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Prepare to Die!
by Paul TobinNine years ago, Steve Clarke was just a teenage boy in love with the girl of his dreams. Then a freak chemical spill transformed him into Reaver, the man whose super-powerful fists can literally take a year off a bad guy&’s life.Days ago, he found himself at the mercy of his arch-nemesis Octagon and a whole crew of fiendish super-villains, who gave him two weeks to settle his affairs–and prepare to die.Now, after years of extraordinary adventures and crushing tragedies, the world&’s greatest hero is returning to where it all began in search of the boy he once was . . . and the girl he never forgot.Exciting, scandalous, and ultimately moving, Prepare to Die! is a unique new look at the last days of a legend.
Binding: Book Two of the Moon Wolf Saga
by Carol WolfWhat do you do after you&’ve saved the world—and nobody believes you?Amber is a teenage runaway, hiding out in Los Angeles, who is also a daughter of the wolf kind. And, not long ago, she had her own personal demon. Richard was her servant, her lover, and a hellish force bound to the earth against his will. Together they turned back the World Snake that threatened to destroy the city—and she had granted Richard his freedom.Now Amber is alone, but nobody accepts that she has truly shed her demon. Many still fear the World Snake and seek to capture the demon&’s power for their own purposes, unaware that Richard has already departed the mortal realm. Amber finds herself hunted, in both wolf and human forms, by cultists, illusionists, raisers of power, and even an evil veterinarian.Saving the world was one thing. To save herself, Amber may have to call back her fearsome demon lover, who is no longer bound to obey her . . .
Galactic Empires
by Neil ClarkeNeil Clarke, publisher of the award-winning Clarkesworld magazine, presents a collection of thought-provoking and galaxy-spanning array of galactic short science fiction. From E. E. "Doc" Smith&’s Lensman, to George Lucas&’ Star Wars, the politics and process of Empire have been a major subject of science fiction&’s galaxy-spanning fictions. The idiom of the Galactic Empire allows science fiction writers to ask (and answer) questions that are shorn of contemporary political ideologies and allegiances. This simple narrative slight of hand allows readers and writers to see questions and answers from new and different perspectives. The stories in this book do just that. What social, political, and economic issues do the organizing structure of &“empire&” address? Often the size, shape, and fates of empires are determined not only by individuals, but by geography, natural forces, and technology. As the speed of travel and rates of effective communication increase, so too does the size and reach of an Imperial bureaucracy.Sic itur ad astra—&“Thus one journeys to the stars.&” At the beginning of the twentieth century, writers such as Kipling and Twain were at the forefront of these kinds of narrative observations, but as the century drew to a close, it was writers like Iain M. Banks who helped make science fiction relevant. That tradition continues today, with award-winning writers like Ann Leckie, whose 2013 debut novel Ancillary Justice hinges upon questions of imperialism and empire. Here then is a diverse collection of stories that asks the questions that science fiction asks best. Empire: How? Why? And to what effect? Table of Contents: - &“Winning Peace&” by Paul J. McAuley - &“Night&’s Slow Poison&” by Ann Leckie - &“All the Painted Stars&” by Gwendolyn Clare - &“Firstborn&” by Brandon Sanderson - &“Riding the Crocodile&” by Greg Egan - &“The Lost Princess Man&” by John Barnes - &“The Waiting Stars&” by Aliette de Bodard - &“Alien Archeology&” by Neal Asher - &“The Muse of Empires Lost&” by Paul Berger - &“Ghostweight&” by Yoon Ha Lee - &“A Cold Heart&” by Tobias S. Buckell - &“The Colonel Returns to the Stars&” by Robert Silverberg - &“The Impossibles&” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch - &“Utriusque Cosmi&” by Robert Charles Wilson - &“Section Seven&” by John G. Hemry - &“The Invisible Empire of Ascending Light&” by Ken Scholes - &“The Man with the Golden Balloon&” by Robert Reed - &“Looking Through Lace&” by Ruth Nestvold - &“A Letter from the Emperor&” by Steve Rasnic Tem - &“The Wayfarer&’s Advice&” by Melinda M. Snodgrass - &“Seven Years from Home&” by Naomi Novik - &“Verthandi&’s Ring&” by Ian McDonald
The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith: The Door To Saturn
by Clark Ashton SmithPublished in chronological order, with extensive story and bibliographic notes, this series not only provides access to stories that have been out of print for years, but gives them a historical and social context. Series editors Scott Conners and Ronald S. Hilger excavated the still-existing manuscripts, letters and various published versions of the stories, creating a definitive &“preferred text&” for Smith's entire body of work. This second volume of the series brings together 20 of his fantasy stories.
