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Cassie Hayes is the idol of the universe. For a thousand years, she's been triumphant in the Reality Wars, a deadly series of real and virtual games played every 100 years and broadcast throughout the galaxies. But Cassie, a sentient software program, is tormented by the death of her virtual mother after her human father abandoned them 2000 years earlier. Now he's back...just in time to abandon her again as he goes off to save the universe with the help of a computer virus that thinks it's Buddha.But to really rain on her day, the genetically supercharged warrior Clans unleash the perfect weapon, the beautiful and deadly Loac, to destroy Cassie and billions of other virtual humans. The Reality Wars pit woman against woman as they fight to the death in virtual and real worlds against the backdrop of an inter-galactic war that will change the very nature of the universe.

The word pandemic tends to cause fear, based mainly on experience with COVID - a highly transmissive but relatively mild disease compared to others such as Ebola and Black Plague. Although further natural pandemics will certainly emerge in the future, the impacts of tailored diseases produced by genetic engineering could be very much worse and, if that is their aim, these have the potential to depopulate much of the planet and could cause the collapse of civilisation as we know it. In the middle of this century, the impacts of uncontrolled climate change have turned the few countries with the resources to weather them into virtual fortresses, with barricaded frontiers guarded to avoid being swamped by those escaping from less fortunate lands. Switzerland, in particular, has become a refuge for the mega-rich, many of whom can be accused of contributing to the global warming catastrophe. It is thus under constant attack by terrorists who are offended by this blatant injustice.A perfect storm emerges when, under such conditions, a plot to create a population-control pandemic emerges. When this plot is serendipitously uncovered by a small Swiss counter-terrorist unit, they must find a way to combat it alone, neutralising threats in Europe and Asia, while keeping their actions secret to avoiding the inevitable global panic that would result if such a threat became known.Presented from the perspective of the unit leader, the challenges of following a trail of evidence around the world and avoiding the deadly traps set for them are complicated by developing emotional relationships with his team members. Although social acceptance of such physical relationships is not a problem in the mid-21st century, controlling them to avoid risks to the operation is tricky, especially when it transpires that the vector that provides immunity to the pandemic is an engineered sexually-transmitted virus.

Amid the sweltering summer heat of nineteen eighties South Korea, a trio of bar girls are found brutally murdered mere miles from the main gate of Sunyon Air Force Base, their mutilated bodies discovered near a red-light district known as the 'The Ville', infamous for the inebriate behavior of the American soldiers who frequent its many watering holes and back-alley pleasure palaces. Meanwhile, plying her ultra-specialized trade halfway around the world is Lei Park, a Korean-born, self-trained 'killer of serial killers' who possesses the power to 'read evil' within the very eyes of those she stalks and subsequently eliminates.Captured by a secretive agency that had monitored her self-proclaimed 'eradication of evil' spree through several U.S States, Lei is transported to her home country and placed undercover as an exotic dancer at one of The Ville's most popular clubs in hopes that she might ID the culprit, media-dubbed The Ville Ripper.As political pressure builds from two governments desperate for closure, Lei finds herself lost in a nightmarish realm of inhuman misery; a sinful netherworld that thrives on lust, hopelessness and despair, all the while unable to effectively track a maniacal killer who just might be much closer than she'd ever expect...

A man with no memory has only one clue to his identity: a four-sided insignia engraved on his sword and ring. He has barely begun his quest to learn who he is when he's confronted by a knight named Sir Borus Renovar, who demands his name and asks if he's signed something called a "fastle pledge," the work of someone known as the "Ordseer." The man invents the name "Stone Falconer" and denies signing any pledge. That's the wrong answer, and Stone and Sir Borus duel to a draw. Sir Borus leaves, threatening to return with more men.Now a fugitive, Stone meets a woman named Brook and soon learns that she, too, has no memory. Even more astonishing, she possesses a dagger and ring with the identical four-sided insignia. They ally themselves and soon meet Bennald, a man who can communicate with animals. Like Stone and Brook, Bennald has no memory, and he has a shepherd's staff and a ring that bear the familiar four-sided emblem. Stone and Brook head for civilization, but Bennald stays behind to live in the forest. In Drumkin, a young man named Kaemon Krowe recognizes Brook's ring. Kaemon, who escaped with two companions from nearby Redmond Province, says the Ordseer is using fastle pledges to turn Redmonders into thralls. He also tells them the meaning of the four-sided insignia. Stone and Brook admit that they have no memories and don't know why their rings and weapons bear the insignia. As Sir Borus and his Black Cloaks search for Stone, an army of thralls is on the march. Unbeknown to Stone and Brook, Bennald is in danger. When Kaemon and his companions leave Drumkin for a secret encampment of free Redmonders, Stone and Brook are left to deal with the threats.An epic battle raises troubling questions about the Ordseer's plans, and the appearance of a mysterious woman named Aliya complicates Stone's already perilous life. Soon, cities are descending into chaos as people take sides over fastle pledges and fight one another in the streets. Amid the turmoil of war and civil unrest, Stone discovers an ability that just might let him learn his true identity. Miles away, Kaemon encounters Thig Grennell, the king's wistlord, and they decide to find Stone, Brook, and Bennald. But the Ordseer is searching for them as well, and soon the three fugitives are in a place from which they might never escape. Meanwhile, Aliya is pursuing her own agenda, and a new villain, a dark enigma named Hake, shows up to complicate matters. To save themselves and defeat the Ordseer, Stone and his companions must learn to use powers they don't yet know they possess.

In Skunnik, the provincial capital of the Acrinite Province, Captain Jarn Theffig of the Vothan Riders is ordered to find a young woman who has been abducted. Suspects are many, but clues are few, so Jarn coerces the sorceress Astil to help him find the victim. Astil is the finest tracker in the known world, but she's also a master criminal who has often been at odds with the Vothan Riders. Astil is only one of the problems plaguing the case. The Acrinite Province, where Jarn and his Riders try to keep the peace, was enemy territory only a year before, when the Voths reclaimed land that was rightfully theirs. Ever since the takeover, rebels have been murdering Acrinite collaborators and plotting against the hated Voths. Jarn must also depend on the remnants of the Acrinite Guard, soldiers known as Yellowshirts, who for a thousand years were the sworn adversaries of the Vothan Riders. Adding more political intrigue, a treaty with a neighboring realm depends on the outcome of Jarn's investigation.

A taste of honey, a taste of blood, of strong liquors and far-away places, of people with skills and those who try to make others believe they do...Michael Fletcher has the skill to bring you stories from different worlds, different places, heroes with different reasons to be at loose in the night or sometimes even during the day.There are 43 stories in this anthology. The editor at Double Dragon has just one word for the reader - Enjoy.