Science Fiction Monsters

Emiko Soong belongs to one of the eight premier magical families of the world. But Emiko never needed any magic. Because she is the Blade of the Soong Clan. Or was. Until she’s drenched in blood in the middle of a market in China, surrounded by bodies and the scent of blood and human waste as a lethal perfume. The Butcher of Beijing now lives a quiet life in San Francisco, importing antiques. But when a shinigami, a god of death itself, calls in a family blood debt, Emiko must recover the Ebony Gate that holds back the hungry ghosts of the Yomi underworld.

Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters is a collection of 23 stories focused around the theme of strange creatures in the vein of Pacific Rim, Godzilla, Cloverfield, and more. The anthology opens with a foreword by Jeremy Robinson, author of Project Nemesis, the highest selling Kaiju novel in the United States since the old Godzilla books - and perhaps even more than those. Then, from New York Times best sellers to indie darlings Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters features authors that are perfectly suited for writing larger-than-life stories.

Ian Arthur had very little going for him. He was turning 20 and his life existed within the confines of the walls of his uncle’s antique shop. That is, until a box of junk came in and he found a bracelet. After he tried it on, it changed his life forever.

As a species, people have tamed the Earth. Individually, in the face of a superior predator, we're all just as helpless as the day we were born. And a superior predator is out there. Humans may be the Apex predator, but there's something even more deadly. It's the Super Apex.

Opal desperately wants to fall in love and have a whirlwind romance, preferably with a human. So when he's rescued by a dashing knight, he thinks his day has finally come. There's just one problem: Tristan hates dragons. Opal isn't going to let something silly like that get in the way of his true love, though. Surely with a bit of wooing, some aphrodisiac dragon fluids, and an epic journey together, Tristan will see the error of his ways, and they can have their happily ever after.

It all starts with the radio. Dorothy's husband has left for work, and she is at the kitchen sink washing the dishes, listening to classical music. Suddenly, the music fades out and a soft, close, dreamy voice says, "Don't worry, Dorothy." A couple weeks later, there is a special interruption in regular programming. The announcer warns all listeners of an escaped sea monster. That afternoon, the seven-foot-tall lizard man walks through Dorothy's kitchen door. She is frightened at first, but there is something attractive about the monster, and the two begin a tender, clandestine affair.

The Company of Light had already made my sh*t list before they kidnapped one of my monstrous lovers. Now? I’m ready to send the whole lot of them up in flames. Especially when it turns out they may have damaged my demon sweetheart beyond repair. Trouble is, those flames aren’t playing nice. After its taste of freedom, my inner fire seems intent on having a full-on scorch party, and that includes burning me up while I’m burning down the baddies. If I’m going to get a handle on the dangerous power within me, I need to understand where it - and I - came from.

An existence spent being forced to kill others to satiate a monster. Where the only thing to look forward to was the blessed, if brief, period of time between paying that bribe. Except that very same monster is and isn’t Rene. It just happened to live inside his own mind and force him to do what it wanted - rather than him being an actual monster. That was Rene’s entire life until a fateful day changed that. A day that his career as a hitman for hire built on the monster’s needs will end. Where Rene will be forced to atone for his actions. To be held accountable and judged.

Learn to kill or wait to die. In 3066 the world is a different place. Massive coronal ejections, nuclear fallout, and chemical poisons have reshaped the land. New life forms have evolved at an accelerated rate into creatures God and nature had no hand in playing. A few remaining settlements of mankind struggle to re-establish civilization. They’re failing. But beneath the ground, buried deep in a lost and forgotten installation, humanity’s ancestors are about to awaken. The freaks, mutants, and monsters roaming the blasted earth above are about to discover what real terror is all about.

Marine-turned-Monster-Hunter Boyd Knight has found himself trapped in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the Fae Queen of Oblivion. Although the first leg of the Wyld Hunt has drawn to a close, there are still two more Hunts to go, and the targets will only get deadlier. After slaying a Vampire Monarch and being cheated out of victory, the time for fun and games is officially over, and Boyd is ready to unleash some good ol’ fashioned fire and brimstone on anyone who gets in his way again. But it’s not just the nightmarish monsters and Fae champions that Boyd has to worry about.

