A thrilling collection of twenty-one original stories by an all-star list of contributors — including a new A Game of Thrones story by George R. R. Martin! The latest story collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin and award-winning editor Gardner Dozois is filled with subtle shades of gray. Twenty-one all-original stories, by an all-star list of contributors, will delight and astonish you in equal measure with their cunning twists and dazzling reversals. And George R. R. Martin himself offers a brand-new A Game of Thrones tale chronicling one of the biggest rogues in the entire Ice and Fire saga. Follow along with the likes of Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Cherie Priest, Garth Nix, and Connie Willis as well as other masters of literary sleight-of-hand in this rogues' gallery of stories that will plunder your heart — and yet leave you all the richer for it. Featuring all-new stories by Joe Abercrombie — Daniel Abraham — David W. Ball — Paul Cornell — Bradley Denton — Phyllis Eisenstein — Gillian Flynn — Neil Gaiman — Matthew Hughes — Joe R. Lansdale — Scott Lynch — Garth Nix — Cherie Priest — Patrick Rothfuss — Steven Saylor — Michael Swanwick — Lisa Tuttle — Carrie Vaughn — Walter Jon Williams — Connie Willis And an Introduction by George R. R. Martin!

If the past is prologue, then George R. R. Martin's masterwork — the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time — warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with The World of Ice and Fire. This lavishly illustrated volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO's Game of Thrones. In a collaboration that's been years in the making, Martin has teamed with Elio M. Garcia, Jr., and Linda Antonsson, the founders of the renowned fan site Westeros.org — perhaps the only people who know this world almost as well as its visionary creator. Collected here is all the accumulated knowledge, scholarly speculation, and inherited folk tales of maesters and septons, maegi and singers. It is a chronicle which stretches from the Dawn Age to the Age of Heroes; from the Coming of the First Men to the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror; from Aegon's establishment of the Iron Throne to Robert's Rebellion and the fall of the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, which has set into motion the present-day struggles of the Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, and Targaryens. The definitive companion piece to George R. R. Martin's dazzlingly conceived universe, The World of Ice and Fire is indeed proof that the pen is mightier than a storm of swords.

When an alien virus struck the Earth decades ago, it spawned a new breed of superhuman men and women. Those with useful mutations were known as Aces, those with deformities as Jokers. Now, in New York's Jokertown, a savage street war has broken out between the Mafia and a gang known as the Shadow Fists. A courageous band of Aces must go underground to wage a war against the powers of the criminal netherworld. Edited by George R.R. Martin and including a story by him, this volume also features stories from Roger Zelazny, Pat Cadigan, Melinda M. Snodgrass and many more.

Novelist Daniel Abraham and illustrator Tommy Patterson are not merely turning George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy A Game of Thrones into a graphic novel: They are meticulously translating one art form into another, and capturing the intricate nuances of Martin's novels just as HBO is doing with the blockbuster series. The Abraham/Patterson collaboration is more than just a faithful adaptation. It is a labor of love — and a thrilling masterwork in its own right. Now, in the second volume, the sweeping action moves from the icy north, where the bastard Jon Snow seeks to carve out a place for himself among bitter outcasts and hardened criminals sworn to service upon the Wall... to the decadent south and the capital city of King's Landing, where Jon's father, Lord Eddard Stark, serves as the Hand of King Robert Baratheon amid a nest of courtly vipers... to the barbarian lands across the Narrow Sea, where the young princess Daenerys Targaryen has found the unexpected in her forced marriage to the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo: love — and with it, for the first time in her life, power. Meanwhile, the dwarf Tyrion Lannister, accused by Lady Catelyn Stark of the attempted murder of her now-crippled youngest son, must call upon all his cunning and wit to survive when he is captured and imprisoned in the lofty dungeons of the Eyrie, where Lady Stark's sister — a woman obsessed with vengeance against all Lannisters — rules. But Catelyn's impulsive arrest of the Imp will set in motion a series of violent events whose outcome is fated to shake the world at the worst possible moment. For now is not the time for private feuds and bloodthirsty ambitions. Winter is coming... and with it, terrors beyond imagining.

In the six decades since the alien plague known as the Wild Card virus spread a wave of mutations around the globe, humanity has begun to come to terms with its consequences. Grotesque half-human creatures known as 'jokers' inhabit an underworld of their own, while the legendary prodigies known as 'aces' have become real-world superheroes, complete with colourful names and costumes. Now a new generation of aces has taken its place on the world stage, becoming crucial players in international events. At the United Nations, veteran ace John Fortune has assembled a team of young heroes, known as The Committee, to assist at trouble spots around the world — including an invasion of zombies in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, a freak nuclear explosion in a small Texas town, and a fateful showdown with the forces of the oil-rich Islamic caliphate in the Middle East. But The Committee's opponents have their own aces and jokers ready to do battle, including a Marxist revolutionary, a brutal mercenary, a young boy with apocalyptic powers and — most terrifyingly of all — a sinister arm of the FBI known as SCARE.

