Most Popular Books by Tanith Lee

What if Snow White were the real villain and the "wicked queen" just a sadly maligned innocent? What if awakening Sleeping Beauty would be the mistake of a lifetime -- of several lifetimes? What if the famous folk tales were retold with an eye to more horrific possibilities? Only Tanith Lee -- "Goddess-Empress of the Hot Read" (Village Voice) could retell the world-famous tales of the Brothers Grimm (and others) as they might have been told by the Sisters Grimmer! This special edition, put together for the 30th anniversary of the original edition, adds a new Grimmer fairy tale written especially for this volume!

It is the season of the beast. Lured on by a brilliant diamond, the man-beast moves about the world in the sway of a pitiless, violent curse. In the frozen English countryside, a woman receives a rare diamond from her husband and unknowingly awaits the monster''s unquenchable bloodlust. . . .

Disturbed By Her Song collects the work of Esther Garber and her half-brother Judas Garbah, the mysterious family of writers that Tanith Lee has been channeling for the past few years. Possibly autobiographical, frequently erotic and darkly surreal, their fiction takes place in a variety of eras and places, from Egypt in the 1940s, to England in the grip of the Pre-Raphaelites, to gaslit Paris and to the shadowy landscapes carved by the mind and memory. The themes of youth and age stream through these tales of homosexual love and desire. These stories recall, at times, the work of Lawrence Durrell, Colette, and Angela Carter.

In this first volume of The Secret Books of Paradys, Lee begins the search for a demonic creature seemingly impervious to sword, conjuring, or prayer. Readers won’t want to miss number two in the series, The Book of the Beast.

For the first time in e-book format, a gothic tale of werewolves in a remote French village from a master of dark fantasy. Tanith Lee''s classic gothic novel tells a tale of werewolves in a chateau in remote France.

In her now-classic tale The Silver Metal Lover, award-winning author Tanith Lee told the spellbinding story of Jane and her forbidden love for a robot named Silver. In this stunning follow-up, the legend of their tragic romance lives on. But nothing is as it was—or as it seems. . . . As an orphan growing up in the slums, Loren read her clandestine copy of Jane’s Story over and over, relishing every word. But Loren is no Jane. Savvy and street-smart, Loren could never be stirred by a man of metal, her passion never ignited by an almost-human—even one designed for pleasure. Still, when the META corporation does the unthinkable and brings back updated versions of robots past—Loren knows she must see Silver. And just like Jane, it is love at first sight. But Silver is now Verlis. If he was perfection before, he is now like a god. Yet he is more human than his creators think—or fear. While Loren doesn’t quite trust him, she will follow her twice-born lover into a battle to control his own destiny—one that will reveal to her the most astonishing illusion of all.

It''s jang to be wild and sexy and reckless and teen-age. It''s jang to do daredevil tricks and even get killed a few times...you could always come alive again. It''s jang to change your body, to switch your sex, to do anything you want to keep up with the crowd. But there comes a time when you begin to think about serious things, to want to do something valid. And that''s when you find out there are rules beyond the rules and that the world is something else than all they''d taught you.

Rediscover the classic fantasy series where demons and gods grant wonders and wreak havoc.

The enchanting, magical sequel to The Black Unicorn and The Gold Unicorn! After several years traveling, Tanaquil — a sorceress like her mother with the ability to mend — returns home only to discover that her true love has been betrothed to her sister, Empress Lizra. Broken-hearted and jealous of her sister’s happiness, Tanaquil is lured by a red unicorn into a mirror world where she encounters Tanakil, a diabolical version of herself. She discovers also several new powers. Powers she will need to foil Tanakil’s sinister plot of revenge.

