Kari Sperring

Historian and award-winning fantasy author Kari Sperring delivers a powerful, richly textured novella featuring some of the lesser known members of King Arthur's court. The sons of Lot, the Orkney royal family. Following the violent death of their mother, Gaheris finds himself the reluctant focus of sibling tensions and squabbles; the suspicion of guilt hangs over him, not least because he will offer no explanation or defence. When Gaheris is tasked with escorting his brother's wife, Llinos, home from court, neither suspect the tragic consequences that will result, as they lose their way and become stranded within an enchanting and beguiling forest.Told by Llinos of Kinkenadron, wife to Sir Gareth of Orkney, this is a gripping saga of love, infidelity, loyalty, misguided intentions and the price of nobility.

Who Needs a Friend, When You Have a Familiar? Animals have been our companions since the dawn of time, but in science fiction and fantasy, often that bond is taken one magical-or technological-step further. In FAMILIARS we asked authors to put their own unique spin on this idea, resulting in this collection of fifteen stories that explore the range of familiar bonds-from cats to caterpillars, squids to squirrels, and everything in between. With settings from fantasy to science fiction, and stories ranging from humor to horror, there's something to appeal to everyone Featuring stories by Brian Hugenbruch, Lawrence Harding, Jean Marie Ward, Jordan Bricco, Alexander G.R. Gideon, Gini Koch & Bebe Bayliss, Russell Hugh McConnell, Kari Sperring, Alicia Cay, Jim C. Hines, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Shanna Germain, Jacey Bedford, A. Katherine Black, and Jason Palmatier. The buddy system is back, baby

No one remembers Gaheris when they talk about the Orkney clan, and he likes it that way. But then, without any intent on his part, that all changes. Against every expectation, Gaheris finds himself up to his neck in intrigue, deception, violence, murder, and old secrets. Clouds gather over Camelot, threatening to destroy all that Arthur and Guinever have built, and Gaheris may be all that stands between Arthur's noble kingdom and disaster.Award-winning fantasy author and mediaeval historian Kari Sperring has woven a powerful tale of passion and intrigue featuring some of the lesser known members of King Arthur's court.

There are four sons of Lot at court and Sir Gaheris knows himself to be the least of them. Yet the charismatic and headstrong young knight Sir Lamorak looks up to him, despite more obvious choices, and when Lamorak catches his mother's eye, Gaheris knows there's trouble brewing. Soon he finds himself at the centre of family tensions, deceit and tragedy. Can he prevent the bloodshed that seems inevitable?Kari, Sperring, a medieval historian and the award-winning author of fantasy novels Living With Ghosts and The Grass King's Concubine, delivers a powerful tale of passion and intrigue featuring some of the lesser known members of King Arthur's court.Novella Set 6, Blood and Blade: four books, each containing an outstanding tale of epic fantasy squeezed within the covers of a novella. Four independent stories by four gifted authors, linked only by their cover art.

Alternate histories. Alternate realities.It's said that every choice creates multiple timelines, each one exploring what could have happened if a different decision had been made. Most of these alternate histories stem from different outcomes to a pivotal battle, or to an assassination attempt, or to the ending or escalation of a war. All violent, all bloody, all brutal. But what about those choices made during peacetime, when there was no monumental, ongoing conflict? After all, everyone knows how significant the flutter of a butterfly's wings can be, how far-reaching its effects can be felt.In these pages you will find fifteen new branches of history written by some of today's greatest science fiction and fantasy writers, including Elektra Hammond, Dale Cozort, Harry Turtledove, C.W. Briar, Rick Wilber, Juliet E. McKenna, Michael Robertson, Kat Otis, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Brian Hugenbruch, Stephen Leigh, Elizabeth Kite, Ian R. MacLeod, Mike Barretta, and Kari Sperring, all stemming from a peaceful divergence in our past. Join them as they wander down familiar paths......and then swerve down roads not taken.

The dazzling debut from a brilliant new fantasy talent. This highly original, darkly atmospheric fantasy novel immerses readers in a world where ghosts and other malevolent spirits seek entry into mortal realms--invisible to all but those who are not entirely human themselves. Drawn into the ancient city of Merafi, yet barred from entering by an ancient pact sealed in blood, these hungry haunts await their opportunity to break through the magical border and wreak havoc on the city's innocent denizens. And as a priestess and prince weave a sorcerous plot to shatter the pact and bring ruin on Merafi, only a failed assassin-priest who is now a courtesan, a noble lord married into the ruling family of Merafi, an officer of the city guard, a woman warrior who was the former lover of a now-dead lord, and the ghost of that lord himself stand between Merafi and the tidal wave of magic that may soon bring ruin flooding down upon the city.