Myth is oral, collective, sacred, and timeless. Fantasy is a modern literary mode and a popular entertainment. Yet the two have always been inextricably intertwined. Stories about Stories examines fantasy as an arena in which different ways of understanding myth compete and new relationships with myth are worked out. The book offers a comprehensive history of the modern fantastic as well as an argument about its nature and importance. Specific chapters cover the origins of fantasy in the Romantic search for localized myths, fantasy versions of the Modernist turn toward the primitive, the post-Tolkienian exploration of world mythologies, post-colonial reactions to the exploitation of indigenous sacred narratives by Western writers, fantasies based in Christian belief alongside fundamentalist attempts to stamp out the form, and the emergence of ever-more sophisticated structures such as metafiction through which to explore mythic constructions of reality.

Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person - costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most.

And it's all Angel's fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station - of home - to spend the best part of a decade alone.

But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting - and she has an offer.

One last job. One last deal. One last target. The trillionaire tech god they failed to bring down last time. There's just one thing Edie needs to do - trust Angel again - which also happens to be the last thing Edie wants to do. What could possibly go all hammajang about this plan?

As France is in the midst of a closely fought presidential campaign, the government falls victim to a series of mysterious and unsettling cyberattacks. Paul Raison is caught up in the state’s scrambled response, working as an advisor to the finance minister and with family connections to the DGSI, the French counterterrorism agency.

But Paul’s private life is as strained as the nation is troubled. His marriage has collapsed, he’s drifted from his siblings, and their father has been hospitalized following a stroke. In telling Paul’s story, Annihilation moves seamlessly between tense espionage thriller and poignant family drama. The result is an extraordinary and moving meditation on loving, caring and dying.

Andrew Bye was born in the late forties in the East End of London. After a lengthy career in engineering he took up writing when he retired; he is an unashamed Trekkie and loves sci-fi, amongst other things. He writes about everything and hopes you enjoy this work as much as he did writing it.

The Space Drain is a sequel to the novel MK121 by the same author and is a tale of a small group of space faring individuals who, having survived a major space conflagration, find themselves involved with a phenomenon which had been only a theory but which now is very real. Time is not on their side in more ways than they could have imagined as they endeavour to find a way out of their predicament. The story revolves around three people in particular; Rachenda Lindberg, Gideon Bearman and Teri Soniba, who are the last remaining crew members of the Space Force cruiser MK121 which has been involved in a desperate attempt to halt an alien invasion of Earth. Trapped in an area of space that nobody has ever returned from before, their only hope of salvation comes from a most unlikely quarter. How they manage to escape from the clutches of the phenomenon and what impact it has on the rest of their lives and the lives of others that they come into contact with is told in some detail. The survival chances for the group swing between despair and elation as the story unfolds and the futures of all concerned are irrevocably changed. The final outcome is not what could be foreseen.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same ambition in each other. A shared interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl with a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the arch-nemeses have set a course for revenge but who will be left alive at the end?

By the end of Knocking On The Moonlit Door, the Martians have landed! As this story unfolds, nothing is happening quite as anyone would expect. Joe Mortimer is Britain's former leading astronaut and retired head of BUSSTOP - British and United States Scheme for Travel to Other Planets. However, none of his experience prepares him for the events which start to surround him and his family. Those who apparently have no link to space exploration also begin to be pulled into a complex web. Earth is being watched from afar. Some of the observers care deeply about the planet. Others have darker intentions.

Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King's seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction. It has sold millions of copies and has been adapted twice for television. Generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilisation, and its stunning array of characters.

Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorised a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this original short story anthology, as presented by award-winning authors and editors C hristopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today's greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World As We Know It features unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand - brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with readers everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel.

Featuring an introduction by Stephen King, a foreword by C hristopher Golden and afterword by Brian Keene. C ontributors include Wayne Brady and Maurice Broaddus, Poppy Z. Brite, Somer C anon, C . Robert C argill, Nat C assidy, V. C astro, Richard C hizmar, S. A. C osby, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Meg Gardiner, Gabino Iglesias, Jonathan Janz, Alma Katsu, C aroline Kepnes, Michael Koryta, Sarah Langan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, Usman T. Malik, Premee Mohamed, C ynthia Pelayo, Hailey Piper, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, Bryan Smith, Paul Tremblay, C atherynne M. Valente, Bev Vincent, C atriona Ward, C huck Wendig, Wrath James White and Rio Youers.