Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Zothique is Earth's last continent in the very distant future when the sun has grown dim, the work has grown old and the remorseless seas have overwhelmed all other continents. The sciences have been forgotten as the shadowy arts of sorcery and magic have been reborn. The result: a dark world of older mystery where luxurious kings and wandering heroes venture across dim landscapes, pitting their strength and wisdom against powerful wizards, necromancers and alien gods all under a dying sun.

Elizabeth had everything. She was the head researcher at the largest hospital in the largest city on the colony world, Voltaire, and was constantly rebuffing marriage proposals from the wealthiest men in town. In one instant, everything changed. Caught between her bright future as a research scientist for the Empire, and the stigma of her past as the daughter of an outspoken protestor against the Empire, Elizabeth is forced to help a known terrorist escape from Voltaire, putting her life and her future in jeopardy.

Un male incurabile colpisce la giovane e bella Berenice, destinata ad un lento declino fisico e spirituale...

During his first 1,000 years of life in The Realm, Lucifer becomes an authentic superstar. All of his fellow brethren adore him and the passionate way he leads worship. His best friend Michael has been cheering him on since literally lifting him out of his Creation Cocoon. And then it happens. An unexpected rift between Lucifer and Michael inaugurates Lucifer onto the path of rebellion. While smiling at his best friend every day, Lucifer begins to amass custom-designed weapons. His rebellion will everything.

I can stop time, but I can't change anything. I can access memories, but not far enough. My name is Mira, and my life is about finding the Russian mobster who killed my family.

An errant encounter with a passing star has flung Earth away from its old Solar System into the dark and cold of deep space. With the entire atmosphere frozen as chemical snow dozens of feet deep, one last family struggles to survive. But what are they to think when they see figures moving in the city ruins? Are Earth's dead coming back to life?

A mute elven archer known only as Killer. Azyrin, a half Winter-orc shaman and his human swordswoman bride, Makha. Drake, the charming, swashbuckling rogue. The fireball-slinging pixie-goblin, Rahiel, and her mini-unicorn, Bill. These are the Gryphonpike Companions. Arriving in Strongwater Barrow, the Companions find the town riddled with plague and death. Ending the curse and saving the survivors means going into the swamps where monsters lurk and witches wait. Sounds like exactly their kind of day.

When a boat drifts into a New England port with all its crew dead, only a shipboard statue knows what took place. Can a boy carved from wood reveal the secret? Can a love-struck apprentice find the girl of his dreams by following a weathervane with a figure of Saint Crispin, patron saint of shoemakers? After a lifetime of making statues of the wealthy and powerful, what will the Italian sculptor Zorelli do when he is hired not by a human, but a ghost?

Flesh-eating zombies invade a biker bar! Is it an isolated incident or a ghastly foretaste of a nationwide plague of zombies? Harry Black and his girlfriend, Irena, have to survive the first zombie onslaught in order to find out while society crashes and burns all around them.

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.

Three teens are marooned on a what they presume is a mysterious tropical island. Casey and Mike have made their way through the creature-filled jungle to a glass city where they hope to find help for Jack, their abducted friend. Once in the city, they learn shocking news that will change their lives forever, and getting Jack back will be anything but easy.

A time so very long ago decided the very fate of our race. Men and women once survived below the core of the Earth's crust. Visit a world where Vampires, Witches, Elementals, Demons, and Humans once ruled the land. In Part Six, Grythe kidnaps Moira while she dreams, sending her sister Kyla out on a journey to save her with Gitch. While this is taking place, the demon king Abatu sends his trusted warrior to aid in the safe return of Moira, while Gerwulf's bloodline prepares for a surprise.

A time so very long ago decided the very fate of our race. Men and women once survived below the core of the Earth's crust. Our faces, banished from the warmth of the sun, and left to the darkness and the cold stone. Visit a world where Vampires, Witches, Elementals, Demons and Humans once ruled the land. In the fifth part, Gerwulf faces the Vampire Grythe and Alex learns of his Destiny.

What are you supposed to do with a bunch of homicidal androids after the international crime syndicate that created them is brought down? They could easily be decommissioned, but why not sell them off to a Wild West theme park? They could be reprogrammed, so they wouldn't kill anybody, and stage all kinds of mock gunfights to entertain the kids. What could possibly go wrong? Fembot Sally is about to find out...

The young man in question, Ross Murdock, is about to embark upon the adventure of his life. In order to avoid prosecution, he reluctantly joins Operation Retrograde, whose members are exploring various time periods. Their goal? To find out where – and when – the ‘Reds’ are obtaining certain scientific breakthroughs, in order to maintain the balance of global power. An outsider in his own time, Ross becomes an outsider in other times as well, and faces one challenge after another.

Sally is a shop girl working behind the perfume counter at Burlington's, a top Knightsbridge department store. The shop is a front for a sinister international crime syndicate known only as the Organization. Sally is not a human being but an android replicant, designed to blend in with the ordinary workers at the store.

The brothers Jehovah and Hades have always been at the top of their game as a high-IQ computer hacker from M.I.T. and an unkillable assassin. When they're contacted by Rick to free a people oppressed by a dictator, both jump at the chance. Once they reach the Philippines, however, they realize that their limited resources and constant attacks sent from an unknown source severely limit their abilities. To make matters worse, the mayor has his own personal army that seems to anticipate their actions.

Lenardo, one of the most powerful Readers in the Aventine Empire, can read thoughts and sense details about objects and people miles away. His abilities are crucial, since the Empire is being attacked by savages with immense psychic powers. When he discovers that one of his former students, Galen, has turned traitor, he's sent on a mission to retrieve the turncoat. Instead, he encounters Lady Aradia, who dreams of ending the conflict. But most of the savage Adepts are allied with Lord Drakonius, whose only interest lies in conquest.

The New York Times Best-selling fantasy author Anne Bishop makes her U.S. debut in science fiction with this engaging futuristic novella. The Restorers travel the universe fulfilling a purpose handed down through the generations. They live and die aboard city-ships, never knowing the worlds they create and save. What begins as a disastrous training exercise in creating and balancing ecosystems becomes an unexpected fight for survival. The only hope may be the secret project of an untried Restorer.

A time so very long ago decided the very fate of our race. Men and women once survived below the core of the Earth's crust. Our faces, banished from the warmth of the sun, and left to the darkness and the cold stone. Visit a world where Vampires, Witches, Elementals, Demons, and Humans once ruled the land. Part four continues with the tale of Gerwulf, as he torments a small village under the command of a demon. The witch Isabella intervenes and provides him with some troubling news.