Sword Fantasy

Seventeen years after her rebirth into a magical medieval world, Everly Vae Balsar, the Empress, has made it. With her exceptionally potent earth magic and powers of spiritual manipulation, she stands poised to conquer a kingdom that lives in fear of her and her dangerous servants: Carter the goblin assassin, the marauding General Grail, and her elementals, the sadistic Eris and ditzy Titania. She's a villain and proud of it.

For 300 years, Princess Dria has avoided the drama of the royal court by training as a battle mage. When her father summons her back to court just as she begins to rise up the ranks, she's furious. Even worse, she must work with her estranged brother Ralan on a mission to Earth. But as soon as Dria arrives at Moranaia's new outpost, her brother drops the leadership of the entire place into her hands. Now she's in charge of fortifying a new outpost on a planet she's never even visited.

This collection features Howard at his finest and Conan at his most savage. Truly heroic fantasy at its best, this volume contains "The Servants of Bit-Yakin", "Beyond the Black River", "The Black Stranger", "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula", and "Red Nails", which is perhaps Conan's most famous adventure.

Loyalty costs money. Betrayal, on the other hand, is free. When the Emperor is taken hostage, the Red Knight and his men find their services in high demand - and themselves surrounded by enemies. The country is in revolt, the capital city is besieged, and any victory will be hard won. But the Red Knight has a plan. The question is, can he negotiate the political, magical, real, and romantic battlefields at the same time - especially when he intends to be victorious on them all?

The When Swords Fall Silent anthology showcases the imaginations and talents of more than a dozen of the best modern science-fiction and fantasy authors, with each tale centered around one or more characters burdened with a bloody task they will see to completion no matter the cost. Every story takes you for a vicious ride through a world of shadow and death, each as unique in perspective and execution as the contracts carried out within.

With one army defeated in a victory that will be remembered through the ages, now the Red Knight must fight again. For every one of his allies, there is a corresponding enemy. Spread across different lands and on sea, it will all come down to one last gamble. And to whether or not the Red Knight has guessed the foe's true intentions. With each throw of the dice, everything could be lost.

Many years ago, Sir Aelfric and his nine companions saved the world, seizing the Dark Lord's cursed weapons, along with his dread city of Necrad. That was the easy part. Now, when Aelfric—keeper of the cursed sword Spellbreaker—learns of a new and terrifying threat, he seeks the nine heroes once again. But they are wandering adventurers no longer. Yesterday's eager heroes are today's weary leaders—and some have turned to the darkness, becoming monsters themselves. If there's one thing Aelfric knows, it's slaying monsters. Even if they used to be his friends.

Raithe, the God Killer, may have started the rebellion by killing a Fhrey, but long-standing enmities dividing the Rhunes make it all but impossible to unite against the common foe. And even if the clans can join forces, how will they defeat an enemy whose magical prowess renders them indistinguishable from gods?

The surface world is a strange place for a young man who grew up in hell. Darren was just a boy when he and his mother were betrayed by paladins and chased beneath the Earth. There, with only his paladin's sigil and his quests to guide him, Darren grew from boy to man. Born in fire and blood, hell itself sculpted the perfect paladin.

We arrive in Albion, AD 490. Once spirits of both light and darkness ruled the land, now tribes of Britons stand alone as Saxon invaders threaten the vulnerable shores. But that’s the least of their worries, the Old Gods are returning from the shadows, bringing their magic with them. Albion: The Legend of Arthur pushes friendships and family loyalties to the test in a world of warlords, witchcraft, heroism and betrayal as we join Arthur on an adventure like no other and witness the birth of one of our greatest legends.

He was Tiger, born of the desert winds, raised as a slave and winning his freedom by weaving a special kind of magic with a warrior's skill. Now he was an almost legendary sword-dancer, ready to take on any challenge - if the price was right…or if the woman pretty enough. She was Del, born of ice and storm, trained by the greatest of Northern sword masters. Now, her ritual training completed and steeped in the special magic of her own rune sword, she had come South in search of the young brother stolen five years before.

