Science Fiction Anthology Short Stories

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

Beyond the boundaries of the everyday is an unseen realm where anything you imagine is possible. Your demon lover is waiting for you in the shadows, ready to fulfill your secret wishes and most dangerous fantasies. Here passion has a face and form both titillating and terrifying - and love has teeth and claws. Get ready to give in to your craving for something exquisitely dark...and different. Hotter Than Hell gathers together a baker's dozen of today's boldest and best authors of supernatural fiction and paranormal romance in a breathtaking anthology that blends black magic with red-hot desire.

When Ren Landis goes looking for excitement on her 21st birthday, getting kidnapped is a little more than she bargained for. So is finding out that shifters exist - and that she's one, too. As the last of the dragon shifters, she's got a role to fulfill: Take the alphas of the four shifter groups as her mates and unite all shifter kind. No pressure, right? Too bad Ren's fate isn't as simple as getting it on with four scorching-hot men.

Watch out - the Earth just fell into a dark sun's orbit! Or maybe you'd rather visit a theme park called Hell? These are just two of the strange and unnerving tales you'll find in this collection of great science fiction and fantasy stories.

On the island of Avalon, everyone has magical abilities. Except Selena Pearce. As if being the only nonmagical person on the island isn’t bad enough, her parents happen to be the king and queen of Avalon - and the most magical people alive. She’s never felt like she fit in on Avalon, but that all changes when she leaves the island and meets Julian - a mesmerizing, mysterious human.

We are Draekons. Dangerous, fire-breathing dragon shifters. For the safety of the galaxy, we’ve been exiled to a prison planet. Then, a spaceship carrying human women crashes into our lives. The instant we lay eyes on them, we know. They are our mates. Ours to protect. Ours to cherish. Ours. Forever. Draekon Desire: Exiled to the Prison Planet: The Complete Collection features hours of exciting, heart-pounding, panty-melting alien dragon shifter menage romance.

Armed camps of eco-survivalists battle purveyors of technology in this exclusive, original production featuring five sci-fi masters and five all-star narrators.

Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than "serving a sentence"; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity. For the last quarter century the prestigious writers' organization PEN has sponsored a contest for writers behind bars to help prisoners face these challenges. The contest honors the best short stories, plays, essays, and poems among hundreds submitted annually by men and women nationwide.

An EMP strike shatters the nation. Keith flees biker gangs, his daughter is trapped in mall rubble, and his wife fights through burning streets. Their only hope is Eddie’s off-grid mountain homestead. Survival, family, and chaos collide in this explosive thriller.

Notes from the author: The following is a short story I wrote in the Elantris world back in January of 2006. There were always a few holes in Elantris where I decided not to include viewpoints or sections of explanation in the name of streamlining, particularly at the end. In the back of my mind, I knew what happened. This story talks about one of those holes; it is meant to be heard after you’ve finished the novel and takes place during the events of the climax.

An unabridged audio collection spotlighting the "best of the best" hard science fiction stories published in 2016 by current and emerging masters of the genre, edited by Allan Kaster, as narrated by top voice talents.

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.

Arthur Cain was a hero to his city, the most accomplished and respected of the firefighters in his entire district. But when a call comes in from the so-called "Halfbreed Heights", the monsterfolk part of the city, Arthur's life gets flip-turned upside down. Though he saved the life of a matronly lamia that day, he was also partially crippled and forced into early retirement. Now unable to fit the image of her personal superman, Arthur's wife divorces him and leaves him to move into a cheaper home in the same monsterfolk slum that caused his current situation.

After years of service in the Imperial Expeditionary Force, Jol Rivers has found a tentative home in Littlereach, where he makes a living as a blacksmith. One day, however, a beautiful mage arrives and tells him that he has a mysterious magical power hidden within the items he forges, one that could defeat the malignant forces threatening the Second Empire. She invites him to the Lyceum, an institute for mages where he can develop this power. Little does Jol know that he has his own knowledge to impart to the other students, the kind of forbidden talents that binds them to him…

In April 2020, the world faced imminent lock-down, so a group of filmmakers started a virtual support group. Once a week, these diverse voices would assemble to do what they do best: tell each other stories. Campfire horror tales, emotional cosmic mysteries, and anything else that either made them take their minds off what was happening to the world, or help them understand it. HAUNTED REELS is the best of those stories.

It was a dark and stormy knight, and nine dark defenders embarked upon a most perilous quest. They're the ultimate defenders of humanity, modern day knights who do dark deeds for all the right reasons. In this all-star collection, nine of today's hottest paranormal authors bring us thrilling, all-new stories of supernatural knights that are brimming with magic mystery and mayhem.

When Soren is plucked from the streets and given a place at the prestigious academy of swordsmanship, he thinks his dream of being a great swordsman has become a possibility. However, with great intrigues unfolding all around him, Soren discovers that he is little more than a pawn to the ambitions of others.

I was hanging out with some buddies, doing a little caving, when everything went south. When I woke up, I was in some kind of medieval dungeon. Totally naked and in the dark. Luckily, I had a neighbor in a cell near me. One with a decidedly sexy feminine voice. When she explained to me that she was due to be executed and I was in line to be brainwashed, there was only one thing to do. We had to escape.

In March 1987, Mercedes Lackey, a young author from Oklahoma, published her first novel, Arrows of the Queen. No one could have envisioned that this modest book about a magical land called Valdemar would be the beginning of a fantasy masterwork series that would span decades and include more than two dozen titles.

Thirteen tales of Darlene Bobich! The prequel to the successful Dying Days zombie novella. Includes a free preview of Dying Days.