Science Fiction Western

This fantasy and science fiction teen anthology edited by Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra contains a wide range of stories from fourteen bestselling, award-winning, and emerging writers from the South Asian diaspora that will surprise, delight, and move you. So listen on, for after all, magic has no borders.

The assassination attempt on my husband failed when his mage used dark magic to bring him back to life. King Milas is now an even bigger monster, determined to destroy Periculi and the men I love. My brother, whom I believed to be dead, is alive, and he has taken Quin and me against our will to Fae Kingdom. He thinks we'll be safe with my grandfather, the Fae King. He's wrong.

One day, I was a mild-mannered designer for a premiere superhero magazine. Turned down for a promotion yet again, I let loose years of repressed anger. That's how I got fired. Lesson learned. Now my career is as successful as my love life. But it's hard being upset when I storm out of the office and into the huskular man of my dreams. Sebastian is successful, confident, and the way he fills out those pants, it's basically a crime. Working as the art director for a rival magazine, I beg for him to look at my . . . ahem, portfolio.

Doc was happy with his new life—he’d married Fiala and Sonya, had allies who were steadfastly beside him, and was building the name of Lady Luck. Things were moving in the right direction, and life was good. But powerful enemies were starting to rise against him. Doc knew that Sheriff Grange and McIan, the preacher of Apoc, would be problems eventually, but the two he had to deal with first were Suez and Goodman. Suez was still a mystery to Doc, and the man had effectively split the town with Goodman.

Four hundred years after the Ragnarok War, humanity still hasn't recovered from the impact of the meteor, Ragnarok. Alex Keener and his friends are remembered as gods, while strife reigns between their Elekai descendants, the dragons, and those of pure human blood. But unknown to humanity, an ancient and forgotten evil is hurtling toward Earth, threatening destruction. At the center of it all stands Shanti Roshar, a young woman who may be the subject of a long-lost prophecy, penned by the hand of Anna herself.

After cleansing the Argent Spire and driving out the hellspawn attempting to establish a foothold in Lor, Sebastian was hoping for some time to rest and enjoy the good things in life. Unfortunately, time is in short supply, and there’s no rest for the wicked. It has become abundantly clear that recent events are a part of something much bigger, and as word of fallen Towers and corrupted Dungeons spread, the children of the gods make ready to fight back. In the heart of the Dreadmarsh, the sound of war drums fills the air as Uba’s children are called together for the first time in generations.

Deputy Marshal Zebadiah Clemens can't die. After the Civil War came to a close, Zeb decided to head west to raise cattle and a family. No sooner did he step off the train in Texas, a stray bullet knocked him senseless. Believing he'd somehow cheated death, he gave up on his peaceful plans and became a lawman. After migrating farther west into New Mexico, he expected to find the usual run-of-the-mill outlaws - not a strange woman watching him from the edge of his dreams. He might be imagining it all - or still unconscious with a head wound - but with his luck, it's probably real.

I live by one simple rule: no magic. Not too hard in the human world, plus it keeps me hidden from my evil sorcerer father. Safe. When I’m forced into using magic to save an innocent family, the jig is up. Or so I believe. Instead, I’m whisked off to an academy of magic in a place I never knew existed. The problem is - my power is completely raw, which means I don’t know my butt from a broomstick. At first, it's all wands, witches, and a new wardrobe...until I get caught in a restricted area with a dead body. Now, it's going to take more than magic to clear my name.

They won the battle. For now. But Junco lost more than she can handle to get that job done. The ancient aliens are returning to Earth and their long-awaited prophecy is about to unfold. Lucan and his army need Junco to do her job if they have any chance of living through the ancient prophecy. They need her to follow directions and focus. But Junco’s friends are dead - some of them at her own hand. Her home is gone, her mind is more unstable than ever, and ghosts from the past are haunting her.

