A collection of science fiction stories written by acclaimed author Poul Anderson.Poul Anderson is best known for sci-fi adventure stories in which larger-than-life characters succeed gleefully or fail heroically. Anderson's also famous for writing 'Call Me Joe' (not included in this volume) which featured the premise of a paralyzed man whose mind is remotely controlling an alien body. This same theme also appears in James Cameron's 2009 movie "Avatar" – similar enough that some reviewers are calling for Anderson to receive some form of credit.Included in this volume:Story One: Duel on SyrtisBold and ruthless, he was famed throughout the System as a big-game hunter. From the firedrakes of Mercury to the ice-crawlers of Pluto, he'd slain them all. But his trophy-room lacked one item; and now Riordan swore he'd bag the forbidden game that roamed the red deserts ... a Martian!Story Two: SecurityIn a world where Security is all-important, nothing can ever be secure. A mountain-climbing vacation may wind up in deep Space. Or loyalty may prove to be high treason. But it has its rewards...Story Three: The Valor of Cappen VarraWe have said that there are many and strange shadows, memories surviving from dim pasts, in this fantastic universe of ours...Story Four: Industrial RevolutionEver think how deadly a thing it is if a machine has amnesia—or how easily it can be arranged…Story Five: The Sensitive ManOne man stood between a power-hungry cabal and world mastery--but a man of unusual talents...These are the original and unabridged versions of these classic science fiction treasures. A must-have for fans of classic sci-fi!

    And now Christopher can't wake up. Has he lost his mind... or his innocence?

    M.O.D.O.K., sick of being hunted & hounded by A.I.M., gathers together an eclectic team of Marvel's most wanted to pull off one last, big score. But news travels fast & pretty soon every bad guy in the Marvel Universe is gunning for M.O.D.O.K.'s powerful prize.

    Jude Altfall’s life, just beginning to coalesce after her divorce, is shattered afresh. Dazed with grief, she’s not sure if the weird things happening around her are hallucinations…or something more. And there’s the mark on her hip—a tattoo she can’t for the life of her remember getting. Preston Marlock left a shadowy government agency two years ago, to hunt a killer. Each time the bastard strikes the trail goes cold, and not even Marlock’s more-than-natural abilities are helping. Now the killer’s taken one of his very few friends, and there’s a surviving witness. The Altfall woman is now that most precious and fragile of targets, newly Marked. All Marlock has to do is dangle her like bait, and the killer will eventually show up. The Skinner knows some people are different. Special. He has a collection of stretched skin and pretty pictures, each harvested with care. The trick is to take them while the victim is still struggling, still alive, otherwise their power is lost. He is careful, methodical, and precise, but chance robs him of a prize. Once he realizes Jude Altfall has what he covets, and has possibly seen his face, her fate is sealed. And just to be cautious, the Skinner might swat at the annoying fly who has buzzed along his trail for two years...

    Leaving behind a dead-end life, I thought settling in with the Le Roux family was what I was meant to do. But meeting Victor changed everything, and now I can’t imagine surviving without him. I, Sierra Steele never expected sexual pleasure to become my nightmare. My body is reveling in my new predicament, while my mind is screaming at the invasion. But protecting Carly is my purpose, and I’ll do what’s necessary. As long as I stay sane…

    Also published as "The Ship Who Returned" in Federations edited by John Joseph Adams.

    A space vessel called Schrodinger's Box discovers the creature, brings it back to life, and analyzes its intellectual and physical capabilities. It's not long before the scientists realize the creature is able to manipulate the make-up of objects, including organic matter, at a molecular level. The eyes of the scientific world are on Schrodinger's Box, but not everyone is pleased with the discovery. A group of terrorists attempts to intercept the ship and destroy it.

    As in life, there are no happy endings, and no matter how high one flies, theres always gravity.

    Even more exciting, each of these stories will spin off into a series of its own. Maggie Shayne’s CHRISTMAS BLUESA true believer returns the music to a lonesome drifter’s soul.Miranda’s Shayne’s FINDING CHRISTMASA small-town coffee shop owner melts a humbug hero’s wounded heart.River Shayne’s A HERO FOR HANNAHCan a woman in grave danger learn to trust one more time?Jessica Lewis’s THE SOLDIER’S CHRISTMAS BABYA lonely serviceman comes home for a holiday he’ll never forget.Grab a cup of eggnog, curl up near the tree, and fall in love with the holidays all over again!

    A thief, a candlemaker, an ex-mercenary, and a pig farmer walk into a trap…and what happens to them is no joke. When Riyria is hired to retrieve a jester’s treasure, Royce and Hadrian must match wits with a dwarf who proves to be anything but a fool. Difficult choices will need to be made, and in the end those who laugh last do so because they are the only ones to survive.This is a graphic novel, based on Sullivan's short story The Jester, and featuring the two charming rogues who are the main characters of both of his Riyria series, No prior knowledge of The Riyria Revelations or The Riyria Chronicles is required to enjoy it to its fullest, making this a perfect introduction for new readers or a chance for Riyria veterans to spend a little more time with old friends. The Jester is a story of adventure, bonds of friendship, and a recognition that the choices we make dictates the future we find.