In this story, Jack and Annabelle meet the monster Barry and set out to find their new friend Marty. Monster World is counting on them to find Bellion, and they are determined to not let everyone down.

When Jerry follows the trail of his missing uncle, he discovers a mysterious monster-girl and an equally mysterious region called Delom where everything works like a video game. But there isn't time to gawk, because Jerry's inherited his uncle's farm, once the most famous animal breeder in Delom, and everything is falling apart. The animals are low level, there's not enough food to keep their health up, and a greedy developer wants to put Jerry and the farm out of business.

Every day is the same for Joseph: Study, go to class, repeat. Life is dull, and there's no prospect of that changing. Is some excitement too much to ask for? "Get to safety if you wish to survive!" Joseph's prayers are answered, but not in a way he could ever have expected. Goblins, ghouls, kobolds, and a myriad of monsters and mythical creatures have spawned all over the college campus and beyond. The carnage is shocking. If he's going to survive the RPG apocalypse, Joseph is going to have to figure out the new rules fast.

With her crooked spine and reckless heart, Princess Meera always knew she wasn't meant to become queen of Ezo. But when her sister, the rightful heir, is cursed on the eve of her coronation, Meera must defend her kingdom from ruthless invaders by taking the throne.

In the Clandoms, everyone is born with wings, though not all the clans are treated equally. Ellie Meadows longed to become a Goldwing—the knights who protect the people -- but because she came from the humble Sparrow Clan, her dream faced almost insurmountable resistance. Nox Hatcher has it even worse. Nox is a Crow, a shattered clan. They can't own businesses or run organizations, all due to a mistake made hundreds of years ago. Nox has had to steal and scrape just to survive, but a single goal has kept him going, even when it felt like all the Clandoms were against him.

Everything I thought I knew about my world has been shattered. The only constant are the four Monsters keeping me and my people safe. My only comfort in my grief is Bastian, the last of my team. And our only certainty is that we need to find the pieces of the relic and put it back together. As Shem and I work together, I find myself dropping my guard around him. He's lethal, single-minded, and unyielding, and he's the only one that can help me put my world back to rights. But the road won't be easy, and trust comes at a cost.

Tony Platz had the respect of his peers, a career on the fast track, and the body of an Olympian. There was only one problem: It was an open secret he carried a torch for his already-married partner. When a raid put her in the hospital and finally exposed her husband's ongoing infidelity, Tony got shipped out to Oolytau. Tayra Manes worked hard, graduated the academy, and became the first of her kind to join the Non-Human Investigative Corps. There was only one problem: She was a griffin, and not everyone approved of her being allowed to serve in the previously all-human NHIC.

With the successful conclusion of the monster subjugation campaign, Eizo returns home with a new addition to the family—Lidy! However, his days of battling beasts aren't quite over. During a chance encounter with Samya's childhood friend, Jolanda, the family learns of another corrupted bear that's stalking around the Black Forest. Jolanda also mentions a tantalizing rumor about a magical knife, which Rike and Eizo are eager to investigate. Could this be a new product to add to Forge Eizo's lineup?

I've devoted my entire life to safe-guarding exotic animals. When a group of poachers invade the Komplot Toestel big game preserve, I'll take a bullet to the chest in the line of duty. As I laid dying, a mysterious goddess appeared by my side. Her offer was simple: teleport to a new world where I would be a game warden of a different sort. You see, there are no animals that need protecting in the land of Jadu. Instead, I've been tasked with protecting a tribe of lost monster girls. It's a tough job, and I'm just the man for it.

Brett and Tom are crazy about video games. In fact, they became best friends when they discovered that they could beat all their opponents. Now they’re ready to take on the best one of all—Rodomonte’s Revenge—a new virtual reality game that just opened in the mall. Fire rivers, enormous buzz-bugs, impossible cliffs, and a treasure-filled castle are all exciting parts of the skill levels. But when the game begins to take over Brett and Tom’s minds, they fear that they might become a permanent part of the action.