Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Does size matter? Is bigger better? That’s no small question to Tom Little - the circus midget with giant dreams. Tom may be king of the midgets, but he’s got far grander ambitions - to become the muscleman at the top, the ringmaster. Now, drawing on some dark ancient secrets and mystic texts, he’s about to get his wish.... Assuming another man’s identity, Tom discovers he must also take on his sins, debts, and enemies. He may be living large - but now there are those who want to make him pay for the big man’s sins.

"A Song For Sadye" offers new insights into the life of the bard, Sadye, who plays an important role in the second half of the DemonWars Saga. "The Education of Brother Thaddius" picks up the DemonWars story immediately following Immortalis, the last book of DemonWars, and opens to door for the next saga in the world of Corona.

The angry drunk. The shameless womanizer. The coward who ran away and got his comrades killed. The ice-cold assassin for hire. And me, the girl with abandonment issues as deep and wide as the Southern Sea. The five us are all so different, we shouldn't work together. Most of the time, we don't. And yet, every once in a while, I get a glimpse of what might be, if we manage to move beyond our difficult pasts long enough to become the family our dragons need.

Storytellers have long imagined what exists beyond the edges of the map. The need to seek and discover the unknown is embedded in who we are, no matter the culture or era. To celebrate this sense of wonder, award-winning editor John Joseph Adams has gathered together some of the best SF&F writers working today, collecting adventure and mystery in this spectacular anthology. Explore the rich tradition begun centuries ago with this all-new compilation full of imagination and delights. What lies beyond the edge of the unknown? Only you, brave listener, can find out.

What really lies beneath the waves? Dive into our magical collection of short stories written by award-winning and up-and-coming authors and follow the ocean’s call. Meet murderous kelpies, hear the mermaid’s song, find a kidnapped prince, and explore the beautiful underwater kingdoms. Befriend selkie royalty, break fearsome curses, and swoon as you fall in love. All profits go to Oceana to support their mission to protect the world’s oceans and promote sustainable fishing.

Lisa Peterson is a teenage girl who is coming to terms with the tragic loss of her mother in a riding accident. Lisa swore she would never ride again, but everything changes when she moves to the island of Jorvik and meets Starshine, a mysterious steed with a blue mane. In the stable, Lisa befriends Alex, Linda, and Anne, and together they start to realize that they all have magical connections with their horses—and each other.

Casidhe followed her conscience. It cost her everything, and Herrick will punish her for deceiving him. After a disastrous mission to the Caucasus Mountains, Daegan is out of mercy for any enemy but discovers important information about his past from an unlikely source. He’s running out of days to locate the second grimoire volume on his own and enters a hostile Tribunal where Loki threatens all the Belador lives if Sen is not found in one day. Reese is given a chance to save everyone, including Quinn, from a demon invasion if she’s willing to do the unthinkable.

Contained herein are tales of the history of mankind's future first colony, from the first failed attempt at colonization, to the rise in crime, to the rise in terrorism, to its descent into widespread civil war and rebellion...and ultimately, liberation. As with most of human history, this history is messy, with good men and women turning bad, bad men and women inadvertently doing good, and blood flowing in the streets.

A collection of #spitwrite stories. This is book four of the Spitwrite series.

Andaris goes looking for adventure. What he finds is a world in the midst of tidal change, an extraordinary place where he encounters all manner of extraordinary things - vast landscapes teeming with flora and fauna capable of firing the most malnourished of imaginations. To be sure, danger lurks around every bend, a heady amalgam of sword and sorcery which threatens to bring his young life to an abrupt end.

A collection of faerie tales and adventure stories from two worlds parallel to each other. One is a world filled with fae folk and monsters, and the other is place of clockwork and alchemy. Both are brimming with magic, mystery, and mortals who must find their places within. Between the pages of these worlds, a boy learns his childhood friend is a dyrad, a lady must sneak away from her own ball to provide the cure to a plague-infected village, a siren has to solve a murder, and more.

Fortune hunter Billy Newman is not a man of great strength or physical courage. Like a young Johnny Depp, he gets by on his wit, wiles and good looks. And he’s had quite a good run—striking gold in the Philippines and buying his very own island in the South Seas. . . . But there’s trouble in paradise, and Billy’s in the thick of it. The island’s crops are failing. The island’s people are dying. And the island’s owner—Billy—is taking the heat. Why? Because he’s angered the 75-foot-tall big-boss god of the island.

If the melt-down, flood, plague, the third World War, new Ice Age, Rapture, alien invasion, clamp-down, meteor, or something else entirely hit today, what would tomorrow look like? Some of the biggest names in YA and adult literature answer that very question in this short story anthology, each story exploring the lives of teen protagonists raised in catastrophe's wake - whether set in the years soon after the change, or in decades far in the future.

This collection of Catherine Asaro's show fiction contains five stories, including the Nebula Award-winning novella, Spacetime Pool, the Hugo and Nebula nominated novella Aurora in Four Voices, and an essay on Asaro's use of mathematics in her fiction.

Alex McLeod paid dearly during the war for independence from Earth. It left the detective disfigured, jaded and alone. In the aftermath of victory, Alex seethes as criminal factions and cold-blooded killers clash over control of the newly-liberated confederation. In his crusade for justice in the free states, he's willing to break more than a few rules along the way...

The only home Alex knows is the slums of Slab, an orbiting city teeming with lowlifes, back-stabbers and gene-spliced monstrosities. From the grimy streets of his city to the lawless Asteroid Belt, Alex goes toe-to-toe with a sharp-clawed vigilante, a mythical serial killer, and a gorgeous vampire with an ominous message. His quest won't end until his homeland earns the freedom it was promised…

But even Alex may not be able to stop the impending Reckoning and a voyage to the one place he swore he'd never return: Earth...

Farmer Eben Smith heads off to the big city to trade his wagonload of produce. But he barters a lot more than goods after he stumbles across a strange crossroads in time, bargains with different cultures in alternate realities, and accidentally wreaks havoc and chaos in each.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Empire State Building has vanished into thin air! Gone, too, are Grant’s Tomb and Grand Central Station, and all hell is breaking loose in New York City! What’s the story? One grizzled old newspaper reporter known simply as Pop - a role made for Walter Matthau - is on top of it...and better stay there, because his livelihood is on the line. If Pop fails to get to the bottom of the vanishing landmarks, his job will disappear as well - and land in the hands of the newspaper publisher’s son-in-law.

Penniless, homeless, and virtually lifeless, the vagrant “Doughface” Jack is about to discover that where medical marvels meet the mysteries of the human mind, amazing things happen. The Tramp acquires a capability beyond his imagination and without equal on Earth. Riding the rails, Jack runs afoul of a local sheriff and ends up with a crushed skull. He’s as good as dead until a savvy country doctor performs a bit of medical magic.

This fourth volume collecting Lee and Miller's shorter Liaden Universe® stories features four novelettes, two novellas, and two short stories—including the celebrated linked stories, "Block Party" and "Degrees of Separation."

In a sleepy little town, five sleepy heads are ready for bed. As the children nod off, their dreams whisk them away on gentle adventures in the world of Sleepy Town. Sleepy Town is a town just like yours, but when the sun sets, the magical creatures come out to play. Mermaids swim around the bay, unicorns play in the magic forest, and dragons soar softly above the town, protecting the children from bad dreams. These stories are the perfect calming tool to share before or after your bedtime story, as part of your nightly routine.