In the chaotic aftermath of the Sundering, the orcs of Many-Arrows reignite their bloody feud with Bruenor Battlehammer

Having escaped Gauntlgrym, the Companions of the Hall are united in body and spirt--but not in ideals. As the Darkening casts its shadows upon the northern cities of the Shining White, portending war, the past rears its angry head. Old debts insist on payment and old wrongs demand to be set right. The bloody dwarf-orc feud reignites with disastrous consequences.

When drow Quenthel Baenre urges the orcs into war, a new and bloodthirsty king takes the throne of Many-Arrows. The savage orc hordes gather under his command, bringing an end to the decades of peace in the North. Dwarf steel meets ancient enemies, painting the Spine of the World in red.

In the middle of this chaos, the Companions march onwards--to rescue Pwent from his vampiric curse and to reclaim Bruenor's throne; to combat the treachery of the black-souled drow and to defeat the orcs. As the world repeats a deadly cycle of violence and hate, Drizzt Do'Urden is forced into a fight for his life, his loved ones, and his very soul.

In ancient days, sorcerers sought to learn the One True Spell that would give them power over all the world and understanding of all magic....

The One True Spell was a woman, and her name was Mystra -- and her kisses were wonderful.

Priest Havilon Tharnstar

Tales Told to a Blind Wizard

It is the time before Myth Drannor, when the Heartlands are home to barbarians, and wicked dragons rule the skies. In these ancient days, Elminster is but a shepherd boy, dreaming of adventure and heroics. When a dragon-riding magelord sweeps down upon him, though, the boy is thrust into a world of harsh realities, corrupt rulers, and evil sorcerers.

With patience and grit, Elminster sets about to change all that. The result of his labors is a world reborn and a mage made.

Traveling far beyond the shores of her island kingdom, a high princess battles the vicious undersea race that is holding her father prisoner, a battle that climaxes in the dark depths of the Sea of Moonshae.

Drizzt is back, and facing a world changed forever!

An uneasy peace between the dwarves of Mithral Hall and the orcs of the newly established Kingdom of Many-Arrows can't last long. The orc tribes united under Obould begin to fight each other, and Bruenor is determined to finish the war that nearly killed him and almost destroyed everything he's worked to build. But it will take more than swords and axes to bring a lasting peace to the Spine of the World. Powerful individuals on both sides may have to change the way they see each other. They may have to start to talk. And it won't be easy.

Drizzt returns to Luskan, and the Realms will never be the same!

The Arcane Brotherhood has long held the city of Luskan in their power, but when corruption eats away at their ranks, Captain Deudermont comes to the rescue of a city that has become a safe haven for the Sword Coast's most dangerous pirates. But rescuing a city from itself may not be as easy as Deudermont thinks, and when Drizzt can't talk him out of it, he'll be forced to help.

When the Spellplague ravages Faerûn, Drizzt and his companions are caught in the chaos. Seeking out the help of the priest Cadderly–the hero of the recently reissued series The Cleric Quintet–Drizzt finds himself facing his most powerful and elusive foe, the twisted Crenshinibon, the demonic crystal shard he believed had been destroyed years ago.

The book was hidden well.

It's pages promised the power of the Witch-King himself.

And now that it's been found, even the fact that it kills anyone foolish enough to crack its cover won't stop people from fighting over it.

Welcome to the Bloodstone Lands!

Human assassin Artemis Entreri and his dark elf companion Jarlaxle have come to the demon-haunted wastelands of the frozen north at the request of their dragon patron. It doesn't take long for them to find themselves caught in the middle of a struggle between powerful forces that would like nothing more than to see them both dead... or worse.

But Entreri and Jarlaxle aren't just any wandering sellswords, and the ancient evils and bitter blood-feuds of the wild Bloodstone Lands may have finally met their match.

Time is running out for crown princess Gemma Ripley. Despite being a cunning spy and a powerful mind magier, Gemma hasn't been able to track down the most dangerous enemy her kingdom of Andvari has ever seen. Adding to her worries is the Sword and Shield tournament. With gladiators flocking to the capital city of Glanzen, Gemma can't tell who is friend--or foe.

Determined to protect Andvari at any cost, Gemma hatches a bold plan, but things aren't what they seem. Soon, everything she holds dear is being threatened, including her burgeoning relationship with Prince Leonidas Morricone.

With the kingdom she holds dear slipping through her fingers, Gemma will have to conquer her fear and unlock the true secret of her magic--or watch her friends and family die and her beloved Andvari fall...

This novelette first appeared in serialized form in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #1, October 9, 2008, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies #2, October 23, 2008.

Read this story for free at Beneath Ceaseless Skies (Part 1 - Part 2).

Gilgamesh's appetite for wine, women, and warfare is insatiable. As the King of Uruk, he oppresses his people and burdens his city. To temper his excesses, the gods create Enkidu, Gilgamesh's equal, who becomes his greatest friend. Together they wander the kingdom as brothers, conquering demons until a cruel twist changes Gilgamesh's path forever. Two parts god and one part man, Gilgamesh is mortal—a fate he now resolves to overcome, no matter what the price. And so he embarks on another journey, in pursuit of vengeance and the ultimate prize for a mortal king: eternal life.

The King of Ethrea is dying. His only surviving heir is the Princess Rhian. But if her enemies have their way, Ethrea will not be ruled by a woman.

Dexterity Jones is a toymaker. To protect Princess Rhian and his country, he must place his trust in an exile from Mijak. Yet, as Ethrea comes ever closer to civil war, a greater danger awaits.

Across the sea, an Empress has already slaughtered millions in the name of her god. And the war will not end -until the world kneels before her.

A thousand years ago the armies of the Arcosian Empire, led by Mornhavon the Black, crossed the great sea and tried to conquer the land of Sacoridia ?and during Karigan G?ladheon?s early years as a Green Rider, Mornhavon?s spirit, sensing weakness in his prison walls and seeking vengeance, began to wake. With the ghostly help of the First Rider, Karigan had managed to drive off the spirit of Mornhavon?but for how long, no one could know. And now, the descendants of those Arcosians are ready to strike, reaching out to claim the land their forebears had tried to conquer. Worse, these vengeful enemies had spent generations honing their powers of dark magic?a force against which the Sacoridians had no defense?.

Inch by inch, day by day, Scott Carey is getting smaller. Once an unremarkable husband and father, Scott finds himself shrinking with no end in sight. His wife and family turn into unreachable giants, the family cat becomes a predatory menace, and Scott must struggle to survive in a world that seems to be growing ever larger and more perilous--until he faces the ultimate limits of fear and existence.

Subsequently re-published as The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Mathias Eynon's dreams were small. A dabbler in magic, he expected to live in obscurity in his home in the Welsh hills, not drawing attention to himself. But fate has other plans for him. It is the Year of Our Lord Fifteen Ninety, and a revolution is quietly brewing, here and further abroad. Richard V has overstayed his rule, some say; others whisper that the whole line of Demon Kings must be burned out.

Mathias – son of a man executed for the practice of magic – is set to become a symbol, and a leader. And to do that, he needs champions. A wise woman sends him to the corners of the known world – to the frozen lands of the north, to the pirate-haunted ports of Spain, to the mountains of the German Empire, to the burning sands of the Holy Land – to bring back masters of the four magic arts. With Richard's Witch Hunters on his heels, he sets out to gather his allies.

She danced to the music of magic, danger, and love … Glennys had come to the dazzling city of St. Lucien to seek her fortune. No longer under the protection of Baron Fulk, unable to return to her strict Alaminite folk, she soon found work as a Horse Skiller with the Queen's Opera. But her Heart's true desire is to appear with the Opera … performing onstage in the intricate and demanding horse-dance. And Glynnys has the gift that could make her the greatest of all dancers. But to reveal her gift is to expose her true identity, for only one of the noble blood has the power. And amid the courtly intrigues of St. Lucien, to claim her birthright could put Glennys is gravest peril …

The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man; Relating Particularly his Shipwreck near the South Pole; his wonderful Passage thro' a subterraneous Cavern into a kind of new World; his there meeting with a Gawry or flying woman, whose Life he preserv'd, and afterwards married her; his extraordinary Conveyance to the Country of Glums and Gawrys, or Men and Women that fly. Likewise a Description of this strange Country, with the Laws, Customs, and Manners of its Inhabitants, and the Author's remarkable Transactions among them.

The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins is somewhat on the same plan as Robinson Crusoe, the special feature being the gawry, or flying woman, whom the hero discovered on his island, and married.

Public Service x 1,500 Years + Pecora's Magic = Minister of Agriculture

A DEVIL'S WORK IS NEVER DONE!

Beelzebub is a demon of many roles--minister of agriculture, Azusa's "big sister and the demon king's closest confidant." Before her illustrious rise to power, though, she was just a low-ranking pencil pusher in the government with no ambitions, no dreams, and no adventure in her life. Then, on a whim of the newly coronated demon king, she received the biggest and most terrifying promotion imaginable! How will Beelzebub handle the sudden responsibilities of the entire Ministry of Agriculture?!

Originally published as short stories in the hugely popular I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, the spin-off is back with brand-new illustrations and additional tales from the demon lands!

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push the earth and the otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve daily mysteries in New Fiddleham, New England--like who's created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why the undead are appearing around town.

At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby's resistance to his feelings for the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, Jenny Cavanaugh, begins to give way. But before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.

Professor Amelia Harsh is obsessed with finding the lost civilization of Camlantis, a legendary city from pre-history that is said to have conquered hunger, war, and disease with the creation of the perfect pacifist society. Without official funding, Amelia is forced to accept an offer of patronage from Abraham Quest, the man she blames for her father's bankruptcy and suicide. She hates him, but he has something that Amelia desperately wants--evidence that proves that Camlantis existed and that the Camlantean ruins are buried under one of the sea-like lakes that dot the murderous jungles of Liongeli.

Amelia will blackmail her old friend Commodore Black into ferrying her along a huge river on his ancient U-boat. With an untrusty crew of freed convicts, Quest's force of fearsome female mercenaries on board, and a lunatic steamman acting as their guide, Amelia's luck seems to be going from bad to worse. Her quest for the perfect society has a good chance of bringing her own world to the brink of destruction...

The Kingdom Beyond The Waves is Stephen Hunt's third novel, set in the same universe as The Court of the Air. Amelia Harsh is a female Indiana Jones if there ever was one, and this novel is a rollicking steampunk adventure that will hook readers for one dynamite ride.

The war of demons against mortals begins! Lovely Kesira, cloistered and naive in the ways of the world, is thrust into violence, forced on a sacred quest to avenge her patron, Gelya. Her magical talking bird companion Zoltan is, at times, more of a hindrance than a help. Following her is the shape-changer Molimo as they enter the lair of the loathsome Jade Demons. Kesira's weapons are few, but her resolve is great. Her destiny, that of her companions--and the world--depend on her faith never flagging.

So begins a war of magic and wonder.

Jak Jinnaka parlayed his powerful family connections, unearned media fame, and consistent dumb luck into a cushy job as vice procurator of the Martian moon Deimos, an office he precariously maintains alongside his top-secret post as a station chief for Hive Intelligence—two soft jobs for an already rich, handsome, single young man in a fun-loving colonial outpost.

Sadly, when his boss takes a well-deserved vacation, it looks like Jak may actually have to do a little work—keep local trade humming, maintain the Hive's hegemony, prevent the boss's pretty teenage niece's internship from becoming front-page celebrity gossip, and make sure his rambunctious visiting uncle Sib doesn't cause international incidents among the thousands of prickly petty kingdoms on Mars.

Then, in one of the pettiest kingdoms of all, the lifelog of the man who wrote the Wager—a set of principles that guides all human life in the thirty-sixth century—is discovered, and the race is on for control of the holiest relic in a thousand years, with Jak in the lead and all of the devils and angels of his past howling at his heels.

When James Asher and his wife Lydia's baby daughter Miranda is kidnapped by the Master Vampire of London, the stakes are high: blindly follow the Master Vampire's instructions, keep out of the way of the human networks that serves the vampires, destroy the interloper who seeks to seize control of the London Nest, and find the key to the Nest's tortuous inner workings: The Book of the Kindred of Darkness.

Even with the vampire Don Simon Ysidro on their side, there's no guarantee that anything - or anyone - is who or what they appear to be. Nor is there any certainty that they'll see their child again - or survive the experience themselves.

Saturday, 0911 hours - A blast rocks a London hospital and thousands are dead or injured.

1009 hours - Joe Ledger arrives on the scene to investigate. The horror is unlike anything he has ever seen.

Compelled by grief and rage, Ledger rejoins the Department of Military Sciences, and within hours he's attacked by a hit team of assassins and sent on a suicide mission into a viral hot zone during an Ebola outbreak.

Soon Ledger and the DMS begin tearing down the veils of deception to uncover a vast and powerful secret society using weaponized versions of the Ten Plagues of Eygpt to destabilize world economies and profit from the resulting chaos. Millions will die unless Ledger meets this powerful new enemy on its own terms as he fights terror with terror.

ACROSS THE LETHAL NATIONS

Etjole Ehomba has led his companions through jungle, veldt, and desert. Now to reach the fabled port of Hamacassar, the simple herdsman must trek through deadly "civilized" lands where flowers wage war, dogs herd lightning, demons govern darkness, and Time itself can be held captive.

In this new world, the tribesman must rely upon his friends, wondrous weapons, and the magic of memories so potent they can raise the dead or bring the sea to dry land. But no matter where he goes, evey seer and sage Ehomba meets offers the same prophecy: his quest will end in failure... and death.

A DAZZLING NOVEL OF FANTASTIC FUTURE WORLDS BY THE WINNER OF THE ATLANTIC LITEARY AWARD

The bitter refugees from the conquered and looted planets of Earth's early explorations were ripe for revolution. With the homicidal Cannus Mond as their leader, the nonviolent telepaths were ear-marked for distinction.

Claus Coman, Earth's most gifted telepath, must supress the rebellion, but without bloodshed. He must use his unperfected technique for exploring men's minds, though its powers could destroy them all...

Part One: The Book of King Arthur:

The Winning of Kinghood

The book begins by telling how young Arthur pulled a sword out of an anvil, how he learned of his royal lineage, and how he thus became king.

The Winning of a Sword

King Arthur loses to his enemy, King Pellinore. Merlin advises Arthur to seek Excalibur. The Lady of the Lake instructs Arthur on how to earn the sword, and, following her instructions, he takes Excalibur. He then meets Pellinore again, and with Excalibur's magic, he wins against him. The two thereafter make amends and become friends.

The Winning of a Queen

King Arthur is captivated by the Lady Guinevere. The notorious Duke of North Umber also wishes to marry her. The Duke torments the people of Cameliard by parading in front of the castle, calling for someone to challenge him and his men. Arthur accepts the challenge, gathers his Knights, and defeats the Duke and his companions. After the battle, Arthur reveals himself to King Leodegrance, and asks for the hand of his daughter.

Part Two: The Book of Three Worthies

The Story of Merlin

The Story of Sir Pellias

The Story of Sir Gawaine

As unwanted and rebellious boys, they find refuge in Ironhall.... Years later they emerge as the finest swordsmen in the realm--A magical ritual of a sword through the heart binds each to his ward--if not the king himself, then to whomever else the monarch designates--with absolute loyalty.And the greatest Blade of them all was--and is--Sir Durendal.

But a lifelong dream of protecting his beloved liege from enemies, traitors, and monsters is dashed to bits when Durendal is bonded till death to an effete noble fop at his king's orders. Yet Destiny has many strange and inscrutable plans for the young knight--for a mission, a contest, and, perhaps, a treasure await him in a faraway land. But he soon finds himself enmeshed in treason and foul intrigues, compelled to betray the king he had hoped to serve. The Blades have ways to protect their own, but death and madness haunt the path to salvation--and few ever return unscathed. As unwanted and rebellious boys, they find refuge in Ironhall.... Years later they emerge as the finest swordsmen in the realm--A magical ritual of a sword through the heart binds each to his ward--if not the king himself, then to whomever else the monarch designates--with absolute loyalty. And the greatest Blade of them all was--and is--Sir Durendal.

But a lifelong dream of protcting his beloved liege from enemies, traitors, and monsters is dashed to bits when Durendal is bonded till death to an effete noble fop at his king's orders. Yet Destiny has many strange and inscrutable plans for the young knight--for a mission, a contest, and, perhaps, a treasure await him in a faraway land. But he soon finds himself enmeshed in treasonand foul intrigues, compelled to betray the king he had hoped to serve. The Blades have ways to protect their own, but death and madness haunt the path to salvation--and few ever return unscathed.

Raider and Wasp have spent five years at Ironhall studying to become Blades, expert swordsmen whose talents stand unmatched. Magic both enhances the Blades' fighting skills and binds them in lifelong duty. But, when Raider and Wasp are selected to protect the king of Chivial himself, they refuse, an act unprecedented in the living history of the Blades. Now on the run for their "treasonous" act, the two gifted swordsmen must escape to the Fire Lands, where pirates, monsters, and mixed allegiances wait around every corner. As old hatreds and still-fresh tragedies come to light, these young swashbucklers must confront both harsh truths from the past and a present swarming with their would-be brothers at arms seeking vengeance and intending punishment.

The mightiest swordsmen in the relm, are bound by magic to defend their noble wards... to the death.

The King's Blades

The unloved child of the unscrupulous King Ambrose,Princess Malinda learned at an early age to fight for what was rightfully hers. Now, with the Kings abrupt death, civil war has become her grim destiny. Making her uncertain way through the blood labyrinth of schemesand betrayals, Malinda can trust none but the Blades of the Royal Guard. But the Blades themselves are in grave peril. And the young Queen faces the most crucialdecision of her life: a choice that will either redeem her kingdom from chaos... or bring ultimate destruction down upon it, her Blades, and herself.

Sir Rhys, Sir Sharp, and Sir Trusty may be three of the world's greatest swordsmen, but that hasn't saved them from being let go from their positions as Royal Guards. All three are still young , and without a job or pension, they need to find some way of making money.

Rhys's father, Sir Spender, is a great Blade hero listed in the Litany. He is also without a job and may have a solution for their predicament. A great treasure was lost more than thirty years ago, and Spender thinks he knows its location and suggests they find it.

Of course, Spender is not the only one to remember the lost treasure. King Ambrose claims it as his own--and is ready to use all the manpower at his disposal to get his hands on it first...

