Twenty-six short stories that will amaze you. Among others: Curiosity Rover discovers a locked door in the side of Mount Sharp, on Mars, and three scientists are sent on a mission to discover what lies within the ancient structure. Will they locate the mysterious libraries of a civilization lost, and survive to tell about their discoveries in "The Mars Tetrahedron"? Plus, you'll hear "The Day Satan Quit" and much much more.

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.... As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends - and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is.

Young Ajax Penumbra has not arrived in San Francisco looking for free love or a glimpse of the technological future. He is seeking a book: the single surviving copy of the Techne Tycheon, a mysterious volume that has brought and lost great fortune for anyone who has owned it. The last record of the book locates it in the San Francisco of more than a century earlier, and on that scant bit of evidence, Penumbra's university has dispatched him west to acquire it for their library.

The very short stories of Diane Williams have been aptly called "folk tales that hammer like a nail gun," and these 40 new ones are sharper than ever. They are unsettling, yes, frequently revelatory, and, more often than not, downright funny. Not a single moment here is what you might expect. The heart of the drama beats in the language of American short fiction's grand master, whose originality, precision, and power bring the familiar into startling and enchanted relief.

Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria Forester - even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that stone barrier, Tristran learns, lies Faerie . . . and the most exhilarating adventure of the young man's life.

Diagnosed with a rare form of meningitis, a teenage boy is paralyzed from head to toe - trapped in his own mind. To cope with his imprisonment, he retreats to an imaginary world called his Mind Palace, but the lines between reality and time start to blur into wild adventures after he gets a new roommate - an old, outspoken, Jewish jazz musician with dementia.

By using the energy of the land, some humans have found they can develop extraordinary abilities. At the age of 17, these warriors, magicians, chemists, and psychics are allowed the opportunity to train at the Academy, increasing their opportunity for a well-paying career. But there's a catch. They must fight beside the Army if requested by their king. Most aren't concerned by this, as the current treaty has prevented battle for nearly 70 years...but that's about to change.

The veil I've worn from birth carries with it a terrible loneliness, a suppression I cannot imagine ever being free of. My mother will always hate me. Her court will always shun me. When the peace delegation arrives from the savage world of Glacium, my life is shoved wildly out of control by the handsome Prince Kedrick, who, for unfathomable reasons, shows me kindness. Sometimes it takes the world bringing you to your knees to find that spark you thought forever lost. Sometimes it takes death to show you how to live.

On the day of her Presenting, in front of the entire Byern Court, 17-year-old Cyrene Strohm's lifelong plans come to fruition when she's chosen for one of the most prestigious positions in her homeland - an Affiliate to the Queen. Or so she thinks. When Cyrene receives a mysterious letter and an unreadable book, she finds nothing is as it seems.

For Tate - last name unknown - everything prior to being found by pirates on an isolated piece of land is a blank. Her only clue to the person she was: a dragon tattoo capable of moving under its own will. Brought to the city of Aurelia, Tate is forced to abandon the few people she knows to make her way alone. When a momentary impulse forces her to intervene in a situation she does not understand, she'll find that reckless actions have unintended consequences.

Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only Professor Marselle can help her...but he's missing. While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora's boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts.

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground into the depths of the Earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms. After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, 17-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

When a petty thief falls though a glass roof in his attempt to escape from the police, what should have been the death of him marks the beginning of a while new life. After his broken body is reconstructed by an ambitious young doctor, he is released from prison, and, with the help of Victorian London's extensive sewer system, he becomes the most elusive burglar in the city.

After having promised to use her new powers to serve Fedu, the cunning god of death, and assist in his plans to remake the world, Koffi finds herself a prisoner in Thornkeep—a luxurious mansion with well-manicured gardens. But Fedu’s beautiful realm is a lie. Koffi and many other darajas are trapped there by a deadly, inscrutable mist, making escape impossible. But something within the mist calls to Koffi, igniting her magic. It soon becomes clear that the very thing imprisoning her could be the key to not only her freedom, but unlocking the remaining mysteries of her own magic.

