Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Two tours of Iraq and Navy SEAL training couldn't prepare Erik for the night half his house was destroyed by a Florida sinkhole. What he finds at the bottom of that new chasm will lead him on an interplanetary journey that questions not only his reality, but that of the human race.

In this sequel, Eva and Killian’s relationship deepens. Eva finds conflict between her role as special agent and her cover as Killian's caretaker. Multiverse travel reveals a shocking connection to Eva’s father, and Killian learns how to control his ability thanks to her careful assistance. The author brings these characters to life like never before in this comic book-inspired short story.

Rachel and the Smith Brothers are on the run, trying to escape the dangers they left in the city. But when they stop off for supplies, they suddenly find themselves in a whole new kind of trouble. Rachel realises the true nature of the men she is travelling with, but where exactly does she fit in?

When Edward’s big brother gets lost during the Halloween raid, he decides to sneak inside the pumpkin looming over London and become a raider himself. But will he manage to survive Halloween night, when the challenges he faces seem to have changed since last year, when his best friend is also missing inside the witch’s house, and when the aliens seem to have turned this whole thing into some sort of video game?

When your secret identity is revealed.... When the monster is unleashed.... When the superhero’s child has no power.... When Death himself is caught unawares.... Pull back the mask to reveal 21 tales from seasoned and award-winning authors, of magical masks, gas masks, death masks, superheroes, secret identities, disguised robots, alien symbionts, a Napoleonic thief, a swindling demon - even a hidden clown.

Nathan K - he can hold two souls in his body. If he dies, he loses one, yet lives on with the other. As long as he replenishes his second soul, he cannot be killed. Nathan K is immortal. And he’s not the only one. Nathan K’s action-packed adventures continue with three more fast-paced, roller-coaster novels. Pursuing his enemies, Nathan discovers new players in this eternal game as he crosses the Atlantic, goes undercover in England and Ireland, and faces old foes in the Sahara. His team will grow as will his appreciation and fear of the most powerful Immortals in existence.

The history of science fiction and fantasy is filled with stories by what we like to call "Davids of Distinction". Now, for the first time, an anthology by people named David, for everyone. Even if your name is anything but David! Listen along as editor David Afsharirad guides you through the strange, wonderous imaginations of the great Davids of the field, past, present, and future.

Best-selling author David Drake has been creating top-notch military science fiction, space opera, and fantasy novels and stories for decades. In this all-original collection, a stellar line-up of writers pays tribute to Drake with stories as broad in range as his own fiction.

It is 2185 CE. Humans now live throughout the Solar System, but their most ambitious adventure is about to begin. The starship Victoria will carry over 10,000 colonists to a new world outside the Solar System. The larger-than-life exploits of those colonists will become legendary. The colonists will build a new civilization, and the actions of a few individuals will become famous - and infamous - forever marking their new colony with the Founder Effect.

Contained herein are tales of the history of mankind's future first colony, from the first failed attempt at colonization, to the rise in crime, to the rise in terrorism, to its descent into widespread civil war and rebellion...and ultimately, liberation. As with most of human history, this history is messy, with good men and women turning bad, bad men and women inadvertently doing good, and blood flowing in the streets.

Welcome to the Crucible - an artificial planet larger than our sun - an ever-growing patchwork of countless other worlds, filled with creatures, sentient beings and societies stolen from across the universe by the mythical Architects. Across this dizzying juxtaposition of alien biospheres, the enigmatic and godlike Archons seek to unlock the secrets at the heart of the Crucible. Everyone else is just trying to survive....

The Colony ship Marathon left a dying Earth on a generation's long voyage to another planet. Inside its giant biomes were people who would spend their entire lives during that flight. They knew that their descendants would be the people who would arrive at the destination world. During the long journey, something went wrong. Something else was on the Marathon. This adventure chronicles the life of one habitat dweller named Kalju, as he becomes aware of his role in what is taking place.

The battle has been fought and won, and all have been transformed by the struggle. Imago of Lockwood has become Lord Mayor of the City Imperishable, though at a price beyond his wildest imagination. Bijaz the Dwarf has been imbued with a godlike power and a responsibility he scarcely understands. And Jason the Factor, resurrected from death at the hands of his sister, the Tokhari sandwalker Kalliope, has become the sula ma-jieni na-dia, the fabled Dead Man of Winter.

Greg was sure the kids had no right being in control of a planet; after all what had they learned about life? Still, what had he learned? The old ship wheezed and clattered into the landing slot. Greg was an expert pilot, but skill was no substitute for outdated equipment. He unstrapped the safety webbing and eased himself out of the cabin, cluttered with its worn and scarred electronic gadgetry. With the handcrank, he opened the airlock. Rusting metal screamed as the panel slid back into the hull.

Tad, like other young men, looked to the spaceways for adventure. But, George Barlow, like other fathers, knew that disaster would end his Wanderlust. Somehow, George Barlow had sensed that something was wrong the moment his son drove into the barnyard that evening. He had been waiting impatiently for Tad's return all afternoon; the men needed those tractor bolts before they could do the mowing. But, George had felt the uneasiness, quite suddenly, deep in his chest when he heard the boy's three-wheeler chugging up the rutted country road from town.

If there had ever been a time when Ollie Keith hadn't been hungry, it was so far in the past that he couldn't remember it. He was hungry now as he walked through the alley, his eyes shifting lusterlessly from one heap of rubbish to the next. He was hungry through and through, all 140 pounds of him, the flesh distributed so gauntly over his tall frame that, in spots, it seemed about to wear through, as his clothes had. That it hadn't done so in 42 years sometimes struck Ollie as in the nature of a miracle.

Silvia secretly planned to divorce George when they reached Arcturus. But a space journey can alter a careful plan - or hatch a worse one. The trouble started when the Arcturus Queen was four billion miles out of Earth, heading for the star after which it was named. It pulled clear of the solar system using conventional drive, then switched into subspace. A few minutes later, the ship shuddered perceptibly, and an authoritative voice came reassuringly from the public address system.

Planet Stories returns in these vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s listeners in electronic format.

Gentle Marene was next when the black space cruiser called for its youth-levy. If only Zurk would spark to life - Zurk, this huge, part-human war machine of tubular steel muscles and blank, mechanical mind. There was both agony and defeat etched deeply into Guyard's lean face as he stood there in the center of the hidden attic laboratory. His fists were clinched tightly at his sides and his hollow eyes were staring tensely and with supplication at the steel monstrosity before him. "Zurk, you must save her!" he pleaded. "You must save Marene!" Zurk, the man of steel, made no move.

Harry spent three years in space, waiting to get home to Earth - and his family. They were waiting for him, too - that is, for his corpse. Captain Greene shook his shaggy head and studied Allerton with patient eyes. "You're making a mistake," he said. "You'll be back." The inside of the spaceship was quiet now, not with the silence of the tomb, but with the silence of barely inaudible echoes, as if Allerton might still be able to hear the crew clomping about the companionways on metal-shod feet if only he knew how to listen.