Showing results by publisher "--Tyson Hanks" in Anthologies & Short Stories

All I want is a perfect Christmas with great food, amazing friends and the love of my life by my side. The tree is decorated, the feast (cooked by a hearth witch!) is ready, and Connor’s home is buzzing with festive cheer. This year I can feel it: Christmas magic is within my reach.

Some truths are carefully concealed; others merely forgotten. In this spellbinding collection, seven acclaimed fantasy authors create characters who venture into the depths where others fear to tread. But when forbidden knowledge is the ultimate power, how far can they go before the darkness consumes them?

Two Worlds and In Between: The Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan presents a stunning retrospective of the first 10 years of the author’s work. It is a compilation of more than 200,000 words of short fiction, including many of her most acclaimed stories as well as some of the author’s personal favorites; several previously uncollected, hard-to-find pieces; her sci-fi novella, The Dry Salvages; and a rare collaboration with Poppy Z. Brite.

One minute Ethan Gower was an average computer technician, playing online games with his friends. Now he’s been abducted and dropped into a strange world with others who have been taken from their homes. And magic and monsters are real. Now Ethan is a wizard and must convince his new companions to band together in order to survive in this strange new world as they level up, gain abilities, and try to unravel the mystery of why they were abducted and how to find a way home. But things are never easy.

In a magical world known as ‘The Wyrd’ only those who have the Spark can be adventurers, diving into magical dungeons, getting epic loot, and leveling up by collecting essence. Caldor is several years past the age when most people find out they are sparked, but that doesn’t stop him from wishing. Caldor’s father was an adventurer and he wants nothing more than to be like him, an Arcane Knight. When his hunt goes sideways and he finds that he can harness the powers of being a Sparked, he is filled with excitement and ready to battle his way to the top!

Join the Legendary Lord as he is reborn again, this time to fight an evil God that's threatening the existence of his very land. But first he has to build his stronghold, battle monsters and get to know the beautiful Elven queen Leyathel, among others if get to know means what you think it means… However, there's a slight problem. He has no idea who he is, why he was reborn, or what he’s supposed to do. Mere trifling details that won’t stop a Legendary Lord even if it takes him a little bit to get settled into his new environment!

An amazing array of the most popular and exciting names in Fantasy are set to appear in the first in a brand new series of Fantasy anthologies featuring original fiction, from the master editor Jonathan Strahan. The authors appearing in the launch volume include Trudi Canavan, Elizabeth Bear, Daniel Abraham, Kate Elliott, Saladin Ahmed, Glen Cook, Scott Lynch, Ellen Klages, Ellen Kushner & Ysabeau Wilce, Jeffrey Ford, Robert Redick, and KJ Parker.

New York Times best-selling author TJ Klune invites you back to the land of Verania in a new collection of short stories starring the beloved characters from the Tales of Verania series.

Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the baba yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the baba yaga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch—and these are her tales.

I thought the last thing I would have expected while working at the mall during the holiday season was to meet a real elf woman. Then the blue-skinned ogre tore through the mall. The elf and I made a quick escape and ended up in a strange fantasy world. Now, I’m finding out that the elves have been in decline for centuries and are being hunted to extinction for their magical abilities. They need someone to help them. Someone to protect them. Someone with magical powers that could make elves strong like they used to be.

How does one measure the worth of a Knight? By battles won, foes slain, and kingdoms conquered? Aye, there is glory to be had in the clash of blades and the spilling of blood. But what does strength of arm mean when one is maidenless? How hollow the cries of victory, when they ring through an empty castle and echo against a cold bed? Know, then, that that the true measure of a Knight is the love of a good Maiden—Or two. Or three. Or more... You will find thirteen tales of romance, heroism, and valor.

Six books and more than 30 hours of shifters, vampires, witches, and slayers fill this complete LGBT-friendly urban-fantasy omnibus collection.

Luna Thorn appeared in a swirl of pink lights with no memory of where she came from or why she was suddenly in Detroit of all places. Now, years later, she’s positioned herself as a beacon of good in a very dark place. That means it’s time to figure out where she belongs. With the help of the friendly neighborhood reapers, Luna is about to embark on an adventure that will have her traveling through time and facing the sort of terror that she never expected to come up against.

From Anne McCaffrey comes a collection of captivating short stories that focuses on everything from spaceship adventure and shifting time-storms to ghosts and romance. The title story, set in the world of the Dragonriders of Pern series, tells of Aramina, a teenage girl who hears dragons and is relentlessly pursued for her ability. Aramina's mother fears losing her daughter completely to the life of a dragonrider, but McCaffrey has another fate in mind for her young heroine.

All The Pan of Hamgee wants is a quiet life. So why did he have to fall in love with a woman living a different version of reality, upset a murderous tyrant, and then run out of places to hide? Now all he has to do is face his inner demons, rescue everything he holds dear, and save the world, or die trying. Oh yes, and he's an abject coward. Great. No pressure then.

Summoners are born, not made. For Bran of Ealdor, this is the one thing stopping him from becoming a member of the legendary warriors known as summoners. They are gods among men who can call monsters into battle to fight alongside them. Mages, Rangers, Beastmasters, Protectors, Hunters, and Lancers. These are the six classes of summoners. None of which Bran can become.

Here is Old Man's War author John Scalzi's sendup of the heroic fantasy genre, now a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.

During a time of political and social unrest in Egypt, a god-like force, Nyarlathotep, emerges. He travels the land dazzling people with electricity and psychology. While witnesses of this god-like creature encourage others to see him, afterwards, people seem terrified. As the narrator recounts his experiences, he becomes disoriented. By the end of the story, the narrator and the other viewers of Nyarlathotep begin to lose touch with reality.

Run. Hide. Live the good life online. Early retirement looked so easy on paper. Steal eight million euros from a gangster. Hide inside an online game and enjoy the finer things in life as a bard until the danger had passed. Except Daniel messed up. Now, the gangsters are in the game looking for him and he's stuck with an imbalanced character build in a dead-end starter village. Can Daniel find his own place and a life worth living inside the World of Chains?

My life wasn't that exciting; a degree in engineering, a small flat in London, and an ex-girlfriend who still texted me when she was drunk. Every day was a bore. Everything changed when I found myself in Lanercost, a small medieval village, with no idea of how I arrived. The locals seemed friendly, and a chance encounter introduced me to several breathtakingly beautiful women. I decided to make the best of it. Armed with only a solid education, my wit, and the five pennies in my pocket, I decided to build a life here. No, not just a life; a House that would last for generations.