Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Keeping up-to-date with the most buzzworthy and cutting-edge science fiction requires sifting through countless magazines, e-zines, websites, blogs, original anthologies, single-author collections, and more - a task accomplishable by only the most determined and voracious readers. For everyone else, Night Shade Books is proud to introduce the latest volume of The Best Science Fiction of the Year, collecting the finest that the genre has to offer, from the biggest names in the field to the most exciting new writers.

Damien’s life was simple: Train hard, follow orders, and never question why. But after a mission to infiltrate an enemy territory goes horribly wrong, he wakes up in the body of a spoiled noble mage from the very world he’s been taught to hate. Magic? He’s never touched it, and now everyone expects him to master it like a pro. Trying to survive in an elite magic academy surrounded by classmates who seem to know far more than he does, would be hard enough—yet Damien’s real identity as an assassin is the least of his problems.

A colony survives among the icy rings of a planet, hiding from alien robots determined to destroy them … at a remote site on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a group of scientists, engineers, and physicians gather to gamble humanity’s future on one last-ditch experiment … a man who can’t feel pain has been bioengineered to be a killing machine, but he refuses to give in to his fate … a man is contacted by three future versions of himself, each trying to save their world from destruction.

Let the secret history of the world be told - of the alien virus that struck Earth after World War II and of the handful of the survivors who found they now possessed superhuman powers. Some were called Aces, endowed with powerful mental and physical prowess. The others were Jokers, tormented by bizarre mind or body disfigurements. Some served humanity. Others caused terror. And now, 40 years later, as a gang war between the Shadow Fists and the Mafia rages out of control in the streets of Jokertown.

Humans - there's no understanding them, and no dealing with them either. Or even their planet. Pity the poor aliens, whose shape-changing ability should let them take over the planet Earth before the humans even know they're there - if it weren't for all that omnipresent pollution. Or consider another set of invaders, from a planet where the weather is always mild and the changing of the seasons is hardly noticeable. They land in force; their weapons more powerful than those of the primitive humans, but they've never had to deal with below-zero temperatures, flash floods, or tornadoes.

Run. Hide. Live the good life online. Early retirement looked so easy on paper. Steal eight million euros from a gangster. Hide inside an online game and enjoy the finer things in life as a bard until the danger had passed. Except Daniel messed up. Now, the gangsters are in the game looking for him and he's stuck with an imbalanced character build in a dead-end starter village. Can Daniel find his own place and a life worth living inside the World of Chains?

Maybe this world full of jaw-droppingly beautiful women and martial arts magic is just some sort of delusion. Maybe this strong, capable body I’ve found myself in isn’t real. But if it is, then there’s a path that could lead me to everything I’ve ever desired. The training comes first. Then the tournament. After that… anything is possible. I just need to survive to experience it all.

El sol se está muriendo, y la Tierra, consumida por los últimos suspiros de esta estrella, también desaparecerá. Pero la humanidad, en lugar de abandonar el planeta, construye doce mil grandiosos motores de fusión para desorbitar la Tierra y propulsarla hacia Próxima Centauri en un viaje que durará siglos....

One minute I’m in a tree, pointing my camera at a tiger, the next I’m on my back in a medieval fantasy world, while a skittish blonde hovers over me, hoping I’m not dead. I’ve never felt more alive.

Offered for the first time as a single purchase, listeners can now experience Fiona “Blue” Shaefer’s journey from troubled teen to hopeful young adult and take in the full scope of R.J. Sullivan’s paranormal thrillers. This omnibus includes both novels in her series and a holiday short story that caps off this phase of her young life: Haunting Blue, Virtual Blue, and Blue Christmas: A Holiday Short Story.

My name is Remy Aaron, and a sexy witch summoned a meteor from outer space to blow up my car while I was driving home from work. Unfortunately, the new world I respawned in is a monster-infested battleground between the Deep Ones and the Outer Gods. Lucky for me, I can harness and multiply the elemental powers of my wives. Oh, did I forget to mention them? Each of my wives has an elemental affinity that grows stronger the more we bond, and so I’m well on my way to mastering all the elements.

Return to the world of Mortal Engines in this new book of short stories about the rebellious young aviatrix, Anna Fang. In a dangerous future world where gigantic, motorized cities attack and devour each other, London hunts where no other predator dares. But Anna Fang - pilot, adventurer, spy - isn't afraid. The three stories show gripping, moving, exciting moments in Anna Fang's life: her childhood as a slave aboard the moving city Arkangel, a showdown against a robotic Stalker that is terrifyingly out of control, and her free life as an intelligence agent for the Anti-Traction league....

Before The Road by Cormac McCarthy brought apocalyptic fiction into the mainstream, there was science fiction. No longer relegated to the fringes of literature, this explosive collection of the world’s best apocalyptic writers brings the inventors of alien invasions, devastating meteors, doomsday scenarios, and all-out nuclear war back to with a bang. The best writers of the early 1900s were the first to flood New York with tidal waves, destroy Illinois with alien invaders, paralyze Washington with meteors, and lay waste to the Midwest with nuclear fallout.

This is a collection of the sixth six short stories in the Caverns and Creatures series...Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to 6d6 and experience the compelling world of dark humor and fantasy.

Kuno, a former soldier, is searching for fortune. But not just as any ordinary adventurer. True power comes from making alliances with the alluring dungeon goddesses. Armed with a mysterious journal, his trusty axes, and no small amount of courage, he must navigate treacherous dungeons and prove his worth. The prize? Exclusive access to the goddesses' domains.

Chrysalis, the glass-skinned queen of the Joker underworld, has been found brutally murdered in her popular restaurant, the Crystal Palace. Now two men are out to find her killer: Jay Ackroyd, the Ace private investigator who discovered her ruined body, and the vigilante archer known as the Yeoman, who has been framed for the crime. Their quest leads them on a nightmare odyssey of madness, violence, passion, and political intrigue that will forever alter the fates of Aces and Jokers everywhere.

Dive back into the worlds of the best-selling Twinborn Trilogy with this collection of eight short stories - including three exclusive, never-before-published works. J.S. Morin peels back the larger Twinborn story to reveal the smaller tales concealed beneath.

One perfectly ordinary day turned into chaos, but it wasn’t all bad. Sure, I had to fight for my life, but I also rescued the darling damsel Sophia and met the legendary adventurer Stormbreaker. That fateful encounter unlocked a rare and mysterious new class: [Runesmith]. To top it off, I earned a spot in the Dungeon Divers Guild. Now the race for survival starts. The fear of starving to death hangs over their heads due to the increased metabolism their higher attributes give them.

Space pirates! Words that conjure up rousing tales of adventure, derring-do, brave heroes battling the scurvy vermin of the galaxy. Those vermin have taken to pillaging cargo ships and, even worse, space liners, relieving the helpless passengers of their valuables, and worse with the comely women passengers, then spacing the lot - unless one or more of the aforementioned brave heroes arrive in the nick of time, and turn the tables, making the spaceways safe again for the innocent and helpless.

Sixteen all-new stories by science fiction's top talents, collected by best-selling author George R. R. Martin and multiple-award-winning editor Gardner Dozois.