Niall's father raised him to be a man of his word, and Niall has tried to live that way throughout his life, even during his training to become a Blade.

But things have changed. King Ambrose has died. His daughter, Malinda, is now queen and behaving suspiciously. When she makes Niall Prime of the Blades, he is asked to swear an oath to protect her - and then is made a spy.

Now Niall faces a mission that challenges everything he believes and must place his life on the line for a leader he's not certain he can trust...

Before They Could be BladesThey Were the King's Daggers...

Young Stalwart, known as Wart to his fellow students, is expelled from the academy for King's Blades, only to be plunged into a current of breathless intrigue and danger. Together with Emerald, a former White Sister, Wart must survive sorcery, swordplay, ambush, a chimera, a quagmarsh, and more, and uncover a devious plot to assassinate their kingand prove himself worthy of a place among the King's Blades.

The Crooked House is the second book in the King's Daggers triology, and Duncan has infused this title with all the breathless action and riveting adventure of his previous titles. In this installment, Sir Stalwart and Emerald embark on a quest to uncover the evil lurking at the heart of the king's chambers.

A Notorious Killer Stalks the King...

The world's most deadly assassin has been hired to kill King Ambrose. Once again King's Daggers are plunged into danger, because only White Sister Emerald can identify the killer's magic and only Sir Stalwart knows what he looks like. The two must trap the killer before he can strike the king -- or at them.

As the trial of death leads back to Ironhall, the swordsmen school Stalwart so recently left, he finds he is a boy sent to do a man's job -- and Emerald is a girl sent to do a boy's.

Many legends have emerged from the shadows of Ironhall, yet surely none can surpass the greatness and glory predestined for Sir Beaumont--possessor of the purest and strongest of hearts, and a mind as quick, keen, and accurate as his sword. But the day he sets out in the service of the elderly Lord Wassail turns to a black one, and young Beau's journey ends in horror and blood... and disgrace. Banished from the King's Blades, he now faces a grim future as a homeless pariah, a creature to be shunned and despised. But redemption can come from unexpected directions and in unrecognizable guises. Approached in secret by the legendary Durendal, now Grand Master of the Order, the dishonored paragon is offered one last chance to win back his weapon and his place among his brothers in arms. But to do so, Beau must ride alone back through the icy gates of Hell... and do battle with the Devil himself.

Elite warrior swordsmen, they are unequalled in any time or realm...

The King's Blades

The King has decreed that new Blades must be sworn into the service of the Grand Duke Rubin, deposed by a foul usurper and currently on the run. But none of the rough youths being readied at Ironhall possess the seasoning to survive what better, more skilled Blades already have not. Still, two woefully unprepared candidates are approached with an offer of early bonding and probable death: deft but dense, rude Ranter, and eager, impetuous Ringwood... with a third, the inadequate swordsman but potentially able spy Bellman, enlisted into their threadbare ranks. Joining the Duke's entourage along with the courageous and prescient White Sister Trudy, the would-be champions must restore a rightful ruler to the throne or die in the process. But before them waits an army of the dead. And the Duke whom the Blades must protect to the last drop of their lifeblood is not the liege they imagined...

The realm's most feared swordsman, Sir Wolf has earned his name, the "King's Killer," well. Unlike many of his brother Blades, however, Wolf detests his sworn duty to do the bloody bidding of a liege he can never respect. But when an impregnable fortress is breached and a former royal mistress is abducted by brazen assailants, Wolf must leap into the fray.

Burdened with the company of his disgraced brother, Sir Lynx--the only Blade ever to lose his ward and live--and shadowed by a mysterious Inquisitor with a secret agenda, Wolf must make his way across a landscape of nightmares vivid and terrible enough to chill any fearless heart. For somewhere in this dark, unfamiliar world, the fate of all Chivial hangs in the balance--and it is the destiny of one reluctant Blade to tip the scales to salvation... or doom.

Sulian ap Gwien was seventeen when the Jarnish raiders came. Had she been armed when they found her, she could have taken them all. As it was, it took six of them to subdue her. She will never forgive them. Thus begins her story--a story that takes her back to her family, with its ancient ties to the Vincan empire that once ruled in Tir Tanagiri, and forward to Caer Tanaga, where the greatest man of his time, King Urdo, struggles to bind together the squabbling nobles and petty princes into a unified force that will drive out the barbarian invader and restore the King's Peace. Ringing with the clash of arms and the songs of its people, rich with high magic and everyday life, The King's Peace begins an epic of great deeds and down-to-earth people, told in language with the strength and flexibility of sharpened steel.

The warrior Sulien ap Gwien and her lord King Urdo have finally united the land of Tir Tanagiri into a kingdom ruled by justice under a single code of law. But where many see a hopeful future for the land, others believe they sense the seeds of a new tyranny. Soon Tir Tanagiri faces the blight of civil war, and Sulien ap Gwien must take up arms against former comrades and loved ones, fighting harder and harder to hold on to Urdo's shining dream.

War is about to tear Outremer apart. The young knight Marron has left the Order and Julianne, daughter of the King's shadow, has had another visitation from the djinni Khaldor. They will leave the Roq de Rançon-and carry away its greatest secret.

Enemies of long standing are united under the fiercely charismatic Hasan-and Outremer may be defeated before the first battle has even been fought. But one woman could make a difference...

In the fifth book of Outremer, a heretic people threaten the fragile peace-and a renegade state becomes the battleground.

Long recovered from the ravages of the Riftwar, the land and people of the kingdom of the Isles thrive. Nicholas, the youngest son of Prince Arutha, is intelligent and gifted but vastly inexperienced. In hopes of hardening him, his father sends him and his irreverent squire, Harry, to live at Rustic Castle Crydee to learn of life beyond the halls of privilege.

But within weeks of Nicholas and Harry's arrival, Crydee is viciously attacked by unknown assailants, resulting in murder, massive destruction, and the abduction of two young noblewomen. The raiders have come from a pirate haven and are no ordinary foe ... but an enemy connected to dark magical forces that threaten the lands Nicholas will someday rule -- if he survives.

Dr Kinney takes off into space in this unique collection:

• The Lord of Death
• The Queen of Life
• The Devolutionist
• The Emancipatrix

These are the four colourful space opera adventures of Dr. William Kinney and his team of scientists and technicians written by the almost as colourful Homer Eon Flint. These brilliant tales will delight all enthusiasts of early science fiction. Join Kinney and Co. aboard their 'sky car' for a flight to the planet Mercury to investigate why it is a place of death and fallen civilisation. On Venus, in a hothouse society beneath a dome, live bizarre humanoid people, highly evolved and reaching for spiritual nirvana?

But is all peace and tranquillity? Experience with Dr.Kinney and his companions the strange sensation of out of body transportation as they journey to the planet Capellette, where they support revolutionaries to overthrow despotism. Finally our intrepid team transport themselves to the planet Sanus where highly evolved bees rule. In the hive city it is humankind that is held in thrall as the price for its devastation of the environment and Kinney must ensure that Mankind is given another chance. These are Dr.Kinney's complete adventures available in one volume.

Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Locke and Key unwinds into it's fourth volume in Keys to the Kingdom! With more keys making themselves known, and the depths of the Locke's family's mystery ever-expanding, Dodge's desperation to end his shadowy quest drives the habitants of Keyhouse ever closer to a revealing conclusion.

Baen now launches an exciting new science fiction adventure series by the New York Times best-selling author:

When a 60-kiloton explosion destroyed the University of Central Florida, and much of the surrounding countryside, the authorities first thought that terrorists had somehow obtained a nuclear weapon. But there was no radiation detected, and, when physicist Dr. William Weaver and Navy SEAL Command Master Chief Robert Miller were sent to investigate, they found that in the center of the destruction, where the University's physics department used to be, was an interdimensional gateway to . . . somewhere.

An experiment in subatomic physics had produced a very unexpected effect. Furthermore, other gateways were appearing all over the world - and one of them immediately began disgorging demonic visitors intent on annihilating all life on Earth and replacing it with their own. Other, apparently less hostile, aliens emerged from other gateways, and informed Weaver and Miller that the demonic invaders - the name for them that humans could most easily pronounce was the "Dreen" - were a deadly blight across the galaxy, occupying planet after planet after wiping out all native life; and now it would be Earth's turn, unless Weaver and Miller could find a way to close the gateways. If they failed, the less belligerent aliens would face the regrettable necessity of annihilating the entire Earth to save their own worlds. . . .

The years since first be gained the Starburst Crown have been difficult ones for Coronal Lord Prestimion and the vast, unfathoniable realm he rules. But finally peace has been restored to Majipoor. And now it is time for Prestimion to name the able Prince Dekkeret his succeeding Coronal and to descend to the Labyrinth as Pontifex. But a power from a dark past that both men believed was dead is stirring once again -- an evil more potent and devastating than either leader dares to remember.

Once, decades past, a then knight-initiate Dekkeret had his dreams stolen from him. His quest for recovery led him to a remarkable helmetthat could invade the psyches of sleeping foes, a device the newly anointed Coronal Prestimion later utilized to defeat his enemy Dantirya Sambail, tyrant of the continent Zimroel. In the fires of civil war, the terrible weapon was destroyed forever -- or so it was believed.

The noxious weed of rebellion was torn out at its roots but its seeds have borne frightening fruit. Dantirya Sambail is dead, and the hungry jackals who ran at his heels now scheme to recover his lost lands and power. At their head is the tyrant's former henchman Mandralisca -- a villain of great wiles and icy heart, who somehow has unleashed a devastating plague of the mind upon Prestimion's subjects, Dark visions are invading the sleep of those loyal to the Lords and the Lady of Majipoor -- soul-shattering scenes of madness and monstrosity, driving those inflicted to commit horrible, destructive acts. And the dark wave is flowing ever-closer to the throne, seeping beneath the doors of the 30,000 rooms of the towering edifice atop Castle Mount ... and into sacrosanct depths of the imperial Labyrinth itself.

A new campaign for the soul of Majipoor has been declared -- and its catastrophic opening salvos have been fired in silence and in mystery. Once again Prestimion and Dekkeret have been called onto the battlefield of nightmare. But this time it will be a war to the death against a foe greater than all who came before: the master of murderous shadows who aspires to be King of all.

"I am the Heir to the North."

Malessar's curse is broken, the wards around Caenthell destroyed. The Warlock lies, exhausted and gravely wounded, in the rubble of his own house. And while the dire spirits that have been trapped behind his wards for centuries are unleashed into the world once more, Cassia is confined to a cell, deep in Galliarca's grand palace.

Yet Caenthell calls to her, and Cassia must answer. As Heir to the North, the throne and the power behind it belong to her. But the twisted hunger of Caenthell's spirits appals her, and Cassia vows to do everything she can to defeat them.

Now, Cassia must convince both Galliarca and Hellea that they have to stand against the resurrected High King of Caenthell. She must raise an army from nothing, forge uncertain alliances with princes and dragons, and fight her way into the heart of the North. And, if she is lucky, someone may live to tell her tale.

"Fear Me."

Where Paul Heisenberg had stood there was now a silver statue, dressed in the same white tunic, but reflecting from the surface that had, once been bare flesh all the light which had been carefully directed to compose the glowing nimbus.

The glow was even brighter now, and in the stillness which followed the interruption of the beautiful voice, there was a profundity which seemed terrible ...'

In front of 80,000 people Heisenberg, the new Messiah, the darling of the media, had gone into a trance of immeasurable depth. His body had gone into limbo, awaiting some future awakening, and it wasn't long before others had similarly gone into stasis and followed him.

Soon there were thousands fleeing through the aeons, congregating at meeting points hundreds of years ahead and then leaping off ever further into the future until finally they reached the very end of time.

But then where would they go? And where were the people they'd left behind?

It's January of 1704, and Matthew Corbett continues his mission to Italy, accompanied by Hudson Greathouse and former enemy Professor Fell. They seek Brazio Valeriani and information about the mirror created by his father, the sorcerer Ciro. Legend claims the mirror can be used to summon demons from beyond.

But fate has other plans for Matthew as their ship is disabled by a pod of whales, and they seek refuge on a secluded island. The islanders welcome them with a massive feast, but all is not what it seems. As the island pulls them deeper into its influence, the castaways struggle to maintain their grip on reality, even their very identity. Matthew must keep his wits about him and solve the mystery enshrouding the other side of the island, where an active volcano looms and a secretive creature lurks.

A TIMELESS EPIC, A NEW CLASSIC FOR ALL AGES -- MERLIN

Mab is the powerful Queen of Magic, but her cruel evil has turned the wizard Merlin into her implacable enemy. And Mab's sister, the Lady of the Lake, comes to Merlin's aid, giving him Excalibur. The singing Sword of the Just, held in the stone grip of a sleeping giant, released only to the hand of the man Mab most fears . . .

A good and true Christian King, Merlin's student . . . King Arthur Pendragon.

But Mab has her own disciple -- or pawn. For, in a monstrous act of sorcery and sin, Arthur's half-sister, Morgan Le Fay, gives Mab the weapon she needs to ravage Arthur's kingdom and Merlin's dreams of peace . . .

A child. Mordred.

And the Magic that raised a kingdom may be the Magic that destroys it.

The third volume in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

As the Shadow of Mordor grows across the land, the Companions of the Ring have become involved in separate adventures. Aragorn, revealed as the hidden heir of the ancient Kings of the West, has joined with the Riders of Rohan against the forces of Isengard, and takes part in the desperate victory of the Hornburg. Merry and Pippin, captured by Orcs, escape into Fangorn Forest and there encounter the Ents. Gandalf has miraculously returned and defeated the evil wizard, Saruman. Sam has left his master for dead after a battle with the giant spider, Shelob; but Frodo is still alive--now in the foul hands of the Orcs. And all the while the armies of the Dark Lord are massing as the One Ring draws ever nearer to the Cracks of Doom.

"A triumphant close... a grand piece of work, grand in both conception and execution. An astonishing imaginative tour de force."--Daily Telegraph

Includes the complete appendices and index for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

When first introduced to Don Lorenzo, railway engineer Arnold Neville was quite taken with the mysterious but wealthy gentleman. And though he was initially flattered by Lorenzo's congeniality, Young Neville soon learned that his fiancé, beautiful Beryl Atherton, suspected Lorenzo's wealth and charm were only a façade, hiding the ambitions of a cruel and dangerous man.

Her worst fears were confirmed when Beryl and her stately aunt found themselves abducted! And before long, Neville and fellow engineer Arnold Leslie were led on cat and mouse chase through the harsh, uncharted jungles of Brazil, in a desperate search for the missing women. But what they found there was a hidden scientific super city called Myrvonia. In this lost citadel lived a forgotten race whose people practiced weird sciences and dabbled in a strange form of magic, a magic so powerful it could literally animate the dead!

Inspector Angel Cardenas has seen murdered corpses like George Anderson's, but never a case like this. The victim's ID doesn't match his DNA, Anderson's wife and preteen daughter, Katla, are missing, their home has been turned into a time bomb-and mobs from three continents are all hunting Katla. Relying on his training as a nearly telepathic intuit, Cardenas embarks on a search for clues that leads him from the Strip's sex parlors and stimstick clubs, where kids are deadly and music can kill, to an undersea hideout where computer crimes are committed by criminal computers. Yet the closer Cardenas gets to the girl, the closer assassins are getting to them both...

He has been a quiet family man -- devoted to his wife and children, happy in his home, happy in his work. It took just thirty minutes of shattering , obscene violence to transform him into a remoreseless, avenging hunter of evil -- a savage practitioner and enemy of the occult...

THE STALKING

Somewhere -- somewhere beyond the normal and the good -- they had his family. And Dan Brady had to find them.

Against him was all the evil of the supernatural -- powers he neither knew nor understood. Powere he himself would have to learn to use if he were to track down his family in the satanic, preternatural night...

King Jorian was rather attached to his head. Hence, he felt his promise to seal the Kist of Avlen, a treasure trove of ancient manuscripts on magic, was little enough a price to pay for a chance to escape his own beheading.

But when the quest pitted him against one peril after another - a murderous wizard and his giant squirrel, a castle full of executioners, a marauding troop of ape men, and a voluptuous 500-year-old princess who was also a serpent - Jorian wondered if he'd made a good bargain!

The Best Mislaid Plans.

Wizardly schemes, Jorian knew went oft a-gley. But this time the wizard's plan seemed simple. Since ancient prophecy foretold that the clocks would save Iraz, Jorian must repair the great tower clocks that his father had built.

If everything went well, Karadur could then plan the rescue of Jorian's beloved wife, Queen Estrildis from Xylar.

And Jorian would be appointed Clockmaster of Iraz, a position that would require him to break a pirate siege, placate an amorous priestess, and stay at least one step ahead of the Royal Guard of Xylar - where he was still wanted as the star sttraction of a royal beheading!

Never Trust a Demon.

Three years earlier, Jorian had been the crowned King of Xylar. But the laws of Xylar decreed that each randomly chosen King must be beheaded at the end of a five-year reign. Jorian had a prejudice against losing his head. With the aid of the aged wizard Karadur, he managed to flee.

Unfortunately he had not been able to bring his beloved wife, Queen Estrildis, with him, nor had he yet been able to find a means of freeing her from the palace in Xylar City.

Now, however, he felt that his luck was about to change. He and the aged wizard Karadur were being flown through the night air in a great copper bathtub, powered by a demon under Karadur's control. Ahead of them lay Xylar City. There, while the demon kept the bathtub hovering above the palace, Jorian could let down a rope and rescue Estrildis.

It should have been a foolproof scheme...

Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many people assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong.

When the Luidaeg - October "Toby" Daye's oldest and most dangerous ally - tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process, Toby can't refuse. Literally. The Selkies aren't the only ones in debt to the Luidaeg, and Toby has to pay what she owes like anyone else. They will travel to the fabled Duchy of Ships and call a convocation of the Selkies, telling them to come and meet the Luidaeg's price... or face the consequences.

Of course, nothing is that simple. When Dianda Lorden's brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea, when a Selkie woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, when everything is falling apart, that's when Toby will have to answer the real question of the hour.

Is she going to sink? Or is she going to swim?

Includes a bonus all-new October Daye novella Hope Is Swift.

