Fantasy Science Fiction Adventure

Victor can’t wait to get the hell out of high school, go to the local community college on a sports scholarship, and start his own life. But that’s all put on hold when he enters his abuela’s house and somehow ends up stepping into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, filled with fantastical meta-humans; walking, talking devils; and other creatures one usually needs some serious pharmaceuticals to see. Fanwath is no dream, though. In fact, it’s a nightmare.

Two astronomers have detected a strange, pulsing signal from deep space. Within hours, the US government goes into lockdown, restricting airspace and scrubbing scientific data. Was the signal an intercepted communication revealing alarming plans for an enemy’s military strike? Or has humanity at long last found proof of extraterrestrial life?

Kay of Isca knows Charles St. John is his fated soul mate, but between battle, duty, and saving the world, staying in the same reality, never mind the same bed, is proving a bit more of a challenge than either stubborn man will admit. The malicious armies of Morgan le Fay are gathering, and the chance that one of their friends has already been lost to evil is a real possibility too terrifying to contemplate. Nothing is ever as it seems, but unless Kay can unravel the vile plans centuries in the making, they won't just die before they get a chance to love.

Deep within Gloamingard Castle lies a black tower. Sealed by magic, it guards a dangerous secret that has been contained for thousands of years. As Warden, Ryxander knows the warning passed down through generations: nothing must unseal the door. But one impetuous decision will leave her with blood on her hands - and unleash a threat that could doom the world to fall to darkness.

The wall just didn’t look right. Alex has been trying to cope. Life after his deployment had been rough. His ex-wife thought he needed to stop disappointing their daughter. She was right. He would try harder. With six hours before his little girl’s fourth birthday party, he saw the anomaly. One wall was too short. Plenty of time to tear out a panel and look behind it. He found a brick wall. His house wasn’t made of brick. Behind that was another just like the first. He still had time. When the second wall came down, Alex stood and stared at the shining doorway.

Gabriel was a successful magic student until a classmate framed him, forcing him to join the Adventurer’s Guild to survive. Unfortunately, his career as an adventurer doesn’t turn out quite how he was hoping. While on his first delve, he discovers more about monsters, dungeons, and souls than he ever imagined. With that knowledge comes power and new friends. But even as his exotic companions enrich his life, they also give him more to lose.

Demons. Monsters. Witches. James Crowley’s sacred duty as a Black Badge is to hunt them down and send them packing, banish them from the mortal realm for good. He didn’t choose this life. No. He didn’t choose life at all. Shot dead in a gunfight many years ago, now he’s stuck in purgatory, serving the whims of the White Throne to avoid falling to Hell. Not quite undead, though not alive either, the best he can hope for is to work off his penance and fade away.

Matt's just an ordinary guy, but when he's beaten, robbed, and left for dead, bleeding out at the bottom of a gully, it all has to change as he grasps frantically at his only chance for survival, coming as it does in the form of a glowing, dangerously pulsing light. With his reality forever altered, Matt must quickly find a suitable place to deploy the Dungeon Core, fighting his way through the hundreds of people between him and safety, because if he doesn't do it soon, a Core Detonation will solve all of his problems for him....permanently.

As the ancient tradition of Bingtown's Old Traders slowly erodes under the cold new order of a corrupt ruler, the Vestrits anxiously await the return of their liveship - a rare magic ship carved from sentient wizardwood, which bonds the ships mystically with those who sail them. And Althea Vestrit waits even more avidly, living only to reclaim the ship as her lost inheritance and captain her on the high seas. But the Vivacia has been seized by the ruthless pirate captain Kennit, who holds Althea's nephew and his father hostage.

Cinder Shade’s life begins on a fateful afternoon at the bottom of a well where he awakens, bruised, battered, and bereft of all memory. His only understanding is a driving imperative to protect those who can’t defend themselves and become a warrior worthy of the name. He discovers within himself a peculiar gift, one in which the codes of combat are made evident and the language of steel is made clear.

For eons, conquering dungeons has been the most efficient way to become a strong adventurer. Although not everything is as straightforward as it seems. Several questions have always plagued the minds of those who enter these mythical places of power: why are there so many monsters? Where do the amazing weaponry and heavy gold coins come from? Why does the very air fill with life-giving energies? Cal has all of the answers to these age-old questions, for a very simple reason. He is a Dungeon Heart.

The first interstellar war, a generation ago, left humanity enslaved. Now humans fight in the armies of their masters to save themselves from annihilation. At least, that's what the propaganda insists is true. What the layers of lies keep hidden is how badly the new war is going for the people of earth. Now it's Dylan Kane's turn to blast into the heavens and join the battle, but what his masters don't know is that by putting a weapon in his hands, they're giving him the key to unlocking his hopes of freedom.

From Charlaine Harris, the best-selling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale - populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that's how the locals prefer it. Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It' s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

With Light and Shadow completing the Path of Ascension, three foreign Great Powers equal to the Empire in power have declared war. Thankfully they aren't alone but with only one ally in their corner their best hope is to fight for a close loss. That is unless they can produce another miracle Ascender in time to turn the tides of war.

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.

"Lilastien is missing." That's how Master Minalan the Spellmonger, the greatest wizard of the age, began the mission for his two former apprentices, Tyndal and Rondal. Both were men of means now, recently married and enjoying high positions as a reward for their past service in the war. But service does not end with an armistice; now that the war is over, the Spellmonger recruits them to track down the missing Alka Alon sorceress, Lilastien, whose knowledge of Callidore's ancient past has proven invaluable in recovering the crafts of the Ancients.

After her apprenticeship was done and a place in the guild of villains secured, Tori's life was supposed to get simpler. Unfortunately, a poorly timed errand sees Tori caught in the debut of a new team of capes, one wearing an all-too-familiar name. Thrust into the spotlight, Tori will have to navigate her unwanted fame as well as the suspiciously superheroic new neighbors down the hall, all while keeping up with her own villainous enterprises. With the guild no longer a secret, Hephaestus needs to grow as strong as possible to face her mounting threats.

It's a hard life for a young mortal girl, living on the streets. After Lee Jia narrowly escapes a fate worse than death, her last ditch effort to flee her pursuers and survive the winter finds her accidentally enrolled in a brand-new academy for immortals. Now faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Lee Jia will have to survive a violent roommate, arrogant young masters, and—worst of all—social hierarchies in order to carve out a place for herself in the world of magic, martial arts, and cultivation.

Jack Bennet returns from the war to find the life he left behind has moved on without him. The only option he has to make ends meet lies in a military surplus junkyard starship. What’s a former Combat Search and Rescue soldier to do? Fix up the ship, hire the cheapest pilot—a notorious drunk—and take the first contract that comes up: collect a bounty on one of the most ruthless killers in the Pirate Worlds, a place crawling with thieves, cutthroats and con artists whose primary language is violence. Jack must abandon his nice guy persona, or exploit it, if he is to survive.

A soldier raised as heir to an empire, Zarrah is motivated by two truths. The first is that the Veliant family murdered her mother. And the second is that her pursuit of vengeance will put every last one of them in their graves. The Endless War between Maridrina and Valcotta has raged for generations, leaving thousands of Zarrah’s people dead and countless more orphaned. So when she’s given command of the contested city of Nerastis, Zarrah is prepared to do whatever it takes to destroy the Maridrinian forces who oppose her. And to kill the Veliant prince who leads them.