There is magic in our world . . . and in others.The fertile imagination can cultivate wondrous things, aided by ancient myths and memory, enduring childhood dreams and desires, and the power of cultural archetypes. Once again, award-winning editors David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer reap a magnificent crop of superior fantasy short fiction — the finest to blossom over the past twelve months. A cornucopia of remarkable tales from some of the field's most acclaimed artists — Neil Gaiman, Octavia Butler, Tanith Lee, and Michael Swanwick, to name but a few — as well as stunning new works from emerging young talents, Year's Best Fantasy 4 is a collection as magical as its illustrious predecessors, a feast for every true connoisseur of fantastic literature.

In Mysteries of Winterthurn, the brilliant young detective-hero Xavier Kilgarvan is confronted with three baffling cases—"The Virgin in the Rose-Bower," "The Devil's Half-Acre," and "The Blood-Stained Gown"—that tax his genius for detection to the utmost, just as his forbidden passion for his cousin Perdita becomes an obsession that shapes his life.

Step into the boarding houses and furnished rooms of New York City, or take a stroll around the park. Observe the tumult and glitter of Broadway on a Saturday night, and browse the silken stockings in Manhattan's most exclusive store. Hop onto the Coney Island ferry to join the lovesick shop-girl, the drunken down-and-out and the secret millionaire in the city's dance of folly and pleasure. Bringing to life the glamour and squalor of the 1900s, O. Henry's unmistakable tales are by turns hilarious or tragic, but always deeply poignant.

Winner of the inaugural Canongate Prize for New Writing and first published in the prize winning anthology Scotland into the New Era.A short story about the near future written in the second person, exploring themes of art, science, politics and self determination.All Bleu Dalton has ever wanted since the Day of Evanescence is for things to go back to the way they were before the Seven Nations became One and Carl Dickens became dictator. After the publication of Dickens' "Tri-Life: Be Successful" book, people of the New Nation started surviving according to the rules in the book, causing international chaos that Bleu believes she only sees; until one day when Bleu is mysteriously captured and the truth about her world and its fate becomes clearer than she could have ever imagined.

"My guiltiest pleasure is Harry Stephen Keeler. He may been the greatest bad writer America has ever produced. Or perhaps the worst great writer. I do not know. There are few faults you can accuse him of that he is not guilty of. But I love him." — Neil GaimanWhen the Cedarville bank is robbed of a gold shipment, Sheriff Bucyrus Duckhouse of Willis Creek was just where he wants to be — waiting at the end of the Smoky Ridge Tunnel where any minute the robbers have just got to emerge. But meanwhile, carny Jim Craney has a truckful of trouble as he scrambles to catch up with the rest of his circus. A truck full of lioness and five newborn kittens! The only way he can make it in time to marry the circus woman he loves is if the Sheriff will let him take the Straightaway through the tunnel. Otherwise he'll have to take Old Twistibus, the road so crooked they gave it a name.

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From the award-winning author Alan Heathcock comes an American myth of the future: a vision of civil war, spectacle, and disaster of biblical proportions.In a future America ravaged by natural disaster, pandemic, and political unrest, a fundamentalist faction emerges. As the Novae Terrae gain power, enticing civilians with bread and circuses, a civil war breaks out between its members and the US government.Mazzy Goodwin, a young soldier, only wants to find her little sister, Ava Lynn. One day, she wakes in a bomb crater to find wings emerged from her back. Has she died? Been gifted wings by God? Undergone a military experiment?The world sees a miracle. Mazzy is coaxed into seeing it as an opportunity: to become the angel-like figurehead of the revolution, in return for being reunited with her sister. Her journey leads her to New Los Angeles, where the Novae have set up the headquarters for their propaganda machine––right in the ruins of Hollywood....

"A fantastic coming-of-age thriller." — IndieReader (IR Approved)2020 Quarter Finalist for Young Adult Fiction — The BookLife PrizeThe summer of 1986. Central Texas. William and his friends should be having a blast. Instead, they are hounded by the Thousand Oaks Gang and their merciless leader, Bloody Billy. William found Billy's backpack. And because of what it contains, Billy desperately wants it back, and he'll do anything to get it. William hatches a plan for his friends to sneak away and hide in an abandoned lake house, except they become stranded on the lake's desolate island without food or water. Will their time on the island devolve into chaos? Will the friends survive and be rescued?The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is Lord of the Flies meets The Body by Stephen King, the inspiration for the classic movie Stand By Me.A gripping suspense story with adventure and danger, tinged with humorous banter between...

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2019 by Vulture, The Millions, and O MagazineA razor-sharp, deeply felt new novel—the twenty-first book by Ann Beattie—about the complicated relationship between a charismatic teacher and his students, and the secrets we keep from those we loveAt a boarding school in New Hampshire, Ben joins the honor society led by Pierre LaVerdere, an enigmatic, brilliant, yet perverse teacher who instructs his students not only about how to reason, but how to prevaricate. As the years go by, LaVerdere's covert and overt instruction lingers in his students' lives as they seek some sense of purpose or meaning. Ben feels the pace of his life accelerating and views his intimate relationships as less and less fulfilling; there seems to be a subtext he's not able to access. And what, really, did Bailey Academy teach him?While relationships with his...

Magic, Mayhem, And... Mummies.Though Jyximus Faire lives in a crumbling tenement in the Underground City, he escapes the squalor to attend lessons in magic and sorcery at the prestigious Academy in the City Above. But the pace isn't fast enough for Jyx. He wants to learn everything – and he wants to learn it now.Then the dreaded necromancer general Eufame Delsenza sets her sights on Jyx; she needs a new apprentice, and Jyx fits the bill. When she tasks him with helping to prepare royal mummies for an all-important procession, the impatient student realises this might be a chance of a lifetime.Will Jyx take his education into his own inexperienced hands? Can a necromancer's apprentice really learn to raise the dead – and control them?The Necromancer's Apprentice is the first book in a dark fantasy Underground City series. If you like Harry Potter, Tim Burton or Neil Gaiman, then you'll love Icy...

A lonely wanderer... A magical island... And Two People Bewitched By Love.... The Channel Islands were divided in allegiance between France and England. Of French blood, and yet subjects of Queen Victoria, the islanders were curious hybrid creatures. But now, in 1888, England is slowly stretching out her arms to them. Colin du Frocq is eight years old, and his dreams are of the sea that surrounds his home. By day he steals away and takes to the sea in any boat that is sailing. At night he lies in bed listening to the waves beating against the shore. Then one night, in a wild storm, a ship drives onto the nearby cliffs and a strange man enters Colin's life, changing Colin's course forever. A twist of fate brought Ranulph back to a springtime place that had forgotten him. A proud and beautiful woman offered him refuge, even though she did not understand why, as she trembled before his gaze. Now Ranulph could feel the spell of the Island twisting around him, binding him to the world of love and companionship he had rejected forever. A storm-wracked sea had brought him home. It was the magnificent fury of another storm that taught him the splendor of life and the power of love.

Immortality had never been something Jane aspired to until one fateful encounter changed her peaceful existence forever. Giving in to the inevitable, Jane decides to make her current unfortunate situation work in her favor and she embarks on journey that will change her life into something she never imagined. Vampire Assassin runs approximately 15,000 words.Immortality had never been something Jane aspired to until one fateful encounter changed her peaceful existence forever. Giving in to the inevitable, Jane decides to make her current unfortunate situation work in her favor and she embarks on journey that will change her life into something she never imagined. Vampire Assassin is the first book in the Jane novella series and runs approximately 15,000 words.