Following Faces Under Water, Tanith Lee’s alchemical thriller series continues with a Joan of Arc–inspired novel set in an alternate medieval Venice. In Saint Fire, the second volume in the Secret Books of Venus series, Volpa is a strangely beautiful servant girl who glows with an inhuman inner flame. When her master, an abusive wood seller, is mysteriously incinerated, Volpa discovers her power of fire. Her gift is noticed by the Church leaders, who see her as a mighty weapon in their holy wars. This gripping fantasy of a mysteriously gifted Joan of Arc is stunning from beginning to end. “Lee’s writing is as entrancing as ever, full of evocative imagery and memorable characters. The questions she raises about faith and hypocrisy, fear and justice, are deftly rendered and not easily answered.” —Publishers Weekly “The author of Faces Under Water continues her saga of a city at the mercy of powers beyond its control. Lee’s sensual and evocative storytelling imparts a dreamlike quality to this tale of transcendent faith and human passion.” —Library Journal “Evocative, and set forth in Lee’s eerily crystalline prose.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Long time ago when the Earth was flat, beautiful indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above, curious passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below, and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Uhlume, Lord of Death, second of the Lords of Darkness, King of Shadow and Pallor, makes an unusual bargain which sets in motion an intricate sequence of events that entangle men and gods, queens and kings, sorcerers and witches, and lowly wanderers. When the secret to immortality falls into human hands, dark magic and wickedness are unleashed, testing the bounds of mortal love and sanity, and questioning the nature and purpose of life itself"--Page 4 of cover.

In a world dedicated to pleasure, one young rebel sets out on a forbidden quest. Published for the first time in a single volume, Tanith Lee''s duet of novels set in a hedonistic Utopia are as riveting and revolutionary as they were when they first appeared two decades ago. It''s a perfect existence, a world in which no pleasure is off-limits, no risk is too dangerous, and no responsibilities can cramp your style. Not if you''re Jang: a caste of libertine teenagers in the city of Four BEE. But when you''re expected to make trouble—when you can kill yourself on a whim and return in another body, when you''re encouraged to change genders at will and experience whatever you desire—you''ve got no reason to rebel . . . until making love and raising hell, daring death and running wild just leave you cold and empty. Ravenous for true adventures of the mind and body, desperate to find some meaning, one restless spirit finally bucks the system—and by shattering the rules, strikes at the very heart of a soulless society. . . .

This repackaged edition of a classic sci-fi tale from a master storyteller explores a planet of great contrasts, one side in perpetual light, the other in darkness. Vel Thaidis is a figment of Vitra''s imagination. In a city with no sunlight, Vitra crafts dreams to entertain the masses. She enjoys a decadent life with the nobility while the lower class work and rot. Vitra''s dreams are a mirror image of her life. Vel has a brother like her, knows a man like the one Vitra desires. Even the machines that take care of them, that no one remembers how to fix, are the same. Except in Vitra''s dreams, no one can fix the machines when they slowly die, while they never break down in reality. Vitra will never fear being stuck in the dark with no machines to create light. Until she is. Vitra''s dreams and reality are merging. She feels pushed into a corner, with no solution but the one her dreams have given her. In the end, Vitra may not have as much free will as she believes—and her dreams may be more real than she knows.

In this collection of fantasy, science fiction and horror stories, the witch, the vampiress, the femme fatale and the vengeful goddess spring to life.

