Exploring the depths of human imagination, this collection features twenty tales that blend fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Award-winning author Jack Dann delves into the complexities of the human experience, showcasing both its best and worst aspects across various dimensions and timelines. Each story invites readers to embark on imaginative journeys, offering a rich tapestry of themes that challenge perceptions and evoke deep reflections.
A comprehensive guide to the speculative sub-genre of alternate history fiction, this book maps the unique terrain of this vibrant mode of storytelling and then explains how to write it. First giving a concise conceptual overview and the critical tools to differentiate the different forms of counterfactual fiction, Jack Dann lays out the 'tricks of the trade' such 'Heinleining', how to create recognizable 'divergent points' and how to employ paratextual elements and 'layering' to overcome readers' unfamiliarity with invented counterfactual events and cultures. Alongside this, Dann takes you step-by-step through a complete short story to demonstrate, line-by-line, how alternative history fiction works. As well as Dann's exacting methodology for writing professional quality alternate history stories, this book also features a live-on-the-page Q&A with some of the most esteemed alternate history writers working today, including Kim Stanley Robinson, John Birmingham and Lisa Goldstein among many others, who will detail their own particular hacks, theories, processes, methods and strategies. Combining extensive and deep knowledge of the field with accessible writing advice, this is the ultimate guidebook to the broad and complex sub-genre of counterfactual and alterative history fiction.
The collection features seventeen original stories set in a captivating steampunk universe filled with mystery and atmospheric tension. Each tale explores unique characters and intricate plots, immersing readers in a world where technology meets Victorian aesthetics, all while navigating themes of fear and adventure.
Thirty-Five New Stories Celebrating the Wild Side of Australian Fiction
This anthology showcases thirty-five exceptional Australian authors, each contributing original tales that promise to shock, astound, and delight readers. Featuring a diverse range of voices, including bestselling writers like Garth Nix and Trudi Canavan, the collection highlights the vibrant and imaginative landscape of contemporary Australian fiction. With a focus on fantasy, these stories reflect the unique cultural context of Australia while pushing the boundaries of the genre.
Never before published stories by New York Times bestselling authors Jonathan Stroud, Gregory Maguire, Garth Nix, Diana Gabaldon, and others. Whether portrayed as fire-breathing reptilian beasts at war with humanity or as noble creatures capable of speech and mystically bonded to the warriors who ride them, dragons have been found in nearly every culture's mythology. In modern times, they can be found far from their medieval settings in locales as mundane as suburbia or as barren as post-apocalyptic landscapes—and in The Dragon Book, today's greatest fantasists reignite the fire with legendary tales that will consume readers' imaginations.Includes the following stories: Dragon’s Deep - Cecelia Holland Vici - Naomi Novik Bob Choi’s Last Job - Johnathan StroudAre You Afflicted with Dragons? - Kage BakerThe Tsar’s Dragons - Jane Yolen and Adam StempleThe Dragon of Direfell - Liz Williams Oakland Dragon Blues - Peter S. Beagle Humane Killer - Diana Gabaldon and Samuel Sykes Stop! - Garth NixUngentle Fire - Sean Williams A Stark and Wormy Knight - Tad Williams None So Blind - Harry Turtledove JoBoy - Diana Wynne JonesPuz_le - Gregory MaguireAfter the Third Kiss - Bruce CovilleThe War That Winter Is - Tanith LeeThe Dragon’s Tale - Tamore PierceDragon’s Storm - Mary RosenblumThe Dragaman’s Bride - Andy Duncan
Dosud nepublikované povídky mnoha úspěšných a uznávaných spisovatelů žánru fantasy. Přehlídka čarodějů nejen literárních, ale i autorských, každý z nich vás okouzlí svým jedinečným způsobem v celkem osmnácti příbězích. Po celé věky zanechávají čarodějové výraznou stopu v lidské kultuře – od tajemných duchovních vůdců pradávných kmenů až po oblíbené postavy celosvětově úspěšných filmů. Vysoké hubené muže ve špičatých kloboucích najdete snad jen v humorných příbězích i spolu s jejich kouzly, která provádějí pouhým mávnutím hůlky. Praví čarodějové jsou mnohem nenápadnější a s magií zacházejí mnohem úsporněji a rafinovaněji. V rukou současných fantastů dokážou upoutat pozornost čtenářů a získat si jejich srdce. Skvělé povídky od Neila Gaimana, Gartha Nixe, Eoina Colfera, Tada Williamse, Patricie A. McKillipové, Petera S. Beagla, Nancy Kressové, Jeffreyho Forda, Terryho Bissona, Genea Wolfa, Orsona Scotta Carda a mnohých dalších v úžasné nové antologii.
Sbírka dvanácti apokalyptických scénářů, v nichž celosvětově známí autoři fantastiky jako Gregory Benford, Gardner Dozois, Nancy Kress, Geoffrey A. Landis, Fritz Leiber, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl či James Tiptree, Jr. nabízejí hrůzu nahánějící vize konce času, ať už ho způsobili bohové, technologie či sama příroda.
A Chilling new anthology of all-original tales of horrorIncludes New Stories by:Ray BradburyGraham JoycePeter CrowtherKim NewmanSara DouglassThomas TessierM. John HarrisonGahan WilsonThe anthology market these days is awash with small, themed works focused on very specific markets, like vampire erotica and tales of werewolves, or it features best of the year reprints. It has been years since anyone has dared to bring out a broad-reaching anthology that seeks to define the current state of the genre with all original tales from both masters and hot new writers.