"Arctic Sky" tells of a young climate activist who discovers her own courage in the frozen depths of a Russian prison. "Palimpsest" is set on a bionic (living)space station that launches explorers into the farthest reaches of Time and Space. In "The Room on the Roof" an ancient culture meets modern mysteries with unexpected results. Our non-fiction title piece, "Utopias of the Third Kind," is a first look at actual utopias that are responding to our looming dystopian nightmare. "Hunger" is a short story that finds both understanding and forgiveness for humankind's original sin. Our Outspoken Interview and a bibliography round out this new collection.

Contents:

• 1 - Lamentations in a Lost Tongue - short story
• 9 - Arctic Sky - (2014) - short story (variant of Arctic Light)
• 19 - Utopias of the Third Kind - essay
• 37 - Hunger - (2007) - short story
• 61 - "A Source of Immense Richness" - interview of Vandana Singh - interview by Terry Bisson
• 71 - The Room on the Roof - (2002) - novelette
• 97 - True Journey Is Return: A Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin - (2018) - essay

Old Mombi, formerly the Wicked Witch of the North, is now a cook in the land of Kimbaloo. One day she comes across Pajuka, the former prime minister of Oz, transformed by Mombi into a goose years before. She sets out to find Pastoria, the king of Oz, whom she also enchanted in the past. However, she has forgotten what shape she transformed Pastoria into. She kidnaps a local boy called Snip as her unwilling assistant and bearer of burdens. Eventually deciding, however, that he knows too much, Mombi throws Snip down a well; he ends up in Blankenburg, populated by the invisible Blanks. Snip meets and soon rescues Tora, an amnesiac old tailor. Tora has been held prisoner for many years by the Blanks, to do their tailoring; he has compensated by sending his detachable ears flying about the countryside to hear the news.

Meanwhile, Dorothy is accidentally transported to Hollywood, where she meets Humpy, a live stunt dummy, whom she brings back to Oz. They escape the Back Talkers in Eht Kcab Sdoow (by running backwards), and meet the Scooters who help scoot them on their way. Kabumpo the Elegant Elephant shows up to provide transport (of the mandane sort). Dorothy's party encounters Snip and Tora, and Mombi and Pajuka too. They come to the conclusion that Humpy the dummy is the enchanted Pastoria.

Eventually, matters are clarified and settled: Pajuka is restored to humanity, but Humpy proves not to be the missing king after all. Old Tora is disenchanted and turns out to be Pastoria. He spurns any notion of returning to his throne, however; he is content to settle down as a humble tailor in the Emerald City, with Snip as his apprentice and Humpy as his tailor's dummy.

In a rare act of Ozite capital punishment, Mombi is ruthlessly doused with water and melts away like the Wicked Witch of the West, so that nothing is left of her but her buckled shoes.

Patch is the country of the Quilties, a land of seamtresses and quiltmakers; it lies in the Quadling quadrant of Oz. Its people have a serious problem. Their queen, Cross Patch the Sixth, has gone to pieces--literally; small pieces too. To find her successor, the land's Chief Scrapper and Prime Piercer unwind the Spool of Succession, and follow where the golden thread leads. It leads, in this instance, to the Emerald City, where it selects Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz, to be the new queen. The two Quilties, used to resistance from Queens-to-be (it's not that good a job), kidnap Scraps.

Meanwhile, Peter Brown, a boy from Philadelphia, is transported by a balloon bird to the Runaway Island, where the Ruggedo, the wicked Gnome King has been exiled for five years (see Kabumpo in Oz). A seaquake reveals the sunken pirate ship of Polacky the Plunderer--which contains the magic chest of Soob the Sorcerer. The chest holds several magic treasures, including a magic cloak that is supposed to render the wearer invisible and teleport him anywhere he chooses. But the cloak is torn and does not work. The ship, however, derelict as it is, allows Peter and Ruggedo to drift to the Land of Ev.

Promising to make Peter a general in his army, Ruggedo returns to the Gnome Kingdom and forces the current king, Kaliko, to abdicate in his favor. Ruggedo's plan is to have the cloak mended, then use it to fly to the Emerald City and recover his magic belt, with all its power -- but he learns that the tricky repair job can only be done properly by the expert tailors in Patch. With Peter, he makes his way to Patch, where he offers Peter as a slave in return for the repair of the cloak. The Patch ministers accept this offer and the cloak is repaired.

Peter meets Scraps and makes other new friends, including Grumpy the Bear and Ozwold the Ostrich. Together they escape from Patch and set out for the Emerald City in order to warn Ozma about Ruggedo's plans. Meanwhile, using the power of the repaired cloak, Ruggedo becomes invisible and teleports to the Emerald City, where he causes some mischief before Peter arrives. Still invisible, Ruggedo steals the magic belt. He is about to use its powers to teleport Ozma and her friends to the bottom of the ocean, but Peter overcomes him by throwing a "silence stone", one of the treasures he had taken from the sunken pirate ship, at Ruggedo's head, which robs Ruggedo of the power of speech. Since the magic belt only responds to spoken commands, this renders Ruggedo harmless, and the Wizard of Oz makes him visible again. Ozma makes Peter a Prince of Oz, but the boy chooses to return to Philadelphia; he can't let down his team.

Two alien races the Jex and the Canavitchi are engaged in a battle to invade and either conquer or destroy the planet Earth. The Fifth Doctor is summoned to a meeting with Brigadier who shows him a photograph of a powerful media mogul named Sanger who has bought enough plutonium to destroy the world ten times over. UNIT are on the case and it seems that Sanger is one of a frightening number of alien Jex who came to Earth twenty years ago to sow the seeds of their ruthless world-domination When the Canavitchi launch their counter-attack and their alien fleets embark upon full-scale destruction, the Doctor finds himself engaged in a race against time to save planet Earth.

This insider's guide to television's most popular time travel series is a must for the show's intense cult following, as well as fans of the highly successful, ongoing series of novels. In its five years on prime time. Quantum Leap won two Golden Globe Awards and set a standard for excellence in science fiction. This intriguing book takes the reader behind the scenes of the program, and includes answers to the 25 most common questions about the series and its stars.

By scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making.

Then he drags a naive young guard into the center of the political maelstrom. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but his contempt for Eugenides slowly turns to grudging respect. Though struggling against his fate, the newly crowned king is much more than he appears. Soon the corrupt Attolian court will learn that its subtle and dangerous intrigue is no match for Eugenides.

All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love's death. She doesn't believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

Private Investigator Alma is caught up in another impossible murder. One of the world's four richest people may be dead - but nobody is sure which one. Hired to discover the truth behind the increasingly bizarre behaviour of the ultra-rich, Alma must juggle treating her terminally ill lover with a case which may not have a victim.

Inspired by the films of Kubrick, this stand-alone novel returns to the near-future of THE REAL-TOWN MURDERS, and puts Alma on a path to a world she can barely understand. Witty, moving and with a mystery deep at its heart, this novel again shows Adam Roberts' mastery of the form.

Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in The Third Kingdom, the direct sequel to his #1 New York Times bestseller The Omen Machine.

Richard saw the point of a sword blade sticking out from between the man's shoulder blades. He spun back toward Richard after throwing the woman out the opening, ready to attack. It seemed impossible, but the man looked unaffected by the blade that had impaled him through the chest.

It was then, in the weak light from the fire pit off to the side, that Richard got his first good look at the killer.

Three knives were buried up to their brass cross-guards in the man's chest. Only the handles were showing. Richard saw, too, the broken end of a sword blade jutting out from the center of the man's chest. The point of that same blade stuck out from the man's back.

Richard recognized the knife handles. All three were the style carried by the men of the First File.

He looked from those blades that should have killed the big man, up into his face.

That was when he realized the true horror of the situation, and the reason for the unbearable stench of death.

Rockets make everything easier. Seeking lost cities in the middle of the remotest desert is now within reach.

Tristan d'Arcenne is what he always wished to be--Vianne di Rocancheil's Consort. But Vianne is no more a noblewoman, she is the Queen of Arquitaine, faced with treachery, invasion, war, and a Consort whose secrets may well shatter their marriage. For before Tristan was hers, he belonged to a King... and that King died by Tristan's hand.

Arquitaine needs them both. The country is locked in a deadly game whose rules change by the moment. The Queen is an adept player, but hardly ruthless enough. The contest requires a man who has nothing to lose, a man who has already done the worst and will continue to do so for his wife, his country, and his own salvation.

The Bandit King approaches...

Handsome, charming, and vain, Sharn goes to the magical kingdom of Eildon to court a beautiful princess; but nothing goes well, and the lives of his associates, as well as his enemies, are changed forever. Sequel to "Yorath, the Wolf."

The empire of Numantia shudders on the brink of destruction. But the wizard Tenedos and his ally, cavalry officer Damastes, prepare to carve a path through usurpers and necromancers that will restore it to glory. It is a path that will take both of them to dark places they never knew.

A path to the rule of one who will be called... the Seer King.

A decade past, General Damastes swore loyalty to the wizard Tenedos when the seer sought to realize his vision of a peaceful, unified Numantia. But although Tenedos became the Seer King, peace never came. Instead, his enemies were slaughtered and now he prepares for war.

Damastes must question his long-held loyalty and the oath he swore. And he will discover the horrifying bargain Tenedos made to gain an empire and the price that must be paid.

The Seer King's mighty empire of Numantia has become a living nightmare--especially to the loyal general who helped the wizard Tenedos to power. The wizard has returned to command hellish demons in his drive for absolute power.

Only Damastes, imprisoned and exiled, can forge an army against Tenedos. Only Damastes can lead the forces of light into battle against the darkness that threatens Numantia in the final conflict between one-time allies... now turned deadly enemies.

Guitar-picking wanderer Silver John goes to a remote community to investigate rumors of their terrifying practices of devil worship and evil Satanic rites.

Praised by the likes of Joe Abercrombie and Brent Weeks, Stephen Deas has made dragons his own.

The Silver King, half-god, legend and myth, is returning. Once he fought his brother, the Black Moon, and his dragons, and was defeated. But the Black Moon was also weakened, and a millennia has passed. Humanity has grown used to a world without gods, a world where they were masters of all - including the terrifying dragons.

But the dragons have awakened, the hole in reality is expanding, and the shackles that kept the half-gods controlled have been broken. The Black Moon lives on in the body of Berren Crowntaker, and has taken control. With an army behind him, the dragons above and the Dragon Queen at his side, he goes to war with his brother.

The worlds are turning, and only one thing is sure - there will be an ending.

THE SILVER KING is the triumphant conclusion to one of the most brutal and wide-ranging fantasy series of recent years.

From a land lost in the mists of time, in a realm of myth and magic, where legendary heroes fought undying foes in ultimate battles of good and evil, comes the story of a proud and indomitable people and a magnificent nation whose birth was foretold by the darkest visions and the direst prophecies.

It is the story of Conaire Mor, fated to become Ireland's greatest high-king. It is also the tale of Ulster's outcast Queen Meave, the powerful and ruthless King Conchobar, the young Red Branch warrior Cuchulain, and the dark high-druid Calatin, whose ambitions and twisted magic threaten them all.

Here, woven into a rich mythical tapestry, is a never-before-told story of ancient Ireland... a spellbinding tale of love and intrigue, lust and murder, rivalry and quest... of a time and place long ago that still lives forever in our deepest fantasies.

The stunning sequel to Elizabeth Kerner's Song in the Silence, The Lesser Kindred continues the story of Lanen Kaelar, a young woman who embarked on a search for the great dragons of legend and discovered not only the reality of the myth but her own true love. The course of happiness is not an easy one, however, and Lanen must make some hard choices. Her decisions could spell the salvation of an entire race--but at the cost of all she holds dear.

Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people's magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak'gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.

The mark is mysterious--an untranslatable Hin character--and no one but Lan can see it. Until the night a boy appears at her teahouse and saves her life.

Zen is a practitioner--one of the fabled magicians of the Last Kingdom. Their magic was rumored to have been drawn from the demons they communed with. Magic believed to be long lost. Now it must be hidden from the Elantians at all costs.

When Zen comes across Lan, he recognizes what she is: a practitioner with a powerful ability hidden in the mark on her arm. He's never seen anything like it--but he knows that if there are answers, they lie deep in the pine forests and misty mountains of the Last Kingdom, with an order of practitioning masters planning to overthrow the Elantian regime.

Both Lan and Zen have secrets buried deep within--secrets they must hide from others, and secrets that they themselves have yet to discover. Fate has connected them, but their destiny remains unwritten. Both hold the power to liberate their land. And both hold the power to destroy the world.

Now the battle for the Last Kingdom begins.

The Demon Gods have risen. Skies' End has fallen to the colonizers. And Lan and Zen have chosen sides.

But they will not fight together.

Though Lan inherited the power of the Silver Dragon, she understands the path she must take. She believes the Demon Gods to be the cause of war, conflict, and turmoil, and that the future of the Last Kingdom depends on their being eliminated forever. Worse, she knows that if the Elantians manage to bind one of the legendary beings, their army will be unstoppable. To save her kingdom and her people, Lan will need to find the only mythical weapon capable of destroying the Demon Gods: the Godslayer.

Zen is sure that the only way to free the Last Kingdom is to use the power of the Demon Gods. When he bound the Black Tortoise, he paid the ultimate price: to inherit its strength, he will forfeit his body, his mind, and his soul. Yet one Demon God is not enough against the might of the colonizers. In the ruins of the northern Mansorian lands slumbers a magical army of demonic practitioners capable of facing off against the Elantians--but Zen must find the Seal to awaken them to fight by his side.

At the center of both Lan's and Zen's journeys is one city: Shaklahira, a former stronghold of the Imperial Court that vanished without a trace when the Elantians invaded. Its location is a mystery, and both are sure that it holds the answers they need, but the past it hides might be more dangerous than anything they've faced yet.

The battle for the Last Kingdom rages on. But to win the war, Lan will have to decide: Can she face the boy she loves again? And when she does, can she kill him to free her people?

A gift for sorcery descends to the women of the Marsh family, but Tina's mother doesn't want to talk about it, so Tina is on her own and unprepared when random objects inexplicably start to disappear: a doorknob, a shoe, the kitchen linoleum, and even the huge statue of King Jagiello in Central Park. It's just the "kraken"--a vast world-eating monster from an evil dimension--trying to grab something that Tina doesn't even know she has. But unexpected allies show up: a touchy young violinist from the posh East Side and a shabby old street musician who is much more than he seems. It's up to these three, using magic and music, to save New York from the kraken's devouring ferocity.

The monster rages through the subway tunnels. Meanwhile, three thugs calling themselves the "Princes of Darkness" work to set it free, breaking the network of venerable landmarks that make up the city's supernatural defense. Tina and her friends race desperately to find the stolen statue, to restore it to its place as guardian and champion against paranormal threats--but magic alone can't defeat the kraken: that will take their strongest daring and creativity and loyalty to each other.

The god of the Void is free. Aided by a Night Gen fleet, Shaiel's fanatical Lawbringers spread his Will throughout the Middle Stratum and beyond.

Teg Cross, whose mercenary career took him to hell and back, finds the old world replaced by a new order on the brink of total war. A fateful meeting with a friend from his past sets him on a crusade to defy Shaiel's rule.

Meanwhile, Nakvin strives to muster a last-ditch resistance in Avalon. But can worldly kings and queens stand against divine wrath?

To the Line planet Spatterjay come three travellers: Janer brings the eyes of a hornet Hive mind, and an agenda he would rather not own; Erlin comes to find Ambel – the ancient sea captain who can teach her to live; and Sable Keech is a man with a vendetta he will not give up, though he has been dead for seven hundred years.

The world is mostly ocean, where all but a few visitors from the Human Polity remain safely in the island Dome. Outside, the native hoopers risk the voracious appetite of the planet’s fauna in their struggle for life and life eternal. Somewhere out there is Spatterjay Hoop himself, and monitor Keech will not rest until he can bring this legendary renegade to justice – for crimes so hideous Keech can never forget.

Pursuing rumour, Keech learns that Hoop has become something monstrous: his body roaming free on an island wilderness, whilst his living head is confined in a box on board one of the old captain's ships. Janer, the eternal tourist, is bewildered by this place where sails speak and the people just will not die, but his bewilderment turns to anger when he learns the Hive mind’s intentions. Erlin thinks she has all the time she will ever need to find the answers she requires, and could not be more wrong. And so these three travel and search, not knowing that one of the brutal Prador is about to pay a surreptitious visit, intent on exterminating witnesses to wartime atrocities, nor do they know how terrible is the price of immortality on Spatterjay.

As the fortunes of these travellers unwittingly converge, a major hell is about to erupt in this chaotic waterscape ... where minor hell is already a remorseless fact of everyday life – and death.

The Star Hawks, those intrepid guardians of interplanetary low, have a problem. In the name of peace, their chief scientist invented Braintrust, the most powerful computer in the galaxy. But now Braintrust is in the greedy metallic hands of Jigsaw, a cyborg with delusions of grandeur.

Jigsaw wants to rule the world--and two puny humans and a robot dog will nto stop him. Unfortunately, Rex, Chavez and Sniffer are ordered to stop him. They face being out-smarted, beatne up and generally dismembered.

But out adventurous heroes ought to be able to overcome such minor annoyances....

It's certainly glamorous to be called a "king of the stars," but when you get right down to it, it's the hardest title to maintain in the universe!

This novel first appeared in the September, 1947 Issue of Amazing Stories magazine.

As a corrupt Commonwealth rules the galaxy through the might of its armies, its most influential general--a renegade Guardian of the deposed Starfire royal line--pursues the rumor of a hidden heir to the throne and searches for a woman he loves and is destined to destroy.

Investigating the disappearance of a secret Romulan fleet, the U.S.S. Titan, commanded by Captain William Riker, is unexpectedly propelled more than 200,000 light-years into the Small Magellanic Cloud. One of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies, the Cloud is also home to the Neyel, the long-sundered offshoots of Terran humanity, with whom the Federation has had no contact in over eighty years.

Nearby, Riker's uncertain ally, Commander Donatra of the Romulan Warbird Valdore, rescues a young Neyel, the survivor of a mysterious cosmic upheaval that seems at times to be both unraveling and reweaving the very fabric of space...the fulfillment of an apocalyptic vision that has already claimed millions of lives. Titan's science team soon finds evidence that the ravaging of Neyel space is the work of a vast and powerful intelligence: the stirrings of a dormant consciousness that is maintaining the existence of the Small Magellanic Cloud -- and all life within it -- from one moment to the next. And if it should awaken, the consequences are unimaginable.

