"This collection showcases Anne Bishop's range, from her earliest writing to the Realms of the Blood, from dark fairytale retellings to the Landscapes of Ephemera, and from standalone stories of space exploration and fantastical creatures to the contemporary fantasy terrain of the World of the Others. Includes previously published and unpublished tales, as well as two brand-new stories, written especially for this collection."--

"After discovering that she is a shield maiden who can repel any attack, a fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath to protect Skaland"--

"Settling at the Morningside, a crumbling luxury tower in Island City, Silvia, struggling with her new reality, becomes obsessed with the mysterious older woman who lives in the penthouse and is determined to unravel the truth about this woman's life, and her own haunted past, which may cost her everything" --

"When his sister disappears into one of the world's most famous paintings, Vincent learns his family is the last of The Restorationists, a secret society with the power to travel through paintings--and a duty to protect them from evil forces. Vincent must team up with his know-it-all second-cousin Georgia, wrestle with why his parents lied to him, and confront both his past and a future he never wanted" --

"12-year-old JV is learning just how much truth lies behind those words. He has discovered that he's one of a select few entrusted with preserving the balance between the world's natural and unnatural realms and is now more driven than ever to know who his birth parents are. But there's another mystery in the usually quiet village of Alcavere that he can't ignore. He and his friends, Carol and Riaz, have received a cryptic warning from a supernatural...

"Set in a not-too-distant America, I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. Rainy, an endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, Rainy finds on land an increasingly desperate...

"Alayiakal, who will one day be known by many names--not all of them flattering--has to climb the ranks of Cyador's Mirror Lancers, fighting against unforeseen weapons and ancient technology. Alayiakal, however, has secrets of his own to protect: his ties to the Great Forest and his magus abilities. He must silently pretend to be a conventional soldier favored by fate--until that very same fate forces him to choose"--

"From holy cup comes holy light; The faithful hands sets world aright. And in the Seven Martyrs' sight, Mere man shall end this endless night. Gabriel de León has saved the Holy Grail from death, but his chance to end the endless night is lost. Drawn into an uneasy alliance with the mysterious vampire Liathe, Gabriel must now deliver the Grail to ancients of the Blood Esani, and learn the truth of how Daysdeath might be finally undone. But the Last...

"The Library of Alexandria died in fire. Others fade away with less drama, ignored, forgotten, left to dust. To the athenaeum though, the great library of which all others are echoes, fires are merely a temporary inconvenience. The only true threat to the library's existence is a book--the one Livira wrote. Livira's book also brought her together with Evar, a young man who was raised in the library itself, and they discovered secrets that no one else...

"Too often, science fiction and fantasy stories erase--or cure--characters with disabilities. These tales imagine such wonders as a shapeshifter on a first date, skin that sprouts orchid buds, and a cereal-box demon. An insulin pump diverts an undead mob. An autistic teen sets out to discover the local cranberry bog's sinister secret. A pizza delivery on Mars goes wrong.