Fantasy War

The best-selling Extinction Cycle series by Nicholas Sansbury Smith first introduced listeners to a world ravaged by an engineered virus that turned men into monsters. Humanity's only hope was not a cure, but another bioweapon. When deployed it killed 90 percent of the infected, but the remaining 10 percent transformed into even more terrifying creatures called Variants. Here's a collection of Extinction Cycle short stories that explore the human spirit and the fight for survival in the face of overwhelming odds from some of the leading voices in the post-apocalyptic genre.

Lin Sukai has won her first victory as Emperor, but the future of the Phoenix Empire hangs in the balance—and Lin is dangerously short of allies. As her own governors plot treason, the Shardless Few renew hostilities. Worse still, Lin discovers her old nemesis Nisong has joined forces with the rogue Alanga, Ragan. Both seek her death. Yet hopes lies in history. Legend tells of seven mythic swords, forged in centuries past. If Lin can find them before her enemies, she may yet be able to turn the tide. If she fails, the Sukai dynasty—and the entire empire—will fall.

Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon is a loyal friend, sports star, devoted pet owner - and Traveler. Along with his uncle Press, Bobby has visited the alternate dimension of Denduron and participated in a civil war. He's also waded through the endangered underwater territory of Cloral. Now Bobby once again finds himself thrust beyond the boundaries of time and space into a place that seems somewhat familiar: First Earth.

A brutal warrior, Kratos is a slave to the gods of Olympus. Plagued by the nightmares of his past and yearning for freedom, the Ghost of Sparta would do anything to be free of his debt to the gods. He is on the verge of losing all hope when the gods give him one last task to end his servitude. He must destroy Ares, the god of war. But what chance does a mere mortal have against a god?

Cass Saélihn isn't some defenseless damsel sitting on her ass and waiting for her hot, alpha males to rescue her. She won't accept the fate of being in another cage. Even though the torque on her neck binds her, rendering her powerless. She won't allow Ares and Apollo to sever her mating bond to her beloved mates, no matter how they seduce, threaten, or torture her.

As its neighbors muster for war, the city-state of Kantor clings desperately to neutrality. Suraan, the queen regent, is beset on all sides, her son Rahuul still too young to take the throne. As his elder sister and guardian, Adaali’s only purpose is to protect Rahuul from would-be usurpers. But dark forces are at play from within and without, and she must seek help from the most unlikely of places - or be consumed by the war of the gods that threatens to destroy the very fabric of her world.

Once in a faraway kingdom there was a man prophesied to be the chosen one, who would defeat a great villain, the Eternal Khan, and save the kingdom. But then the Eternal Khan died . . . and the prophecy was broken. For Jian, the fated hero, this could have been a moment to succumb to despair. But instead, he chose to create his own destiny. He studied under Taishi, his curmudgeonly but beloved mentor, to become a great warrior.

Soren, Alex, and the rest of their allies have given everything they have. They’ve challenged both the nature of the cosmos and the cruelest despot within it. They’ve given their blood, sweat, and tears, and somehow come out the other side.

Contains all five books in The Endless War series.

With 50,000 freed slaves at their back, Raz i'Syul Arro and Syrah Brahnt leave the savannahs of Perce behind. Karesh Syl is no more. Karesh Nan burns in their wake. Beyond the border before them the South looms, ready and waiting, and together Raz and Syrah pray they are prepared for the great offense they must now undertake against the fringe cities.

Mars is changing. Seemingly overnight the once "Red" planet is turning to gray. Something is happening, something unnatural. A team of, literally, rocket scientists figure out a way to send a probe, very fast, to Mars to determine how and why it is changing. However, when the probe is destroyed well short of the formerly red planet, it's apparent that Mars is being used as a staging ground. The only viable target for that staging ground is Earth.

Continuing the impressive debut fantasy series from author Peter V. Brett, The Daylight War is book three of the Demon Cycle, pulling the reader into a world of demons, darkness and heroes. On the night of a new moon all shadows deepen. Humanity has thirty days to prepare for the next demon attack, but one month is scarcely enough time to train a village to defend themselves, let alone an entire continent caught in the throes of civil war.

When Mum died, I inherited a lot more than a pack of lies. I landed a $410,000 debt. Discovered her previous surname. And her real place of birth. Desperate to uncover the truth, I drive to a tiny dot on the map called Deception Valley. Coincidental name? Nope. There, I find her secret family - because she had one of those too.

A year ago, the war against the Theocracy ended. But it didn't bring peace. Admiral Kat Falcone was lucky - her side won the war. But without an external threat, Kat’s homeworld government, the Commonwealth, begins to burst. The galactic war may be over, but there is a civil war on the horizon. The king and parliament disagree over the Commonwealth's future. The Commonwealth's first recession is plaguing corporations.

The Allied fleet has stopped the Nietzscheans at Pyra, but the battlefront grows wider day by day. While Sera distributes the Transcend's fleets to protect the alliance, Tanis must come to grips with what happened to her on Pyra's surface. In addition, Bob conveys a number of hard truths that will force her to re-think her role in humanity's future. But the allies' enemies are not sitting idle. General Greer, Justin, the Caretaker, and Airtha are all advancing plans to see their visions of the future come true.

The war should have been over. But it’s not for a group of nationalists grabbing for control. It’s been two weeks since a missile with a nuclear warhead tore through the planetary defenses in the most blistering large-scale attack ever committed in the history of the Gaia system. Commander Dunstan Park of the Rhodian navy has been handpicked to command an experimental cruiser that could dictate the course of the escalating conflict. All he has to do is keep the ship from falling into the wrong hands.

In the pulsing heart of New Orleans, where ancient magic whispers through cobblestone streets and neon-lit jazz clubs, Detective Jason Chalk thought he knew the score. But when a routine drug bust spirals into a grotesque tableau of ritualistic murder, Jason finds himself standing at the threshold of a world he never knew existed—one where the lines between saint and sinner, magic and madness blur into oblivion. A cryptic symbol carved into flesh becomes Jason's obsession, a key to unlocking secrets that have lain dormant for centuries. As he delves deeper, the very fabric of reality ...

In the far future among the colonized worlds of the galaxy, there's a war going on between the majority of civilized worlds and a colonial theocracy. Trystin Desoll grows up fighting against religious fanatics and becomes a hero, a first-class pilot, then, amazingly, a spy. What do you do if you're a relatively humane soldier fighting millions of suicidal volunteers on the other side who know that they are utterly right, and you are utterly wrong, with no middle ground? Trystin Desoll has an idea.

For Claire Emerson, there is nothing ordinary about turning sixty. First, there are the crows. Then, a pendant that unlocks a gate to a house in the woods—which comes with a snarky gargoyle, an entirely too-sexy wolf shifter claiming to be Claire's protector, and a legacy that turns her reality upside down. Because divorced, menopausal grandmothers with creaky hips and hot flashes? They don't just randomly discover they're next in a long line of powerful women protecting the world from the dark magick of Mages.

Ahriman is thrust into a deadly conflict with a creature of darkness whose cunning and thirst for power are the equal of his own - the first daemon prince, the dreaded Be'lakor.