MainCategory: FANTASY

The Classic Fantasy Collection

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The Classic Fantasy Collection
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Epic romances, fearsome dragons and alien worlds lie between the pages of this volume. Containing more than 35 stories from the early masters of fantasy literature, the narratives here transport the reader to alternate worlds where magic abounds, cosmic terrors lie around the corner and intrepid heroes fight for justice.

Drawing inspiration from Norse, Japanese and Chinese mythology as well as from traditional fairytales and modern fears, the authors collected here span the breadth of the genre. Including tales from William Morris, H. G. Wells, Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft amongst others, they demonstrate the plethora of imaginative literature that was written in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these tales were foundational works, bringing ideas of the supernatural into the mainstream, and through their efforts creating entirely new genres.

Before Tolkien, there were many writers embracing the realm of fantastic fiction. The man responsible for its origin was George MacDonald (1824-1905), a Calvinist minister and Celtic scholar, who wrote the first true fantasy novel. He was followed by a number of imaginative successors at the end of the 19th century, including H. G. Wells, Arthur Machen, and Ernest Bramah. After the end of World War I, the pulp magazines opened up the genre to a new generation of writers – particularly H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard – who provided exciting, magical and horrifying tales that fascinated a multitude of readers. By the outbreak of World War II, the outlines of the fantasy genre had been sketched out by these pioneers, and an entirely new type of fiction had been created.

This collection includes stories by:
Robert E. Howard
H. P. Lovecraft
G. G. Pendarves
H. G. Wells
William Morris
Lafcadio Hearn
Abraham Merritt
Arthur Machen
Ernest Bramah
Robert W. Chambers
George MacDonald

The Drop of a Hat: A Humorous High Fantasy (Hat Trick Book 1)

The Drop of a Hat: A Humorous High Fantasy (Hat Trick Book 1)
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A powerful wizard and a lowly kobold experience a magical meeting of the minds in the first book of a comedic fantasy-adventure for fans of Terry Pratchett.

Absalom Scryne, the greatest wizard of his generation, has been murdered. There’s no other explanation for why his consciousness now resides in his well-worn but perfectly pointed hat.

Well, he isn’t going to take that lying down . . . or hanging from a branch, as the case may be. Instead, he’ll hop on the head of the first foul-smelling kobold that comes along and convince it that it’s in everyone’s best interests for them to undertake the epic journey through the Badlands—past horny necromancers, rustic werewolves, and rampaging ogres—back to the shining city of magic at the heart of civilization, where he will promptly kick the backside of whoever it was that finally managed to stab him in the back.

Assuming, that is, he can teach a kobold how to use magic, survive all the roaming adventurers who consider a kobold to be a very minor payday, and prevent anyone else from claiming the wealth of arcane knowledge that is now bound within the rather handsome piece of haberdashery that he has become.

The Dungeoneers

The Dungeoneers
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After five years as a city guard, Durham’s horizontal career trajectory adds a corkscrew when a misdelivered order assigns him to caravan duty for an eclectic group of Dwarves who hire themselves out as professional dungeoneers.
No ruler wants to leave a powerful magical weapon lying about in a dungeon where just any prophesied upstart can stumble across it and use it to overthrow the kingdom.

That’s where The Dungeoneers come in. Dungeons sacked, artifacts recovered, no job too big or too small. They’re not adventurers; they’re professionals.
With the discovery that Durham may have arrived with a destiny attached to him the Dungeoneers find themselves in the midst of some history about to happen. Will experience and Dwarven know-how be enough to carry the day?

NPCs (Spells, Swords, Stealth Book 1)

NPCs (Spells, Swords, Stealth Book 1)
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What happens when the haggling is done and the shops are closed? When the quest has been given, the steeds saddled, and the adventurers are off to their next encounter? They keep the world running, the food cooked, and the horses shoed, yet what adventurer has ever spared a thought or concern for the Non-Player Characters?

In the town of Maplebark, four such NPCs settle in for a night of actively ignoring the adventurers drinking in the tavern when things go quickly and fatally awry. Once the dust settles, these four find themselves faced with an impossible choice: pretend to be adventurers undertaking a task of near-certain death or see their town and loved ones destroyed.

Armed only with salvaged equipment, second-hand knowledge, and a secret that could get them killed, it will take all manner of miracles if they hope to pull off their charade.

And even if they succeed, the deadliest part of their journey may well be what awaits them at its end.

Second Hand Curses

Second Hand Curses
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When your fairy godmother threatens to enslave you with a curse – when a malevolent piper solves your rat problem but steals your children – when you seek revenge on the prince who turned you into a frog – who can you turn to in your hour of need?

The band of scoundrels known far and wide as the Bastard Champions – the swashbuckling trio who travel a world of legend, seeking adventure and righting wrongs – as long as there’s enough gold to be earned.

