This anthology is composed of various writers from different parts of India where they have shown keen interest and participation. STYGIAN AMULET is book based on the theme to appreciate darkness, solitude, ends of a thing/story/person. The word Stygian means darkness while the word Amulet means a lucky charm, it is to convey that not every time the darkness brings bad omen and we ought to appreciate the darkness as much as the light… autumn as much as the spring. The inspiration for this anthology’s name and theme is taken from a Chinese historical novel “Mo Dao Zu Shi” where one of the main characters uses a magical tool created out of darkest souls to do the right thing, the tool called the “Stygian Tiger Amulet”. We hope to make others see the beauty of darkness through this

The 2010s have seen an explosion in popularity of Chinese television featuring same-sex intimacies, LGBTQ-identified celebrities, and explicitly homoerotic storylines even as state regulations on “vulgar” and “immoral” content grow more prominent. This emerging “queer TV China” culture has generated diverse, cyber, and transcultural queer fan communities. Yet these seemingly progressive televisual productions and practices are caught between multilayered sociocultural and political-economic forces and interests. Taking “queer” as a verb, an adjective, and a noun, this volume counters the Western-centric conception of homosexuality as the only way to understand nonnormative identities and same-sex desire in the Chinese and Sinophone worlds. It proposes an analytical framework of “queer/ing TV China” to explore the power of various TV genres and narratives, censorial practices, and fandoms in queer desire-voicing and subject formation within a largely heteropatriarchal society. Through examining nine cases contesting the ideals of gender, sexuality, Chineseness, and TV production and consumption, the book also reveals the generative, negotiative ways in which queerness works productively within and against mainstream, seemingly heterosexual-oriented, televisual industries and fan spaces. “This cornucopia of fresh and original essays opens our eyes to the burgeoning queer television culture thriving beneath official media crackdowns in China. As diverse as the phenomenon it analyses, Queer TV China is the spark that will ignite a prairie fire of future scholarship.” —Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies, King’s College London “This timely volume explores the various possibilities and nuances of queerness in Chinese TV and fannish culture. Challenging the dichotomy of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ representations of gender and sexual minorities, Queer TV China argues for a multilayered and queer-informed understanding of the production, consumption, censorship, and recreation of Chinese television today.” —Geng Song, Associate Professor and Director of Translation Program, University of Hong Kong

Taking a broad interpretation of “supernatural” to include anything beyond nature, Global Perspectives on the Liminality of the Supernatural examines the liminality of often-overlooked types of supernatural beings in light of the themes of death and gender. It gives the reader a tour of the continents and takes them out into space, looking at popular culture and mythologies to propose answers to fundamental anthropological questions about humanity, the concept of “dead,” and how we relate to our own genders when using the supernatural to understand them.

Hundreds of years ago, despite prophetic warnings, the Stygians welcomed the disease-riddled Jonnick to their shores, offering the new beginning they sought. But amid the refugees was one cursed, who harbored the dark powers of the Magestone resulting in sickness and death and creating strife and division between the two cultures. Years later, those hoping to end the conflict turn to Stygian ancient oracles that foretell the uniting of the land. Jonnick Queen Riona, filled with paranoia, issues royal decrees designed to thwart the coming of the Stygian Arich and his Augur. In the present day, social outcast Manelin and a lame Jonnick girl, Jalil, are thrust into the middle of unfolding ancient prophecies, and a world on the verge of annihilation. An epic fantasy adventure, Donna Sundblad's WINDWALKER is a journey full of discovery set in a richly woven fantasy world.

A collection of three fantasy novels by Donna Sundblad, now available in one volume! Beyond The Fifth Gate: After being abducted by an insectoid race as a child, Elita survives an existence of forced labor and constant fear of a violent death within the hive complex. Elita and her fellow captives hold on to prophecies learned in childhood, but when Elita is selected as the Chosen, does she have what it takes to accomplish her mission in time? The Inheritance: When Jejune begins to question how conflicting theories can all be true, he's branded a troublemaker. Miserable and longing for more, he leaves his home in Lofty Thought and seeks out Wisdom. Things get complicated when he meets Worldly Wisdom and her sister, Heavenly. Jejune learns that he has the Condition, and no one with it can be granted citizenship to the Eternal City. His friends Understanding, Prudence and Humility help him see the answer, but can he follow the Narrow Way and find Truth? Windwalker: After the Stygians welcomed the disease-riddled Jonnick to their shores, they offered them the new beginning they sought. But among them was a cursed one who harbored the dark powers of the Magestone, resulting in sickness and death. Years later, social outcast Manelin and a lame Jonnick girl, Jalil, are thrust into the middle of an unfolding ancient prophecy, and a world on the verge of annihilation.

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Nathaniel is a magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hot-shot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of his elders, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge on his mind, he summons the powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal Lovelace's greatest treasure, the Amulet of Samarkand, he finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion.

Ann K. "Ankh" Schwader is a well-known science fiction, fantasy, and horror poet, but she is also a prose writer. Here at last is a collection of her dark fiction, including all her Cthulhu Mythos tales to date. Included are "Home Visitor" and "Twenty Mile," both of which have received honorable mentions in the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, as well as "Mail Order Bride" and "Lost Stars," possibly her best work to date. With a preface by the author, a foreword by Robert M. Price, and cover and interior artwork by Steve Lines. Edited by Kevin L. O'Brien.