Science Fiction Anthology Short Stories

In this story from the Jane Yellowrock universe, undercover agent Rick LaFleur has been working on gaining access to Leo Pellissier, Master of the City of New Orleans. But he wakes up naked and bound in an old barn, at the mercy of a magic-working tattoo artist and an insane vampire.

Geralt the Witcher battles monsters, demons and prejudices alike in Sword of Destiny, the second collection of adventures in Andrzej Sapkowski’s groundbreaking epic fantasy series that inspired the Netflix show and the hit video games. Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless hunter. Yet he is no ordinary killer: His targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

A bounty hunting survivor. A Galactic dark elf. A woman who has given up her humanity to become something more. These stories and more are available in the first short story anthology for the System Apocalypse, covering year one on Earth. When the world ends, humanity steps up, finding new ways to survive in a world with classes, magic, and monsters. The anthology features exciting, new stories by five new writers and a new, never publicly released short story by Tao Wong.

Here are delightful upendings of genre clichés and heartfelt revitalizations of classic tropes. Here is social commentary with teeth, and here are scenes of pants-wettingly funny comedy. Here are characters and situations that by their very outrageousness achieve a heightened realism unlike any other. And here is one of the strongest voices in modern science fiction, the writer called by Andrew Sean Greer “this generation’s Le Guin”.

"The Secret" is set in the world where the Broken Empire and Red Queen's War trilogies take place. I've been writing short stories based on the various members of Jorg Ancrath's brotherhood of the road, exploring their origins. When I saw that the Blackguards anthology was seeking tales of assassins, I thought it was time to write about Brother Sim.

Ready for your next audiobook? How about almost 40 hours of non-stop action, brought to life by award-winning narrator Kevin Pierce? A corrupt president...A world without power...A handful of survivors battle impossible odds in the madness. Follow a cast of unforgettable characters as they navigate a societal collapse that threatens their very existence. These three pulse-pounding tales paint a harrowing portrait of a frighteningly plausible future, and are sure to keep fans of A.G. Riddle, Hugh Howey, and Justin Cronin resisting to pause long into the night.

When Soren is plucked from the streets and given a place at the prestigious academy of swordsmanship, he thinks his dream of being a great swordsman has become a possibility. However, with great intrigues unfolding all around him, Soren discovers that he is little more than a pawn to the ambitions of others.

"Refugee" was first published in the July 1955 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) is regarded as one of the most-influential science fiction writers of all time. He was named a grand master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

When Mrs. Sorensen's husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in "Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch". In "Open the Door and the Light Pours Through", a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. "Dreadful Young Ladies" demonstrates the strength and power - known and unknown - of the imagination. The World Fantasy Award-winning novella The Unlicensed Magician introduces the secret, magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead.

Jane Yellowrock has motorcycle trouble and pulls into Bayou Oiseau, hoping for help from a local motorcycle shop. Instead, she is drawn into a war between the local witches and the local, non-aligned vampires.

As the future pack leader of the Silver Wolves, my life was carefully planned: stay hidden and learn to fight. In an instant, everything changes. My pack was slaughtered by an unknown enemy. Alone and unsure who to trust, I search for safety. Now, there's a pack leader who offers me something that no one else can—protection. He’s sexy, an absolute jerk, and my fated mate. The more I try to fight our bond, the more fate pushes us together. But the price may be too much for both of us. I’m being hunted, and the choices I'm forced to make could destroy me.

From master anthologist Ellen Datlow comes an all-original of weird tales inspired by the strangeness of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Between the hallucinogenic, weird, imaginative wordplay and the brilliant mathematical puzzles and social satire, Alice has been enjoyed and savored by every generation since its publication. Datlow asked 18 of the most brilliant and acclaimed writers working today to dream up stories inspired by all the strange events and surreal characters found in Wonderland.

Nate is the hardworking CEO of SouthernCool, an AC company in Florida. After years of toiling to get rich, he finally takes a well-deserved vacation to Australia. A chance encounter ties him to a gorgeous gal named Senna. Right as things between the two are heating up on the Great Barrier Reef, pesky aliens intervene. Humanity is doomed, they tell him, destined to become extinct in the not-too-distant future. Nate and Senna are forced to compete for a spot on a human preserve.

The centerpiece of Borrowed Time is "Betty Knox and Dictionary Jones in the Mystery of the Missing Teenage Anachronisms". When you've traveled through time and are stuck in the body of your 15-year-old self, it isn't the best time to have some other time travelers looking to kill you. Especially when the person who's supposed to be keeping an eye out for the bad guys is stuck in his own 15-year-old body.

In a realm where wizards rule, magic reigns supreme. Power. The ambitious thirst for it. But when a power-hungry wizard lord seeks to expand his might, he triggers a series of events unforeseen. The balance of magic is altered, races of old return, and beasts of legend stalk the land. This omnibus includes the first three books in the series.

On her 18th birthday, Jane Yellowrock leaves the children’s home where she was raised, and heads north to her first job. But she makes a detour and discovers where she came from, who she is, and what she is.

Years after a war that destroyed America, Sam Monson, the governor of the state of Deseret, negotiates a peace treaty with a woman out of his past - on behalf of the son he left behind.

This story is included in Orson Scott Card's collection The Folk of the Fringe.

The internationally acclaimed author of The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury is a magician at the height of his powers, displaying his sorcerer's skill with 21 remarkable stories that run the gamut from total reality to light fantastic, from high noon to long after midnight.

Previously published in the collection Hungry Tales, "Calling Death" is a nonviolent zombie story set in Appalachia. With humor and rich storytelling, Jonathan Maberry brings you zombies as you've never seen them before.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.