Science Fiction Anthology Short Stories

By day, Mark Wojcik can be found elbow-deep in engine grease, making cars and trucks safe for the highway. By night, he can be found traipsing through the wilds of Pennsylvania, making the world safe for humans. He's more than just a mechanic, he's a New Templar Knight. He travels the backroads and byways fighting weresquonks, ningen, selkies, ghosts, and . . . gnomes? Is that gnome . . . naked? (Sigh.) Season One collects the first four novellas in the Spells, Salt, & Steel series: Spells, Salt, & Steel; Open Season; Deep Trouble; and Close Encounters.

After his son gives him a pair of "X-ray" glasses as a gift, Martin Blackstone tries them on just for the hell of it - and all they do is give him a headache...until he sees things he can’t possibly be seeing. Glimpses of things on the other side of a wall or beneath someone’s clothing. He wants to believe it’s just his overactive imagination, but the “X-ray” specs actually work.

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.

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.

Launch once more into galaxy-spanning conflict and legendary heroism, shards of an ever-expanding journey where human and alien alike find their finest hours in facing their greatest challenges. These scattered stories span untold millennia, from the age of the ancient custodial race known as the Forerunners to the aftermath of the Covenant's bloody war against humanity and even the shocking events surrounding the resurrection of the mysterious Guardians.

Here is the precursor to Jurassic Park. Victorian explorers have heard there is a remote plateau where dinosaurs still survive, and a group set outs on a dangerous mission to find out more about it.

Varangantua is in turmoil. After the district of Korsk is obliterated in a fiery cataclysm, the city’s enforcers must pick up the pieces. As sanctioner teams comb the wreckage for survivors, dogged probators such as Agusto Zidarov and Lycia Calix seek to uncover the truth about what happened. Their stories become intertwined with those of petty criminals and desperate citizens, even drawing the vaunted attention of agents beyond Alecto itself, painting a picture of sprawling conspiracy.

It is in Skinwalker that Jane Yellowrock first meets George Dumas (Bruiser) and Leo Pellissier. Now, in "First Sight", that encounter is revisited - only this time from Bruiser’s point of view.

The ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan gets more than greasy corn dogs and flat soda when he visits a carnival in Kansas to which his apprentice, Granuaile, drags him. He runs across a barker with a strange power over the crowd: attractive women leave their men and disappear into an unmarked tent, never to be seen again, and the men wander away, forgetting that they ever had girlfriends or wives. When Granuaile falls under the barker’s influence and enters the tent, Atticus isn’t about to forget it and move on.

"Something Passed By", a story by Robert McCammon, was originally published in his short fiction collection Blue World and was selected for inclusion in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection.

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.

"A Song For Sadye" is a tale of the DemonWars, and offers new insights into the life of the bard, Sadye.

A collection of thrilling tales from H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos by one of horror's biggest legends, this volume contains the very best of Brian Lumley's Mythos short stories.

From sorcerous bridges that link worlds to the simple traditions of country folk; from the mysterious natures of twins to the dangerous powers of obligation and contract. Laden with perils for both the adventurous and the unsuspecting, magic is ultimately a contradiction: endlessly powerful but never without consequence, and rigidly defined by rules of its own making. Award-winning Jonathan Strahan brings together some of the most exciting and popular writers working in fantasy today to dig into that contradiction.

A collection of eight horror stories created by New York Times best-selling novelist Scott Sigler, author of horror/thrillers Infected, Contagious, Ancestor, Nocturnal and the young-adult Galactic Football League series.

It is said by some that the Spellmonger’s exile to the Magelaw left Sevendor, the City of Magic, unprotected in his absence. That would be untrue, for though the mightiest mage of the era was forced by law and custom to refrain from visiting his realm in Castal, he left behind a significant body of learned and dedicated colleagues to continue his policies and see to the protection of the magelands. These were not all warmagi, nor even High Magi; indeed, the strength of Sevendor depended on magi of all types and descriptions.

Welcome back to Beechwood Harbor, the small town where witches, vampires, shifters, and werewolves all work, play—and mostly—get along! This boxed set includes Books 10–12 in the Beechwood Harbor Magic Mysteries by Danielle Garrett.

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.

When alien pirates stole me from Earth years ago, the trauma of my abduction wiped away my memories. I can’t remember who I was before I was taken. All I know is that I’m not going to let myself be held captive again. The blue-skinned warriors I'm now living with seem different from the pirates who abducted me, but every alien I’ve ever known has tried to hurt me. So when I see my chance to sneak away from the Voxeran village, I take it. I’d rather face the dangers of Nuthora on my own than risk losing my freedom again. There’s one thing I didn’t count on, though. Bohrir.