Science Fictions Stuart

Aglirta is known as the Kingless Land. Once a prosperous and peaceful river valley, it has fallen into lawlessness, studded with feuding baronies engaged in a constant state of war. But the land is kingless no more, for the Sleeping King of legend, King Kelgrael, has been awakened by the efforts of The Band of Four.

A brooding malevolence has emerged from the shadows, and loved ones are disappearing without a trace. Stranded on a strange alien world, with no idea how he got there or how he was going to get back home, Joshua Ellis meets a mysterious pirate; but can he be trusted?

Jared Lobdell examines Tolkien's methods and his worldview by following the thread of three influences: the Edwardian adventure story, the science of philology, or comparative languages, and Roman Catholic theology. The "Edwardian mode" of adventure story ( King Solomon's Mines, The Lost World) is one in which a small group of Englishmen make an expedition to foreign parts and find supernatural terrors awaiting them, finally returning home, mission accomplished.

This volume brings together 17 masterful tales of cosmic horror inspired by Lovecraft's work. In his fiction, humanity is a tiny, accidental drop of light and life in the endless darkness of an uncaring universe a darkness populated by vast, utterly alien horrors. Our continued survival relies upon our utter obscurity, something that every fresh scientific wonder threatens to shatter.

When Max and the gang are hired by an art forging ghost to find a lost painting, Max thinks it'll be easy money. But villains old and new come out, and the race is on for the painting and the secrets it contains. A race that will lead Max into a mess of magic spells, haunted houses, ancient curses, and even Blackbeard the Pirate.

After returning to the East, Zev Asterling attempts to put away his Master-Solver days and rebuild his life. Political tensions have run high since the events at Ridnight Castle, and a summit between the Frontier and the East is a sliver of light that many cling to. But when a politician's daughter is kidnapped, Zev is called upon to do what he does best.

A brave warleader on a quest for a mythical weapon, Axon Coponiv is forced to look outside her trusted party for help when one of her own is mysteriously slain. She turns to Zev Asterling, a failed businessman, displaced aristocrat, and psuedo-detective, to help her find out who killed her man and why. The mystery deepens as Zev realizes that the killer must be someone close to Axon, perhaps even one of the others in her band.

The world of Wonder has been thrown into chaos. Servers crashed, cities are in disarray, and death is permanent. Amidst all the upheaval, a new dungeon is growing. Undercroft Citadel. Ben Hales stands on the front lines, sword in hand, ready to continue his dark work. With an army of the dead and the blessing of a goddess, he’ll bring more fire and brimstone to Wonder than the game has ever known.

The Lord of Darkarrow has been forced to respawn, but things aren’t exactly as they should be. Kadorax has unlocked a powerful new class that few in Agglor have ever heard of. As a Bastion of Chaos Incarnate, he has the potential to become stronger than anyone has ever been, but he’ll need to carve through an army of jackals just to survive. Oscine City has all but fallen. All of Agglor’s most powerful forces have joined ranks to stave off the new threat from the north, and still...it may not be enough.

In the game, the people of Tamernil live under the harsh rule of a vile bureaucrat, and Bokta - an outcast blood witch practicing forbidden magic - has a bold plan to save them all. She'll need to summon a powerful demon, one she's been watching through a scrying mirror for years. There's just one hitch: the mighty demon she's been watching isn't real. He's a character in Realm of Crafted War, and the man behind the keyboard is a far cry from a savior.

Lady Scrapple is dead, but the war is far from over. Corpses fill Talonrend’s streets and victorious orcs revel in fresh blood. In the forest beneath Kanebullar Mountain, Gideon and Melkora wonder if they are the only two humans still alive. Under clouds of smoke, there might yet be a glimmer of hope. Deep within the darkest recesses of Gideon’s mind, Vrysinoch stirs to life. Humanity’s god is hungry for vengeance.

In the midst of war, the panicked citizens of Talonrend take to the road in search of their ancestral home. Unknown to them, the clans of the wilds have united under a mysterious shaman in search of conquest. Gravlox and Vorst are locked in the dungeon beneath Castle Talon, and Prince Herod wastes away on his deathbed. A field of goblin skeletons stretches from Terror's Lament to the Clawflow River, but Lady Scrapple's army has not been beaten. To the goblin queen, everything has purpose - even bones.

Alistair the Fourth was a mighty general from a long-forgotten war. Four hundred years later, Alster Lightbridge is barely a shadow of his legendary namesake. Crippled and confined to his family's estate, he spends his days dreaming of something larger than himself - something worthy of his name. Encouraged by his tutor to explore the Lightbridge archive, Alster discovers a magical dagger with the power to cleave shadows from their bodies. Blade in hand, Alster finally understands his purpose, though he needs to find a four-centuries-old grave in order to fulfill it.

Duncan Rose hustles his way through life, taking advantage of the foolish and overindulged. His weapon of choice - a deck of cards. Despite the dangers, he uses his skills with sleight-of-hand tricks to cheat at poker and tilt life in his favor. But when Duncan steps through a strange door and emerges in the Depression-ravaged world of 1934, he discovers a dark underworld of magicians and card cheats who use their skills simply to survive another day.

Adam Brandt is used to dealing with all kinds of people - as a consulting psychologist with the Chicago Police Department he has faced his share of criminals. But Kassie Wojcek is like no one else he's encountered - 15 years old and burdened, she says, with a terrible gift: she knows how and when you will die. After claiming to 'feel' the horrific murder of the first victim, Kassie is caught up in the hunt for a sadistic serial killer terrorising Chicago, frightened that people will die without her help.

The Unidentified Funny Objects series serves an annual dose of funny, zany, and unusual science fiction and fantasy stories. All-new fiction from the genre's top voices! Our sixth volume features a Mad Amos story by Alan Dean Foster, a Harry the Book tale by Mike Resnick, and an Alexander Outland short by Gini Koch.

The Parallel Society has a singular task—to protect the universe from the troubles caused by other universes intersecting with ours. But recent disruptions to the Society have place Veronica “Roni” Rider in the position of team leader, and they don’t have time for her to get acclimated.

Swords, sorcery and space ships clash in this science fantasy classic! After five years of slavery, Garthanas, the Hamarian Sword and defender of his oppressed people, returns to find the woman he loves has deserted him and his best friend has betrayed him. Now Garthanas lives only for revenge. But, his plans change suddenly when he learns of a plot by Thamas I, the planet's evil ruler, to liquidate the entire Hamarian race. It’s a plan Garthanas swears to stop, even if he has to fight his way through every guard and soldier in the palace. And he will!

A young girl, Ana, sits in the interview room, while the uniformed man who followed her lies dead. After the girl escapes, Tears pursues her and enters a world similar—yet shockingly different—to ours. He soon learns of a mysterious group called the Silencers, and the Transference Engine, which has irreparably damaged the fabric of space and time.

When Max and Sandra Porter moved down to North Carolina, they thought they were getting a new beginning - good job, good pay, and a lovely little place in Winston-Salem. But the family that hired him to research land deals in North Carolina is not all that they seem. And when Max discovers that his office is haunted by Marshall Drummond, PI - a ghost from the 1940s - what started as a simple research job sinks him neck-deep in a world of old mysteries and dangerous enemies.