A fateful duel makes him an outlaw...... and a demon turns him into a hero.Thus begins Ken'ishi’s epic journey to discover his past and find service with a worthy master.Amid ruthless crime lords, capricious spirits, and Mongol spies, Ken'ishi is an orphan and a ronin, a samurai without a master, tossed on the waves of fate and fortune.His only link to his past is Silver Crane, his father's sword, a blade that holds its secr...

Water has always intrigued humanity. We walk along the shores and banks of oceans and waterways, take boats across the surface, or swim in the waters.But water hides secrets - including those of the creatures that live in its depths...- What if mermaids really do exist, and they lure men to their deaths?- Why might bodies suddenly start washing up on shores all around the world?- What if you discovered a lost girl is the daughter of a water spirit?This...

His sword hides a deadly secret.But to tell him, it wants blood in payment.The sword called Silver Crane knows Ken'ishi's hidden past, the heritage he himself does not.When Silver Crane is stolen, he must recover it all cost, or else Kazuko, the woman he loves, will die.Kazuko is in love with this ronin she can never have, trapped in a political marriage with a powerful samurai lord.But her husband's scheming chamber...

Amid the ashes of the Civil War, a Yankee minister boards an airship, little knowing that his world, maybe even his soul, will be destroyed.When Willem and his family arrive in Key West, even the Union troops can't protect them from a gang of vicious, Confederate swamp rats, led by man called "Smilin'" Jack Welch, who's decided Willem's teenage daughter should belong to him.Deep in the Everglades, a sorceress has foreseen the coming of a righteous man who'l...

Magic. It hides under our unsuspecting noses, and swirls all around us.In STREET MAGIC, fifteen urban fantasy authors invite you to walk with one foot in the mundane world, and one in... another world.And if what you see there seems a little out of the ordinary, it's probably magic.Contains stories by Meyari McFarland, Mike Jack Stoumbos, Douglas Smith, J.L. Madore, Travis Heermann, Jessica Guernsey, Jena Rey, Taylen Carver, Tina Back, C.E. Barnes, Leigh Saunders, S...

Ken'ishi's dream just became a nightmare...He finds service with a powerful samurai lord... only to discover his lord is married to the only woman Ken'ishi has ever loved.And the underworld crime boss known as Green Tiger threatens to expose all their secrets.In a world of ancient gods, shapeshifting animals, and capricious spirits, Ken'ishi must discover the secret of his mysterious past in order to battle the Mongol horde of Khubilai Khan, or else the woman he lov...

Ken'ishi, a young ronin, travels through the wild countryside to the fortress of his new master, and encounters two strangers--one who demands his head, and the other, his heart. Which will he lose first?

When the mask comes off, can you handle what's underneath?When your secret identity is revealed …When the monster is unleashed …When the superhero's child has no power …When Death himself is caught unawares …Pull back the mask to reveal 21 tales from seasoned and award-winning authors, of magical masks, gas masks, death masks, superheroes, secret identities, disguised robots, alien symbionts, a Napoleonic thief, a swindling demon—eve...

History offers many heroic tales of final battles. And in Last Stand, sixteen courageous authors offer their take on the topic. From a heartwarming tale of not-so-friendly business competition to a battle of the gods—sort of—for the fate of the world to a tale of looking for love in all the wrong places. These inventive stories make Last Stand one of the most creative—and memorable—Fiction River volumes yet.“Editor Dean Wesley Smith has compiled an outstanding volume ... I highly r...

Stars in the Darkness is a collection of stories about why being just matters, and what the ramifications are for individuals, groups, towns, countries, or even worlds if justice is not expected, encouraged, or enforced.The stories cover a wide range, from historical fiction to fantasy to alternate realities. Every tale, whether set in ancient Egypt, in a future where only the rich can afford to increase their children’s intelligence through genetic engineering, or about a man turn...

The intricacies of chess meet the matchless Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Stories of doors, of passages, of patterns. Squares and threats, moves and counter-moves. Forbidden knowledge and cosmic horrors.... Two young lovers and the hand that plays them... A man trapped with an unwholesome companion uncovers the secret of a cosmic struggle... A professor and his protégé find themselves pawns on an ancient chessboard... A young Soviet boy's chess match holds the f...

When Alicia Clark's unarmed teenage son was shot by police, the tragedy of that event turned her into an community activist, but now there are those who wish to silence her.On Halloween night, a horrifying "practical joke" escalates into something deadly--until the dead take action.