Showing results by narrator "John Jackson" in All Categories

From the Hugo Award-winning hosts of the Writing Excuses writing advice show comes a collection of all-new stories of the fantastic, with beautiful illustrations and a behind-the-scenes look at each story’s creation.

When the body of N’Gana Frimbo, the African conjure-man, is discovered in his consultation room, Perry Dart, one of Harlem’s 10 Black police detectives, is called in to investigate. Together with Dr Archer, a physician from across the street, Dart is determined to solve the baffling mystery, helped and hindered by Bubber Brown and Jinx Jenkins, local boys keen to clear themselves of suspicion of murder and undertake their own investigations.

Years ago, a weird mask of unknown origin and limitless power was buried in the cement of an apartment building's basement floor. Edge City and its residents have all but forgotten the mysterious green-faced killer known only as "Big Head." But now, decades later, the bizarre Tex Avery-style killings are happening all over again and are on a collision course with a bizarre political campaign where a homicidal maniac wants to "Make America Green Again"!

A vengeful ghost trapped in a goblin's ear...a flaming spider who must help stop a goddess from conquering a science-fiction convention...a goblin nursery worker who finds herself trapped in the middle of a war. This collection features six humorous short stories that explore the fantasy realm from the perspective of the lowest of the low, the unlikeliest of unheroes: the goblins.

The city of Haven has changed Hawk and Fisher from what they once were...but what, or who, were they? Discontent and a political assassination draw them to the Forest Kingdom. King Harald is dead and the kingdom is in turmoil. The King's Questor seeks out Hawk and Fisher to find the killer, break some spells, and help restore a kind of peace.

When Tess and Eliot stumble upon an ancient book hidden in a secret tunnel beneath the school library, they accidentally release a devil from his book-bound prison, and he’ll stop at nothing to stay free. He’ll manipulate all the ink in the library books to do his bidding, he’ll murder in the stacks, and he’ll bleed into every inch of Tess’ life until his freedom is permanent. Forced to work together, Tess and Eliot have to find a way to re-trap the devil before he kills everyone they know and love, including, increasingly, each other.

Kylara Vatta is the only daughter in a family full of sons, and her father's only child to buck tradition by choosing a military career instead of joining the family business. For Ky, it's no contest: Even running the prestigious Vatta Transport Ltd. shipping concern can't hold a candle to shipping out as an officer aboard an interstellar cruiser. It's adventure, not commerce, that stirs her soul. And despite her family's misgivings, there can be no doubt that a Vatta in the service will prove a valuable asset. But with a single error in judgment, it all comes crumbling down.

Falling for the ghosts of murdered gangsters who were your imaginary friends once upon a time? I'll admit it's a little unusual. But they're back and totally real, and it's hard to argue with their admittedly obsessive level of devotion. Unfortunately, their violent dedication isn't enough to bring down the powerful man who hurt my little sister. I have to take matters into my own hands. I just wish I had a better grip on this marshy magic I've discovered in myself.

When children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I'm the one they call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage what they cannot. Crossing into Ogre country is dangerous when you're a polite, respectful gal. Which means we all know I'm in for a wild ride, despite the new backup I've brought along. Even when things start to go sideways, and enemies close on us from every side, I still believe we have the upper hand. How very blind can one person be when it comes to a salvage for a missing child? I'm about to find out.

Restored to her former state of health (and determination), Lady Cecelia goes in search of fresh bloodstock - she's had enough of politics. But once again she manages to put herself - and Heris Serrano - at the point where lightning will strike. This time it's invasion from the neighboring empire: The Benignity of the Compassionate Hand. Heris is only a civilian now, with a space yacht - what can she do in the face of a full-scale fleet of warships? But she is also a Serrano - born to lead.

Ah, the sweet, sweet singing of the whip-poor-wills. Surely one of the most innocent, purest bird songs one can know, plaintive and perfect in the clean morning light. Unless, of course, you happen to live near the decayed New England village of Dunwich, have seen the mad fires blazing from the ancient stone circles atop Sentinel Mountain, and remember the horrible events of 70 years ago.