They are Jack, the seemingly unkillable leader whose ever-present grin belies a dark past; Marie, who fights with fury but battles more fiercely to control the beast within; and Frank, the master of logistics, whose cloak hides horrific scars that are far more than skin-deep. As they slash and scheme through kingdom and village alike, the Bastard Champions uncover tantalizing clues to their ultimate quarry: the powerful Blue Fairy, who has made each of their lives a living hell.

Second Hand Curses adds a dash of sly wit and a heaping portion of action to the fairy tales you thought you knew.

Orconomics: A Satire (The Dark Profit Saga)

Orconomics: A Satire (The Dark Profit Saga)
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A disgraced Dwarven hero. A band of deadbeat adventurers. His last shot at redemption could get him killed.

If Gorm Ingerson really wanted to drink himself to death, he never should have helped the Goblin. When his good deed lands him in a bad contract, Gorm finds himself entangled in a quest that will pit him against business magnates, the king of the Freedlands, and a mad goddess trying to fulfill a suicidal prophecy.

But Gorm’s tarnished circumstances may be hiding a golden opportunity. If he and his half-baked party can overcome deep conspiracies and dark magics, he just might redeem himself and his career enough to be a professional hero once more.

Orconomics: A Satire is the first book in The Dark Profit Saga, a trilogy so funny it’s epic. If you like down-and-out heroes, sidesplitting misadventures, and ingenious world-building, then you’ll love J. Zachary Pike’s dark and delightful ribbing of high fantasy.

Buy Orconomics to join the campaign for a high-energy, hilarious fantasy adventure today!

A Spell for Chameleon (Xanth)

A Spell for Chameleon (Xanth)
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BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR, BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY • Discover the magical beginning of Piers Anthony’s enthralling Xanth series

Xanth was the enchanted land where magic ruled—where every citizen had a special spell only he could cast. It was a land of centaurs and dragons and basilisks.

For Bink of North Village, however, Xanth was no fairy tale. He alone had no magic. And unless he got some—and got some fast!—he would be exiled. Forever. But the Good Magician Humfrey was convinced that Bink did indeed have magic. In fact, both Beauregard the genie and the magic wall chart insisted that Bink had magic. Magic as powerful as any possessed by the King or by Good Magician Humfrey—or even by the Evil Magician Trent.

Be that as it may, no one could fathom the nature of Bink’s very special magic. Bink was in despair. This was even worse than having no magic at all . . . and he would still be exiled!

Thus begins Piers Anthony’s enthralling Xanth series. . . .

The Fall of Gondolin

The Fall of Gondolin
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“An essential historical reference for Middle-earth fans” (Entertainment Weekly), The Fall Of Gondolin is the final work of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth fiction, completing Christopher Tolkien’s life-long achievement as the editor and curator of his father’s manuscripts.

In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar.

Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo’s desires and designs.

Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo’s designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon’s daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo.

At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Túrin and Idril, with the child Eärendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Eärendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources.

Following his presentation of Beren and Lúthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same ‘history in sequence’ mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was ‘the first real story of this imaginary world’ and, together with Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin, he regarded it as one of the three ‘Great Tales’ of the Elder Days.

The Children Of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Children Of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien
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One of the three ‘Great Tales’ of the Elder Days, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Children of Húrin takes place in Middle-earth thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

The Children of Húrin is the first complete book by Tolkien since the 1977 publication of The Silmarillion. Six thousand years before the One Ring is destroyed, Middle-earth lies under the shadow of the Dark Lord Morgoth.

The greatest warriors among elves and men have perished, and all is in darkness and despair. But a deadly new leader rises, Túrin, son of Húrin, and with his grim band of outlaws begins to turn the tide in the war for Middle-earth—awaiting the day he confronts his destiny and the deadly curse laid upon him.

Beyond Night

Beyond Night
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An Epic Fantasy tale of action, adventure, heroism, horror and sorcery…

Beyond Night is a Dark Fantasy Horror novel that pulls back the veil of nearly two thousand years of jaded history. Come tread in the bloody footprints left by monsters, soldiers and wizards and behold what lies hidden Beyond Night itself.

It’s Bigfoot War mixed with Lovecraftian horror on the edge of the Roman Empire.

How could Rome lose a Legion? What could’ve happened to blot out the existence of over five thousand men not only from history but the Earth itself?

As the Legion moves north to engage the forces of Pictdom, a dark horror emerges from the bowels of the Earth. Thought to be random attacks by hulking monsters, Decurion August soon learns a dire truth, that these bloody events are directed by opposing the wizards of the Picts. While one side assembles all tribes in a confederated army to battle the Legion, the other pulls these Greyman beasts from the depths of the Earth.

August fights not only these creatures and workers of magicks, but internal passions in the Legion itself.

Can he discover a way to survive the enormous bloodletting about to take place that will only serve to satisfy the wizards of Pictdom?

“Fans of David Gemmell will lap up this earthy, brutal fantasy.” – William Meikle, The Ghost Club