The Gist Hunter and Other Stories
The Gist Hunter and Other Stories

Author: Matthew Hughes

Publisher: Night Shade

Published: 2014-08-05

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 9781597800204

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The Gist Hunter & Other Stories chronicles nine unique stories set in the Dying Earth-esque planet that expands the universe of Matthew Hughes’s Archonate novels. This series of stories best introduces and plays companion pieces to Black Brillion, Fool Me Twice, and Fools Errant. The tales of Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth’s “foremost freelance discriminator,” combines the best of mystery and science fantasy while recalling the excellence of Gene Wolfe’s arch irony and the witty mannerisms of Jack Vance. Though fantastical, something is true-to-life in Hapthorn’s amusing and bewildered set of conversations and circumstances. It’s a futuristic pull with just the right quirk. The stories of lowly student Guth Bandar and his slightly off-beat and unconventional studies slowly reveal the complexities and wonder of the amazing noösphere. As Banter roams through life and studies, the incredibly vital noösphere acts as the Archonate’s collective unconsciousness. Bandar’s rise from his student status to veteran noönaut will have him quickly realize that a little learning is dangerous learning when spread too thin. The Gist Hunter & Other Stories is a perfect introduction to the great work by Matthew Hughes, and one that admirers of science fiction and fantasy will respect and enjoy. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

The Spiral Labyrinth
The Spiral Labyrinth

Author: Matthew Hughes

Publisher: Hachette UK

Published: 2019-01-17

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 1473225426

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It was bad enough when Henghis Hapthorn, Old Earth's foremost discriminator and die-hard empiricist, had to accept that the cosmos was shortly to rewrite its basic operating system, replacing rational cause-and-effect with detestable magic. Now he finds himself cast forward several centuries, stranded in a primitive world of contending wizards and hungry dragons, and without his magic-savvy alter ego. Worse, some entity with a will powerful enough to bend space and time is searching for him through the Nine Planes, bellowing "Bring me Apthorn!" in a voice loud enough to frighten demons. Praise for Matthew Hughes: "Matthew Hughes does Jack Vance better than anyone except Jack himself" - George R.R. Martin "Heir apparent to Jack Vance" - Booklist "Hughes's boldness is admirable"- New York Review of Science Fiction "Hughes effortlessly renders fantastic worlds and beings believable"- Publishers Weekly "A towering talent"- Robert J. Sawyer "A treasure" - David Gerrold

Fair Play
Fair Play

Author: Deeanne Gist

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2014-05-06

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 1476738521

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From the bestselling author of It Happened at the Fair comes a historical love story about a lady doctor and a Texas Ranger who meet at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Saddled with a man’s name, Billy Jack Tate makes no apologies for taking on a man’s profession. As a doctor at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, she is one step closer to having her very own medical practice—until Hunter Scott asks her to give it all up to become his wife. Hunter is one of the elite—a Texas ranger and World’s Fair guard specifically chosen for his height, physique, character, and skill. Hailed as the toughest man west of any place east, he has no patience for big cities and women who think they belong anywhere but home. Despite their differences of opinion, Hunter and Billie find a growing attraction until Hunter discovers an abandoned baby in the corner of a White City exhibit. He and Billy team up to make sure this foundling isn’t left in the slums of Chicago. As they fight for the underprivileged children in the Nineteenth Ward, an entire playground movement is birthed. But when the fair comes to an end, one of them will have to give up their dream. Will Billy exchange her doctor’s shingle for the domesticated role of a southern wife, or will Hunter abandon the wide open spaces of home for a life in the “gray city,” a woman who insists on being the wage earner, and a group of ragamuffins who need more than one breathing space?

Miss Muriel and Other Stories
Miss Muriel and Other Stories

Author: Ann Petry

Publisher: Northwestern University Press

Published: 2017-07-15

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0810135574

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A young black girl watches as her aunt’s multiple suitors disrupt her family’s privacy. The same girl, now on the cusp of adulthood, shares her family’s growing fears that her father has disappeared. Acclaimed author Ann Petry penned these and the other unforgettable narratives in Miss Muriel and Other Stories more than seventy years ago, yet in them contemporary readers recognize characters who exist today and dilemmas that recur again and again: the reluctance of African Americans to seek help from the police, the rage that erupts in a black man worn down by brutality, the tyranny that the young can visit on their elders regardless of race. Originally published between 1945 and 1971, Petry’s stories capture the essence of African American experience since the 1940s.

The Familiars
The Familiars

Author: Adam Jay Epstein

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2011-06-07

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 0061961108

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When Aldwyn, a young alley cat on the run, ducks into a mysterious pet shop, he doesn’t expect his life to change. But that’s exactly what happens when Jack, a young wizard, picks Aldwyn to be his magical familiar. Finally off the tough streets, Aldwyn thinks he’s got it made. He just has to convince the other familiars—the know-it-all blue jay Skylar and the friendly tree frog Gilbert—that he’s the telekinetic cat he claims to be. But when Jack and two other wizards in training are captured by a terrible evil, it will take all of Aldwyn’s street smarts, a few good friends, and a nose for adventure to save the day!

Ugly Girls
Ugly Girls

Author: Lindsay Hunter

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2014-11-04

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0374533865

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Traces the chaotic breakdown of a friendship that shapes and unravels the identities of two rebellious girls in the wake of a stalker's predations.

