Fantasy Anthology

A collection of the year’s best short stories, selected by celebrated bestselling author Lauren Groff, author of Matrix and The Vaster Wilds, and series editor Heidi Pitlor. “There have never been as many exquisitely built stories in existence than there are now,” proclaims guest editor...

Centuries from now, the basic right to expand human intelligence beyond its natural limits has become a war-worthy cause for the Demarchists and Conjoiners. Only vast lighthugger starships bind these squabbling colonies together, manned by the panicky and paranoid Ultras. And the hyperpigs just try to keep their heads down. The rich get richer. And everyone tries not to think about the worrying number of extinct alien civilizations turning up on the outer reaches of settled space...because who's to say that humanity won't be next?

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

An arsonist's twisted handiwork claims hundreds of lives in the roughest neighborhood in New York - Daredevil's turf. Daredevil digs up the root of the problem and comes up with a ruthless crime boss bent on brutally wrestling control of New York's underworld from the corrupt clutches of the Kingpin of Crime. The new crime boss' enforcer? The bloodthirsty Bullseye, master assassin with a pathological enmity for Daredevil. Bullseye takes to his work with deadly efficiency, killing his way toward the Man Without Fear.

Summoners are born, not made. For Bran of Ealdor, this is the one thing stopping him from becoming a member of the legendary warriors known as summoners. They are gods among men who can call monsters into battle to fight alongside them. Mages, Rangers, Beastmasters, Protectors, Hunters, and Lancers. These are the six classes of summoners. None of which Bran can become.

In the spirit of the popular Marvel comic book, this exciting new anthology has over a dozen original tales that span the career of the amazing Spider-Man. Stan Lee, Spidey's co-creator, and Kurt Busiek, the award-winning writer of the Untold Tales of Spider-Man comic book, present these new stories from his earliest days as a costumed hero and beyond.

I am sure you already know how formulaic and boring most erotic short stories are. Ever wondered why? The reason is the people writing them don’t really know what it’s like to go down and dirty. They write from imagination and not from experience. I always say – experience speaks louder than words spun merely out of one’s imagination. You’ll realize the truth of this statement as I take you along on an orgasmic ride with these short stories.

For Megan Wolford, life as she knew it came to an end after the world was decimated by an EMP. Now, she does her best to survive and protect her daughter, Caitlin. But when the young girl falls ill with a mysterious virus, Meghan must leave the safety of their home and embark on a dangerous journey to forage for medical supplies.

Thirty-three shorter tales of the Liaden Universe® brought together for the first time in two mega-volumes. Seventeen tales to start with in Volume One! The nationally bestselling Liaden Universe® novels are treasured by space opera aficionados for their wit, world-building, strong characterizations, tender romance, and edge-of-the-chair action.

The second novel of the Codex of Souls furthers explores the strange occult world first introduced in Lightbreaker. Mark Teppo’s vision of a magical underworld is a non-stop adventure that continues to bring new light to the occult origins of our history. Markham returns to Paris where he lost his love, and nearly his life. The ancient order of manipulative magicians that once cast him out is now in turmoil...a turmoil made all the greater by the swaths of destruction that Markham tried to avert.

The vast comet should have destroyed us... When it slowed, then landed, everything we thought we knew about the universe changed. And for Mark, things just got far stranger, and much more dangerous. They came from another dimension, condemning our selfish, greedy ways, but sensing in us a potential to change. So when they chose Mark as a volunteer in their deadly trials to save the human race, how could he say no? Join him on his quest for loot, levels, and powerful abilities.

You can't kill the dead! Like any good monster, the zombie has proven to be ever-evolving, monumentally mutable, and open to seemingly endless imaginative interpretations: the thralls of voodoo sorcerers, George Romero's living dead, societal symbols, dancing thrillers, viral victims, reanimated ramblers, video-gaming targets, post-apocalyptic permutations, shuffling sidekicks, literary mash-ups, the comedic, and, yes, even the romantic.

It was a simple job. All I had to do was steal a ring from a mainland witch for the Thieves’ Guild that owned me. Easy enough, right? The reward would bring me closer to earning my freedom. And stars above, I wanted off this floating luxury island. But then he showed up, a cocky thief from a rival guild, and ruined all my plans. Every. Single. One. I lost the ring and my chance at freedom. But on the bright side, if we fail to retrieve three magical artifacts for the witch, I’ll be forever cursed to exist no more than fifteen feet from that unnaturally beautiful, arrogant elf.

William and his friends have battled scores of the diseased and left communities behind them on their journey to find what lies south of the wall bisecting the country. They’ve lost loved ones and overcame many challenges, but they’ve never faced an obstacle as great as the one before them: the wall, steel, sheer, and 200 feet tall—an insurmountable barrier designed to separate the north and south. Their dream should stop here, but the group has a plan to get to the other side, and it might just work.

A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for...

This is a collection of the second six short stories in the Caverns and Creatures series.

People have been telling stories about warriors for as long as they have been telling stories... Our contributors make up an all-star lineup of award-winning and bestselling writers, representing a dozen different publishers and as many genres. We asked each of them for the same thing - a story about a warrior. Some chose to write in the genre they’re best known for. Some decided to try something different. You will find warriors of every shape, size, and color here....

Earth is a dying planet. To survive, humanity founds the Circuit, a string of colonies across the solar system, dedicated to mining resources vital to preserving what remains of mankind. Here there are no heroes or villains, only those willing to do what's necessary to survive. The New Earth Tribunal, a powerful religious faction, has risen to rule the Circuit. They believe a Spirit within the Earth will one day appear and welcome humanity back home.

Whenever we envision a world without war, without prisons, without capitalism, we are producing speculative fiction. Organizers and activists envision and try to create such worlds all the time. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have brought 20 of them together in the first anthology of short stories to explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.

Edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, this hair-raising holiday collection includes 15 original tales - including an original Sookie Stackhouse story.