Elizabeth Bear

It all began with Ragnarok, with the Children of the Light and the Tarnished ones battling to the death in the ice and the dark. At the end of the long battle, one Valkyrie survived, wounded, and one valraven – the steeds of the valkyrie. Because they lived, Valdyrgard was not wholly destroyed. Because the valraven was transformed in the last miracle offered to a Child of the Light, Valdyrgard was changed to a world where magic and technology worked hand in hand. 2500 years later, Muire is in the last city on the dying planet, where the Technomancer rules what’s left of humanity. She's caught sight of someone she has not seen since the Last Battle: Mingan the Wolf is hunting in her city.

To defeat Thor, the Norse god of thunder who has killed scores of innocents, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson teams up with Atticus O'Sullivan, the last of the Druids, a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants.

" ... Stories are drawn from inspirations as varied as Norse legends, Lovecraftian horrors, and the American murder ballad"Stagger Lee," and showcase the authors storytelling talents ... blue the lines between traditional speculative fiction, fantasy, horror, and fable ..."--Page 4 of cover.

Kit Marley, playwright and spy in the service of Queen Elizabeth, has been murdered. His true gift to Her Majesty was his way with words, crafting plays infused with a subtle magic that maintained her rule. He performed this task on behalf of the Prometheus Club, a secret society of nobles engaged in battle against sorcerers determined to destroy England. Assuming Marley's role is William Shakespeare--but he is unable to create the magic needed to hold the Queen's enemies at bay. Resurrected by enchantment in Faerie, Marley is England's only hope. But before he can assist Will in the art of magic, he must uncover the traitor among the Prometheans responsible for his death.--From publisher description.

"Gregory Kraft could see the ghosts and monsters no one else saw. He could see them. He couldn't stop them." -- Amazon.com.

Follows the story of the sea-born children of the Light, who guard their human charges from three old-world adversaries until the appearance of a sinister woman who is neither human nor valkyrie threatens their power.

"Karen Memory is back with a tale about spiritualists, magicians, con-men, and an angry lost borglum, or tommy-knocker--a magical creature who generally lives in the deep gold mines of Alaska, but has been kidnapped and brought to Rapid City. Karen and Priya are out for a night on the town, celebrating the purchase of their own little ranch and Karen's retirement from Madame Damnable's establishment, when they meet the Arcade Sisters, spiritualists who unexpectedly stir up the tommy-knocker hiding in the restaurant's basement. The ensuing show could bring down the house, if Karen doesn't rush in to rescue everyone she can"--Page of cover.

For centuries, the White City has graced the banks of the Moskva River. But in the early years of a twentieth century not quite analogous to our own, a creature even more ancient than Moscow's fortress heart has entered its medieval walls. In the wake of political success and personal loss, the immortal detective Don Sebastien de Ulloa has come to Moscow to choose his path amid the embers of war between England and her American colonies. Accompanied by his court--the forensic sorcerer Lady Abigail Irene and the authoress Phoebe Smith--he seeks nothing but healing and rest. But Moscow is both jeweled and corrupt, and when you are old there is no place free of ghosts, and Sebastien is far from the most ancient thing in Russia ...

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is among the most famous literary figures of all time. For more than a hundred years, his adventures have stood as imperishable monuments to the ability of human reason to penetrate every mystery, solve every puzzle, and punish every crime. For nearly as long, the macabre tales of H. P. Lovecraft have haunted readers with their nightmarish glimpses into realms of cosmic chaos and undying evil. But what would happen if Conan Doyle's peerless detective and his allies were to find themselves faced with mysteries whose solutions lay not only beyond the grasp of logic, but of sanity itself. In this collection of all-new, all-original tales, twenty of today's most cutting edge writers provide their answers to that burning question."A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman: A gruesome murder exposes a plot against the Crown, a seditious conspiracy so cunningly wrought that only one man in all London could have planned it--and only one man can hope to stop it."A Case of Royal Blood" by Steven-Elliot Altman: Sherlock Holmes and H. G. Wells join forces to protect a princess stalked by a ghost--or perhaps something far worse than a ghost."Art in the Blood" by Brian Stableford: One man's horrific affliction leads Sherlock Holmes to an ancient curse that threatens to awaken the crawling chaos slumbering in the blood of all humankind."The Curious Case of Miss Violet Stone" by Poppy Z. Brite and David Ferguson: A girl who has not eaten in more than three years teaches Holmes and Watson that sometimes the impossible cannot be eliminated."The Horror of the Many Faces" by Tim Lebbon: Dr. Watson witnesses a maniacal murder in London--and recognizes the villain as none other than his friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.With these and fourteen other dark tales of madness, horror, and deduction, a new and terrible game is afoot.The terrifyingly surreal universe of horror master H. P. Lovecraft bleeds into the logical world of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's champion of rational deduction--in these brand-new stories by twenty of today's top horror, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writers, including:- Steven-Elliot Altman- Elizabeth Bear- Poppy Z. Brite- Simon Clark- David Ferguson- Paul Finch- Neil Gaiman- Barbara Hambly- Caitlin R. Kiernan- Tim Lebbon- James Lowder- Richard A. Lupoff- F. Gwynplaine McIntyre- John Pelan- Steve Perry- Michael Reaves- Brian Stableford- John P. Vourlis- David Niall Wilson & Patricia Lee MacomberFrom the Hardcover edition.