Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction


Sharyn NovemberLaurel Winter - 2009
    Then Firebirds Rising. Now there is Firebirds Soaring, the third anthology of original stories by some of today?s finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. These authors, including Nancy Farmer (The Sea of Trolls), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Margo Lanagan (Black Juice), and Jane Yolen (The Devil?s Arithmetic), have brought new worlds and Old Magic to life in nineteen remarkable pieces of short fiction. Mike Dringenberg, co-creator of Sandman with Neil Gaiman, contributes decorative vignettes. Firebirds Soaring?like Firebirds and Firebirds Rising?sets the standard for short fiction for teenagers and adult fans of the genre.

Shattered Shields


Jennifer BrozekDavid Farland - 2014
    Faith and Magic.Grab yours and get ready, for the enemy is on the move.High fantasy and mighty conflicts go hand-in-hand. In great wars, armies rise to fight evil hordes and heroes struggle to push beyond their imperfections and save the day. These stories include more than just epic landscapes and characters…but also epic battles.Imagine a doctor struggling to identify the spy who has infiltrated his company’s ranks and poisoned his colleagues or a boy suspected of murder by a king yet protected by a princess as he helps her father against his own people. Imagine a butcher discovering that he’s called to lead an uprising, or a First Born knowing that she must betray her own in order to save humanity.The possibilities are endless, but at the heart they have this in common: soldiers—ordinary and otherwise–struggling against extraordinary odds to survive the day. They must withstand dark magic, dodge enemy blades, and defy the odds to survive SHATTERED SHIELDS."SHATTERED SHIELDS pays homage to one of the major sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy with a truly fine batch of stories by old pros and newcomers alike." - Mike Resnick, Hugo/Nebula Winning author of The Doc and The Dinosaurs"In Shattered Shields, editors Brozek and Schmidt bring together both fresh and seasoned voices in settings both familiar and new to fill up this powerhouse anthology with the noise of battle, the mumbling of spells and the heartache of war. I hope to see more from this editorial team in the near future." - Ken Scholes, Award-winning author of the Psalms of Isaak"An inventive and thought-provoking set of tales that capture the bravery and terrors of battle. Carries the banner of military fantasy proudly." – John Marco, author of The Bronze Knight SeriesTable of Contents:Ashes and Starlight (Runelords) by David Farland The Fixed Stars (October Daye) by Seanan McGuire The Keeper of Names by Larry Correia The Smaller We Are by John Helfers Invictus by Annie BelletRising Above by Sarah A. Hoyt A Cup of Wisdom by Joseph Zieja Words of Power by Wendy N. Wagner Lightweaver in Shadow by Gray Rinehart Hoofsore and Weary by Cat Rambo Vengeance (Frost) by Robin Wayne Bailey Deadfall by Nancy Fulda Yael of the Strings by John R. Fultz The Gleaners by Dave Gross Bonded Men by James L. Sutter Bone Candy (Black Company) by Glen Cook First Blood (Paksenarrion) by Elizabeth Moon

