The New Voices of Fantasy


Peter S. BeagleAmal El-Mohtar - 2017
    The New Voices of Fantasy tethers some of the fastest-rising talents of the last five years. Their tales were hand-picked by the legendary Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (The Treasury of the Fantastic).So go ahead, join the Communist revolution of the honeybees. The new kids got your back.

Engraved on the Eye


Saladin Ahmed - 2012
    A gun slinging Muslim wizard in the old West. A disgruntled super villain pining for prison reform. A cybernetic soldier who might or might not be receiving messages from God. Prepare yourself to be transported to new and fantastical worlds.The short stories in this collection have been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell awards. They’ve been reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy and other anthologies, recorded for numerous podcasts, and translated into several foreign languages. Now they are collected in one place for the first time. Experience for yourself the original voice of one of fantasy’s rising stars!STORIES IN THIS ANTHOLOGYWhere Virtue LivesHooves and the Hovel of Abdel JameelaJudgment of Swords and SoulsDoctor Diablo Goes Through the MotionsGeneral Akmed’s Revenge?Mister Hadj’s Sunset RideThe Faithful Soldier, PromptedIron Eyes and the Watered Down World

Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology


Brandon Sanderson - 2014
    On the deadly island of Patji, where predators can sense the thoughts of their prey, a lone trapper discovers that the island is not the only thing out to kill him.Mary Robinette Kowal’s “A Fire in the Heavens” is a powerful tale of a refugee seeking to the near-mythical homeland her oppressed people left centuries ago. When Katin discovers the role the “eternal moon” occupies in the Center Kingdom, and the nature of the society under its constant light, she may find enemies and friends in unexpected places.Dan Wells’s “I.E.Demon” features an Afghanistan field test of a piece of technology that is supposed to handle improvised explosive devices. Or so the engineers have told the EOD team that will be testing it; exactly what it does and how it does it are need-to-know, and the grunts don’t need to know. Until suddenly the need arises.Howard Tayler’s “An Honest Death” stars the security team for the CEO of a biotech firm about to release the cure for old age. When an intruder appears and then vanishes from the CEO’s office, the bodyguards must discover why he is lying to them about his reason for pressing the panic button.For years the hosts of Writing Excuses have been offering tips on brainstorming, drafting, workshopping, and revision, and now they offer an exhaustive look at the entire process. Not only does Shadows Beneath have four beautifully illustrated fantastic works of fiction, but it also includes transcripts of brainstorming and workshopping sessions, early drafts of the stories, essays about the stories’ creation, and details of all the edits made between the first and final drafts.Come for the stories by award-winning authors; stay for the peek behind the creative curtain.

The Dragon Book


Jack DannLiz Williams - 2009
     Whether portrayed as fire-breathing reptilian beasts at war with humanity or as noble creatures capable of speech and mystically bonded to the warriors who ride them, dragons have been found in nearly every culture's mythology. In modern times, they can be found far from their medieval settings in locales as mundane as suburbia or as barren as post-apocalyptic landscapes—and in The Dragon Book, today's greatest fantasists reignite the fire with legendary tales that will consume readers' imaginations.Includes the following stories: Dragon’s Deep - Cecelia Holland Vici - Naomi Novik Bob Choi’s Last Job - Johnathan StroudAre You Afflicted with Dragons? - Kage BakerThe Tsar’s Dragons - Jane Yolen and Adam StempleThe Dragon of Direfell - Liz Williams Oakland Dragon Blues - Peter S. Beagle Humane Killer - Diana Gabaldon and Samuel Sykes Stop! - Garth NixUngentle Fire - Sean Williams A Stark and Wormy Knight - Tad Williams None So Blind - Harry Turtledove JoBoy - Diana Wynne JonesPuz_le - Gregory MaguireAfter the Third Kiss - Bruce CovilleThe War That Winter Is - Tanith LeeThe Dragon’s Tale - Tamore PierceDragon’s Storm - Mary RosenblumThe Dragaman’s Bride - Andy Duncan

Assassin Fantastic


Martin H. GreenbergJane Lindskold - 2001
    Authors include Tanya Huff, Michelle West, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Fiona Patton, and others.

