Most Popular Books by Lucius Shepard

Secret intelligence agencies, esoteric theorems, Lovecraftian horrors, Middle East terrorist connections, a damsel in distress, and a final battle on the surface of a dying planet round out this offbeat story.

Welcome to Grail, Louisiana -- next to nothing and just beyond reality -- where hoodoo meets Jesus, and townsfolk pray to both. This dark fantasy delves into the psychological and motivational depths of Grail and its residents. Miss Sedele mixes up green cocktails called ''cryptoverdes'' at Le Bon Chance. Vida Dumars, owner of the Moonlight Diner, peers into the deepest realms of her customers'' hearts as though they were picture windows. Town spirit Good Gray Man has promised good fortune to the town as long as it hangs onto tradition. A quirky, fantastical town''s heart and soul are slowly, often painfully revealed in this dark and captivating novella.

Quartered aboard the freighter, Viator, run aground twenty years before on a remote section of the Alaskan coast, the four men hired to determine the ship''s worth at salvage have begun to exhibit a variety of eccentric behaviors. They''ve become obsessed with Viator to the point that the world beyond seems of consequence only as it relates to the ship. When their putative leader, Thomas Willander, is afflicted by a series of disturbing dreams, he concludes that something on board may be responsible for their erraticism. He seeks the help of a woman in the nearby village of Kaliaska and together they initiate an investigation into the history of Viator, hoping to learn, among other things, why the ship was run aground and who was the mysterious man who hired the four. But their efforts may be too late. The men, whose eccentrities are now verging on the insane, show no sign of intending to abandon their new home, compelled by Viator''s eerie allure. To make matters worse, winter will soon be setting in, ominous incidences of sound and light are issuing from the forest surrounding the ship, and Willander''s dreams may be coming true... Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

The members of the race of vampires have gathered at Castle Banat to discuss their fate. In this setting, a murder has been discovered that cannot go unpunished, a murder that pits the family''s most powerful members against each other.

A carnival worker dead of alcohol poisoning, Donnell Harrison has been reborn with new memories and a profound literary talent. To reconnect him to the world and make him pliant, the reanimation team employs Jocundra Verret, a therapist who has gained the trust of numerous subjects, but when Donnell finds his latent power to control energy, Jocundra shares his doubts about the scientists'' goals. Together they flee on a quest to discover Donnell''s true origins and potential, and ultimately to confront evil at the heart of a fabulous bayou dynasty, where Donnell must restore order among strange and brutal alternate worlds.

A collection of five novellas and a novel about dragon.

In Aztechs, Shepard returns to the near-future setting of his Nebula Award-winning story, "R&R" (later part of Life During Wartime). El Rayo, the bustling border community grown up along the electrified fence along the U.S./Mexican border, is home to Eddie Poe, who earns his living by providing security. The men he hires are AWOL U.S. soldiers. AZTECH, a mysterious high-tech firm rumored to be run by a renegade U.S. military AI named Montezuma, hires Eddie and his bodyguards to join AZTECH representative Montezuma 2 ("Z2") for a meeting with the Carbonell cartel. When the meeting goes sour and Z2 is badly wounded, one of the soldiers lobs a pocket nuke to cover their escape, and Eddie realizes he''s no longer in control...

Fourteen of Lucius Shepard''s most memorable stories are combined with a previously unanthologized novella, Radiant Green Star, to form a stunning sci-fi collection. In the Nebula Award-winning title story, a poor Honduran hunter is coerced into tracking the forbidden black jaguar of Barrio Carolina.

A man walks into a bar. A dispute ensues, and the bartender kills him. He''s sentenced to ten years for manslaughter. In prison, the convict, Wardlin Stuart, writes prayers addressed to no god in particular. Inexplicably, his prayers - whether it''s a request for a girlfriend or a special favor for a fellow inmate - are answered, be it in days or weeks. When his collection of supplications, A Handbook of American Prayer, is published by a New York press, Stuart emerges a celebrity author. Settling into a new life in Arizona, he encounters a fundamentalist minister. The two are destined for a confrontation. In the interim, it seems that the god to whom Stuart has been praying has manifested himself on the earth. In this short novel about America''s conflicting love triangle - celebrity, spirituality, and money - Shepard negotiates the thin line between the real and the surreal, expounding upon violence and redemption along the way. this story of an unlikely American messiah shows why The Wall Street Journal has compared Shepard, an award-winning author, to Graham Greene, Robert Stone, and Ward Just.

1. Features Hugo, Edgar, Tiptree, Nebula and British Fantasy Award winners 2. To commemorate the second centenary of Poe''s birth - January 19, 1809 and the 160th anniversary of his death in Oct 1849. 3. Compiled by multi-award winning editor Ellen Datlow 4. Each story is based on a EA Poe story. 5. Original stories the above are based on will be available as a download from our website Compiled by multi-award winning editor, Ellen Datlow, this collection commemorates the second centenary of Edgar Allan Poe''s birth. It features Poe-inspired tales by some of the finest talents in the field, including Kim Newman, Pat Cadigan, Sharyn McCrumb, Lucius Shepard, Laird Barron, Suzy McKee Charnas and others. This all-star line-up has several Hugo, Edgar, Tiptree and British Fantasy Award winners.

A collection of dark tales from the dark-side of speculative fiction offers seven unlikely tales of horror, including a postapocalyptic thriller, a space opera, and a gothic tale of insanity, among others. Original. IP.

Thank you, Mr. Vance / Dean Koontz -- Preface / Jack Vance -- The True vintage of Erzuine Thale / Robert Silverberg -- Grolion of Almery / Matthew Hughes -- The Copsy Door / Terry Downling -- Caulk the witch-chaser / Liz Williams -- Inescapable / Mike Resnick -- Abrizonde / Walter Jon Williams -- The Traditions of Karzh / Paula Volsky -- The Final quest of the Wizard Sarnod / Jeff Vandermeer -- The Green bird / Kage Baker -- The Last golden thread / Phyllis Eisenstein -- An Incident at Uskvesk / Elizabeth Moon -- Sylgarmo''s Proclamation / Lucius Shepard -- The Lamentably comical tragedy (or the laughably tragic comedy) of Lixal Laoavee / Tad Williams -- Guyal the Curator / John C. Wright -- The Good magician / Glenn Cook -- The Return of the Fire Witch / Elizabeth Hand -- The Collegeum of Mauge / Byron Tetrick -- Evillo the Cunning / Tanith Lee -- The Guiding nose of Ulf?nt Banderoz / Dan Simmons -- Frogskin cap / Howard Waldrop -- A Night at Tarn House / George R.R. Martin -- An Invocation of incuriosity / Neil Gaiman.

There are science fiction stories alongside short thrillers and a psychological horror story; something for everyone.

In ''Platinum Nights'' (written by Lucius Shepard and illustrated by James Romberger), a gangbanger embarks on a wild and dangerous Big Apple spending spree. In ''Big Shot'' (written by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Randy DuBurke), a captain of industry revisits his brutal rise to power and braces for his own lieutenant''s power move. And in ''Killer Smile'' (written by Simon Revelstroke and illustrated by Richard Corben), a mobster revisits his Hell''s Kitchen stomping grounds for a fateful encounter with his childhood pal.

"Alienation" is the buzzword for three grim tales. A hi-tech future where privacy is illegal makes everyone a peeping Tom in "Watchful." A bored cruise director on an excursion for senior citizen singles braces for turbulent waters in "A Night to Forget." And a phony telephone psychic starts seeing her callers'' real futures in "The Future''s So Bright."

Lucius Shepard writes from the darkest, truest heart of America--not the heart of the United States or of North America, but all of America--and he writes of it with rare passion, honesty and intelligence.

Dans le désert du Mexique, la ville d’El Rayo s’étend le long de la frontière américano-mexicaine, frontière formée d’un impénétrable mur de lasers et dont El Rayo est un point de passage secret. Cette ville est également le théâtre de la lutte entre les cartels et la mystérieuse firme Aztechs, ayant signé son acte de naissance, vingt-trois ans plus tôt, d’un panneau planté en plein désert disant : « Ici s’arrête la réalité »...

When a hurricane alert forces a journalist to stay in the quaint coastal town of Piersall in South Florida, he amazingly finds himself stranded with a lost love, which is the first of many strange events that repeatedly ties these two estranged lovers together.

Nantucket Slayrides contains the two short novels "How the Wind Spoke at Madaket" and "Nomans Land" by Shepard and Robert Frazier''s "The Summer People".

Expert de la sécurité domestique, désormais en difficulté, David Le Gary décide de se faire implanter un programme perceptif, destiné à l’expansion de facultés innées et basé sur la personnalité d’un poète décédé six siècles plus tôt : François Villon. Complot ou malédiction : voilà que, peu à peu, toutes les personnes dans l’entourage de David se mettent à ressembler aux proches du poète français... dans l’attente que celui-ci accomplisse un nouveau Grand Œuvre ?

Auteur à succès, Thomas Cradle se découvre par hasard un homonyme romancier dont il ne savait rien. Intrigué, il se procure l’unique ouvrage de ce dernier, et réalise bientôt qu’au-delà de leur patronyme, les deux hommes partagent une date de naissance identique, sont nés dans la même ville et ont fréquenté la même université... La lecture de l’ouvrage achève de convaincre Cradle du caractère fascinant de sa découverte, les points communs sont trop nombreux, trop évidents : il lui faut partir sur les traces de cet autre Cradle. Et pour ce faire, une seule destination : le Mékong et ses méandres, entre Laos et Viêt Nam — comme un écho aux motifs d’un narrateur bien plus toxique qu’il n’y paraît... Jusqu’au cœur des ténèbres, en somme, jusqu’à déchirer le voile d’une réalité impensable.

Lucius Shepard''s work ranges across the fields of fantasy, science fiction and magic realism, garnering comparisons with Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Best-known for the story suite The Dragon Griaule - available as a Gollancz Fantasy Masterwork - he has won or been nominated for every major SFF award. This omnibus collects his ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD-shortlisted novel GREEN EYES, WORLD FANTASY AWARD-winning collection THE JAGUAR HUNTER and SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD-winning novella VACANCY.

« Tout cela s’est passé il n’y a pas si longtemps sur la station Solitaire, par-delà l’orbite martienne, là où sont assemblés et lancés les astronefs de reconnaissance qui s’évanouissent dans une gerbe de feu de plusieurs milliers de kilomètres de diamètre, et c’est arrivé à un homme du nom de William Stamey, mieux connu sous le sobriquet de Bernacle Bill. Une minute, rétorquerez-vous sans doute, j’ai déjà entendu cette histoire. Elle a été racontée et reracontée. À quoi bon la ressasser ? Mais qu’avez-vous vraiment entendu ? »En cinq longs récits d’une implacable justesse, Sous des cieux étrangers, manière de pendant à Aztechs, lauréat du Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2007, fait éclater les frontières des genres et célèbre la modernité d’une littérature ciblant le cœur de l’âme humaine.