The threat of war has arrived at Diem's doorstep, along with a new discovery that could save her people. To use it, she must survive the next thirty days by forming a devil's bargain with the people she hates most: the royal family of House Corbois. As she dives into the world of the Descended elite, Diem quickly realizes good and evil aren't as simple as they seem. Old prejudices are challenged, and new loyalties blur the line between friend and foe.

The Sword of the Lictor is the third volume in Wolfe's remarkable epic, chronicling the odyssey of the wandering pilgrim called Severian, driven by a powerful and unfathomable destiny, as he carries out a dark mission far from his home.

Gene Wolfe's "The Book of the New Sun" is one of speculative fiction's most-honored series. In a 1998 poll, Locus Magazine rated the series behind only "The Lord of the Rings" and The Hobbit as the greatest fantasy work of all time.

In the year 2022, gamers rejoice as Sword Art Online - a VRMMORPG (virtual reality massively multiplayer online role-playing game) like no other - debuts, allowing players to take full advantage of the ultimate in gaming technology: NerveGear, a system that allows users to completely immerse themselves in a wholly realistic gaming experience. But when the game goes live, the elation of the players quickly turns to horror as they discover that, for all its amazing features, SAO is missing one of the most basic functions of any MMORPG - a logout button.

In the ancient city of Lankhmar, two men forge a friendship in battle. The red-haired barbarian Fafhrd left the snowy reaches of Nehwon looking for a new life, while the Gray Mouser, apprentice magician, fled after finding his master dead. These bawdy brothers-in-arms cement a friendship that leads them through the wilds of Nehwon facing thieves, wizards, princesses, and the depths of their desires and fears.

Every year on St. Walpurga's Eve, Caldella's Witch Queen lures a boy back to her palace. An innocent life to be sacrificed on the full moon to keep the island city from sinking. Lina Kirk is convinced her brother is going to be taken this year. To save him, she enlists the help of Thomas Lin. But they draw the queen's attention, and Thomas is chosen as the sacrifice. When Lina offers herself to the queen in exchange for Thomas' freedom, the two girls await the full moon together. But Lina is not at all what Eva expected, and the queen is nothing like Lina envisioned.

Tom loves his new life in the Otherworld. He lives with Arthur in New Camelot, and Arthur is hosting a tournament. Eager to test his sword-fighting skills, Tom’s competing. But while the games are being played, his friends are attacked and everything he loves is threatened. Tom has to find the intruder before anyone else gets hurt. Tom’s sword seems to be the focus of these attacks. Their investigations uncover its dark history and a terrible betrayal that a family has kept secret for generations.

City waitress Lara has the voice of an angel and no idea she's marked as the fated mate of a silver-eyed royal from another realm. When she falls into Faery and meets an obnoxious huntsman who mistakes her for a troll, she's amazed to discover he's the cursed Prince of Air in disguise. Ever's mother, the queen, is less than impressed. The opposing court of techno-loving Unseelie wants her as their very own pet. And an evil air mage wishes her dead.

The dangerous, fanatical Imperial Order, under the leadership of the power-mad Emperor Jagang and his multitude of demonic underlings, unleashes a deadly plague. To find a cure, Richard Cypher and his beloved Kahlan Amnell must seek out the legendary Temple of the Winds, a fortress of evil sealed away for three thousand years. But the path of the Seeker of Truth is never an easy one - even if he can reach the Temple at all, there is no guarantee he'll ever return.

A milestone of storytelling set in the world of The Sword of Truth, Debt of Bones is the story of young Abby's struggle to win the aid of the wizard Zedd Zorander, the most important man alive. Abby is trapped, not only between both sides of the war, but in a mortal conflict between two powerful men. For Zedd, who commands power most men can only imagine, granting Abby's request would mean forsaking his sacred duty. With the storm of the final battle about to save the life of a child....