An unexpected demand by the powerful Rhysa throws fragile treaty negotiations into a turmoil. Tasked with brokering an interspecies marriage of alliance between humans and Rhysians, Earth's negotiation team finds themselves caught in an interstellar re-enactment of Beauty and the Beast - one demanding personal sacrifices to ensure peace, and where no one will be magically transformed in the end.(a novelette by Leigh Saunders, Writers of the Future contest Finalist)

Janek, Grand Vizir of Kushar, has done the unthinkable, kidnapping the last known weather witches – the twin daughters of the Gerlachi king – in an effort to claim the gift of their bloodline magic for the Kushari people.But rumors of weather witches in Kushar are spreading, sending Zoya, spymaster of Tzigane, on a quest to learn if they are, in fact, her queen’s missing sisters.At the same time, the twins, chafing at the gilded cage of their long confinement, have demands ...

A collection of oddly food-centric science fiction & fantasy short storiesIncludes:Stone SoupTo feed her family, Trishla is willing to pay the price for her magic.Hard TimesTara sees aliens all the time - at work, in the supermarket, even panhandling on the side of the road.A Domestic Wine and CassouletDavid Masaryk is a stranded alien trying - unsucce...

For centuries, the weather witches have ruled Nizam, protecting the oasis city from the devastating sandstorms that threaten its existence.But the aging queen is dying, and Yolara, the heir to the throne, does not possess the gift of weather magic found only in her family line. Hers is the power over stone, the ability to command the shifting sands - but not the winds that drive them across the desert.Will those who question Yolara's right to rule be proven right? Or can Yo...

A collection of science fiction short storiesIncludes:RUMORS OF MY DEATH - Kim Taylor never expected to read his own obituary in the newspaper. Or that he would have trouble proving he was still very much alive.FIRSTDAWN - The discovery of Misha Kif's real identity as the Synth, Brianna Rei, puts a longstanding friendship to the test.TENDRILS - Oma knows the humans on the ...

Hide in plain sight: that’s master thief Misha Kif’s strategy for survival. Keeping her true identity as a genetically altered Synth secret with a bounty on her head from everyone in the Hundred Worlds except her partner in life and partner in crime, Jerrold McKell. After all, what’s life but risk, right?Smuggler-thief Jerrold McKell knew how to work alone. And then Misha Kif entered his life and turned it upside down. But when th...

Tour guide, emissary, diplomat, thief -- and a long-lived, genetically engineered Synth -- Brianna Rei travels the Hundred Worlds, hiding in plain sight. She knows her survival depends on staying one step ahead of the bounty hunters who have nearly exterminated her kind.All that changes when she teams up with fellow-thief, Jerrold McKell, and he discovers her true identity. Now Brianna must choose between trust and survival, and what it means to be truly human.

Cats distract us. Cats make us think of things outside of ourselves. And cats love to involve themselves in human affairs.In this omnibus volume of WMG Publishing's notable series, The Year of the Cat, felines of all stripes pounce and play and stalk through 100 cat stories in genres ranging from light romance to dark crime and everything in between.Entertaining cats, loving cats, even super-talented and time-traveling cats grace the pages of these twelve volumes edited by ...

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...

It's time to turn the "man and his dog wandering through a dystopian world” trope on its head, and tell the stories about cats and their women - their badass women!Cat Ladies of the Apocalypse wanders through broken worlds with stories of survival, technology, magic, and sheer determination. But – like their cats – the authors frequently slipped out the upstairs window or knocked things off of countertops, and their stories are stronger for it.In these pages, cats help thei...

In this latest volume of Fiction River, editor Dean Wesley Smith pulls together an eclectic but cohesive group of stories filled with difficult decisions. From a man who must question the line between justice and vengeance to a teenage fixer fighting hypocrisy to a post-apocalyptic survivor’s mission to deliver one last message, each of these stories demonstrates extremely hard choices—and some very real consequences.“The Fiction River series is a wonderful mind-expanding read…”

The end of the world might come in many forms: ecological disaster, alien invasion, cosmic chaos…the possibilities for destruction seem endless. So, how will those facing the end of the world deal with impending doom? The fourteen talented authors of Fiction River’s latest volume explore just that. From an intrepid adventurer fleeing a world-destroying terror to a man who discovers the most savage destroyers of civilization are closer than he thought, to a chilling tale of our whole planet...