As Riker considers his options, his new crew struggles with the scientific and philosophical implications of what they've discovered... while the young Neyel in their midst forges a bond with the captain, conjuring old ghosts Riker has yet to lay to rest.

A distress call goes out from a Federation outpost near the Klingon border. The U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, responds. Starbase 18 lies in ruin. There are no survivors. And there is no clue as to who is responsible for the attack, until Captain Pike's brilliant science officer discovers a means of retrieving parts of the station's log.

Lieutenant Spock has detected signs of a unique energy signature, one that he believes is Klingon. There are unsubstantiated reports that the Klingon Empire has made a technological leap forward and created a cloaking device--code-named Black Snow Seven--that can shield their ships from even the most advanced sensors. The destruction of the base and the unique energy signature that remains prove that the Empire has succeeded.

For generations the Orions have been known as pirates,operating at the margins, outside of legal conventions. A proud and powerful race, the Orions were once a major force in the sector, and they have been using the tension between the Klingon Empire and the Federation to rebuild their power. Captain Pike is charged with trying to foster cooperation between the Orions and the Federation. A distress call from an Orion vessel offers him the perfect opportunity. But the Orion ship lies in disputed space long claimed by the Klingon Empire, and crossing it could be the spark that sets off an interstellar war.

After triumphing in Star Wars: The Unifying Force, the heroes of the New Jedi Order return in a dazzling new adventure!

Luke Skywalker is worried: A handful of Jedi Knights, including his nephew and niece, Jaina and Jacen Solo, have disappeared into the Unknown Regions in response to a strange cry for help that only they could hear. Now the alien Chiss have angrily lodged a formal complaint, accusing the missing Jedi of meddling in a border dispute between the Chiss and an unidentified aggressor.

Luke has no choice but to head to the Unknown Regions for serious damage control. Han and Leia follow, intent on protecting their children from what could be grave danger. But none of them are prepared for what they find when they reach their destination.

A colony of mysterious aliens is expanding toward the edge of Chiss space. The leader of the alien nest is resolute. Adept in the Force, he is drawing old friends to his side, compelling them to join the colony and meld their Force-abilities with his, even if it leads to all-out war....

In the last of the GalFed-commissioned chronicles of the Ungrukh, Emerald and Raanung's daughter Bren faces murder and terrorism in the most unlikely of places: Sol Three's Grand Canyon. A group of Ungrukh had agreed to come to Earth, where their mental abilities and physical structure could be studied by resident scientists, but while they were prepared for hostility, they did not expect a massacre.

There were only four survivors: Bren; her twin siblings Tugrik and Orenda; and a shy loner named Etrem whose panther-black pelt had made him an outcast among his tribe. While Emerald and Raanung continue to realize Khreng's dream of a unified Ungruwarkh, no longer split up into warring tribes and hereditary feuds, Bren and Etrem struggle to avenge the murder of their kin. With the help of a GalFed telepath and a Pueblo shaman, they are successful in finding the killer -- but things become suddenly uncertain when Qumedni, the mischievous energy being who created the Ungrukh from Terran leopards and regards them as his own, decides to step in and lend a hand.

Under King Hael, the People of the Plains unite under the security of a mountain of pure iron, defending their land with steel arrowheads and swords.

The cataclysm began more than a century earlier, when the King of Ayr died before naming an heir to the throne, and damned his realm to chaos. The cold-blooded conspiracies of the Renne and the Wills—each family desirous of the prize of rule—would sunder the one kingdom, and spawn generations of hatred and discord.

Now Toren Renne, leader of his great and troubled house, dreams of peace—a valiant desire that has spawned hostility among his kinsmen, and vicious internal plots against his life. In the opposing domain, Elise Wills's desire for freedom is to be crushed, as an unwanted marriage to an ambitious and sinister lord looms large. As always, these machinations of nobles are affecting the everyday lives of the common folk—and feeding a bonfire of animosity that has now trapped an unsuspecting young Valeman Tam and two fortune-hunting friends from the North in its high, killing flames.

But the closer Toren comes to achieving his great goal of uniting two enemy houses, the more treachery flowers. Nobles and mystics alike conspire to keep the realm divided, knowing that only in times of strife can their power grow.

And perhaps the source of an unending misery lies before an old king's passing, beyond the scope of history, somewhere lost in a fog of myth and magic roiling about an ancient enchanter named Wyrr—who bequeathed to his children terrible gifts that would poison their lives...and their deaths. It is a cursed past and malevolent sorcery that truly hold the land, its people, and its would-be rulers bound. And before the already savaged kingdom can become one again, all Ayr will drown in a sea of blood.

James Bond adventure in the court of Queen Elizabeth!

1593: The dreaded alchemist, magician, and spy Dr. John Dee is missing. . . . Terror sweeps through the court of Queen Elizabeth, for in Dee's possession is an obsidian mirror, an object of great power which, legend says, could set the world afire. And so the call goes out to celebrated swordsman, adventurer and rake Will Swyfte—find Dee and his looking glass and return them to London before disaster strikes. But when Will discovers the mirror might solve the mystery that has haunted him for years—the fate of his lost love, Jenny—the stakes become acutely personal.

With London under siege by supernatural powers, time is running out. Will is left with no choice but to pursue the alchemist to the devil-haunted lands of the New World—in the very shadow of the terrifying fortress home of the Unseelie Court. Surrounded by an army of unearthly fiends, with only his sword and a few brave friends at his back, the realm's greatest spy must be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice—or see all he loves destroyed.

An enticing contemporary retelling of the classic story of Snow White. While the the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and of course the poison all appear, Sarah Pinborough's charming and provocative spin on the story will captivate fans of the fairy tale all over again.

The classic "Cinderella" story is given a sexy contemporary makeover in this wicked fairy tale featuring all the heroes and villains that we know and love: the handsome prince, the fairy godmother, the wretched sisters, and the beautiful girl.

An enticing contemporary retelling of the classic story of Sleeping Beauty. While the the handsome prince, the evil fairy, the beautiful girl and of course the spindle all appear, Sarah Pinborough's charming and provocative spin on the story will captivate fans of the fairy tale all over again.

With the universe's wormholes collapsed, darkness has fallen across interstellar civilization, and superstition once again holds sway over the masses, until Dr. Karl Woodward, commander of the starship The Mountain, ventures to an uncharted world and into a terrifying confrontation with a ruthless gang of space pirates.

Searching the galaxy for an elusive utopian planet known as the world of the Three Kings, a desperately indebted salvage team tries to recreate the journey of a starfaring evangelist who disappeared after discovering its location.

An encounter between a mysterious alien force and the human military brings an armed expedition to the Kaspar, the third planet of the Three Kings, where they join forces with the survivors of two earlier expeditions that had been marooned on the planet by human treachery and alien power and confront a fateful decision that could determine the fate of the entire human race.

Meet Talus – the world’s first detective.

A dead warrior king frozen in winter ice. Six grieving sons, each with his own reason to kill. Two weary travellers caught up in a web of suspicion and deceit.

In a distant time long before our own, wandering bard Talus and his companion Bran journey to the island realm of Creyak, where the king has been murdered. From clues scattered among the island’s mysterious barrows and stone circles, they begin their search for his killer. But do the answers lie in this world or the next?

Nobody is above suspicion, from the king’s heir to the tribal shaman, from the servant woman steeped in herb-lore to the visiting warlord whose unexpected arrival throws the whole tribe into confusion. And when death strikes again, Talus and Bran realise nothing is what it seems.

Creyak is place of secrets and spirits, mystery and myth. It will take a clever man indeed to unravel the truth. The kind of man this ancient world has not seen before.

FROM THE RUINS, A HERO WILL RISE

Condemned as a murderer for killing the man who dishonored his sister, Blaine McFadden has been banished for years to a penal colony in the frigid northern wastelands of Edgeland. Military discipline and the oppressive magic of the governor's mages keep a fragile peace, as colonists struggle to survive in the harshest of conditions. But now the supply ships have stopped coming, and this bodes ill for the kingdom that banished the colonists...

McFadden and the other exiles must decide their fate. They can remain in their icy prison, or they can return to the ruins of the kingdom that they once called home.

Either way, destruction lies ahead...

Blaine McFadden survived six years in the brutal Velant prison colony, exiled for murder. When war devastates his homeland of Donderath, it also destroys the intentional magic on which Donderath and its fellow kingdoms rely. Blaine and a small group of fellow exiles return to a lawless wasteland where unrestrained magic storms appear and disappear unpredictably, and monsters roam the ruins.

Yet rumours persist that the seeds of a new magic rest with a dangerous, ancient ritual and a handful of survivors who have disappeared. McFadden resolves to find these survivors and work the ritual, despite the danger, to restore the magic and end the chaos. He rallies a small and desperate army for a last stand, knowing that if they fail, the civilisation of the Ascendant Kingdoms dies with them.

Amidst the shadows, chaos reigns.

Blaine "Mick" McFadden managed to partially restore Donderath's magic, but not without a cost. He and the magic are now bound together, and the power remains dangerous and erratic - draining the life from him with every use.

New threats are rising from the wreckage of the battered kingdoms, and warlords both mortal and undead vie for control. Now, Blaine and his unlikely band of convict heroes must find allies amidst a seas of enemies, and discover a way to rebind magic to the will of mortals before it destroys him. And time is running out...

From Gail Z. Martin, one of the most exciting writers of fantasy adventure, comes the fourth and final novel in the epic Ascendant Kingdoms Saga.

Blaine McFadden and his allies have brought magic back under mortal command and begun to restore order to the beleaguered kingdom of Donderath. Now, new perils and old enemies gather for a final reckoning. Foreign invaders, a legendary dark mage and vengeful immortals fight Blaine's battered forces for control of the continent, and Blaine's weary army is the only thing standing between a kingdom struggling to rise from the ashes and a descent into fury and darkness.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt's flight, her life changes in ways she couldn't have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda's special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can't crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé's murder remains unsolved. Leda's psychic abilities couldn't help the case several years before, but she's been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar's open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke--singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people's personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer--and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

When psychic travel agent Leda Foley is approached by a man searching for his sister, she quickly agrees to help. The missing woman disappeared with a vintage orange car, a fat sack of her employer's cash, and a grudge against her philandering husband--a man who never even reported her missing.

Meanwhile, Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt has temporarily misplaced his dog. While he's passing out bright pink "Lost" flyers at the Mount Rainier visitor's center, the wayward pooch appears--with a human leg in his mouth.

Thanks to DNA matching, Grady soon learns that Mr Leg has something to do with Leda's new client, and soon the two cases are tangled.

Theories abound, but law enforcement is low on leads. Lucky for Grady, Leda has a few ideas that might just be crazy enough to work. They'll need one yellow dog, a fair share of teamwork, and perhaps a bit of Klairvoyant Karaoke to piece the clues together.

Thomas Senlin and his crew of outcasts have been separated, and now they must face the dangers of the labyrinthine tower on their own in this third book in the word-of-mouth phenomenon fantasy series.

Fearing an uprising, the Sphinx sends Senlin to investigate a plot that has taken hold in the ringdom of Pelphia. Alone in the city, Senlin infiltrates a bloody arena where hods battle for the public's entertainment. But his investigation is quickly derailed by a gruesome crime and an unexpected reunion.

Posing as a noble lady and her handmaid, Voleta and Iren attempt to reach Marya, who is isolated by her fame. While navigating the court, Voleta attracts the unwanted attention of a powerful prince whose pursuit of her threatens their plan.

Edith, now captain of the Sphinx's fierce flagship, joins forces with a fellow wakeman to investigate the disappearance of a beloved friend. She must decide who to trust as her desperate search brings her nearer to the Black Trail where the hods climb in darkness and whisper of the Hod King.

As Senlin and his crew become further dragged in to the conspiracies of the Tower, everything falls to one question: Who is The Hod King?

Exiled by her despotic brother, princess Malini spends her days dreaming of vengeance while imprisoned in the Hirana: an ancient cliffside temple that was once the revered source of the magical deathless waters but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

The secrets of the Hirana call to Priya. But in order to keep the truth of her past safely hidden, she works as a servant in the loathed regent's household, biting her tongue and cleaning Malini's chambers.

But when Malini witnesses Priya's true nature, their destines become irrevocably tangled. One is a ruthless princess seeking to steal a throne. The other a powerful priestess seeking to save her family. Together, they will set an empire ablaze.

The prophecy of the nameless god--the words that declared Malini the rightful empress of Parijatdvipa--has proven a blessing and curse. She is determined to claim the throne that fate offered her. But even with the strength of the rage in her heart and the army of loyal men by her side, deposing her brother is going to be a brutal and bloody fight.

The power of the deathless waters flows through Priya's blood. Thrice born priestess, Elder of Ahiranya, Priya's dream is to see her country rid of the rot that plagues it: both Parijatdvipa's poisonous rule, and the blooming sickness that is slowly spreading through all living things. But she doesn't yet understand the truth of the magic she carries.

Their chosen paths once pulled them apart. But Malini and Priya's souls remain as entwined as their destinies. And they soon realize that coming together is the only way to save their kingdom from those who would rather see it burn--even if it will cost them.

In this first book of an all-new Deryni trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Katherine Kurtz takes readers back in time--before King Kelson's bride...before King Kelson's birth... when the magical Deryni blood was sought by the most powerful men and women in the kingdom of Gwynedd. Back when a man named Donal ruled over all.

Alaric Morgan always knew his purpose in life--to stand alongside the king of Gwynedd. The old king knew that whichever of his sons succeeded to the throne would benefit from having a Deryni at his side. Alaric and the young Prince Brion Haldane were bound together by magic--a magic to be called upon when Brion was most in need.

Now eighteen, Brion has ascended to the throne and seven-year-old Alaric has come to court. Through the coming years, both will grow to manhood and come to realize their destinies. Brion will strive to solidify his power and position, seek out a bride to secure his legacy, and ultimately, when faced with an unbeatable foe, call upon Alaric to fulfill his oath.

Meanwhile, Alaric slowly learns the extent of his powers and how to use them, and will face the prejudice that many have against Deryni in its ugliest form. He will experience bittersweet first love, great personal loss, and the hard lessons one gains from both. And he will be there to unleash the full power of his Deryni magic at Brion's command.

For Alaric is--and always will be--the King's Deryni.

A nation in fragments

On the shores of Yeflam, Ayae struggles to keep her people together. She acts as liaison between the camp leaders and the immortals who could save them. Zaifyr's immortal siblings have arrived--but they have their own unfathomable agendas and Ayae is caught in their power games.

An army on the march

Heast has returned to his role as Captain of Refuge, a mercenary unit that answers the call of lost causes. With help from an unexpected source, Heast and his band of mercenaries could turn the tide of war--if they live long enough.

A world in danger

Bueralan Le is trapped in the company of the new god child. Though he fights to prevent her from unleashing her forces on the world, he is bound by blood to her darkest creation. The future of the world may depend on his choices.

The epic conclusion to The Children Trilogy, following The Godless and Leviathan's Blood

The Kingdom of Rolencia sleeps as rumours of new Affinity Seeps, places where the untamed power wells up. By royal decree all those afflicted with Affinity must serve the Abbey or face death. Sent to the Abbey, the King's youngest son, Fyn, trains to become a warrior monk. Elsewhere others are tainted with Affinity and must fight to survive. Political intrigue and magic combine in this explosive first book in an exciting new fantasy trilogy.

Rolencia's ancestry enemy, Merofynia, has invaded and marches on King Rolen's castle. Powerless to help, thirteen yeard old Piro watches as her father, King Rolen, listens to poisoned whispers against Bryen. How could the King doubt his second son? Determined to prove his loyalty, Bryen races across the path of the advancing army to ask the Abbot to send the warriors monks in defence of the castle.

Now a slave, Piro finds herself in the Merofynian Palace where, if her real identity is discovered, she will be executed. Meanwhile, Fyn is desperate to help his brother, Bryen, who is now the uncrowned King. Bryen never sought power but now he finds himself at the centre of a dangerous resistance movement as the people of Rolencia flee vicious invaders. How can Byren defeat the invaders, when half his warriors are women and children, and the other half are untrained boys and old men?

The conclusion to the hugely popular King Rolen's Kin series!

The story of Byron, Fyn and Piro picks up immediately where the cliff-hanging ending of The Usurper let off! When Cobalt stole the Rolencian throne, Byren, Fyn and Piro were lucky to escape with their lives, now they've rallied and set out to avenge their parents' murder.

Byren is driven to defeat Cobalt and reclaim the crown, but at what cost? Fyn has sworn to serve Byren's interests but his loyalty is tested when he realises he loves Byren's betrothed. And Piro never wanted to win a throne, now she holds the fate of a people in her hands.

The second in Jaclyn Moriarty's brilliant, acclaimed fantasy trilogy, THE COLORS OF MADELEINE!

Princess Ko's been bluffing about the mysterious absence of her father, desperately trying to keep the government running on her own. But if she can't get him back in a matter of weeks, the consequence may be a devastating war. So under the guise of a publicity stunt she gathers a group of teens -- each with a special ability -- from across the kingdom to crack the unsolvable case of the missing royals of Cello.

Chief among these is farm-boy heartthrob Elliot Baranski, more determined than ever to find his own father. And with the royal family trapped in the World with no memory of their former lives, Elliot's value to the Alliance is clear: He's the only one with a connection to the World, through his forbidden communications with Madeleine.

Through notes, letters, and late nights, Elliot and Madeleine must find a way to travel across worlds and bring missing loved ones home. The stakes are high, and the writing by turns hilarious and suspenseful, as only Jaclyn Moriarty can be.

There is no peace for King Brind'Amour's newly liberated Eriador, as Avon's evil King Greensparrow breaks the truce with border massacres and demon sorcery. War is inevitable, but would be suicidal. Even when allied with DunDarrow dwarfs, Fairborn elves, and the Riders of Eradoch, the peasant armies led by Luthien Bedwyr and his friends are hopelessly outmatched by Avon's Cyclopian legions. Meanwhile, Brind'Amour's magic must face the fiends of Avon's sorcerous dukes...

Then suddenly, Luthien is captured by Huegoth raiders and gains some astonishing information about the fate of his lost brother. Lady Deanna Wellworh discovers that she is the rightful heir to Avon's throne. And the lord of wild, distant Baranduine begins a desperate campaign to free his land from Greensparrow.

