Tired of the political machinations of his egotistical fellow wizards, Benelaius retires from the College of War Wizards to take up residency in Cormyr, where he lives peacefully until he and his legman, Jasper, are forced to investigate the murder of a messenger from King Azoun.

From the FORGOTTEN REALMS series, a fantasy novel in which a petty criminal who tries to pass himself off as a wizard discovers that he has attracted the attentions of an assassin.

The epic historical saga of the most powerful nation in the Forgotten Realms— as told by the world's co-creators Aided and abetted by a powerful family of wizards, the Obarskyr family has ruled Cormyr since its inception one and a half millennia ago. Now, Cormyr's benevolent king, Azoun IV, lies overcome by a deadly malady from which he may not recover. When the vultures begin to circle, hoping to usurp the throne for their own, many question the loyalty of the king’s wizard and advisor, Vangerdahast. It is against this crisis of state that the history of the Forest Kingdom unfolds, relaying the previously untold story of a nation, its rulers, and its wizards.

The creator of the Forgotten Realms leads readers through a rollicking fantasy adventure and murder mystery set in the city of Waterdeep Revealed in death to have been Masked Lords, three more citizens had been murdered over the preceding day and night: the Sembian wine-seller and collector Oszbur Malankar; the half-elf sorceress and artisan Dathanscza Meiril; and the moneylender, landlord, and investor Ammasker Gwelt. All of Waterdeep now knew someone was killing the Lords of Waterdeep, one by one. Yet that was about where truth ended and speculation—however plausible—began. The broadsheets were full of wild conjecture. Who's behind this? The ousted Lord Neverember? The Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dragon or some other Outland Power? The Xanathar? Some cabal of guilds or nobles planning a coup? The rumors would rage on, whether the Open Lord Laeral Silverhand did something or not. That was the trouble with rumors; once loosed, they roamed free like snarling, untamed beasts, with no simple way of stopping them. And all rumors aside, Waterdeep has become . . . a City of Murderers. Death Masks is loosely connected to the Elminster series and Sage of Shadowdale series.

Welcome to Dreamthorp A sleepy little Pennsylvania resort town where city folks can get away from it all… A town where a woman who saw her best friend mutilated by a crazed sex killer can hide – and forget… …until haunted relics of another age awaken an ancient evil and unleash a human horror that has no place outside of Hell…

When the Lord of Tarsis finds himself with a politically volatile murder on his hands, he turns to the three most expendable inhabitants of the city for a solution.

Return to the Forgotten Realms and reunite with Eliminster in this Dungeons & Dragons fantasy with echoes of an Agatha Christie mystery. A long-lost mythical spell is up for grabs—but who among the Realms’ archwizards will be able to claim it as their own? Rumors race around Cormyr regarding the mythical Lost Spell, a powerful enchantment designed centuries ago by the presumed dead god of spells. Found by some magic-less merchant, rumor has it the Lost Spell is to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. It is a powerful lure, and archwizards of every stripe descend upon the merchant, only to be trapped with him inside his manor by a vicious spellstorm. Escape becomes impossible, their magic rendered useless, when a storm rolls in. Moreover—they find themselves faced with the infamous Elminster of Shadowdale, who claims he’s just there to decide who gets the Lost Spell, but who clearly has an agenda of his own. But before Elminster can put whatever plan he has in motion, archwizards start dying. Spellstorm is loosely connected to the Elminster series and Sage of Shadowdale series.

Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Best Anthology "One of the best anthologies of horror and suspense of all time."—Rocky Mountain News From award-winning author and “master anthologist”* Al Sarrantonio, 999: Twenty-Nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense is a specially curated collection of evocative fiction that probes the depth of human fears and frailties. From otherworldly entities stalking prey to psychological terrors borne of trauma, these stories exemplify the limitless possibilities inherent in the genre, revealing that darkness can be found anywhere the imagination dares to look for it. Young siblings uncover a disturbing history of their scandalized family—and encounter a creature of twisted malevolence—when they find themselves in “The Ruins of Contracocur” by Joyce Carol Oates. A man regrets his impulse purchase of a yard sale painting when the image continually shapeshifts into more and more violent depictions of its subject in pursuit of its new owner in Stephen King’s “The Road Virus Heads North.” In Neil Gaiman’s “Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story”, an ancient people’s legend haunts a wealthy and powerful man who pays the ultimate price to possess a happiness never meant to endure. Thomas Ligotti unleashes “The Shadow, The Darkness” on an unsuspecting commune of struggling artists who come to accept a damning realization of their misperceived identities and their true existence in the cosmos. And twenty-five more excursions over the course of 666 pages into horror’s unrelenting shadows by: William Peter Blatty * Edward Bryant * P. D. Cacek * Ramsey Campbell * Nancy A. Collins * Thomas M. Disch * Ed Gorman * Rick Hautala * T. E. D. Klein * Joe R. Lansdale * Edward Lee * Bentley Little * Eric Van Lustbader * Dennis L. McKiernan * Thomas F. Monteleone * David Morrell * Kim Newman * Tim Powers * Al Sarrantonio * Peter Schneider * Michael Marshall Smith * Steven Spruill * Chet Williamson * F. Paul Wilson * Gene Wolfe *Booklist

Presents articles on the horror and fantasy genres of fiction, including authors, themes, significant works, and awards.

Danger and high-seas adventure await Liriel Baenre on the surface in this second installment of the Starlight & Shadows trilogy Exiled from her home for acquiring the Windwalker amulet, the beautiful dark elf Liriel Baenre wanders to the surface world, accompanied by her companion Fyodor. But even far from the dark haunts of Menzoberranzan, she is not safe from the vengeance of her arch-enemy, fellow drow elf Shakti Hunzrin. As she and her friend sail the dangerous seas of the Sword Coast, the drow priestess plots a terrible fate for them. Meanwhile, in the dark depths of the earth, the spider queen Lolth weaves her own webs of terror and treachery . . .