Short Stories Science

He went searching for a fresh start. He didn’t expect to find unusual friends, fierce enemies, and primal powers. Jason thought that it was the end of his life after being hunted and attacked by a band of ruthless thugs. Instead, he tapped into the source of creation and emerged from his death experience with magical powers. As a new mage, Jason finds himself part of a wonderful - and dangerous - new supernatural world.

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.

A reluctant hero. Dick aka Devil Dog's world changes drastically when the EMP takes out the power grid. A homeless Marine veteran living in the abandoned tunnels beneath Chicago, he's far better prepared than most people. Devil Dog becomes the reluctant savior of women and children from the worst of the gangs that now rule topside. Doing the right thing makes him new enemies, driving him ever deeper into the tunnels that keep his charges safe - until he runs across a young woman who might be his daughter.

Celebrate Christmas with one of the world's best-loved storytellers. In this collection there is mystery and magic, laughter and mischief, the joy of shared times and plenty of delicious food - many of the ingredients that have been delighting Enid Blyton's fans for more than 70 years.

A young woman is driven to madness by the recurring appearance of a hospital gown that first traumatized her as a child. By the author of the bestselling gothic novel The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls, “The Gown” is a chilling example of how a seemingly innocuous event can tragically erode the psyche of a sensitive child. This disturbing short story follows a nameless girl as she attempts to make a normal life for herself while struggling to escape the debilitating fear that preys upon her in her most vulnerable moments.

Leoron of Alera returns home from the Hive wars determined to protect the capital city - and last bastion of a vanished queen’s reign - from civil war. Loyal to the bone, Leo answers the call from Prime Nial and vows to protect at any cost three unknown females arriving from Earth. But the simple soldier is unprepared for the shock of desire that brings him to his knees at first sight of Trinity Jones.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a poet, novelist, and literary critic. He created the enchanting world of fairyland inhabited by characters like the snow-queen, the mermaid's son, ogres, dwarfs, monsters, magicians, and giants. The Pink Fairy Book contains 41 tales from Africa, Japan, Scandinavia, and Europe. They range from familiar stories like "The Snow-Queen" and "The Fir-Tree" to the obscure tales of the Tanuki. This collection contains stories like "The Cats' Elopement", The "Princess in the Chest", "Snowflake", and more....

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.

Lacking health insurance when he was diagnosed with cancer, Shawn Speakman asked friends in the science fiction and fantasy writing community to donate short stories he could use to counter mounting medical debt. The result was Unfettered, an anthology offering tales from some of the best authors working today. Now, in Unfettered III, Speakman continues to pay forward the aid he received, raising money to combat medical debt for SF&F artists and authors.

Maybe this world full of jaw-droppingly beautiful women and martial arts magic is just some sort of delusion. Maybe this strong, capable body I’ve found myself in isn’t real. But if it is, then there’s a path that could lead me to everything I’ve ever desired. The training comes first. Then the tournament. After that… anything is possible. I just need to survive to experience it all.

Beginning with a novella by Spider-Man's co-creator Stan Lee and veteran Marvel writer Peter David retelling the wall-crawler's origin, this exciting anthology has original stories featuring one of the world's most enduring heroes.

The reenactment of the iconic battle of the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, is in its second day, and the paramedics at Aid Station Three have seen their share of cuts and scrapes and heat exhaustion. With 20 minutes until the start of the next battle scenario, Eric, the senior EMT, sends the minor injury cases on their way. Suddenly, a cannon shot booms, followed by more in quick succession, followed by thunder. Has the battle started early? Strangely, it sounds more like the sounds of battle are coming from the actual site of the Battle of Gettysburg.

“True Wind” is a fantasy adventure story set in a secondary world where magic exists and so do merfolk (although not in the form traditionally depicted in similar stories). Moonheart, a young merman of the Calm Winds tribe, is sent on a mission to rescue a human (or “drylander”) woman from the clutches of another drylander country’s enemy nation. He must also take his young, vulnerable sister, True Wind, so that she may discover her destiny.

Three suburban friends had normal and routine lives. The one thing they had to look forward to each week was their wine night. This all changed when one of the women decided to shake things up and brought a mysterious book of spells and magic to their wine night. She had a terrible, wonderful confession. She had been using magic to improve her life and it was working. Now she wanted to share this gift with her two best friends. It seemed harmless enough at the time and when their wishes started to come true, the three friends didn't see the harm in trying more and more dangerous spells.

He is a famous author, a man who has penned best sellers. He is a man with a wife and a safe, sedate life. Then, what drives his inner sorrow? What fuels his hidden frustration? In this modern world, he understands more than the average person. He is able to communicate better than the best orator, the most talented blogger, or the greatest novelist. Yet, all his thoughts are imprisoned within him because of the fear they can cause, until the man meets two strange twin girls.

The best-selling Extinction Cycle series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith first introduced listeners to a world ravaged by an engineered virus that turned men into monsters. Humanity's only hope was not a cure, but another bioweapon. When deployed it killed 90 percent of the infected, but the remaining 10 percent transformed into even more terrifying creatures called Variants. Here's a collection of Extinction Cycle short stories that explore the human spirit and the fight for survival in the face of overwhelming odds from some of the leading voices in the post-apocalyptic genre.

My career as a realtor bored me, except for when I got to test my handyman skills. So, when I finally saved enough, I purchased the most rundown manor I could find. The problem? A few guests rest within its walls. Repairing the mansion is the challenge I craved, but a string of vandalisms keeps us on edge. Someone, or something, doesn’t want us living here. It turns out Sunnyside won’t be as peaceful as I expected.

Beyond the Aquila Rift: It's shorthand for the trip no one ever hopes to make by accident. The one that will screw up the rest of your life, the one that creates the ghosts you see haunting the shadows of company bars across the whole Bubble. Men and women ripped out of time, cut adrift from families and lovers by an accident of an alien technology we use but rarely comprehend.

The complete series in a single offering! Brian attends an anime convention with a mysterious charm.

Chris Beckett's thought-provoking and wide-ranging collection of contemporary short stories is a joy to listen to, rich in detail and texture. From stories about first love, to a man who discovers a labyrinth beneath his house, to an angel left alone at the end of the universe, Beckett displays both incredible range and extraordinary subtlety as a writer. Every story is a world unto itself - each one beautifully realized and brilliantly imagined.