Lady Cecelia is to mysteries what a pack of foxhounds is to a fox...and her interference brings her to disaster. But Captain Serrano isn't about to let her employer - and now her friend - be destroyed. With the help of Lady Cecelia's nephew and his friends, including Lord Thornbuckle's adventurous daughter, Heris plots a rescue, while trying to rebalance her own life and recover relationships with some of her former crew. In the process, she and Lady Cecelia bring down a government.

Spread across post-apocalyptic North America, the nine great cities ruled by the alien-human hybrid barons have crumbled…ushering in not defeat, but a new epoch of alien rule of Earth. But their assault is threatened by a force of extraordinary humans, the Cerberus rebels, dedicated to freeing humanity from the aeons of slavery that the alien Annunaki race have placed upon it. In Louisiana, a salvaged piece of sentient spaceship signals the beginning of the long-awaited second salvo.

Lt. Wayson Harris is one of thousands of clones born and bred to be the ultimate soldiers. But unlike the others, Harris is an outlawed model - one with independent thoughts and an addiction to violence. Presumed dead after his troops were massacred, Harris - who blames the U.A. for the slaughter - has gone AWOL as a bounty hunter. Still, it’s hard for a clone to overcome his conditioning, and Harris finds himself drawn back into the U.A.'s service by his mentor and creator, Fleet Admiral Bryce Klyber.

In the aftermath of the apocalypse, little remains except age-old evils of greed, perversion, and force. But a small group of survivalists cherishes the legacy of human courage and hope. Led by the charismatic Ryan Cawdor, they persevere in a brutal world through warrior skills and a bold desire to regain the promised future. The fertile bayous teem with mutant life-forms and altered species. Off on a trek with his son, Ryan fends off the dangers from marauders and Nature's traps, but also finds signs of hope for humanity's new future.

The clone soldiers of the Enlisted Man’s Empire, formerly members of the Unified Authority’s powerful military, maintain a tenuous grasp on the power they fought so hard to gain. But the U.A. will not be so easy to suppress as they had hoped.... A provocateur attacks the Pentagon. Gunships converge on the penitentiary where Unified Authority war criminals are held. And a clone assassin murders Admiral Don Cutter, commander in chief of the Enlisted Man's Empire....

Earth, AD 2519. Less than a year has passed since the clone military of the Enlisted Man’s Empire toppled the government of the Unified Authority. Now the clones rule Earth, but a new enemy has emerged — and set off civil war.... Formerly trained to fight for the U.A., clone Marine Wayson Harris had led the Enlisted Man’s Empire invasion of Earth and wrested control away from the old regime. He’s now ready to do what it takes to ensure the new balance of power isn’t jeopardized.

San Francisco's only PI with an eye into the supernatural, is having one of those months. His bad mood drives him to his local pub where he encounters his latest client, a Leprechaun who's lost his adopted niece, a runaway Dryad, and that's where the problems begin. Some days it pours and when Landau Bain, the city's crankiest wizard, arrives on Tony's doorstep, he knows what's coming down isn't rain.

He is brave, tough as leather, and has left behind a trail of deadly enemies - outlaws he's hunted down or killed with the cold heart of a man used to violence. A feared bounty hunter and the scourge of bad men everywhere, Flintlock carries an ancient Hawken muzzle-loader, handed down to him from the mountain man who raised him. He stands as the towering hero of a new Johnstone saga.

Esmay Suiza wasn't a member of a great Navy family like the Serranos. She'd had to make her way on grit alone, which meant it wasn't likely she'd ever make admiral and "hoist her own flag". Well, that was fine with her: All Esmay wanted was a secure berth where she could be part of something greater than herself, and otherwise just live her life in peace. But what we want or think we want from life and what we get are seldom the same - and one day, Esmay found herself in the middle of a space battle, and the senior surviving officer in a mutiny against a traitorous captain.