Brave New Worlds
by John Joseph AdamsYou are being watched.Your every movement is being tracked, your every word recorded. Your spouse may be an informer, your children may be listening at your door, your best friend may be a member of the secret police. You are alone among thousands, among great crowds of the brainwashed, the well-behaved, the loyal. Productivity has never been higher, the media blares, and the army is ever triumphant. One wrong move, one slip-up, and you may find yourself disappeared -- swallowed up by a monstrous bureaucracy, vanished into a shadowy labyrinth of interrogation chambers, show trials, and secret prisons from which no one ever escapes. Welcome to the world of the dystopia, a world of government and society gone horribly, nightmarishly wrong.What happens when civilization invades and dictates every aspect of your life? From 1984 to The Handmaid's Tale, from Children of Men to Bioshock, the dystopian imagination has been a vital and gripping cautionary force. Brave New Worlds collects the best tales of totalitarian menace by some of today's most visionary writers, including Neil Gaiman, Paolo Bacigalupi, Orson Scott Card, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ursula K. Le Guin.When the government wields its power against its own people, every citizen becomes an enemy of the state. Will you fight the system, or be ground to dust beneath the boot of tyranny?
Silicon Embrace
by John ShirleyA near-future where technology and ancient spiritual secrets merge into something very strange... something as strange as a silicon embrace. America has suffered ecological breakdown and the Second Civil War. But the balkanization of the U.S.—along with humanity&’s secret history and what has really been going on in Area 51 and UFOs for decades—are all part of a startling convergence which will transform humanity... or destroy it.* * *Reviews:&“John Shirley has written the best novel of his career. Mature yet youthfully indignant, spiritually insightful yet carnally streetwise, his new book is aboil with ideas and action, full of keen-eyed speculations for the future and daring revisions of history.&”—Asimov&’s&“Silicon Embrace is at once sly, sad eloquent, gonzo, mystic, surreal, and all-American, mixing the pulpiest Sci-Fi with true literary sophistication. A new gem from John Shirley.—Locus&“Angels and aliens alike figure in this metaphysical SF novel from proto-cyberpunker Shirley, who here throws UFOs, black helicopters, several major biblical figures and spiritual transcendence into the early 21st century... it's clear that the author is having fun tying together disparate UFO, conspiracy and New Age myths; readers will have fun watching him do the tying, too.&”—Publishers Weekly
Yarn
by Jon ArmstrongFrom the neo-feudalistic slubs, the corn-filled world of Tane's youth, to his apprenticeship among the deadly saleswarriors of Seattlehama—the sex-and-shopping capital of the world—to the horrors of a polluted Antarctica, Yarn tells a stylish tale of love, deceit, and memory.Tane Cedar is the master tailor, the supreme outfitter of the wealthy, the beautiful, and the powerful. When an ex-lover, on the run from the authorities, asks him to create a garment from the dangerous and illegal Xi yarn—a psychedelic opiate—to ease her final hours, Tane's world is torn apart.Armed with just his yarn pulls, scissors, Mini-Air-Juki handheld sewing machine, and his wits, Tane journeys through the shadowy underworld where he must untangle the deadly mysteries and machinations of decades of deceit.Following up on his highly acclaimed and Philip K. Dick Award-nominated Grey, Jon Armstrong explodes back on the scene with Yarn.
Cellars
by John ShirleyAn ancient evil deep beneath New York City turns subway stations into bloody altars for ritual sacrifice. Monsters made of blood arise from drains, an invisible hellhound devours human flesh, feral children stalk the shadowy streets and make murder a terrifying game. Occult investigator Carl Lanyard risks his life, his love, and his sanity as he battles the unspeakable forces of darkness. A modern classic by a master of the macabre in a new revised edition.
