Normally her job is stimulating, challenging and only a little bit dangerous. But every once in a while...Case in point: A cornerstone containing a spell is stolen and there's a magical complication. (Isn't there always?) Wren's unique abilities aren't enough to lay this particular case to rest, so she turns to some friends: a demon (minor), a mage who has lost his mind, and a few others, including Sergei, her business partner (and maybe a bit more?).Sometimes what a woman has to do to get the job done is enough to give even Wren nightmares....

    Wings of Fire brings you all these dragons, and more, seen clearly through the eyes of many of today's most popular authors. Introduction - Jonathan Strahan and Marianne S. JablonStable of Dragons - Peter S. Beagle The Rules of Names - Ursula K. Le Guin The Ice Dragon - George R. R. Martin Sobek - Holly BlackKing Dragon - Michael Swanwick The Laily Worm - Nina Kiriki Hoffman The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath - Patricia A. McKillip The Bully and the Beast - Orson Scott Card Concerto Accademico - Barry N. Malzberg The Dragon's Boy - Jane Yolen The Miracle Aquilina - Margo Lanagan Orm the Beautiful - Elizabeth Bear Weyr Search - Anne McCaffrey Paper Dragons - James P. BlaylockDragon's Gate - Pat Murphy In Autumn, A White Dragon Looks Over the Wide River - Naomi Novik St. Dragon and the George - Gordon R. DicksonThe Silver Dragon - Elizabeth A. LynnThe Dragons of Summer Gulch - Robert ReedBerlin - Charles de Lint Draco, Draco - Tanith LeeThe Dragon on the Bookshelf - Harlan Ellison and Robert Silverberg Gwydion and the Dragon - C. J. CherryhThe George Business - Roger Zelazny Dragon's Fin Soup - S. P. Somtow The Man Who Painted the Dragon Griaule - Lucius Shepard

    Those who escaped the carnage were led to sanctuary by the boy saviour known as Hawk: the gypsy morph. But now, the unimaginable has come to pass: the cocoon of protective magic surrounding the valley has vanished. When Sider Ament, last surviving Knight of the Word, detects unknown predators stalking the valley, and Trackers from the human village of Glensk Wood, find two of their own gruesomely killed, there can be no doubt: the once safe haven of generations has been laid bare. Together, the young Trackers, the aging Knight, and a daring Elf princess race to spread word of the encroaching danger. But suspicion and hostility among their countrymen threaten to doom their efforts from within, while beyond the breached borders, a ruthless Troll army masses for invasion. Standing firm between the two, the last wielder of the black staff and its awesome magic must find a successor to carry on the fight against the cresting new wave of evil.

    His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training-all men, for women were unfit to practice magic-memorized the intricate details of High Magic and aspired to seats on the council. Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic-or did they find him? The three slim volumes woke Kellen to the wide world outside the City's isolating walls. Their Magic was not dead, strangled by rules and regulations. It felt like a living thing, guided by the hearts and minds of those who practiced it and benefited from it. Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City's dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic-and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side. Kellen's life changes almost faster than he can understand or accept. Rescued by a unicorn, healed by a female Wild Mage who knows more about Kellen than anyone outside the City should, meeting Elven royalty and Elven warriors, and plunged into a world where the magical beings he has learned about as abstract concepts are flesh and blood creatures-Kellen both revels in and fears his new freedom. Especially once he learns about Demons. He'd always thought they were another abstract concept-a stand-in for ultimate evil. But if centaurs and dryads are real, then Demons surely are as well. And the one thing all the Mages of the City agreed on was that practicing Wild Magic corrupted a Mage. Turned him into a Demon. Would that be Kellen's fate? Deep in Obsidian Mountain, the Demons are waiting. Since their defeat in the last great War, they've been biding their time, sowing the seeds of distrust and discontent between their human and Elven enemies. Very soon now, when the Demons rise to make war, there will be no alliance between High and Wild Magic to stand against them. And all the world will belong to the Endarkened.

    Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie—now he goes by Vern. However...he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern’s glory days are long gone. Or are they?A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He’s finally decided to work for a shady smuggler—but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he’s a despicable human being—who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar)—fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc.—in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There’s about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct—or Vern’s glory days are back.A triumphant return to the genre-bending fantasy that Eoin Colfer is so well known for, Highfire is an effortlessly clever and relentlessly funny tour-de-force of comedy and action.