Now available in a redesigned edition, Tanith Lee''s sci-fi classic of a woman''s quest for acceptance through the transfer of her consciousness to an artificial body. In the futuristic world of Indigo, reproduction is controlled by the government, guaranteeing that every baby is happy, healthy, and beautiful. But mistakes happen, and a rare few babies are accidentally born biologically, like Magdala Cled. Because of her natural-born features, Magdala is an outcast in society--abandoned at birth, abused in the orphanage she grew up in, and branded with the cruel name "Ugly." But Magdala''s world turns upside down when she''s approached by Claudio Loro, a wealthy scientist who has created a beautiful artificial body. When he offers to transfer Magdala''s consciousness into the body, she cannot refuse the priceless opportunity for a new, beautiful life. However, unbeknownst to her, Claudio has crafted her new body to resemble Christophine del Jan, his rival scientist and former lover. Now Magdala must impersonate Christophine to infiltrate high society, court Claudio''s advances, and decide whose side she is truly on--all while maintaining her real body lest it die...and she die with it.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. The fourth installment in Lee’s breathtaking series, Tales from the Flat Earth, Delirium’s Mistress returns to a shadowy and mythic world where demons battle for dominion, and the fate of mankind is shaped by the whims of capricious and volatile beings. Beneath the mortal realm of the Flat Earth, demons lurk. But Azhriaz—daughter of the mortal priestess Dunizel and the demon known as Night’s Master, Azhrarn—bridges these two worlds, a being of both light and darkness. Raised on an isolated isle in the demons’ realm of Underearth, guarded and hidden away from demon and mortal alike, Azhriaz was meant to sleep forever, never knowing the world outside her dreams. But other forces in the Underearth are moving to wake Azhriaz. Prince Chuz, the demon known as Delusion’s Master, has made an enemy of Azhrarn, after his betrayal cost Dunizel her life. Chuz seeks out Azhriaz’s island, drawn by her latent power and entranced by her beauty. To release Azhriaz from her eternal slumber, Chuz must create the grandest illusion he has ever rendered. If he succeeds, Azhriaz will be reborn as Delirium’s Mistress, a sorcerous of extraordinary power. Perhaps even more powerful than Azhrarn himself.... Delirium''s Mistress in the fourth book in the Flat Earth sereies.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. The final entry in Tanith Lee’s classic fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, Night’s Sorceries forms a breathtaking conclusion to a dark and intricate epic of demons, gods, and mortals. Azhriaz, daughter of Azhrarn, Demon Lord of the Night, has defied her father’s wishes. Taking on the mantle of Delirium’s Mistress, she escapes her island prison in the Underearth, where she would have spent her life in eternal slumber. With Prince Chuz, her lover and the sworn enemy of Azhrarn, she flees to the mortal realm of the Flat Earth to escape her father’s wrath. But Azhrarn will not be so easily deterred, and the lovers’ journey has not left the world untouched. In the wake of their flight, bizarre new enchantments emerge, exposing a world of chaos and mystery. The mortals of the Flat Earth are inextricably entwined in circumstances beyond their understanding, caught in the midst of grand conflicts of ambition and betrayal. Night’s Sorceries spins seven of these tales of wonder—of humans confronted with the supernatural. Trials of true love, tests of humility and fortitude, and startling transformations weave together in these lush stories of passion, revelation, and the human soul.

Originally published in 1983 by Doubleday.

Tanith Lee is one of the most thought-provoking and imaginative authors of our time. In this unforgettably poignant novel, Lee has created a classic tale—a beautiful, tragic, sensual, and ultimately triumphant love story of the future. Love is made of more than mere flesh and blood. . . . For sixteen-year-old Jane, life is a mystery she despairs of ever mastering. She and her friends are the idle, pampered children of the privileged class, living in luxury on an Earth remade by natural disaster. Until Jane''s life is changed forever by a chance encounter with a robot minstrel with auburn hair and silver skin, whose songs ignite in her a desperate and inexplicable passion. Jane is certain that Silver is more than just a machine built to please. And she will give up everything to prove it. So she escapes into the city''s violent, decaying slums to embrace a love bordering on madness. Or is it something more? Has Jane glimpsed in Silver something no one else has dared to see—not even the robot or his creators? A love so perfect it must be destroyed, for no human could ever compete?

The Lionwolf scrolls conclude in this epic fantasy adventure set in a snowbound world where redemption and revenge collide The powerful mage Thryfe gropes through the steel-white snows that have covered the huddles of ruins, abandoned villages, and casualties of the White Death. He is searching for the stunning witch Jemhara, but his magic mirror can only see her past, not her present, and the sorcerer fears that a mad force abroad on the ice-locked earth is keeping them apart. At last, he finds Jemhara in the rebuilt town of Kandexa. Their impassioned and bizarre love rekindles, resulting in the birth of a boy with red hair, blue eyes, and golden skin: He is Lionwolf reborn from the land of the dead. But the vicious dark lord Zzth has been burning under the sea, waiting for the moment of his inevitable return, planning for mutilation, destruction, and frigid ruin.

A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. The White Serpent returns to the world of Vis nearly a century after the reign of Raldnor, the legendary Storm Lord who brought peace to Dorthar. Despite his efforts, the people are once again divided by conflict, and the goddess Anackire must choose new champions if the realm is to have any hope of preservation.... As a child, Rehger was sold into slavery, torn from his home and family. As a young man, he has proved his martial prowess as a lauded gladiator, fighting in the grand city of Saardsimney. But in the midst of his rise to fame, he meets Aztira, an intriguing woman who wields devastating power. With her magic and knowledge, she could be the person who transforms his life of subservience and leads him to his destiny. But before he can fully uncover the truth of their connection, a powerful earthquake strikes, devastating the city and forcing Rehger to flee. Haunted by visions of Aztira long after their first encounter, Rehger embarks on a quest to seek out her people, the legendary Amanackire, in a city shrouded in mystery and myth....

»My dear cousin and lover, I sport here three in a bed, with two wolves – who have recently devoured the flesh of a young girl...« To a distant corner of France comes Christian Dorse to claim his inheritance where, his beauty enhanced by his consumptive pallor, Christian prepares himself to surrender to premature death. But Christian is close to the forest where the de Lagenays live, a mother and son that both servants and village people mysteriously avoid mentioning. Are they, as he comes to suspect, the children of the wolf? And are they the ones who, when darkness falls, throw out exquisite seductions which he cannot resist? Award-winning author Tanith Lee''s spellbinding novel mixes eroticism and fear in a fantasy laced with surprise, enchantment and the evil of spoilt beauty...

"Among its nineteen tales, this volume explores unnerving variations of Beauty and the Beast, The Frog Prince, Snow White, and other classics, including three never-before-published stories."--Page 4 of cover.

Once upon a time there was a mirror. . . . So begins this dark, unusual retelling of the story of Snow White by the writer reviewers have called "the Angela Carter of the fantasy field"—a whole novel based on a beloved story, turning it into a dark and sensual drama full of myth and magic. Arpazia is the aging queen who paces the halls of a warlord''s palace. Cold as winter, she has only one passion—for the mysterious hunter who courts the outlawed old gods of the woodland. Coira is the princess raised in the shadow of her mother''s hatred. Avoided by both her parents and half forgotten by her father''s court, she grows into womanhood alone . . . until the mirror speaks, and blood is spilled, and the forest claims her. The tragic myth of the goddess Demeter and her daughter, Persephone, stolen by the king of the underworld, is woven together with the tale of Snow White to create a powerful story of mothers and daughters and the blood that binds them together, for good or ill. Black queen. White maid. Royal huntsman. Seven little folk who live in the forest. Come inside, sit by the fire, and listen to this fairy tale as you''ve never heard it told before. Once upon a time there was a mirror, and a girl as white as snow. . . . At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

But one of their own is igniting a blaze of chaos through the streets of London.

“A fast start to what promises to be an exciting, innovative fantasy series” from the World Fantasy Award–winning author of Night’s Master (Publishers Weekly). In the hedonistic atmosphere of an eighteenth-century Venice Carnival, gaiety turns deadly when Furian Furiano happens upon a mask of Apollo floating in the murky waters of the canals. The mask hides a sinister art, and Furian finds himself trapped in a bizarre tangle of love, obsession, and evil, stumbling into a macabre society of murderers. The beautiful but elusive Eurydiche holds the key to these murders and leads him further into a labyrinth of black magic and ancient alchemy. Why do secrets from Furian’s past seem tied to the mysterious Eurydiche? In Tanith Lee’s brilliantly imagined world of violence and terror, Furian must find a way to survive and stem the obsession driving him toward his hidden destiny.

Turek was raised as an orphan nomad, until one grim night when he learns of his heritage. He discovers he is the son of the last woman of a superior race long thought dead – a woman who once dishonored his warrior king father. Intent on revenge, Turek takes his father’s name, Vazkor, and embarks on a journey to find his mother – and murder her. Rediscover this realm of brilliant cruel beauty and seductive immortal ruins, of savage war and grand conquest, of falling stars and silver gods—with this 40th anniversary edition of legendary fantastist Tanith Lee''s Birthgrave Trilogy.

