J J Parker: 189 books

The epic concluding volume in The Two of Swords trilogy by World Fantasy Award-winning author K. J. Parker. "Why are we fighting this war? Because evil must be resisted, and sooner or later there comes a time when men of principle have to make a stand. Because war is good for business...

World Fantasy Award-winning fantasy author K. J. Parker delivers his most ambitious work yet - the story of a war on a grand scale, told through the eyes of soldiers, politicians, victims and heroes. A soldier with a gift for archery. A woman who kills without care. Two brothers, both unbeatable...

Sixteen more short stories of literary adventure fantasy from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, the five-time Hugo Award and seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist online magazine that Locus online calls “a premiere venue for fantastic fiction, not just online but for all media.” Authors include...

Eighteen more short stories of literary adventure fantasy from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, the four-time Hugo Award and six-time World Fantasy Award finalist online magazine that Locus online calls “a premiere venue for fantastic fiction, not just online but for all media.” Authors include...

Inspirational short story, 4000 words. It's Christmas Eve, and Grace still hasn't seen a present under the Christmas tree from her husband. When Todd announces there is no present coming, she feels snubbed, not realizing that he's got a different surprise planned. But is his gift what she really wants? Or even what she needs?

On a visit to a remote mountain region with his children, Akitada hopes to find some peace after the break-up of his marriage. Instead they become involved almost immediately in the random violence that plagues the peasants of the valley. Farmers are murdered, rice stores are burned, and young girls...

In this Shamus-Award-winning short story, the young Akitada becomes a detective when a father asks him to find his daughter. To Akitada’s dismay, the young woman has been murdered and the suspect is a convenient peddler. But this seems all wrong, and Akitada persists in his search for the real killer though it involves great risks to himself. 

In the streets of twelfth-century Kyoto, a homeless boy is brutalized and left to die.  A selfless physician saves him but cannot soften his hardened spirit.  Angry at the world and seeking vengeance against those who killed his parents, Hachiro rejects kindness and resolves to become a swordsman to...

Eleven stories about crime and detection in eleventh century Japan are arranged chronologically for  Sugawara Akitada's career. They include diverse cases with clues from moon cakes and Chinese lutes to feral cats and incense competitions and feature traditional holidays of the period. An...

A.D. 1030.  Senior Secretary Sugawara Akitada is recovering from a knife wound and still reeling from the loss of his wife. When the Council of State orders an investigation of the claims of two warring temples, he is sent to Otsu to clear up the matter. As it happens, Akitada’s best friend Kosehira...

Intended to become the emperor’s concubine, she died at the bottom of a cliff near Prince Atsuhira’s private villa.  The palace covered up the scandal.  Months later, Akitada is drawn into the case when his best friend is accused of treason.  Atsuhira, his alleged co-conspirator, refuses to defend...

Murder doesn’t take holidays, and neither does Akitada.  In this small collection of three short stories, Akitada solves crimes on New Year’s Day, during the O-bon festival of the dead, and on the occasion of the Tanabata festival celebrating the meeting of celestial lovers.  As a bonus, a chapter...

On a journey to Naniwa to unmask officials who are selling information to pirates, Akitada witnesses the recovery of a body from the river.  The image of the drowned child prostitute follows him as his own problems and disasters multiply.  Someone is sabotaging his investigation. His young clerk disappears,...

After a posting to the northern provinces, Akitada hurries to the deathbed of his mother in the capital. On the road, he spends the night in a monastery where he sees a painted hell screen.  The realistic depictions of tortured men, women, and children haunt his dreams until he wakes to a scream. ...