The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories
The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories

Author: Matthew Hughes

Publisher: Gateway

Published: 2019-01-01

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1473225477

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In Old Earth's penultimate age, the corpulent master criminal Luff Imbry moves through the halfworld like a full-fleshed shark. Thief, forger, confidence man, and sometimes go-between, he maps out his illicit operations with exquisite care then carries them out with courage and panache. But, often, things don't go as Luff planned, and he must call upon a talent for improvisation and a ruthless will to survive. This collection brings together seven short stories and novelettes previously published in Postscripts, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and the anthology Forbidden Planets, plus two novellas formerly only available in limited editions. It offers Luff Imbry in all his moods and guises. Finalist for the 2014 Endeavour Award.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Author: Bryn Greenwood

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2016-08-09

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1250074134

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"Struggling to raise her little brother Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star-gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold. By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery"--

The Other
The Other

Author: Matthew Hughes

Publisher: Gateway

Published: 2018-12-04

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1473225450

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Meet Luff Imbry, an insidiously clever confidence man ...He likes good wine, good food, and good stolen goods, and he always maintains the upper hand. When a business rival gets the drop on him, he finds himself abandoned on Fulda--a far-off, isolated world with a history of its own. Unable to blend in and furious for revenge, Imbry has to rely on his infamous criminal wit to survive Fulda's crusade to extinguish The Other. Hailed as the heir apparent to Jack Vance, Matthew Hughes brings us this speculative, richly imagined exploration of society on the far edges of extreme. A central character in Black Brillion, Luff Imbry is at last front and center in Hughes's latest rollercoaster adventure through a far-future universe.

Crack the Sky
Crack the Sky

Author: Hunter Blain

Publisher: Preternatural Chronicles

Published: 2021-08-23

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9781947709782

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In the heart of darkness... do what must be done. Depweg is lost in time, unwittingly finding himself in a stream of reality that has broken off from the single river our universe safely resides upon. John has no choice but to do the impossible and retrieve his best friend or risk the two parallel timelines crashing into one another. Teaming up with the newcomer, Jose, our hero must act quickly to prevent a catastrophic flood of crashing realities. Poised at the center of our galaxy, lies the most destructive force in the known universe, and John will get a first-hand experience at its unimaginable power. To save Depweg, our hero must travel through the supermassive blackhole, and back in time to find a single needle in a thousand haystacks. Waking up in a strange place, Depweg is gifted with something he hadn't known he had craved since John had first told him of the unstoppable prophecy and coming apocalypse; solace. For the first time in years, Depweg can take a breath, finding peace in the knowledge that the end of the world is far, far away. There's only one thing that could make his relaxing vacation even better while simultaneously providing the perfect reason to never go back... Having lost everyone he cares about, a defeated, hopeless young man will allow chaos into his heart in exchange for a chance at revenge for the fallen. All too late, he realizes the cost as the law of unintended consequences proves to be absolute, and a war is waged on people the young man once called friend. Behind the scenes, powerful marionettes pluck at fraying strings, guiding the story toward its inevitable conclusion. Will John be able to cut away his strings to become a real boy? Or will he remain a puppet to his fate... If you like Jim Butcher, Shayne Silvers, Cameron O'Connell, Kevin Hearne, Steve McHugh, Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Shannon Mayer, or K.F. Breene, you won't be able to put down the highly addictive Preternatural Chronicles. "Hunter Blain is my spirit animal." -- Shayne Silvers, Amazon Top 25 Bestselling Author Available in digital, print, and audiobook formats. What Amazon readers are saying: ★★★★★ 'Let me count the ways I blood thee...' ★★★★★ 'Move over Dresden!' ★★★★★ 'The Preternatural Chronicles MUST come to Netflix. Now.' ★★★★★ 'John Cook puts the G.O.A.T. in gloat.' ★★★★★ 'Shayne Silvers has found the next author to take over Urban Fantasy.' ★★★★★ 'I need John Cook to have a story with Nate Temple. Please.' ★★★★★ 'John Cook loves vegans. Especially when they are served raw.' ★★★★★ 'The only thing that sparkles about this vampire is his fangs in the moonlight.' ★★★★★ 'All the twisted humor of Pulp Fiction, but with a vampire. It's more like Gulp Fiction.' ★★★★★ 'If John Wick was a vampire and hung out with Ryan Reynolds on the weekends.' ★★★★★ 'Revenge is for amateurs, but vengeance is for professional vampires who take their jobs seriously. Like John Cook.' ★★★★★ 'Fans of Morbius, Blade, Buffy, Shade of Devil, and Deadpool will love the Preternatural Chronicles.' ★★Nine out of ten people who recommend things loved Hunter Blain's books, according to a rigged and heavily-biased research study overseen by Argento Publishing...★★ Books in the Preternatural Chronicles: Deliverance--Book 0.5: B07V3GBZ47 I'm Glad You're Dead--Book 1: B07PG3CGG8 Dawn and Quartered--Book 2: B07SS6PDJY Shadow of a Doubt--Book 3: B0821YGZPQ Moonlight Equilibrium--Book 3.5: B086RY3WHZ Mouth of Madness--Book 4: B086FX5B87 What the Hell--Book 5: B088BG92DX Holy Sheoly--Book 6: