From Harry Turtledove, the master of alternate history, comes After the Downfall, a novel of magic, epic warfare, and desperate choices. 1945: Russian troops have entered Berlin, and are engaged in a violent orgy of robbery, rape, and revenge. Wehrmacht officer Hasso Pemsel, a career soldier on the losing end of the greatest war in history, flees from a sniper's bullet, finding himself hurled into a mysterious, fantastic world of wizards, dragons, and unicorns. There he allies himself with the blond-haired, blue-eyed Lenelli, and Velona, their goddess in human form, offering them his knowledge of warfare and weaponry in their genocidal struggle against a race of diminutive, swarthy barbarians known as Grenye. But soon, the savagery of the Lenelli begins to eat at Hasso Pemsel's soul, causing him to question everything he has long believed about race and Reich, right and wrong, Ubermenschen and Untermenschen. Hasso Pemsel will learn the difference between following orders... and following his conscience. Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

HAI HAS ALWAYS been an outsider. With a falcon mother and a deceased cobra father, she is considered a mongrel by most, an ally by some, and a friend by few. Hai's broken falcon wings are a painful reminder of the life she once led on the island of Ahnmik. And here in Wyvern's Court, the avian and serpiente royal family keep their distance, refusing to acknowledge her cobra bloodline. They know that Hai's magic is so volatile, she can barely control it, and images of the past and future threaten to overwhelm her.When Hai's cousin, Oliza Shardae Cobriana, abdicates the throne of Wyvern's Court, Hai has visions only of destruction: the serpiente king Salem, dying in her arms; the dutiful guard, Nicias, unable to save a generation of children; and Wyvern's Court engulfed in flames.Now Hai will do anything to protect her new home - even if it means betraying the very people who need her most.

It's 1913 and a young, carefree and recklessly innocent girl, Mina, goes out into the forest on the edge of the Baltic sea and meets a gang of rowdy young men with revolution on their minds. It sounds like a fairy tale but it's life. The adventure leads to flight, emigration and a new land, a new language and the pursuit of idealism or happiness - in Liverpool. But what of the stories from the old country; how do they shape and form the next generations who have heard the well-worn tales? --

In the pursuit of knowledge, Dorion Sagan argues in this dazzlingly eclectic, rigorously crafted, and deliciously witty collection of essays, scientific authoritarianism and philosophical obscurantism are equally formidable obstacles to discovery. As science has become more specialized and more costly, its questing spirit has been constrained by dogma. And philosophy, perhaps the discipline best placed to question orthodoxy, has retreated behind dense theoretical language and arcane topics of learning. Guided by a capacious, democratic view of science inspired by the examples set by his late parents--Carl Sagan, who popularized the study of the cosmos, and Lynn Margulis, an evolutionary biologist who repeatedly clashed with the scientific establishment--Sagan draws on classical and contemporary philosophy to intervene provocatively in often-charged debates on thermodynamics, linear and nonlinear time, purpose, ethics, the links between language and psychedelic drugs, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the occupation of the human body by microbial others. Informed by a countercultural sensibility, a deep engagement with speculative thought, and a hardheaded scientific skepticism, he advances controversial positions on such seemingly sacrosanct subjects as evolution and entropy. At the same time, he creatively considers a wide range of thinkers, from Socrates to Bataille and Descartes to von Uexkull, to reflect on sex, biopolitics, and the free will of Kermit the Frog. Refreshingly nonconformist and polemically incisive, "Cosmic Apprentice" challenges readers to reject both dogma and cliche and instead recover the intellectual spirit of adventure that should--and can once again--animate both science and philosophy.

