A handful of ordinary Americans — housewives, lawyers, interior decorators, and the like — found themselves caught up in a transdimensional conflict, and transported from their homes to realms where magic worked, to desert planets and rebel worlds, to places straight out of science fiction and fantasy. But these were not the harmless, happy-ending lands of film and fable. The sweat and blood was real, and the horrors they faced genuinely dangerous. One world was a world of magic, ruled by a dark force called Shadow. A handful of would-be heroes resisted Shadow's dominion, and sought assistance in their desperate struggle to free their homeland. The other reality was a universe of spaceships and rayguns, dominated by a Galactic Empire that saw Shadow as a threat — and that demanded the exiles from our world aid them in their campaign. Against their will, these few people were flung into battle...

Young Ishta found it in the forest, buried beneath dead leaves: a rounded, flattened stone as black as onyx. One side held a golden oval that oval glowed with a unnatural light. Of course, it had to be magic.But what did farmers know of magic? It could be dangerous, or it could be some harmless toy. They had to find out.Since Ishta was too young to bring her discovery to the Baron of Varag's stronghold, her older brother, Garander, went instead. Once there, Azlia, a beautiful wizard, recognized the stone immediately as Northern sorcery. She had to call Sammel, the local sorcerer, to find out its nature...a relic of the last great war.When the Baron takes the stone for himself, that should have ended things. But it was just the beginning for Garander. Because that magical stone wasn't the only relic left in the woods...

Ethshar? Some readers already recognize the name, but if you aren't one of them, perhaps a brief explanation is in order. "Ethshar" is the invented world that has been the setting for almost a dozen novels from the pen of Lawrence Watt-Evans. Its inhabitants don't call it that; they call it "the World." For readers, though, that's not specific enough. The dominant nation on the World is the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars, while the largest, richest city, where most of the stories are set, is Ethshar of the Spices, so "Ethshar" is close enough. The name itself comes from words meaning "safe harbor." You don't need to have read any of the novels to enjoy the stories herein; each one should stand alone. And if you've read the novels, you will enjoy this return to the world of Ethshar with 11 stories...This is the first time they have all been collected in one book!

The people of Ethshar had been calmly going about their lives until the night something happened, and thousands of people woke up screaming. Hundreds vanished, never to be seen again; many were seen flying away, never to return; and many of those who stayed behind found they had been blessed — or cursed — with a new kind of magic. And it fell to Lord Hanner, a minor bureaucrat, to try to find a place in the World for these new-made magicians — before the overlord or the Wizards' Guild exterminated them!

The Calling. Sooner or later, it claimed every powerful warlock... a growing magical compulsion to go north to the mysterious land of Aldagmor that nothing could stop. None ever returned. Hanner the Warlock knew his days were numbered. The Calling pulled at him ceaselessly now, and his ability to resist had begun to crumble. So he determined to find a place where the Calling couldn’t reach him... another world, located through a magic tapestry. Every warlock knew that the farther he was from Aldagmor, the weaker the Calling was — and the weaker his magic was, as well, but that was only a secondary consideration. That weakening had given Hanner the idea to find, or make, a place so distant from Aldagmor that the Call couldn’t reach it at all. Unfortunately, the Call took him anyway. And that’s where his story really gets interesting. Because the Calling wasn’t what everyone believed. And when the warlocks who had been Called over the decades suddenly woke up again beside the object doing the calling — and found themselves without their powers — their world may never be the same!

People from present-day Earth are caught up in a war between a Galactic Empire and Shadow, dark lord of a world of magic. This series blends science fiction, fantasy, and horror, in an exciting three-volume series! "In Worlds of Shadow, Lawrence Watt-Evans tells an exciting tale with memorable characters and relentless action. A must-read for fans of dark fantasy and horror." — Karen E. Taylor, author of "The Vampire Legacy" Series

Fantasy. 81266 words long.

Everyone knows that the man to hire when you want something that's hard to find is Gresh the Supplier, so when the Wizards' Guild wants to retrieve the magic mirror that's responsible for the plague of spriggans, they hire him to find the mirror and deal with it. Gresh accepts the job — but no one said finding the mirror would be easy. And nobody said that dealing with it once it's found would be easy, either.

Ethshar and the Northern Empire have been at war for hundreds of years. Hardly anyone alive remembers why, or over what. The tempest, turmoil, and war are endless, and the killing more endless still. The war has become not just a way of life, but an institution; no one dares to dream that it could end. Not even Valder of Kardoret, Ethsharitic Scout, trapped behind enemy lines. But now everything has changed: at a moment of great need, a hermit wizard crafted Valder a magic sword called Wirikidor — a blade at once cursed and enchanted, a misenchanted blade that makes him unbeatable. Soon the tides of battle will turn, and once they’ve turned they’ll turn forever.

Arlian had never left his home village in the Obsidian Mountains. The green hills, white peaks, and black glass were all he had ever known of life, and though he dreamed of travel and adventure, he knew deep in his heart that he would probably never leave.Until the dragon weather came. Incredible heat, oppressive humidity, dark and angry clouds . . . and dragons. Dragons with no feelings, no empathy, no use for humans; dragons who destroyed his entire village and everyone in it. Everyone, that is, except Arlian.Orphaned and alone, Arlian the child is captured by looters and sold as a mining slave. Seven years later Arlian the man escapes, fueled by years of hatred for the dragons, bandits, and slavers that took his youth away—and a personal vow to exact retribution from those who have wronged him.As Arlian makes his way through life, he is obsessed with the concept of justice, and that obsession informs...