On the suggestion of my exquisite prophetess Qamara, we’re heading to the Traisel Commonwealth, a land of myriad beastkin communities. I’m not sure what we’ll find there, but I expect my uninvited frequent visitor will make an appearance. You’d think that having a smoking hot catgirl following you around would be a good thing, but it’s not in this case. She’s an assassin, and she’s tried to kill me several times already. Truly a bad kitty.

Adora and her friends work together to track down some powerful First Ones tech that they hope can help the rebellion. But they aren't the only ones who want the tech...can She-Ra and her crew outsmart the Horde and come out on top?

Nox is a wanted man. While searching for a criminal, the fabled Coilhunter wanders into a tribal village massacre. He didn't do it, but that doesn't matter. The clues point to him, and he's made a lot of enemies over the years. Many would happily see the tables turned. His pleas of innocence fall on deaf ears. No sooner does he try to find the real killers than posters go up across the Wild North - posters with his face and his name. He isn't the only bounty hunter out there. Dozens assemble to cash him in.

Ethan, the first-ever human Goblin King, thought he'd seen it all after a mysterious talisman teleported him to this new world. But when an orcish army stands at the doorstep of his kingdom, life on the throne just got a whole lot more complicated. As he grapples with the imminent threat, he also finds himself captivated by a fiery half-orc, half-goblin blacksmith, whose heart is as elusive as her craft is formidable.

I was hanging out with some buddies, doing a little caving, when everything went south. When I woke up, I was in some kind of medieval dungeon. Totally naked and in the dark. Luckily, I had a neighbor in a cell near me. One with a decidedly sexy feminine voice. When she explained to me that she was due to be executed and I was in line to be brainwashed, there was only one thing to do.

When Selly and Leander began their treacherous voyage to the Isles of the Gods, the captain’s daughter and the playboy prince were strangers. But amid talk of war and a deadly attack on their ship, the unthinkable happened. They fell in love. Leander’s ritual at the island temple was meant to prevent a war between the gods. Instead, it nearly cost him his life, and drew the goddess Barrica back from exile. Now, as her Messenger, Leander is imbued with her deadly magic, and only Selly’s presence can stop it from consuming him.

The year is 2393, and the world is almost unrecognizable. Clear warnings of climate catastrophe went ignored for decades, leading to soaring temperatures, rising sea levels, widespread drought, and the disaster now known as the Great Collapse of 2093. Dramatizing science in ways traditional nonfiction cannot, The Collapse of Western Civilization reasserts the importance of scientists and the work they do, providing a welcome moment of clarity amid the cacophony of climate-change literature.

Voices stars the people of Ansul, a town of scholars and traders conquered by the marauding Alds 17 years ago. When poet Orrec arrives in town, however, the people begin to garner the courage to rebel against their overlords.

Addison Coleman's life is one big "what if". As a Searcher, a special type of clairvoyant, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she is able to look into the future and see both outcomes. So when her parents tell her they are getting a divorce and she has to pick who she wants to live with, a Search has never been more important. But when Addie finds herself drawn into a murder investigation, her fate takes a darker turn. With so much to lose in either future, Addie must decide which reality she's willing to live through...and who she's willing to live without.

Haunted by her past, Lee Vawn-Cory joins a trek on horseback to explore an unsettled region of the planet Carico. Nothing like hooves on the ground to get to know a place. Then her horses show up at Seth Reilly’s place without her. He sets out to find her, dreading all the things that can go wrong in the wilds. But what he finds is beyond his wildest imaginings. Captured by non-human castaways, he is taken to a hidden enclave where he discovers Lee already being held. It’s not as simple as escaping. The future of Carico depends on finding a path to peaceful contact between the stranded ...

My name is El, and I live in a quiet southern town where the most exciting thing that happens is Friday night football and the Harvest Moon Festival. That is…until I learn that the three women who raised me have been lying to me all my life. I thought I was an orphan. I thought my aunts loved and respected me enough to always tell me the truth.