Iraqi Heat — Gregory Benford

TIM WAGGONER * JEAN RABE * RUSSELL DAVIS
ISAAC SZPINDEL * RICK HAUTALA
JULIE E. CZERNEDA * JANE LINDSKOLD
BROOKS PECK * MICKEY ZUCKER REICHERT
JODY LYNN NYE * GREGORY BENFORD
TANYA HUFF * MICHELLE WEST * FIONA PATTON

The struggle between good and evil is one of the most common themes in fiction. Certainly it forms the cornerstone of most fantasy novels. Yet, despite the darkest events recounted in novels, the most cunning of plot twists, the most intriguing and seductive of villains, we always know that in the end good will triumph over evil.

But what if that wasn't the case? What if evil had already triumphed and good was hopelessly outclassed? This was the challenge that fourteen of fantasy's most imaginative tale-tellers accepted when they agreed to write stories for In the Shadow of Evil.

From a master perfumer forced to serve the serpent god and bargain for a life with a death...to a king of trolls seeking justice for the wrongs done him by barbarian conquerors...to a cook forced to cater to the warlord who had slaughtered her people...to a young man raised in a world under the sway of Shadow, here are fascinating excursions into the dark side of fantasy, where every victory has its price....