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City Come A-Walkin'
by John ShirleyStu Cole is struggling to keep his nightclub, Club Anesthesia, afloat in the face of mob harassment when he's visited by a manifestation of the city of San Francisco, crystallized into a single enigmatic being. This amoral superhero leads him on a terrifying journey through the rock and roll demimonde as they struggle to save the city.
Alien Contact
by Marty HalpernAre we alone? From War of the Worlds to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, ET to Close Encounters, creators of science fiction have always eagerly speculated on just how the story of alien contact would play out. Editor Marty Halpern has gathered together some of the best stories of the last 30 years, by today's most exciting genre writers, weaving a tapestry that covers a broad range of scenarios: from the insidious, to the violent, to the transcendent.
The Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowThe first three volumes of The Best Horror of the Year have been widely praised for their quality, variety, and comprehensiveness.With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow&’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect—and enjoy.
By Blood We Live
by John Joseph AdamsFrom Dracula to Buffy the Vampire Slayer; from Castlevania to Tru Blood, the romance between popular culture and vampires hearkens back to humanity's darkest, deepest fears, flowing through our very blood, fears of death, and life, and insatiable hunger. And yet, there is an attraction, undeniable, to the vampire archetype, whether the pale European count, impeccably dressed and coldly masculine, yet strangely ambiguous, ready to sink his sharp teeth deep into his victims' necks, draining or converting them, or the vamp, the count's feminine counterpart, villain and victim in one, using her wiles and icy sexuality to corrupt man and woman alike...Edited by John Joseph Adams (Wastelands, The Living Dead), By Blood We Live gathers together the best vampire literature of the last three decades from many of today's most renowned authors of fantasy, speculative fiction, and horror, including Stephen King, Joe Hill, Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Ken Macleod, Harry Turtledove, Carrie Vaughn, and Tad Williams.
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year
by Jonathan StrahanThe science fiction and fantasy fields continue to evolve, setting new marks with each passing year. For the sixth year in a row, master anthologist Jonathan Strahan has collected stories to captivate, entertain, and showcase the very best the genre has to offer. Critically acclaimed, and with a reputation for including award-winning speculative fiction, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year is the only major &“best of&” anthology to collect both fantasy and science fiction under one cover.Jonathan Strahan has edited more than thirty anthologies and collections, including The Locus Awards (with Charles N. Brown), The New Space Opera (with Gardner Dozois), and Swords and Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery.
Hitchers
by Will McIntoshTwo years ago, on the same day but miles apart, Finn Darby lost two of the most important people in his life: his wife Lorena, struck by lightning on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, and his abusive, alcoholic grandfather, Tom Darby, creator of the long-running newspaper comic strip Toy Shop. Against his grandfather&’s dying wish, Finn has resurrected Toy Shop, adding new characters, and the strip is more popular than ever, bringing in fan letters, merchandising deals, and talk of TV specials. Finn has even started dating again.When a terrorist attack decimates Atlanta, killing half a million souls, Finn begins blurting things in a strange voice beyond his control. The voice says things only his grandfather could know. Countless other residents of Atlanta are suffering a similar bizarre affliction. Is it mass hysteria, or have the dead returned to possess the living? Finn soon realizes he has a hitcher within his skin... his grandfather. And Grandpa isn&’t terribly happy about the changes Finn has been making to Toy Shop. Together with a pair of possessed friends, an aging rock star, and a waitress, Finn races against time to find a way to send the dead back to Deadland... or die trying!
Line War
by Neal AsherThe Polity is under attack from a 'melded' AI entity with control of the lethal Jain technology, yet the attack seems to have no coherence. When one of Erebus's wormships kills millions on the world of Klurhammon, a high-tech agricultural world of no real tactical significance, agent Ian Cormac is sent to investigate, though he is secretly struggling to control a new ability no human being should possess . . . and beginning to question the motives of his AI masters. Further attacks and seemingly indiscriminate slaughter ensue, but only serve to bring some of the most dangerous individuals in the Polity into the war. Mr Crane, the indefatigable brass killing machine sets out for vengeance, while Orlandine, a vastly-augmented haiman who herself controls Jain technology, seeks a weapon of appalling power and finds allies from an ancient war. Meanwhile Mika, scientist and Dragon expert, is again kidnapped by that unfathomable alien entity and dragged into the heart of things: to wake the makers of Jain technology from their five-million-year slumber. But Erebus&’s attacks are not so indiscriminate, after all, and could very well herald the end of the Polity itself . . .
