Fantasy Science Fiction Adventure

When 14-year-old Will Burrows goes looking for his missing father, he discovers an underground world that time forgot. Ruled by a brutal class called the Styx, "The Colony" has not changed in a hundred years. Into this dark and mysterious place go Will and his friend Chester, unsure what they will find and oblivious to the dangers ahead. Before long their extraordinary adventure unearths a terrible secret - one that may cost them their lives.

With his wedding behind him, Fred is looking forward to nightly life finally settling down. Unfortunately, someone from his past has other, far less peaceful, plans in mind. Finding his clan under attack, Fred must scramble to discover who is working against him and how to fight back. Between securing shelter, trading favors, and keeping up with his accounting business, it won't be easy to stay out of trouble, let alone uncover the identity of his adversary.

Aeons once ruled the world. Now, their empire lies in ruin, and the survivors hide on the fringes of society. Nahlia is a librarian's apprentice who's obsessed with Aeon lore, scavenging for hints of their legendary power. But others are searching too, including the Templars who seek to hunt down the Aeon survivors. When the Templars attack her family, Nahlia is forced to infiltrate a secret academy and rise beyond everything she's ever known.

In the summer of 1947, an unidentified object crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. There were no survivors. Now it's happened again. But this time, two creatures have emerged from the wreckage alive.

Absalom Scryne, the greatest wizard of his generation, has been murdered. There's no other explanation for why his consciousness now resides in his well-worn but perfectly pointed hat. Well, he isn't going to take that lying down . . . or hanging from a branch, as the case may be.

Get four complete stories in Frank Kurns: Tales of the Underworld: You Don't Touch John's Cousin, Bitch's Night Out, Bitch's Night Out, and Challenges.

Five friends, gamers for life, gather for their usual game night. Yet, when they use a strange new die they are transported to a fantasy world where all gaming ideas can come true. Together, the party must join forces to deal with the vile Necrolord whose plans will not only threaten this world, but Earth as well. Should be easy for a team of adventurers, but when gaming and real life meet, there are situations which cannot be anticipated.

When I first landed a bartending job at the local guild, I didn't know a thing about magic. These days, I'm practically an expert on the different magical classes, but there's one nobody ever talks about: Demonica. Turns out they have a good reason for that. My guild is strictly hellion-free, because who wants to risk life and limb to control the biggest bullies on the mythic playground? Well, some people do, and now a demon has been loosed in the city. My three best friends are determined to slay it, but even badass combat mages are critically out-magicked.

Wynne might have been human once. It's hard to say. Now he's a bunker core, a nanomachine controller responsible for an entire complex. Of course, the place is a bit wrecked. And the world outside is in ruins. And he's pretty sure that whoever put him here is going to come looking for him at some point....

Once upon a time, I was your average spunky redhead with the lamest employment history ever, a shaky relationship with my only family member, and no idea what I was doing with my life. Now, I'm a pseudo mythic with the best bartending job in the world, the most amazing (and hot) best friends I never knew I needed, and a guild of misfit magic-users who've become my extended family. And I'm about to lose it all. In my desperation to save Ezra, I stumbled into a web of ruthless deception - and seriously pissed off a sleeping hydra.

The Red Queen is old but the kings of the Broken Empire dread her like no other. For all her reign, she has fought the long war, contested in secret, against the powers that stand behind nations, for higher stakes than land or gold. Her greatest weapon is The Silent Sister - unseen by most and unspoken of by all. The Red Queen's grandson, Prince Jalan Kendeth - drinker, gambler, seducer of women - is one who can see The Silent Sister.

The Ancient Woods of Saldia hold secrets. The gnarled oaks are home to murderers, slavers, and the legendary blightwolves that ravage the countryside by the light of the twin moons. In a world of rabid wolves the size of horses, not-so-extinct dragons, and magical reagents that grow over every inch of the land, tonight is unique. Tonight, a merciless king dies alone in the forest. Tonight, an usurper rises from within the ranks of the king's trusted noblemen. Tonight, ancient enchantments are unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

He finally escaped the cycle of war and death only to find himself kidnapped, taken to a new universe where nothing makes sense. A world where nothing is familiar and insane robots, killer AI, and otherworldly beings he can hardly comprehend are the norm. He must learn to survive these constant threats to his very survival, all the while learning that these new experiences are changing him, molding him into something new...something extraordinary.

In Agatha H and the Siege of Mechanicsburg, Agatha Heterodyne, the last of the Heterodyne family, has returned to her family's hereditary town with the might of the Wulfenbach Empire hot on her heels. The only thing holding off an outright attack is Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, the heir to the Empire, who has joined Agatha and her friends inside the great artificially intelligent fortress of Castle Heterodyne. Now they must race to repair the mechanisms that once allowed the Castle to defend Mechanicsburg, before the rest of Europa shows up to take revenge....

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint. But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.

Digitally reincarnated into the world's most powerful online video game, Clay must now find out what's happening on the outside to save those living in his world. On top of this, he's been pushed into a quest by a young paranoid king, nations are preparing for war, and a malevolent glitch continues its path of destruction.

With The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume 3, award-winning editor Neil Clarke provides a year-in-review and 27 of the best stories published by both new and established authors in 2017.

It can't get more bizarre than an ex-convict leading a group of aliens and dragons through the galaxy. Kash is back where he belongs, aboard a spaceship that he never should have encountered. The crew has gone through some changes, to say the least. The deaths of team members. Crash landings. Freeing intelligent pets. Offering passage to massive predators. And lastly, accepting two gorgeous alien women into their ranks. No longer an honorable merchant ship, the Arketa Koreta must adapt to its new owners. The adventure ahead will be riddled with unique challenges that only a time traveling ...

In this third Alcatraz adventure, Alcatraz Smedry has made it to the Free Kingdoms at last. Unfortunately, so have the evil Librarians—including his mother! Now Alcatraz has to find a traitor among the Knights of Crystallia, make up with his estranged father, and save one of the last bastions of the Free Kingdoms from the Evil Librarians.

A time to recover. A chance to make a new ally. A brief respite to repair and rearm. An opportunity for a people to regain their honor. For every civilization there comes a moment when a stand must be made against tyranny. The time has come for the Alliance to draw a line in the sand.