Download or read book Smoke and Mirrors written by Neil Gaiman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-03-17 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The astonishing and impressive first collection of short stories from New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman An elderly widow finds the Holy Grail beneath an old fur coat in a second-hand store . . . A stray cat fights and refights a nightly battle to protect his adoptive family from an unimagiable evil . . . A young couple receives a wedding gift that will reveal a chilling alternate history of their marriage . . . Beneath a bridge by the railroad tracks, a frightened little boy bargains for his life with a most persistent troll . . . Such miraculous inventions and more await within Neil Gaiman’s first collection of short fiction, a gift of wonder and delight from one of the most unique literary artists of our day. In his capable hands, magic is no mere illusion, but a powerful means to reveal the nature of our humanity obscured in the smoke of our fears and anxieties . . . and reflected in the funhouse mirrors of our dreams.

Download or read book The Martian Chronicles written by Ray Bradbury and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-04-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by humans who want to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.

Download or read book Fragile Things written by Neil Gaiman and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A prodigiously imaginative collection.” —New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice “Dazzling tales from a master of the fantastic.” —Washington Post Book World Fragile Things is a sterling collection of exceptional tales from Neil Gaiman, multiple award-winning (the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Newberry, and Eisner Awards, to name just a few), #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Graveyard Book, Anansi Boys, Coraline, and the groundbreaking Sandman graphic novel series. A uniquely imaginative creator of wonders whose unique storytelling genius has been acclaimed by a host of literary luminaries from Norman Mailer to Stephen King, Gaiman’s astonishing powers are on glorious displays in Fragile Things. Enter and be amazed!

Download or read book 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories written by Isaac Asimov and published by Doubleday Books. This book was released on 1984 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the authors represented in this collection of brief tales are Marion Zimmer Bradley, Harlan Ellison, Barry N. Malzberg, Roger Zelazny, H.P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Pangborn.

Download or read book The Year s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens written by Jane Yolen and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2005-05 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning anthologists Jane Yolen and Patrick Nielsen Hayden have combed through a year's worth of books and magazines and websites to find the most outstanding fantasy and science fiction stories of 2004--and collected them into a single volume aimed specifically at teens and young adults. Many of today's most popular authors are represented here, including: * Garth Nix, author of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen, who presents an unforgettable tale of two swords, two daughters, and two endings.... * S. M. Stirling, author of Island in the Sea of Time, sends a likeable young barbarian across the Channel to Alba, for a confrontation with a wizard from faraway Nantucket that will change his life forever... * David Gerrold, creator of "The Trouble with Tribbles," who takes you to a remote countryside surrounded by a mysterious darkness, whose secret has yet to be revealed...

Download or read book The Starlit Wood written by Dominik Parisien and published by S&S/Saga Press. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “first rate anthology of reimagined fairy tales” (Locus Magazine) features an all-star lineup of award-winning and critically acclaimed writers. Once upon a time. It’s how so many of our most beloved stories start. Fairy tales have dominated our cultural imagination for centuries. From the Brothers Grimm to the Countess d’Aulnoy, from Charles Perrault to Hans Christian Anderson, storytellers have crafted all sorts of tales that have always found a place in our hearts. Now a new generation of storytellers has taken up the mantle that the masters created and shaped their stories into something startling and electrifying. Packed with award-winning authors, this “fresh, diverse” (Library Journal) anthology explores an array of fairy tales in startling and innovative ways, in genres and settings both traditional and unusual, including science fiction, western, and post-apocalyptic as well as traditional fantasy and contemporary horror. From the woods to the stars, The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales takes readers on a journey at once unexpected and familiar, as a diverse group of writers explore some of our most beloved tales in new ways across genres and styles. Contains stories by: Charlie Jane Anders, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-mohtar, Jeffrey Ford, Max Gladstone, Theodora Goss, Daryl Gregory, Kat Howard, Stephen Graham Jones, Margo Lanagan, Marjorie Liu, Seanan McGuire, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Sofia Samatar, Karin Tidbeck, Catherynne M. Valente, and Genevieve Valentine.

Download or read book The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories written by Ken Liu and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03-08 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featured in the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots Bestselling author Ken Liu selects his multiple award-winning stories for a groundbreaking collection—including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume. With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu now shares his finest short fiction in The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. This mesmerizing collection features many of Ken’s award-winning and award-finalist stories, including: “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” (Finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Theodore Sturgeon Awards), “Mono No Aware” (Hugo Award winner), “The Waves” (Nebula Award finalist), “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” (Nebula and Sturgeon Award finalists), “All the Flavors” (Nebula Award finalist), “The Litigation Master and the Monkey King” (Nebula Award finalist), and the most awarded story in the genre’s history, “The Paper Menagerie” (The only story to win the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards). Insightful and stunning stories that plumb the struggle against history and betrayal of relationships in pivotal moments, this collection showcases one of our greatest and original voices.

