Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Adam Rubin is back with this companion to The Ice Cream Machine, inviting you into six thrilling new worlds filled with daring and danger, mystery and mayhem—not to mention explosions! In a swanky New York City hotel, a reclusive guest appears to have spontaneously combusted. On a school field trip to a human anatomy museum in space, two kids try to pull off the greatest prank in history.

When five fifth graders from Shawmont Elementary are assigned the entertainment section of their school's fall festival, the children decide to put on a play that will be remembered for generations. But putting on the play will come with more challenges than expected. The children must take on the task of preparing the school's old abandoned auditorium for the play.

In the year 2020, after Zelda—evil queen of the planet Guk—has destroyed NASA's Mars base and Earth is under threat. Zelda intends to use Mars as a stepping stone to conquer the Earth, and enslave the human race. The Terrahawks have been formed to defend the planet. From Hawknest, their secret base in South America, they prepare for the battles to come.

The stories in this collection were first published in Analog, a science fiction magazine, between 1990 and 2011. They feature the adventures of eccentric kilt-wearing anthropologist, archaeologist, and xenologist Rhys Llewellyn and his able assistants, Yoshi Umeki and Roderick Halfax. Given my fascination with archaeology, first contact…and all things Scottish, I suppose these stories were inevitable.

From the award-winning author of Hidden Talents, two remarkable short-story collections - Kidzilla and The Witch's Monkey - together for the first time. Plus several brand-new stories. Each hilarious and harrowing. A substitute teacher finds out she has some monsters for students. A group of kids attempts a levitation trick with hair-raising results. A neighborhood is so boring the grown-ups are turning into...well...you know. And dozens more.

Your favorite award-winning, critically acclaimed, and best-selling authors unite to tell stories set in the Dungeons & Dragons world, filled with desperate dragons and cruel elves, honorable demons and fickle gods, wild magic and the sharpest of steel. You don't want to miss this rarest of opportunities to get a glimpse into the D&D adventures created by some of the most brilliant fantasy writers of our age.

Fortune hunter Billy Newman is not a man of great strength or physical courage. Like a young Johnny Depp, he gets by on his wit, wiles and good looks. And he’s had quite a good run—striking gold in the Philippines and buying his very own island in the South Seas. . . . But there’s trouble in paradise, and Billy’s in the thick of it. The island’s crops are failing. The island’s people are dying. And the island’s owner—Billy—is taking the heat. Why? Because he’s angered the 75-foot-tall big-boss god of the island.

Penniless, homeless, and virtually lifeless, the vagrant “Doughface” Jack is about to discover that where medical marvels meet the mysteries of the human mind, amazing things happen. The Tramp acquires a capability beyond his imagination and without equal on Earth. Riding the rails, Jack runs afoul of a local sheriff and ends up with a crushed skull. He’s as good as dead until a savvy country doctor performs a bit of medical magic.

Thirteen authors (fifteen if you count pseudonyms) from the Book View Cafe got together one rainy Saturday afternoon with a big bowl of popcorn and reruns of Buck Rogers. They started comparing short stories and a new anthology took form. Rare reprints, hard-to-find favorites, and new tales all combine in this one-of-a-kind story collection, available exclusively from Book View Press.

Sette racconti, sette storie, sette viaggi verso non si sa dove. Intorno a ognuno di noi, dentro a ognuno di noi, c'è sempre una parte oscura, un lato in ombra che la luce della ragione ha timore di illuminare per paura di ritrovarsi sconfitta. E in questa zona buia e fantastica si muovono i personaggi di questa antologia, uomini e donne che si trasformano in vittime o carnefici quando si trovano all'improvviso di fronte a un mondo sconosciuto, a un nuovo volto nello specchio, a quella cupa forma di angoscia che solo l'incomprensibile può trasformare in orrore.

Journey through the lands of the dead with Judith Tarr, or peek into Sherwood Smith’s picture of the everyday life and concerns of a hero. But beware of Chris Dolley’s recruiting practices for his own justice league. In Dragon Lords and Warrior Women the Book View Press presents nineteen stories of the fantastic; some hard to find gems, others are new offerings, or beloved classics by respected authors who among them define the genre.

Farmer Eben Smith heads off to the big city to trade his wagonload of produce. But he barters a lot more than goods after he stumbles across a strange crossroads in time, bargains with different cultures in alternate realities, and accidentally wreaks havoc and chaos in each.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Empire State Building has vanished into thin air! Gone, too, are Grant’s Tomb and Grand Central Station, and all hell is breaking loose in New York City! What’s the story? One grizzled old newspaper reporter known simply as Pop - a role made for Walter Matthau - is on top of it...and better stay there, because his livelihood is on the line. If Pop fails to get to the bottom of the vanishing landmarks, his job will disappear as well - and land in the hands of the newspaper publisher’s son-in-law.

Offered for the first time as a single purchase, listeners can now experience Fiona “Blue” Shaefer’s journey from troubled teen to hopeful young adult and take in the full scope of R.J. Sullivan’s paranormal thrillers. This omnibus includes both novels in her series and a holiday short story that caps off this phase of her young life: Haunting Blue, Virtual Blue, and Blue Christmas: A Holiday Short Story.

In the heart of medieval Averoigne, Brother Ambrose, a young Benedictine monk, is sent on a secret mission to uncover the truth about the enigmatic Bishop Azédarac. What begins as a journey of faith quickly turns into a descent into the unknown, as Ambrose discovers a world filled with ancient sorcery, forbidden knowledge, and shadowy figures from the distant past.

Shortly after discovering an ancient grave, Amon's sister disappeared. Twenty years later she arrives at his doorstep, screaming at full pitch. The plea for help draws him into a world where danger shuffles behind every corner.

On the first manned Martian exploratory mission, Jarvis' scout ship crashes in a vast meteor crater near the Ares Vallis. He must endure a perilous journey back to the mothership on foot, and on the way encounters several life forms with Tweel, his new-found Martian companion.

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.

In these nine stories of determination, seemingly ordinary people find themselves in extraordinary circumstances as they confront their fears and embrace their challenges on a near-future Earth, in an alternate-history past, or even on a far, distant alien world.

Long ago Dragons ruled the land, but that time is long forgotten by most. What could the missing children of Dirae possibly have to do with the fearsome beasts of old? Clues point to a resurgence of the old Dragon-worshipping cult. Could the Dragon King have returned? And, if so, who can stop him?