Stories of the Raksura: The Falling World & The Tale of Indigo and Cloud
by Martha WellsIn &“The Falling World,&” Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud Court, has traveled with Chime and Balm to another Raksuran court. When she fails to return, her consort, Moon, along with Stone and a party of warriors and hunters, must track them down. Finding them turns out to be the easy part; freeing them from an ancient trap hidden in the depths of the Reaches is much more difficult.&“The Tale of Indigo and Cloud&” explores the history of the Indigo Cloud Court, long before Moon was born. In the distant past, Indigo stole Cloud from Emerald Twilight. But in doing so, the reigning Queen Cerise and Indigo are now poised for a conflict that could spark war throughout all the courts of the Reaches.Stories of Moon and the shape changers of Raksura have delighted readers for years. This world is a dangerous place full of strange mysteries, where the future can never be taken for granted and must always be fought for with wits and ingenuity, and often tooth and claw. With two brand-new novellas, Martha Wells shows that the world of the Raksura has many more stories to tell . . .
The Departure (The Owner)
by Neal AsherVisible in the night sky the Argus Station, its twin smelting plants like glowing eyes, looks down on nightmare Earth. From Argus the Committee keep an oppressive control: citizens are watched by cams systems and political officers, it's a world inhabited by shepherds, reader guns, razor birds and the brutal Inspectorate with its white tiled cells and pain inducers. Soon the Committee will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet, twelve billion human being need to die before Earth can be stabilized, but by turning large portions of Earth into concentration camps this is achievable, especially when the Argus satellite laser network comes fully online . . . This is the world Alan Saul wakes to in his crate on the conveyor to the Calais incinerator. How he got there he does not know, but he does remember the pain and the face of his interrogator. Informed by Janus, through the hardware implanted in his skull, about the world as it is now Saul is determined to destroy it, just as soon as he has found out who he was, and killed his interrogator . . .
Eclipse 1
by Jonathan StrahanAn eclipse is a rare and unusual event, when the world is transformed and the sky becomes a dark eldritch thing. It's a time when anything could happen, when any kind of story just might be true. That sense of the strange and wonderful guides Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, the first volume in an exciting new annual anthology series edited by acclaimed anthologist Jonathan Strahan.Set to become a major event on the science fiction and fantasy calendar,Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy gathers together new science fiction and fantasy stories by the best writers working today. You can see that in Eclipse 1, which features extraordinary tales by Peter S. Beagle, Jack Dann & Paul Brandon, Terry Dowling, Andy Duncan, Jeffrey Ford, Kathleen Ann Goonan, Eileen Gunn, Gwyneth Jones, Ellen Klages, Maureen F. McHugh, Garth Nix, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling and Ysabeau S. Wilce.
The Croning
by Laird BarronStrange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us...Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly eighty years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge. Donald will discover the dark secrets along the edges, unearthing savage truths about his wife Michelle, their adult twins, and all he knows and trusts. For Donald is about to stumble on the secret......of The Croning.From Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Imago Sequence and Occultation, comes The Croning, a debut novel of cosmic horror.
The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson: The Night Land & Other Romances
by William Hope HodgsonThe fourth of a five volume set collecting all of Hodgson's published fiction. Each volume contains one of Hodgson's novels, along with a selection of thematically-linked short fiction.
The Loving Dead
by Amelia BeamerKate and Michael are roommates living in the Oakland hills, working at the same Trader Joes supermarket. A night of drunken revelry changes their lives forever, but not in the way that anyone would expect. A slow-spreading plague of zombie-ism breaks out at their house party, spreading amongst their circle of friends, and simultaneously through the Bay Area. This zombie plague — an STD of sorts — is spread through sex and kissing, turning its victims into mindless, horny, voracious killers. Thrust into extremes by this slow- motion tragedy, Kate and Michael are forced to confront the choices they&’ve made in their lives, and their fears of commitment, while trying to stay alive and reunite in the one place in the Bay Area that&’s likely to be safe and secure from the zombie hoards: Alcatraz.
Veil of the Deserters (Bloodsounder's Arc)
by Jeff SalyardsBraylar is still poisoned by the memories of those slain by his unholy flail Bloodsounder, and attempts to counter this sickness have proven ineffectual. The Syldoonian Emperor, Cynead, has solidified his power in unprecedented ways, and Braylar and company are recalled to the capital to swear fealty. Braylar must decide if he can trust his sister, Soffjian, with the secret that is killing him. She has powerful memory magics that might be able to save him from Bloodsounder&’s effects, but she has political allegiances that are not his own. Arki and others in the company try to get Soffjian and Braylar to trust one another, but politics in the capital prove to be complicated and dangerous. Deposed emperor Thumarr plots to remove the repressive Cynead, and Braylar and Soffjian are at the heart of his plans. The distance between &“favored shadow agent of the emperor&” and &“exiled traitor&” is unsurprisingly small. But it is filled with blind twists and unexpected turns. Before the journey is over, Arki will chronicle the true intentions of Emperor Cynead and Soffjian.