Houses Without Doors


Peter Straub - 1990
    "Straub at his spellbinding best".--Publishers Weekly.

Night's Edge


Maggie Shayne - 2004
    Even so, when she somehow acquires a stalker, Layla Rue is surprised to find that Sean is the only one she can trust.Her Best Enemy by USA TODAY bestselling author Maggie ShayneKiley Brigham refuses to believe there's a ghost in her house, but when an unseen hand leaves a bloody message on her bathroom mirror, she's forced to turn to local psychic Jack McCain. As the two work to uncover a long-buried secret, Kiley finds that she's haunted not by spirits, but by thoughts of Jack.Someone Else's Shadow by Locus Award-winning author Barbara HamblyMaddie Laveau worries about her young roommate, Tessa, when she stays late to practice ballet in the old Glendower Building -- and when Tessa goes missing, Maddie enlists mysterious tenant Phil Anderson to help. But is Phil the white knight she needs, or the predator she fears?

The Poison Eaters and Other Stories


Holly Black - 2010
    . . ? Find them all here in Holly Black’s amazing first collection.In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. Some of these stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and many have been reprinted in many “Best of ” anthologies.The Poison Eaters is Holly Black’s much-anticipated first collection, and her ability to stare into the void—and to find humanity and humor there—will speak to young adult and adult readers alike.A Junior Library Guild Pick. Illustrated by Theo Black.Holly Black is the author of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults) and two related novels, Valiant (Norton Award winner) and New York Times bestseller Ironside. Her latest novel, Black Heart is the third of a new series, The Curseworkers. She and Tony DiTerlizzi created the best-selling Spiderwick Chronicles. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

Blue World


Robert R. McCammon - 1989
    From the battlefields of a Vietnam veteran's memory to an old-time movie hero's search for a serial killer, from Halloween in a special town--where the rules of trick-or-treat are written in blood--to a Texas road where a wrong turn leads to a nest of evil, horror master McCammon is at his terrifying best in this collection of stories.

Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions


Melissa MarrClaudia Gray - 2011
    14 original teen paranormal short stories YA talent, united with the common theme of road trips.Contents:Introduction by Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong1 Giovanni’s Farewell by Claudia Gray2 Scenic Route (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #0.5) by Carrie Ryan3 Red Run by Kami Garcia4 Things About Love (Genies #1.5) by Jackson Pearce5 Niederwald (Soul Screamers #4.5) by Rachel Vincent6 Merely Mortal (Wicked Lovely #5.5) by Melissa Marr7 Facing Facts (Darkest Powers #3.6) by Kelley Armstrong8 Let’s Get this Undead Show on the Road by Sarah Rees Brennan9 Bridge (Shade #2.5) by Jeri Smith-ReadySkin Contact (The Body Finder #2.5) by Kimberly Derting10 Leaving by Ally Condie11 At The Late Night, Double Feature, Picture Show by Jessica Verday12 IV League by Margaret Stohl13 Gargouille by Mary E. Pearson14 The Third Kind by Jennifer Lynn Barnes15 Automatic (The Morganville Vampires: Extras) by Rachel Caine

Classics Mutilated


Jeff ConnerNancy A. Collins - 2010
    We call our version “Ctrl-Alt-Lit,” which incorporates mash-up techniques in the creation of fresh and unique genre-blending fiction. By using the short story format and a selection of diverse authors, Classics Mutilated not only rescues Monster Lit from its own built-in one-joke obsolescence (where the book’s title tells the entire story), but also re-energizes the field, creating its own genre.? It’s not parody or satire, but way bent fiction done totally straight by some of the brightest talents on the scene, such as Joe R. Lansdale, John Shirley, Nancy Collins, Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Thomas Tessier, Marc Laidlaw, John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow, Chris Ryall, and Rio Youers.? Notable characters include Snow White, Huck Finn, Captain Ahab, Sid Vicious, Billy the Kid, Emily Dickinson, Jim Morrison, Edgar Allan Poe, Loki, Albert Einstein, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Some of the featured authors and literary works found in these mash-ups are Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Legends of Asgard, H.G. Wells, Frankenstein, and more. All transformed in ways the mainstream could never imagine, or get away with.? ? Classics Mutilated is available in both print and digital formats. Every story appears here for the first time; each one written specifically for this collection. “Dread Island,” a masterful new novella by Lansdale, anchors the collection.

