Books published by Fantastic Books

It was during a late-night conversation that the phrase "Release the Virgins" was spoken. Seemingly nonsensical, it stuck in our minds, and turned into a group project that would lead to an anthology.We brought the idea to a crowd-funding site, which interested enough people to provide the seed funding to turn this anthology into reality. We took that springboard, and gave eighteen talented authors the task of writing a great story with only one guideline: the story had to include the phrase "Release the Virgins."The results are surprisingly varied and creative: science fiction, fantasy, outright comedy, serious imaginings… in this anthology, you'll find Manhattan gangsters, sad superheroes, marathon-running aliens, teenage Cthulhu worshippers, ghost dinosaurs, computer hackers, and even a unicorn or two. And we think you'll agree: it's a good thing that phrase stuck in our minds.Featuring stories by: Nebula, Hugo, and Stoker Award-winner David Gerrold; Hugo Award-winners Allen M. Steele and Lawrence Watt-Evans; IAMTW Grandmaster Keith R.A. DeCandido; Skylark Award-winners Daniel M. Kimmel, Sharon Lee, and Steve Miller; WSFA Small Press Award-winner Alex Shvartsman; and Matt Becthel, Shariann Lewitt, Gordon Linzner, Gail Z. Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Beth W. Patterson, Hildy Silverman, Patrick Thomas, Cecilia Tan, and Brian Trent."Release the Virgins is a hoot of an anthology! Fun, weird, and wildly entertaining!" -Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Deep Silence and V-Wars

It was during a late-night conversation that the phrase "Release the Virgins" was spoken. Seemingly nonsensical, it stuck in our minds, and turned into a group project that would lead to an anthology.We brought the idea to a crowd-funding site, which interested enough people to provide the seed funding to turn this anthology into reality. We took that springboard, and gave eighteen talented authors the task of writing a great story with only one guideline: the story had to include the phrase "Release the Virgins."The results are surprisingly varied and creative: science fiction, fantasy, outright comedy, serious imaginings… in this anthology, you'll find Manhattan gangsters, sad superheroes, marathon-running aliens, teenage Cthulhu worshippers, ghost dinosaurs, computer hackers, and even a unicorn or two. And we think you'll agree: it's a good thing that phrase stuck in our minds.Featuring stories by: Nebula, Hugo, and Stoker Award-winner David Gerrold; Hugo Award-winners Allen M. Steele and Lawrence Watt-Evans; IAMTW Grandmaster Keith R.A. DeCandido; Skylark Award-winners Daniel M. Kimmel, Sharon Lee, and Steve Miller; WSFA Small Press Award-winner Alex Shvartsman; and Matt Becthel, Shariann Lewitt, Gordon Linzner, Gail Z. Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Beth W. Patterson, Hildy Silverman, Patrick Thomas, Cecilia Tan, and Brian Trent."Release the Virgins is a hoot of an anthology! Fun, weird, and wildly entertaining!" -Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Deep Silence and V-Wars

Want something to read while you sit down for just a few minutes on the bus or in a waiting room? Here's just the thing-Forty authors, forty stories, mostly under 2,000 words, mostly reprints. Grouped according to their themes-death, fairy tales, love, magic, and myth. You'll also find the usual suspects-dragons, ghosts, gods, the undead, weres, and witches.Just remember-one sitting, one read! Others are waiting!"For the bathroom, for the bedroom, for the bus to work, for that chair in the department store where bored spouses sit while their wives or husbands try on new clothes… this is a perfect way to entertain yourself during idle moments in a way that won't rot your mind. Read this and have fun." -Allen Steele on SF for the ThroneStories by: E.C. Ambrose, Erik Bundy, Michael A. Burstein, Gregg Chamberlain, Ian Creasey, Lillian Csernica, Elaine Cunningham, Wendy S. Delmater, S.B. Divya, Sarina Dorie, Marianne J. Dyson, Christopher M. Easton, Julie Frost, Jude-Marie Green, Michael Haynes, Russell Hemmell, Liam Hogan, M.X. Kelly, Ahmed A. Khan, Daniel M. Kimmel, Geoffrey A. Landis, Amir Lane, Jim Lee, Gerri Leen, Edward M. Lerner, Bob Lock, Susan Murrie Macdonald, Sarah Micklem, Kurt Newton, Wendy Nikel, Stephen S. Power, Nicole Robb, Manuel Royal, Alex Shvartsman, Steven H Silver, Laurie Tom, Marie Vibbert, John Walters, Cynthia Ward, and Donna Glee Williams.

What do you seek at the end of this road? What have you brought to pay your way? The road is full of hazards, and the marketplace can cost more than you expect.In Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic, editors David Sklar and Sarah Avery bring you 18 magical tales of travel and transactions, ranging from busking in a train station to walking between the worlds, from doppelgangers for hire to capturing the remnants of the dead.Ideal to read on your vacation, commute, or flight from vengeful ghosts, this collection features classic stories by Elizabeth Bear, Daniel Braum, George R. Galuschak and Darrell Schweitzer, as well as new work by Pauline J. Alama, Megan Arkenberg, D.W. Carlson, Joyce Chng, M.C. DeMarco, E. Grace Diehl, James Enge, Manny Frishberg, Sara M. Harvey, Scott Hungerford, Deborah Grabien, Deirdre M. Murphy, Rhonda Parrish, Richard Rider, and Heather Stearns.

Night-Black Sorcery and the Wrath of Malevolent GodsMore than any writer since Robert E. Howard, Keith Taylor has a unique ability to evoke sheer terror amid the remote and haunted reaches of the ancient world. His tales of Kamose, archpriest of Anubis, the Egyptian god of death have been among the most popular features of the modern Weird Tales magazine. Kamose… awesomely powerful, yet scarred, cursed, and nearly driven mad by forces even he cannot control for long.… Here are eleven of his supernatural adventures, two of them published for the first time."…convincing and authentic, revealing a deep knowledge of the history and cultures of the period." -The Encyclopedia of FantasyKeith Taylor's fiction won two Ditmar Awards, and was nominated for four more, as well as for two Aurealis Awards.