They named him Thorn. They told him he was of their people, although he was so different. He was ugly in their eyes, strange, sleek-skinned instead of furred, clawless, different. Yet he was of their power class: judge-warriors, the elite, the fighters, the defenders.Thorn knew that his difference was somehow very important – but not important enough to prevent murderous conspiracies against him, against his protector, against his caste, and perhaps against the peace of the world. But when the crunch came, when Thorn finally learned what his true role in life was to be, that on him might hang the future of two worlds, then he had to stand alone to justify his very existence.

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Niūru ir gūdu Magijaros karalystėje. Siaubas lediniais nagais kausto žmonių sielas bei širdis. Nes piktieji goblinai pasklebė karą.Žmonės bejėgiai prieš goblinų kliautis ir burtus. Vienintelė viltis — nedidelė goblinų veidrodžio šukė, spinduliuose spinduliuojanti magišką galią…

After a hundred pioneer years, the colony on Hestia seemed to be nearing its end. Its holdings on that green and fertile planet were still limited to a single river in one valley. Everywhere else hostile fauna hedged them in. A dam could break the deadlock, and they needed an engineer to build it for them. Sam Merrit was the man who came in answer to their S.O.S. -- and he wanted out as soon as he landed. But once down on Hestia, it was live or die within the colony. So Sam stayed -- to discover certain anomalies that the hardscrabble colonists had thrust from their minds.

A truly breathtaking new anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, Swords & Dark Magic offers stunning new tales of sword and sorcery action, romance, and dark adventure written by some of the most respected, bestselling fantasy writers working today—from Joe Abercrombie to Gene Wolfe. An all-new Elric novella from the legendary Michael Moorcock and a new visit to Majipoor courtesy of the inimitable Robert Silverberg are just two of the treasures offered in Swords & Dark Magic—a fantasy lover’s dream.Seventeen original tales of sword and sorcery penned by masters old and newElric…the Black Company…Majipoor. For years, these have been some of the names that have captured the hearts of generations of readers and embodied the sword and sorcery genre. And now some of the most beloved and bestselling fantasy writers working today deliver stunning all-new sword and sorcery stories in an anthology of small stakes but high action, grim humor mixed with gritty violence, fierce monsters and fabulous treasures, and, of course, swordplay. Don’t miss the adventure of the decade!Swords & Dark Magic is the most important new fantasy anthology to be published this decade. Featuring new stories from the bestselling and brightest writers working in the genre, including: New York Times bestselling authors Scott Lynch and Garth Nix; genre greats Michael Moorcock (with an all-new Elric novella), Michael Shea (with a fully authorized new Cugel the Clever adventure), Robert Silverberg (with an all-new Majipoor tale), Glen Cook (with an all-new Black Company story), Gene Wolfe, and C. J. Cherryh; and hot new writers who’ve been re-inventing swords and sorcery like Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, Tim Lebbon, and many more.Cover illustration © by Benjamin Carré

A truly breathtaking new anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders, Swords & Dark Magic offers stunning new tales of sword and sorcery action, romance, and dark adventure written by some of the most respected, bestselling fantasy writers working today—from Joe Abercrombie to Gene Wolfe. An all-new Elric novella from the legendary Michael Moorcock and a new visit to Majipoor courtesy of the inimitable Robert Silverberg are just two of the treasures offered in Swords & Dark Magic—a fantasy lover’s dream.Seventeen original tales of sword and sorcery penned by masters old and newElric…the Black Company…Majipoor. For years, these have been some of the names that have captured the hearts of generations of readers and embodied the sword and sorcery genre. And now some of the most beloved and bestselling fantasy writers working today deliver stunning all-new sword and sorcery stories in an anthology of small stakes but high action, grim humor mixed with gritty violence, fierce monsters and fabulous treasures, and, of course, swordplay. Don’t miss the adventure of the decade!Swords & Dark Magic is the most important new fantasy anthology to be published this decade. Featuring new stories from the bestselling and brightest writers working in the genre, including: New York Times bestselling authors Scott Lynch and Garth Nix; genre greats Michael Moorcock (with an all-new Elric novella), Michael Shea (with a fully authorized new Cugel the Clever adventure), Robert Silverberg (with an all-new Majipoor tale), Glen Cook (with an all-new Black Company story), Gene Wolfe, and C. J. Cherryh; and hot new writers who’ve been re-inventing swords and sorcery like Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, Tim Lebbon, and many more.Cover illustration © by Benjamin Carré

Things weren't right in the little kingdom of Maggiar, so the princes Bogdan and Tamas set off to seek an answer to the kingdom's troubles in the world over the mountain, a world they knew only from legends. But that glorious place was great no more. The goblins had declared war, and no one--especially not visitors were safe from the raging battles, the darkest sorcery, and the evil that roamed the land....

Now betrayed by the Emperor he once protected, master swordsman Saukendar leaves the way of the sword behind him forever--so he thinks. When a headstrong peasant girl burning to avenge her murdered family demands that he train her, Saukendar is faced with a momentous choice. Send Taizu away, never see her again--or join her and destroy the tyrant who has nearly destroyed them both.

The Empire of Sabis was falling, besieged by the army of a more powerful empire and by hostile wizards. A small group of philosopher-scientists could reverse the tide if they could convince the rulers of Sabis to build the deadly new weapon that they have invented: the cannon. But when the rulers prove too short-sighted and Sabis falls, the scientists flee, disguising their knowledge under the cover of religion. Though centuries will pass and the Sabim race will be oppressed and persecuted, the powerful knowledge will be preserved in secret by the Order. And the time will come when only one thing stands against destruction by a ruthless and invincible barbarian horde: The Sword of Knowledge.

Freedom was an isolated planet, off the spaceways track and rarely visited by commercial spacers. It wasn't that Freedom was inhospitable as planets go. The problem was that outsiders—tourists and traders—claimed the streets were crowded with mysterious characters in blue robes and with members of an alien species.Native-born humans, however, said that was not the case. There were no such blue-robes and no aliens.Such was the viewpoint of both Herrin the artist and Waden the autocrat—until a crisis of planetary identity forced a life-and-death confrontation between the question of reality and the reality of the question…