by Robert E. Howard, with an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
The creator of Conan looks to the stars in one of fantasy’s most enduring science fantasy classics!
Robert E. Howard’s Almuric is a savage planet of crumbling stone ruins and debased, near-human inhabitants. Into this world comes Esau Cairn, Earthman, swordsman, murderer. Only he can overthrow the terrible devils that enslave Almuric, but to do so he must first defeat the inner demons that forced him to abandon Earth.
Filled with vile beasts and thrilling adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Almuric is one of Howard’s few novels, and an excellent yarn from one of America’s most distinct literary voices.
Recommended Age: Mature Readers (ages 16 and up)
Gary Gygax, father of fantasy roleplaying and the co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, weaves a fantastic tale of warring wizards that spans the world from the pyramids of ancient Egypt to the mist-shrouded towns of medieval England.
First published in the pages of Weird Tales in 1934, C.L. Moore’s Jirel of Joiry is the first significant female sword-and-sorcery protagonist and one of the most exciting and evocative characters the genre has ever known.
Published alongside seminal works by H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, the five classic fantasy tales included in this volume easily stand the test of time and often overshadow the storytelling power and emotional impact of stories by Moore’s more famous contemporaries. A seminal work from one of fantasy’s most important authors, Black God’s Kiss is an essential addition to any fantasy library.
Author: C.L. Moore
With an introduction by Suzy McKee Charnas
(aka Warriors of Mars)
Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion returns as Kane of Old Mars, a brilliant American physicist whose strange experiments in matter transmission catapult him across space and time to the Red Planet.
Kane’s is a Mars of the distant past, a place of romantic civilizations, fabulous many-spired cities, and the gorgeous princess Shizala. To win her hand and bring peace to Mars, Kane must defeat the terrible Blue Giants of the Argzoon, whose ravaging hordes threaten the whole planet!
Adventure in the Edgar Rice Burroughs tradition from the creator of Elric of Melniboné.
First stand-alone American printing since 1979!
by Henry Kuttner, with an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale
Explore the origins of Sword & Sorcery with Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis!
Published in Weird Tales to satisfy fans of Conan the Barbarian in the wake of Robert E. Howard’s death, the four long stories depict a brutal world of flashing swords and primal magic, touched by a hint of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos. Never collected in a mass market edition since their publication in the late 1930s, these exciting tales helped to establish a genre and are a critical part of any fantasy library. Included as a bonus are Kuttner’s two Prince Raynor stories from 1939’s Strange Tales.
With seminal, thrilling adventure tales from one of the most important writers in science fiction and fantasy, Elak of Atlantis is not to be missed!
by Gary Gygax, with an introduction by Erik Mona
The legendary "lost" novel from the late Gary Gygax blazes into print for the first time ever, offering a new glimpse at a master fantasist at the peak of his game. Gary Gygax, co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and patron saint to a generation of fantasy game enthusiasts, is best known in fiction for the wily protagonist Gord the Rogue and the cunning detective-sorcerer Setne Inhetep. The long-awaited Infernal Sorceress debuts two new Gygax characters: the handsome swordsman Raker and his cunning daggerman Ferret, a duo of rough-and-tumble rogues ready for the intrigues and adventures of a hostile world. Swashbuckling swordplay, hideous monsters, and puzzling mysteries abound in this never-before-published tale from a master of sword and sorcery.
Infernal Sorceress takes place on Aerth, a fantastic planet informed by Earth in the Dark Ages and medieval period. It's also the setting for Gygax's novels The Anubis Murders and The Samarkand Solution, also available from Planet Stories.
by Michael Moorcock, with an introduction by Roy Thomas
Once more into the matter transmitter for an unforgettable journey to ancient Mars!
Pulled back to earth on the eve of his marriage to the beautiful Princess Shizala, brilliant physicist Michael Kane must once again journey to the Red Planet to reclaim a life of swordplay and high adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs! Kane finds himself on a different Mars, a place of blue giants and red revolution that ultimately leads to a ruined obsidian city inhabited by savage spider-men. A fast-paced adventure of swords, sorcery, and super-science awaits in this classic tale by an undisputed master of fantasy!
by Michael Moorcock, with an introduction by Samuel R. Delany
Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion returns in the form of Michael Kane, a brilliant Earthman stranded on the treacherous deserts of Ancient Mars! In this sweeping, epic sword-and-planet adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Kane and his blue giant companion Hool Haji must travel to the far reaches of the Red Planet to halt the hideous Green Death, an unstoppable disease that rots the mind as well as the body. From gorgeous Karnala, City of Green Mists, to the empty streets of tainted Cend-Amrid to the forgotten weird-science laboratories of the lost, highly advanced Yaksha culture, Masters of the Pit promises stunning locales, disgusting Martian creatures, and relentless action from the Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning creator of Elric of Melniboné!
Though Masters of the Pit reads as a thrilling self-contained novel, its characters and locales are also featured in City of the Beast and Lord of the Spiders, both previously released under the Planet Stories line.
by C.L. Moore, with an introduction by C.J. Cherryh
75th Anniversary Edition!
From the crumbling temples of forgotten gods on Venus to the seedy pleasure halls of old Mars, Northwest Smith blazes a trail through the underbelly of the solar system in 13 action-packed stories you won’t soon forget.
Among the best-written and most emotionally complex stories of the Pulp Era, the tales of intergalactic smuggler Northwest Smith still resonate strongly 75 years after their first publication. A staple of Weird Tales in its Golden Age, C.L. Moore’s stories appeared alongside work by H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith, forming the backbone of the unique magazine’s approach to science fiction and planetary adventure.
For the first time ever, all of Northwest Smith’s adventures have been collected in a single volume, including 'Quest of the Starstone,' which pairs Smith with Moore’s other famous creation, the fierce swordswoman Jirel of Joiry!
by Gary Gygax, with an introduction by Ed Greenwood
The governor is dead!
While vacationing in the treacherous city of On, Magister Setne Inhetep—personal wizard-priest to the Pharaoh and part-time detective—stumbles upon a scene of murder by magic at the highest levels of government. With suspects ranging from the high priest of Set to a consortium of merchants and wizards from across the world, Inhetep must piece together the mystery before more luminaries are killed in a plot that threatens the Triple Kingdom of Ægypt!
An exotic mystery by the father of fantasy roleplaying, The Samarkand Solution is Gary Gygax at his most thrilling and mysterious.
by Leigh Brackett, with an introduction by Michael Moorcock
Enter Eric John Stark, adventurer, rebel, wildman. Raised on the sun-soaked, savage world of Mercury, Stark lives among the people of the civilized solar system, but his veneer of calm masks a warrior’s spirit. In the murderous Martian Drylands the greatest criminals in the galaxy hatch a conspiracy of red revolution. Stark’s involvement leads to the forgotten ruins of the Martian Low Canals, an unlikely romance, and a secret so potent it could shake the Red Planet to its core.
In a special bonus novel, People of the Talisman, Stark ventures to the treacherous polar icecap of Mars to return a stolen talisman to an oppressed people.
The Secret of Sinharat and People of the Talisman make an excellent introduction to the work of Leigh Brackett, a pillar of science fantasy and one of the greatest writers to work in the genre. Talented enough to co-write The Big Sleep with William Faulkner and influential enough to write the original screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back, Brackett’s fiction is no less distinguished than her movie work and never fails to deliver thrills and wry smiles.
Editor: James Lowder
Many of today's best (and best-selling) fantasists got their start writing shared-world fiction supporting roleplaying games. This massive anthology collects more than a dozen thrilling tales from R.A. Salvatore, Michael A. Stackpole, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, and more, providing an exciting overview of the original worlds and characters of authors who achieved their greatest fame writing stories they do not own. Edited by James Lowder (The Book of All Flesh, Prince of Lies), Worlds of Their Own presents an unprecedented sampler of fantasy and science-fiction adventure tales from some of the best-loved and best-known authors in the genre.
* Contents: Introduction: "The Last Word Matters" by James Lowder
* "Mather’s Blood" by R.A. Salvatore
* "Keeping Score" by Michael A. Stackpole
* "The Oaths of Gods" by Nancy Virginia Varian
* "The Doom of Swords" by Greg Stolze
* "Catch of the Day" by Jeff Grubb
* "Ghosts of Love" by Steven Savile
* "The Wisdom of Nightingales" by Richard E. Dansky
* "The Guardian of the Dawn" by William King
* "How Fear Came to Ornath" by Ed Greenwood
* "The Admiral’s Reckoning" by J. Robert King
* "Memories and Ghosts" by Monte Cook
* "Three Impossible Things" by Lisa Smedman
* "Near the End of the World" by Greg Stafford
* "Confession" by Paul S. Kemp
* "Lorelei" by Elaine Cunningham
* "The Unquiet Dreams of Cingris the Stout" by James Lowder
* "On the Off-Ramp of the Intergalactic Superhighway" by Will McDermott
* "Twistbuck’s Game" by Gary Gygax
