Old Fantasy

Three stories of horror in the vein of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

TJ Young spent last summer fighting to unlock the secrets behind his sister's mysterious death but found himself battling the magic of the ancient Orishas instead. And some of the answers he sought came with a promise he may not be able to keep: to dismantle new human construction on the coastline of Lagos, Nigeria, by the start of spring. But how does a teenager do away with decades of infrastructure in only half a year? He’ll need to enlist the help of new allies, mortal and immortal alike.

It’s been eight weeks since Pairing Day when the Mythics—Kit, Marina, Hailey, Ember, and Pippa—learned that they are the only ones who can save Terrafamiliar. With Golden Jumpsuit tracking their every move, the Mythics are on edge, and now it’s Kit’s turn to find her Mythie. Kit has a hard time relying on others and she always expects the worst to happen. She’s also never had a team like the Mythics to help her.

Sam hates his office job, but at least every night he can delve into Alterwhere and forget about stupid teamwork for a while. The world’s hottest new cerebral reality game is a fully immersive mash-up of the retro fantasy RPGs he used to play on his dad’s steam account back in the early 2030s—the kind where you can eat a bowl of stew in the middle of a battle, fire crossbows underwater, and steal all the plates from an NPC’s kitchen as long as they’re looking away at the time.

When all new threats are dealt with, old enemies emerge from the shadows. Dean Parker has brought his wife home, and he’s looking forward to relaxing and having a future with his family on New Spero. The Iskios vortex is gone, vanquished by the Hero of Earth, but unforeseen enemies linger in the universe. The Bhlat send a warning to the humans, one that suggests the Kraski may not all be dead. All signs point to Lom of Pleva, a wealthy and very dangerous enemy to have.

The Collective was already done. I’d destroyed them more than eight years ago. But apparently, some of those who’d survived now needed a reminder of their demise. When it was done, I would walk away with everything that was mine to have and to hold. And what I couldn’t outright destroy? I would absorb or claim for myself. Because Emma Johnson was stronger than Amp5 had ever been.

They called me an amplifier. And they had bred me, raised me, and trained me to be a killer with preternatural precision. I was capable of taking, holding, and transferring power that wasn’t my own with a simple touch. Skin-to-skin contact. Along with four others of my generation, I could infiltrate any magical organization, extracting whoever or whatever I’d been ordered to extricate. Then I could destroy all evidence of our passing presence. They had made me. They directed me. Controlled me. Then they tried to kill me.

Campeón, an orange tiger-striped kitten, has always wanted to be a great hero, like the legendary cats of El Morro in Old San Juan. Sadly, the world no longer needs fierce swashbucklers or acts of derring-do, and the cats of El Morro barely remember their legacy. This all changes when Campeón stumbles upon a band of time-traveling pirate cats digging for a treasure map in a mysterious mangrove forest.

I knew that opening the letter from the sorcerer Azar would have deadly consequences. So we had prepared. We’d planned. We knew we might have to defend ourselves, our freedom. And that I might finally get a chance to exact the revenge I kept telling myself I wasn’t interested in exacting. What we didn’t know was that we’d find ourselves hosting a dysfunctional family reunion — the kind where everyone tries to kill someone at least once over dinner.

Sixteen all-new stories by science fiction's top talents, collected by best-selling author George R. R. Martin and multiple-award-winning editor Gardner Dozois.

I had everything I’d ever wanted — a successful business with a second bakery in the works, a sexy fiance who I adored, and good friends who loved to laugh almost as much as I did. So of course it couldn’t possibly last. Unfortunately, this time the trouble was homegrown in Vancouver, threatening my own backyard and those who were under my protection — whether they wanted to be or not. I was, after all, the wielder of the instruments of assassination. Apparently, cutesy cupcakes and being nice only stretched so far.

At 58 years old, Jeff Mann had read dozens of those apocalyptic sci-fi novels, and all were wrong. The cause was the incompetence of the world's governments and the failure of the many financial Ponzi schemes. First, the riots and looting came, and then starvation and depravity followed. The billionaires built safe compounds while everyone else died off or fought to survive the holocaust at the end of the modern world. Jeff begins a crusade against human trafficking after saving two women from slavers. Can one man and two women make a difference in a world gone mad?

Princess Dandara discovers her true self–that she is more than a human princess, as she can, in fact, control the winds and wield her powers over the elements. But being half human and half goddess does not protect her from a broken heart.

It's Angel's birthday and she can't wait to celebrate with her purrmaid and mermicorn best friends! But the girls don't seem very excited to celebrate with her. They keep sneaking off to be alone. Angry and hurt, Angel swims out in the ocean by herself and finds Minnie—a manatee who needs help! Can the girls all work together to save Minnie? Or are Angel's friends too busy with their secret plans?

We had chosen our place, etching our lives into a new land. Then, we had defended that land when called upon to do so. And we’d won. We’d maintained our freedom. But magic attracts magic. As they say. So, when the sorcerers showed up, holding my recent past hostage - along with a future I had dreamed I might build - it was just as expected. In fact, I might have been getting just a little bored playing at being Emma Johnson.

Psychic Nora Ashcroft can't tell the future, but she's starting to look forward to it. And with the support of Donovan and the rest of the town, she's ready to leave the past behind. Too bad the same can't be said for Eastwind's most newly departed. After a body is discovered in the street, everyone has a theory about what might've happened...including the deceased himself. Though he swears he was ready for death and has no unfinished business keeping him around, Nora knows something must be tethering him to this plane.

There are stories about people who want to live forever. This is not one of those stories.... Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy - except he's 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no-one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance and a different way to live...which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.

Ra’al. Orr. Kriz. Three enormous beast of men who command a legion of Aurelians, the huge, marble-skinned aliens who exist to find their Fated Mate and tame her. They were built for war. Kings through conquest, they stamp down all resistance without mercy. They tell me they will build me a palace. It would only be a cage. But because I took up a rifle and defended the other servants when our planet was under attack, by the laws of their species, I am a free woman…

An apparent naval victory turns to chaos when the Adjudicators awaken an ancient star leviathan and send it against the allied fleet. Falling back to friendly territory ahead of this terrifying weapon, Jess Tolvern and the allied command muster the combined forces of the Alliance planets to finally defeat the Adjudicators and push across the inner frontier to reestablish contact with the remaining civilizations of Old Earth.

Five years after Sofia Lyon disappeared, her remains are found stuffed into the hollow of a tree bursting through the floorboards of an abandoned house in the woods. The women who loved her flock home to the North Carolina hills to face their grief.