    Other outlandish tales include John Wayne battling cancer using a highly alternative therapy, a gene for integrity being harvested from the brain of an unwilling donor, and the landing of Christopher Columbus in modern-day Manhattan. Included are the Locus and Nebula Award-nominated novelette Auspicious Eggs and several previously unpublished pieces.ContentsIntroduction by Michael Swanwick“Auspicious Eggs”“Come Back, Dr. Sarcophagus”“Director’s Cut”“Fucking Justice”“Isabella of Castile Answers Her Mail”“Martyrs of the Upshot Knothole”“The Cat’s Pajamas”“The Eye That Never Blinks”“The Fate of Nations”“The War of the Worldviews”“The Wisdom of the Skin”“The Zombies of Montrose”

    Poe's work is full of mystery, horror, and a dark imagination, while Verne focuses on action and adventure. It is a fascinating look at two great literary minds as they work on the same subject: the strange voyage of Arthur Gordon Pym to the Antarctic.

    In the wake of the Phoenix, the world has changed and is torn on exactly what Cyclops and his team of X-Men are ? visionary revolutionaries or dangerous terrorists? Whatever the truth, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik are out in the world gathering up new mutants and redefining the name UNCANNY X-MEN.

    Untreated, they fester and grow into the diseases of fear, uncertainty and hopelessness. Unaided, the law is blinded by bureaucracy and bound to a justice bent toward the protection even of the criminal. The face of a kinder and gentler nation is destroyed, carved into a harlequin's mask; a grim skull. And the wielders of the scythe laugh, secure in the knowledge that their crimes will go without punishment.They are wrong. In the urban jungle, there is one who stands alone and apart; one who lives not for the law, but only to see justice done. The Punisher reaps a different harvest.Once, he was Frank Castle, loving husband and father. A tour in Vietnam had shown him what war was. Part of him died there, but a precious part stayed alive, determined to return to the family he loved, and the peace and freedom that was his America. Part of him held on to live, until his family died in a hail of mob gunfire, victims of the wrong place and wrong time.Daily, criminals greedily cut their portions from the souls of the weak and weary, the foolish and the frightened. One man senses how the guilty feed like parasites on the heart of the American Dream. One man hears when evil laughs at the law. One man sees clearly that the most powerful criminals have placed themselves above the law. One man has become their judge, their jury.One man has become their Punisher.

    P. Lovecraft's stories includes 52 short stories and novellas all in one Kindle book. This edition has a fully linked active Table of Contents, with date written for each story and novella on the title pages. Table of ContentsThe Alchemist (1916)The Beast in the Cave (1918)Beyond the Wall of Sleep (1919)Dagon (1919)Memory (1919)The Picture in the House (1919)The White Ship (1919)The Cats of Ulthar (1920)The Doom That Came to Sarnath (1920)Nyarlathotep (1920)Polaris (1920)The Statement of Randolph Carter (1920)The Street (1920)Ex Oblivione (1921)Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family (1921)The Nameless City (1921)The Terrible Old Man (1921)The Tree (1921)Celephais (1922)The Music of Erich Zann (1922)The Tomb (1922)Hypnos (1923)The Lurking Fear (1923)I. The Shadow On The ChimneyII. A Passer In The StormIII. What The Red Glare MeantIV. The Horror In The EyesWhat the Moon Brings (1923)In the Vault (1925)He (Weird Tales, 1926)The Moon-Bog (Weird Tales, 1926)The Colour Out of Space (1927)The Horror at Red Hook (Weird Tales, 1927)Pickman's Model (Weird Tales, 1927)Cool Air (1928)The Call of Cthulhu (Weird Tales, 1928)I. The Horror In ClayII. The Tale of Inspector LegrasseIII. The Madness from the SeaThe Dunwich Horror (Weird Tales 1929)The Silver Key (Weird Tales, 1929)The Strange High House in the Mist (Weird Tales, 1931)The Whisperer in the Darkness (Weird Tales, 1931)The Other Gods (1933)The Dreams in the Witch House (Weird Tales, 1933)From Beyond (1934)The Quest of Iranon (1935)The Haunter of the Dark (Weird Tales, 1936)The Shadow out of Time (Astonishing Stories, 1936)The Shunned House (Weird Tales, 1937)The Thing on the Doorstep (Weird Tales, 1937)Azathoth (1938)The Book (1938)The Descendant (1938)The Evil Clergyman (Weird Tales, 1939)The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (Weird Tales, 1941)I. A Result and a PrologueII. An Antecedent and a HorrorIII. A Search and an EvocationIV. A Mutation and a MadnessV. A Nightmare and a CataclysmThe Shadow over Innsmouth (Weird Tales, 1942)The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (The Arkham Sampler, 1948)