Now battle will be joined on mountain, plain and swamp, on land, sea, and in the air - in a war of courage and dire wizardries. Yet in the end, all the valor of Eriador, and all the daring of Luthien's magical alter, ego, the Crimson Shadow, may not be enough to vanquish Greensparrow's ultimate weapon. For Greensparrow isn't merely allied with the hell-monster he plans to unleash: Greensparrow is the vast and terrible being that once withstood the combined might of the ancient Brotherhood of Wizards. And in centuries of plotting world conquest, the beast has murdered the sleeping mages. Except one. Heir to a dying magic, Brind'Amour must stand alone...

In a distant corner of the Seven Kingdoms, an ancient curse festers and grows, consuming everything in its path. Only one man can break it: Harkeld of Osgaard, a prince with mage's blood in his veins. But Prince Harkeld has a bounty on his head?and assassins at his heels.

Innis is a gifted shapeshifter. Now she must do the forbidden: become a man. She must stand at Prince Harkeld's side as his armsman, protecting and deceiving him.

But the deserts of Masse are more dangerous than the assassins hunting the prince. The curse has woken deadly creatures, and the magic Prince Harkeld loathes may be the only thing standing between him and death.

The Seven Kingdoms are in the grip of an ancient and terrible blood curse. Thousands have died. Thousands more will die. Only one man can end the curse.

The fugitive Osgaardan prince, Harkeld, is that man?whether he likes it or not. But the bounty on Harkeld's head is high. He has outrun his father's soldiers, but he can't outrun the assassins who seek him?Fithians, trained in the art of killing. Even the Sentinel mages who guide and guard him are no match for Fithian steel. Faced with the ever-present threat of death, Harkeld must learn to use his fire magic. Or die.

Meanwhile, dark plots are unfolding in Osgaard's gold-tiled palace, snaring Princess Brigitta and those she loves. And in the eastern kingdoms, young orphan Jaumé journeys with a band of mysterious and dangerous fighters, heading north for a purpose he does not understand.

Those who drink the water shall thirst for blood. They shall be as wild beasts.

A curse is ravaging the Seven Kingdoms. Fugitive Osgaardan prince, Harkeld, is the one person who can destroy it. Guarded by Sentinel mages, pursued by Fithian assassins, he begins the final?and most dangerous?stage of his quest: entering the cursed kingdom of Sault, where drinking even one drop of water means madness and death.

But the mages aren't the only travelers heading east. Princess Brigitta, abducted by the Fithians, is also bound for Sault?unless she can escape. And in close pursuit is her loyal armsman, Karel.

Young orphan, Jaumé, is also headed for Sault?where he will be forced to make decisions that will change the fate of the Seven Kingdoms forever.

To the King a Daughter begins the cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan: the four powers of the world who have been warring for centuries. The Clan of Ash is slowly dying, their totem tree in the sacred square withering away to nothing. There is a prophecy that a daughter of Ash will rise again, but none have survived the mass killings, thereby rendering the prophecy unfillable.

But deep in the swamps, in the care of the witch-healer all need and all fear, there is a young girl-woman who can not be the witch's daughter; a girl who, in fact, by virtue of her beauty and elegance and simmering power, can only be a Daughter of Ash, the one who will rise to fulfill the prophecy--and the destiny of her birthright.

WAR AND MADNESS CAST SHADOWS OVER THE LANDS DRAGONS ONCE RULED.Geder Palliako's star is rising. He is a hero of Antea, protector to the crown prince, and darling of the court. But storms from his past are gathering, and with them, a war that will change everything. Cithrin bel Sarcour founded a powerful bank on stolen wealth, forged papers, and ready blades. Now every move she makes is observed, recorded, and controlled. Unless Cithrin can free herself from her gilded cage, the life she made will be for naught; war may provide just the opportunity she needs. An apostate priest sees the hidden hand behind all: a long-buried secret of the dragon empire threatens everything humanity has built. An age of madness and death approaches, with only a few doomed heroes to stand in its way.

Two men rebel together against tyranny--and then become rivals--in this first sweeping book of an epic fantasy series from Ken Liu, recipient of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards.

Wily, charming Kuni Garu, a bandit, and stern, fearless Mata Zyndu, the son of a deposed duke, seem like polar opposites. Yet, in the uprising against the emperor, the two quickly become the best of friends after a series of adventures fighting against vast conscripted armies, silk-draped airships, and shapeshifting gods. Once the emperor has been overthrown, however, they each find themselves the leader of separate factions--two sides with very different ideas about how the world should be run and the meaning of justice.

Fans of intrigue, intimate plots, and action will find a new series to embrace in the Dandelion Dynasty.

A cataclysmic battle to save the city of Nexus has left the four noble heirs scattered across the realms.

Taesia, the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider, and Nikolas, the reluctant soldier of House Cyr, have been cast into Noctus, the realm of eternal night. But they are not alone. The dangerous and unpredictable god of light has traveled with them, and he will do anything in his power to destroy Noctus in his bid for cosmic control.

Risha, the peacekeeping necromancer of House Vakara, must navigate her way through Mortri, the realm of death. But still she cannot help the wayward spirits, nor does she have any idea how to return home. All she knows is that no mortal can survive for long in Mortri. And the creatures that prowl the realm of death don't take kindly to the living.

Angelica, the stubborn elementalist of House Mardova, is on her own in Vitae, trying to keep Nexus from unraveling. But Angelica secretly suffers from an illness that her god left in her veins. And when she is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission, she knows that any weakness will have disastrous repercussions for her family, her kingdom, and her dreams of the throne.

All will encounter old friends and new enemies as they attempt to restore the balance of the universe. But the gods grow stronger. And their descendants will need more than their magic and their wits to survive the war that is coming...

"Fire on the Mountain Shall Find the Harp of Gold Played to Wake the Sleepers, Oldest of the Old..."

With the final battle between the Light and the Dark soon approaching, Will sets out on a quest to call for aid. Hidden within the Welsh hills is a magical harp that he must use to wake the Sleepers - six noble riders who have slept for centuries.

But an illness has robbed Will of nearly all his knowledge of the Old Ones, and he is left only with a broken riddle to guide him in his task. As Will travels blindly through the hills, his journey will bring him face-to-face with the most powerful Lord of the Dark - the Grey King. The King holds the harp and Sleepers within his lands, and there has yet to be a force strong enough to tear them from his grasp...

Van, a former soldier made slave, toils away endlessly in a salt mine. An unexpected chance at liberation drops in his lap when a pack of infected dogs passes through, killing everyone but him and a young girl he names Yuna. Van hopes to make a peaceful life for them both now that they've escaped. However, the disease that cleared out the mine begins to spread, endangering the nation and placing Van and his ward at the center of a conflict greater than any the world has ever seen.

Thus begins a tale of ecosystems, viruses, and cultural relations.

Van's chase to rescue the kidnapped Yuna leads him to the Ahfal Oma, the People of the Fire Horse. They reveal that the sickness plaguing Aquafa is no random resurgence but a carefully orchestrated revenge plan, and they want the leader of the Lone Antlers to join. Van can't abide a destructive quest that threatens all of Aquafa, but he's still only one man. And how can a single man stop a disease--especially one that already lives within him?

After the horrifying explosion that claimed one of their own, the Diviners find themselves wanted by the US government, and on the brink of war with the King of Crows.

While Memphis and Isaiah run for their lives from the mysterious Shadow Men, Isaiah receives a startling vision of a girl, Sarah Beth Olson, who could shift the balance in their struggle for peace. Sarah Beth says she knows how to stop the King of Crows - but she will need the Diviners' help to do it. Elsewhere, Jericho has returned after his escape from Jake Marlowe's estate, where he has learned the shocking truth behind the King of Crows' plans. Now the Diviners must travel to Bountiful, Nebraska, in hope of joining forces with Sarah Beth and stopping the King of Crows and his army of the dead forever. But as rumours of towns becoming ghost-towns and the dead developing unprecedented powers begin to surface, all hope seems lost.

In this sweeping finale, the Diviners will be forced to confront their greatest fears and learn to rely on one another if they hope to save the nation - and world - from catastrophe.

For decades the lands of the Ironship Syndicate have been defended by the Blood-blessed - men and women able to channel the powers contained in the potent blood of wild drakes. Elite spies and assassins, their loyalty has established the Syndicate's position as the greatest power in the known world.

Yet now a crisis looms. The drake bloodlines are weakening, and war with the Corvantine Empire seems inevitable. The Syndicate's only hope of survival lies with the myth of a legendary drake, whose powerful blood might just turn the tide of the war - if it even exists.

The task of hunting down this fabled creature falls to Claydon Torcreek, a petty thief and unregistered Blood-blessed. He's handled many valuable things in his time (most of them illegal) but nothing as priceless as his nation's future.

As a young mathematician, Jim Eckert was transported to a parallel medieval world where he found he had the ability to transform himself into a large but none-too-bright dragon named Gorbash. Long since settled, Jim--now the Baron de Bois de Malencontri et Riveroak--must once again assume the form of the Dragon Knight to save the enchanted realm.

Quinn returns in THE GHOUL KING, another story of the Dreaming Cities by Guy Haley.

The Knight, Quinn, is down on his luck, and he travels to the very edge of the civilized world -- whatever that means, any more -- to restock his small but essential inventory.

After fighting a series of gladiatorial bouts against the dead, he finds himself in the employ of a woman on a quest to find the secret to repairing her semi-functional robot.

But the technological secret it guards may be one truth too many...

Aileana Kameron, resurrected by ancient fae magic, returns to the world she once knew with no memory of her past and with dangerous powers she struggles to control. Desperate to break the curse that pits two factions of the fae against each other in a struggle that will decide the fate of the human and fae worlds, her only hope is hidden in an ancient book guarded by the legendary Morrigan, a faery of immense power and cruelty. To save the world and the people she loves, Aileana must learn to harness her dark new powers even as they are slowly destroying her.

As plague and famine scourge the Winter Kingdoms, a vast invasion force is mustering from beyond the Northern Sea. And at its heart, a dark spirit mage wields the blood magic of ancient, vanquished gods.

Summoner-King Martris Drayke must attempt to meet this great threat, gathering an army from a country ravaged by civil war. And neighbouring lands reel toward anarchy while plague decimates their leaders. Drayke must seek new allies from among the living - and the dead - as an untested generation of rulers face their first battle.

Then someone disturbs the legendary Dread as they rest in a millennia-long slumber beneath sacred barrows. Their warrior guardians, the Sworn, know the Dread could be pivotal as a force for great good or evil. But if it's the latter, could even the Summoner-King's sorcery prevail?

Summoner-King Tris Drayke takes what remains of the Margolan army north to fight a war Margolan is ill-prepared to fight, as reports from spies confirm Tris' worst fear. A new threat rises across the sea: a dark summoner who intends to make the most of the Winter Kingdoms' weakness.

And in Isencroft, King Donelan is assassinated and Tris's wife, Kiara, will now have no choice except to return and claim the crown. But the rogue mage's agents will go to any length to prevent her from reaching her goal.

Kiara and Tris must discover the truth behind the dark summoner, the mysterious power surrounding their infant son, and face the awesome power of the Dread as they rise from their barrows for the first time in over a millennium.

The Far Kingdoms...a place of bright sunlight surrounded by dark, deadly wilderness. A place where the princes and magicians were kind and wise beyond all imagination. A place where wine and song were always sweet, every purse was fat with gold, and every heart at ease. The Far Kingdoms... said to lie in the distant east, across the straits of the Narrow Sea, beyond the benighted Pepper Coast, in uncharted territory. The Far Kingdoms... a place no one could reach even if it were real - which surely it wasn't.

Young, pampered Amalric Antero cared only for real places and possible dreams. The time had come to Find His Tradewind, to make the traditional journey seeking out new lands, new riches, new customers as his merchant father, and his father's father, had done before him. He meant only to do as all young traders did: travel to the known lands in the west and return home having proved himself able to deal well with his father's customers. Nothing more was expected. But then he met Janos Greycloak, a dashing soldier who dabbled in forbidden magic and who carried on him proof of riches and mysteries beyond imagination. And suddenly Amalric found himself setting out on the adventure of a lifetime, a daring and perilous quest through unknown lands peopled by nightmares, to seek the ultimate in fables... The Far Kingdoms!

Captain Rali Emilie Antero came from an illustrious family of traders, wizards, and adventurers. But Rali cared little for magic, and even less for journeying. She was a soldier, captain of the elite Maranon Guard, staunch defenders of the majestic city of Orissa. But her family legacy was about to catch up with her. For the Guard's latest mission was sheer suicide: a sea-going odyssey in search of an evil master wizard--the last Archon of Lycanth--who had fled with a secret doomsday spell that could destroy all of civilization. It would be Rali's greatest challenge: a desperate pursuit, raging across the great Western Sea to the fire reefs that marked the end of the world--and beyond, to places unmarked even in legend. But only in the uncharted territories of her own soul--and the heritage of the Anteros--would Rali find the power to defeat the Archon and return to Orissa in triumph.

Ever since Amalric Antero returned from the legendary Far Kingdoms, bringing with him magic and riches, the people of Orissa believed they lived in a golden age. Even Amalric did not suspect the truth: that dark forces from another world threatened his beloved city. Then a beautiful stranger arrived claiming to be the great-granddaughter of Janos Greycloak, master-wizard and betrayer of Amalric's youth. And Amalric learned that the idyllic lands he had thought were the Far Kingdoms were not - and that the real Far Kingdoms, the Kingdoms of the Night, were all that stood between civilization and unimaginably evil powers from another world.

For those who thrill to the adventure and wonder of The Anteros, here is the book in which all the secrets from Kingdoms of the Night are finally, dazzlingly, revealed. For new initiates, this tale stands alone, entry to a world of intrigue, high drama, derring-do... and, most of all, magic!

All of Orissa believed that Rali Emilie Antero, legendary warrior and sorceress extraordinaire, was dead, lost at sea during some grand adventure gone wrong. In fact, Rali was not dead, but left entombed in ice to dream for eternity--until a goddess needed her for one last quest. Novari, a beautiful succubus intent on achieving ultimate power, had swept the world by storm. All the Anteros had been assassinated--save one: a golden, magical child named Emilie. Novari had succeeded in taking Orissa. Now she had only to sieze little Emilie, as well. But she never counted on the return of Rali Antero.

FAMILY. KINGDOM. SELF. THE FATE OF THE WORLD HINGES ON MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE. Blood Against Blood: The name of the ancient curse that protects members of the Black Family from murdering each other. But what if circumstances justify the death? What if a family member needs to die? Gift faces this dilemma. A powerful presence has taken over his sister Arianna's mind, and Arianna rules the Fey. If that presence takes over the Empire, the world will end. But something awful will happen if Gift harms his sister. The Black Throne itself complicates everything. Because the Throne, a living entity in its own right, wants Gift to rule, not Arianna. Does Gift do what's best for his family? For the Fey Empire? Or for himself? And how can he know what's best? The magic confuses, the Throne tempts, and his sister's mind seems gone. Gift must make the right choice or doom everyone--and everything.

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Sisters Lu and Min have always known their places as the princesses of the Empire of the First Flame: assertive Lu will be named her father's heir and become the dynasty's first female ruler, while timid Min will lead a quiet life in Lu's shadow. Until their father names their male cousin Set his heir instead, sending ripples through the realm and throwing both girls' lives into utter chaos.

Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu has no choice but to go on the run, leaving Min to face the volatile court alone. Lu soon crosses paths with Nokhai, the lone, unlikely survivor of the Ashina, a clan of nomadic wolf shapeshifters. Nok never learned to shift--or to trust the empire that killed his family--but working with the princess might be the only way to unlock his true power.

As Lu and Nok form a shaky alliance, Min's own hidden power awakens, a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set's reign... or allow her to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one emperor, and the sisters' greatest enemy could very well turn out to be each other.

This sweeping fantasy set against a world of buried ancient magic and political intrigue weaves an unforgettable story of ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice.

Princess Lu knows that the throne of the Empire of the First Flame rightfully belongs to her. After all, she is the late Emperor's firstborn and has trained for the role all her life. And she can't forget made a promise to shapeshifter Nok, the boy she came to love, to win justice for his now powerless people. But even with an army at her side, Lu will need to face down a major obstacle: the current sitting Empress, her once beloved younger sister, Min.

Princess Min used to live in Lu's shadow. But now she can control a powerful, ancient magic, and she's determined to use it to forge her own path and a strong future for the Empire, even if that means making enemies in court. But Min's magic isn't entirely under her control, and she must learn how to tame it before it consumes her... and the entire realm.

Lu and Min are set for a confrontation that can't be stopped. But the Empire faces threats greater than their rivalry, and even if they choose to stand together, it could cost them both the throne-or their lives.

When the citizens of Black Keep see ships on the horizon, terror takes them, for they know who is coming: for generations, Black Keep has been raided by the fearsome clanspeople of Iwernia.

Saddling their war dragons, the Naridans rush to defend their home only to discover that the clanspeople have not come to pillage at all. Driven from their own homeland by the rise of a daemonic despot who prophesies the end of the world, they have come in search of a new home.

Meanwhile the wider continent of Narida is lurching toward war. Black Keep is about to be caught in the cross-fire of the coming war for the world - if only its new mismatched society can survive.

Still reeling from the events of The Black Coast, and the rise of the daemonic warlord, the political machinations, betrayals, new friendships, duels and battles continue to unfold as new characters appear and old return.

As the quest for the new God-King begins and a deadly coup is planned, the Nardia seems to be a kingdom forever in turmoil.

War comes to Narida and Nothing Will Be The Same Again.

As the Black Keep Council prepares for war, journeying far to protect their lands and friend, The God-King and his sister try to keep Narida together in the face of betrayal while the Splinter King remains at large.

The Golden and his hordes of raiders press their advantage and sweep across the land with unholy powers.

Sacrifices will be made, and not everyone will make it back to Black Keep alive...

Survivor of a combat school, the orphaned Bingmei belongs to a band of mercenaries employed by a local ruler. Now the nobleman, and collector of rare artifacts, has entrusted Bingmei and the skilled team with a treacherous assignment: brave the wilderness's dangers to retrieve the treasures of a lost palace buried in a glacier valley. But upsetting its tombs has a price.

Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom, ruler of darkness, Dragon of Night, has long been entombed. Now Bingmei has unwittingly awakened him and is answerable to a legendary prophecy. Destroying the dark lord before he reclaims the kingdoms of the living is her inherited mission. Killing Bingmei before she fulfills it is Echion's.

Thrust unprepared into the role of savior, urged on by a renegade prince, and possessing a magic that is her destiny, Bingmei knows what she must do. But what must she risk to honor her ancestors? Bingmei's fateful choice is one that neither her friends nor her enemies can foretell, as Echion's dark war for control unfolds.

The young warrior Bingmei pits her courage, combat skills, and very life against a brutal tyrant's dark magic...

The orphaned Bingmei didn't choose to be a hero. She has no wish to cross the Death Wall to save the world. But she has awakened Echion, emperor of the Grave Kingdom and Dragon of Night, and it is her destiny to defy him. From his imperial city of ancient sorcery and immortal darkness, Echion conspires to fulfill his own destiny: vanquish Bingmei, revive his queen, and rule together for another eon unchallenged.

Traversing a labyrinth of caves and mountains, Bingmei and her band of allies prepare their defense against a fateful war they cannot win. But when they are overcome by Echion's terrible power, Bingmei is left vulnerable to a ruthless assassin... one with orders to capture, not kill.

Before he destroys her, Echion craves something more than Bingmei's soul. Only she has the power to resurrect Echion's ancient queen, Xisi, whose evil is matched only by his own. Once reunited, their dark shadow will fall like a shroud over the realms. To be a savior, Bingmei must first survive what she has unleashed, and to survive she must begin to understand the seeds of power she's never learned to control.

To defeat an immortal evil, a young warrior must enter the land of the dead...

As kingdoms fall, brave young warrior Bingmei fights to fulfill a prophecy and save what's left of the world from the coming darkness. Should she fail, Echion, the diabolical Dragon of Night, and his queen will hold sway over the next thousand years. With Echion comes his unstoppable army of dragons--powerful, vengeful, and under his control.

Accompanied by her loyal friend Quion, Bingmei journeys toward her last hope. It lies among the savage beasts just beyond the ancient Death Wall--an uninhabited realm from which no one has ever returned alive. Bingmei's mission is to find the phoenix shrine and learn the Immortal Words that will allow her to harness eternal magic. With Echion and his legions in pursuit, Bingmei must choose her words wisely to break Echion's spell and accept her fate.

Bingmei knows what she must do. She must join the ranks of the dead as well. For a fearless and selfless warrior, it's the ultimate sacrifice. But Bingmei is about to discover that even in death, the greatest sacrifices are yet to come.

Deep in the shadowy foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains lies a dying town...

My name is Amelia Gray. They call me The Graveyard Queen. I've been commissioned to restore an old cemetery in Asher Falls, South Carolina, but I'm coming to think I have another purpose here.

Why is there a cemetery at the bottom of Bell Lake? Why am I drawn time and again to a hidden grave I've discovered in the woods? Something is eating away at the soul of this town--this withering kingdom--and it will only be restored if I can uncover the truth.

Face your demons... or feed them.

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country's bloody civil war?and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka's coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren't meant to stay buried?and some wounds aren't meant to heal.

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm - and even the monster within - to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.

Guin has found the Lagon, but now he must best their mightiest warrior, if he is to have any chance of acquiring the giants' aid. Meanwhile, the tenuous Sem alliance has become unglued, leaving them exposed to the Mongauli scouts, who quickly report their location to Lady Amnelis. Now, it is the Mongauli army's turn to trap the Sem. Guin must return with help in time to save his friends.

The Guin Saga is epic heroic fantasy in the same vein as Robert E. Howard's Conan, the Barbarian. More than a hundred books strong and growing, the saga has sold more than twenty-five million copies in Japan. Vertical will publish the first five installments that comprise "The Marches Episode" arc.

Prophecies unfold, legends turn real, and a war of mythical proportions endangers the realm in Ilana C. Myer's epic fantasy The Poet King, the follow-up to her critically-acclaimed Fire Dance, continuing The Harp and Ring Sequence.

After a surprising upheaval, the nation of Tamryllin has a new ruler: Elissan Diar, who proclaims himself the first Poet King. Not all in court is happy with this regime change, as Rianna secretly schemes against him while she investigates a mysterious weapon he hides in the bowels of the palace.

Meanwhile, a civil war rages in a distant land, and former Court Poet Lin Amaristoth gathers allies old and new to return to Tamryllin in time to stop the coronation. For the Poet King's ascension is connected with a darker, more sinister prophecy which threatens to unleash a battle out of legend unless Lin and her friends can stop it.

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Kaito Ukei was destined for greatness in his new world, landing himself the role of a hero and defeating the evil sorceress alongside a band of noble adventurers. When he's double crossed, though, and brutally murdered by his former allies, something inside him snaps. Death brings Kaito neither peace nor salvation. Rather, it instills in him a singular desire--to squeeze the life out of his blasted betrayers in the cruellest manner possible...! The strange twist of fate that gives him a second chance in the world with all his memories intact provides opportunity to do just that, and so begins his quest to stalk and torture the members of his former party in the bloodiest, unholiest, most sadistic ways imaginable!

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

Now that Kaito Ukei's been given another shot at life, he has set out on his journey to exact revenge on the party members who brutally murdered him. He walks this path of vengeance with the beastfolk girl Minnalis, inching toward the capital to carry out his plan. Their first stop along the way? The City of Learning, Elmia. There, he brushes shoulders with the band of adventurers who purged the place most precious to him...as well as the damned Eumis--the traitorous spellcaster who turned her back on him in his time of need!

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

As Kaito plots his revenge against Eumis, he discovers that the spellcaster has bolstered her powers by selling her sister Shuria's soul to a demon. Not one to let an opportunity to humiliate his foes go to waste, Kaito saves the girl from the brink of death and invites her to join him and Minnalis on their quest for vengeance. Now the stage is set for the three partners in crime to corner their common enemy and strip her of everything she holds dear in a spectacular act of retribution...

The next target on Kaito's quest for vengeance is Grond the merchant, a money-hungry villain who goes as far as murder to satisfy his greed. But when Kaito finally gets Grond in his clutches, he forces the corrupt magnate to make an impossible choice: Would he rather part with his money or his life?

Sights set on their next target, Kaito, Minnalis, and Shuria travel to the magical city of Karvanheim, where they find Minnalis's traitorous childhood friends leading carefree lives. But soon, the partners in crime come across an obstacle not even Kaito could have foreseen: a merchant woman named Leone who was also summoned from Japan and remembers the world of Kaito's first life. Still possessed of her morals, Leone attempts to interfere with the trio's rampage of revenge... but there's no stopping Minnalis from exacting hellish reprisal on the people who doomed her to slavery and killed her mother.

A DEVASTATING HOMECOMING

Metelia ambushes Kaito just after he completes his latest feat of vengeance, forcing him through a portal to his home of present-day Japan. Stripped of his memories, Kaito comes to terms with his tragic new reality - a world where almost everyone he knows is dead, having been sacrificed when he was summoned as a hero the first time, and the few survivors of the incident are being hunted by a group of conspiracy theorists. Even this fragile status quo is disrupted when an assassin nearly succeeds in taking his life. But the brush with death restores Kaito's memories and powers, giving him the perfect opportunity to take revenge on his assailants and chart a course back to his partners in crime...

Once again the Kingdom of Gwynedd under young King Kelson found itself facing the horror of war between the Church and the Deryni. As the Pretender Queen plotted to free Meara from Gwynedd's control, and the ex-Archbishop hatched a devious plan, it looked like the peace of Gwynedd was to be a thing of the past....

Young Kelson Haldane, King of Gwynedd, heir to both royal and Deryni magical powers, was still no match for ex-Archbishop Loris and the Pretender Queen Caitrin who sought his death. Yet, he raised an army against them both, knowing that honor made defeat impossible...

When young Kelson, King of Gwynedd is reported drowned in a search for the legendary Saint Camber, Nigel was deemed to be king. But his son, Conoll, was too jealous and struck down his own father. Conoll had forgotten Saint Camber.

Speculation runs rampant throughout the kingdom of Gwynedd as to when, and to whom, King Kelson will finally be wed. As a rival monarch takes his rightful place on the throne of a nearby land, it becomes more imperative than ever that Kelson produce a long-awaited heir.

With the mystical Deryni blood flowing through his veins, Kelson can only hope for a woman whose power and conviction are equal to his own. Love is set aside for duty -- and Kelson the king must make the choice that Kelson the man cannot....

Born in tragedy and raised in poverty, Krishanjit never aspired to be anything greater than what he was: a humble goatherd, tending his flock on the slopes of his isolated mountain home.

But Krish has learned that he's the son of the king of Ashanesland - and the moon god reborn. Now, with the aid of his allies, Krish is determined to fight his murderous father and seize control of Ashanesland. But his allies Dae Hyo, Eric and Olufemi, are dangerously unreliable and hiding secrets of their own.

To take Ashanesland, Krish must travel to the forbidden Mirror Town and unlock the secrets of its powerful magic. But the price of his victory may be much greater than the consequences of his defeat... For, deep in the distant Moon Forest lives a girl called Cwen - a disciple of the god known only as the Hunter. She believes that Krish represents all that is evil in the world. And she has made it her life's mission to seek Krish and destroy all who fight by his side.

War comes to Terra through the eldritch webway, as the immortal Emperor and his Custodians take up arms against Chaos to preserve the future of all mankind.

Untold billions curse the name of Horus as an arch-traitor, one who has brought strife to the galaxy on an almost unimaginable scale. However, there are some who whisper instead that the blame lies with the Emperor himself. Years after retreating from the Great Crusade to unknown endeavours beneath the Imperial Palace on Terra, he now wages a very different kind of war deep within the ancient eldar webway--a war against all the daemonic forces of Chaos.

Broken by the destruction of their home world Prospero at the hands of the Space Wolves Legion, Magnus the Red and the Thousand Sons retreat into the Eye of Terror. Is there any way for the Crimson King to rise again?

After the razing of Prospero, Magnus the Red spirited the Thousand Sons away to the Planet of the Sorcerers, deep within the Eye of Terror. Removed from the concerns of the galaxy at large and regarding the Warmaster's unfolding Heresy with cold detachment, Magnus has dedicated his hollow existence to the preservation of all the knowledge once held in the great libraries of Tizca, should mankind ever seek such enlightenment again. But his sons can see the change in their primarch--he is a broken soul, whose mind and memories are slipping away into the tumult of the warp. Only by returning to the scenes of his greatest triumphs and tragedies can they hope to restore him, and allow the Crimson King to be crowned anew by the Ruinous Powers.

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the debut novel from a major new voice in fantasy fiction.

In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a strange homeless man on an impulse. This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy. Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city. And Oree's guest is at the heart of it. . .

The incredible conclusion to the Inheritance Trilogy, from one of fantasy's most acclaimed stars.

For two thousand years the Arameri family has ruled the world by enslaving the very gods that created mortalkind. Now the gods are free, and the Arameri's ruthless grip is slipping. Yet they are all that stands between peace and world-spanning, unending war.

Shahar, last scion of the family, must choose her loyalties. She yearns to trust Sieh, the godling she loves. Yet her duty as Arameri heir is to uphold the family's interests, even if that means using and destroying everyone she cares for.

As long-suppressed rage and terrible new magics consume the world, the Maelstrom -- which even gods fear -- is summoned forth. Shahar and Sieh: mortal and god, lovers and enemies. Can they stand together against the chaos that threatens?

Includes a never before seen story set in the world of the Inheritance Trilogy.

The long awaited sequel to the Inheritance trilogy -- a novella by award winning author N. K. Jemisin where a godling must struggle to grow in the shadow of her parents.

SOME TRUTHS MUST BE LEARNED THE HARD WAY...

As the first new godling born in thousands of years -- and the heir presumptive to Sieh the Trickster -- Shill's got big shoes to fill. She's well on her way when she defies her parents and sneaks off to the mortal realm, which is no place for an impressionable young god. In short order she steals a demon's grandchild, gets herself embroiled in a secret underground magical dance competition, and offends her oldest and most powerful sibling.

But for Eino, the young Darren man whom Shill has befriended, the god-child's silly games are serious business. Trapped in an arranged marriage and prohibited from pursuing his dreams, he has had enough. He will choose his own fate, even if he must betray a friend in the process -- and Shill might just have to grow up faster than she thinks.

It’s cold. The wells of power are weakening and the forces of Night grow strong. The gods are real, and still have some power, mostly to do harm. The Instrumentalities of the Night are the worst of these.

Piper Hecht, born Else Tage, survived a battle with the Instrumentalities. Now he’s Captain-General of the armies fighting a crusade for Patriarch Sublime V. Intrigues swirl around the throne of the Grail Empire, as the imperial family’s enemy Anne of Menand raises money to help the perpetually indebted Patriarch finance his crusades. To reduce his own vulnerability, sickly young Emperor Lothar assigns his two half-sisters—his immediate heirs—to their own realms.

Now Piper Hecht learns that the legendary sorcerer Cloven Februaren, referred to as the Ninth Unknown, is still alive, more than 100 years old, and on Piper’s side. As the dynastic politics of the Empire become even more convoluted, it’s clear that while the old gods may be fading, they’re determined to do everything they can to bend the doings of men to their own advantage.

Sieges, explosions, betrayals, Anti-Patriarchs, and suspicious deaths will ensue as the great chess game plays itself out, with Piper Hecht at the center of it all…

Contains:

• Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons
• The Dead Lady of Clown Town
• Drunkboat
• The Ballad of Lost C'Mell
• A Planet Named Shayol

Finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story

This short story originally appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction, October 1955. It has been reprinted many times and can be found in the anthologies:

• The Best Science Fiction Stories and Novels: 1956 (1956), edited by T. E. Dikty
• Best SF Three: Science Fiction Stories (1958), edited by Edmund Crispin
• The Third Galaxy Reader (1958), edited by H. L. Gold
• The Mirror of Infinity: A Critics' Anthology of Science Fiction (1970), edited by Robert Silverberg
• A Science Fiction Argosy (1972), edited by Damon Knight
• Supernatural Cats (1972), edited by Claire Necker
• As Tomorrow Becomes Today (1974), edited by Charles W. Sullivan
• Science Fiction: Contemporary Mythology: The SFWA-SFRA Anthology (1978), edited by Patricia Warrick, Martin Harry Greenberg and Joseph Olander
• The Road to Science Fiction 3: From Heinlein to Here (1979), edited by James Gunn
• Fantastic Creatures (1981), edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh
• Magicats! (1984), edited by Jack Dann and Garder Dozois
• The Great SF Stories 17 (1955) (1988), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Isaac Asimov
• Space-Fighters (1988), edited by Charles G. Waugh, Martin Harry Greenberg and Joe Haldeman
• A Century of Science Fiction 1950-1959 (1997), edited by Robert Silverberg
• The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century (2001), edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Harry Turtledove
• The Ultimate Cyberpunk (2002), edited by Pat Cadigan
• The Space Opera Renaissance (2006), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
• The Mammoth Book of SF Wars (2012), edited by Ian Watson and Ian Whates
• The Big Book of Science Fiction (2016), edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
• Infinite Stars (2017), edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

The story is included in the collections:

• You Will Never Be The Same (1963)
• Under Old Earth and Other Explorations (1970)
• The Best of Cordwainer Smith (1975), reissued as The Rediscovery of Man in the SF Masterworks series in 1999.
• The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith (1993)
• When the People Fell (2007)

A collection of 14 short science fiction stories by the author of "Norstrilia" and "The Rediscovery of Man". Each tale is set in an extraordinary universe of scanners, planoforming ships and animal-derived Underpeople.

Table of Contents:

• Timeline from The Instrumentality of Mankind - (1975) - essay by John J. Pierce
• Introduction - essay by Frederik Pohl
• No, No, Not Rogov! - (1959)
• War No. 81-Q - (1928)
• Mark Elf - (1957)
• The Queen of the Afternoon - (1978)
• When the People Fell - (1959)
• Think Blue, Count Two - (1963)
• The Colonel Came Back from the Nothing-at-All - (1979)
• From Gustible's Planet - (1962)
• Drunkboat - (1963)
• Western Science Is So Wonderful - (1958)
• Nancy - (1959)
• The Fife of Bodidharma - (1959)
• Angerhelm - (1959)
• The Good Friends - (1963)

Welcome to the strangest, most distinctive future ever imagined by a science fiction writer. An insterstellar empire ruled by the mysterious Lords of the Instrumentality, whose access to the drug stroon from the planet Norstrilia confers on them virtual immortality. A world in which wealthy and leisured humanity is served by the underpeople, genetically engineered animals turned into the semblance of people. A world in which the great ships which sail between the stars are eventually supplanted by the mysterious, instantaneous technique of planoforming. A world of wonder and myth, and extraordinary imagination.

(Note that this collection was originally published in 1975 as The Best of Cordwainer Smith, the 3rd book in Ballantine's Classic Library of Science Fiction. It was then republished as The Rediscovery of Man in 1988 as VGSF Classics #25, then again in 1999 as a Gollancz SF Masterworks edition. It is a different collection from the NESFA press collection The Rediscovery of Man: The Complete Short Science Fiction of Cordwainer Smith, which has different contents).

Table of Contents:

• Cordwainer Smith: The Shaper of Myths - essay by John J. Pierce
• The Instrumentality of Mankind (timeline) - essay by John J. Pierce
• Scanners Live in Vain (1950) - novelette
• The Lady Who Sailed the Soul (1960) - novelette by Genevieve Linebarger and Cordwainer Smith
• The Game of Rat and Dragon (1955) - short story
• The Burning of the Brain (1958) - short story
• Golden the Ship Was -- Oh! Oh! Oh! (1959) - short story by Genevieve Linebarger and Cordwainer Smith
• The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal (1964) - short story
• The Dead Lady of Clown Town (1964) - novella
• Under Old Earth (1966) - novelette
• Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons (1961) - novelette
• Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (1961) - novelette
• The Ballad of Lost C'mell (1962) - novelette
• A Planet Named Shayol (1961) - novelette

A cosmos of beauty and terror on the far side of time

The universe you will explore in these stories by a famous science fiction author is surely one of the most colourful and weird ever conceived.