A Good Old-Fashioned Future


Bruce Sterling - 1999
    In worlds that have fallen - or should have. They wage battles in wars already lost and become heroes - and sometimes martyrs - in their last-ditch efforts to preserve the dignity and individuality of humanity. A hack Indian filmmaker takes the pulse of a wounded and declining civilization - 21st-century Britain. A pair of swashbuckling Silicon Valley entrepreneurs join forces to make a commercial killing - in organic underground slime and computer-generated jellyfish. A man in a Japanese city takes orders from a talking cat while pursuing a drama of danger and adventure that has become the very essence of his life.From The Littlest Jackal, a darkly hilarious thriller of mercs and gunrunners set in Finland, to a stark vision of a post-atomic netherworld in his haunting tale Taklamakan, Bruce Sterling once again breaks boundaries, breaks icons, and breaks rules to unleash the most dangerously provocative and intelligent science fiction being written today.Contents:- Maneki Neko (1998)- Big Jelly (1994, with Rudy Rucker)- The Littlest Jackal (1996)- Sacred Cow (1993)- Deep Eddy (1993)- Bicycle Repairman (1996)- Taklamakan (1998)Cover illustration by Eric Dinyer

She Walks in Shadows


Silvia Moreno-GarciaAngela Slatter - 2015
    The pale and secretive Lavinia wanders through the woods, Asenath is a precocious teenager with an attitude, and the Ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nitocris has found a new body in distant America. And do you have time to hear a word from our beloved mother Shub-Niggurath?Defiant, destructive, terrifying, and harrowing, the women in She Walks in Shadows are monsters and mothers, heroes and devourers. Observe them in all their glory. Iä! Iä!TABLE OF CONTENTS“Bitter Perfume” Laura Blackwell“Violet is the Color of Your Energy” Nadia Bulkin“Body to Body to Body” Selena Chambers“Magna Mater” Arinn Dembo“De Deabus Minoribus Exterioris Theomagicae” Jilly Dreadful“Hairwork” Gemma Files“The Head of T’la-yub” Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas (translated by Silvia Moreno-Garcia)“Bring the Moon to Me” Amelia Gorman“Chosen” Lyndsey Holder“Eight Seconds” Pandora Hope“Cthulhu of the Dead Sea” Inkeri Kontro“Turn out the Lights” Penelope Love“The Adventurer’s Wife” Premee Mohamed“Notes Found in a Decommissioned Asylum, December 1961″ Sharon Mock“The Eye of Juno” Eugenie Mora“Ammutseba Rising” Ann K. Schwader“Cypress God” Rodopi Sisamis“Lavinia’s Wood” Angela Slatter“The Opera Singer” Priya Sridhar“Provenance” Benjanun Sriduangkaew“The Thing in The Cheerleading Squad” Molly Tanzer“Lockbox” E. Catherine Tobler“When She Quickens” Mary Turzillo“Shub-Niggurath’s Witnesses” Valerie Valdes“Queen of a New America” Wendy N. Wagner

Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction


Robert SilverbergFrederik Pohl - 1999
    Here, science fiction's most beloved and highly honored writers revisit their best-known worlds in perhaps the greatest concentration of science fiction ever in one volume.

The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories


Jeff VanderMeerWilliam Gibson - 2010
    Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature.Exotic and esoteric, The Weird plunges you into dark domains and brings you face to face with surreal monstrosities. You won't find any elves or wizards here... but you will find the biggest, boldest, and downright most peculiar stories from the last hundred years bound together in the biggest Weird collection ever assembled. The Weird features 110 stories by an all-star cast, from literary legends to international bestsellers to Booker Prize winners: including William Gibson, George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Angela Carter, Kelly Link, Franz Kafka, China Miéville, Clive Barker, Haruki Murakami, M. R. James, Neil Gaiman, Mervyn Peake, and Michael Chabon.