Download or read book Dreams Underfoot written by Charles de Lint and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2003-08-02 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Newford's citizens--fey folk, magicians, hustlers, painters, fiddlers, and ordinary people--stumble headfirst into enchanting adventures.

Download or read book Tapping the Dream Tree written by Charles de Lint and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection from the World Fantasy award-winning author of The Onion Girl contains “lucid transfiguration of folklore and myth into fantasy tales.” —Booklist Charles de Lint's urban fantasies, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical realism. At the heart of his work is the ongoing Newford series, of which this is the latest volume. The city of Newford could be any contemporary North American city . . . except that magic lurks in its music, in its art, in the shadows of its grittiest streets, where mythic beings walk disguised. And its people are like you and me, each looking for a bit of magic to shape their lives and transform their fate. In this volume we meet a bluesman hiding from the devil; a Buffalo Man at the edge of death; a murderous ghost looking for revenge; a wolf man on his first blind date; and many more. We're reunited with Jilly, Geordie, Sophie, the Crow Girls, and other characters whose lives have become part of the great Newford myth. And De Lint takes us beyond Newford's streets to the pastoral hills north of the city, where magic and music have a flavor different but powerful still. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. “Gracefully told and filled with unforgettable and convincing characters.” –Library Journal

Download or read book Epic Fantasy Short Stories written by Leah Cypess and published by Flame Tree Collections. This book was released on 2020-02-29 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George R.R. Martin drew on Tolkien, who was inspired by William Morris, Medieval epics, and Norse mythology. This new collection of epic fantasy tales explores the classic themes of good vs evil, the low-born hero, and the arrogant overlord, and laced them with a taste of sorcery that reaches back to the early sources, and stirs them in with the brand new storytellers of today. This new title in our successful Gothic Fantasy Short Stories collection contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. Contemporary authors include Brian Bogart, Ramsey Campbell, Evey Brett, Leah Cypess, Kate Dollarhyde, Lucinda Gunnin, Joshua K. Haarstad, Anne Leonard, E.H. Mann, Alison McBain, Emily McCosh, Dan Micklethwaite, Wendy Nikel, Mary O'Donnell, Aimee Ogden, Cassandra Taylor, M. Elizabeth Ticknor and Nemma Wollenfang. These feature alongside classic stories by authors such as Andrew Lang, George MacDonald, William Morris, Edith Nesbit and Clark Ashton Smith.

Download or read book Heroic Fantasy Short Stories written by and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-12-15 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New authors and collections. Somewhere between epic historical fantasy, sword and sorcery and Tolkien-esque fantasy exists a thick vein of storytelling that would make Robert E Howard and H.G. Wells proud. Following the great success of our Gothic Fantasy, deluxe edition short story compilations, Ghosts, Horror, Science Fiction, Murder Mayhem and Crime & Mystery we present a compilation of savage swordplay, and high magic, of daring deeds and gaudy battles, in a blazing mix of classic and brand new writing, with authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Susan Murrie Macdonald, Beth Dawkins, Kate O'Connor, Voss Foster, Joanna Michal Hoyt, Lauren C. Teffeau, A. Creg Peters, Alexandra Renwick, Amy Power Jansen, Tony Pi, Therese Arkenberg , David Busboom, Erin Gitchell, M. Elizabeth Ticknor, Zach Chapman, and Michael Haynes. These appear alongside classic stories by authors such as Homer, John Buchan, A. Merritt, William Morris, and Clark Ashton Smith.

Download or read book Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Stories written by H. G. Wells and published by Sirius Entertainment. This book was released on 2018-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Wondrous worlds abound in the stories within. Heroes go on great adventures through magical realms, encounter alien races, and use their ingenuity to overcome impossible difficulties."--Back cover

Download or read book Swords Dark Magic written by Jonathan Strahan and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2010-06-08 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology of seventeen original tales of sword and sorcery penned by masters old and new. Elric . . . the Black Company . . . Majipoor. For years, these have been some of the names that have captured the hearts of generations of readers and embodied the sword and sorcery genre. And now some of the most beloved and bestselling fantasy writers working today deliver stunning all-new sword and sorcery stories in an anthology of small stakes but high action, grim humor mixed with gritty violence, fierce monsters and fabulous treasures, and, of course, swordplay. Don’t miss the adventure of the decade! Featuring: Goats of Glory by Steven Erikson Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company by Glen Cook Bloodsport by Gene Wolfe The Singing Spear by James Enge A Wizard in Wiscezan by C.J. Cherryh A Rich Full Week by K.J. Parker A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet by Garth Nix Red Pearls: An Elric Story by Michael Moorcock The Deification of Dal Bamore: A Tale from Echo City by Tim Lebbon Dark Times at the Midnight Market by Robert Silverberg The Undefiled by Greg Keyes Hew the Tintmaster by Michael Shea In the Stacks by Scott Lynch Two Lions, a Witch, and the War-Robe by Tanith Lee The Sea Troll’s Daughter by Caitlín R. Kiernan Thieves of Daring by Bill Willingham The Fool Jobs by Joe Abercrombie “[Strahan and Anders] present seventeen original stories that recall the classic works of Robert E. Howard and Fritz Leiber. . . . Fans of the classics will appreciate the tie-ins to familiar series by Michael Moorcock, Glen Cook, and Robert Silverberg, plus a fully authorized Cugel the Clever cameo by Michael Shea.” —Publishers Weekly

