Fantasy World

The time spent clearing the city of Westia was beneficial for all the immortals, making them stronger. But Lox is restless. Not wanting to settle down in the city they were building for the immortals, he leaves the city behind in search of new magic and wanders out in the Shattered Continent. Lox soon finds himself in the magical city of Mardis Dane. Floating in the clouds, the city is everything Lox hoped it would be, full of magic and mysteries. But all is not well, and soon unknown forces will ravage this wondrous city...

"Something Passed By", a story by Robert McCammon, was originally published in his short fiction collection Blue World and was selected for inclusion in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Third Annual Collection.

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.

Four men want her. They refuse to share. Punished for trying to save her sister’s life, Hannah is sentenced to Narkos, A planet of dangerous criminals. She’s auctioned to four convicts Who hate each other. Who don’t want to share. And they’re not the only ones who want her. Her survival depends on uniting her men. Will they use her body? Yes Will they try to control her? Yes Will they bend her to their will? Definitely Until she learns how to bend them to hers… One by one, they claim her. One by one, she shatters their walls. This is her unit. Love will be enough to tame her ...

Saba Vasili, a scholar of the astral sea, faces a harrowing accusation: an arcane device he designed has malfunctioned and an entire district of the city has been obliterated and a foreign dignitary has been killed. Charged with murder, Saba is incarcerated on the orders of Byrengrad's ruling council, the Triad. Ambassador Luan Zek of the Rezwyn Empire is dispatched to take custody of the alleged murderer of his countryman. But seeing Saba's pathetic state, Zek questions whether Saba is truly guilty or only the Triad's scapegoat.

In the distant future, an ancient evil awaits the world. The apocalypse had come close to wiping humanity from the face of the Earth. Technology had been destroyed and chaos had ruled unchecked. But then the mysterious and god-like Traveller had appeared. He'd founded the forbidden Time Temple and had restored order to the world. Then over the next three centuries, he'd carefully reintroduced technology allowing civilization to rise from the ashes. He'd also given the Temple’s reclusive priests and Time-Wardens certain prophecies. A thousand years later another catastrophe is nigh; except...

Michael reaches Nexus, but finds advancing more challenging than he’d anticipated. Factions abound, allegiances shift, and separating truth from lies is harder than ever. The line between friend and foe blurs, and Michael’s path grows murkier. Nexus is a place of both opportunity and danger. Sitting at the heart of the world, the city is home to thousands—ordinary people, players, but Powers too. Can Michael remain free of their clutches, or will he become entangled in the Powers’ machinations? Will Nexus be the death of Michael?

Layna Preston was a high school senior preparing for graduation and accept a full scholarship to MIT. Pretty and a brilliant math and science student, she couldn’t wait to be free from her life of ridicule and torment by her two younger sisters who continuously belittled her in front of her friends while their mother simply ignored their behavior. Layna’s favorite escape was to visit the local planetarium on weekends. When it got dark out, she sat on the back porch at night to gaze up at the night sky. She often saw strange sights: flickering lights that moved in odd directions before ...

When murder and sabotage imperil the time-sensitive and top-secret mission of a team of civilian scientists, Starfleet deploys Captain Christopher Pike and the Enterprise crew to Kathara Station, a classified research facility located above the accretion disk of a black hole. Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley soon discovers the station’s director, Valkeya, is hiding secrets—but so is Captain Pike, who many years earlier visited this same black hole on a mission that went tragically wrong, and whose consequences have haunted him ever since.

Born into one of the most powerful families in the galaxy, Sam Warpwell has always carried the weight of expectations. Groomed for a future in politics, his path seemed set in stone—until a whirlwind of betrayal, love, and duty upends his world. In his final year, two remarkable women enter Sam’s life: Carol Comet, a principled Star Legion cadet and daughter of an industrial magnate, and Cybil Orban, the ambitious daughter of his father’s political rival.

Against all odds, Rob and the Deserters have survived their second encounter with the eldritch abomination–known as the Blight–only for Rob to make first contact with the gods of Elatra in a very...aggressive way. His enemies keep on piling up, and things are looking to get even tougher from here on out. If Rob and his friends want to survive their upcoming trials, they'll need to gain Levels, make new allies, and travel to the ends of the world and back again.

When Alice Verianna went to sleep, she was just another teen from the Denver suburbs. She definitely didn't expect to be transported to a magical alternate dimension, inhabited by monsters and presided over by a mysterious System. Here, people resemble RPG characters and everyone has access to their own status screens. Grappling with the mechanics of the elusive System isn't the only challenge Alice faces. It seems an underground organization known as the Society of Starry Eyes has taken a particular interest in other dimensions.

Annora thought the worst that could happen was behind her...until it's discovered that her blood carries the cure to death. Now people will go to any extreme to get their hands on her. Instead of escaping her past, she ends up dragging her guys into hell with her. When one of her men is taken, her world comes crashing down. Her psychic connection to him is the only thing keeping him alive - barely. To get him back, she must turn herself over to the enemy, knowing she would be facing a lifetime of slavery.

Never step in a fairy ring. Those sweet little mushroom rings that seem so harmless are actually patches of Fairy bleeding over into our world. Under Council Law, these rings are pieces of Fairy, and anything that happens within them are outside of Extinguisher jurisdiction. So, when humans start disappearing and a connection is made to fairy-rings, the Human Council's hands are tied. The Extinguishers can't protect humans who willingly enter Fairy... but Ambassador Seren Firethorn can. Seren is called in to investigate, and what begins as a case of missing persons progresses into something...

It had been 12 months since the worst day in Russell’s life. The anniversary of his daughter’s death sent him into the bottle. He loved his wife, but they grieved in different ways. Would the pain ever stop? Sarah missed Russell. She lay in bed unable to sleep. The heartache had nearly broken her, too, but Sarah didn’t want their marriage to end. If she could just get him to stop drinking. Could they learn to live again?

In the Void beyond Aster Fall, Sam stands watch at the fortress of Silverguard, protecting the world from an ancient enemy. His strength as an Astral Titan is all that stands between it and destruction. Meanwhile, dimensional cracks are spreading through the World Seal, the barrier that protects Aster Fall from invasion by the Outsider galaxy. Flaws are appearing with increasing frequency as demonic armies flood through, including old enemies from the First War. If the seal fails completely, Aster Fall will break and disaster will follow.

After stumbling upon a portal.... ... a universe of magic and science exploration becomes possible, and life is never the same again. Bored in science class for the hundredth time, Noah stares out the window until a strange noise catches his attention—one that no one else seems to hear. Following the sound, he sneaks out, only to find a gateway to another dimension right before his eyes... and then it all gets a little crazy... But just when Noah fears he’s destined to be trapped in a parallel universe all alone, he discovers a world brimming with new friends, wondrous discoveries, and ...

A chain, a portal, and darkness. That was all it took for Rob's life to go from the mundanity of college to being forced to survive in a hostile fantasy world full of horribly mutated creatures. Despite discovering civilization and making allies, his newfound home was sadly short-lived, leaving the survivors to pick up the pieces and make for greener pastures. Having won the respect of the locals via a heroic almost-sacrifice, Rob travels with them, recognizing the importance of having people around to watch your back.

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home 17-year-old Fable has ever known. It's been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day, her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive, she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew.

Marlin is not slow or mute; he is a stutterer, and that makes it impossible for him to convince people otherwise. He is also a Rackham: the youngest son of the world-famous explorer Roland Rackham, who is the owner and proprietor of the Zoo at the Edge of the World, a resort where the well to do from all over the world can come to experience the last bit of the wild left in the world at the end of the nineteenth century.