Fantasy

The WHISKEY SHOTS short stories series continues with two fantasy stories from EPPIE AWARD winning author Jane Toombs. "Blood Calls To Blood": Maire Nigend, forty plus and flat broke, can't believe her luck when she inherits a remote family estate--complete with lake. She's aware nobody gets something for nothing. Still, all she's required to do is, on Midsummer's Eve, build a bonfire on the shore of Lake Grendel and carry out a simple ceremony. No problem. Or is it? "Moon Changers": In Californ... more info>>

Lillian feels the magic around her. She even sensed when two men came through to the human world. One man believes Lillian's death is the only way to save the world. The other only wants to love her, even if her life forever changes existence.

A humorous fantasy in the tradition of Pierre Anthony's Xanth series! In the magical land of Retslu, Dorian, a plucky youth, sets off to win the hand of the lovely princess Jennifer, by winning a tournament. During his travels he befriends a vampire, saves a tiger-headed woman from assault, falls into the Looking-Glass world, is thrown down a well by a witch, is tried by gnomes, goes to Hell, is kidnapped by pirates, finds Atlantis which sinks into the sea, and exchanges riddles with a troll. Th... more info>>

Four stories to delight you--written by the author when she was sometimes in a speculative mood, another time in a rather melancholy mood, and once, when she was in a downright wicked mood.

What will a queen do to win back her man and her country? Nayda, a warrior queen, and her husband rule over a small kingdom in a post-apocalyptic world doing the best they can to rebuild their city and bring prosperity to their citizens. A visiting European queen visits and creates chaos. She goes to war with Nayda and takes her crown, and, under strange circumstances steals her husband. Now Nayda must return to her espionage ways. Her missions are extremely dangerous, even more so than battle,... more info>>

Two reality-show ghost-busting teams versus one haunted house. The first team to successfully exorcise the spirits wins the renewal of their television contract. It sounds like a pretty straight-forward competition, but something or someone at Harrington House has another agenda. Over the course of a weekend, the two teams with their respective technical advisers, a supposedly impartial network executive, and the beautiful owner of Harrington House find it isn't just the ghosts who are running ... more info>>

Years ago, sorceress Aetria's untamed power caused a disaster on the battlefield. Temporarily banished for retraining, she has returned to the army to redeem herself as head of a company of novice mages. Under the command of her old nemesis, Adept Pleates, she struggles with her past disgrace and her still-uncertain control of her magical energy. When Pleates assigns her to escort the army's commanding general and his aide on a covert mission, Aetria sees a chance to prove her worth. To her surp... more info>>

The Earth has become the adopted home of a group of aliens who possess super abilities and have chosen to repay the world by fighting crime. Jake Mordant runs a private detective agency that, like others, is down on its luck because the super aliens' altruistic efforts are driving them out of business. Even the police in many large localities are feeling the pinch. Things are so bad that Jake even resorts to taking cases searching for missing pets. It's in that capacity that Jake encounters a "s... more info>>

Raised in isolation, La'tiera has been coddled and secluded, her mission too important to risk anything happening to her. The Herald--a harbinger comet--has appeared in the sky, telling all the Time of Trial is near. She is ready to do as her duty requires, though the very world she will die to preserve is one she will never see. Dal has led a free life, serving the Order established centuries ago to find and instruct the Bearer in how to perform the Trial established by the covenant made betwee... more info>>

Light-skinned newcomers are changing the Land of the Three Tribes. Dark-skinned Satha and her husband Loic are torn asunder. With the Creator's aid there is hope they will be reunited and find their mutual destiny, even if it means losing the love and respect of their families, clans, and tribes.

A fourth tribe has come to the land of the three tribes; the light-skinned newcomers are fated to change the tribes' way of life and religion. Satha, a dark-skinned woman from a poor Theseni clan, and Loic, her wealthy young Doreni husband, are too busy forging their new life together to pay much heed. But when Satha is dishonored and Loic must avenge her, they find themselves drawn into a cultural battle. Kidnapped and enslaved, Satha strives to retain her autonomy. Loic struggles against the A... more info>>

This latest volume in the planned ten-volume set of The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard collects Robert E. Howard's fiction and prose published in Weird Tales from July 1932 to May 1933. These works represent literary stepping-stones to Howard's infamous Cthulhu mythos stories and his most famous character of all--Conan the Cimmerian--and ably demonstrate that each of Howard's stories improved and added to his formidable skills as a master of fantasy and adventure. Wings in the Night includes "P... more info>>

Tarma and Kethry follow a Hawkbrother's bond-bird into a nest of firebirds--and a woman who seeks to enslave them all.

If your life changed completely, how much would it change you? Joe's about to find out when he wins the biggest lottery jackpot of all time.

