Carrie Vaughn

“Each story contains strength and compassion, even when the personal cost is high. The depictions of battle and trauma are rarely graphic, but they're as hard-hitting as the subject demands. This is a truly impressive accomplishment for Guran and her contributors.” - Publishers Weekly (STARRED)From fantastic legends and science fictional futures come compelling tales of powerful women-or those who discover strength they did not know they possessed-who fight because they must, for what they believe in, for those they love, to simply survive, or who glory in battle itself. Fierce or fearful, they are courageous and honorable-occasionally unscrupulous and tainted-but all warriors worthy of the name. Join bestselling authors, Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, George R. R. Martin, Elizabeth Moon and many others as they celebrate the STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST in what Publishers Weekly calls an “epic anthology”.

The farther we've gotten from the magic and mystery of the past, the more we've come to love Halloween — the one time each year when the mundane is overturned in favor of the bizarre, the "other side" is closest, and everyone can become anyone (or anything) they wish... and sometimes what they don't. Introducing nineteen original stories from mistresses and masters of the dark celebrate the most fantastic, enchanting, spooky, and supernatural of holidays.

From the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh to Norse prophecies of Ragnarok to the Revelations of Saint John to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and any number of fictional zombie Armageddons and the dystopic world of The Hunger Games, we have always wondered what will happen after the world as we know it ends. No matter what the doomsday scenario — cataclysmic climate change, political chaos, societal collapse, nuclear war, pestilence, or so many other dreaded variations — we inevitably believe that even though the world perishes, some portion of humankind will live on. Such stories involve death and disaster, but they are also tales of rebirth and survival. Grim or triumphant, these outstanding, post-apocalyptic stories selected from the best of those published in the tumultuous last decade allow us to consider what life will be like after the end.

Kitty Norville is back and in more trouble than ever. Her recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural? She's got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman. Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter.But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia. That, plus a call for help from a powerful vampire ally in San Francisco, suddenly puts Kitty and her friends on the supernatural chessboard, pieces in dangerously active play. And Kitty Norville is never content to be a pawn. . . .At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

There's a hot were-jaguar in town, and Kitty's hungering for his touch . . .Celebrity werewolf and late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard and not seen, but when she's invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of the country's supernaturals, her face gets plastered all over national TV.Before long Kitty's inherited a brand-new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city, an über-hot Brazilian were-jaguar, and a Bible-thumping senator who plans to expose Kitty as the monster he truly believes her to be. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone's itching for a fight - and she's about to be caught in the middle.

When Evie Walker goes home to spend time with her dying father, she discovers that his creaky old house in Hope's Fort, Colorado is not the only legacy she will inherit. Hidden behind the basement door is a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again. Of course, this legacy is not without its costs: there are those who will give anything to find a way in. With the help of her father, a mysterious stranger named Alex, and some unexpected heroes, Evie must guard the storeroom against ancient and malicious forces and protect both the past and the future even as the present unravels.

When modern technology clashes with ancient monsters, seventeen-year-old Kay and her unlikely dragon friend, Artegal, are caught in the middle. Can their friendship stop a war?