Best of
Dark-Fantasy

2002

The Books of the South


Glen Cook - 2002
    And there's still the Black Company.  The Book of the South is the second omnibus of novels from one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age, Glen Cook’s Black Company series—collecting Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and The Silver Spike.

The Coldfire Trilogy: Black Sun Rising/ When True Night Falls/ Crown of Shadows


C.S. Friedman - 2002
    

Gods in Darkness: The Complete Novels of Kane


Karl Edward Wagner - 2002
    A warrior and statesman: As comfortable in the shadowy halls of courtly intrigue as he is on the bloody battlefields where those intrigue's inevitably play themselves out. Karl Edward Wagner's complex and compelling character of Kane redefines the boundaries of heroic fantasy, and stands besides Michael Moorcock's Elric, and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser as one of the most idiosyncratic and compelling characters of the fantasy genre. Gods in Darkness gathers together in one volume the complete novels of Kane.Contents:Bloodstone (1975)Dark Crusade (1976)Darkness Weaves (1970, revised 1978).

In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers


Caitlín R. Kiernan - 2002
    Meet Dancy Flammarion, an orphaned albino girl who talks to angels and is intent on ridding the world of monsters. But what happens when one of the monsters decides to use her for his own dark ends? In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers is award-winning fantasist Caitlin R. Kiernan's first-ever novella, giving us a glimpse into the life of Dancy Flammarion shortly before her appearance in Kiernan's critically-acclaimed second novel, Threshold. This gritty yet decadent story of ghouls, corruption, and talking bears, draws us deeply into a world of madness and betrayal, forbidden appetites and deadly intrigue, and the light that shines from the most unlikely of heroes. In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers will include a full-color dustjacket and ten black and white interior illustrations by Dame Darcy! The limited edition will also include "On the Road to Jefferson," a previously unpublished chapbook available only with the novella, with cover art by Caitlín R. Kiernan.

Blood Legacy: The Story of Ryan


Kerri Hawkins - 2002
    VAMPIRES AREN'T REAL... BUT THE ONES WHO INSPIRED THE LEGEND FIND THE MYTH VERY AMUSING... Dr. Susan Ryerson, a young doctor at the forefront of genetic research, stumbles across an unconscious woman with mortal injuries. But impossibly, the woman returns to life, and Dr. Ryerson discovers that she has crossed paths with something that is more than human. Ryan Alexander, her enigmatic patient, possesses extraordinary capabilities, an inconceivable anatomy, and a devastating charisma. She draws Susan into a violent and erotic world that places both the doctor and her young son in danger. Ryan, through her vivid dreams and through the memories of the others, relives her six centuries of life, all the while knowing that history is accelerating to catch up with her. And Susan can only wonder what one so powerful could possibly be afraid of...BLOOD LEGACY. Six centuries of questions that only the novel can answer. one shot prose novel B&W 304pp

From Weird and Distant Shores


Caitlín R. Kiernan - 2002
    Kiernan as one of today's most versatile fantasists. Spanning and transcending the fields of fantasy, dark fantasy, and science fiction, these stories include some of Kiernan's early and hard-to-find work, and explore the limits of that ubiquitous bane of contemporary F&SF, the "theme" and "shared-world" anthology. In the words of Douglas E. Winter: "Caitlin Kiernan's stories, even when appearing in theme anthologies, fill a space that is genuinely hers ó thematically and stylistically. Rarely do her texts offer the punch line ending of a campfire tale, or even a tidy denouement. Instead they present a fine mingling of attitude and atmosphere, expressed with delightful idiosyncrasy . . ." Including such critically-acclaimed stories as "Emptiness Spoke Eloquent" (selected for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror) and "Persephone," as well as Kiernan's first ever collaboration with Poppy Z. Brite, From Weird and Distant Shores is a nightmare tour de force you won't easily forget.

Witch Ember


John Lawson - 2002
    From that day forward, all humankind carried a piece. Most have just a little- just the tiniest speck of dust- but some have one of the bigger grains- or even a pebble- and they are the most powerful of sorcerers. In the paranoid, magically-barren lands of the Seven Kingdoms, the street urchin Esmeree is born to carry a stone of unprecedented size and power. As she struggles to survive the unforgiving streets of Cliffs Reach, she endeavors to master the sorcery of her stone and understand its purpose. But time is running out for her for others have discovered her skills and seek to use or destroy her. The Inquisition, the Superbus Tyrannus, the Primate of the Holy Median church. Esmeree must determine her own path, or she will die their slave.

Rising Stars: Born in Fire


Arthur Byron Cover - 2002
    Of what happened to us, and to those we knew, and loved, and fought. Sixty years. One hundred and thirteen people born with the power. The story of the world we touched. And all the places where the world touched us. And the terror and the beauty and the death that happened in the spaces in-between... Over twenty years ago, a comet struck the Earth just outside the town of Pederson, Illinois. There were 113 children in utero when the flash hit, and every one of them was affected, gaining extraordinary super-powers as they grew older. The people of the world, initially worried by what the children might become when they reached adulthood, now fear what they will do with the powers they've gained-and who might suffer should the rising stars start to think they could run the world better...

Conceptions I


Luis Royo - 2002
    The result is an exceptional journey through drawings, sketches and pencils.

Team of Darkness


Tony Ruggiero - 2002
    Horror/Vampire: Navy Commander John Reese has been given the perfect opportunity of his lifetime; the chance to prove the existence of creatures that for centuries have haunted the myths and legends of Europe, the creatures known as vampires.