Short Science Fiction Fantasy Stories

Every novella by Ursula K. Le Guin, an icon in American literature, collected for the first time - and introduced by the legendary author - in one breathtaking volume. Ursula K. Le Guin has won multiple prizes and accolades, from the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to the Newbery Honor, Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, and PEN/Malamud awards. She has had her work collected over the years but never as a complete retrospective of her longer works.

Hugh Howey is known for crafting riveting and immersive tales of boundless imagination. Now comes Machine Learning, an impressive collection of Howey's science fiction and fantasy short fiction, including three stories set in the world of Wool, two never-before-published tales written exclusively for this volume, and 15 additional stories collected here for the first time. These stories explore everything from artificial intelligence to parallel universes to video games, and each story is accompanied by an author's note.

It is a time of treachery, terrorism, and tyranny in the Star Kingdom. The king cannot be trusted, the galaxy is on the brink of war, and a notorious mercenary is destroying everything - and everyone - in his path on his quest for vengeance. The Star Kingdom is in dire need of heroes. What it gets is a band of misfits and underdogs:

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned, and that is the case at hand. Space Boats Corporation has a monopoly on the spacecraft industry, right across the solar system. Their new crown jewel, SBC’s Starry Dream, launches from Earth on her maiden voyage to Mars, oblivious to those that quietly trail her. A group of meddlers interrupts the voyage, and sets off a chain of events that changes some things forever.

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.

Follow a core group of characters known as the Trailblazers as they use alien technology and knowledge discovered in Antarctic ruins to obtain limited immortality and lead Humanity out into the galaxy, encountering, befriending, and fighting hundreds of alien races, all the while desperately trying to prepare Earth for the unbeatable threat at the core of the Milky Way that is destined to return and reclaim their lost colony...and their former Human slaves.

In the aftermath of WWII, an alien virus struck the Earth, endowing a handful of survivors with extraordinary powers. Originally published in 1987, the newly expanded saga contains additional original stories by eminent writers.

Rew, the King’s Ranger, accepted a role on the far edge of the realm to avoid the morass of intrigue and betrayal that bleeds from the heart of the kingdom. His only desire is to shoulder the burden he’s taken, to protect the village of Eastwatch, and to monitor the wilderness beyond. When three youths are arrested for petty theft in the village and beg for help, Rew’s friend insists he take responsibility for them. By ties stronger than steel, Rew is forced onto a path he knows leads to chaos. The King’s Ranger will battle to grant the youths a life he never had a chance of.

Verdan Blacke is an Imperial Wizard, a researcher by preference but soldier by necessity. Surviving an intense battle, Verdan is cursed by a hex witch in her final moments. Without any good options, Verdan escapes the ever-increasing pain the curse inflicts by performing a self-made stasis ritual.

Three short stories in one convenient package! Follow the adventures of Thumbelina in college in these wacky crossovers featuring all sorts of fairy-tale creatures!

From the writer whose name is synonymous with the science of robotics comes five decades of robot visions - 36 landmark stories and essays, plus three rare tales - gathered together in one volume.

A man becomes targeted by witches after he inherits some very special real estate.

The best science fiction and fantasy stories of 2021, selected by series editor John Joseph Adams and guest editor Veronica Roth. This year’s selection of science fiction and fantasy stories, chosen by series editor John Joseph Adams and bestselling author of the Divergent series Veronica Roth...

In the world of Eternal Night, Johnathan Masters is at the top of his game. He’s worked hard to build up his influence, trading favors and playing politics. But when a Blood from another city arrives on the scene and attempts to cut into his business by increasing his own status, Johnathan is forced to defend his turf. Maybe he’ll play nice. But then again, sometimes a bit of tough love sends the right message.

Urban fantasy offers a diverse playground for some extremely powerful stories. Professional writer and editor Kerrie L. Hughes pulled some fantastic tales out of 14 top writers for this fifth installment of Fiction River. Set in urban lands from modern Portland, to a future Detroit, to a wild Washington, D.C., and ending the tour in London, these top writers take the idea of "Hex" and stretch and twist it into stories with a magickal grip on the imagination.

No resources. No memories. No help. Jak awakens, cold and confused, on the shore of an unknown island at the beginning of a dangerous nightfall. With nothing but his name and a head drained of memory, he stumbles into the nearby forest and is quickly forced to fight for his very survival. When he meets Niri, a beautiful elf exiled from her people and left to die in the wilderness, he begins the quest to build his own tribe in a land of blood, brutality, and wild adventure.

Jane Sagan: Soldier. Killer. Lover. Dreamer. In John Scalzi's best-selling Old Man's War series of science-fiction novels, we see this warrior woman as the other characters see her - silent and strong, from the outside. But now The Sagan Diary shows us Sagan from another point of view: her own, as she prepares to leave military life and join her new husband and adopted daughter on a colony world.

In the Shadow of the Towers compiles nearly 20 works of speculative fiction responding to and inspired by the events of 9/11, from writers seeking to confront, rebuild, and carry on, even in the face of overwhelming emotion.

Science fiction is a portal that opens doors onto futures too rich and strange to imagine. Fantasy takes us through doorways of magic and wonder. For more than a decade award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan has sifted through tens of thousands of stories to select the best, the most interesting, the most engaging science fiction and fantasy to thrill and delight readers.

Markham has returned to Seattle, searching for Katarina, the girl who, a decade ago, touched his soul, literally tearing it from his body. But what he discovers upon arriving is dark magick - of a most ancient and destructive kind! An encounter with a desperate spirit, leaping destructively from host to host, sets Markham on the trail of secretive cabal of magicians seeking to punch a hole through heaven, extinguishing forever the divine spark.