Taux, city of cursed stone and home to a growing population of the displaced. Deep within its walls rests the old Ullamaliztli Stadium, and it's fabled Black Gate, where life treads a fine line between law and chaos. Tales of the Emerald Serpent allows readers a glimpse into this shadow world as nine authors tell a shared world mosaic that sets this fantasy anthology apart from any on the shelves today.

From the author of the critically acclaimed The Kira Chronicles trilogy, comes a story set in the wild and beautiful ancient Scottish landscape of the Caledonian Forest.Etaine is an Eadar Ranger: white-skinned, black-haired and emerald-eyed. Sworn to protect, she fights Fada, religious zealots determined to replace the Eadar's Serpent Goddess with their own gods of stone.When the Ranger bands come together and Etaine meets Cormac, she is convinced she has found her longed for true-mate. The pure blood of the ancient Eadar runs strong in Etaine and Cormac's veins, and their joining has the potential to open the Emerald and Serpent Ways to them; old worlds only true-Eadar can enter.But their love affair goes tragically amiss, with catastrophic consequences.The years pass and Etaine slowly rebuilds her life but Fada attacks escalate until the Eadar are forced to fight for their very existence.As Fada mass to commit more bloody slaughter, the bands join and Etaine comes under Cormac's command, the last Eadar she ever wants to see again. Together they have a weapon that can defeat Fada, but to use it, Etaine must learn to trust again and Cormac to Remember.And time runs short: the Serpent rises.

The Nightrunners are back in this gripping novel full of Lynn Flewelling’s trademark action, intrigue, and richly imagined characters. More than the dissolute noblemen they appear to be, Alec and Seregil are skillful spies, dedicated to serving queen and country. But when they stumble across evidence of a plot pitting Queen Phoria against Princess Klia, the two Nightrunners will find their loyalties torn as never before. Even at the best of times, the royal court at Rhíminee is a serpents’ nest of intrigue, but with the war against Plenimar going badly, treason simmers just below the surface. And that’s not all that poses a threat: A mysterious plague is spreading through the crowded streets of the city, striking young and old alike. Now, as panic mounts and the body count rises, hidden secrets emerge. And as Seregil and Alec are about to learn, conspiracies and plagues have one thing in common: The cure can be as deadly as the disease.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Sagas from the Far East; or, Kalmouk and Mongolian Traditionary Tales" by Various. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Herein are 39 Kalmyk-Mongolian children’s fairy and folktales which are Mongolian in origin. Herein you wind stories like: The Saga Of The Well-And-Wise-Walking Khan The Woman Who Sought Her Husband In The Palace Of Erlik-Khan The Gold-Spitting Prince Five To One The Fortunes Of Shrikantha The Use Of Magic Language The Wife Who Loved Butter Bhîxu Life The Saga Of Ardschi-Bordschi And Vikramâditja’s Throne The Boy-King Schalû the Wolf-boy Vikramâditja acquires another Kingdom The Voice-charmer How Naran Gerel swore falsely and yet told the Truth ….plus many, many more. Kalmyk folklore, fairy tales, omens and sayings are a little-researched genre of folklore. Since early times the Kalmyk people, surveyed nature, animals, and the birds around them, from which they created tales, legends, myths, songs, proverbs, and sayings that are notable for their keen observation, which, over time, have been infused with a healthy dose of deep wisdom, which is highly complementary to their commonly held practise of Tengric Bhuddism, or Mongolian Buddhism. The Kalmyk people are members of the Oirat clan which is Mongolian in origin. The Kalmyks (also spelled Kalmouk) migrated 3,700km/2,300miles from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River to the Lower Volga region, bordering on the northern Caspian sea, arriving in about 1630AD. The most compelling reason was to escape the growing dominance of the neighboring Dzungar Mongol tribe. Along the route of their migration, the Kalmyks would have met and mixed with pagans and shamans, the Jewish Khazars, Islam from the Alans and Nogais, and Christianity from the Russians and other Slavic tribes. As such their folklore and fairytales are interwoven with elements of all these cultures creating a rich and diverse tapestry of lore which is reflected in this volume. ============== KEYWORDS/TAGS: Kalmykian, Mongolian, folklore, fairytales, Ananda, ancient, ape, Ardschi-Bordschi, ARDSCHI, BORDSCHI, arrows, ass, barley-corns, beasts, beautiful, birdcatcher, bird, catcher, Bodhisattva, bones, Boy-king, Buddha, Buddhist, butter, capital, caravan, chief, children, children’s books, children’s stories, Churmusta, companions, cunning, dancing, demons, eight, endowed, enemy, feathers, fifteenth century, 15th C., free, friends, Gandharva, garuda-bird, Gerel, grandparents with children, gratitude, Hermit, honour, horse, India, jewel, Khan, Khanin, King, kingdom, Kun-dgah, Lama, lioness, love, magicians, magnanimous, maiden, majesty, mango tree, marry, Massang, Master, merchandize, merchandise, merchant, Minister, Moonshine, mother-o’-pearl, mothers to be, mothers with children, mountain, Nâgârg′una, Naran, Naran-Dâkinî, Naran Dâkinî, noble, oxen, palace, parents to be, parents with children, parrot, peace, possessed, Prince, Princess, Queen, reading to children, sacred, sacrifice, Schimnu, Schimnu Khan, Schimnus, Serpent, Serpent king, seventy-one, Shanggasba, Siddhi-kür, soothsayer, Ssaran, Sunshine, Suta, tales, talisman, Teacher, temple, thousand, throne, token, transform, treasure, Vikramâditja, water, Well-and-wise-walking, Well and wise walking, weep, wisdom, wise, wolves, wood-carver, wood carver, youth

This short fiction collection from PW Best of the Year author Harry Connolly combines reprints from magazines and anthologies along with new, previously unpublished fiction, including the TWENTY PALACES novelette “The Hand Made Mask.”