Field of Fantasies: Baseball Stories of the Strange and Supernatural
by Rick WilberOf all the sports played across the globe, none has more curses, superstitions, or supernatural events like baseball, America&’s national pastime. While some of these can easily be explained, there are just as many that cannot.Field of Fantasies delves right into that superstition with short stories written by several key authors about baseball and the supernatural. Whether it&’s a frozen curveball, a robot pitcher, or fantasy outcomes (the Cubs winning the World Series!), these terrific stories are ones that fans of science fiction will enjoy, while fans of baseball will find strangely believable.Included in this wonderful anthology are stories from such prolific authors as:Stephen KingJack KerouacKaren Joy FowlerRod SerlingW. P. KinsellaAnd many more!Never has a book combined the incredible events of baseball and science fiction like Field of Fantasies does. Whether you&’re a sport or science fiction fan, these stories will appeal not only to your fandom, but also to your appreciation and acceptance of the unknown taking place on the baseball diamond. If you&’ve ever held a bat or glove in your hand (or just watched the game on TV), you&’ll be enthralled by these terrific tales that range from the sandlot to the sold-out stadium.
All Darkness Met
by Glen CookBefore there was Black Company, there was the Dread Empire, an omnibus collection the first three Dread Empire novels: A Shadow of All Night's Falling, October's Baby and All Darkness Met. For the first time in eBook format, the A Cruel Wind collection is available as individual books.
A Cruel Wind
by Glen CookBefore there was Black Company, there was the Dread Empire, an omnibus collection the first three Dread Empire novels: A Shadow of All Night's Falling, October's Baby and All Darkness Met.
Warlock: Book Two of The Dark War Trilogy (Darkwar Trilogy #2)
by Glen CookThe world grows colder with each passing year, the longer winters and ever-deepening snows awaking ancient fears within the Dengan Packstead, fears of invasion by armed and desperate nomads, attack by the witchlike and mysterious Silth, able to kill with their minds alone, and of the Grauken, that desperate time when intellect gives way to buried cannibalistic instinct, when meth feeds upon meth. For Marika, a young pup of the Packstead, loyal to pack and family, times are dark indeed, for against these foes, the Packstead cannot prevail. But awakening within Marika is a power unmatched in all the world, a legendary power that may not just save her world, but allow her to grasp the stars themselves. From Glen Cook, author of the Black Company and Dread Empire novels. The second book in the Darkwar series.
Ghost Pirates and Others
by William Hope HodgsonWilliam Hope Hodgson was a contemporary of H. P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith, and was one of the most important and influential fantasists of the 20th century. His novel The Ghost Pirates is a take-no-prisoners supernatural adventure story that is just as powerful today as it was 100 years ago.In addition to his landmark novel, this volume contains some of his most influential short fiction; from his supernatural detective Thomas Carnacki to tales of the mysterious Sargasso Sea. The Ghost Pirates and Others is the perfect introduction to the magic, mystery and adventure of William Hope Hodgson.
Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Café
by Milly JohnsonThe heartwarming and feel-good read from the Sunday Times bestselling author&‘The feeling you get when you read a Milly Johnson book should be bottled and made available on the NHS&’ Debbie Johnson When Connie discovers that Jimmy Diamond, her husband of more than twenty years, is planning to leave her for his office junior, her world is turned upside down. Determined to salvage her pride, she resolves to get her own back. Along with Della, Jimmy's right-hand woman at his cleaning firm, Diamond Shine, and the cleaners who meet at the Sunflower Café, she'll make him wish he had never underestimated her. Then Connie meets the charming Brandon Locke, a master chocolatier, whose kindness starts to melt her soul. Can the ladies of the Sunflower Cafe help Connie scrub away the hurt? And can Brandon make her trust again?Praise for Milly Johnson: 'Every time you discover a new Milly book, it&’s like finding a pot of gold' heat 'A glorious, heartfelt novel' Rowan Coleman &‘Absolutely loved it. Milly's writing is like getting a big hug with just the right amount of bite underneath. I was rooting for Bonnie from the start' Jane Fallon &‘Bursting with warmth and joie de vivre&’ Jill Mansell &‘Warm, optimistic and romantic&’ Katie Fforde
In Darkness Waiting
by John ShirleyNo writer combines the "delight in dread" with social consciousness and metaphysical meaning the way John Shirley does. Although In Darkness Waiting begins in much the same vein as many horror novels (mysterious deaths; a small town invaded by evil; plucky, attractive young lovers; the logical level-headed doctor; some salt-of-the-earth townsfolk...) by its end you will have discovered it is not "just another horror novel." With its exploration of the "insect" inside us all, In Darkness Waiting proves more relevant today than ever. Considering a read of In Darkness Waiting is like considering a trip through the Amazon with no weapons and no vaccinations and no shoes. It's like contemplating a journey in the Arctic clad only in your underwear. Or maybe it's more like dropping into one of those spelunker's challenges, those chilling pitch-black shafts into the Earth's crust-and when you get down there your light burns out and you remember the chitinous fauna of the cavern...Unlike undertaking those endeavors, you can get through the harrowing pages of In Darkness Waiting alive (although we are not promising you'll remain unscathed.) Towards the end you'll discover one of the most extreme yet literate passages ever written. It may well be the most outré scene ever created.But John Shirley wasn't after shock alone. Shock is never enough for him.
Phantom Effect
by Michael AronovitzJonathan Martin Delaware Deseronto is a six-foot-five serial killer with a problem. He&’s stuck out on I-476 in a heavy November rainstorm with two flat tires and the dead bodies of a cop and a co-ed named Marissa Madison in his trunk. Desperate to get off the highway, he drives his car on its back rims towards Exit 6. The car stalls on the ramp and Deseronto uses the last of its momentum to plunge over the crest of a steep slope and crash into a length of concrete pipe below. The car comes to rest on the edge of a construction site where machines are positioned to tear down an old Motel 6.For Deseronto, the worst is yet to come. Marissa Madison had been a psychic of sorts while alive, using her ability to assist people in their personal journeys. Now, the ghost of Marissa will utilize her strange gift, trapping Deseronto in the abandoned motel, and forcing him to live the last, fatal week of her own life as a passive passenger in her body . . . Soon, Deseronto will experience something truly horrific: the mind-numbing terror of being stalked by himself.
Knife Sworn: Tower and Knife 1 (Tower and Knife)
by Mazarkis WilliamsMazarkis William&’s debut novel, The Emperor&’s Knife, was praised for its exotic settings, gripping intrigue, and vivid, full-blooded characters. Now Williams returns to the sumptuous palaces and treacherous back alleys of the Cerani Empire, where intrigue, passion, and dangerous magic threaten the very soul of a newly-crowned emperor.After spending most of his life in captivity and solitude, Sarmin now sits upon the Petal Throne of Cerana. But his reign is an uneasy one. Ambitious generals and restless soldiers want war at any cost. An insidious foreign religion stirs fear among the people and the court. And the emperor&’s own heart is torn between two very different women: Mesema, a Windreader princess of the northern plains, and Grada, a lowborn untouchable with whom Sarmin shares a unique bond. A natural-born mage, Sarmin also carries within him a throng of bodiless spirits whose conflicting memories and desires force him to wage a private battle for his sanity.In times past, a royal assassin known as the Emperor&’s Knife served as the keen edge of justice, defending the throne from any and all menaces, but the last Knife has perished and his successor has yet to be named. For his own safety, and that of the empire, Sarmin must choose his own loyal death-dealer . . . .but upon whom can be he bestow the bloody burden of the Knife-Sworn?
The Best Horror of the Year (Best Horror of the Year)
by Ellen DatlowDarkness, both literal and psychological, holds its own unique fascination. Despite our fears, or perhaps because of them, readers have always been drawn to tales of death, terror, madness, and the supernatural, and no more so than today when a wildly imaginative new generation of dark dreamers is carrying on in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft and King, crafting exquisitely disturbing literary nightmares that gaze without flinching into the abyss—and linger in the mind long after.Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow knows the darkest corners of fiction and poetry better than most. Once again, she has braved the haunted landscape of modern horror to seek out the most chilling new works by both legendary masters of the genre and fresh young talents. Here are twisted hungers and obsessions, human and otherwise, along with an unsettling variety of spine-tingling fears and fantasies. The cutting edge of horror has never cut deeper than in this comprehensive showcase of the very best the field has to offer. Enter at your own risk.