Showing results by publisher "WordFire Press LLC" in All Categories

Tales of Dune collects eight of Herbert and Anderson’s Dune short stories, ranging from the period of the Butlerian Jihad to the time of young Paul Atreides to a story set during the events of the novel Dune to the very end of Frank Herbert’s future history.

Trade Minister Rlinda Kett seeks to reestablish contact with lost human colonies that have vanished in the chaos, and she travels to a planet called Happiness, site of an isolated neo-Amish colony where the treacherous Prince Daniel was exiled. As a civil war brews among the Roamer clans over the old ways versus new business methods, some brave clans venture back to skymining again, harvesting the restless clouds of huge gas giant planets - where the threat of the devastating hydrogue aliens always looms....

From Japanese legends to mafia mermen, from carnival freaks to flying aces, from bayou legends to kraken-like behemoths, these tales explore the darker side of merfolk: desire, envy, love unfulfilled, grace ungranted, and loneliness turned to rage....

Ever since the Big Uneasy unleashed vampires, werewolves, and other undead denizens on the world, it’s been hell being a detective—especially for zombie PI Dan Chambeaux. Taking on the creepiest of cases in the Unnatural Quarter with a human lawyer for a partner and a ghost for a girlfriend, Chambeaux redefines “dead on arrival.” But just because he was murdered doesn’t mean he’d leave his clients in the lurch. Besides, zombies are so good at lurching.

When Howard Phillips Publishing announces the 12 + 1 anniversary edition (due to unavoidable production delays) of the famed Necronomicon—the very book that caused the Big Uneasy in the first place—it takes zombie P.I. Dan Chambeaux, a.k.a. “Shamble,” to root out the diabolical schemes surrounding the book, and the fanatics who wish to destroy it.

From the eight Justices of the Supreme Court, to the Attorney General of South Carolina who sees a compelling, controversial trial as an opportunity for demagoguery that might pave his path to the White House, to the idealistic defense lawyer who seeks to save a man she knows to be a psycopathic killer, to a driven Washington journalist in love with one of the Justices whose marriage is crumbling, and other Justices with their own agendas, vendettas, and secrets.

From fighting giant bugs to defeating an interstellar empire without firing a shot; from scientific idiot savants toying with the universe to how the robots will really win the robot apocalypse, these 13 flavorful tales are guaranteed to entertain, amuse, awe, and maybe even enlighten.

Back from the dead, and back on the case! Dan Chambeaux was a human private investigator in the Unnatural Quarter...Even though he was killed in a back alley when a case went sour, Dan “Shamble” is still on the case. Even death won’t keep a good detective down. Now, teamed up with his partner Robin Deyer, a bleeding-heart human lawyer who wants justice for all monsters, his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne, and his BHF (Best Human Friend) Officer Toby McGoohan, Shamble solves a host of bizarre mysteries...Dan Shamble puts the P.I. back into R.I.P.

All three grand military SF adventures featuring the Fifth Foreign Legion - on the front lines in the hottest and strangest conflicts in the galaxy. Contains the complete novels March or Die, Honor and Fidelity, and Cohort of the Damned.

Exiled after going AWOL to save her world, Lem Benzaran lives in a changed galaxy in the aftermath of a purge that wiped entire planets clean of people like herself. A vague prophecy plagues her isolation: she’s destined to cause the universe’s heat death.

On a normal day of interplanetary sabotage, young Jei Bereens has things under control. He's plagued by night terrors and an archenemy as slippery as the grime on his gun, but freedom fighters all around the galaxy look to him for help. He's got the favor of an energy being and a best friend who'd die for him. On a normal day, Jei is legend. Today is not a normal day. Today, Jei broke an enemy soldier's mask and found his best friend inside. Tomorrow, that best friend will sell Jei out in the name of saving the universe. And the next day, Jei will disobey orders to take her down.

Lem’s a mace-wielding teen space-ninja in a universe of sentient insectoids, purple jungles, and insane electromagnetic fields. She solves most problems by hitting harder, and never plays by her enemy's rules - until Jared Diebol captures her. Diebol is the rising leader of an army uniting the galaxy by force. He believes that the violent energy being Njande has “contaminated” Lem and her friends from another dimension to conquer the matter-based universe. Diebol’s army usually kills contaminated people - but he vows to cure Lem.

With his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne, his bleeding-heart lawyer partner Robin, and his best human friend Officer Toby McGoohan, Dan Shamble is back from the dead and back on the case. The feathers will fly as he goes face-to-beak with the evil peckers.

Best friends Chachel and Glint, a merson and a cuttlefish, are returning from a shark hunt when they stumble upon an unconscious female demon. Taking her back to their reef community to recover, while they decide what to do with her, they wind up stumbling into a unique friendship, one which will change their lives and community for better as the reef dwellers and the demon together fight to preserve themselves and their way of life in the face of enemies and their blue magic.  

Notorious for their satanic lyrics, drunken excess, and rumors of blood sacrifice, the Banshees shocked the world with their only album, Beat the Manshees. Death stalked their concerts - lightning, stabbings, overdoses. The world heaved a sigh of relief when the Banshees all died in a plane crash. Or did they? Forty years later, with no fanfare, they appear in a seedy Prague nightclub.

’Tis the Season for 14 more magical, macabre and merry tales to make your holidays … Fantastic! Gingerbread houses, caroling carolers, brightly trimmed trees, big family dinners, pristine snowfalls … the familiar pleasures of the season. But what better pleasure is there than a good holiday story? So open this winter solstice sampler and indulge in funny festive fantasies, nightmares before Christmas, and stunning space-age celebrations … these stories will warms hearts and minds like a blazing Yule log.  

International best seller Anderson has created many extensive fictional universes, ranging from sweeping galactic empires to complex steampunk fantasies, to humorous monster-filled cities. He has become known for his skill in worldbuilding. In Worldbuilding: From Small Towns to Entire Universes, he describes his techniques in creating a rich fictional setting, leading writers through the countless questions and topics one must consider....

June 30th, 1908 - In the trackless wastes of Siberia’s remote Tunguska river basin, the most devastating cosmic collision ever recorded flattens hundreds of square miles of ancient forest with a blast a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima....Maverick astrophysicist Jack Adler thinks he’s fingered the culprit: the impact with the earth of a submicroscopic black hole, smaller than an atom, more massive than a mountain, older than the stars.

Join former scamp Cullin and his merry band of confidence men (and one liberated princess) as they put The Sting in the Middle Ages. With dreams of being a hero, or at least a storyteller, Cullin travels with Sir Dalbry, a washed-up knight in shining armor; Reeger, ready and eager for any part of the dirty work; and Affonyl, former princess, who wanted to study science and alchemy, rather than embroidery.

Life is full of decision points - those key moments when what we decide can change everything for better or for worse. These 20 tales describe such instances in young people's lives, ranging from tragic to triumphant, from horror to fantasy to science fiction. Written by authors new and old, those known for Young Adult writing and those known for Adult novels, a few new and barely known at all, these stories will make you think, make you laugh, make you feel angry, sad, determined, etc. as you examine choices and consequences.