Showing titles in Dark Fantasy

Two academic rivals from Cambridge must travel to hell to rescue the soul of their advisor. Getting there was easy. Surviving it – and each other – is another thing entirely.

Hastur is dead. But his armies and generals remain. While the factions struggle to recover from the chaos in the wake of Hastur's influence on the world, the Sects gather in hope of defeating the threat once and for all. In the fires of struggle and war legends are born, and secrets of the Aspects revealed.

Betrayed and bloodied, The Hand has failed. After a desperate battle, Nismera, the Goddess of War, now rules the realms as the last remnants of Samkiel's power spill across the sky. Desperate to keep Samkiel safe after almost losing him, Dianna is willing to give up everything to protect him, even if that means sacrificing their relationship itself. But that's not a risk Samkiel is willing to take, even as the stakes grow ever higher. The one true king is poised to return, but when the dust settles, who will truly rule?

Without a common enemy to unite against, humanity teeters on the brink of self-destruction. Isaac has prevented one apocalypse, but now faces a more insidious threat: humanity itself. Grand plans for a perfect world are crumbling, and masterplans are failing as superpowers prove to be no cure-all. Societies are shattering under pressure, pushed to their breaking points.

Armageddon Day. That is how history will remember the date when two Overlords clashed amidst the war-torn streets of New Whitehall. The disastrous duel its explosive conclusion wreaked heavy casualties on the two armies present, rendering both the Ishigar Republic and the Lodrak Empire unable to continue to fight. And yet, it was no stalemate. With one Hero defeated and another revealed, the balance of power is sure to shift in the elvish nation’s favor.

The four previous volumes in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's anthology series of fairly-tales retold with a distinctively modern edge have been hailded by reviewers as "brilliant", "provocative", and "disturbing". In this triumphant new collection of original fiction, 21 of today's leading writers spin the cherished fables of childhood into glittering gold - offering magical tales for adults, as seductive as they are sophisticated.

Born into the troubled kingdom of Albermaine, Alwyn Scribe is raised as an outlaw. Quick of wit and deft with a blade, Alwyn is content with the freedom of the woods and the comradeship of his fellow thieves. But an act of betrayal sets him on a new path - one of blood and vengeance, which eventually leads him to a soldier's life in the king's army. Fighting under the command of Lady Evadine Courlain, a noblewoman beset by visions of a demonic apocalypse, Alwyn must survive war and the deadly intrigues of the nobility if he hopes to claim his vengeance.

He was the Herald of Shalia that married a demoness, invited hundreds of Arachne to live in his territory, and married a princess of Zira all in the same week. All while securing peace and trade agreements with the two largest countries on the continent. Herald Frost wasn’t merely a deviant herald that laid with demihumans. He was a highly capable deviant herald that laid with demihumans.

On a day like any other, an alien descends to Earth, unleashing untold death and destruction. Alistair watches the live news footage of the carnage, his eyes glued to the image of impossible power made manifest. The alien’s arrival kicks events into motion that no one could have predicted. Earth is prematurely initiated into a universe-spanning empire of cut-throat cultivators, beasts, and entities of ungodly power—all guided by a mysterious AI System. The System’s first quest? Kill someone.

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story. Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math. Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realize it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet. Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan.

Recon Marine Conor McCall didn’t expect action during his training op in the icy waters off Norway. But when a bizarre summer fog engulfs his boat, he and his team find themselves in a fight against strange, cruel monsters from the depths of the North Sea. When even their allies are enemies, the Recon Marines must do what they have always done: adapt or die. But with a world of ice and monsters seeking to destroy them, every second is mission-critical.

I escaped the Institute with my partners in crime, and now we’re going to make the world pay. We’ve never had more fun than when we’re out on the streets, committing crimes and robbing banks. My husband and I have sworn to become the greatest supernatural crime lords the magical world has ever seen, and we plan to make good on that dark promise. I have thousands at my command, but even in the midst of my rule, I fear Charlie is taking things too far. Reality is beginning to bend, and I’ve decided to craft this world to what I decide it should be.

It is 1164, and for a hundred years England has been ruled by the Normans. A young Saxon boy named Durwin, crippled by a childhood accident, had caught the eye of a Norman sage teaching at a rural school of magic. Realizing that the boy had promise, Durwin was made stable boy, and eventually allowed to attend classes. Now twenty, Durwin is proficient enough that he is assigned to teach, but the other sages refuse to promote him and he is hassled by the Norman juniors for his disability.

Compared to Michael Moorcock and Joe Abercrombie alike, Richard Morgan's fast moving and brutal science fantasy reaches its final volume as Ringil comes to his final reckoning and sees the world tipping into another war with the dragon folk. And, most terrifying of all, the prophecy of a dark lord come to rule may be coming true very close to home...The Dark Defiles is a supremely fast moving 240,000 word epic.

Aaron and his companions return from Baresh with the truth of what the alliance faces, yet such knowledge is little comfort. Throughout the city, men and women whisper of demons, of monsters. But though they might disagree on the nature of Kevlane's twisted creations, there is one thing they have in common. Fear. For the creatures they face are not men - not any longer. They are death given form and function. They are, it seems in the darkest hours - and there are many such now - Telrear's doom.

Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for 1,000 years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles and blissful rounds of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied.… There is a price to be paid, of course, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by Mr. Hood's wonders, does not stop to consider the consequences. It is only when the House shows it's darker face - when Harvey discovers the pitiful creatures that dwell in its shadows - that he comes to doubt Mr. Hood's philanthropy.

Built for war and nothing else, he has witnessed every shade of violence humans know, and he has wrought his own masterpieces with their colors. He cared once, perhaps, but far too long ago. He is bound to his task, dead to the chaos he wreaks for his masters. Now, he has a new master to serve and a new war to endure. In the far reaches of the Realm, Hartlund tears itself in two over coin and crown. This time he will fight for a boy king and a general bent on victory.

A noble wants revenge, and Skharr DeathEater has upset at least one noble willing to pay a high price to kill him. Painfully. Skharr is living in an inn, having spent a large sum of money on a weapon - one he never intends to use. Now, for reasons that have everything to do with trusting the wisdom of another, Skharr has decided to take a gamble on another dungeon. It appears once a year, and every year, the hundreds who enter die.

Communing with spirits has been both gift and curse to Emme Walters. Now it's made her a killer's target. Emme knows why the Dowager Duchess of Briarleigh invited her to a house party--to investigate whether the duke, Rhys Brammel, murdered his wife years ago. But Emme never imagined she would fall in love with the brooding duke. Branded by society as a possible killer, Rhys is suspicious of Emme and her alleged "gift." Then a late night encounter creates awareness of her other, more attractive, aspects. When Emme's life is threatened, Rhys becomes her protector. Emme and Rhys find passion and peril as they join forces to solve the mysteries at Briarleigh. She made him believe in spirits, but can she make him believe in love?

Dante Galand has cured the sickness that trapped him on the Plagued Islands. Now it's time to leave. And kill a priest. The target is Gladdic of Bressel. Gladdic, who executed Dante's friend, the pirate Captain Twill. Who all but enslaved the Plagued Islands. And whose visions of empire are far from over. But Gladdic is trained in both ether and nether - and a darker magic than Dante has ever known. He's the most dangerous foe Dante has faced. And if Dante falls, so will an entire kingdom.