Again, Dangerous Visions


Harlan EllisonEdward Bryant - 1972
    It was edited by Harlan Ellison, illustrated by Ed Emshwiller. Like its predecessor, Again, Dangerous Visions and the 46 stories within it received many awards. The Word for World Is Forest, by Ursula K. Le Guin, won a Hugo for Best Novella. When It Changed by Joanna Russ won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story. For a 2nd time, Ellison received a special Hugo for editing the anthology. Again, Dangerous Visions was to be followed by a 3rd anthology, The Last Dangerous Visions. At this point, Ellison has said that it will probably never see the light of day.Introduction: An Assault of New Dreamers by Harlan Ellison The Counterpoint of View by John Heidenry Ching Witch! by Ross Rocklynne The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin For Value Received by Andrew J. Offutt Mathoms from the Time Closet: 1/Robot's Story, 2/Against the Lafayette Escadrille, 3/Loco Parentis by Gene Wolfe Time Travel for Pedestrians by Ray Nelson Christ, Old Student in a New School (poem) by Ray Bradbury King of the Hill by Chad Oliver The 10:00 Report Is Brought to You by... by Edward Bryant The Funeral by Kate Wilhelm Harry the Hare by James B. Hemesath When It Changed by Joanna Russ The Big Space Fuck by Kurt Vonnegut Bounty by T.L. Sherred Still-Life by K.M. O'Donnell (Barry N. Malzberg) Stoned Counsel by H.H. Hollis Monitored Dreams & Strategic Cremations: 1/The Bisquit Position, 2/The Girl with Rapid Eye Movements by Bernard Wolfe With a Finger in My I by David Gerrold In the Barn by Piers Anthony Soundless Evening by Lee Hoffman [█] by Gahan Wilson The Test-Tube Creature, Afterward by Joan Bernott And the Sea Like Mirrors by Gregory Benford Bed Sheets Are White by Evelyn Lief Tissue: At the Fitting Shop & 53rd American Dream by James Sallis Elouise and the Doctors of the Planet Pergamon by Josephine Saxton Chuck Berry, Won't You Please Come Home by Ken McCullough Epiphany for Aliens by David Kerr Eye of the Beholder by Burt K. Filer Moth Race by Richard Hill In re Glover by Leonard Tushnet Zero Gee by Ben Bova A Mouse in the Walls of the Global Village by Dean R. Koontz Getting Along by James Blish & Judith Ann Lawrence Totenbüch by Parra y FiguéredoThings Lost by Thomas M. Disch With the Bentfin Boomer Boys on Little Old New Alabama by Richard A. Lupoff Lamia Mutable by M. John Harrison Last Train to Kankakee by Robin Scott Empire of the Sun by Andrew Weiner Ozymandias by Terry Carr The Milk of Paradise by James Tiptree, Jr.

Tales of the Far West


Gareth-Michael SkarkaEddy Webb - 2012
    Far West is a world based on the tropes of the Spaghetti Western and Chinese Wuxia. Add steampunk elements. Mix well.Product DescriptionImagine: A fantasy world, but not one based on Medieval/Dark Ages European culture and myth, but rather on the tropes of the Spaghetti Western and Chinese Wuxia. Add steampunk elements. Mix well. A fantasy world that mixes the inspirations of Django and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and House of Flying Daggers... Fistful of Dollars and Fist of Legend. A fantasy world that's explored through a book series, a constantly-updated website, a tabletop role-playing game, comics, artwork, webseries and much, much, more. This is FAR WEST. Tales of the Far West is the first book in Adamant Entertainment's Wuxia-Western mash-up, featuring a dozen all-new tales written by critically-acclaimed and award-winning fantasy, science-fiction, horror and adventure authors, including: "He Built The Wall To Knock It Down" by Scott Lynch: A master teaches an unforgettable lesson in the pursuit of excellence in all things. "In Stillness, Music" by Aaron Rosenberg: A wandering musician is all that stands between a village and a cattle baron. "Riding The Thunderbird" by Chuck Wendig: A herd of giant, flightless birds, a young girl, and a sudden lesson. "Purity of Purpose" by Gareth-Michael Skarka: Who seeks the secret of the Unsurpassed Weapons? "Paper Lotus" by Tessa Gratton: A strange girl tasks a wounded man to deliver a crucial message. "In the Name of the Empire" by Eddy Webb: A sheriff is charged with the murder of an Imperial Magistrate. "Errant Eagles" by Will Hindmarch: A gunslinger faces the consequences of his past. "Railroad Spikes" by Ari Marmell: A bandit finds that he's robbed the wrong train. "The Fury Pact" by Matt Forbeck: An inventor's son faces the responsibility of his name. "Seven Holes" by T.S. Luikart: An apprentice learns the true nature of demons. "Local Legend" by Jason L. Blair: Red Phoenix was dead, and the bounty hunter tells the tale. "Crippled Avengers" by Dave Gross: A band of fighters seek to take revenge on the steam baron who crippled them.

Apex Magazine Issue 56, January 2014


Sigrid Ellis - 2014
    New issues are released on the first Tuesday of every month. We are a 2013 Hugo Award nominee for Best Semiprozine! FICTION Pale Skin, Gray Eyes by Gene O'Neill Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon [pseudonym: T. Kingfisher]Dispatches from the Revolution by Pat Cadigan NONFICTION Women in Pre–1947 Chinese and Indian Horror Fiction and Film by Jess Nevins Interview with Gene O'Neill Interview with incoming Editor-in-Chief Sigrid Ellis Resolute: Notes from the Editor-in-Chief by Sigrid Ellis Cover art by Emma Rios. Edited by Sigid Ellis.

Happily Ever After


John KlimaPeter Straub - 2011
    And so the Editor ventured forth, wandering the land of Story from shore to shore, climbing massive mountains of books and delving deep into lush, literary forests, gathering together thirty-three of the best re-tellings of fairy tales he could find. Not just any fairy tales, mind you, but tantalizing tales from some of the biggest names in today’s fantastic fiction, authors like Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Alethea Kontis, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Paul Di Filippo, Gregory Frost, and Nancy Kress. But these stories alone weren’t enough to satisfy the Editor, so the Editor ventured further, into the dangerous cave of the fearsome Bill Willingham, and emerged intact with a magnificent introduction, to tie the collection together. And the inhabitants of Story—from the Kings and Queens relaxing in their castles to the peasants toiling in the fields, from the fey folk flitting about the forests to the trolls lurking under bridges and the giants in the hills—read the anthology, and enjoyed it. And they all lived... ...Happily Ever After.

Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr


John Crowley - 2017
    When a man learns his language, Dar finally gets the chance to tell his story. He begins his tale as a young man, and how he went down to the human underworld and got hold of the immortality meant for humans, long before Julius Caesar came into the Celtic lands; how he sailed West to America with the Irish monks searching for the Paradise of the Saints; and how he continuously went down into the land of the dead and returned. Through his adventures in Ka, the realm of Crows, and around the world, he found secrets that could change the humans’ entire way of life—and now may be the time to finally reveal them.

A House-Boat on the Styx


John Kendrick Bangs - 1895
    The book begins with the ferryman Charon being startled & annoyed by the arrival of a houseboat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed its janitor. What follows are 11 more stories which are set on the houseboat. There's no central theme. The purpose appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history & mythology. In the 12th chapter the houseboat disappears, leading into a sequel, Pursuit of the House-Boat. The book sold for $1.25 in 1895.

Among Wolves


R.A. Hakok - 2015
    It’s the last place you should be. Gabriel doesn't know how it began. Nobody does, not even Kane, and he was President. Gabriel was on a tour of the White House with Mags and the rest of Miss Kimble’s first-graders when it happened. They fled in helicopters to a long-abandoned mountain bunker, even as the first of the missiles found their targets.Ten years have passed, and Gabriel still lives deep inside the mountain, waiting for the world to thaw. But outside the ash-storms continue to rage, and supplies are running low. The President says it will be okay, but Gabriel isn’t so sure. He’s their scavenger; he’s seen what it’s like out there.Then one day Gabriel finds a bloodstained map. The blood’s not a problem, nor are the frozen remains of the person it once belonged to. Gabriel’s used to seeing dead bodies; there's far worse to be found in any Walmart or Piggly Wiggly you care to wander into. Except this one he recognizes, and it shouldn’t be here. Now all Gabriel can think is how he's going to make it back to the bunker to let the President know what he's found.But the map Gabriel has found is the key to a secret, one that has been buried for a decade. Gabriel's about to learn that inside the mountain things are not as they seem. And to get Mags and the others out he will need to face the thing that terrifies him most.

