Resources running low, the population exploding, the planet is in danger: are we masters of our own destruction, or have we been invaded by aliens bent on mass extinction? Is this a pattern across the entire universe, or just our small sector of cosmic life? This new title in our successful Gothic Fantasy Short Stories series explores the theme of a dying planet, written by a fabulous mix of classic, ancient and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from all over the world. For the first time we’ve made a conscious effort to reach beyond our usual submissions seeking a broader voices. This book offers a glorious mix of American, British, Canadian, Italian, Indian, Spanish and Chinese writers with contributions from Elizabeth Rubio, John B. Rosenman, Francesco Verso, Marian Womack, Zach Shephard, E.E. King, Raymond Little, Ken Liu, Shikhandin, Alex Shvartsman and many more. In these pages too, first-time contributions jostle with the work of Camille Flammarion, Clark Ashton Smith, Stanley G. Weinbaum, Jack London, William Hope Hodgson, H.G. Wells and, stretching back much further, to the Norse Eddas and Sagas, and an Ancient Egyptian Myth on the death of humankind.

Curated new Myths and Tales. Great floods and river Gods, snake spirits, and Immortals, China's unique set of mythological tales are derived from its vast expanse, diverse culture and the endless wars between tribes and dynasties. The result is a rich landscape of humanity, gods and spirits introduced here in this comprehensive book of folk tales and legendary exploits. The latest title in Flame Tree's beautiful, comprehensive series of Gothic Fantasy titles, concentrates on the ancient, epic origins of modern fantasy.

Africa south of the Sahara is a land of wide-ranging traditions and varying cultures. Despite the diversity and the lack of early written records, the continent possesses a rich body of folk tales and legends that have been passed down through the strong custom of storytelling and which often share similar elements, characters and ideas between peoples. So this collection offers a hefty selection of legends and tales – stories of the gods, creation and origins, trickster exploits, animal fables and stories which entertain and edify – from ‘Obatala Creates Mankind’, from the Yoruba people of west Africa, to ‘The Girl Of The Early Race, Who Made Stars’, from the San people of southern Africa, all collected in a gorgeous gold-foiled and embossed hardback to treasure.

New races of man had evolved, new species of beast; science had vanished and magic had arisen to dominate the twilight of our world as it dominated the earth's morning. The Dying Earth is Jack Vance's finest work - a stunning evocation of a world peopled by wizards, witches, demons, monsters, dashing princes and forlorn maidens. A bejewelled gallery of strange and wonderful beings in the eminent tradition of Tolkien and William Morris. Jack Vance's preferred title for this collection is Mazirian the Magician, but while we have elsewhere deferred to his wishes, in this case the book is so famous under a title of which he apparently strongly disapproves that we concluded it would be absurd to change it. All Jack Vance titles in the SFGateway use the author's preferred texts, as restored for the Vance Integral Edition (VIE), an extensive project masterminded by an international online community of Vance's admirers. In general, we also use the VIE titles, and have adopted the arrangement of short story collections to eliminate overlaps.

A potent pantheon of gods, heroes engaged in epic battles, fearsome mythical creatures and supernatural transformations – such fantastical elements infuse Greek myths with a wonder and excitement that’s hard to beat. These tales of love, courage, conflict and intrigue, shared for thousands of years, still exercise a powerful influence on our modern lives.

Jack Vance is one of the most remarkable talents to ever grace the world of science fiction. His unique, stylish voice has been beloved by generations of readers. One of his enduring classics is hisThe Dying Earth series, fascinating, baroque tales set on a far-future Earth, under a giant red sun that is soon to go out forever. Rhialto the Marvellous contains three linked novellas about the adventures of the wizard Rhialto across the decadent landscape of the Dying Earth, under its swollen red sun. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Dedicated to that ominous strain of horror that sends a shiver down your spine, this selection of masterful tales gathers the weird and wonderful from a rich tradition of genre writing. The sound of a sinister tread in an apparently abandoned house; mysterious crimes committed in the dead of night; a glimpse of a monstrous apparition through the murky gloom: all find their home here. This latest anthology in the popular series of Gothic Fantasy collections features new stories by contemporary authors alongside classic tales by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Robert Louis Stevenson, Edith Nesbit, Sheridan Le Fanu, Edith Wharton, M.R. James and more. The modern writers included are: Ramsey Campbell, P.G. Galalis, Kevin J.J. Gallivan, Ali Habashi, Maria Haskins, S.R. Masters, Damien Mckeating, John Moralee, Aeryn Rudel, David Schmidt, Cody Schroeder, Shana Scott, Anna Taborska, D.A. Watson, Nemma Wollenfang, and Anna Ziegelhof.