Fantasy Realism

The collected fantasy stories of World Fantasy Award winner S.P. Somtow — a half century of his acclaimed work brought together in a single volume. From rural America to exotic Bangkok, from ancient history to contemporary times — and sometimes both within the same story — Somtow's world betray a limitless imagination and the finely honed writing that has brought him numerous awards during his half-century writing career. Beginning with his first fantasy story from the 1970s, Fire from the Wine-dark Sea to his most recent tales, this collection is a a treasure chest.

Cursed. Maisie Cothay has never known the feel of human flesh: born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, she has spent her childhood sequestered in her family’s manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie’s father, an anthropologist who sees her as more experiment than daughter, has warned Maisie not to venture into the wood. Locals talk of men disappearing within, emerging with addled minds and strange stories.

The world of culinary magic is about to implode as the greatest threat to their secret existence is carried—well, dragged—into this delectable second installment of the Hex Kitchen series. Kidnapped by the very group meant to protect her, Kenzie finds herself in another cooking tournament. This time, though, the stakes are higher. Every meal she cooks could be her last. If she’s going to survive, she’ll need to do the one thing she swore she’d never do again. Use her magic to kill. Braxton is facing his own battle. Each step that brings him closer to Kenzie jeopardizes his family....

What is truth when nothing is real Hidden away in the Gulf of Mexico lies an island with a dark past. Once a haven for bootleggers and outlaws, Oyster Island now hosts the renovated Majestic Hotel & Casino. It’s not only the living that calls this place home. Ghosts, ghouls, and creatures of the night roam freely, haunting the island’s residents and visitors. One fateful night, a magical flying unicorn visits Odette Mouton and takes her on a wild ride to the island’s backside, where she discovers a time portal. Guided by a time-walking calico cat, she embarks on a journey that blurs ...

Samantha O’Conor Clark lost her belief in story magic long before her husband left. Now it’s all up to her. She must stay in control. In spite of her efforts her daughter is spiraling, and a vicious beast threatens Samantha in her sleep. In the midst of it all, story calls to Samantha. She even thinks she sees Sorchae, the bright fairy from Granddad’s stories. Real or imagined, Sorchae encourages Samantha to write again. When bits of her written words bleed into real life, she’s forced to face the magic. But can she trust it when all may be lost for her daughter? Aisling Clark’s ...

The whole town was scared of the “Torching Iron Cans”. Can Goja and Sobo help Mahamaya and Yogomaya and rescue the town? Dayadhaam was a town built by its settlers. Goja and Sobo were curious about scary sisters Yogomaya and Mahamaya like everyone else in Dayadhaam, though the threat came from outside. Torching Iron Cans tried to confine the people of Dayaadhaam. They choked the trade routes along River Dayaa and they kept burning down the townspeople to ashes if the townspeople displeased them with their questions. Dienee of Dayaadhaam is the fifth book in The Real Bengal Fantasy ...

In a forgotten corner of western Kentucky lies a haunted forest referred to locally as "The Deadening", where vampire cults roam wild and time is immaterial. Our protagonist and his accomplice - the one and only Carver Canute - set out down the Old Spur Line in search of the legendary Kudzu House, where an old couple is purported to have been swallowed whole by a hungry vine.

Magic is dark. Evil is mayhem. I’m Siobhan Riordan, and my life is an unending nightmare. I was living a fairy-tale, until I found my husband brutally slain. Ever since then I’ve been raising our three-year-old son on my own and just trying to get by. But I can’t hide any longer. There’s a mysterious plague going around my town, an illness that causes people to go mad just before the end. Even worse, I’m being stalked, though I don’t know by who. Doctor Steven Breslin seems like the only one who can help, though he has secrets I’m not ready to uncover.

Elizabeth had always believed there was nothing more magical than the precious gift of love...even now in the heart of danger, she still believed it...she always would. After telling the story of Simon's magical cowboy ranch for more years than she cared to count, Elizabeth Fountaine wondered if there might be more to the fanciful fairy-tale than being an elaborate bedtime story to tell children. More than ever before, she very much needed for even just a small piece of the fairy-tale to be real. Kellyn had always loved Elias Stratton with all her heart and probably always would. She'd ...