Untold millennia in the future, a thousand planets throughout the galaxy acknowledge one ruler – the Instrumentality of Mankind. Giant planoforming ships travel the hazardous spaceways. Men and women genetically 'built' from animals do civilization's labour – and plot in secret, planning revolution. But the hell-planet Shayol with its bizarre torments awaits those who rebel against the dictatorial yoke of the Instrumentality...

Table of Contents

• Introduction - essay by Anthony Cheetham
• The Game of Rat and Dragon (1955) - short story
• On the Sand Planet (1965) - novelette
• Under Old Earth (1966) - novelette
• Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (1961) - novelette
• The Ballard of Lost C'Mell (1962) - novelette
• The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal (1964) - short story
• A Planet Named Shayol (1961) - novelette

Table of Contents:

• No, No, Not Rogov! - (1959)
• The Lady Who Sailed the Soul - (1960) - novelette by Cordwainer Smith and Genevieve Linebarger
• Scanners Live in Vain - (1950)
• The Game of Rat and Dragon - (1955)
• The Burning of the Brain - (1958) -
• Golden the Ship Was - Oh! Oh! Oh! - (1959) - shortstory by Cordwainer Smith and Genevieve Linebarger
• Alpha Ralpha Boulevard - (1961)
• Mark Elf - (1957)

Nebula Award nominated novella. It originally appeared in Galaxy Magazine, February 1965. The story can also be found in the anthologies A Day in the Life (1972) edited by Gardner Dozois, The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels (1980), edited by Robert Silverberg and Martin H. Greenberg, and Modern Classic Short Novels of Science Fiction (1994), edited by Gardner Dozois. It is included in the collections Quest of the Three Worlds (1966) and When the People Fell (2007).

Four novellas with the same main character Caher O'Neill.

Contains:

• On the Gem Planet
• On the Storm Planet
• On the Sand Planet
• Three to a Given Star

Norstrilia tells the story of a boy form the planet Old North Australia (where rich, simple farmers grow the immortality drug Stroon), how he bought Old Earth, and how his visit to Earth changed both him and Earth itself.

When his ultra-logical computer tells him that to survive he must become the richest man in the universe, Rod McBan the hundred and fifty-first thought he had a good plan. A telepathic cripple, rejected by many of his people, owner of the Station of Doom, the safety of wealth would keep him safe. In one crowded, unbelievable night he achieved the impossible, became the richest boy in the galaxy.

But Rod McBan will soon discover that money brings trouble. A galaxy of people and other beings – out to rob him, use him or kill him!

Rod McBan owned Earth.

One night of frenzied manipulation had made an obscure rancer on a far planet the richest man in history, and the sole owner of Man's home planet. It had also made him the target of every criminal in the Universe.

There was one way Rod McBan could reach the planet he owned - alive. But it meant he would have to die first...

The Planet Buyer and The Underpeople were combined into the novel Norstrilia.

The Underpeople were mutated from animal stock to serve mankind. They lived Deepdown in the forgotten corridors and caverns of Old Earth, servants to the men who bred them in their own image.

But even the Underpeople dream - and often have strange powers. And now they have a strange ally in the richest man who ever lived: the man who owned the whole planet.

The Planet Buyer and The Underpeople were combined into the novel Norstrilia.

The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter...

On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony's erudite university and Mossa's former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth's pre-collapse ecosystems.

Pleiti has dedicated her research and her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti's assistance in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path in which the future of life on Earth is at stake and, perhaps, their futures, together.

In a magical world where animals have been given human form and chaos can often be the nature of the day, some universal truths remain. Like the futility of war and the foolishness of leaders. And, of course, the lingering prejudice against the Newlies, the humanized animals. But Master Lizard Maker Finn has no quarrel with creatures of any sort. Just returned from a highly traumatic vacation, he wants nothing more than a period of prolonged peace with his fetching Newlie lover, Letitia, and his greatest creation, a sassy mechanical lizard named Julia Jessica Slagg.

But the Fates, in the form of the capricious Prince of Fyxedia, have other plans in store for Finn. Fyxedia's leader has commissioned Finn to build a fantastical lizard timepiece for his archrival, the mysterious King of Heldessia-an odd enough request since Fyxedia and Heldessia have been at war for 700 years. Worse, Finn has been ordered to deliver the clock himself: a mission that involves flying over the war zone in a rickety and badly patched balloon. Finn can hardly refuse the commission, but the journey is the least of his problems. For Heldessia is a land as odd as any he's encountered, and he can't help but wonder what foul plot these monarchs have in store for each other. How can one lone lizard maker, his lover, and his mechanical creation foil a plot they don't even understand--and still manage to come out of it alive?

From acclaimed, award-winning author Jo Walton: Philosopher Kings, a tale of gods and humans, and the surprising things they have to learn from one another. Twenty years have elapsed since the events of The Just City. The City, founded by the time-traveling goddess Pallas Athene, organized on the principles espoused in Plato's Republic and populated by people from all eras of human history, has now split into five cities, and low-level armed conflict between them is not unheard-of.

The god Apollo, living (by his own choice) a human life as "Pythias" in the City, his true identity known only to a few, is now married and the father of several children. But a tragic loss causes him to become consumed with the desire for revenge. Being Apollo, he goes handling it in a seemingly rational and systematic way, but it's evident, particularly to his precocious daughter Arete, that he is unhinged with grief.

Along with Arete and several of his sons, plus a boatload of other volunteers--including the now fantastically aged Marsilio Ficino, the great humanist of Renaissance Florence--Pythias/Apollo goes sailing into the mysterious Eastern Mediterranean of pre-antiquity to see what they can find--possibly the man who may have caused his great grief, possibly communities of the earliest people to call themselves "Greek." What Apollo, his daughter, and the rest of the expedition will discover... will change everything.

Taliesin, Chief Bard of Keltia, brother in sword and deed and marriage to Arthur the King, sets his magical Seeings into fated words. He tells how Arthur the lost prince, overthrows the evil, usurping Archdruid and at last comes to his own kingship. But it is a double throne which he must share by law and love with the one woman in all Keltia fit to share it with him. She is Gweniver, princess and priestess, his own cousin -- and his wife.

Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world -- where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets.

This is another thrilling, triumphantly imaginative series from Garth Nix, the best-selling author of The Seventh Tower, Sabriel, and Lirael.

The second remarkable installment in The Keys to the Kingdom, from spellbinding bestseller Garth Nix.

Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world--where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets.

Arthur doesn't think he will ever have to return to the strange house that nearly killed him on Monday--the house that contains an entire world. But Tuesday brings new challenges--in the form of an enemy named Grim Tuesday, who threatens the well-being of both Arthur's family and his world. Arthur must retrieve the Second Key from Grim Tuesday in order to save everything--an adventure that will include stealing a Sunship, surviving a very weird work camp, befriending a bear-like spirit, fighting the void-like Nithlings, and traveling in the scary Far Reaches for the ultimate showdown.

Everyone is after Arthur Penhaligon. Strange pirates. Shadowy creatures. And Drowned Wednesday, whose gluttony threatens both her world and Arthur's.

With his unlimited imagination and thrilling storytelling, Garth Nix has created a character and a world that become even more compelling with each book. As Arthur gets closer to the heart of his quest, the suspense and mystery grow more and more intense. . . .

On the fourth day there was war...

Following their adventures in the Border Sea, Arthur and Leaf head for home. But only Leaf gets through the Front Door. Arthur is blocked because someone . . . or something . . . has assumed his identity and is taking over his life.

Before Arthur can take action, he is drafted by Sir Thursday and forced to join the Glorious Army of the Architect. While Leaf tries to banish Arthur's doppleganger on earth, Arthur must survive his basic training, avoid getting posted to the Front and work out how he can free Part Four of the Will....

Four of the seven Trustees have been defeated and their Keys taken, but for Arthur, the week is still getting worse. Suzy Blue and Fred Gold Numbers have been captured by the Piper, and his New Nithling army still controls most of the Great Maze. Superior Saturday is causing trouble wherever she can, including turning off all the elevators in the House and blocking the Front Door.

Amidst all this trouble, Arthur must weigh an offer from Lady Friday that is either a cunning trap for the Rightful Heir or a golden opportunity he must seize--before he's beaten to it!

The secret of his own identity.

The identity of The Architect.

The complete Will of the House.

The fulfillment of his fate.

Arthur Penhaligon is getting closer and closer to these things... but not without risks, conflict, and adventure.

Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins.

In this thrilling conclusion to Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, Arthur Penhaligon must complete his quest to save the Kingdom he is heir to...and Arthur's world.

Drothe has been a member of the Kin for years, rubbing elbows with thieves and murderers in the employ of a crime lord while smuggling relics on the side. But when an ancient book falls into his hands, Drothe finds himself in possession of a relic capable of bringing down emperors-a relic everyone in the underworld would kill to obtain.

Drothe has killed a legend, burned down part of the imperial capital, and unexpectedly elevated himself into the underworld's elite. And as the city's newest 'Gray Prince', Drothe's learning just how good he used to have it.

With no time to build support, Drothe is already being called out by other Gray Princes. And when one dies, all signs point to Drothe. Members of the thieves' guilds begin choosing sides, mostly against him, for what promises to be another gang war. Then Drothe is approached by someone who can solve all his problems and also offer him redemption. But the cost may be just too high. Out of options, Drothe's finds himself travelling to the empire's bitterest enemy. He has a price on his head, but one last plan in mind.

Zahru has long dreamed of leaving the kingdom of Orkena and having the kinds of adventures she's only ever heard about in stories. But as a lowly Whisperer, her power to commune with animals means that her place is serving in the royal stables until the day her magic runs dry.

All that changes when the ailing ruler invokes the Crossing. A death-defying race across the desert, in which the first of his heirs to finish--and take the life of a human sacrifice at the journey's end--will ascend to the throne. With all of the kingdom abuzz, Zahru leaps at the chance to change her fate if just for a night by sneaking into the palace for a taste of the revelry. But the minor indiscretion turns into a deadly mistake when she gets caught up in a feud between the heirs and is forced to become the Crossing's human sacrifice.

Now Zahru's only hope for survival hinges on the impossible: somehow figuring out how to overcome the most dangerous people in the world.

After surviving the Crossing, Zahru has sworn off adventures. While Crown Prince Jet navigates the looming threat of war, she's content to simply figure out what the future holds for them. But they're dealt a devastating blow when prince Kasta returns with a shocking claim: he's the true winner of the Crossing and the rightful heir, and he bears the gods' mark as proof. Even more surprising--he's not the only one.

Somehow, Zahru possesses the very same mark, giving her equal right to the throne. The last thing she wants is to rule beside her would-be executioner, but she can't let Orkena fall into his merciless hands. So Zahru, Jet, and their allies must race against the clock to find a way to stop Kasta, because once he's crowned, there's no telling what horrors he'll unleash to win the war.

Zahru will do whatever it takes to keep Kasta from taking the throne...but to stop a villain, is she willing to become one herself?

On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has gotten her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy.

A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek--the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom--are tasked with hunting Jun down.

And tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone's guess. It's a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through.

WFA nominated novella. It originally appeared in the anthology Whispers III (1981), edited by Stuart David Schiff. The story can also be found in the anthology The Mammoth Book of Terror (1991) edited by Stephen Jones. It is included in the collections In a Lonely Place (1983), Unthreatened by the Morning Light (1989), Karl Edward Wagner: Masters of the Weird Tale (2011) and Where the Summer Ends (2012).

Jannus is the son of Mistress Lillia, the ruler of Newstock, a village near the river in Bremner. The competing villages are protected by the Valde, strange female warriors who serve ten years in the villages. The few that reach the end of their service are allowed to get married with one of the rare male Valde. The Valde are tall, beautiful, filled with quick animal instincts, sexually mature at nine and dead of old age around thirty, are also gifted with empathy; the power to feel one's emotions.

While watching a duel to the death between Poli - Jannus's favorite Valde - and another Valde, Jannus discovers a Screamer, a fragile humanoid creature that is hunted without pity by the Valde. He saves the Screamer who tells him that he is an immortal Tek. Each time when a Tek dies he is reborn again. The Tek wants to return to Kantmorie to end his thousand years of regenerations. The Tek, called Lur by Jannus, persuades Jannus to accompany him.

Together with a merchant family, the Yrsmits and a number of Valde warriors Jannus follows the river downstream. Among the Valde is Poli who served her ten years. After a number of adventures the Tek, Jannus, Poli and the leader of the merchant family find themselves in the desert trying to reach the location where the Shai is, the huge intelligence guiding the star ship that brought the Teks to the world, to end the endless cycle of rebirthing.

Dibell's latest novel takes us again to the world of the Valde warriors and the legendary science menace of forbidden Kantmoire. Jannus confronts triple danger as the immortal monster Ashai Rey hunts him down, as his protector of the Crescent goes to battle with the dictatress of the Circle, and as the warrior women bands challenge him to deadly combat. The outcome would affect all on that once great but now declining planet -and only the power conferred on him as the secret king of Kantmorie held hope against the overwhelming scientific machinations of the Star.

The third book in the Kantmorie Saga -- to bring the dead back to life, to stop the worldwide mutiny of valde soldiery, to block the conquering ambitions of a Tek of many shapes -- these were the problems that converged on Jannus, the secret heir to the crown of lost Kantmorie.

Topping off his problems add the dangerous wanderings of his half-human daughters and the machinations of a spaceship down from orbit, and you have the ingredients that mark this amazing new novel of the world first depicted in Pursuit of the Screamer.

THE BEGINNING OF END

When a sickly boy succumbs to illness only to awaken as a lowly undead named End, his initial reaction is not horror but joy. No longer weak and bedridden, he is eager to experience the freedom of a properly functioning body. Sadly, his delight is cut short when he realizes the shackles of his previous life have simply been replaced by new ones--specifically, the powerful necromancer who revived him. To gain true freedom, he'll need to overcome the many obstacles in his way... starting with his dark master!

Two thousand years ago, the Born Queen defeated the Skasloi lords, freeing humans from the bitter yoke of slavery. But now monstrous creatures roam the land--and destinies become inextricably entangled in a drama of power and seduction. The king's woodsman, a rebellious girl, a young priest, a roguish adventurer, and a young man made suddenly into a knight--all face malevolent forces that shake the foundations of the kingdom, even as the Briar King, legendary harbinger of death, awakens from his slumber. At the heart of this many-layered tale is Anne Dare, youngest daughter of the royal family... upon whom the fate of her world may depend.

When the legendary Briar King awoke from his slumber, a season of darkness and horror fell upon the Kingdom of Crotheny. Now countless breeds of unspeakable monsters roam the countryside. An epidemic of madness has transformed peaceful villagers from the wildlands into savage, flesh-eating fiends. In Eslen, King William has been murdered, Queen Muriele is stalked by treachery on every side, and their last surviving daughter, Anne, has fled the assassins bent on destroying her family.

Close on the heels of the runaway princess, young knight Neil MeqVren, the queen's one trusted ally, is sworn to rescue Anne from her murderous pursuers. Anne herself undertakes a perilous journey toward the sanctuary of her distant paramour's arms, but along the way lie the sinister agents and hidden snares of a sprawling conspiracy that few might hope to evade.

At the same time, spies in the service of Praifec Hespero, the powerful Churchman, embark upon a mission to destroy the Briar King in the heart of his domain. And the power-hungry Church, spurred on by the mystical events, has launched an inquisition whose repercussions threaten even the queen. As the noose of intrigue tightens across the land, personal fates and a kingdom's destiny alike will be decided in a conflict between virtue and malevolence, might and magic.

Here then is Book II of The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone: intoxicating and harrowing, passionate and grand–it is Greg Keyes's most ambitiously imagined and vividly rendered work of epic fantasy.

Brimming with passion and adventure, Greg Keyes's epic saga of a royal family's fall from power through treachery and dark magic, set amid the return of ancient evils whose malevolence threatens to annihilate humanity, bids fair to become a classic of its kind. Now, in the eagerly awaited third installment, Keyes draws the threads of his tapestry ever tighter, illuminating old mysteries and introducing new ones as events build toward a shattering climax.

The legendary Briar King has awakened, spreading madness and destruction. Half-remembered, poorly understood prophecies seem to point to the young princess Anne Dare, rightful heir to the throne of Crotheny, as the world's only hope. Yet Anne is hunted by the minions of the usurper Robert, whose return from the grave has opened a doorway through which sinister sorceries have poured into the world. Though Anne herself is the conduit of fearsome powers beyond her understanding and control, it is time for girl to become woman, princess to become queen. Anne must stop running and instead march at the head of an army to take back her kingdom... or die trying.

But a mysterious assassin stalks her, so skilled in the deadly fencing style of dessrata that even Anne's friend and protector Cazio, a master of the form, cannot stand against him, nor can her sworn defender, the young knight Neil MeqVren.

As for Anne's other companions–Aspar White, the royal holter who bears an enchanted arrow capable of felling the Briar King; and Stephen Darige, the monk who blew the horn that woke the Briar King from his slumber–they cannot help her, as their separate paths carry them ever deeper into a deadly maze of myth and magic from which return may be impossible.

Meanwhile, Queen Muriele is a prisoner of the false king. With no allies but a crippled musician, who is himself a prisoner, and a servingwoman who is both more and less than she seems, Muriele will find herself a pawn in Robert's schemes for conquest–and a weapon to be used against her own daughter.

In The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Greg Keyes has crafted a brilliant saga of magic, adventure, and love set against a backdrop of clashing empires and an ancient, reawakened evil. Now, with The Born Queen, Keyes brings his epic to a masterly close, gathering the strands of plot and character into a stunning climax that both completes and transcends all that has gone before.

The Briar King is dead, and the world itself follows him to ruin. Aspar White, wounded and tired, must embark on one last quest to save the forest and the people he loves, but he has little hope of success.

Anne Dare at last sits on the throne of Crotheny, but for how long? The Church, now led by the corrupt and powerful Marché Hespero, has declared a holy war against her, giving the king of Hansa the pretext he needs to unleash his vast might on the young queen and her unready army.

But Hansa is the least of Anne's worries. The Hellrune, war seer of Hansa, strikes at her through vision and prophecy. The Kept–last of the elder Skasloi lords–weaves his own dark webs. Anne's teacher and ally in the sedos world might also be her worst enemy, and Anne's own mounting strength compels her toward madness.

Surviving these dangers and mastering her eldritch abilities are merely prelude to the real struggle. There are many–some with power matching or even exceeding Anne's own–who are willing to kill in order to seize control. For whoever sits upon the throne will have the ultimate command to bring about the world's salvation–or its apocalypse.

