He survives slavery and the fighting pits of Mogadishu, eventually becoming a merchant adventurer whose extraordinary skills and determination makes his a legend. From the Swahili merchant cities of Mombasa and Sofala to the magnificent Middle Kingdom, Changa and his crew experience adventures beyond the imagination. Despite his reputation, Changa will not rest until he has fulfilled his promise to his people. The anchors are lifted and the sails are dropped. Let the safari begin

    Set during the trek through the Sea of Sorrows, this is the story of Kallandras’ youth, in the labyrinths of the Brotherhood of Assassins.

    Others enter for the fame. And some simply for the fight.The games continue for days, until a champion is finally crowned. Or all who are involved perish.This is blood sport at its finest. At its worst. At its longest.NOTE: This is a novella of approx. 130 pages or 39,000 words. Some graphic language and violence.

    It's a city in a world of darkness, black magic and creatures of the night . . . a city where demonic entities serve the needs of any witch or magicman who can open a doorway into their domain. This is my city. This is my world.With a special dowsing rod, I can detect the ectoplasmic residue of any supernatural presence or demonic entity and sense the vestiges of odylic power and vile sorcery used in the commission of crimes. I hunt anyone and anything that poses a threat to the people of my city. My name's Dorgo. Folks call me the Dowser.From infernal depths where lost souls mutate into hell-spawned devils, from the other side of the veil that separates the earthly from the unearthly, from an ancient land whose borders cross into other dimensions, "Mad Shadows-The Weird Tales of Dorgo the Dowser," will transport you to a world where sentient shadows, vengeful vampires, malevolent puppets, and raging werewolves haunt the night . . . a world where life is cheap and souls are always up for sale.

    Myth. Warfare. Wonder. Beauty. Bravery. Glamour. Gore. Sorcery. Sensuality. These and many more elements of fantasy await you in the pages of Griots, which brings you the latest stories of the new genre called Sword and Soul.The tales told in Griots are the annals of the Africa that was, as well as Africas that never were, may have been, or should have been. They are the legends of a continent and people emerging from shadows thrust upon them in the past. They are the sagas sung by the modern heirs of the African story-tellers known by many names - including griots.Here, you will meet mighty warriors, seductive sorceresses, ambitious monarchs, and cunning courtesans. Here, you will journey through the vast variety of settings Africa offers, and inspires. Here, you will savor what the writings of the modern-day griots have to offer: journeys through limitless vistas of the imagination, with a touch of color and a taste of soul. Contents:The Soul in the Sword • essay by Charles R. SaundersA Gathering at the Meeting Tree • essay by Milton J. DavisMrembo Aliyenaswa (Captured Beauty) • shortfiction by Milton J. Davis [as by Milton Davis ]Awakening • shortfiction by Valjeanne JeffersLost Son • shortfiction by Maurice BroaddusIn the Wake of Mist • shortfiction by Kirk A. JohnsonSkin Magic • shortfiction by Djeli A. ClarkThe Demon in the Wall • shortfiction by Stafford L. BattleThe Belly of the Crocodile • shortfiction by Minister FaustChangeling • shortfiction by Carole McDonnellThe General's Daughter • shortfiction by Anthony Nana KwamuSekadi's Koan • shortfiction by Geoffrey ThorneThe Queen, the Demon and the Mercenary • shortfiction by Ronald T. JonesIcewitch • shortfiction by Rebecca McFarland KyleThe Leopard Walks Alone • shortfiction by Melvin CarterThe Three-Faced One • shortfiction by Charles R. SaundersGriots Bios • essay by uncredited

    The roster of contributors over the years includes Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Diana L. Paxson, Emma Bull, Jennifer Roberson, and countless others. Sword and Sorceress 26 includes stories by Kat Otis, Deborah J. Ross, Jean Tatro, Jonathan Shipley, Melissa Mead, Michael Spence and Elisabeth Waters, Margaret L. Carter, Dave Smeds, Patricia Duffy Novak, Michael H. Payne, Pauline J. Alama, Steve Chapman, J.C. Hsyu, Jonathan Moeller, K.D. Wentworth, David L. Burkhead, Julia H. West, Joette M. Rozanski, and Katharina Schuschke.

    Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian, continues with this latest compendium of Howard’s fiction and poetry. These adventures, set in medieval-era Europe and the Near East, are among the most gripping Howard ever wrote, full of pageantry, romance, and battle scenes worthy of Tolstoy himself. Most of all, they feature some of Howard’s most unusual and memorable characters, including Cormac FitzGeoffrey, a half-Irish, half-Norman man of war who follows Richard the Lion-hearted to twelfth-century Palestine—or, as it was known to the Crusaders, Outremer; Diego de Guzman, a Spaniard who visits Cairo in the guise of a Muslim on a mission of revenge; and the legendary sword woman Dark Agnès, who, faced with an arranged marriage to a brutal husband in sixteenth-century France, cuts the ceremony short with a dagger thrust and flees to forge a new identity on the battlefield.Lavishly illustrated by award-winning artist John Watkiss and featuring miscellanea, informative essays, and a fascinating introduction by acclaimed historical author Scott Oden, Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures is a must-have for every fan of Robert E. Howard, who, in a career spanning just twelve years, won a place in the pantheon of great American writers.

    Throughout her childhood, Adria has awakened entangled in her linen sheets in her tower at her father's mountain citadel of Windberth. She has awakened within sweat-soaked furs as a young woman among the Aesidhe, the Wilding Ghosts of the deep wood. Adria has awakened far too many times between the water and the air, gasping for breath and grasping for... something already lost.The dreams quickly fade, but the fear remains, for Adria's is a mind divided, a life in balance, heir of a nation on the brink of war.In the wake of the War of Scars, Adria's father carved a kingdom out of the scattered settlements of fledgling nobles. He forged a faith from the ashes of old religions left smoldering beneath the boot heels of long-lost armies. Now, at last, Heiland is a realm of order, held in a balance as careful as the black and white of a king's chessboard. A perfect order, except for... a few ghosts.The Aesidhe, now guided by Preinon, the exiled brother of King Ebenhardt Idonea, have become a challenge to the King of Heiland, to its Knights of Darkfire, and to the Matron of its Holy Sisterhood--a challenge made more potent by the unexpected arrival of a second great exile--young Princess Adria herself.Now, the games of chess taught to her by her father begin to play out on a grand scale, in the past and the present of her life, as Adria fights for a place in her world true to the destiny of a princess and the heart of a Hunter of the Aesidhe. And even as she returns to the spires of Windberth to fulfill a promise to her brother Hafgrim, the newly knighted Prince of Heiland, she remains uncertain of her status--royal scion... or exiled traitor?The War of Scars may have ended, but the legacy of shattered kingdoms and broken faiths has left the heirs of scars with an uncertain destiny in a fragile world. Torn between the legacy dictated by her father and the faith offered by her uncle and his new People, Adria knows that, as the Aesidhe have taught her, the mind divided can only defeat itself.-The Heir of Scars I, Book One: Ghosts of Heiland-At seventeen years of age, Adria Idonea has already seen both sides of war. Once princess in a citadel tower, almost storybook, she left to become a hunter, a healer, and a warrior among the enemy, in the deep wild of southern Heiland.But a promise she made brings her once again to a choice. Who has she been? Who would she become?Her way begins with a misstep, but Adria Idonea has learned to walk new paths before, guided by memories, shadows, and perhaps even ghosts.~20,000 words

    Howard's stories that appeared in pulp magazines like the revered Weird Tales. Howard is the creator of the international icon, Conan the Cimmerian and considered the Godfather of Sword and Sorcery.