Everyone at Redstone High is talking about the strange Brock kids. How they keep to themselves at school—and spend way too much time in the woods. But Noble, Argus, Harlan and Tora aren’t normal teens—they were born with the power to become wolves. And the more the siblings try to hide their secret identity, the greater they struggle to fit in. Then Noble falls mysteriously ill, leaving the pack without a leader just when he’s needed the most…

"An intriguing, genre-blending adventure." —IndieReader An Independent Press Award Winner, Distinguished Favorite of 2022 Good guy Gabe Mendes thinks understanding love will make him happy. So he's made a deal. In exchange for access to the universe of love, he agrees to slay the black ram. But soon he learns, being unlucky in love isn't his only problem. Turns out—love isn't what he thinks it is. By the time Gabe stumbles across the website of the alluring, though mature, Pythia—mystic and high priestess—he's already failed miserably in love yet again. Raised by a hardworking ...

In the bustling city of 1920s New York, where the streets are alive with jazz and the air is thick with opportunity, Zelda thought she had found her perfect match in the charming Eli. But little did she know, their whirlwind romance would lead her down a dangerous path. As Eli's dark secrets come to light, Zelda finds herself caught in the crosshairs of his powerful boss, the infamous Snake-Eye. With her life in danger, she turns to the mysterious Alder for help. But his solution comes with a hefty price - transformation into a living doll. Trapped in a ragdoll body, Zelda's once vibrant ...

Her Christmas started with a talking puppy, a cynical cat, and a man in her pear tree—what could possibly go wrong? Mary’s holiday plans were simple: avoid drama, stay cozy, and binge Christmas movies with her pets. But those plans crumble when her cat and dog start talking, waking her up to see the man in her backyard pear tree. Parch T. Ridge is an elf, here to show her that the Twelve Days of Christmas can come true for some people. Particularly when St. Nicholas himself personally adds his twist to the holiday. Mary is a little slow—it takes her until the third day before she ...

Never set your foot in a hexed property—especially, when the land has a resident zombie ready to strike you! FREE on Kindle Unlimited! If Fio Valentine has learned one thing working for Quest Realty, it’s that dealing with haunted and hexed properties can be a real nightmare. When her friend Suze asks her to investigate an abandoned home in LA, she can’t refuse, so with Andy Russel from the Property Management Department and her spirit animal Champ, Fio takes on the case of a zombie-like ghost who may be what remains of the former owner’s estranged son. After an encounter with the ...

Eleanor Zarrin has been distanced from her family for years. When she returns home after a violent incident at boarding school, trying to fit back into the space she left becomes even more difficult when their headstrong matriarch unexpectedly dies. Eleanor's bloodthirsty family is left unchecked for the first time in decades, and when her Grandmere arrives to help the family adjust, it's clear that something dark is lurking beneath her genteel exterior.

Rachel hates her life. So when her boyfriend David goes to a music festival in England she decides to surprise him - but she gets a nasty shock of her own. Hurt and angry, Rachel makes a wish- and finds herself in someone else's shoes! Can she keep the swap a secret? And will she ever be herself again? Over the course of a very weird weekend, Rachel puts herself in someone else's shoes and finds that her own maybe weren't as uncomfortable as she'd always thought. But can she ever be herself again?

A winter’s night, Venice, 1815. A 217-year-old dog is searching for his lost master. So begins the journey of Tomorrow, a dog who must travel through the courts and battlefields of Europe - and through the centuries - in search of the man who granted him immortality. His adventures take him to the London Frost Fair, the strange court of King Charles I, Versailles, the golden age of Amsterdam, and to 19th-century Venice. Tomorrow befriends both animals and humans, falls in love (only once), marvels at the human ability to make music, despairs at their capacity for war....

Ciera’s the best fairy godmother in all the land… …but she’s hiding a secret. Not only is she pregnant, but she’s magically pregnant with a human child. Humans are not allowed in the fairy realm. Period. That includes half-fairy/half-human babies. The only solution is to give the baby to its father before the Fairy Council finds out her secret. Finding the father will be easy. How many men named John could possibly live in a little town called Chicago? Scroll up and 1-click this romantic paranormal fairy tale now! (Also available for free through Kindle Unlimited) Other books in ...

As a Gracekeeper, Callanish administers shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean. Alone on her island, she has exiled herself to a life of tending watery graves as penance for a long-ago mistake that still haunts her. Meanwhile, North works as a circus performer with the Excalibur, a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance.

In a short rom-com, the Devil finds Hell’s in jeopardy when unknown to him a man with a good heart sells his soul to him in exchange for lottery tickets, so he can go to Hell and do good deeds.