Download or read book Deathbird Stories written by Harlan Ellison and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Masterpieces of myth and terror about modern gods from technology to drugs to materialism—“fantasy at its most bizarre and unsettling” (The New York Times). As Earth approaches Armageddon, a man embarks on a quest to confront God in the Hugo Award–winning novelette, “The Deathbird.” In New York City, a brutal act of violence summons a malevolent spirit and a growing congregation of desensitized worshippers in “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs,” an Edgar Award winner influenced by the real-life murder of Queens resident Kitty Genovese in 1964. In “Paingod,” the deity tasked with inflicting pain and suffering on every living being in the universe questions the purpose of its cruel existence. Deathbird Stories collects these and sixteen more provocative tales exploring the futility of faith in a faithless world. A legendary author of speculative fiction whose best-known works include A Boy and His Dog and I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream—and whose major awards and nominations number in the dozens, Harlan Ellison strips away convention and hypocrisy and lays bare the human condition in modern society as ancient gods fade and new deities rise to appease the masses—gods of technology, drugs, gambling, materialism—that are as insubstantial as the beliefs of those who venerate them. In addition to his Nebula, Hugo, World Fantasy, Bram Stoker, Edgar, and other awards, Ellison was called “one of the great living American short story writers” by the Washington Post—and this collection makes it clear why he has earned such an extraordinary assortment of accolades. Stories include: “Introduction: Oblations at Alien Altars” “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” “Along the Scenic Route” “On the Downhill Side” “O Ye of Little Faith” “Neon” “Basilisk” “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” “Corpse” “Shattered Like a Glass Goblin” “Delusion for a Dragon Slayer” “The Face of Helene Bournouw” “Bleeding Stones” “At the Mouse Circus” “The Place with No Name” “Paingod” “Ernest and the Machine God” “Rock God” “Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W” “The Deathbird”

Download or read book Science Fiction Short Stories written by and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-11-12 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New Author and collections. A deluxe edition of super-charged, original and classic short stories. Dystopia, Post-Apocalypse, time travel, robots and more this brilliant collection brings together the best of today's writers (many stories previously unpublished), with an eclectic range of science fiction masters including H. Rider Haggard, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Philip Frances Nowlan, Edward Page Mitchell and Jack London. An eclectic collection of SF adventure tales. New, contemporary and notable writers featured are: Adrian Ludens, Alexis A. Hunter, Beth Cato, Conor Powers-Smith, M. Darusha Wehm, David Tallerman, Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, Kate O'Connor, Mike Morgan, Nemma Wollenfang, Rob Hartzell, Sarah Hans, Patrick Tumblety, Stewart C Baker, Brian Trent, Jacob M. Lambert, Rachael K. Jones, Zach Shephard, Keyan Bowes, and Edward Ahern.

Download or read book Songs of Love and Death written by George R. R. Martin and published by Gallery / Saga Press. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking and “wonderful” (Library Journal, starred review) anthology of fantasy, science fiction, and romance from New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors, edited by the acclaimed George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. From epic fantasy, post-apocalyptic America, to faerie-haunted rural fields in 18th-century England, to an intergalactic empire, join star-crossed lovers as they struggle against the forces of magic and fate. A star-studded cross-genre anthology Songs of Love and Death features all-original tales from seventeen of the most prestigious names in romance, fantasy, and science fiction. Contributors include: -Neil Gaiman -Diana Gabaldon -Jim Butcher -Robin Hobb -Marjorie M. Liu -Jo Beverley -Mary Jo Putney -Peter S. Beagle -Jacqueline Carey -Carrie Vaughn -Yasmine Galenorn -MLN Hanover -Kristine Kathryn Rusch -Linnea Sinclair -Cecelia Holland -Tanith Lee -Melinda Snodgrass -Lisa Tuttle

Download or read book The Soft Landing Collection written by Jacquelynn Lyon and published by Jacquelynn Lyon. This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Visit worlds with mermaids trapped in zoos, floating continents that block out the sun, curses that sprout flowers from your skin, astronauts on dying spaceships, and forests haunted by hungry bog witches. Five short stories that revolve around the love between women and the fantastical world they inhabit. Sagas of a mermaid fascinated by the enclosure next to hers. A genius young woman trying to reach a stranger in the sky. A bog hag threatening to eat a princess that can't seem to stay away from her. Astronauts conversing as one hurtles into Jupiter's atmosphere on a doomed voyage. A woman cursed to grow flowers from her skin when kissed and the knight that promises to save her. Inspired by fairy tales, folklore, classic science fiction, and more. Love is all around us--and more magical than ever in these tales of overcoming the obstacles that keep us apart.