    Human greed and destruction is giving rise to the basest, lowest, and evilest of faeries. Only Rionnag's arranged marriage will prevent earth's doom. But she will have none of it. Crossing over to the "Other Side” to escape her fate, she meets a human girl, Fiona, the lonely fatherless teenager who spends most of her time in the daydream world. Maggie, Fiona's mother, about to leave on her annual "retreat” to Scotland, harbors a secret that will affect them all. Unknowingly, Fiona holds the key to their ultimate rescue.

    And still, Adria feels haunted somehow, distracted by what was, what is, what will be. Adria, Princess of Idonea, must return to fulfill an oath, but will she return as Royal... or as traitor?<~22,000 words

    He holds no allegiances to any land, but only serves those who will add silver to his purse of coins. Once a proud Jomsviking commander and a member of the Byzantium Empire's elite mercenary unit of Varangian Guards, Thorgil now makes his meager living by wandering from one northern province to another, providing protection to fat merchants or aiding in blood-feuds. Enter the White Queen of Nidafjoll, who is seeking a warrior called the Bloodaxe who murdered her sister Karelia of Trolleboten thirteen years earlier. Queen Hvit, the White Queen spies on the northern kingdoms with the aid of her mirror from her kingdom isle. To avenge the murder of her sister, the White Queen unleashes a host of events that would change the lives of many. Thorgil is forced by the hand of the White Queen into a perilous adventure that may very well cost him his life.

    Heading to a monastery in the midst of snowy mountains, he makes a horrific discovery. When a god looms as a threat, Gorias has swords in hand to face it.First introduced in the novel Thrall, the centuries-old Gorias is an iconic Sword and Sorcery figure that fans of Robert E. Howard can easily connect with. Blood and Steel: Legends of La Gaul will be bringing many more tales of Gorias and his ancient world to light for the enjoyment of readers everywhere.

    Enter a Kingdom struggling to live under the shadows of tyranny, glimpse upon the individuals struggling to survive an all out war, and watch the bonds of friendship that unfold therein. Serpe is tested time and time again as she grows from a young, foolhardy girl into a powerful young woman in this story that proves that one cannot hide from their destiny... But they can certainly change it.

    Hunted by the wizards and their dragons who rule it, he escapes only with the help of a boy. But the boy turns out to be more than what he seems, opening the door to the greatest adventure Talus has ever known.So begins Awakening Evarun Part I of VI. Awakening Evarun is a six part serial novel. Part II of VI will be coming soon.

    It has shaped the events of the world for time immemorial. Flikk's story, however, started with a simple theft, and sent him on a dangerous journey from one end of the world to another, from boy to man, and from man to something else entirely.This is the beginning of that story.

    That was a long time ago. He’s something else now and there are times when not even he is sure what. He does a lot of dirty jobs in a city where even the Angels are corrupt. Now Erabys must aid a tomb robber who has strayed into the wrong crypt and awoken a lamia, a vampiric female demon, part-snake, part-succubus. His desperate quest takes him into a monster haunted Necropolis to face his darkest fears.

    Within these weird enclaves and black pits, you will find dark tombs, dragons, faeries, lepers, ostriches, Cerberus, Bush Nazis, love, vengeance, apotheosis, ignoble death, priceless golden hoards, and much, much more! Edited by Ignatius Umlaut and Del Beaudry, with a glorious wraparound color cover and interior b&w illustrations copyright Mark Allen, Roll the Bones features stories by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Michael D. Turner, Duncan Sandiland, Alicia Rieske, Tracie McBride, Andrew Knighton, Kristen Lee Knapp, Aaron Kesher, Robert E. Keller, Eric Juneau, A.H. Jennings, John Hitchens, Lance Hawvermale, Julie Frost, Mark Finnemore, James Dorr, Raven Daegmorgan, Melissa Cuevas, and Del Beaudry. Fantasy fan or gamer, old timer or fresh recruit, whether your tastes run to scintillating sword play, gruesome horror, eerie magic or pulse-pounding pulp action, Roll the Bones is the book for you! Fight on!