George R.R. Martin drew on Tolkien, who was inspired by William Morris, Medieval epics, and Norse mythology. This new collection of epic fantasy tales explores the classic themes of good vs evil, the low-born hero, and the arrogant overlord, and laced them with a taste of sorcery that reaches back to the early sources, and stirs them in with the brand new storytellers of today. This new title in our successful Gothic Fantasy Short Stories collection contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from the US, Canada, and the UK. Contemporary authors include Brian Bogart, Ramsey Campbell, Evey Brett, Leah Cypess, Kate Dollarhyde, Lucinda Gunnin, Joshua K. Haarstad, Anne Leonard, E.H. Mann, Alison McBain, Emily McCosh, Dan Micklethwaite, Wendy Nikel, Mary O'Donnell, Aimee Ogden, Cassandra Taylor, M. Elizabeth Ticknor and Nemma Wollenfang. Classic stories by William Beckford, Ernest Bramah, Eric Rucker Eddison, Richard Garnett, Robert E. Howard, C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne, Andrew Lang, George MacDonald, William Morris, Edith Nesbit, Howard Pyle, Clark Ashton Smith, Chretien de Troyes.

In the alternate history novel The New Empire , the world undergoes a drastic change in the 14th century when Chinese ships land on the west coast of what we know as the Bay Area of California. Fast forward four hundred years to a much different America than we've read about in the history books, a land dominated by a cross-continental tribal confederacy grown out of a strong alliance with Beijing. This new empire has been built on the backs of enslaved Chinese political prisoners and a profitable trading partnership overseas. Into the mix comes Jiangxi, youngest son of the last Chinese Emperor. When he arrives from across the ocean as a boy, he is purchased by Onas, a renowned tribal Elder of both the Haudenosaunee and Mutsun tribes. As Jiangxi grows up, he's caught between the two worlds of his past and present, forced into choosing between opposing ideas of freedom. Told from the main perspective of a Chinese slave in a Native American world, The New Empire paints a vibrant picture that draws strongly on a non-Eurocentric worldview.