In the pursuit of knowledge, Dorion Sagan argues in this dazzlingly eclectic, rigorously crafted, and deliciously witty collection of essays, scientific authoritarianism and philosophical obscurantism are equally formidable obstacles to discovery. As science has become more specialized and more costly, its questing spirit has been constrained by dogma. And philosophy, perhaps the discipline best placed to question orthodoxy, has retreated behind dense theoretical language and arcane topics of learning. Guided by a capacious, democratic view of science inspired by the examples set by his late parents--Carl Sagan, who popularized the study of the cosmos, and Lynn Margulis, an evolutionary biologist who repeatedly clashed with the scientific establishment--Sagan draws on classical and contemporary philosophy to intervene provocatively in often-charged debates on thermodynamics, linear and nonlinear time, purpose, ethics, the links between language and psychedelic drugs, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, and the occupation of the human body by microbial others. Informed by a countercultural sensibility, a deep engagement with speculative thought, and a hardheaded scientific skepticism, he advances controversial positions on such seemingly sacrosanct subjects as evolution and entropy. At the same time, he creatively considers a wide range of thinkers, from Socrates to Bataille and Descartes to von Uexküll, to reflect on sex, biopolitics, and the free will of Kermit the Frog. Refreshingly nonconformist and polemically incisive, Cosmic Apprentice challenges readers to reject both dogma and cliché and instead recover the intellectual spirit of adventure that should--and can once again--animate both science and philosophy.

From the million-copy bestselling author of THE PARENT AGENCY and BIRTHDAY BOY comes a wildly entertaining wish-fulfilment adventure that asks the question: what would happen if the strictest head teacher swapped bodies with the naughtiest kid in school? Strictest head ÷ naughtiest boy = chaos. Bracket Wood is about to be visited by the school inspectors. But there's one big problem: Ryan Ward. The maestro of practical jokes, Ryan has played so many tricks that in the end the Head Teacher just walks out. And then the new Head Teacher, Mr Carter, arrives. A man so strict even the teachers are scared of him. So imagine his surprise - and Ryan's - when they swap bodies. Now Ryan is Head Teacher - and his mortal enemy is one of his pupils. It's every naughty kid's dream! But soon Bracket Wood School is in a total mess - and only its worst ever pupil can fix it...

Playfully mashing up the romantic elegance of the Victorian era with whimsically modernized technology, this entertaining and edgy new anthology is the third installment in a bestselling steampunk series. Featuring a renegade collective of writers and artists, from beloved legends to rising talents, the steam-driven past is rebooted and powered by originality, wit, and adventure. Lev Grossman offers a different take on the Six Million Dollar Man who possesses appendages and workings from recycled metal parts, yet remains fully human, resilient, and determined. Catherynne M. Valente explores a new form of parenting within the merging of man and machine while Cherie Priest presents a new, unsettling mode of transportation. Bruce Sterling introduces steampunk's younger cousin, salvage-punk, while speculating on how cities will be built in the future using preexisting materials and Jeff VanderMeer takes an anti-steampunk perspective as a creator must turn his back on an utterly destructive creation. Going beyond the simple realms of corsets and goggles, this engaging collection takes readers on a wild ride through Victoriana and beyond.

The eighth Mr Gum adventure--as ridiculous as ever Talking parrots in the rooftops? A giant cactus on the street? Mosquitos so nasty that even their own friends don't like them? Something's gone terribly wrong in Lamonic Bibber . . . and Mr Gum is nowhere to be found. Yes, folks, Polly and Friday are facing their biggest challenge yet. So strap yourselves in, cry HI-HO-WEIRDY! and get ready for an adventure so crazy your feet will melt with happiness! And I'm not just saying that, I've actually seen it happen.

Continues the life story, as told in Incredible! of young Joe (Yossi) Wallis, member of a tough Bronx gang with ties to the Mafia, who became a wealthy businessman in California, and eventually a religious Jew and rabbi in Israel. Incredible 2 is filled with more stories, adventures, and personalities from Rabbi Wallis's dynamic life.

When this master storyteller breaks new ground, he does it with a flame-thrower. The first part of this book was originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, sparking both outrage and acclaim. The next two sections, published here for the first time, unravel visions even more dangerous. Both heart-breaking and heart-warming, this is a violent, sexy, no-holds-barred tale of a ferocious soul coming to terms with a brutal, uncompromising world. From the desperate streets of Los Angeles' urban jungle to the greener jungles of Vietnam, from the sanctuary of a Saigon whore house to the heat-scorched follies of Arizona, a disabled veteran discovers that true intimacy is something to be feared as much as cherished. This astonishing work dives headlong into the darkest parts of the heart, coming out again on the far side, to discover the most human of all human adventures. Take this journey and you will never be the same.

Intergalactic visions, deadly threats, and explosive standoffs between mostly good and completely evil converge in a dystopian fantasy that could only be conceived by the inimitable Walter Mosley, one of the country's most beloved and acclaimed writers Martin Just wakes up one morning after what feels like, and might actually be, a centuries-long sleep with two new innate pieces of knowledge: Humanity is a virus destined to destroy all existence. And he is the Cure. Martin begins slipping into an alternate consciousness, with new physical strengths, to violently defend his family--the only Black family in their neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles-- against pure evil. Think Octavia Butler meets Jeff VanderMeer meets Jordan Peele. Expansive and innovative, sexy and satirical, Touched brilliantly imagines the ways in which human life and technological innovation threaten existence itself.

n August 1853, an American-born Sephardic Jew, Solomon Nunes Carvalho, accepted John Fremont's invitation to join his fifth expedition to find the best overland route to California. A Baltimore artist, inventor, and daguerreotypist, Carvalho was given the job of creating a photographic record of the lands and peoples along the way. Fremont's party left the Missouri on September 14, 1853, traveled up the Kansas River, overland to the Arkansas, upriver past Bent's Fort to the Huerfano, and traversed the Sandhill Pass into the Rocky Mountains. Beset by heavy snows and intense cold, they were reduced to eating their horses and mules and the occasional beaver or porcupine while making their way in midwinter across the Grand, Green, and Sevier Rivers. Suffering from frostbite, scurvy, and dysentery, Carvalho left the expedition in Utah; spent four months among the Mormons in Salt Lake City, where he observed with keen interest their system of spiritual wives; and reached California in 1854. Carvalho became the first Jewish writer to publish accounts of the Great American West and was also one of the first people to photograph the American West. Although only one of his plates is known to survive, others became the models for wood and steel engravings that broadcast the image of the West throughout the world. This Bison Books edition restores the discourses on Mormon doctrine omitted from previous twentieth-century editions. Ava F. Kahn is a visiting scholar at the California Studies Center, University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush: A Documentary History, 1849-1880; Jewish Life in the American West: Perspectives on Migration, Settlement, and Community; and California Jews (coedited with Marc Dollinger).

Hard cover

An exciting science fiction adventure from William Shatner—famous for his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek —about the intrepid, eighty-year-old FBI deputy director Samuel Lord and his quest to stop the Chinese from using a weapon that (unknown to them) could destroy Earth. In the year 2050, the United States sends the FBI to govern its space station, the Empyrean. Under the command of former fighter pilot and FBI field agent Samuel Lord, the space-based “Zero-G” men are in charge of investigating terrorism, crime, corruption, and espionage beyond the Earth’s atmosphere and of keeping an eye on the rival Chinese and Russian stations. During the Zero-G team’s first days in space, a mysterious and beautiful scientist, Dr. May, shows up to the Empyrean claiming that important research has been stolen from her lab on the moon. Her arrival suspiciously coincides with timing of a tsunami that destroys part of the coast of Japan, and her unusual behavior makes Director Lord think that Dr. May might know more about the disaster than she’s letting on. Meanwhile, the Chinese space station has gone mysteriously silent. In this “tightly paced blend of police procedural, military SF, and space opera, set in an intriguing near-future world” ( Publishers Weekly ), Director Lord must connect the dots to discover who or what has caused the tsunami as well as subsequent disasters, and how Dr. May and the Chinese might be involved.

"Star Trek" 's Captain Kirk is back, with another fast-paced adventure for the future's greatest private detective, Jake Cardigan. Best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship "Enterprise," William Shatner has created a whole new career for himself as a suspense novelist--and his bestselling Tek series has been hailed by "The Wall Street Journal" for novels "as tough and scrappy as Captain Kirk." Walt Bascom is head of the Cosmos Detective Agency, and therefore is Jake Cardigan's boss. As Tek Kill opens, Walt is having a bad morning: five police officers broke into his house, threw him out of bed, and arrested him for murder. The video security system at the home of wealthy entrepreneur Dwight Grossman clearly shows Bascom shooting Grossman in the back. And telephone records show that Grossman had been making threatening phone calls to a former girlfriend--a woman now involved with Bascom. Despite what looks like an open-and-shut case against Bascom, Jake and his partner Sid Gomez must find a way to clear the boss's good name--and find the real killer. They have allies: Jake's son, Dan, is friendly with Grossman's sister, Susan. And Susan Grossman has been having flashes of telepathy, including visions of her brother's murder that does not feature Walt Bascom. She's frightened, but she's prepared to testify in court about what she believes. Unfortunately, Susan Grossman is a user of the deadly drug Tek. The choice facing the police is obvious: they can believe what they see with their own eyes on videotape, or they can believe a known drug user who claims to have telepathic visions. Jake and Sid can see that they have a lot of work ahead if they're going toget the boss out of jail and back to the office. And the person who went to such trouble to make Walt Bascom look like a murderer is hardly likely to sit back and let them do their jobs without making an effort to put them off the trail--a deadly effort.

"A rarity of rarities: a book that makes you laugh out loud. Selina Rosen's debut is very much worth reading. SF"s answer to Terry Pratchett."--C.J. Cherryh"Queen is funny and pointed. Ms. Rosen takes a Star-Trek-like plot, introducing the social ills of a world that could be our own, and attacks them with ruthless humor."--Jody Lynn Nye"Should appeal to anyone who loves a riotous, wickedly funny read."--Jane Fancher'"A rip-snorting space adventure the likes of which we don't see often enough these days!"--Lawrence Watt-Evans

The second adventure in THE DEAD MAN series.Matthew Cahill is an ordinary man leading a simple life until a shocking accident changes everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld that nobody else does. Now for him each day is a journey into a dark world he knows nothing about, a quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become...and a fight to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.RING OF KNIVESMatt believes a madman may hold the secret to defeating Mr. Dark, the horrific jester with the rotting touch. But to reach him, Matt must infiltrate a lunatic asylum, where he is soon caught up in a spiral of bloodshed and madness. Hisonly chance of escaping with his life and sanity intact is to face the unspeakable terror that awaits him deep in the asylum's fog-shroudedwoods...within the Ring of Knives.

In the 21st-century Kingdom of Versailles, the roads are terrible and Paris is a dirty little town. Serfdom and slavery are both common, and no one thinks that's wrong. Why should they? Most people spend their lives doing backbreaking farm work anyway. But teenaged Khadija, daughter of a prosperous family of Moorish business travellers, is unfazed. That's because Khadija is really Annette Klein from 21st-century California, and her whole family are secret agents of Crosstime Traffic, trading for commodities to send back to our own timeline. Now it's time for Annette and her family to go home for the start of another school year, so they join a pack train bound for their home base in Marseilles, where the crosstime portal is hidden. Then bandits attack while they're crossing the Pyrenees. Annette/Khadija is separated from her parents and knocked out, and wakes up to find herself a captive in a caravan of slaves being taken to the markets in the south. She's in a tight spot. Then the really scary thing happens: her purchasers take her, along with other newly purchased slaves, to an unofficial crosstime portal...leaving open the question of whether Crosstime Traffic will ever be able to recover her! Harry Turtledove's In High Places is the third book in this parallel adventure series.

Known to millions as "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk, actor-director and bestselling author William Shatner returns to the stunning future world he created in "TekWar." Ex-cop Jake Cardigan is back. A synthetic plague is sweeping the city. And a top drug-control agent is brutally murdered by a reprogrammed human "zombie, " deadlier than an android assassin. For Jake, all roads lead to one fatal circle - the heart of a vast computerized drug ring, the masters of a savage and powerful underworld...the lair of the TekLords.

Young Jim Endicott has but one dream-- to attend the Solis Space Academy, the gateway to the stars and the far-flung civilization known as the Confederation. But unbeknownst to Jim, he has a secret encoded in his DNA. A secret that threatens an empire.