Eighty years ago, the "unsinkable" Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, sending the ship and 1,503 passengers to a watery grave. Now, a group of scientists and adventurers going down to explore the wreck are unprepared for the terror awaiting them. . . . A thriller by the brother of Twilight Zone's Rod Serling. Martin's.

In this extraordinary collection, outstanding writers share stories inspired by the symbols of the Tarot. From wandering women to howling wolves to rising dead, the images of the cards are mixed to create medieval parodies, fantasy adventures, New Age satires, comedies of manners, and even a fresh addition to Irish mythology. Features Michael Moorcock, Gwyneth Jones, Josephine Saxton and others.

"An epic fantasy series-now available as one volume-that follows three women of legendary skill on a quest to save the world's most powerful wizard and the innkeeper's assistant whose heartbreak will bear witness from the author of the bestselling The Last Unicorn. On a night like any other, three mysterious women arrive to an inn separately, one with a fox that is more than it seems. Karsh, the innkeeper, has no choice but to let the tangled drama unfold beneath his roof. His stable boy, Rosseth, is so mesmerized by the three cloaked women, a warrior nun, a fabled adventurer, and a girl who was saved from drowning, that he soon uncovers a deep secret that was better off remaining hidden. And then there is Tikat, overwhelmed by tragedy, who continues his journey to the inn, refusing to let death bring an end his love. Told in alternating points of view, fantasy master Peter S. Beagle has crafted an unforgettable novel of heartbreak and hope"--

"St. Urbain"' "s Horseman" is a complex, moving, and wonderfully comic evocation of a generation consumed with guilt - guilt at not joining every battle, at not healing every wound. Thirty-seven-year-old Jake Hersh is a film director of modest success, a faithful husband, and a man in disgrace. His alter ego is his cousin Joey, a legend in their childhood neighbourhood in Montreal. Nazi-hunter, adventurer, and hero of the Spanish Civil War, Joey is the avenging horseman of Jake' s impotent dreams. When Jake becomes embroiled in a scandalous trial in London, England, he puts his own unadventurous life on trial as well, finding it desperately wanting as he steadfastly longs for the Horseman' s glorious return. Irreverent, deeply felt, as scathing in its critique of social mores as it is uproariously funny, "St. Urbain"' "s Horseman" confirms Mordecai Richler' s reputation as a pre-eminent observer of the hypocrisies and absurdities of modern life.

"Jonathan Shaw's Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist is a surreal, multi-generational roller coaster ride through the underbelly of modern culture, charting the course of a life measured by extremes, and all the people, places, and events that shaped that life into a survivor's tale of epic proportions. In its pages, Shaw takes the reader deep, not only into the recesses of his extraordinary mind and adventures, but also into the strange and magical process of memoir-writing itself. If truth is indeed stranger than fiction, then, as Shaw's friend and literary mentor Charles Bukowski once told him, much of this book would have to be lived before it could be written. In that sense, Scab Vendor: Confessions of a Tattoo Artist is much more than a fascinating chronicle of a popular outlaw artist's creative evolution. It is a multicolored, cinematic, modern-day Odyssey, written in blood, ink, and tears--a kaleidoscopic, visionary roadmap to the journey of the human soul."--Page 4 of cover.

A new Conan adventure--from one of today's most popular writers of fantasy and SF! For decades, millions of readers have thrilled to the adventures of Conan, the barbarian adventurer invented by Robert E. Howard and further chronicled by other fantasy greats, including such notables as L. Sprague de Camp, Poul Anderson, and Robert Jordan. Now Harry Turtledove, one of today's most popular writers of fantasy and SF, contributes a novel to the Conan saga--a tale of Conan in his youth, in the year or so before he becomes the wandering adventurer we know from the tales of Howard and others. On the verge of adulthood, he lives in a Cimmerian hamlet, caring for his ailing mother, working in his father's smithy, and casting his eye on the weaver's daughter next door. Then war comes: an invasion by the Aquilonian Empire. Conan burns to join the fight, but he's deemed too young. Then, from the border country, comes an unbelievable report: The Aquilonians have smashed the Cimmerian defending forces, and can rule as they please. Soon their heavily garrisoned forts dot the countryside. Their settlers follow after, carving homesteads out of other men's land. Every Cimmerian longs to drive the intruders out with fire and sword, but they must stay their hands, for the Aquilonians have promised savage reprisals. Then, intolerably, the Aquilonian commander takes a wholly dishonorable interest in the weaver's daughter -- and he's not a man to wait, or even ask permission. It's not a recipe for a peaceable outcome.

When Jeff and his robot Norby accompany Admiral Yobo to prehistoric times so the admiral can do family research, the trip turns into a dangerous adventure.

