Showing results for "The Others" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Dawson Hill is used to the routine and isolation of working on an oil platform in the North Sea. He’s woken up by what he thinks is an emergency drill, then the platform shudders and tilts like it’s about to fall into the sea… but the sea is gone. The oil platform is now on an island. And the island is inhabited by all kinds of beings. It soon becomes clear that rescue isn’t coming, and they are running out of food.

Ondry and Liam have settled into a good life, but their trading is still tied up with humans, and humans are always messy. When political changes at the human base lead Ondry to attempt a difficult trade, the pair find themselves entangled in human affairs. Liam wants to help the people he left and the worlds being torn apart. He also wants to serve Ondry with not only the pleasures of the nest but also by bringing human profits. Ondry has no hope of understanding human psychology in general, he only knows that he will hold onto his palteia with the last breath in his body.

Negotiations with the LA vampires have failed. Having survived the attempted razing of their enclave by the dragons, the vampires are now holding Jordan’s sister hostage and are demanding a unicorn for her safe return. There’s only one problem. Unicorns aren’t animals. They are wild magic best left alone. Jordan holds the media responsible for Katie’s capture. If they had stayed out of his private life, she would’ve been safe.

Liam loves his life as a linguist and trader on the Rownt homeworld, but he has ignored his heart and sexual needs for years. After escaping the horrors of war, he wants a boring life. He won't risk letting anyone come too close because he won't risk letting anyone see his deeply submissive nature. For him, submission comes with pain. Life burned that lesson into his soul from a young age. This fear keeps him from noticing that the Rownt trader Ondry cares for him. Ondry may not understand humans, but he recognizes a wounded soul.

Ancient folklore and modern myth come together in these stories by author Craig Laurance Gidney. Here are found the struggles of a medieval Japanese monk seduced by a mischievous fairy, and a young slave who finds mystery deep within the briar patch of an antebellum plantation. Gidney offers a gay teen obsessed with his patron saint, Lena Horne, and, in the title story, an ailing tourist seeks escape at a distant shore but never reckons on encountering an African sea god. Rich, poetic, dark and disturbing, these are distinctive tales not soon forgotten.