The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night


Jen Campbell - 2017
    And mermaids are on display at the local aquarium.The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night is a collection of twelve haunting stories; modern fairy tales brimming with magic, outsiders and lost souls.

Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology


Nick GeversJay Lake - 2008
    Edited by Nick Gevers, this collection includes brand new stories from some of science fiction and fantasy's foremost writers.

The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke


Arthur C. Clarke - 2000
    Clarke is the most celebrated science fiction author alive. He is—with H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein—one of the writers who define science fiction in our time. Now Clarke has cooperated in the preparation of a massive, definitive edition of his collected shorter works. From early work like "Rescue Party" and "The Lion of Comarre," through classics like "The Star," "Earthlight," "The Nine Billion Names of God," and "The Sentinel" (kernel of the later novel, and movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey), all the way to later work like "A Meeting with Medusa" and "The Hammer of God," this immense volume encapsulates one of the great SF careers of all time.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales


Kate BernheimerKaren Joy Fowler - 2010
     Neil Gaiman, “Orange”   Aimee Bender, “The Color Master”   Joyce Carol Oates, “Blue-bearded Lover”   Michael Cunningham, “The Wild Swans”   These and more than thirty other stories by Francine Prose, Kelly Link, Jim Shepard, Lydia Millet, and many other extraordinary writers make up this thrilling celebration of fairy tales—the ultimate literary costume party.   Spinning houses and talking birds. Whispered secrets and borrowed hope. Here are new stories sewn from old skins, gathered by visionary editor Kate Bernheimer and inspired by everything from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” and “The Little Match Girl” to Charles Perrault’s “Bluebeard” and “Cinderella” to the Brothers Grimm’s “Hansel and Gretel” and “Rumpelstiltskin” to fairy tales by Goethe and Calvino and from China, Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Norway, and Mexico.   Fairy tales are our oldest literary tradition, and yet they chart the imaginative frontiers of the twenty-first century as powerfully as they evoke our earliest encounters with literature. This exhilarating collection restores their place in the literary canon.

Terribly Twisted Tales


Martin H. Greenberg - 2009
     Fairy tales are among the earliest fantasies we are exposed to when young and impressionable. They stay with us throughout our lives, whether in their original versions or filtered thorugh cartoon retellings. What more fun could a fantasy writer have than to take up the challenge of drawing up on this rich material and transforming it into something new? The eighteen stories in Terribly Twisted Tales do exactly that. From the adventure of the witch in the gingerbread house and her close encounter with an oven... To Golda Lockes, who has a special arrangement with those well-known bears... To a murderous attack with a glass slipper... To Jack, a successful theorectical geneticist, who discovers just how perilous research can be... To a wolf detective who sets out to solve "Grandma's" murder...   This volume highlights inventive stories that give a new perspective on classic tales! Includes stories from:   Dennis L. McKiernan — Annie Jones — Chris Pierson Mickey Zucker Reichert — Mary Louise Eklund — Robert E. Vardeman Kathleen Watness — Jody Lynn Nye — Jim C. Hines Steven D. Sullivan — Brendan DuBois — Paul Genesse Ramsey "Tome Wyrm" Lundock — Skip & Penny Williams — Elizabeth A. Vaughan Janet Deaver-Pack — Kelly Swails — Michael A. Stackpole

Uncanny Magazine Issue 13: November/December 2016


Lynne M. ThomasNalo Hopkinson - 2016
    Featuring new fiction by Paul Cornell, Brooke Bolander, Jennifer Marie Brissett, Alex Bledsoe, Kat Howard, and Nalo Hopkinson, reprinted fiction by Amal El-Mohtar, essays by Alyssa Wong, Monica Valentinelli, Navah Wolfe, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Keidra Chaney, and Hao Jingfang (translated by Ken Liu), poetry by Neil Gaiman, Theodora Goss, and Sofia Samatar, interviews with Jennifer Marie Brissett and Alex Bledsoe by Julia Rios, a cover by Julie Dillon, and an editoral by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas.