Fantasy Adventure Short Stories

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.

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.

Use your best Rod Serling impression as you read on. Imagine if you will a collective of short stories written to remove status quo blindfolds. See life through the eyes of those possessing perspectives that elude the norm. These stories are sometimes whimsical or disturbing, all aimed at provoking thought beyond these narratives. The eyes of a field mouse, an electron, or a murderer will be yours in Thirty Blinding White Flashes. How you interpret what you have viewed could initiate your own thirty blinding white flashes.

The vampire Orpheus can’t wait to check out Coco Lau’s gallery, especially since the main attraction is his irreplaceable artifact, one she stole right out from under his nose. This thief prefers to think of herself as an art liberator—a great art liberator. But her last heist backfired, and the results are devastating… with a devastatingly handsome Orpheus on her trail. Vexxed by his inability to influence her and entranced by her raw sensuality, Orpheus vows to crack Coco’s secrets. Threatening to expose her thievery and forgeries. The indomitable Coco calls his bluff, unwilling...

Waking up with no memory of his past, a man finds purpose within a resistance, drawn to their fight against Drekar, the Lich Lord threatening to consume the continent, turning anyone who opposed him undead. But when fragments of his past resurface, he uncovers a chilling possibility. This revelation shakes his identity and compromises the very cause he’s sworn to fight for. As he grapples with betrayal, destiny, and the battle for his own soul, his journey forces him to confront the question—can he defy the role he was born into, or is he bound to the will of another after all?

Fortune hunter Billy Newman is not a man of great strength or physical courage. Like a young Johnny Depp, he gets by on his wit, wiles and good looks. And he’s had quite a good run—striking gold in the Philippines and buying his very own island in the South Seas. . . . But there’s trouble in paradise, and Billy’s in the thick of it. The island’s crops are failing. The island’s people are dying. And the island’s owner—Billy—is taking the heat. Why? Because he’s angered the 75-foot-tall big-boss god of the island.

Within this audiobook, you'll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical, taking us from the nightmarish reaches of the imagination to tales that will shock, surprise, and tug on the heart-strings. So, it's time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or...but no, wait. By picking up this audiobook and starting to listen to it, you're already there, can't you see?

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.

A wide-ranging collection, these stories take readers on a journey through the wondrous and the worldly, the familiar and the fantastical. From vampires, fallen angels, and knights of lore, to lawyers, detectives, and school teachers, the characters walk with you, traversing the many and varied paths of the human psyche. Turn the pages, step forward onto the journey, leave behind your… Masks

Magic and mayhem collide in "The Tales of Tarn & Beck" short story collection. When Sir Pacaben from the Legends of Arria series unexpectedly appears through a magical portal, Tarn and Beck find themselves on a whirlwind mission to save their friends Cecily, Nutmeg, and Eric, trapped beneath the enchanted forest. Facing cultists, zombies, and vengeful gods, Nutmeg and Cecily must summon their courage to rescue Eric. Meanwhile, possessed by the god of destruction, Miranda and Carroll unleash chaos in the forest. Beck's long-lost father, Cedric, holds the key to stopping the chaos, but the ...

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...

"Master of the World" is a "black novel," filled with foreboding and fear of the rise of tyrants such as the novel's villain, Robur, and totalitarianism. Set in the summer of 1903, a series of unexplained events occur across the Eastern United States, caused by objects moving with such great speed that they are nearly invisible. The first-person narrator John Strock, "Head inspector in the federal police department" in Washington, DC, travels to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to investigate. He discovers that all the phenomena are being caused by Robur, a brilliant inventor.

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.

Join the adventure through dystopian worlds, to outer planets and into a speculative future. Welcome to the Future Days Anthology. Seventeen authors imagine a future with thrilling tales, starships, unlikely heroes, and exotic aliens, all of which combine to make Future Days a must-listen sci-fi fantasy short story collection.

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.

Priscilla was once a noble, but now she's nothing more than a merchant's daughter. Exiled from their once fruitful lives, the family has grown desperate to reclaim even a sliver of the wealth they once held. So desperate that Priscilla's father has decided to barter his daughter to the champion of the arena, Valencia, for one night. How will the fair Princess Priscilla fair against the brutish gladiator? Or perhaps Valencia isn't such the cutthroat thug that she imagines her to be? In either case, she's in for a surprise once the champion shows off her magical artifact.

It's dangerous to go alone! Take this. You are standing in a room filled with books, faced with a difficult decision. Suddenly, one with a distinctive cover catches your eye. It is a groundbreaking anthology of short stories from award-winning writers and game-industry titans who have embarked on a quest to explore what happens when video games and science fiction collide.

An anthology of original short fiction, ranging from Viking Fantasy, a two fisted pulp hero in the years before and leading up to WW2, a good old Space Opera and finally, a very different look at Vampires. This anthology has something for everyone!

Dive into Drunken Tales, where you can experience Eight comedic stories that follow Fujio, the local drunk of the Zaria Kingdom through his whimsical everyday life. Things sure do get chaotic. From challenging his crush to an intense game of Muggy Ball, to accidentally joining a cult whose only goal is to summon a demon, who knows what will happen? This novel is a One-shot Volume!

The Town of Ostton burned; this pleased Ephret. Meet Jano Borian, a quarterstaff-wielding vigilante who roams the continent of Hazaorok in search of people to aid and wrongs to right. Many take one look at his thuggish countenance and dismiss him as a common criminal, though his shining armor suggests a nobler ancestry. Both would be wrong of his origin, however: he is an enigmatic—and arguably deluded—figure driven by his faith to a god which may or may not exist. In the Aftdengal Forest, a giant elephantine tyrant named Ephret leads his army upon the town of Ostton, burning it and ...