Rediscover the wit and wisdom of Tyrion Lannister. I have been called many things... Rediscover the wit and wisdom of Tyrion Lannister: sage, lover, reveller, reluctant warrior, and everyone's favourite dwarf. The quotes are drawn from George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and the illustrations are by artist and caricaturist Jonty Clark... but giant is seldom one of them.

The long-awaited fifth volume in the hugely popular and highly acclaimed epic fantasy A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE The last of the Targaryons, Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, has brought the young dragons in her care to their terrifying maturity. Now the war-torn landscape of the Seven Kingdoms is threatened by destruction as vast as in the violent past. Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf with half a nose and a scar from eye to chin, has slain his father and escaped the Red Keep in King's Landing to wage war from the Free Cities beyond the narrow sea. The last war fought with dragons was a cataclysm powerful enough to shatter the Valyrian peninsula into a smoking, demon-haunted ruin half drowned by the sea. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS brings to life dark magic, complex political intrigue and horrific bloodshed as events at the Wall and beyond the sea threaten the ancient land of Westeros.

George R.R. Martin's A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE — the story so far. The greatest epic work of the modern age is now available in a collectible box set. A GAME OF THRONES has been adapted into a hit HBO original series. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has set the benchmark for contemporary epic fantasy. Labelled by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world, Martin has conjured a world as complex and vibrant as that of J.R.R. Tolkien's, populated by a huge cast of fascinating, complex characters, and boasting a history that stretches back twelve thousand years. Three great storylines weave through the books, charting the civil war for control of the Seven Kingdoms; the defence of the towering Wall of ice in the uttermost north against the unearthly threat of the Others; and across the Narrow Sea the rise to power of Daenerys Targaryen and the last live dragons in the world. The HBO adaption of A Game of Thrones is currently airing worldwide and has already proved so popular that a second season has been commissioned.

The first volume in the hugely popular and highly acclaimed epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. There is passion here, and misery and charm, grandeur and squalor, tragedy, nobility and courage. Now a major HBO TV series. During Spring 2011, the first volume of George R Martin's glorious high fantasy will be aired as an HBO series on Sky in the UK. Martin unfolds with astonishing skill a tale of truly epic dimensions, thronged with memorable characters, a story of treachery and ambition, love and magic. Set in a fabulous world scarred by battle and catastrophe over 8000 years of recorded history, it tells of the deeds of men and women locked in the deadliest of conflicts and the terrible legacy they will leave their children. In the game of thrones, you win or you die.

The long-awaited fifth volume in the hugely popular and highly acclaimed epic fantasy A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE The last of the Targaryons, Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, has brought the young dragons in her care to their terrifying maturity. Now the war-torn landscape of the Seven Kingdoms is threatened by destruction as vast as in the violent past. Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf with half a nose and a scar from eye to chin, has slain his father and escaped the Red Keep in King's Landing to wage war from the Free Cities beyond the narrow sea. The last war fought with dragons was a cataclysm powerful enough to shatter the Valyrian peninsula into a smoking, demon-haunted ruin half drowned by the sea. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS brings to life dark magic, complex political intrigue and horrific bloodshed as events at the Wall and beyond the sea threaten the ancient land of Westeros.

Return to the unique and evocative world of The Dying Earth, edited by best-selling author George R. R. Martin, in this tribute anthology featuring the most distinguished fantasists of our day. Here are twenty-two brand-new adventures set in the world of Jack Vance's greatest novel. A dim place, ancient beyond knowledge. The sun is feeble and red. A million cities have fallen to dust. Here live a few thousand souls, dying, as the Earth dies beneath them. Just a few short decades remain to the long history of our world. At the last, science and magic are one, and there is evil on Earth, distilled by time! Earth is dying. Half a century ago, Jack Vance created the world of the Dying Earth, and fantasy has never been the same. Now, for the first time, Jack has agreed to open this intriguing and darkly beautiful world to other fantasists, to play in as their very own. The list of twenty-two contributors eager to honour Jack Vance by writing for this anthology includes Neil Gaiman, Tad Williams, Elizabeth Hand, Tanith Lee, Dan Simmons, Robert Silverberg, and George R.R. Martin himself.

Dubbed the American Tolkien by Time magazine, George R. R. Martin has earned international acclaim for his monumental cycle of epic fantasy. Now the #1 New York Times bestselling author delivers the fifth book in his spellbinding landmark series — as both familiar faces and surprising new forces vie for a foothold in a fragmented empire. In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again — beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind. To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone — a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice. And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all...

