Sea Fiction

As Ayanokouji and his classmates begin their second year at the Advanced Nurturing High School, they're greeted by a fresh gauntlet of exams and a fresh batch of rather unique first-year students. They'll have to get to know each other quickly, because the first special exam pairs the first-years with the second-years on a written test--with only the second-years facing expulsion if their team performs poorly! Worse yet? It seems one of the new first-years is also from the White Room. Can Ayanokouji avoid expulsion while sussing out the identity of this hidden foe?

Sky Diver First-Class Eron Marcel makes his living hunting whalls, giant sea creatures valued for their oil and hide. But when a hunt goes disastrously wrong, Eron is saved by a creature he did not know even existed: half-human and half-fish. Working with his rescuer, a young mer named Ket, Eron learns that the mer rely on the whalls for protection from the sea’s dangers, and both species are facing potential extinction.

An ordinary boy encounters the paranormal when a photo of the same girl starts inexplicably showing up in every book he opens. One day, the girl reaches out and pulls him into the photo to her location: a cell in a top-secret facility belonging to the SCP Foundation, an organization dedicated to the research and containment of people, objects and phenomena that defy reality!

When a ghost ship is discovered, its crew presumed dead after trying to reach the storm-shrouded island Akina, Navani Kholin must send an expedition to make sure the island hasn't fallen into enemy hands. Knights Radiant who fly too near find their Stormlight suddenly drained, so the voyage must be by sea. Shipowner Rysn Ftori lost the use of her legs but gained the companionship of Chiri-Chiri, a Stormlight-ingesting winged larkin, a species once thought extinct. Now Rysn's pet is ill, and any hope for Chiri-Chiri’s recovery can be found only at the ancestral home of the larkin.

The Naval Service of the Honorable East India Company, popularly known as the Bombay Marine, operated in romantic areas in perilous times. From the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea, from Calcutta to Canton, the Company ships were famous for their speed and daring. The "Bombay Buccaneers" who sailed them were the stuff of legend. For Percival Merewether, 1806 would be a year to remember.

We know more about distant galaxies than the deepest, darkest oceans… and what we don’t know absolutely can harm us… Doctor James Lockwood, Ph.D. is embarking on a new career – studying deep sea predators and their genes in order to find cures for terrible diseases… and to soothe his deepest, darkest inner demons. Alysen Kruger, CEO of an old and powerful corporation has big plans for the future and for Dr. Lockwood… but she, too, has demons to conquer.

Emma has just taken her first step as a knight. Emma's new job? Commander of a squad of useless layabouts. Just as her efforts start to change minds, a pirate base is discovered on Alias. What will happen when an elite force is sent in from the home planet to eliminate them?! An epic new tale of a failure's rise to glory in the Intergalactic Empire begins!

Ordinary office worker Ohashi Rei wakes up in the body of the protagonist of her favorite otome game, Revolution. To her delight, the first person to greet her is also her favorite character, Claire Francois—the main antagonist of the story! Now, Rei is determined to romance Claire, instead of the game's male leads. But how will her villainous ladylove react to this new courtship?!

"The Road to the Sea" was first published in the spring 1951 issue of Two Complete Science-Adventure Books.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Yoshio is thirty years old, and his life is a mess. A shut-in living with his parents, he has no job, no relationship, and no prospects. When he receives a new sim computer game that boasts characters created with a new kind of A.I., he doesn't think much of it--until he gets drawn into a fantasy world so vibrant and lifelike that its residents can't just be game characters. Suddenly finding himself the benevolent god of a scrappy fantasy village is a lot for Yoshio to handle, but it might be the key to the change he is desperate for.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious...

Kaori lives in an otherworldly bookstore with her adoptive father. Together, they provide books to the strange denizens of the spirit realm. But Kaori's peaceful days come to an end when she rescues an injured boy from the streets--a human, like her, from the mortal realm. The boy's name is Suimei, and he's an exorcist, the natural enemy of all spirits. Can Kaori convince Suimei that the line between human and spirit is far hazier than he thinks? A touching supernatural tale where humanity and Japanese folklore intertwine!

Could workaholic office lady Sei be a legendary Saint? Not according to the crown prince of another world, who summoned her and quickly declared a different girl was the real Saint!

Jack Biddlecomb has much to live up to, being as he is the eldest son of the esteemed Captain Isaac Biddlecomb, wealthy merchant captain, leading light of the War for American Independence, and newly minted congressman. Jack finds himself off to a promising start, however, when he’s given command of the merchant vessel Abigail bound from Philadelphia for Barbados. But even before the dock lines are cast off, the voyage, which should have been routine, begins to look like a stormy passage indeed.

Guadalcanal, the largest island in the Solomons, is being occupied by the Imperial Japanese Navy. As a new airfield nears construction, the United States Navy and Marine Corps know they must act quickly or the entire course of the war could swing in Japan’s favor. As a massive invasion force gathers, Art Turner and the decorated crew of USS Bull Shark are once again sent on a secret mission. The clock is ticking, and Turner, his Marine Raiders, and the Bull Shark herself must face aircraft carriers, marauding Japanese soldiers, and a deadly jungle before time runs out!

Iris Almeria, the daughter of a powerful duke, is arrested and forced to her knees in front of her fiancée. Her betrothed, Prince Edward, is rejecting her for another woman! As Iris's life flashes before her eyes, she suddenly realizes she knows exactly what's coming next--because she has been reincarnated into her favorite otome game as its villainess. Quick thinking saves her from exile, but Iris can't rest yet. If she wants to survive this world that sees her as wicked, she'll have to change the world itself.

For thousands of years, we have set out sailing for all kinds of reasons - for battle, for infinite wealth, for the excitement of exploring the unknown, and for escape from the mundane. We have always had a primal relationship with the sea - even those who have never been to sea remain fascinated by the seafaring life and tales of salty adventure. Now in a brand–new series collection, The Best Sailing Stories Ever Told brings together such diverse authors as Charles Dickens, Jack London, John Masefield, Stephen Crane, Herman Melville, and dozens more.

Takasu Ryuuji might look like a thug, but he's actually a nice guy. Making friends when you've got an unintentionally scary face is tough--and don't even get him started on girlfriends. But with his secret crush in his class, the start of his second year of high school is off to a good start...until he crosses paths with Aisaka Taiga. Beautiful, frightening, and not quite five feet tall, the girl known as the palmtop tiger is the one person in school even scarier than Ryuuji himself--and he's just made the mistake of making her very, very angry.

Shortly after Thomas Marlowe's arrival in Williamsburg, Virginia, all in that newfound capital city are speaking his name. With the bounty from his years as a pirate—a life he intends to renounce and keep forever secret—he purchases a fine plantation from a striking young widow, and soon after kills the favorite son of one of Virginia's most powerful clans while defending her honor. But it is a daring feat of remarkable cunning that truly sets local tongues wagging: a stunning move that wins Marlowe command of Plymouth Prize, the colony's decrepit guardship.

Though the dust has settled from the showdown at Biheiril Kingdom, for Rudeus Greyrat and his companions, another chapter is just beginning. This collection of stories details more of the post-battle ups and downs, including the worst crisis the Greyrat family has ever faced: the sudden elopement of Rudeus's son, Arus! The shocking story unfolds from both Rudeus's and Arus's perspectives. What is Arus thinking, and what will Rudeus do? Only one thing's for sure—after these events, life will never be the same!