Action Adventure Epic Fantasy

In The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and best-selling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters - many of them set in their authors' best-loved worlds. Join today's finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do.

The world is in motion, and Ling Qi can hardly count the number of loose ends and new business she has to tie up. Her great task lies before her, a great summit with the people of the south to determine what the future will be. Still, the Argent Peak Sect stirs to war with both the tribes of the sky and the creatures of the deep earth. But first comes the great end-of-year tournament. She is not a participant this time but an observer, and all the more enmeshed in politics that swirl around it.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

Corban flees his homeland searching for peace, but he soon discovers that there is no haven in the west as the agents of Rhin and roaming bands of giants hound his every step. Veradis leaves the battleground and rushes to his King's side. But he has witnessed both combat and betrayal and his duty weighs heavily upon him. Maquin seeks only revenge, but pirate slavers and the brutal world of pit-fighting stand in his way. Nathair becomes embroiled in the wars of the west as Queen Rhin marches against King Owain. The need to find the cauldron of the giants drives him on.

If you think it’s hard being a hobgoblin or a human, try living a goblin’s life for a while. In fact, try imagining what it’s like to be the runtiest goblin in the caves, the lone worshiper of a god who’s been forgotten for a good reason, and the target everyone points to at the first hint of trouble. Try picturing yourself as Jig Dragonslayer, and see how you like it....

Will’s journey from naïve apprentice to a mature wizard is almost complete, and his ever-growing mastery has reached unseen heights. But his power does not exist in a vacuum. His rising star threatens to eclipse the existing powers and a new balance must be found, one that either accepts his primacy or extinguishes his light. After Will’s resounding successes in the war with Darrow, the king plots to eliminate his young rival. Driven to desperation, Will is forced to negotiate for scraps between four brokers of power.

À 17 ans, Seïs Amorgen est nommé pour intégrer la plus grande confrérie du royaume d'Asclépion. S'il accepte, il deviendra l'un des guerriers les plus éminents de la monarchie. S'il refuse, il restera le gamin frivole et arrogant qui fraye avec les bandits de sa ville natale. Alors que l'ombre du Renégat s'étend sur sa terre d'origine, Seïs va devoir prendre la décision qui bouleversera sa vie et, bientôt, il devra faire face à ses propres démons.

The Ben-Elim, a race of warrior angels, once vanquished a mighty demon horde. Now they rule the Banished lands. But their dominion is brutally enforced and their ancient enemy may not be as crushed as they thought. In the snowbound north, Drem, a trapper, finds mutilated corpses in the forests—a sign of demonic black magic. In the south, Riv, a young, tempestuous soldier, discovers a deadly rift within the Ben-Elim themselves. Two individuals with two world-changing secrets. But where will they lead?

While the war for the Four Kingdoms drags on, a new threat emerges from across the sea. To the North, Annise Gäric seek to rescue Lady Zelda and retake Castle Hill from the sellswords known as the Brotherhood. In the back of her mind is a growing fear, something she can't quite explain. Meanwhile, Lisbeth Lorne tries to regain control of the ancient army of Sleeping Knights before they become the horde of death her soulmark has shown to her in visions. In the West, Rhea Loren find herself at a crossroads: continue down the path of destruction or seek another way, another life.

It all began with the theft of the Orb that protected the West from the evil God Torak. Before that, Garion had been a simple farm boy. Afterward, he discovered he is a sorcerer. Now, at last, the Orb has been regained, and the quest nears it end. Of course, the questors must still escape from a crumbling enemy fortress, flee across a desert filled with Murgo soldiers, and avoid the Grolim Hierarchs seeking to destroy them with dark magic. After that, Garion feels assured, his part would be finished. But the Prophesy still holds several surprises for Garion.

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!

He was a champion of sword magic sworn to track the hounds of hoolies. Yet before Tiger waited perils far deadlier than any hounds - the Dragon's Lair. A magical novel of sword and spell from the author of Sword-Dancer and Sword-Singer.

Despite his youth, Declan Idrys knows of the evils of the world. He knows of the bastards and brigands who plague the King's lands, of the monsters skulking in the wooded depths of the realm. Together with his companion, Ryn - a beast of rather peculiar talent - he has spent the last decade of his life beneath the bloody banners of a half-dozen mercenary guilds, hunting precisely such festering wickedness within the borders of Viridian.

Leo wanted to make something out of himself—and build dams. However, the world doesn't want dams. And it mostly doesn't want civil engineers. It doesn't want men who do any sort of building or fighting or grand design, it seems. So, when Leo finds his current girlfriend and boss being threatened by a brutal loan shark and all three of them get dragged through a portal to another world, it doesn't take long for him to decide this is the place for him. Plus, everyone has magic, and who wouldn't want that?

Gotrek and Felix: unsung heroes of the Empire or nothing more than common thieves and murderers? The truth perhaps lies somewhere in between and depends entirely upon whom you ask. The storm clouds are gathering over the icy city of Praag as the evil forces of Chaos lay murderous siege to the frozen lands of Kislev. Standing between the massed hordes of darkness and the city's destruction are dwarf slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his sworn human companion, Felix Jaeger.

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.

Drizzt and Catti-brie have been away from Mithral Hall for six long years, but the pain of a lost companion still weighs heavily on their strong shoulders. Chasing pirates aboard Captain Deudermont's Sea Sprite is enough to draw their attention away from their grief. Then a mysterious castaway on an uncharted island sends them back to the very source of their pain, and into the clutches of a demon with vengeance on his mind.

On Earth, the scrawny Orrin may have been a big nothing, but he had a bigger buddy in his athletic bestie, Daniel. They were inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. But when a tragic accident transported them to an RPG-like reality, that coin got seriously flipped.

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

For the last four years, humanity has been facing its greatest challenge yet—a trial known as the Crucible. This harrowing ordeal has tested the mettle and determination of individuals, weeding out the weak and transforming the survivors into warriors. They have been forced to conquer dungeons and battle horrific creatures with magical powers so they can gain abilities of their own. However, the Crucible was merely the beginning. As the trial concludes, the survivors find themselves on the precipice of an entirely new realm—the Endless Planes.