The age from which they spring has nearly drawn to a close. Yet some noble work remains to be done before the end. They come on, knowing that anything left undone, any chance let slide cannot be paid forward. Their game bags are heavy with a wealth meant to nourish the reader through the leanest of times. Four tales of a once-and-future apocalypse. Two meditations to challenge you to play harder in an already hard world. Introduced by Misha Burnett. Some say they are other than human; they...

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Fall of Angels continues his bestselling fantasy series the Saga of Recluce, which is one of the most popular in contemporary epic fantasy.Nylan, an engineer and builder, plans to raise a great tower on the plateau known as the Roof of the World. Here, he and the exiled women warriors will live and survive to fulfill their destiny, spawning a revolutionary new society. But Nylan must learn to control his growing power in order to do so...

A bonus short story featuring Silhara and Martise from Master of Crows.In The Light Within, Silhara of Neith, now known as "the god-smiter," travels as the guest of honor to the winter festival of his father's people.The crow mage who destroyed one god must ignite sacred fires in honor of another. Yet the winter festival only reminds Silhara that the brightest light within him isn't the fire of a deity but the devotion of one woman.A tale of hope and celebration.

From F.C. Yee, the New York Times bestselling author of Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi and Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Shadow of Kyoshi, comes a thrilling new chapter in the Chronicles of the Avatar series.Yangchen’s inexperience may prove to be her greatest asset . . .Plagued by the voices of Avatars before her for as long as she can remember, Yangchen has not yet earned the respect felt for A...

Experience the incredible adventure and heart-stopping romance of the Iron Seas in this thrilling steampunk tale from New York Times bestselling author Meljean Brook.The Kraken King, Part VIIIThe Kraken King and the Greatest AdventureArriving in Krakentown with their enemies in hot pursuit, Zenobia doesn’t know how they can even hope to win. Being terrified brings forth an undeniable truth: she loves Ariq and will ...

One hundred thousand years ago. In the wake of the apparent self-destruction of the alien Forerunner empire, two humans—Chakas and Riser—are like flotsam washed up on very strange shores indeed. Captured by the Forerunner known as the Master Builder and then misplaced during a furious battle in space, Chakas and Riser now find themselves on an inverted world, where horizons rise into the sky and humans of all kinds are trapped in a perilous cycle of horror and neglect. The...

Book six in the Gandalara Cycle, the fantasy adventure series that "as a whole is possibly the best of its kind in many years" ( SF Chronicle).After a meteor explosion, Rikardon wakes in a new body—and in a strange desert land named Gandalara, where a sacred gem known as the Ra'ira grants its owner the power to rule—or to destroy . . .Victory is sweet—but for Rikardon and Tarani, it is all too brief. Although they have retrieved the sword of the King...

THE TWO FACES OF NAILL RENFROImpoverished and without hope, Naill Renfro sells himself into indentured servitude, and is transported across the galaxy to the far-off jungle world of Janus. Naill hopes to work off his debt and begin his life again. But the harsh masters of Janus are destroying the priceless treasures of the planet's ancient culture—and when Naill, entranced by the beauty of an alien artifact, is caught trying to hide it, he is exiled and left to die in the jungle.

Darweena must choose to fight for the Forest Folk in an epic battle against the beasts. Will she choose love over her home? A short story of 3700 words.

New York Times Notable Book: A far-future coming-of-age tale from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Grand Master of Science Fiction."One of the world's finest stylists and storytellers." — San Antonio Express-News"What wonders and adventures he has to tell us," is how Ursula K. Le Guin characterized the work of Robert Silverberg, and in The Longest Way Home, he takes readers on a...

Aided only by the powers of the Diadem, Aleytys must battle a powerful corporation to save an endangered planet, in this thrilling science fiction adventure.Author Jo Clayton's sensational space opera saga continues in this fourth magnificent excursion to the universe of the Diadem as her incomparable heroine lands in the center of a devastating conflict between an insidious planet-devouring corporate entity and native forest folk and city dwellers who are facing e...

Intergalactic voyager-turned-mercenary Aleytys risks death on a planet overrun by madmen in the thrilling fifth installment of the Diadem Saga.Brave and beautiful Aleytys has been gifted with mental abilities far beyond those of ordinary humans—thanks to her genetic heritage as a homo superior Vyrhh as well as the alien technology she wears called the Diadem, which, once donned, can never be removed. Her long, strange journey across the galaxy in search of...