Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Peppy Penguin has lots and lots of waterproof feathers and a nice chubby layer of fat around her middle to help keep her warm. When she grows up she will be about the size of a six-year-old. But she's much littler now. The Emperor penguins have a special way of keeping warm called huddling. Peppy Penguin was in that huddle right now, and she noticed two naughty penguins cut in line. What would you do?

I have been separated by my companions, left far to the north of civilization. My quest is a simple one: Find a dragon and bond with it. However simple this quest may seem, it is exceedingly difficult. Not only that, but my companions have been called to the goblin city of Geriarc to do battle with the undead, led by shadowlords. All the while, evil festers in the Jade Bastion. First things first; I must tame a dragon, then I will deal with the undead scourge and the evil that has taken root in my new home.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

In these edgy, unexpected tales, a body-hopping mercenary avenges his pet elephant, and an orphan falls in love with a sentient starship. Fighters ally to power a reality-bending engine, and a swamp-dwelling introvert tries to save the world - from her plague-casting former wife.

Garth Nix is renowned for his legendary fantasy works, but To Hold the Bridge showcases his versatility, as the collection offers 19 short stories from every genre of literature, including science fiction, paranormal, realistic fiction, mystery, and adventure. Whether writing about vampires, detectives, ancient spirits, or odd jobs, Garth Nix's ability to pull his readers into new worlds is extraordinary.

For over 1,000 years, Order and Chaos have molded the island of Recluce. The Saga of Recluce chronicles the history of this world through 18 books, L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s longest and best-selling fantasy series. Recluce Tales: Stories from the World of Recluce collects 17 new short stories and four popular reprints spanning the thousand-year history of Recluce.

After the alien virus struck humanity in the wake of World War II, a handful of the survivors found they possessed superhuman powers. The Wild Cards shared-world volumes tell their story. Here in book two, we trace these heroes and villains through the tumultuous 1980s, in stories from SF and fantasy giants such as George R. R. Martin, Roger Zelazny, Pat Cadigan, Lewis Shiner, Walter Jon Williams, and others.

You know the invasion has begun. You know we are all that stands in their way. You think we are alone. You will see we have hidden allies. They think they have won. They are wrong. They do not have our power. They do not know the truth. We have a secret weapon.

A nearby lightning strike triggers an ancient stone portal, whisking Alex away to a mysterious alien world teeming with magic and danger. Elves, Orcs, monsters, and fantastic beasts abound in this realm of endless adventure and limitless potential. And as Alex discovers, he possesses a powerful gift that sets him apart from the rest. With his newfound strength coursing through his body, Alex embarks on a perilous journey to carve out his place in this strange new world.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson―creator of the Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn saga, and numerous smash-hit works of science fiction and fantasy―comes Tailored Realities, a new short fiction collection including the never-before-published novella “Moment Zero...

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

I thought I’d left my past behind for good. But when my older brother gets killed in a car accident, I’ve got to come back to take over his car-tuning business. But things are not like I remember. There’s something weird going on in Santo Domingo, something that seems connected to the city’s underground street racing scene. There’s the orange-haired mechanic at the tuning shop with the FOXGRRL license plate. There’s the strange black cat hanging around my house, and the dreams I’ve been having about a racer girl with cat ears and a tail.

The best-selling Extinction Cycle series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith first introduced listeners to a world ravaged by an engineered virus that turned men into monsters. Humanity's only hope was not a cure, but another bioweapon. When deployed it killed 90 percent of the infected, but the remaining 10 percent transformed into even more terrifying creatures called Variants. Here's a collection of Extinction Cycle short stories that explore the human spirit and the fight for survival in the face of overwhelming odds from some of the leading voices in the post-apocalyptic genre.

From Robert E. Howard's fertile imagination sprang some of fiction's greatest heroes, including Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, and Solomon Kane. But of all Howard's characters, none embodied his creator's brooding temperament more than Bran Mak Morn, the last king of a doomed race.

Ten years ago, deep within a rift, a choice was granted. Defeat the Demon King and end the apocalypse. Or take his power for themselves and keep the rifts open. Sloan chose an ending. His party turned against him. They killed him. They split his legacy and belongings amongst themselves. They hid the truth. They profited. Those heroes who betrayed the world. Now he’s back. Reborn. Reincarnated in a world where the system is life.

On September 15, 1946, the Wild Card virus was released, spreading a wave of mutations around the globe. "Aces" were endowed with extraordinary powers while "Jokers" were cursed with bizarre mental or physical disabilities. September 15th is now Wild Card Day. With each passing year, the festivities become larger and more fevered. And 1986 - the 40th anniversary - promises to be the biggest Wild Card Day ever.

Sviska is a man of the shadows, an assassin without any one place to call his own. But in the Far North, he discovers a secret. Magic, long thought lost to the world, is alive. The genocide to destroy every elf, wizard, and sacred being of old is not yet complete. Sviska's masters work the strings of the world and he has been sent for a task he does not even fully understand yet. When at last he feels he has what he has always wanted, darkness falls upon the world.

This "who's who" audio guide to the gods, goddesses, and other important figures of Norse mythology was commissioned by Helgi, who, after more than a millennium as manager of Hotel Valhalla, became fed up with answering the same questions from newly deceased heroes at check-in. The profiles provide essential stats, interviews, and personal reflections so you can identify the gods and avoid those awkward introductions. Handy facts about other beings round out this go-to audiobook.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.