Science Fiction Anthology Short Stories

While humans lost their knowledge of magic and monsters, the Ironwoods have been fighting against evil for centuries. While gods, fae, and magicians turned into tall tales and ghost stories, the Ironwoods became the stuff of legends themselves. Now, with Morrigan’s Generals free again in the world, the Ironwoods are going to need all their training—and their new fae brothers—to stop them. This box set collects all four stories of the Ironwood women as they get into plenty of trouble, slay their enemies, and find true love.

Long ago, a mysterious event known as The Great Forget ravaged the Earth. Magic was born. Millennia later, a baby with red eyes is abandoned at the gates of a small kingdom whose sole mandate is to guard the Pass of Death. The young orphan, Chip, is condemned by a spiteful king to a life of misery in the castle kitchens, where he is looked upon with disdain and treated as an outcast. In a twist of fate, everything changes when Chip befriends the princess and catches the eye of the wise wizard Xander, who sees something special in the boy.

He's the ass-kicking, wise-cracking, hard-drinking demon hunter you never knew you needed. He's Quincy Harker, and he's here to save your ass whether you want it or not. The immortal magic-wielding son of Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray from the classic novel Dracula, Harker now lives in North Carolina hunting down demons and sending them back to Hell. This Omnibus Edition collects the first 12 novellas in the Quincy Harker series.

Acclaimed author Emma Newman returns to her Planetfall universe with a collection of 10 short stories set before, during, and after the four interconnected novels of the Hugo-nominated Planetfall series.

After 130+ years as a vampire, Mercy returns to her hometown of Exeter where she joins Prince Ladinas and his team of underground vampires to stop a host of ancient vampires who've returned from vampire hell.

The earth's surface is no longer habitable. All humanity is sequestered beneath the ground, couched in isolation and contentment. The Machine provides the needs of humanity. Mankind becomes subservient drones to the life-supporting Machine. But what happens when the Machine stops?

No communication. Limited power. An unbreakable will to survive. A violent blast of solar magnetic radiation plunges much of Earth into darkness. From the decaying orbit of the powerless ISS to a devolving Southeast Texas neighborhood and a secret doomsday bunker buried deep underneath the Colorado Rockies, The SpaceMan Chronicles tells the story of a stranded astronaut, his family and friends on the ground, and a shadowy conspiracy to rebuild the world in the shape of a new society.

Fall under the intoxicating spell of their hex appeal…In the magical world that lies hidden beneath our own, witches and conjurers play deadly games. They know just the right spell to kill a man with one kiss—or raise him back again. And they’re not afraid to exact sweet revenge on those who dare to cross them. But what if you’re the unlucky soul who falls victim to a conjurer’s curse? And if you had the power to cast a magic spell of your own, would you use it?

How lucky do you feel? Matthew Sellers revealed the truth of Limbus, Inc. to the world, and in his tales of time travelers, intergalactic beings, and human sacrifice, he thought he had told it all. But the story of the shadowy employment agency that operates on the edge of the abyss, always finding the perfect person for the perfect job - no matter what the cost - had only begun. This shared-world anthology continues the story of Limbus, Inc., as told by five masters of horror, fantasy, and science fiction.

Tales of Dune collects eight of Herbert and Anderson’s Dune short stories, ranging from the period of the Butlerian Jihad to the time of young Paul Atreides to a story set during the events of the novel Dune to the very end of Frank Herbert’s future history.

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.

With Ravenheart defeated and his regal duties done, Josh and his lovely misfits return to their idyllic home nestled in the shadows of the Hangsane. Will they hang up their weapons, end their monster-hunting days, and settle down for a cozy slice of farming life like so many heroes? Absolutely not! Attacked, rescued, forced into the Hangsane to seek more power, Josh and the Misfits are hurled straight into the thick of it.

Magic and myth inhabit these chapters in figures both familiar and strange. Giant trolls and talking animals are everywhere. The winds take human form. A one-eyed old woman might seem reminiscent of the Norse god Odin. We meet sly aunts, resourceful princesses, and devious robbers. These stories, set in Norway's majestic landscape of towering mountains and dense forests, are filled with humor, mischief, and sometimes surprisingly cruel twists of fate. All are rendered in the deceptively simple narrative style perfected by Asbjørnsen and Moe.

Down the Road to Eternity: New & Selected Fiction is a collection of M.A.C. Farrant’s work dating from 1985 to 2009. Satiric and philosophical in approach, indelibly marked by wit, humor, irony, playfulness, a blend of parody and science fiction, irreverent analysis and comic existentialism, these stories celebrate the literary imagination as an antidote to the stranglehold the popular media now has on the public’s imagination.

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.

At turns nonchalantly hip and charmingly deranged, Suzuki's singular slant on speculative fiction would be echoed in countless later works, from Margaret Atwood and Harumi Murakami, to Black Mirror and Ex Machina. In these darkly playful and punky stories, the fantastical elements are always earthed by the universal pettiness of strife between the sexes, and the gritty reality of life on the lower rungs, whatever planet that ladder might be on.

The urge to explore and discover is a natural and universal one, and the edge of the unknown is expanded with each passing year as scientific advancements inch us closer and closer to the outer reaches of our solar system and the galaxies beyond them. Generations of writers have explored these new frontiers and the endless possibilities they present in great detail. The Final Frontier delivers stories from across this literary spectrum, a reminder that the universe is far large and brimming with possibilities than we could ever imagine, as hard as we may try.

OK, Reg. You’re a bouncer who’s barely eking out a meager existence in the decaying Wilds outside Detroit. So a little job tracking the Eddies on their patrols seems like easy money. Well, think again, Reg. Because a riot’s about to happen… and you’re going to be the cause…

This story was originally published in the Hugo Award-nominated METAtropolis.

Wes is working the hotel lobby the night his life changes forever. Called to the top floor to deal with rowdy patrons, he finds himself in a high stakes poker game alongside a beautiful woman who is, apparently, a demoness. To make the night crazier, the game ends with a startling revelation: Wes is a Warlock. Wes can bind demons to his will and command the infernal elements.

When an EMP wipes out the power grid, Caroline Thompson is alone on the family ranch while her husband, Luke, and their son are stranded in Fort Worth as chaos erupts. With no power, no law, and danger at every turn, Caroline must fight her way into the collapsing city to find them. But bringing her family back together is only the beginning. Looters are closing in, determined to take everything Caroline has fought to protect as their ranch turns into a battleground for survival.