One corpse. Several bizarre looking attackers. Some very strange magical powers. And a severe bout of amnesia. Madrona is not having a great week. It’s going to be okay though. All she has to do is find out who she really is, protect a soap star from being attacked by a stalker and work out why so many people seem so afraid of her. Because surely she’s a good person.
Right?
*This is book one of a new urban fantasy trilogy and does contain an edge of your seat cliffhanger * Views: 1 005
As any reader of Jo Walton's Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic re-reader of books. In 2008, then-new science-fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her re-reading—about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor.com. Now this volumes presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field's most ambitious series.
Among Walton's many subjects here are the Zones of Thought novels of Vernor Vinge; the question of what genre readers mean by "mainstream"; the underappreciated SF adventures of C. J. Cherryh; the field's many approaches to time travel; the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children; the early Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have most certainly never read.
Over 130 essays in all, What Makes This Book So Great is an immensely readable, engaging collection of provocative, opinionated thoughts about past and present-day fantasy and science fiction, from one of our best writers. Views: 1 005
One impending apocalypse. Several crazy faeries. A few troubling plagues of locusts and storms of fire ... It's just another day in Manchester for the Madhatter.
Madrona might still have amnesia and might yet prove to be a vicious murderess but that doesn't mean she's going to quit being a heroine just yet. However, while she might be prepared to go to any lengths to stop Rubus from triggering Armageddon, it's equally possible that the world will end as a result of her actions too. Manchester is experiencing terrifying surges in magic which are causing all sorts of chaotic events to occur. With a dragon, several werewolves and a host of faeries by her side, there is still a thread of hope.
And green eyed, sexy arsed Morgan. There's always him.
This is the third and final book in The Fractured Faery urban fantasy series. Views: 1 005
In this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe, Lee Scoresby -- Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua -- is 24 years old. The story reveals the origins of Scoresby's friendship with Iorek Byrnison as well as Scoresby's aeronautical career.
After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Scoresby finds himself floating north. On the Arctic island of Novy Odense, Scoresby and his dæmon Hester become involved in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and a hired killer who is Lee's longtime nemesis from the Dakota Country. Forming an alliance with one of the island's reviled armored bears, Scoresby fights to break up the conspiracy.
This clothbound volume features the illustrations of John Lawrence, a removable board game on the inside back cover, and the story that offers a glimpse into the origins of the friendship of two beloved characters in the His Dark Materials trilogy. Views: 1 005
The first four books in the werewolf erotic romance series In the Loup are available here in one single package. Follow Stephanie Yager as she struggles with her awakening and fights the strange urges which arise from her change.
**All titles are available separately and in discounted box sets.**
Shadow of the Wolf:
The moon is a harsh mistress for those with the curse. Only they understand the consequences when the full moon rises. Stephanie Yager slips into this world of struggle and seduction when she takes a wrong turn down destiny's path.
Wolf Rising:
The journey home has a minor detour as Stephanie experiences some slight side effects from her run in with the beast. Secrets are kept and strange, urgent needs arise as she tries to understand what's happening to her.
Heart's Strife:
Something's wrong with her, Stephanie can feel it. It's leading her emotions to go down a darker path as she returns home to her caring husband, and finds the veil before her eyes has started to change everything.
Wolf Blood:
The incessant craving is almost too much for her to bear. Stephanie struggles to contain the need inside of her even as she finds herself in the center of feuding males intent on gaining her attentions. Views: 1 002
In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.
Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.
To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.
Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.
She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.
Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master. Views: 1 002
Everyone knows dragons have been extinct for over a thousand years. Everyone is wrong. At least one dragon remains, and military scientists from the Cofah Empire are experimenting with its blood, using the magical substance to power deadly new weapons that could be used to bring the world to its knees.
That's a concern for Zirkander, Cas, and the rest of the Iskandians, but all Tolemek wants is to find his missing sister. The last time he saw her, their father had locked her in an asylum because of a mental illness with no cure. Now the military has taken her. What use the Cofah have for her, Tolemek can only guess, but he is certain she is in danger. He must save her before it's too late. But her fate is inexplicably tied to the dragon's, and he must find it to find her. Views: 1 000
Willa Knight: Dead? Alive? Damned to a state of eternal bad luck?
