He seamlessly weaves a crazy-quilt of characters who – despite being a little lost and befuddled by the world – have moments of chandelier insight into their own human hearts. Reminiscent of Raymond Carver’s Little Things and Kim Chinquee’s Oh Baby, Glass Animals is a work of sparkling vision and compressed and surprising language – all put to work to reveal a world where everything’s at stake. Lori Jakiela, author of ‘Miss New York Has Everything’ Ramey takes on the richness of his charac...

She was cold, she was alone, and she knew she was going to die.In the middle of an epic ice storm, Kitty Stevenson, an eccentric old woman, self-exiled to rural Canada from New York society, realizes that she is having a heart attack. She had survived Nazi Germany – she can survive this too. Her neighbors mount a heroic effort to save her. She lives to tell her tale of self-reliance, incredible wealth, poverty, and escape on the eve of a World War. Kitty is ultimately confronted by...

This month we have stories that are all about people who never expected to be in the positions they find themselves in. This can mean anything from being trapped inside a dragon, to being trapped on a slab in the morgue. To each their own, and whatnot. FICTION VORTEX: Founded in the 277th year of the Takolatchni Dynasty, Fiction Vortex set out to encourage people to write and publish great speculative fiction. It sprang fully formed from the elbow of...

In this jaw-dropping sequel to Witch & Wizard, Whit and Wisty lead the Resistance in facing their most daunting challenge yet.When Whit and Wisty were imprisoned by the wicked forces of the totalitarian regime known as the New Order, they were barely able to escape with their lives. Now part of a hidden community of teens like themselves, Whit and Wisty have established themselves as leaders of the Resistance, willing to sacrifice anything to save kidnappe...

Planets, stars, and constellations feature prominently in this beautiful, original poetry collection from Lang Leav. Inspired by the wonders of the universe, the best-selling poetess writes about love and loss, hope and hurt, being lost and found. Lang's poetry encompasses the breadth of emotions we all experience and evokes universal feelings with her skillfully crafted words.

"The Desecrator" is an original short story from the Draegaran Empire, by bestselling author Stephen Brust. This is a tale of the Hawklord Daymar, and of a particular Morganti blade. Vlad Taltos fans will enjoy new insight into Stephen Brust's fantasy series.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

I'm an illusionist, not a psychic.Going on TV is supposed to advance my career, but things go wrong.Like vampires and zombies kind of wrong.My name is Sasha Urban, and this is how I learned what I am.

Linked to a mage she hates, Freddy is willing to trade all the power of the demon zone to get her freedom.Freddy was born to take the mantle of hellhound, but she wasn't fond of the idea. Wearing the responsibility to atone for the work of a homicidal ancestor, Freddy is the eleventh generation tied to the victim's family, and being bonded to a mage halfway around the world is tiring.At a moment's notice, Freddy can be yanked from an event or her own bed and pulled across th...

Since 2006, Clarkesworld Magazine has been entertaining science fiction and fantasy fans with their brand of unique science fiction and fantasy stories. Collected here are all of the original stories this Hugo Award-winning magazine published during their fifth year. Included in this volume are twenty-four stories by visionary writers of short fiction, including Ken Liu, Nnedi Okorafor, Robert Reed, N.K. Jemisin, Yoon Ha Lee, E. Lily Yu, and more!CONTENTS

NIGHTMARE is an online horror and dark fantasy magazine. In Nightmare's pages, you will find all kinds of horror fiction, from zombie stories and haunted house tales, to visceral psychological horror.This month, we have original fiction from Megan Arkenberg ("The Crowgirl") and Norman Partridge ("10/31: Bloody Mary"), along with reprints by Kaaron Warren ("All You Can Do Is Breathe") and Alaya Dawn Johnson ("The Score"). We also have the latest installment of our column on horror, ...

When little Rosemary finds a beautiful, magical-looking flower hidden away in her grandmother's dresser, she sets out to explore the woods near her home to find another like it. What she finds instead is Meriandor the Elf. Meriandor is stranded here on earth and needs Rosemary's help to get back to Elvenhome in the stars where his family lives. Rosemary is sort of stranded, too. Her parents are getting a divorce and she has decided to stay at her grandparents' house, instead of going home....

LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF--and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.This month, we have original science fiction by A. Merc Rustad ("Longing for Stars Once Lost," with an original cover illustration by Reiko Murakami) and Adam-Troy Castr...