After a ten-year absence, the return of one of the most enduring series characters in modern SF James Bolivar "Slippery Jim" DiGriz, Special Corps agent, master con man, interstellar criminal (retired), is living high on the hog on the planet of Moolaplenty when a long-lost cousin and a shipful of swine arrive to drain his bank account and send him and his lovely wife, Angelina, wandering the stars on the wildest journey since Gulliver's Travels . In this darkly satiric work, Harry Harrison bring his most famous character out of retirement for a grand tour of the galaxy. The Stainless Steel Rat rides again: a cocktail in his hand, a smile on his lips, and larceny in his heart, in search of adventure, gravitons, and a way to get rid of the pigs.

"The stories in this volume were written between July of 1990 and March of 1995-the second half of the fifth decade of my career as a science-fiction writer. I don't think I could have imagined, when I began that career in the early 1950s, that science-fiction publishing would evolve the way it did over the next forty years. Here, then, is the cream of the Silverberg output, 1990-95. I suppose I wrote more short stories in the first six months of 1957 than in that entire six-year period; but so be it. It's a different world today. I look back nostalgically on the small-town atmosphere of the era in which I began my career, and there are times when I'd be glad to 'call back yesterday, bid time return.' As Shakespeare pointed out, though, that can't be done. The one recourse is the one I have chosen, which is to soldier staunchly onward through the years, come what may, writing a story or two here and a book there, while the world changes out of all recognition around me. And so-to leap neatly from the Bard of Avon to F. Scott Fitzgerald-'so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.'" -Robert Silverberg, from the Introduction

YOU SANK THE WRONG BATTLESHIP During a routine naval drill at Pearl Harbor, American forces detect a ship of unknown origins that's crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Lieutenant Alex Hopper, an officer aboard the USS John Paul Jones, is ordered to investigate the ominous-looking vessel--which turns out to be part of an armada of ships that are stronger and faster than any on Earth. And that's when the Navy's radar goes down. Ambushed by a ravenous enemy they cannot see, a small U.S. fleet makes their last stand on the open ocean, armed with little more than their instincts, to defend their lives--and the world as we know it. The official novel of the blockbuster film! Based on the screenplay by Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber

Slippery Jim DiGriz. The galaxy's greatest thief and con artist: the Stainless Steel Rat. For novel upon novel, Jim DiGriz has outfoxed the forces of conventionality, cutting a stylish swathe through dozens of star systems. Now, Slippery Jim and his beautiful wife Angelina find themselves becalmed on a painfully boring backwater planet, with nothing to do but practice their skills at computer crime. Then they meet a billionaire who claims to be 40,000 years old--who offers them millions of credits to investigate a string of unsolved interstellar bank robberies. Robberies which, it turns out, always happen when the circus is nearby. . . . In a sense, The Stainless Steel Rat has always been a high-wire performer. Now, as he infiltrates the world of the galactic big top, he's taking the role to extremes . . . and drawing the attention of more dangerous ringmasters and strongmen than he ever expected. Will this be his final show? Has Slippery Jim finally leapt for his last trapeze? Naaah.

Slippery Jim diGriz , alias the Stainless Steel Rat, the galaxy's greatest thief and con artist, returns in his most devilish caper yet. DiGriz is strenuously fighting boredom on a ritzy pleasure planet when his beloved wife disappears while vising the Temple of Eternal Truth, an enigmatic institution that promises its patrons a sneak peek at Heaven--for a price. Determined to get his wife back, diGriz takes on the Temple. He thinks he's ready for anything, but he never expects to find himself banished to Hell, complete with pointy-tailed devils. Has Divine judgement caught up with the Rat at last? Of course not.

From the author of The New York Times number one bestseller The Carpetbaggers comes a novel of passion, intrigue, power, and money. With 11 weeks on The New York Times best sellers list, The Dream Merchants provides a fascinating look at the early days of the world's most glamorous industry--Hollywood. It was the latest "gold rush"--when ambitious, if unscrupulous, men and women flooded California to turn cinematic dreams into reality, regardless of the moral cost. Johnny Edge, a former carnival barker, schemes and plots his way to the top while Peter Kessler turns his back on a staid life of small-town stability to stake his fortune on the movie business. Beautiful starlet Dulcie Warren is willing to use her sexuality and to play dirty to get to the top, if that's what it takes. When the lives of these three ambitious, determined characters collide, they have the potential to build a dream--or shatter one to pieces. More than 25 New York Times bestsellers later--many reaching the #1 spot--and with over 750 million copies sold to date, Harold Robbins became one of the most successful authors of all time.

A crewman has been murdered aboard the U. S.S. Trident, and all evidence points to Ensign Janos of the Excalibur. Captain Mackenzie Calhoun is reluctant to accept that Janos, a powerful non-humanoid whom the captain has known and trusted for years, could be a killer, and immediately launches an investigation into the crime. But this troubling murder mystery soon escalates into a full-fledged diplomatic crisis that threatens to pit Calhoun and Captain Elizabeth Shelby against the entire United Federation of Planets -- and the Starship Enterprise™. Meanwhile, the turmoil involving Ensign Janos forces Calhoun to recall his own tempestuous past, his rocky relationship with a young Elizabeth Shelby -- and a long-ago exploit that may have everything to do with the deadly emergency that now confronts them all!