Three enchanting stories set during the magical winter solstice. "Moontide" by Mercedes Lackey: In an isolated land where the lure of the "Moontide" leads to shipwrecks, a woman is torn between obeying her father or her king. When she chooses to follow a Fool, she discovers magic she'd never expected...at a price that might be too high. "The Heart of the Moon" by Tanith Lee: Clirando, a warrior priestess unready to face the powers trapped within her, struggles under the curse of a dead comrade u... more info>>

'As the fate of the world dangles precariously on the shoulders of 16 year old, Winter, she must quickly learn to master the source of her powers and find the courage to overcome her fears. If she fails the world will plunge into darkness, her mythical sweetheart Adonis will die and the universe as we know it will cease to exist.'

At the dawn of the Industrial Age, the kingdom of Niune is ruled by the Seelie Court-half-human faelings descended from seelie fae. Sworn to the forces of light, the Seelie Court is dedicated to the destruction of all who bear the taint of unseelie fae blood. Mina Cole is an indentured worker--a factory slave. She has lived her entire life ignorant of her fae heritage, until at last a moment of terror reveals the winter magic that has lain dormant within. Now that her power is awakened, the hunt... more info>>

In a world where humans do not exist, dark magick has been used to bring an early winter down upon the land. It falls to a young Water Nix named Avari to seek out the source of this magick and put a stop to it. If he is in time, he can save the lives of those in his colony. If he is too late, they will freeze along with the lake they call home. As his journey progresses, he encounters a myriad of other beings, some friendly, some not?

How much would you give to live your fantasy? Think fast--your Wishstone is waiting. At Atlanta's Dragon-Con, nine fan girls make a wish on the mysterious ancient artifact known as the Wishstone and find themselves transported to the world that inspired their favorite TV series. Only the show couldn't begin to prepare them for the real thing. Domain is a world without change, frozen in a time of magic and superstition, where the immortal sons of the goddess Reyah fight a never-ending war--most... more info>>

Islay--an island kingdom in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland--is the setting for this tightly plotted tale of passion, witchcraft, and thwarted vengeance that begins and ends in the highest room of Dunyvaig Castle's tower. With Tower and Turrets, Crowned takes place during a six hour time span, in the dead of winter in 1143--and relies on recollections, flashbacks, and dreams to tell a story that actually began three years earlier. Rhian MacDomhnuill is a powerful Gaelic warlord who falls in love w... more info>>

Sheri L. McGathy, the author of such stories as The Ancient One (From Within the Mistanthology) and Thief of Dreams (Twilight Crossings anthology) presents her latest fantasy novel: Within the Shadow of Stone, a journey through legend and myth to the time of the standing stones. To a world where warriors are bound to the silent megaliths and the Shroud Born walks within the mist. Bree of Clan Dunstan, and her people, the Skye, worship the stones, though they fail to remember the reasons why. The... more info>>

If walls could talk? Danica Heuer gave her word to her Uncle Arthur on his deathbed. She would take her inheritance and buy a castle. The remark was flippant at the time, but now that Uncle Art is gone, she is honor-bound to keep that promise. The castle Danica buys turns out to be the boon she needed to lift her spirits. Majestic and dignified, she falls in love with her new purchase immediately. The steward is a bit odd, but so far has been helpful and very informative about the castle's rich ... more info>>

Wil has arrived at his sixty-fifth birthday after a directionless, purposeless, friendless lifetime. In the little village of Wisdom which sits close against the Old Forest, the last refuge of the elves before they departed this world many centuries before, he finds a place where he finally feels at home working as the assistant of the village swineherd, Scrubby. On the other side of the Principality of Gleneagle, the wizard Greyleige has been hoarding the world's fading magics with the intent... more info>>

Donald Tyson answered an improbable ad. Now, he's a wizard, and sells magic over the counter like toothpaste, providing invulnerability and perfect health at reasonable cost. Business is brisk, as you might imagine. But who will buy a car when a magic carpet is cheap and doesn't need fueling? Who needs doctors or hospitals when no one ever gets sick, or hurt? Soon, half the world is unemployed. That's bad. But soon, too, dictatorships will vanish, and that's good. How do you oppress people who c... more info>>

Ancient Troll writings foretell the emergence of a champion from the West fated to determine the destiny of the Fellow Races. Vying spellcasters contrive to manipulate that ascension for their own ends. Kidnapped as an infant and raised in the East by a retired soldier, a bewildered youth becomes embroiled in the affairs of wizards with the appearance of a strange benefactor after his foster father is brutally murdered. Cajoled by the mysterious Maldoch into accompanying him on a madcap jaunt to... more info>>