Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

Michael Maloney reads this original adventure by Dan Abnett, featuring the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory. For centuries the Maintainers have worked. With no help from other worlds, they subsist on the food they can grow and that’s little enough. But their purpose, their whole life, is to maintain the machines that will one day make their world as habitable as old Earth. Life used to be hard. Now as crops fail, livestock sicken, and the temperature drops, it’s becoming impossible.

Adam Rubin is back with this companion to The Ice Cream Machine, inviting you into six thrilling new worlds filled with daring and danger, mystery and mayhem—not to mention explosions! In a swanky New York City hotel, a reclusive guest appears to have spontaneously combusted. On a school field trip to a human anatomy museum in space, two kids try to pull off the greatest prank in history.

Storytellers have long imagined what exists beyond the edges of the map. The need to seek and discover the unknown is embedded in who we are, no matter the culture or era. To celebrate this sense of wonder, award-winning editor John Joseph Adams has gathered together some of the best SF&F writers working today, collecting adventure and mystery in this spectacular anthology. Explore the rich tradition begun centuries ago with this all-new compilation full of imagination and delights. What lies beyond the edge of the unknown? Only you, brave listener, can find out.

This invaluable collection of Avram Davidson's resonant, witty short stories describes some incidents in the career of many-times-Doctor Engelbert Eszterhazy, loyal subject of the Triune Monarchy of Scythia- Pannonia-Transbalkania, located in a 19th-century Europe whose political landscape will be, after a little reflection, familiar to most fantasy listeners. Enquire with Doctor Eszterhazy into curious matters: the lurley, the old woman who lived with a bear, gingerbread men, dancing goats, and more.

Maximillian Bacchus is the ringmaster, ruler, guide, and owner of what he considers the greatest show in the world. Traveling with a crocodile named Malachi, a trapeze girl named Ophelia, a strongman they call Hero (which is short for Hieronymus), and a clown named Domingo de Ybarrondo, who paints in a wagon pulled by a giant ibis bird, the troupe wanders from adventure to adventure with mythic aplomb.

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.

As the pace of modern life accelerates, the old ways wither and die. But to the Society for Magickal Heritage, that just isn’t good enough.

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.

* * * re released with new content * * * Sahvin Kazza, a Narovian feline humanoid was an alien undercover on Earth when he was kidnapped by alien slavers thinking he was human. He was sold into slavery and sent to the mines on Breskaa where he thought his life would end. Enter the Farseek Mercenaries, who are traveling through the Sargus Empire, searching for their stolen people who were kidnapped from Farseek and sold into slavery throughout the Empire. The mercenaries hate slavers and slavery, so while they are freeing their enslaved people, they free all the slaves on Breskaa. Savin ...

A Second Chance at Eden, by Peter F. Hamilton, the best-selling master of space opera, is a collection containing a novella and six short stories set in the Confederation Universe of the Night's Dawn trilogy. Sonnie's Edge appears within this collection, featured as part of the Love, Death + Robots series on Netflix.

Best known for such blockbuster film adaptations of his work as Blade Runner and Total Recall, Dick (1928…82) is an iconic figure in sf whose every written word remains of interest. This generous sampling of his early writings is an entirely original collection covering a wide variety of themes and settings, ranging from the near to the far future and from the earthly mundane to almost unimaginably exotic worlds.

Amidst the mist-shrouded hills of 15th-century Ireland, Vakeva roams the perilous back roads with her steadfast companion, Merlin—a donkey that pulls her rickety cart of precious wares. At just sixteen and orphaned, Vakeva ekes out a living, bartering between the English-controlled Dublin Pale and the pastoral interior of the Ireland that belongs to the Irish. Hers is a solitary journey, guided by her wits and the unyielding resolve of a survivor.

In a sleepy little town, five sleepy heads are ready for bed. As the children nod off, their dreams whisk them away on gentle adventures in the world of Sleepy Town. Sleepy Town is a town just like yours, but when the sun sets, the magical creatures come out to play. Mermaids swim around the bay, unicorns play in the magic forest, and dragons soar softly above the town, protecting the children from bad dreams. These stories are the perfect calming tool to share before or after your bedtime story, as part of your nightly routine.

The undersea city of Etrusia has been deliberately infected with the plague. With no one to man the controls, the air supply is severely compromised. Implosion is imminent. Draggar took over when the provisional government failed, and is trying to save the lives of as many people as he can, but without help, he knows his task is futile. Rumor has it that Quildor commissioned the refitting of a Great Ship that can leave the planet. If it exists, can Draggar find it in time? And if so, can it get to the surface before the aftershocks of implosion destroy it? In this essential companion to The...

In the Year 2889 by Jules Verne is a diary of the observations of Fritz Napoleon Smith, the editor of an influential futuristic newspaper. It is an action-packed tale of technological advances and science fiction scenarios. Some of the predictions were remarkably accurate.

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.

Penniless, homeless, and virtually lifeless, the vagrant “Doughface” Jack is about to discover that where medical marvels meet the mysteries of the human mind, amazing things happen. The Tramp acquires a capability beyond his imagination and without equal on Earth. Riding the rails, Jack runs afoul of a local sheriff and ends up with a crushed skull. He’s as good as dead until a savvy country doctor performs a bit of medical magic.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Empire State Building has vanished into thin air! Gone, too, are Grant’s Tomb and Grand Central Station, and all hell is breaking loose in New York City! What’s the story? One grizzled old newspaper reporter known simply as Pop - a role made for Walter Matthau - is on top of it...and better stay there, because his livelihood is on the line. If Pop fails to get to the bottom of the vanishing landmarks, his job will disappear as well - and land in the hands of the newspaper publisher’s son-in-law.

A Fantasy Short Story Amidst a world where only the powerful leaders hold the ability to grant wishes, Rachel, a curious young woman, stumbles upon a crystal that gives her the power to fulfill her deepest desires. With her newfound ability, Rachel must grapple with the immense responsibility and potential consequences that come with her actions. Will she risk everything to fulfill her own wishes, or will she find a greater purpose in using her powers for the betterment of others? “The Forbidden Wish" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys fantasy short stories of adventure, self-discovery,...

As with all the Crimzon and Clover tales, this is a short story of about 25 standard book pages. In this episode, Crimzon and Clover have settled in the mountains of Kar, where King Amothy rules the men, and tribes of savage Karsithian giants roam the peaks. To enlarge their hoard our beloved dragon and his rider have started taking sacks of kingdom jewels for odd jobs here and there. Jobs such as searching out lost trade ships and keeping the Karsithian fighters from harassing the good people of the realm. Things get out of hand after some dwarven miners in Crimzon's employ are killed for ...