Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

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.

The story begins in a faraway corner of Oz, in the small country of Oogaboo. There Queen Ann Soforth musters an unlikely army and sets off to conquer the rest of Oz. Meanwhile, a girl from Oklahoma named Betsy Bobbin and her companion, Hank the mule, are shipwrecked and washed ashore in the Rose Kingdom, a magical land of talking roses. There they meet the Shaggy Man, who is on a quest to rescue his brother from the clutches of the evil Nome King.

Jack Morgan was doing just fine until Sally got on the plane. At least, that is what he thought. Jack is an American archaeologist, trying to trace a priceless South American artefact which has recently been stolen from the British Museum. Sally is a robotic secret agent, a Fembot newly assigned to MI6 and intent on preventing the relic from falling into the wrong hands. A group of sinister neo-Nazis are already making their way on foot through the Amazon jungle, with the artefact in their possession.

A long-forgotten pulp hero makes his glorious return to action and adventure in this special volume featuring Lance Star and his team of rough-and-ready Sky Rangers. Four brand-new, action-packed tales of highflying thrills await you.

A ship burns, sinking into the dark sea. There is only one survivor - a child hunted for the magic of her song. Hidden away on an isolated island, Lilette buries her magic deep, convinced it caused the deaths of those she loves. But she can’t run from who she is. And when her secret is revealed, the only thing that can save her is her song. It’s time to rise up and become what she was always meant to be. The most powerful witch ever born.

This collection of Catherine Asaro's show fiction contains five stories, including the Nebula Award-winning novella, Spacetime Pool, the Hugo and Nebula nominated novella Aurora in Four Voices, and an essay on Asaro's use of mathematics in her fiction.