Kingmaker. Soothsayer. Warrior. Mage. Kingdoms would rise and fall for her... if she is ever found.

In the icy North, where magic is might, an all-powerful elite ruthlessly guided by a glacial Queen have grown to dominate the world. Now rebellion is stirring in the rough, magic-poor South, where for the first time in memory a warlord has succeeded in uniting the tribal nations.

Stuck in the middle is Cat -- circus performer and soothsayer -- safely hidden behind heavy make-up, bright colours and the harmless illusion of the circus. Until someone suspects she's more than she seems...

Captured by the Southern warlord Griffin, Cat's careful camouflage is wearing thin. For how long can -- or should -- she conceal the true extent of her power? Faced with dragons, homicidal mages, rival Gods and the traitorous longings of her own heart, she must decide: is it time to claim her destiny and fight?

In a land where magic is might, Catalia Fisa is the mightiest of them all...

Catalia Fisa, Lost Princess, has been running from destiny her whole life. Yet deep down, she has always believed that the prophecy shadowing her every step is inescapable: her unimaginable power will bring unfathomable disaster.

But now her newfound loved ones are caught between the shadow of Cat's tortured past and the threat of her world-shattering future. Although it may be that this, even with all her power, is still the one battle she cannot win, Cat's determined not to go down without a fight.

As the realms descend into all-out war, Cat knows she must embrace the power at her command. With Griffin by her side and Gods willing, perhaps she can emerge victorious in this fiery forging of a new Kingdom.

At the end of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, Ineluki the Storm King, an undead spirit of horrifying, demonic power, came within moments of stopping Time itself and obliterating humankind. He was defeated by a coalition of mortal men and women joined by his own deathless descendants, the Sithi.

In the wake of the Storm King's fall, Ineluki's loyal minions, the Norns, dark cousins to the Sithi, choose to flee the lands of men and retreat north to Nakkiga, their ancient citadel within the hollow heart of the mountain called Stormspike. But as the defeated Norns make their way to this last haven, the mortal Rimmersman Duke Isgrimnur leads an army in pursuit, determined to end the Norns' attacks and defeat their ageless Queen Utuk'ku for all time.

Two southern soldiers, Porto and Endri, joined the mortal army to help achieve this ambitious goal--though as they venture farther and farther into the frozen north, braving the fierce resistance and deadly magics of the retreating Norns, they cannot help but wonder what they are doing so very far from home. Meanwhile, the Norns must now confront the prospect of extinction at the hands of Isgrimnur and his mortal army.

Viyeki, a leader of the Norns' military engineers, the Order of Builders, desperately seeks a way to help his people reach their mountain--and then stave off the destruction of their race. For the two armies will finally clash in a battle to be remembered as the Siege of Nakkiga; a battle so strange and deadly, so wracked with dark enchantment, that it threatens to destroy not just one side but quite possibly all.

Trapped inside the mountain as the mortals batter at Nakkiga's gates, Viyeki the Builder will discover disturbing secrets about his own people, mysteries both present and past, represented by the priceless gem known as The Heart of What Was Lost.

Outside the mountain, Porto, Endri, and their commander Isgrimnur encounter frightening questions of their own, whose answers will affect all the lands of Osten Ard for generations to come. And in the end, both besiegers and besieged will confront terrible truths about love and loyalty--and about the lies all souls, mortal or immortal, must tell themselves to keep from going mad.

Thirty years ago Ineluki, the Storm King, was destroyed and his armies scattered. Osten Ard has been at peace ever since, ruled by Simon Snowlock, kitchen boy made king, and Miriamele, King Elias' only child. But now age weighs upon their reign. Simon's dreams have deserted him, old allies die and betrayal and assassination threaten. His son and heir John Josua is years dead and his grandson, Morgan, is a wastrel. A journey of redemption and discovery beckons in the darkening world.

And in the frozen North, in Nakkiga, the mountain fortress, Ineluki's ally, the Norn Queen, wakes from her deep, decades-long sleep and tells her followers that she will sleep no more. Humanity must be destroyed. Her sorcerers will bring a demon back from death, her warriors will seek the world for living dragon's blood...

And finally the greatest artefact of all, the Witchwood Crown, will be hers.

With a cast of hundreds - humans, giants, dragons, trolls, Sithi and Norn - The Witchwood Crown is epic fantasy as it used to be: classic, grand and sweeping and evidence that Tad Williams is the greatest living writer of the form.

The kingdoms of Osten Ard have been at peace for decades, but now, the threat of a new war grows to nightmarish proportions.

Simon and Miriamele, royal husband and wife, face danger from every side. Their allies in Hernystir have made a pact with the dreadful Queen of the Norns to allow her armies to cross into mortal lands. The ancient, powerful nation of Nabban is on the verge of bloody civil war, and the fierce nomads of the Thrithings grasslands have begun to mobilize, united by superstitious fervor and their age-old hatred of the city-dwellers. But as the countries and peoples of the High Ward bicker among themselves, battle, bloodshed, and dark magics threaten to pull civilizations to pieces. And over it all looms the mystery of the Witchwood Crown, the deadly puzzle that Simon, Miriamele, and their allies must solve if they wish to survive.

But as the kingdoms of Osten Ard are torn apart by fear and greed, a few individuals will fight for their own lives and destinies-not yet aware that the survival of everything depends on them.

At seventeen, Harald Sigurdharson--one day to be called Hardrede--tastes the bitter nectar of blood and battle for the first time, and from that day forward he will forever crave the intoxicating brew of war. Though he knows it is his destiny to conquer and to rule, he is still young and the throne he covets is beyond his grasp. In the meantime, the wide world beckons.

Setting out from Norway after a great series of mercenary adventures in Sweden and Russia, the now towering seven-foot-tall Harald arrives at Constantinople on the Golden Horn. In the heart of an empire choking on its own intrigues and excesses, as a member of the Varangian Guard--the foreign warriors entrusted with the safety of the Byzantine emperor--and a tireless suitor to an enticing beauty from a powerful clan, Harald carves out his legend in flesh, bone, and blood. But his true path stretches to the other side of the world, for he must ultimately return to Norway, his homeland, to claim his royal birthright.

The giant Norse warrior-king Harald Hardrede strives to forge a mighty empire by conquering the North in the second volume of the epic Last Viking Trilogy

He is a savior to the hordes of loyal Norsemen who would gladly give their lives battling at his side and a dreaded scourge to anyone who resists his dreams of empire. Now, Harald Hardrede--who, legend has it, has never been defeated in battle or sport--has returned to Norway, the land of his birth, after years of serving foreign rulers in faraway realms.

The lessons of Constantinople are not lost on the giant Viking warrior, as he sets out to unite the northlands under his sole rule and create an empire to rival the great powers of Europe. Harald's task will not come easily and will demand great sacrifice, for the resisting Danes love their current king, and the proud people of the Throndheimsfjord would rather die than relinquish their cherished independence. But the fabled "Lightning of the North" will not be deterred, for he is determined to carve his place in history--or die in the process.

The epic saga of Norway's greatest hero concludes as the legendary Viking conqueror-king Harald Hardrede pursues his dreams of empire to the shores of England

Young Norseman Harald Hardrede eagerly followed the hand of destiny around the world, learning much of the methods of conquerors and kings. Throughout history there have been great and lauded champions who achieved far less than the towering Viking who now rightly rules Norway. But the crown sits heavily upon Harald's head, for the throne he occupies rests on shaky ground: Treachery is brewing in the lands of a one-time ally in the North and the conquest of Denmark remains an elusive dream. The enduring sadness of his beloved wife pains him, and the sons he sired with his tempestuous mistress remain to him perplexing mysteries.

As the middle years take their toll on the greatest of all Norse champions and a magnificent era approaches its end, destiny once again summons the "Lightning of the North." Ahead lies the king's final adventure, one last opportunity to man the dragon-prowed ships and sail across an ocean for the prize he has coveted above all others: the fortified island called Britannia.

A story of secrets, rebellion, and murder are shattering the Hollows, where magic costs memory to use, and only the son of the kingdom's despised traitor holds the truth...

Michael is branded a traitor as a child because of the murder of the king's nine-year-old son, by his father David Kingman. Ten years later on Michael lives a hardscrabble life, with his sister Gwen, performing crimes with his friends against minor royals in a weak attempt at striking back at the world that rejects him and his family.

In a world where memory is the coin that pays for magic, Michael knows something is there in the hot white emptiness of his mind. So when the opportunity arrives to get folded back into court, via the most politically dangerous member of the kingdom's royal council, Michael takes it, desperate to find a way back to his past. He discovers a royal family that is spiraling into a self-serving dictatorship as gun-wielding rebels clash against magically trained militia.

What the truth holds is a set of shocking revelations that will completely change the Hollows, if Michael and his friends and family can survive long enough to see it.

Michael Kingman thought he was going to die by the executioner's axe, forever labeled as a traitor. Still alive, and under the protection of the Orbis Mercenary company, Michael and his family and friends are deeply involved in the seemingly rival conspiracies that are tearing The Hollows apart. With the death of the King, both the Corrupt Prince and his sister Serena are vying for the throne, while the Rebel Emperor is spreading lies amongst the people, and all of them want Michael dead. This is a story of betrayal, murder, and rebellion, and in this direct sequel to the debut novel The Kingdom of Liars, also some hope for justice.

Michael Kingman has discovered his destiny, but the distance to what he wants, namely a life with Serena, the queen of Hollow kingdom, is as wide as the world, and just as cruel.

Meanwhile, Dark, the realm's most fearsome mercenary, Michael's sometime mentor, and son of his nemesis, Angelo, is trying to keep Michael in line, for his own purposes as he too has a hidden agenda. Michael comes to realize that he is outclassed by powers that have been working for centuries to bring about a fresh end to the world filled with those he loves. But when has merely being overpowered ever stopped Michael from getting what he wants?

To prevent what may bring about the end times Michael must gather his remaining allies and push himself to achieve the impossible because the alternative is worse than he can imagine: it's not just the beginning of the end of the world, it's being alone and forgotten.

The Myth: Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook. The Truth: Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss's parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears.

But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Yet he gets the story all wrong. Hatter Madigan knows the truth only too well, and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.

Wonderland finally seems as if it's getting back to normal. Queen Alyss is back on the throne, and reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Dodge. But the fight for Wonderland is far from over. King Arch, in nearby Boarderland, is conniving to overthrow everything for which Alyss and her friends have fought so hard. Even worse, King Arch has found an ally in the recently returned Redd, who has been biding her time and gathering new and evil assassins in the Catacombs of Paris. With enemies circling and danger looming, someone close to Alyss lets her down--and threatens the future of Wonderland forever.

The Heart Crystal's power has been depleted, and Imagination along with it. The people of Wonderland have all lost their creative drive, and most alarmingly, even Queen Alyss is without her powers. But at least the vicious Redd Heart seems to be similarly disabled. Amazingly, she is attempting to team up with her enemy, Alyss, in order to reclaim Wonderland from King Arch. Alyss might have no choice but to accept Redd's overtures, especially when she begins to receive alarming advice from the caterpillar oracles....

In the parallel world first introduced in S. M. Stirling's The Sky People, aliens terraformed Mars (and Venus) two hundred million years ago, seeding them with life-forms from Earth. Humans didn't suspect this until the twentieth century, but when the first probes landed on our sister worlds, and found life--intelligent life, at that--things changed with a vengeance. By the year 2000, America, Russia, and the other great powers of Earth are all contending for influence and power amid the newly-discovered inhabitants of our sister planets.

Venus is a primitive world. But on Mars, early hominids evolved civilization earlier than their earthly cousins, driven by the needs of a harsh world growing still harsher as the initial terraforming runs down. Without coal, oil, or uranium, their technology was forced into different paths, and the genetic wizardry of the Crimson Dynasty united a world for more than twenty thousand years.

Now, in a new stand-alone adventure set in this world's 2000 AD, Jeremy Wainman is an archaeologist who has achieved a lifelong dream; to travel to Mars and explore the dead cities of the Deep Beyond, searching for the secrets of the Kings Beneath the Mountain and the fallen empire they ruled.

Teyud Zha-Zhalt is the Martian mercenary the Terrans hire as guide and captain of the landship Intrepid Traveller. A secret links her to the deadly intrigues of Dvor il-Adazar, the City That Is A Mountain, where the last aging descendant of the Tollamune Emperors clings to the remnants of his power... and secrets that may trace their origin to the enigmatic Ancients, the Lords of Creation who reshaped the Solar System in the time of the dinosaurs.

When these three meet, the foundations of reality will be shaken--from the lost city of Rema-Dza to the courts of the Crimson Kings.

AD 573. Imprisoned in her chamber, Languoreth awaits news in torment. Her husband and son have ridden off to war against her brother, Lailoken. She doesn't yet know that her young daughter, Angharad, who was training with Lailoken to become a Wisdom Keeper, has been lost in the chaos. As one of the bloodiest battles of early medieval Scottish history abandons its survivors to the wilds of Scotland, Lailoken and his men must flee to exile in the mountains of the Lowlands, while nine-year-old Angharad must summon all Lailoken has taught her to follow her own destiny through the mysterious, mystical land of the Picts.

In the aftermath of the battle, old political alliances unravel, opening the way for the ambitious adherents of the new religion: Christianity. Lailoken is half-mad with battle sickness, and Languoreth must hide her allegiance to the Old Way to survive her marriage to the next Christian king of Strathclyde. Worst yet, the new King of the Angles is bent on expanding his kingdom at any cost. Now the exiled Lailoken, with the help of a young warrior named Artur, may be the only man who can bring the warring groups together to defeat the encroaching Angles. But to do so, he must claim the role that will forever transform him. He must become the man known to history as "Myrddin."

Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear returns to her critically acclaimed epic fantasy world of the Eternal Sky with a brand new trilogy.

The Stone in the Skull, the first volume in her new trilogy, takes readers over the dangerous mountain passes of the Steles of the Sky and south into the Lotus Kingdoms.

The Gage is a brass automaton created by a wizard of Messaline around the core of a human being. His wizard is long dead, and he works as a mercenary. He is carrying a message from a the most powerful sorcerer of Messaline to the Rajni of the Lotus Kingdom. With him is The Dead Man, a bitter survivor of the body guard of the deposed Uthman Caliphate, protecting the message and the Gage. They are friends, of a peculiar sort.

They are walking into a dynastic war between the rulers of the shattered bits of a once great Empire.

Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear returns to the epic fantasy world of the Lotus Kingdoms with The Red-Stained Wings, the sequel to The Stone in the Skull, taking the Gage into desert lands under a deadly sky to answer the riddle of the Stone in the Skull.

The Gage and the Dead Man brought a message from the greatest wizard of Messaline to the ruling queen of Sarathai, one of the Lotus Kingdoms. But the message was a riddle, and the Lotus Kingdoms are at war.

The Lotus Kingdoms are at war, with four claimants to the sorcerous throne of the Alchemical Emperor, fielding three armies between them. Alliances are made, and broken, many times over--but in the end, only one can sit on the throne. And that one must have not only the power, but the rightful claim.

For the first time in recorded history, the ferocious city-states of the Macht now acknowledge a single man as their overlord. Corvus, the strange and brilliant boy-general, is now High King, having united his people in a fearsome, bloody series of battles and sieges. He is not yet thirty years old.

A generation ago, ten thousand of the Macht marched into the heart of the ancient Asurian Empire, and then fought their way back out again, passing into legend. It has been the enduring myth of Corvus' life, for his father was one of those who undertook that march, and his most trusted general, Rictus, was leader of those ten thousand. But he intends to do more. The preparations will take years, but when they are complete, Corvus will lead an invasion the like of which the world of Kuf has never seen. Under him, the Macht will undertake nothing less than the overthrow of the entire Asurian Empire.

Elizabeth Barnabus returns, to uncover the secrets and mysteries of the Gas-Lit Empire, in the startling sequel to The Queen of All Crows.

As it is inked, so shall your oaths and bindings be.

Tattoos are the only law on the Island of the Free, and there can never be a king. Every clan agrees on that. But a returning exile has smuggled something across the water that could send the old ways up in flames. Elias wants revenge on the men who severed his oaths and made him an outlaw. But, if his wealth and honour are to be restored, he'll need help from the most unlikely quarter - a mysterious woman, landed unwontedly on Newfoundland's rocky shore

Imprisoned by Abreha and forced to help plan Aksum's invasion, Telemakos desperately tries to regain his freedom

Telemakos, descendent of British and Aksumite royalty, has been accused of treason by Abreha, ruler of Himyar, and imprisoned on the upper levels of his twelve-story palace. Not only is Telemakos forbidden to see his beloved younger sister, Athena, but he is also forced to reproduce Aksumite maps in order to help Abreha plan an invasion. Lacking any way to communicate with his family in faraway Aksum, Telemakos must use all of his subtle talents to regain his freedom.

Now, as the Realms teeter on the brink of war, the fate of humanity rests in the survival of one majestic white dragon.

Prince Jehal has had his way-now his lover Zafir sits atop the Realms with hundreds of dragons and their riders at her beck and call. But Jehal's plots are far from over, for he isn't content to sit back and watch Zafir command the earth and sky. He wants that glory for himself- no matter who he must sacrifice to get it. The one thing Jehal fears is that the white dragon still lives-and if that is so, then blood will flow, on all sides...

Argo, the ancient ship, has returned and hides beneath Urtha's fortress in Alba. Jason and the Argonauts are aboard her, enchanted into sleep. Niiv is still Merlin's lover, still seeking magic and mysteries, still a delight and torment to him.

Something is wrong in Alba. An unknown force is affecting the land. The omens are frightening. The feckless Sons of Llew arrive, having stolen their uncle's chariot and horses once again. They bring news of hostels, gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. An enormous gathering of the Shades, of the dead and the unborn, are being drawn to them.

Meanwhile, Kymon and Munda, Urtha's son and daughter, are coming of age. Kymon is angry, boastful, ready to fight the Shades of Heroes, and violently annoyed by his father's diplomacy. Munda, on the other hand, is possessed of the Sight and welcomes the new, strange force in the land. She breaks taboo to visit one of the hostels. She comes back speaking of the Killer of Kings, the son of Jason.

And as Merlin walks in and out of time, clinging to his magic and the remains of his youth, the forces set in motion will determine the fate of kings and kingdoms alike.