A Path to Coldness of Heart
by Glen CookAt long last, the conclusion to Glen Cook's Dread Empire saga has arrived! King Bragi Ragnarson is a prisoner, shamed, nameless, and held captive by Lord Shih-kaa and the Empress Mist at the heart of the Dread Empire.Far away in Kavelin, Bragia's queen and what remains of his army seek to find and free their king, hampered by the loss or desertion of their best and brightest warriors. Kavelina's spymaster, Michael Trebilcock, is missing in action, as is loyal soldier Aral Dantice. Meanwhile, Dane, Duke of Greyfells, seeks to seize the rule of Kavelin and place the kingdom in his pocket, beginning a new line of succession through Bragia's queen, Dane's cousin Inger. And in the highest peaks of the Dragona's Teeth, in the ancient castle Fangdred, the sorcerer called Varthlokkur uses his arts to spy on the world at large, observing the puppet strings that control kings and empires alike, waiting… For the time of the wrath of kings is almost at hand, and vengeance lies along a path to coldness of heart.
At the Queen's Command
by Michael StakpoleThe colonies of Mistria are in turmoil. They face wars between the competing empires and and insurrection from natives and colonists alike. Prince Vladamier is a Norillian noble, and Nephew to King Richard. He has little political power, but struggles to ensure the colonists interests are represented back in the court. The one thing he does have is a wurm... one of the few existing "dragons" from a clutch of eggs discovered in the old world, hundreds of years ago. As Mistria swirl into chaos, Vlad is married off to an old world princess. This new alliance is supposed to help supply money and mercenaries to put down the various insurrections. But, nobody suspects that Vlad's wurm is about to undergo a change that will impact the worlds delicate political balance...
Her Hunger
by John ShirleyDesire can take any form, can become any fantasy… but it must be fed with life. When a strange woman appears in a small coastal California town, death follows. Only Corey—in love with the beautiful, intelligent, quiet Angela who seems unable to love the boy who so adores her—begins to see what is happening. But no one, not even Corey, can possibly believe what he suspects… and the bizarre murders continue.
The Princes of the Golden Cage
by Nathalie MalletPrince Amir lives in a lavish and beautiful cage. He lives in a palace with hundreds of his brothers, all barred by law from ever leaving the palace until he, or one of his brothers, becomes the next Sultan. Living under constant threat of death at the hands of his scheming brothers, Amir has chosen a life of solitude and study. His scholarly and alchemical pursuits bring him under suspicion when his brothers begin to die from seemingly supernatural means. Amir finds himself thrown together with his brother Erik, the son of a barbarian princess. Together they must discover the dark secret that is stalking the halls of their golden cage.
When We Were Executioners (Dogsland)
by J.M. McDermottJ. M. McDermott returns to Dogsland in the stunning novel When We Were Executioners, book two of a sweeping fantasy series that revels in the small details of life.Corporal Jona, the demon-stained Lord of Joni, died in the woods. His lover, the Senta Rachel Nolander, is a demon-tainted fugitive, running from the wolfskin-clad priest and priestess of Erin, who track her through the city based on dreams plucked from Jona&’s crying skull, plotting to cleanse the world of the lovers&’ demonic taint. Past and present collide as the tale of two ill-fated outcasts unfolds, and the executioners of Erin grow ever closer to their quarry.
Darkness Divided
by John ShirleyDarkness can be divided. ?It can be split like an atom, and in it can be found a destructive fire?or light. Light, too, can be folded into darkness.The stories brought to light in John Shirley's stunning DARKNESS DIVIDED -- most of them never before collected, some written especially for this book--are presented in two sections: one featuring stories set in the present, or the past, the other set in myriad futures. These dark tales of new noir, science fiction, fantasy, and crime, demonstrate humankind's evolution from where we were and where we are, to where we have yet to be. Shadows are a current?a continuity?streaming from "Til Now" into "And Soon."John Shirley incisively explores human nature and the pitch-black streak within the soul that each of us fears. The twenty-two excursions collected here divide the darkness with scalpel-like precision, daring you to peek inside. In these divided shadows, in the shift of diffuse light and occlusion, things move--things that aren't there. There you will find your own id, the dark side of your own imagination.Read these words, and be forever changed by what you find.
The Siren Depths (The Books of the Raksura)
by Martha WellsAll his life, Moon roamed the Three Worlds, a solitary wanderer forced to hide his true nature — until he was reunited with his own kind, the Raksura, and found a new life as consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. But now a rival court has laid claim to him, and Jade may or may not be willing to fight for him. Beset by doubts, Moon must travel in the company of strangers to a distant realm where he will finally face the forgotten secrets of his past, even as an old enemy returns with a vengeance. The Fell, a vicious race of shape-shifting predators, menaces groundlings and Raksura alike. Determined to crossbreed with the Raksura for arcane purposes, they are driven by an ancient voice that cries out from . . . .The siren depths.
