Join twenty-five masterful authors and talented newcomers with more than 400 pages of the disturbing, unnerving, haunting, and strange. This outstanding annual exploration of the year’s best dark fiction delivers tales of deathly possession, the weirdly surreal, mysterious melancholy, and frighteningly plausible futures. Confront your own humanity and the fears that stir you—from the darkly supernatural and painfully familiar to the disquieting terror of the unknown.
For the beautiful young woman Ash, life has always been arquebuses and artillery, swords and armour and the true horrors of hand-to-hand combat. War is her job. She has fought her way to the command of a mercenary company, and on her unlikely shoulders lies the destiny of a Europe threatened by the depredations of an Infidel army more terrible than any nightmare. Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 2000
On the border of the Illhari Republic... Snowdenaelikk, conjuror and heretic, lives on the edge of the Republic--and the law--as a cartel enforcer. Then a smuggling deal goes bad, a village burns, and she finds herself on the wrong side of a legion patrol. Veiko Nyrikki is an outlaw and an outlander, just trying to survive......until his sense of honor--and his ax--get between Snow and the legion. Now he’s got new enemies and new allies and survival’s gotten complicated. But Snow and Veiko soon discover the legion is the least of their problems. The Republic is built on the bones of a banished dragon god, and she has come back for revenge. Praise for K. Eason's Books "This story delights from cover to cover. The political intrigue never fails to surprise, each character is layered and compelling, and there’s a perfect balance between science-fiction action and fairy-tale fantasy. Do not, under any circumstances, miss out on this." —Kirkus (starred review) on How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse "Eason adds a feminist modern twist to fairy tale and sf tropes while presenting an intergalactic adventure that enthralls in its own right, striking that ideal balance between original and familiar.... A delightful start to what promises to be a smart, unique series." —Booklist (starred review) on How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse "Exquisitely written with complex characters, sardonic wit, and immersive worldbuilding. Highly recommended." —Library Journal (starred review) on How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse “Readers seeking a genre-blending tale will enjoy Eason’s no-nonsense tone as she sets the plot of a thriller within her established world of science fiction and fantasy.” —Booklist on Nightwatch on the Hinterlands “Eason has a real talent for building engrossing and intricate worlds that feel both whimsical and real at the same time.” —The Quill to Live on Nightwatch on the Hinterlands “Splendid stuff!” —Jason M. Hough, New York Times bestselling author on Nightwatch on the Hinterlands “[This] is a perfect blending of sci-fi and fantasy with a pair of the most unlikely and enjoyable detectives you’ll ever meet.” —Stephen Blackmoore, author of the Eric Carter series on Nightwatch on the Hinterlands
The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror offers more than four hundred pages of tales from some of today’s finest writers of the fantastique?sure to delight as well as disturb!
Reveals the diversity crisis in children's and young adult media as not only a lack of representation, but a lack of imagination Stories provide portals into other worlds, both real and imagined. The promise of escape draws people from all backgrounds to speculative fiction, but when people of color seek passageways into the fantastic, the doors are often barred. This problem lies not only with children’s publishing, but also with the television and film executives tasked with adapting these stories into a visual world. When characters of color do appear, they are often marginalized or subjected to violence, reinforcing for audiences that not all lives matter. The Dark Fantastic is an engaging and provocative exploration of race in popular youth and young adult speculative fiction. Grounded in her experiences as YA novelist, fanfiction writer, and scholar of education, Thomas considers four black girl protagonists from some of the most popular stories of the early 21st century: Bonnie Bennett from the CW’s The Vampire Diaries, Rue from Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Gwen from the BBC’s Merlin, and Angelina Johnson from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Analyzing their narratives and audience reactions to them reveals how these characters mirror the violence against black and brown people in our own world. In response, Thomas uncovers and builds upon a tradition of fantasy and radical imagination in Black feminism and Afrofuturism to reveal new possibilities. Through fanfiction and other modes of counter-storytelling, young people of color have reinvisioned fantastic worlds that reflect their own experiences, their own lives. As Thomas powerfully asserts, “we dark girls deserve more, because we are more.”
Slithering from these pages are never-before-collected tales of suspense and wonder by the woman who invented modern-day dark fantasy: A man goes quietly to bed aboard the doomed Lusitania and awakens on a magical South Pacific Island just as the passenger liner is torpedoed. In a future where women rule the world, a sentient island becomes murderously jealous of a shipwrecked couple. Dire consequences await a human swept into the dark, magical world of elves. A deadly labyrinth coils around the dark heart of a picturesque landscape garden. Within an Egyptian sarcophagus lies the horrifying price of infidelity. Swirling unseen around us are loathsome creatures giving form to our basest desires and fears. A beautiful, veiled medium may hold the key to preventing unspeakable evil from slipping through the borderlands between life and death. On a lost island a woman pipe player and her monstrous dancing partner bring death and terror to five adventurers. ø The stories in this collection have played an integral role in the development of modern dark fantasy, greatly influencing such writers as H. P. Lovecraft and A. Merritt.
This 4th book in our background illustration series is a collection of dark, mysterious and strange illustrations. Fantastical and magical scenery, desolate landscapes, and weird creatures, this book collects 111 dark fantasy artworks from 30 illustrators, including renowned illustrators like Posuka Demizu, the illustrator for the bestselling manga series "The Promised Neverland", and YoShimizu, the cover illustrator for the 2nd book in the series "Beautiful Scenes from a Fantasy World" (9784756249661). The cover Illustration was drawn by Monokubo（twitter: @13033303）, who, with 200K followers on Twitter, is also getting attention in the Japanese illustration industry. This will be the perfect reference book not just for fantasy art fans but also for illustrators and designers working in the gaming industry.
Lose yourself in beautiful darkness and gothic realms with this dark fantasy collection by bestselling coloring designer, Selina Fenech. You'll love spending hours of peace and calm bringing these elegantly beautiful, yet dark and creepy artworks to life with color. Leave your worries behind, grab your favorite pencils and markers, and escape into a world of bold warriors with their companion animals, vampires, demons, spellcasters and bone collectors. Selina Fenech's coloring titles have 1500+ 5-star Amazon Reviews and sold over 100,000 copies. A favorite among the adult coloring community, discover the elegant design, inspiring scenes, and sense of magic that make Selina Fenech's books so popular. Be calm, be content, and awaken your inner magic. Coloring has become famous for its calming power and benefits for mental and emotional health, in adults and children. Relieve anxiety while you release your inner artist, and amaze yourself with the masterpieces you can create adding color to these magical designs. 25 unique artworks x 2 copies of every artwork. This book includes an extra copy of each of the 25 images, for a total of 50 pages to color in, so you can try different colors or mediums, share with a friend, or have a back-up in case of an oops so you can have a stress-free experience. Page size is a large 8.5 x 11 inches, 'Letter' size, approx. 22 x 28 cm. Images on one side only, framed within the page, not full bleed. Parental discretion advised for younger artists as some designs in this book may contain artistic/concealed nudity or sensual imagery. Explore the complete 'Fantasy Coloring by Selina' collection to find your next artistic adventure. You'll find a whole world of magic with 20+ coloring books in fantasy themes from mermaids to fairies, dragons to unicorns, goddesses to gothic witches, and the totally cute Faedorables books. Selina Fenech has been a world renown fantasy artist for over fifteen years, and has carefully illustrated these coloring designs with colorists' needs in mind. Buy Now, and experience peace through the childlike wonder and magic of coloring.
