The Very Best of Tad Williams [Paperback]

“This marvelous short fiction retrospective testifies to the breadth of Williams’s creativity.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Within these pages you will find such delightful and curious things as a strange storytelling vampire, two woefully-overmatched angels, a dragon in cahoots with a knight and a witch, an ineptly duplicitous fish, the loyal robot butler of Werner Von Secondstage Booster, and the Greatest Wizard of All (disputed).

From his epic fantasy series, including Memory Sorrow and Thorn—which George R. R. Martin cited as an inspiration forGame of Thrones—to the classic novelTailchaser’s Song, Tad Williams has mastered every genre he has set his pen to. Here are the stories that showcase the exhilarating breadth of Williams’ imagination, hearkening back to such classic fantasists as J. R. R. Tolkien, Ray Bradbury, Peter S. Beagle, and beyond. Whether you are a devoted reader of his longer works, already a devotee of his short fiction, or even new to his writing entirely,The Very Best of Tad Williamsis the perfect place to discover one of the most talented and versatile authors writing at any length today.

Excerpt from The Old Scale Game

“Flee or be broiled to crackling! Those are your only choices!” The monster rustled in the depths of the cave. Its voice was loud because it was large, and dry because centuries of breathing deadly fire had roughened its throat.

“Neither, if you please.” The man in armor waited as patiently as he could, hoping he was far enough back from the entrance that he would not actually broil if the tenor of conversation failed to improve. “I wish to discuss a proposition.”

“A what?” The outrage was unfeigned. “I had heard that there were knights abroad in this miserable modern age who practiced such perversities, but I never dreamed I should everl‡