Dean Wesley Smith

Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer, Dean Wesley Smith published over two hundred novels and over seven hundred books, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories. He has over thirty million copies of his books in print.

At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the cold case mystery series, Cold Poker Gang series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Kristine Kathryn Rusch sold more than 35 million books worldwide. She publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance.

Her novels made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction appeared in more than twenty best-of-the-year collections. She won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov's Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.

Fantasies: A Colliding StoryBundle Special Edition by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith

Every January, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith participate in Kickstarter's Make 100 program. They publish 5 books on a loose theme that contain 20 stories each—10 from Dean and 10 from Kris. They've made the books themselves into a series, called The Collides Series.

Now, for the first time, Storybundle gets a bundle of Collides. Volume 4 of Fantasies Collide and Volume 4 of Series Collide. Exclusive to Storybundle, these volumes contain 40 marvelous fantasy stories.

Fantasies Collide—the Otherworldly Edition:

Rusch and Smith create new fantasy worlds like no one else. Find twenty stunning otherworldly stories in this volume.

For more than four decades, New York Times and USA Today bestselling writers Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith wrote professional fantasy short stories that won awards and sold millions of copies.

If you love otherworldly fantasies, make sure you read this volume right from the start. Twenty fantastic stories that will transport you to other places.

Series Collide—the Fantasy Edition

Magic awaits…

Escape into fantasy worlds beyond imagination and yet as comfortable as home.

Twenty stories explode with the fantastic: Magical creatures, theatrical witches and sexy ghosts (that help people, too). Kids and puppies, dead romantic couples, and superheroes saving the world!

From happily ever afters to a touch on the darker side, Series Collide: Volume 4 packs a wallop of a fantasy story punch.

Escape into these pages. There's some magic just waiting for you…

Featured stories include Kristine Kathryn Rusch's "Dragon's Tooth," and "Puckish Behavior," and Dean Wesley Smith's "Luck Be a Lady," and "Blind Date."

CURATOR'S NOTE

Every January, Dean Wesley Smith and I participate in Kickstarter's Make 100 promotion. That promotion asks creators to kickstart a project that contains 100 of something. We, of course, pick stories. Each year, we put out five volumes of short stories—fifty by Dean and fifty by me—all based on a theme. We call this the Collides Series, because we collide our work together to create something new. Well, this StoryBundle gave us the chance to try something new—a Collides Mini, if you will. Two volumes from two different Collides years, both of them fantasy. We had fun putting it together. We hope you have fun reading it. – Kristine Kathryn Rusch

 

REVIEWS

  • "Rusch's greatest strength…is her ability to close down a story and leave the reader feeling that the author could not possibly have wrung any more satisfaction out of the piece."

    – The Kansas City Star
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

a Otherworldly Fantasy

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Dean actually fretted when I listed one volume as "otherworldly fantasy." I toyed with made-up world fantasy, but really, all fiction is made-up and all worlds in all fiction are made-up, so what was I describing, really?

I was trying to get to a modern term for fantasy not set in our world. Fantasy set somewhere else, a world you can only get to through literature.

And honestly, if we're talking Dean's fiction (which we are), he rarely goes full otherworldly. He goes partial otherworldly. In other words, the story might seem like it's set in our world, but once you look at the details, it's not.

Or the characters travel from our worlds to other worlds. Or from other worlds to ours.

I have just one story like that in this volume, and it bridges the distance between the made-up worlds I put in the first nine stories, and Dean's ten. "The Last Christmas Letter" is half in our world and half in another, like all but a handful of Dean's stories.

The hints of the made-up worlds he gives us are intriguing. He gives us just enough to show what it would be like to explore those worlds in depth.

And really, what more could a fantasy reader ask for?

Except maybe a crime-solving dragon.

Which I was happy to provide.

—Kristine Kathryn Rusch