The Last Weekend
by Nick MamatasVasilis &“Billy&” Kostopolos is a Bay Area Rust Belt refugee, failed sci-fi writer, successful barfly and, since the exceptionally American zombie apocalypse, an accomplished &“driller&” of reanimated corpses. There aren&’t many sane, well-adjusted human beings left in San Francisco, but facing the end of the world, Billy&’s found his vocation trepanning the undead, peddling his one and only published short story, and drinking himself to death.Things don&’t stay static for long. Billy discovers that both his girlfriends turn out to be homicidal revolutionaries. He collides with a gang of Berkeley scientists gone berserker. Finally, the long-awaited &“Big One&” shakes the foundation of San Francisco to its core, and the crumbled remains of City Hall can no longer hide the awful secret lurking deep in the basement. Can Billy unearth the truth behind America&’s demise and San Francisco&’s survival—and will he destroy what little&’s left of it in the process? Is he legend, the last man, or just another sucker on the vine?Nick Mamatas takes a high-powered drill to the lurching, groaning conventions of zombie dystopias and conspiracy thrillers, sparing no cliché about tortured artists, alcoholic &“genius,&” noir action heroes, survivalist dogma, or starry-eyed California dreaming. Starting in booze-soaked but very clear-eyed cynicism and ending in gloriously uncozy catastrophe, The Last Weekend is merciless, uncomfortably perceptive, and bleakly hilarious.
The Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowThis statement was true when H. P. Lovecraft first wrote it at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it remains true at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The only thing that has changed is what is unknown.With each passing year, science, technology, and the march of time shine light into the craggy corners of the universe, making the fears of an earlier generation seem quaint. But this &“light&” creates its own shadows. The Best Horror of the Year, edited by Ellen Datlow, chronicles these shifting shadows. It is a catalog of terror, fear, and unpleasantness, as articulated by today&’s most challenging and exciting writers.The best horror writers of today do the same thing that horror writers of a hundred years ago did. They tell good stories—stories that scare us. And when these writers tell really good stories that really scare us, Ellen Datlow notices. She&’s been noticing for more than a quarter century. For twenty-one years, she coedited The Year&’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and for the last six years, she&’s edited this series. In addition to this monumental cataloging of the best, she has edited hundreds of other horror anthologies and won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Bram Stoker, and World Fantasy awards.More than any other editor or critic, Ellen Datlow has charted the shadowy abyss of horror fiction. Join Join her on this journey into the dark parts of the human heart . . . either for the first time . . . or once again.
Weighing Shadows
by Lisa GoldsteinA new time-traveling fantasy from National Book Award-winner Lisa Goldstein.Ann Decker fixes computers for a living, and in the evenings she passes the time sharpening her hacking skills. It's not a very interesting life, but she gets by—until one day she's contacted with a job offer for a company called Transformations Incorporated. None of her coworkers have ever heard of it before, and when Ann is finally told what the company does, she can hardly believe it: TI has invented technology to travel in time.Soon Ann is visiting a matriarchy in ancient Crete, and then a woman mathematician at the Library of Alexandria. But Transformations Incorporated remains shrouded in mystery, and when Ann finally catches her breath, there are too many troubling questions still unanswered. Who are Transformations Incorporated, and what will they use this technology to gain? What ill effects might going back in time have on the present day? Is it really as harmless as TI says?When a coworker turns up dead, Ann&’s superiors warn her about a covert group called Core out to sabotage the company. Something just isn&’t right, but before she has time to investigate, Ann is sent to a castle in the south of France, nearly a thousand years in the past. As the armies of the Crusade arrive to lay siege, and intrigue grows among the viscount&’s family, Ann will discover the startling truth—not just about the company that sent her there, but also about her own past.
Scourge of the Betrayer (Bloodsounder's Arc)
by Jeff SalyardsMany tales are told of the Syldoon Empire and its fearsome soldiers, who are known throughout the world for their treachery and atrocities. Some say that the Syldoon eat virgins and babies–or perhaps their own mothers. Arkamondos, a bookish young scribe, suspects that the Syldoon&’s dire reputation may have grown in the retelling, but he&’s about to find out for himself.Hired to chronicle the exploits of a band of rugged Syldoon warriors, Arki finds himself both frightened and fascinated by the men&’s enigmatic leader, Captain Braylar Killcoin. A secretive, mercurial figure haunted by the memories of those he&’s killed with his deadly flail, Braylar has already disposed of at least one impertinent scribe . . . and Arki might be next.Archiving the mundane doings of millers and merchants was tedious, but at least it was safe. As Arki heads off on a mysterious mission into parts unknown, in the company of the coarse, bloody-minded Syldoon, he is promised a chance to finally record an historic adventure well worth the telling, but first he must survive the experience!A gripping military fantasy in the tradition of Glen Cook, Scourge of the Betrayer explores the brutal politics of Empire–and the searing impact of violence and dark magic on a man&’s soul.
Shadow of the Scorpion
by Neal AsherRaised to adulthood during the end of the war between the human Polity and a vicious alien race, the Prador, Ian Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn&’t remember. Cormac signs up with Earth Central Security and is sent out to help restore and maintain order on worlds devastated by the war. There he discovers that though the Prador remain as murderous as ever, they are not anywhere near as treacherous or dangerous as some of his fellow humans, some closer to him than he would like. Amidst the ruins left by wartime genocides, Cormac will discover in himself a cold capacity for violence and learn some horrible truths about his own past while trying to stay alive on his course of vengeance.
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year
by Jonathan StrahanFor the first time ever, award-winning editor Jonathan Strahan has assembled the best science fiction and the best fantasy stories of the year in one volume. More than just two books for the price of one, this book brings together over 200,000 words of the best genre fiction anywhere. Strahan's critical eye and keen editorial instincts have served him well for earlier best of the year round-ups in the Best Short Novels, Science Fiction: Best of and Fantasy: Best of series, and this is his most impressive effort yet.
The Living Dead 2
by John Joseph AdamsThe Living Dead 2 has more of what zombie fans hunger for — more scares, more action, more... brains! Experience the indispensable series that defines the very best in zombie literature with original stories by Kelley Armstrong, Karina Sumner-Smith, Carrie Ryan, Jamie Lackey, Genevieve Valentine, Brian Keene, Simon R. Green, David Wellington, David Barr Kirtley, Matt London, Joe McKinney, Walter Greatshell, Bob Fingerman, S. G. Browne, Jonathan Maberry, Mira Grant, Marc Paoletti, cherie priest, Robert Kirkman, Max Brooks, David Moody, Sarah Langan, Steven Gould, and John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow. In addition to these original stories, The Living Dead 2 features 18 additional reprint zombie stories. All this adds up to a Landmark volume that helps define what zombie godfather John Skipp calls "The New Zombie Literature."
Of Limited Loyalty
by Michael Stakpole1767. In the three years since defeating the Tharyngians at Anvil Lake, The Crown Colonies of Mystria have prospered. Colonists, whether hunting for new land or the Promised Land of prophecy, have pushed beyond the bounds of charters granted by the Queen of Norisle. Some of these new communities have even had the temerity to tell the Crown they are no longer subject to its authorities. To survey the full extent of the western expansion, the Crown has sent Colonel Ian Rathfield to join Nathaniel Woods, Owen Strake, and Kamiskwa on an expedition into the Mystrian interior. They discover a land full of isolated and unique communities, each shaped in accord with the ideals of the founders. Conflicts abound among them, and old enemies show up at the least useful moments. Worse yet, lurking out there is a menace which the Twilight People only know from folklore as the Antedeluvians; and westward penetration stumbles into their lands and awakens them. Alerted to this threat by his men, Prince Vlad petitions the Crown to send troops and supplies to destroy this new and terrifying enemy. The Crown refuses, citing massive debts from the last war. They dismiss Vlad's claims as fantasy, and impose a series of taxes on Mystrian trade to finance their own recovery. Faced with fighting an inhuman foe in a land seething with resentment against the Crown, Vlad must unite the Colonies in a common cause, or preside over their complete destruction.
The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson: The Ghost Pirates & Other Revenants of The Sea
by William Hope HodgsonThe third volume of our Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson.
The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: The Maze of the Enchanter
by Clark Ashton SmithThis series presents Clark Ashton Smith's fiction chronologically, based on composition rather than publication. Editors Scott Connors and Ron Hilger have compared original manuscripts, various typescripts, published editions, and Smith's notes and letters, in order to prepare a definitive set of texts.The Maze of the Enchanter includes, in chronological order, all of his stories from "The Mandrakes" (February, 1933) to "The Flower-Women" (May, 1935). This volume also features an introduction, and extensive notes on each story.
Wastelands
by John Joseph AdamsFamine, Death, War, and Pestilence: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon — these are our guides through the Wastelands... From the Book of Revelations to The Road Warrior; from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today&’s most renowned authors of speculative fiction, including George R.R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King, Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon.