Search Worlds Without End

We stand poised on the brink of godhood.

The knowledge and wisdom that modern scientific research offers can help us to take the next evolutionary step, and transform ourselves into a race of intelligent beings who truly understand themselves and the universe around them...

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: The Hero as Sociopath - (1978) - essay
• What Chariots of Which Gods? - (1974) - essay
• The Great Supersonic Zeppelin Race - (1974) - novelette
• Foeman, Where Do You Flee? - (1969) - novelette
• The Sightseers - (1973) - shortstory
• To Be or Not - shortstory
• The Lieutenant and the Folksinger - (1978) - shortstory
• The Secret Life of Henry K. - (1973) - shortstory
• The Man Who Saw "Gunga Din" Thirty Times - (1973) - shortstory
• The Man Who... - (1978) - novelette
• Priorities - (1971) - shortstory
• Those Who Can - (1978) - shortstory
• Build Me a Mountain - (1974) - shortstory
• The System - (1968) - shortstory
• Orion - (1977) - novelette
• The Future of Science: Prometheus, Apollo, Athena - (1974) - essay

This short story originally appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 2010. It can also be found in the anthology Year's Best SF 16 (2011), edited by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. The story is included in the collection Cracking the Sky (2015).

A crumbling alien civilization fights to stave off a final fall into barbarism, and human explorers must chose: will they help or standby and let a once high civilization fall?

On a dangerous planet, a crumbling alien civilization fights to stave off a final fall into barbarism. What's more, a human expedition has arrived to churn the mix even further. In a world where caste and mating are genetically determined, one rebel couple choose to pair bond and stay together. Their love will either determine a new pattern and way forward for their species -- or they may become the last of their kind. And now Indira Toledo, a human paleobiologist, must chose whether to introduce one of the oldest human cultural adaptations of all-war-to save a once high civilization from falling to ravaging barbarians.

Despite our tendency to think of the demonic as evil and the angelic as good, our own legends don't always bear this out. Angels can be the incarnation of light and salvation, but they can also fall - Satan himself is a fallen angel. Demons can be truly demonic, but these unearthly creatures can also, on occasion, lend humankind a hand. Temptation can lead to revelation, supernatural messengers who bring true justice may not be welcomed, and beings seeking redemption can be blind to mortal needs.

Stories from world-renowned authors of science fiction and fantasy - including Neil Gaiman, George R. R. Martin and Joyce Carol Oates - and rising stars portray angels in all their glory, demons at their most dreadful, and a surprising variety of modern interpretations of ancient myth.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Things Are Complicated - (2013) - essay by Paula Guran
• Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep - (1991) - novelette by Suzy McKee Charnas
• Stackalee - (1990) - short story by Norman Partridge
• Bed and Breakfast - (1996) - short fiction by Gene Wolfe
• Frumpy Little Beat Girl - (2010) - short story by Peter Atkins
• The Night of White Bhairab - (1984) - novelette by Lucius Shepard
• ...And the Angel with Television Eyes - (1983) - short story by John Shirley
• Lost Souls - (1986) - short story by Clive Barker
• Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel - (2008) - novelette by Peter S. Beagle
• Demon - (1996) - short story by Joyce Carol Oates
• Alabaster - (2006) - novelette by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• Sanji's Demon - (2010) - novelette by Richard Parks
• Oh, Glorious Sight - (2001) - novelette by Tanya Huff
• Angel - (1987) - short story by Pat Cadigan
• The Man Who Stole the Moon - (2001) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• The Big Sky - (1995) - novelette by Charles de Lint
• Elegy for a Demon Lover - (2005) - short story by Sarah Monette
• And the Angels Sing - (1990) - short story by Kate Wilhelm
• The Goat Cutter - (2003) - short story by Jay Lake
• Spirit Guides - (1995) - short story by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• Demons, Your Body, and You - (2011) - short story by Genevieve Valentine
• The Monsters of Heaven - (2007) - short story by Nathan Ballingrud
• Come to Me - (2012) - short story by Sam Cameron
• One Saturday Night, with Angel - (2010) - short story by Peter M. Ball
• Lammas Night - (1976) - novelette by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
• Pinion - (2011) - short story by Stellan Thorne
• Only Kids Are Afraid of the Dark - (1967) - short story by George R. R. Martin
• Murder Mysteries - (1992) - novelette by Neil Gaiman

Moving and funny by turns, this is a story about what it takes to make peace with your demons - literal or otherwise. An urban fantasy spin on growing up as a second-generation immigrant, struggling under the overwhelming pressure to make others proud, while feeling trapped inside your own body.

Between surviving high school and working at her aunt's dumpling shop, all Zhi wants is to find time for her friends... and make sure no one finds out she's half spider-demon.

But when she accidentally kills and eats a man in front of the most popular girl in school, she discovers she might not be the scariest thing in the shadows.

When John Bravais was sent on a secret mission to observe a war in North Africa he found out more than it was safe for him to know - even after he had secretly been surgically transformed so that he was as strong as a Bolo tank, and nearly as tough: Wolf-like aliens, invisible to the ordinary eye, were harvesting the brains of the fallen fighters! Brevais might have become the Ultimate Warrior, but still he was only one man against A Plague of Demons.

In this rich and varied collection of fantasy, science fiction and horror stories, Tanith Lee brings her power to bear on the nature of relationships between women and men. The witch, the femme fatale, the vengeful goddess, the Amazon - past, present and future - spring to live in these tales of mystery and imagination.

Table of Contents:

• Preface - (1989) - essay
• The Demoness - (1976) - short story
• Deux Amours d'une Sorciere - (1979) - short story
• The Unrequited Glove - (1988) - short story
• Gemini - (1981) - novelette
• Into Gold - (1986) - novelette
• The Lancastrian Blush - (1989) - short story
• You Are My Sunshine - (1980) - novelette
• The One We Were - (1984) - novelette
• The Truce - (1976) - short story
• The Squire's Tale - (1980) - short story
• Discovered Country - (1989) - novelette
• Winter White - (1978) - short story
• Written in Water - (1982) - short story
• Mirage and Magia - (1982) - short story
• The Thaw - (1979) - novelette
• Northern Chess - (1979) - short story

This novelette originally appeared in the anthology Black Wings of Cthulhu: 21 Tales of Lovecraftian Horror (2010), edited by S. T. Joshi. It can also be found in the anthologies The Best Horror of the Year: Volume Three (2011), edited by Ellen Datlow, The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2011, edited by Paula Guran, and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 22 (2011), edited by Stephen Jones. The story is included in the collection Lesser Demons (2010).

Contents:

• vii - Introduction (Rod Serling's Devils and Demons) - (1967) - essay by Rod Serling
• 1 - The Montavarde Camera - (1959) - short story by Avram Davidson
• 14 - The Coach - (1909) - short story by Violet Hunt
• 31 - Adapted - (1961) - short story by Carol Emshwiller
• 40 - Death Cannot Wither - (1959) - novelette by Judith Merril
• 61 - The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton - (1836) - short story by Charles Dickens
• 72 - Pollock and the Porroh Man - (1895) - short story by H. G. Wells
• 87 - Stars, Won't You Hide Me? - (1966) - short story by Ben Bova
• 101 - The Bottle Imp - (1891) - novelette by Robert Louis Stevenson
• 129 - The Adventure of the German Student - [Strange Stories by a Nervous Gentleman] - (1824) - short story by Washington Irving
• 135 - The Four-Fifteen Express - (1866) - novelette by Amelia B. Edwards
• 160 - The Blue Sphere - (1914) - short story by Theodore Dreiser
• 177 - The Bisara of Pooree - (1887) - short story by Rudyard Kipling
• 182 - A Time to Keep - (1962) - short story by Kate Wilhelm
• 197 - Brother Coelestin - (1919) - short story by Jaroslav Vrchlický (trans. of Flétna 1878) [as by Yaroslav Vrchlický]

Brother to Demons, Brother to Gods begins with a genetic engineering program conceived by the Smithwicks, a family of "Creators" who first improve on inadequate Homo sap ("preman") with two laboratory species and then come up with the "stargods." These powerful Frankenstein fabrications, however, send the Creators chasing back to their labs in a last desperate attempt to undo the consequences of their folly. A thousand years later, two "preman" waifs, Davey and Bugler, find unsuspected powers genetically programmed into their minds and bodies, and realize that they are to be the parents of the liberating "ultiman."

Table of Contents:

• Brother to Demons - (1978)
• Brother to Gods - (1978)
• Kinsman to Lizards - (1978)
• Stepson to Creation - (1977)
• Slave to Chaos - (1977)

Ben must uncover the secrets of his home, the strange demons that lurk in dark corners, and his destiny as the Master of Old Isle in this adventure from the author of the Tripods series.

Ben lives a carefree life on Old Isle, far away from horrible demons that terrorize the people on the mainland. He shares his home with Mother Ryan, Antonia, Paddy, and the Master. They're not his real family, but they're the only family he's ever known.

Then, in a single day, Ben's quiet existence is turned upside down. After the Master dies and reveals a startling connection, Ben becomes the new Master of Old Isle. And when demons burn his house to the ground and his family leaves their home, Ben is forced to stay behind.

Soon Ben manages to escape and begin a journey across the sea and the countryside to learn the secrets of his heritage. But he is being pursued by people who wish to use his power for their own selfish purposes, and time is running short for him to make things rights.

Demons' World

Gigantic were The Demons who terrorized the underground kingdom of Archon. Yet, who were they? Whence came their fantastic power? Why did they wage ruthless and relentless war against Archon? These were questions to which there was no answer until Stead arrived in Archon, apparently from nowhere.

Only after he had been a Forager for some months, and had experienced the spine-chilling dangers of The Outside did Stead arrive at a solution. Even then he had a difficult task convincing the Controllers, who, for generations, had insulated themselves against the harsh truth. Only those who had actually seen The Outside - the Foragers, Soldiers and Workers - could properly understand.

I Want the Stars

Where they cosmic teachers - or galactic plotters?

finalist for the AnLab Reader's Choice Award

EMIL SANDBURG.

Serial killer. His victims were all Catarkhans, specimens of a closed-off sentient race incapable of sensing the great atrocities he committed against them. Prosecuting him by their laws is going to be a problem.

Enter ANDREA CORT.

Misanthrope. Genius. Controversial figure. Aware even as she takes the case that other alien forces intend to use her past against her, and against humanity. Unaware that its implications will change the course of her life...

"We go to the dark. We ride to the awful dark. A stranger leads us, a savage man. His presence brings the evil down!"

The soothsayer's grim words chilled the hearts of the travellers. Even the iron nerves of Brak the Barbarian twanged with foreboding. For in the traders' caravan as it crossed the wasteland of Logol he was the savage, the stranger. Though his strength and swordsmanship might protect the caravan from attacks by brigands or wild beasts, even from the ruby-eyed warriors of Quran, he was as helpless as any against the menace of supernatural powers.

And as first one, then another of the travellers fell prey to the horror that stalked them, Brak knew that he must find a weapon more powerful than his sword if he too was not to be discovered drained of blood and bones, a dry husk bearing the three black marks, the triangular Mark of the Demons.

Catagna has been shaken to its core.

The philosophists insist that a disastrous earthquake has been caused by an ancient monster imprisoned below the earth, who can only be freed with magic. In every street and market, the people of Catagna are railing against magic-users with a greater ferocity than ever before, and magic hunters are everywhere.

Meanwhile, Romy has been dreaming.

Every night, her dreams are increasingly vivid and disturbing. Every day, she struggles to understand the purpose of the Chimera's most recent assignment from the Shadow Lord.

As Romy and the others attempt to carry out their mission, they find themselves plunged into a mystery of corruption and murder, myth and magic, and a terrifying truth: the philosophists may have been right all along.

Something is preying on the gods of Tai-Tastigon.

A crucial moment draws nigh leading to the ultimate showdown between Jame Knorth and Perimal Darkling, the supernatural entity that has pursued Jame's people, the Kencyr, across multiple universes, destroying all in its wake. Can the Kencyr finally make an effective stand, or will another world fall into shadow?

But now news arrives from Tai-tastigon, the vast city that formed Jame into the master thief, wily fighter, and godling-in-the-making that she has become.

It seems something is preying on the gods of Tai-tastigon. The new Pantheon is falling, and the ancient city is in turmoil. The self-serving, beguiling demi-god leader of the Thieves Guild has coerced Jame into finding the soul of his missing brother by holding hostage people she loves. Jame She reluctantly returns to find a Tai-tastigon in turmoil, with citizen pitted against citizen, and day and night-time folk at one another's throats. It seems many in the vast Lower Town have lost their shadows - not so funny when you realize that a shadow is cast by a soul.

Disappearing Souls

Some of the affected have gone mad. Some wander like ravening wraiths, attacking even family members by tooth and nail. Which means something is taking - or destroying - souls in the city.

What's more, in the city's Temple District fearful gods are finding their very beings drained. Some have become so diminished they hide in the robes of their priests like mewling babes. Across the city, murder and mayhem have erupted. But whatever demon-wrought madness is afoot in Tai-tastigon will have to face the ultimate avatar of god That-Which-Destroys Itself. That would be one Jame Knorth.

Where Jame Knorth goes, Chaos will follow!

The legacy of the twentieth century was the world-wasting nuclear firestorm that destroyed a way of life forever. Civilization is in ruins, its pitiful remnants perverted by brute force, and mankind is less at home on the planet than ever before. Yet in the desolation that is the Deathlands, an intrepid group of wayfarers continues the determined fight for survival and a better future.

Leaving a western ville besieged by desert pirates in search of the legendary cities of the Spanish conquistadors, Ryan Cawdor and his warrior survivalists enter a hidden valley untouched by civilization. Here the descendants of the First People are at one with Nature, following their sacred and mystical traditions. But deep in the valley is an awesome force, a power that can freely heal... or wantonly destroy.

In the Deathlands life is locked in mortal combat, and the only way out is the future.

The archdemon Atamar has not been pulling his weight in bad deeds, and he and his junior demons have been banished from Hell until they can collect recruits for Hell. But when the demons find a team of American archaeology students, they realize their ideas of bad deeds are hopelessly out of date.

Yuuma Ashihara is playing Actual Magic, a virtual reality MMORPG, when it suddenly begins to fuse with the real world. While he tries to make sense of what's happening, he runs into Sumi, one of his classmates. Before, she was one of the cutest girls in his grade, but she's undergone a terrible metamorphosis--into one of the game's monsters!

From the author of Sword Art Online and Accel World comes a story beyond VR and AR, where game and reality are one and the same.

Mage Heart is the first in The Dion Chronicles

Provincial and naive - and the most powerful mage in the realm - young Dion Holyhands is an innocent adrift in a world of intrigues and treacheries; a world where foul, hungry demons lurking just beyond its borders.

And now she has been called upon to serve her Duke's favourite mistress: the extraordinary Kitten Avignon, Our Lady of Roses. The mesmerising courtesan is a woman in dire jeopardy, stalked by a fearsome necromancer who will not sleep until his beautiful prey suffers horribly and is destroyed.

And with Evil's night approaching, shielding the Lady and herself from harm will require every ounce of a power Dion is only beginning to recognise and fear; a great gift suddenly imperiled by blossoming womanhood and dangerous desire.

Reunited with the family she left behind as a child, Dion Holyhands finds her cherished homeland of Moira overrun by marauding Witch Hunters and dreaded Fire Angels. She soon realises that she must use her incredible powers to help save her land and its people from the grip of the Great Destroyer.

Thrust in a morass of court intrigue, political conspiracy and furious passion, Dion is forced to confront the deadly but seductive world of demons. Ultimately it is own her strength of will, and the pure heart and bravery of the man she loves, that will serve as her only weapons against the arch necromancer who would make her his queen.

Fire Angels won the 1998 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

The conclusion to The Dion Chronicles takes Dion across the ocean to Aramaya, the centre of civilisation, in search of her missing niece, Syndal.

Dion and Kitten survive shipwreck to reach Akieva, the glorious capital of decadent Aramaya, where they find Syndal caught in a thrall of necromancy within the magnificent Winter Palace.

At the centre of this web lurks Dion's arch enemy Bedazzer, the ruthless demon who has vowed to possess her - no matter the cost. In the ensuing deadly conflict, Dion must confront the dark secrets of her own heart and the mighty evil concealed in those around her.

Captain Masterman was a stalwart, seasoned British naval officer. He had been well respected within the ranks of his fellow naval peers--that is until he went missing at sea and came back spouting mad theories about sea demons with his crew having mysteriously disappeared. Submarine commander Donald Paget was skeptical of these wild claims, but he listened attentively to the old captain's stories in a saloon one day shortly before the captain died. As fate would have it, on his next voyage out Paget's submarine was assailed by the very monsters Masterman had warned him of! These translucent, insect-like, quasi-humanoid monsters devoured everything in sight and it seemed doubtful that Paget and his crew would ever see the ocean's surface again.

Kesira Minette's world has shattered amid a terrible rain of jade. The magical jade has killed the patron demon of her order and turned ordinary humans into strange werecreatures. Worse, the demons who were not killed have become...insane. She leaves the safety of her cloistered existence, accompanied by a sentient green bird and a tongueless shapeshifter, Molimo.

Together they fight the growing powers of the Jade Demons, who have plunged the world into chaos. Eternal winter, earthquakes of impossible magnitude, clouds that cut human flesh and worst of all, the white fire that burns both body and soul are the obstacles they must overcome. But what fate lies in store of Kesira, even if she is successful in saving the world. In her lies the destruction--and birth of a new world.

Contents:

• The Quaking Lands - [Jade Demons - 1] - (1985)
• The Frozen Waves - [Jade Demons - 2] - (1985)
• The Crystal Clouds - [Jade Demons - 3] - (1985)
• The White Fire - [Jade Demons - 4] - (1986)

The war of demons against mortals begins! Lovely Kesira, cloistered and naive in the ways of the world, is thrust into violence, forced on a sacred quest to avenge her patron, Gelya. Her magical talking bird companion Zoltan is, at times, more of a hindrance than a help. Following her is the shape-changer Molimo as they enter the lair of the loathsome Jade Demons. Kesira's weapons are few, but her resolve is great. Her destiny, that of her companions--and the world--depend on her faith never flagging.

So begins a war of magic and wonder.

WINTER WORLD

It was the Time of Chaos, and a deadly blanket of white enshrouded the world. This was the vengeance of the implacable Jade Demon Ayondela, whose half-human son was killed... struck down by Kesira Minette, the fiercely courageous she-warrior of a religious order, and by Molimo, the man-wolf whose savage strength was devoted to Kesira.

Now they must journey to the Isle of Eternal Winter, Ayondela's stronghold, through a land of killing cold, filled with demon spawn, human mercenaries, magicks, monks, and fearsome beasts. And unless they can force Ayondela to renounce the power of the jade and her icy fury... their planet is doomed.

Kesira Minette, proud she-warrior and last flame of a fallen creed, now faces a challenge greater than ever before. Together with her proud companions-the fierce man-wolf Molimo, and the wise magical bird Zolkan-she has journeyed to the fabled mountains of Sarn, realm of the wrathful Jade Demon Ayondela. There she will seek a confrontation with evil... and discover the fearful answer to the buring question that haunts her. For Kesira bears with her a magical child, a babe who never cries but whose eyes shine with a mysterious light. Against mercenaries armed with axe and spear, against demons bent on Kesira's destruction, the child acts as a talisman against the forces of night. what is the small one's special destiny? Will he be Kesira's salvation.... or a demon spawn who will unleash untold horror?

With the aid of the powerful changeling Molimo and her wondrous magical bird Zolkan, Kesira Minette, a beautiful warrior-maiden, battles to free her people from the tyranny of the Jade Demons.

Jake Helman, an elite member of the New York Special Homicide Task Force, faces what every cop dreads—an elusive serial killer. While investigating a series of bloodletting sacrifice rituals executed by an ominous perpetrator known as the Cipher, Jake refuses to submit to a drug test and resigns from the police department. While battling a cocaine addiction, Jake starts a high-pressure position as the director of security at Tower International, a controversial genetic-engineering company. Beneath the polished exterior of the corporate identity and the CEO—who has a reputation as the frontiersman on the cutting edge of science—is a deranged mind. As Jake delves deeper into this frightening laboratory, he discovers much more than unethical practices performed in the name of human progress. Sequestered in rooms veiled in secrecy is the worst crime the world will ever see—the theft of the human soul. Horrifying and gruesome, this is a gripping, suspense-filled novel that offers intense arguments about science, ethics, and human life. Show More Show Less

THIS IS THE END ...

The dragons have gone home, the elves are safe. The Raven have kept their promises. But fate has not finished with them.

As the war between the colleges rages on an old enemy senses that his chance to revenge a bitter defeat has come. Tessaya, Lord of the Paleon Tribes has waited patiently for his moment and now, with Balaia in flames, he makes his move and unleashes the Wesmen hordes.

In Xetesk, his forces scattered, Dystran, Lord of the Mount faces certain defeat by the Wesmen unless he unleashes the horrfying power of dimensional magics. And Dystran has not come this far to be beaten at the last by a rabble of ignorant tribesmen. And so the veil between dimensions is torn...

And beyond, a predatory evil stirs. Demons catch the scent of countless souls in Balaia. Can even the Raven prevail when the world is coming to an end?

A fantasy milestone is reached. James Barclay brings his sensational saga of The Raven to a heartsopping conclusion.

Epic Fantasy author David Drake continues his saga The Lord of the Isles with Queen of Demons

In the world of the Isles, the elemental forces of magic are rising to a thousand-year peak. A small bank of companions has set forth across a world in the process of transformation in search of their destinies. Now their epic adventure continues.

An Early Collection of Horror by Campbell.

Contents:

• At First Sight - (1973) - shortstory
• Concussion - (1973) - shortstory
• Made in Goatswood - (1973) - shortstory
• Potential - (1973) - shortstory
• The Enchanted Fruit - (1973) - shortstory
• The End of a Summer's Day - (1973) - shortstory
• The Franklyn Paragraphs - (1973) - shortstory
• The Guy - (1973) - shortstory
• The Interloper - (1973) - shortstory [as by Errol Undercliffe]
• The Lost - (1973) - shortstory
• The Old Horns - (1973) - shortstory
• The Second Staircase - (1973) - shortstory
• The Sentinels - (1973) - shortstory
• The Stocking - (1968) - shortstory
• Foreword (Demons By Daylight) - (1990) - essay

For seeker Raine Benares, a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid couldn't come at a worse time. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides.Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen.

After escaping from a life of slavery in Darran, Rialla plans revenge against her former masters - only to be chosen to protect a Darran lord planning to outlaw slavery.

Once they moved from world to world in a single step, through innumerable doors that spanned the galaxy. They were masters of space, and to those who feared them, they were demons of air and darkness. But long ago they left their empire and their miraculous technology behind. Now someone has found the key to it, and all those doors have been sprung open.

>A world near Deep Space 9, threatened with destruction from the distant Delta Quadrant, becomes the focus of a massive rescue effort as Colonel Kira Nerys, her crew, and some unexpected allies fight to avert disaster on a planetary scale. Meanwhile, as Lieutenant Nog and Ensign Thirishar ch'Thane search for a way to shut down the spatial portals forever, Quark becomes involved in a dangerous game that could determine, once and for all, who will control the Gateways.

Long before the Federation, a powerful force invaded our galaxy and almost destroyed it... a force that began with possession and madness, and ended in murder.

A Starfleet research expedition to the farthest reaches of the galaxy has unearthed that force once again... and brought its silent evil back to the planet Vulcan. Now Spock must defeat the demons that threaten his friends and family, or the Enterprise will become the instrument of the galaxy's destruction.

Davin's lover, Lijena, is possessed by a fearsome demon that forces her to commit unspeakable acts, but can anyone save her from her fate when the Faceless Ones ride?

In Husaquahr, behind the cloak of seeming peace, evil was stirring again as the Dark Baron plotted with a Demon Prince to bring about Armageddon. Master Sorcerer Throckmorton P. Ruddygore could only trust one man with the mission of spying upon the evil villians: Joe. The only problem was, Joe had just been bitten by a weredog . . .

Table of Contents:

• Grail - (1981) - novelette by Harlan Ellison
• The Willow Platform - (1973) - short story by Joseph Payne Brennan
• The Night of White Bhairab - (1984) - novelette by Lucius Shepard
• The Mangler - (1972) - novelette by Stephen King
• The Last Demon - (1964) - short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
• The Golden Rope - (1983) - novelette by Tanith Lee
• Basileus - (1983) - short story by Robert Silverberg
• Twilla - (1974) - novelette by Tom Reamy
• The Purple Pterodactyls - (1976) - short story by L. Sprague de Camp
• Goslin Day - (1970) - short story by Avram Davidson
• Nellthu - (1955) - short story by Anthony Boucher
• Snulbug - (1941) - short story by Anthony Boucher
• One Other - (1953) - short story by Manly Wade Wellman
• An Ornament to His Profession - (1966) - novelette by Charles L. Harness
• Further Reading - essay by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann
• About the Editors - essay by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann

The fifth and latest instalment of the urban fantasy-thriller series starring Rachel Morgan. A pacey and addictive novel of sexy bounty-hunting witches, cunning demons and menacing vampires. Bargaining with demons has left Rachel Morgan in constant danger of losing her soul. As if being famous in the underworld - for all the wrong reasons - and sharing her home with a vampire and her jealous girlfriend didn't make her vulnerable enough, one night Rachel finds demons ransacking her home with no fear of sanctified ground. They are searching for something they believe Rachel to possess - a danger that Rachel thought was well hidden and secret. But when the human morgue starts to fill up with partially-turned lupine women who have been brutally murdered, Rachel realises that someone else knows the Focus still exists and that she may have been betrayed.

Three unique empires threatened by the discovery of alternate life...

The Exchange are consuming the universe's resources through the powers of their cybernetic leaders.

The Mycohlians are parasitic beings who, like a virus, can invade and take over other life forms.

The Mizlaplan are a brilliant, long-lived race who will use any means possible to spread the word of the Cosmic All.

These three empires, maintaining a delicate balance of power, have very little in common - except a strange, recurring legend of a horned demon. Now, a shocking event will change their lives forever: the discovery of two horned creatures, seemingly lifeless and perfectly preserved...

t is a crucial moment in the world of men, as the elves who have survived Ragnarok are determined to destroy humankind. Now with an imposter placed upon the Bearnian throne, the critical balance between Law and Chaos may finally be overthrown. Only a small band of adventurers can free the rightful heir from the elves' clutches...if they don't run out of time first.

After the battle with their demon father ends in a devastating loss, the Grimm sisters are separated. But, now three years later, as their twenty-first birthday approaches, dark fate brings them together once more.

For Goldie, this birthday is overshadowed by sorrow. She cannot forget the outcome of that battle, the devastating tragedy that has wreaked havoc on her already turbulent waking life. While her sisters have thrown themselves into their own endeavors, Goldie has grown distant and inconsolable. Driven by grief, she devises a diabolical plan using a human sacrifice to resurrect what she has lost.

When Liyana unexpectedly discovers what Goldie intends to do, she agrees to help if Goldie will try another way, without sacrificing a life. Returning to Everwhere, they combine their powerful magic to bring back what Goldie has lost. But something goes terribly wrong, and Scarlet is showing signs of being possessed by an evil spirit.

With their lives at stake, the sisters realize they must confront their personal trauma, make amends with the past, and once again prepare for a demonic fight to come.

And on the night of their birthday, battle ensues ... and tragedy strikes once more.

Playing the new fantasy/adventure computer game Companions of Xanth, teenagers Dug and Kim select companions from among the characters of Xanth, Dug choosing a sultry half-woman/half serpent and Kim a young Elven girl. Soon Dug and Kim find they have entered the actual Land of Xanth. Unknown to them, the demons that provide Xanth's magic are in mystic competition, using Kim, Dug and their companions as pawns.