    Campbell Jr.Methuselah's Children (Part 1 of 3, Lazarus Long series) / serial by Robert A. Heinlein; interior artwork by H. RogersIn Times to Come / essay by The EditorThe Analytical Laboratory: May 1941 (/ essay by The EditorSpaceship in a Flask / Clifford D. Simak; interior artwork by Frank KramerThe Seesaw (Weapon Shops of Isher series) / by A.E. van Vogt; interior artwork by Charles SchneemanThe Probable Man / Alfred Bester; interior artwork by Frank KramerVermin of the Sky / essay by R.S. RichardsonThe Geometrics of Johnny Day / by Nelson S. Bond; interior artwork by Charles SchneemanWe Also Walk Dogs (Future History series) / Robert A. Heinlein (as by Anson MacDonald]; interior artwork by KollikerMore Than Giant Mirrors Needed / essayBrown / by Frank Belknap Long; interior artwork by Frank KramerBrass Tacks / essay by The EditorLetter / essay by Allan Ingvald BensonLetter / essay by L. Sprague de CampLetter / essay by Harry Warner Jr.

    Five Complete Novels.

    These widely acclaimed adventures introduced the world-famous barbarian to a whole new generation of enthusiastic readers. Here are three powerful sagas, featuring all the storytelling magic and epic splendor that have made Robert Jordan one of the most beloved fantasy authors in history.Conan the Invincible: Less than nineteen years old and new to the snares and enticements of civilization, the young Conan must join forces with a dangerously seductive female bandit to storm the palace of Amanar, a supremely evil necromancer, and confront the dreaded Eater of Souls.Conan the Defender: As revolution brews in the shadowy streets of Belverus, Conan braves the traps and treacheries of the Royal Palace of the Dragon. Pursued by the luscious and shameless Sularia, the mighty warrior challenges a magic-spawned menace that cannot die: the invincible Simulacrum of Albanus.Conan the Unconquered: Conan defies the sorcerous power of the Cult of Doom for the sake of a beautiful young woman known only as Yasbet. From the glory of fabled Aghrapur to the demon-haunted wastes of the Blasted Lands, Conan proves himself the greatest hero of a bygone era of high adventure.

    With Center's vast fund of knowledge and strategic calculating abilities, Raj could defeat the barbarians threatening to engulf the Civil Government, and start Bellevue on the road back to the stars. But the Governor, to whom Raj has sworn absolute loyalty, nourishes a paranoid envy and mistrust that grows with every victory. Can even a battle computer of the Galactic Age be enough to counter the fury of Raj's enemies . . . and the treachery of his ""friends""?A young hero overcomes implacable foes to lead a planet fallen into a dark age back to the high point of its lost technological civilization.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

    The warrior K'da species are symbiotes, can only live six hours without their humanoid host. Draycos 30s is the sole survivor of the three ships destroyed scouting for their refugees, and Jack is the only possible choice. They may be an odd couple, but together they're more than the sum of their parts. They are destined to travel far and wide, facing many perils - human, alien, and other, as they seek justice and safety - Jack for himself, and Draycos for his people.

    It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks.For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some - and got some fast! - he would be exiled. Forever!But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insisted that Bink had magic. Magic as powerful as any possessed by the King or by Good Magician Humfrey - or even by the Evil Magician TrentBe that as it may, no one could fathom the nature of Bink's very special magic. Bink was in despair. This was even worse than having no magic at all..and he would still be exiled!

    It doesn't appear as a standalone work, but is included with several collections. The story is a prequel to the events in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and has the young Zaphod Beeblebrox working as a salvage ship operator. He guides some bureaucrats to a crashed spaceship which may be leaking some hazardous materials. The bureaucrats are determined to "make it safe". The comic asides in the story include some of the time travel paradoxes which are a common running theme in Adams' SF work, and plenty of material about lobsters

    Many have tried. All have failed.This climbing season finds three teams making their bid up this murderous peak. And one man among them will discover these ugly truths: There are fates worse than death. There are fates worse than obscurity. To be remembered forever can be its own curse.

    Like many before them, Cara and her family ventured through the gates as scientists and researchers, driven to carve out a new life and uncover the endless possibilities of the unexplored alien worlds now within reach.But soon the soldiers followed and under this new order Cara makes a discovery that will change everything.