Laura used to believe in fairy tales and true love. Not after her mom took her own life; the bitter end to a once promising romance. But the arrival of a mysterious guardian proves the fairy tale world does exists, and it needs her help to stop the unholy forces that seek to destroy it. As Laura journeys to find the way home across strange kingdoms of mechanical soldiers, a mad king, a fairy tale prince and more, she soon learns of the mysterious connections between her and the fantasy realm. To survive it, she must face her deepest fears and secrets she never wants to unveil.

On the day of her Presenting, in front of the entire Byern Court, 17-year-old Cyrene Strohm's lifelong plans come to fruition when she's chosen for one of the most prestigious positions in her homeland - an Affiliate to the Queen. Or so she thinks. When Cyrene receives a mysterious letter and an unreadable book, she finds nothing is as it seems.

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground into the depths of the Earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms. After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, 17-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Forced to move into the palace, Jessa begins training as a Color Alchemist under the direction of the kingdom's most eligible bachelor, Prince Lucas. As an alchemist, Jessa must capture and harness the color of living things. Every color has a unique purpose except red. Red is the untapped magic no one can access - until Jessa.

Emelina Flores has nothing. Her home in Ruina has been ravaged by war; her parents were killed, and her sister was kidnapped. Even though Em is only a useless Ruined - completely lacking any magic - she is determined to get revenge.

It is said that when war threatens the world, one individual will be selected by prophecy to lead the Shadow Warriors out of the Land of Mist and reclaim the freedom that has been stolen. Shanti has grown up under the constant threat of war. Since she helped her people defeat a raiding party by using a special power, she's been a hunted woman. Carrying rare abilities and an uncanny fighting aptitude, Shanti is the only hope of salvation for her people.

For generations, girls known as Spinsters have been called by Arras' Manipulation Services to work the looms and control what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. Gifted with the unusual ability to weave time with matter, 16-year-old Adelice Lewys is exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. But Adelice isn’t interested.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day's work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone - she's about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamour follows her into the fae realm. Now she's broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

Long before Amy Gumm got swept away from a Kansas trailer park...Dorothy Gale received a package on the night of her 16th birthday: a pair of red high-heeled shoes. "Dear Dorothy," the note read. "I thought about silver to match the ones you lost, but in the end I decided that red was more your color. I think you know what to do with them."

All Violet wants is to be with Lincoln. But he has a secret so great it could tear them apart. Then there’s Phoenix. He’s intense and enigmatic, but he's always there for her. Caught up in a battle between light and dark - where angels seek vengeance and humans are warriors - Violet must decide who she’s willing to sacrifice and who to trust, because the wrong choice could cost her not only her life, but her destiny.

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

When a witch is born, a doppelganger is created. For the witch to master her powers, the twin must be killed. But what happens when the doppelganger survives? Mirage, a bounty hunter, lives by her wits and lethal fighting skills. She always gets her mark. But her new mission will take her into the shadowy world of witches, where her strength may not be a match against powerful magic. Miryo is a witch who has just failed her initiation test.

After years of training in stealth and warfare, Andriana and her Knight protector, Ronan, are finally ready to answer the Call and begin the life they were designed for. But as they embark with the other Remnants on the first of their assignments, they quickly discover that the world beyond the protected Valley is more dangerous than they imagined.

The Trateri are about to learn a vital lesson of the Broken Lands. Deep in the remote expanse where anything can happen, it pays to be on a pathfinder's good side. Nobody ventures beyond their village. Nobody sane, that is. Monstrous creatures and deadly mysteries wait out here. Luckily for the people she serves, Shea's not exactly sane. As a pathfinder, it's her job to face what others fear and find the safest route through the wilderness. It's not an easy job, but she's the best at what she does.

When Kara Magari uncovers a secret door in the middle of the forest, she discovers (and trips through) a portal to a hidden world full of terrifying things: Ourea. She just wants to go home, but the natives have other plans for her. She clashes with immortal shapeshifters, is carried off by a dragon, nearly dies on several occasions, and somehow becomes the master of an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire. Every time she thinks she's safe, her new "friends" show their true colors.

Freak. Witch. Crazy. Schizo. Ember Brycin has been called them all. She's always known she's different. No one has ever called her normal, even under the best circumstances. Bizarre and inexplicable things continually happen to her, and having two different colored eyes, strange hair, and an unusual tattoo only contributes to the gossip about her. When the latest school explosion lands her in a facility for trouble teens, she meets Eli Dragen, who's hot as hell and darkly mysterious.