Running from poverty and hopelessness, Ramón Espejo boarded one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the new life he found on the far-off planet of São Paulo was no better than the one he abandoned. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him. Deadly violence ensues, forcing Ramón to flee into the wilderness. Mercifully, almost happily alone—far from the loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor—the luckless prospector is finally free to search for the one rich strike that could make him wealthy. But what he stumbles upon instead is an advanced alien race in hiding: desperate fugitives, like him, on a world not their own. Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret and caught up in an extraordinary manhunt on a hostile, unpredictable planet, Ramón must first escape... and then, somehow, survive. And his deadliest enemy is himself.

«In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent survived to mutate into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The «Wild Cards» shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin («The American Tolkien» — Time magazine) along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then—and of the heroes among the one percent. Now a new generation of heroes has taken its place on the world stage, its members crucial players in international events. At the United Nations, veteran ace John Fortune has assembled a team of young aces known as the Committee, to assist at trouble spots around the world–including a genocidal war in the Niger Delta, an invasion of zombies in hurricane ravaged New Orleans, and a freak nuclear explosion in a small Texas town.»

«In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent of those who survived mutated into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The «Wild Cards» shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by New York Times #1 bestseller George R. R. Martin along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then—and of the heroes among that one percent. Originally begun in 1987, long before George R. R. Martin became a household name among fantasy readers («The American Tolkien» — Time magazine), the «Wild Cards» series earned a reputation among connoisseurs for its smart reimagining of the superhero idea. Now, with «Inside Straight», the Wild Cards continuity jumps forward to a new generation of major characters, entirely accessible to Martin's hundreds of thousands of new readers, with all-original stories by Martin himself, along with Daniel Abraham, Michael Cassutt, and Stephen Leigh, among others.»

Abner Marsh has had his dearest wish come true — he has built the Fevre Dream, the finest steamship ever to sail the Mississippi. Abner hopes to race the boat some day, but his partner is making it hard for him to realise his ambition. Joshua York put up the money for the Fevre Dream, but now rumours have started about the company he keeps, his odd eating habits and strange hours. As the Dream sails the great river, it leaves in its wake one too many dark tales, until Abner is forced to face down the man who helped to make his dreams become reality.

«The fourth book in «New York Times» bestselling author Martin's landmark series arrives to the delight of fans the world over. This is historical fiction that never was, filled with gritty characters, realistic conflicts, heroism, barbarism, defeats, and triumphs.»

This work continues the most ambitious and imaginative epic fantasy since The Lord of the Rings. Bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunning, the Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne in the name of the boy-king Tommen. But fear and deceit are in the air: their enemies are poised to strike. The Martells of Dorne seek vengeance for their dead, and the heir of King Balon of the Iron Isles, Euron Crow's Eye, is as black a pirate as ever raised a sail. Across the war-torn landscape of the Seven Kingdoms, Brienne the Beauty (thus named in mockery of her great size and strength) seeks for Sansa Stark, having vowed to protect Sansa from the wrath of Queen Cersei, Tommen's power-hungry mother. Meanwhile apprentice Maester, Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms south to the Citadel from the cruel frozen north where the sinister Others threaten the Wall! A Feast for Crows brings to life dark magic, complex political intrigue and horrific bloodshed. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts.

In 1946, an alien virus that rewrites human DNA was accidentally unleashed in the skies over New York City. It killed ninety percent of those it infected. Nine percent of those who survived mutated into tragically deformed creatures. And one percent gained superpowers. The Wild Cards shared-universe series, created and edited since 1987 by NEW YORK TIMES No.1 bestseller George R.R. Martin along with Melinda Snodgrass, is the tale of the history of the world since then — and of the heroes among that one percent. Now it is time for a new generation of heroes — and writers — to pick up the baton. Twenty-eight extraordinary people — Aces, people who have contracted the deadly Wild Cards virus and lived — sign onto a reality TV show. These young heroes have never really been heroic, but each has a superhuman skill. Initially divided up into four suits while competing in staged contests as only LA-LA land could dream up, the losers are voted off the show until, at last, the greatest American Hero will be left standing. As the weeks go by, those remaining in the competition are stunned by sickening events in the Middle East. Their inane challenges look silly when compared to those unpowered people risking their lives. Will this group of over-privileged and under-informed 'celebrities' be able to make a real difference to the world? And how many of them really care?

«Here is the third volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes «A Game of Thrones» and «A Clash of Kings». As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin’s stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction. «A Storm of Swords» Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world.... But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others — a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...»