The Battle of the Line is infamous in Earth history as the climactic campaign in a long and bloody war between Humankind and the alien Minbari race. But how did this apocalyptic conflict erupt? And how did this fateful clash of two civilizations ultimately lead to the creation of the Babylon 5 space station? Here, at last, the great space epic unfolds--in a new novel based on the first full-length Babylon 5 television movie. Eager to expand their trade with other worlds, the people of planet Earth attempt to make contact with the mysterious Minbari, a race of proud and powerful warriors. But when communication turns to violence, Earth becomes the target of a latter-day holy war, waged by a civilization possessing vastly superior numbers and firepower. And the Minbari will stop at nothing short of the total extermination of its enemy: the Human race . . . From the Paperback edition.

"The days of magic and adventure are fading away, giving way to the age of industry and science. As the aged last Hero sits upon the throne of Albion, two friends-the privileged Thomas and his loyal servant, John- set out for the East in search of a legendary beast: the vicious, rarely-seen balverine. But their desire for adventure may be their ultimate undoing. For although the age of Heroes is ending, dangers and darkness still abound in the wilds of Albion. And as they travel, they encounter both unlikely friends and unnerving allies who seek adventure of a different sort. Though Thomas and James seem on the verge of finding their quarry, they may not live to tell the tale. Because their quarry has just found them ..."--Publisher description.

This adventure pits Christopher Chance against the organized crime of the world! When he's tasked with protecting a highly placed informant and collecting damaging evidence throughout Europe, every assassin and goon from Paris to Prague will be gunning for the human target!

The twentieth century was awash in war. World powers were pouring men and machines onto the killing fields of Europe. Then, in one dramatic stroke, a divided planet was changed forever. An alien race attacked Earth, and for every nation, every human being, new battle lines were drawn. . HOMEWARD BOUND With his epic novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove shares a stunning vision of what might have been–and what might still be–if one moment in history were changed. In the WorldWar and Colonization series, an ancient, highly advanced alien species found itself locked in a bitter struggle with a distant, rebellious planet–Earth. For those defending the Earth, this all-out war for survival supercharged human technology, made friends of foes, and turned allies into bitter enemies. For the aliens known as the Race, the conflict has yielded dire consequences. Mankind has developed nuclear technology years ahead of schedule, forcing the invaders to accept an uneasy truce with nations that possess the technology to defend themselves. But it is the Americans, with their primitive inventiveness, who discover a way to launch themselves through distant space–and reach the Race’s home planet itself. Now–in the twenty-first century–a few daring men and women embark upon a journey no human has made before. Warriors, diplomats, traitors, and exiles–the humans who arrive in the place called Home find themselves genuine strangers on a strange world, and at the center of a flash point with terrifying potential. For their arrival on the alien home world may drive the enemy to make the ultimate decision–to annihilate an entire planet, rather than allow the human contagion to spread. It may be that nothing can deter them from this course. With its extraordinary cast of characters–human, nonhuman, and some in between– Homeward Bound is a fascinating contemplation of cultures, armies, and individuals in collision. From the novelist USA Today calls “the leading author of alternate history,” this is a novel of vision, adventure, and constant, astounding surprise.

From the New York Times bestselling author David Duchovny, an epic adventure that asks how we make sense of right and wrong in a world of extremes. For the past twenty years, Bronson Powers, former star Hollywood stuntman and converted Mormon, has been homesteading deep in the uninhabited desert outside Joshua Tree with his three wives and ten children. Bronson and his wives, Yalulah, Mary, and Jackie, have been raising their family away from the corruption and evils of the modern world. Their insular existence—controversial, difficult, but Edenic—is upended when an ambitious young property developer, Maya Abbadessa, stumbles upon their land. Hoping to make a profit, she crafts a wager with the family that sets in motion a cataclysmic chain of events. Maya, threatening to report the family to social services, convinces them to enroll three of the children in a nearby public school. Bronson and his wives agree that if Maya can prove that the kids do better in town than homeschooled in their desert oasis, they will sell her a piece of their priceless plot of land. Suddenly confronted with all the complications of the twenty-first century that they have tried to keep out, the Powerses must reckon with their way of life as they try to save it. Truly Like Lightning , David Duchovny’s fourth novel, is a heartbreaking meditation on family, religion, sex, greed, human nature, and the vanishing beauty of an ancient desert.

In the final days of World War II, a band of Jewish partisans makes its way from Russia to Italy, moving toward the ultimate goal of Palestine. Based on a true story, the novel chronicles their adventures as they wage a personal war of revenge against the Nazis: blowing up trains, rescuing the last victims of concentration camps, scoring victories in the face of unspeakable devastation. Primo Levi captures the landscape and the people of Eastern Europe in vivid detail, depicting as well the terrible bleakness of war-ridden Europe. But finally, what he gives us is a tribute to the strength and ingenuity of the human spirit.