An epic fantasy adventure of wild creatures, enchanted landscapes, and noble destinies In a land of unending winter, the High Magus Thryfe travels with haste to the city of Ruk Kar to warn Vuldir, King Accessorate, of a growing force of envy and darkness. One of Vuldir’s daughters, the seventeen-year-old Saphay, is to wed the Jafn chieftain Athluan, but Thryfe foresees that the marriage will lead to the destruction of all the Ruk kings, their lineage, and their people. Disregarding the magician’s ominous words, Saphay sets off toward the East and her betrothed—only to meet disaster. Athluan, Saphay’s husband-to-be, hears rumors of a blond maiden in royal clothes entombed in a towering pyramid of ice. It is Saphay, and she is alive. The royal wedding ensues and soon—perhaps too soon—Saphay becomes pregnant. As time goes on, the son she births will show signs of a divine and heroic destiny.

The progeny of both god and mortal endures ceaseless war in a frozen hell in the second volume of the Lionwolf scrolls Lionwolf awakes on an unfamiliar shore under a cold blue sun, with no memories save the sensation of being in the deadly womb of the sea. Others join him, and they too cannot remember who they are or where they have been. Though Lionwolf can’t remember his name—and, in fact, calls himself Nameless—he feels like he was once a king. The twenty-three men on the shore are his army, and soon they are called to duty. Eyeless blue hounds and snake-haired figures riding eight-legged horses lead the men toward a towering city where a bestial mouth trumpets a horrible battle cry. It is Shabatu, a Place of War. There, Lionwolf sets eyes on the king’s lover, Chillel—the woman who was once Lionwolf’s wife. Are Lionwolf and his men dead? And is Shabatu perhaps their hell?

A mysterious woman awakens in the heart of a dormant volcano. Shepherded into rebirth by a terrifying entity named Karrakaz, she has no memory of herself, but is offered a choice: remain in eternal darkness, or begin a cursed life above. Emerging into a culturally devastated and brutal world, she embarks on a journey of discovery, despite the ruthless fate foretold by Karrakaz and the dark heritage she may be forced to accept. Inexplicably compelled to seek out a strange objects she knows only as Jade, she could be anyone--mortal woman, demoness lover, fierce sorceress, last living heir to a long gone race, or a goddess of destruction. She chooses to be all.

Rachaela''s daughter is named Anna, to honour the dead. On her breast is a small blue mark. In two years, she grows to the maturity of a 16-year-old woman and is abducted by Cain, the outcaste of Scarabe. Meanwhile, he is stealing other children and taking them to a place at the end of the world.

Rachaela worked in a bookstore, a conventional young woman, living a conventional life. Then they beckoned, using a variety of ruses to lure her to the house by the sea. Now she is a prisoner, part of a family of creatures she cannot escape, lover to a demon who thirsts for her blood.

For the first time in e-book, an omnibus of novels about two different but equally unlikely heroes, juxtaposing a somber tone with the absurdist comedy. IN DARKNESS SHE WAKES--a beautiful young woman, forever imprisoned in the Castle of Dark. Guarded and bespelled by two old hags, can she master the secret magic to summon the champion who will set her free? INTO DARKNESS HE RIDES--a handsome prince in an unknown realm. Who has conjured him here, and for what desperate deeds? Hailed as the Looked-for-Deliverer, with a changeling horse for companion, only he can challenge all magic''s perils--from the Dragon of Brass to the Mad Witch of the kingdom-destroying horror, the evil, enigmatic Nulgrave!

Four-BEE was an Utopian city. If you didn''t mind being taken care of all your long long life, having a wild time as a “jang" teenager, able to do anything you wanted from killing yourself innumerable times, changing bodies, changing sex, and raising perpetual hell, it could be heaven. But for one inhabitant there was always something askew. He/she had tried everything and yet the taste always soured. And then he/she succeeded in committing the one illegal act—and was thrown out of heaven forever. But forever is not a term any native of that robotic utopia understood. And so he/she challenged the rules, declared independence, and set out to prove that a human was still smarter than the cleverest and most protective robot... You don’t need to have read Tanith Lee''s DON’T BITE THE SUN, which set the original scene, to find DRINKING SAPPHIRE WINE of the same high merit that distinguished this author’s THE BIRTHGRAVE.

With her talent for mending things, sixteen-year-old Tanaquil reconstructs a unicorn which, brought to life, lures her away from her desert fortress home and her sorceress mother to find a city by the sea and the way to a perfect world.