Fantasy World

Ursula K. Le Guin has enthralled fans with her imagination, clarity, and moral vision. The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and five Hugo and five Nebula Awards, this renowned writer has created a provocative, ever-evolving universe filled with diverse worlds and rich characters reminiscent of our earthly selves. Now, in The Birthday of the World, this gifted artist returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works, including a never-before-published novella, each of which probes the essence of humanity.

Fifteen years after losing most of his family to a devastating, pudding-related tragedy, Simon Debovar has settled into a life of self-imposed exile from the stinking, selfish morass of humanity. Content that his daily highlights will include hazelnut coffee, a long bath, and the occasional jar of olives, his life is completely upturned by the discovery that his ornate living room carpet is the deciding factor in a bet between God and Satan.

Kousuke and Sylphy's Liberation Army are making big moves! But just as they're settling into their newly captured base, betrayal strikes from within their own ranks! What's a crafty survivor from another world to do when he's trapped behind enemy lines and at the mercy of three very slimy sisters? He'll have to go under all sorts of covers if he ever wants to see his dark elf mistress again!

Xavier Oaks doesn't particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad's pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it's only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only... one morning he wakes up and the house isn't where it was before. It's like it's been lifted and placed... somewhere else. When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there's no one else around...

Everything about my life has been pretty normal working as a forensic autopsy technician. Until the day I woke up with a mysterious symbol tattooed on my arm. Suddenly normal no longer existed. The barrier between Earth and a world called Under, dissolved.... Now I'm trapped with dozens of other people. Held prisoner by the creators of myths and legends, where the realm is ruled by two masked kings who want to turn us into creatures like them.

Christopher Chant has no real power. He can't perform spells or do anything magical. However, he does possess something that most humans do not. Christopher has nine lives. Gerard Doyle's spellbinding narration is sure to capture every listener's attention.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of gold for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light. Meanwhile, far to the west, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat living in an idyllic mountain village with her adoptive family. But everything changes during one of their performances when they is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon.

Left to die on a volcanic world by the Skrull, McGill and his mercenaries face waves of missile attacks with nowhere to hide. When the Skrull seal themselves inside an impenetrable energy dome, McGill knows he has to get creative. Even if that means sabotaging alien power plants, blackmailing his superior officers, and using his own troops as bait in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Takumi is a wage slave who works overtime all the time. Only his little Maltese, Leo, can brighten his day. One day, however, he wakes up to find himself deep in an unknown forest. At his side is his pampered pup…who’s now a giant mythical wolf! With his silver fenrir companion and his mysterious new “Herb Cultivation” power, he’ll finally have the laid-back life he’s always dreamed of. Join Takumi and his giant fluffy hound in a carefree romp through this other world fantasy tale!

Millions of dungeons inhabit the planet, utilizing the Human people as a source of much-needed Mana to facilitate their own growth; in turn, the humans delve into the dungeons to acquire their own power in the form of Essence, which allows them to develop and enhance themselves in a multitude of different ways. It is a symbiotic relationship that has lasted thousands of years and has brought about a measure of peace.

In a post-apocalyptic future, 15-year-old Vic wanders the wasteland with Blood, his genetically-altered telepathic dog, in the Hugo Award-nominated and Nebula Award-winning novella, A Boy and His Dog - the basis of the cult classic film. An intergalactic conspiracy infects the minds of the most powerful politicians in the Republican Party - and only one jolly old elf can save them in “Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R.” And in the Hugo Award-winning title story, disparate threads of violence, conflict, and conversation weave an intricate tapestry across worlds and times.

Adelaide - heiress to the wealthiest man in the Ceithren Empire - has felt a void since her sister's death. Just as she's resigned herself to the empty life her father chose for her, a relic from a world that shouldn't exist plunges her into chaos. Clark - son of the greatest terrorist the empire has ever known - is still reeling from his father's death. Since then, his life has boiled down to two things: his brothers and his next mission. When his mission to bring back a mystical artifact goes awry, he's forced to choose between getting the job done and saving the life of a socialite.

The body of young, paralyzed Luca, a boy killed by cruel bullies, becomes home to an interdimensional traveler. This is the 99th world for this traveler who has spent an entire life in each of his previous worlds. And now, he is out of lives, his previous misdeeds leaving him with a negative balance of points and preventing him from reincarnating anew. Once he realizes that he must spend his final life in a poverty-stricken family in a backward world, he awakens the consciousness of the deceased Luca and ends his own physical existence, leaving all his abilities to his heir.

Father John has lived his whole life without knowing a woman’s touch. Hard at first, his self-denial grew easier over time, as he learned to master his urges with a regimen of prayer, cold showers, and jigsaw puzzles. That changes the day that Debra Rocks enters his confessional. A rough-talking adult film actress, she has come to ask him to pray for a murdered costar. Her cinnamon perfume infects Father John, and after she departs he becomes obsessed.

It is June 1940. The war against Hitler’s forces is raging. And the tide is turning against the British. In this hour of despair, Prime Minister Winston Churchill receives a mysterious letter from an even more mysterious woman, offering a Faustian bargain and a promise of victory. But if Churchill accepts, will he be condemning his nation’s very soul?

A former friend has betrayed the Raksura and their groundling companions, and now the survivors must race across the Three Worlds to rescue their kidnapped family members. When Moon and Stone are sent ahead to scout, they quickly encounter an unexpected and potentially deadly ally, and decide to disobey the queens and continue the search alone.

Ando Strikes Back…sort of. Ando (Channing West in the real world) is shaken to the core after witnessing just how brutal and psychotic Nacron can be. In a knee-jerk reaction, he takes a drastic measure to slow down Nacron’s efforts in the real world, all while placing himself in danger with the police. If he’s caught, he won’t have a leg to stand on, which is more than he can say for some of Nacron’s guildmates. There’s a plan for dealing with Shoremen within Eternity Shores as well. He needs to speak with Lady LeMohn, a super genius in a superhero game who knows enough about ...

Three years have passed since the Jamaicans caused the apocalypse, and things in post-Armageddon Chicago have settled into a new kind of normal. Unfortunately, that "normal" includes collapsing skyscrapers, bands of bloodthirsty maniacs, and a dwindling cache of survival supplies. After watching his family, friends, and most of the non-sadistic elements of society crumble around him, Patrick decides it's time to cross one last item off his bucket list. He's going to Disney World.

What would you do if left unattended during your reincarnation? What would you choose from an endless list of abilities for your next life? Time is short to select what skills you need in your next life. The hero of this story chooses a life of wealth and prosperity, but in a world of infinite magical possibilities, plans are quickly disrupted. Storme finds himself reincarnated into a Dyson Sphere stabilized with powerful aetheric magic. Fantastical creatures, terrible dangers, and treacherous dungeons are abundant. It doesn't take long before he succumbs to the adventurer's life.

One catastrophic event. A desperate race for survival. When a massive solar storm wipes out power and communication across the globe, the world plunges into chaos. In the remote Oregon mountains, military veteran Rex Hays thought he was prepared to weather the collapse. But nothing could prepare him for what’s coming. While hunting, Rex saves a teenage girl, Zoe Mills, from a mountain lion attack. Injured and with no memory of why she was in the wilderness, Zoe becomes the center of a deadly mystery. Strangers from out of town are searching for her, and they’ll stop at nothing to find her.