The pulse-pounding return of Conan, the most iconic fantasy hero in popular culture, with a brand-new illustrated standalone novel by New York Times bestselling author S.M. Stirling, tied directly to the famous tales written by Robert E. Howard. Mercenary, thief, soldier, usurper... CONAN OF CIMMERIA As sword for hire for a mercenary troop, Conan finds himself in Sukhmet, a filthy backwater town south of the River Styx considered "the arse-end of Stygia." Serving in the company known as Zarallo's Free Companions, he fights alongside soldiers of fortune from Zingara, Koth, Shem, and other lands-a hard-handed band of killers loyal to anyone who pays them well. In a Sukhmet tavern he encounters one soldier in particular-Valeria of the Red Brotherhood, a veteran of freebooters with whom Conan also sailed, launching raids out of the Barachan Isles on the Western Sea. Valeria's reputation is that of a deadly swordswoman, a notoriety she quickly proves to be accurate. When she runs afoul of an exiled Stygian noble, however, things take a deadly turn, embroiling them both in the schemes of a priest of the serpent god Set. The first new Conan novel in more than a decade, Blood of the Serpent leads directly into one of Robert E. Howard's most famous sword-and-sorcery adventures, "Red Nails." As a bonus feature that story, as well, is included in this volume.

The Change occurred when an electrical storm centered over the island of Nantucket produced a blinding white flash that rendered all electronic devices and fuels inoperable. What follows is the most terrible global catastrophe in the history of the human race-and a Dark Age more universal and complete than could possibly be imagined.
""Dies the Fire" kept me reading till five in the morning so I could finish at one great gulp..."--New York Times bestselling author Harry Turtledove

It's spring on Nantucket and everything is perfectly normal, until a sudden storm blankets the entire island. When the weather clears, the island's inhabitants find that they are no longer in the late twentieth century...but have been transported instead to the Bronze Age Now they must learn to survive with suspicious, warlike peoples they can barely understand and deal with impending disaster, in the shape of a would-be conqueror from their own time.

Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, lived in the shadows of the city.

Though gifted beyond his peers, Jimmy is merely a pickpocket with potential--until he aids Prince Arutha in the rescue of Princess Anita from Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra, and runs afoul of "Black Guy's" secret police. Facing a choice between disappearing on his own or in a weighted barrel at the bottom of Krondor's harbor, Jimmy chooses the former.

Forced to flee the only home he's ever known, Jimmy finds himself among the unsuspecting rural villagers of Land's End, where he hopes to prosper with his talents for con and thievery. But Land's End is home to many who tread the crooked path--and to a dark, dangerous presence even the local smugglers don't recognize. And suddenly Jimmy's youthful bravado and courage are leading him into the maw of chaos . . . and, quite possibly, to his doom.

Vikings, pirates, heroes, rogues, and explorers . . . all have heard the siren call of the sea, and master storyteller Harold Lamb chronicled some of their most daring exploits. This single volume contains all of Lamb's historical seafaring stories, drawn from rare and fragile pulp magazines. Never before collected, these short stories and novels are a treasure trove of adventure. Best known for his stirring tales of Cossacks and crusaders, Lamb was no stranger to swashbuckling, and his sea stories deliver it in buckets. Sail with John Paul Jones as he fights to save the crippled Russian fleet from the Turks, one eye always alert for the knives of his czarist rivals. Venture across the desert with a lone American on a desperate venture against the Barbary corsairs. Seek the Northeast Passage, beset by ice, storms, and traitors from within, at the side of explorer Ralph Thorne. Ride the whale road with the Vikings, plying their swords from Iceland to Byzantium. Introduced by best-selling author S. M. Stirling, this volume concludes with a rare behind-the-scenes look at Harold Lamb's writing secrets, penned by the editor who made him famous.

Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, lived in the shadows of the city. The sewers were his byways and a flea-ridden, rat-infested cellar his home. Although gifted beyond his peers, he was still but a nimble street urchin, a pickpocket with potential. Until the day he met Prince Arutha.Aiding the Prince in his rescue of Princess Anita from imprisonment by Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra, Jimmy runs afoul of Black Guy's secret police. Given the choice of disappearing on his own or in a weighted barrel at the bottom of Krondor's harbor, Jimmy flees the only home he's ever known, venturing south to the relatively safe haven of Land's End. Suspecting that the rural villagers have never encountered a lad with his talent and nose for finding wealth--other people's wealth--he's fairly optimistic about his broadening horizons. But Jimmy is completely unprepared for what greets him.For Land's End is home to others who tread the crooked path, and more, to a much darker secret: a dangerous presence unknown even to the local thieves and smugglers. And Jimmy's youthful bravado and courage will plunge him deep into the maw of chaos and even--if he isn't careful--death.

Against the Tide of Years continues the adventures of the Nantucket residents who have been transported through time to the Bronze Age. In the years since their arrival, the fledging Republic of Nantucket has striven to better the primitive world in which they now exist. Their prime concerns are establishing a constitution and handling the waves of immigrants from the British Isles. But a renegade time traveler plans his own future by forging an empire for himself based on conquest by modern technology. The Republic has no alternative but to face the inevitable war brought on by one of their own....

Rudi Mackenzie's quest to find the source of the world-altering event known as The Change ends in Nantucket, an island overrun with forest and inhabited by a mere 200 people who claim to have been transported there from out of time. Only one odd stone house remains standing. Within it, Rudi finds a beautifully made sword seemingly waiting for him. And once he takes it up, nothing for Rudi or for the world that he knows will ever be the same...

Master of driving pace, exotic setting, and complex plotting, Harold Lamb was one of Robert E. Howard's favorite writers. Here at last is every pulse-pounding, action-packed story of Lamb's greatest hero, the wolf of the steppes, Khlit the Cossack. Journey now with the unsung grandfather of sword and sorcery in search of ancient tombs, gleaming treasure, and thrilling landscapes. Match wits with deadly swordsmen, scheming priests, and evil cults. Rescue lovely damsels, ride with bold comrades, and hazard everything on your brains and skill and a little luck.

"Wolf of the Steppes" is the first of a four-volume set that collects, for the first time, the complete Cossack stories of Harold Lamb and presents them in order: every adventure of Khlit the Cossack and those of his friends, allies, and fellow Cossacks, many of which have never before appeared between book covers. Compiled and edited by the Harold Lamb scholar Howard Andrew Jones, each volume features never-before reprinted essays Lamb wrote about his stories, informative introductions by popular authors, and a wealth of rare, exciting, swashbuckling fiction.

In this first volume, Khlit infiltrates a hidden fortress of assassins, tracks down the tomb of Genghis Khan, flees the vengeance of a dead emperor, leads the Mongol horde against impossible odds, accompanies the stunning Mogul queen safely through the land of her enemies, and much more. This is the stuff of grand adventure, from the pen of an American Dumas.