Plunged into a war of succession, Terryll Payce, captain of the Black Wind, and Lyrie, a whore from a high-end brothel, are forced into the service of the powerful Earl. Ensnared in a tangle of bargains and betrayal, Terryll and Lyrie fight for survival, finding allies in the unlikeliest of places. A self-contained novella from the mosaic novel The Roads to Baldairn Motte.…
In a world shrouded by soot and smoke, young Makarria has literally been forbidden to dream... Legend has foretold the demise of Emperor Thedric Guderian at the hands of a sorceress with royal blood, and the Emperor has made it his legacy to stamp out all magic from the Sargothian Empire in favor of primitive coal fired smelters and steam powered machines. When Guderian's minions discover a Dreamwielder on a seaside farmstead, a chain of events forces Guderian's new threat-the young Makarria-to flee from her home and embark upon an epic journey where her path intertwines with that of Princess Taera, her headstrong brother, Prince Caile, and the northman Siegbjorn, who captains a night-flying airship. Dogging their every step is the part-wolf, part-raven sorcerer, Wulfram, and Emperor Guderian, himself, a man who has the ability to stint magic and a vision to create a world where the laws of nature are beholden to men and machines. Only by learning to control the power she wields can Makarria save her newfound companions and stop the Emperor from irreversibly exterminating both the magic in humans and their bond with nature.…
Plague has stricken Earth, ending civilization as we know it, but the majority of humanity lives on, playing out their lives as immortal denizens in a computer program known as Soteria. All has been going as planned for 150 years, but humans are humans and discontent turns to greed. When a mysterious group of hackers begins stealing memory resources, entire realms begin to disappear and it is left to a handful of individuals spread across three worlds to salvage what’s left of human existence.…
When Dern encounters a dying knight, he forsakes his life as a thief to do the honorable thing and deliver the knight's weapons and orphaned dog to the king. Civilized life is nothing like he imagined it, though. At every turn, someone is trying to swindle him or cut his throat. Everyone but the surly dog that now looks to him as his master.... This story is a novelette. Fans of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones will enjoy this gritty fantasy that blurs the line between good and evil.…
44 years before the dreamwielder Makarria was ever born, a young sorcerer saved a boy who became an emperor....The shape-changing sorcerer Wulfram flees his war-ravaged homeland to track down the new heir of the Sargothian throne: Prince Thedric Guderian. Wulfram discovers the prince in Khail Sanctu, the heart of the Old World, but quickly realizes it will be no easy matter to return him to the Five Kingdoms and restore order. Although still a boy, Prince Guderian has much potential in him, and men of power have have already tried to sway him to their own selfish ends. When a wizened seer tells the prince he will one day become Emperor of the North, he accepts the help of Wulfram, but to what end and what purpose?"WULFRAM" is a short story tie-in to DREAMWIELDER, the epic fantasy novel from Garrett Calcaterra, available from Diversion Books.…