Willa and the Abcurse brothers are back, and more determined than ever to stick by each other. Unfortunately, Staviti has other plans, plans that threaten to change the natural order of the worlds—though nobody really understands why. His agenda may very well affect all beings on Minatsol, even those that thought themselves safe in Topia. Even Willa-invincible-Knight.
Unsure with her new place in the worlds, Willa must follow the Abcurses to their new post: Champions Peak, a secluded mountain far from civilization, where the most powerful sols have been summoned to hone their abilities through direct contact with the gods.
There is a chance that she might survive her time on the mountain, but it seems like staying alive amidst the powerful occupants of the Peak is the least of her concerns.
Her real problem is staying on the mountain at all. Views: 1 000
Before he conquered books, comics, and movies, Robert E. Howard's immortal character Conan the Cimmerian was born in the pages of the pulp magazine Weird Tales. Reprinted as they originally appeared in that legendary publication from 1934 to 1936, this ferocious anthology gathers many of the barbarian's most famous adventures.
Featured tales include "Red Nails," the tale of a lost city and its corrupt inhabitants; "The Hour of the Dragon," recounting an attempt to depose Conan as king of Aquilonia; and "Beyond the Black River," in which Conan battles the Hyborian Picts. Two additional stories include "The Devil in Iron" and "The People of the Black Circle." Views: 1 000
It's 2015, and Patricia Cowan is very old. "Confused today," read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. She forgets things she should know—what year it is, major events in the lives of her children. But she remembers things that don’t seem possible. She remembers marrying Mark and having four children. And she remembers not marrying Mark and raising three children with Bee instead. She remembers the bomb that killed President Kennedy in 1963, and she remembers Kennedy in 1964, declining to run again after the nuclear exchange that took out Miami and Kiev.
Her childhood, her years at Oxford during the Second World War—those were solid things. But after that, did she marry Mark or not? Did her friends all call her Trish, or Pat? Had she been a housewife who escaped a terrible marriage after her children were grown, or a successful travel writer with homes in Britain and Italy? And the moon outside her window: does it host a benign research station, or a command post bristling with nuclear missiles?
Two lives, two worlds, two versions of modern history. Each with their loves and losses, their sorrows and triumphs. My Real Children is the tale of both of Patricia Cowan's lives...and of how every life means the entire world. Views: 1 000
Gogol's classic, uproarious folktale, presented in a beautiful hardcover edition perfect for giving as a gift.
Written in 1831, this dark tale relates the adventures of Vakula, the blacksmith, in his fight against the devil, who has stolen the moon above the village of Dikanka and is wreaking havoc on its inhabitants, all to win the love of the most beautiful girl in town. The basis for many film and opera adaptations, and still a story traditionally read aloud to children on Christmas Eve in Ukraine and Russia, The Night Before Christmas is the best holiday tale by the man whom Vladimir Nabokov called 'the greatest writer Russia has yet produced'.
Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was the son of a Ukrainian gentleman farmer. He attended a variety of boarding schools, where he proved an indifferent student but was admired for his theatrical abilities. In 1828 he moved to St. Petersburg and began to publish stories, and by the mid-1830s he had established himself in the literary world and been warmly praised by Pushkin. In 1836, his play The Inspector-General was attacked as immoral, and he left Russia, remaining abroad for most of the next dozen years. During that time he wrote two of his best-known stories, 'The Nose' and 'The Overcoat,' and in 1842 he published the first section of his masterpiece Dead Souls. Gogol became increasingly religious as the years passed, and in 1847 he became the disciple of an Orthodox priest who influenced him to burn the second part of Dead Souls and then abandon writing altogether. After undertaking an extreme fast, he died at the age of forty-two. Views: 999
Ready for the PENULTIMATE book of the Novak clan's story?
Twisting fates and colliding hearts...
Welcome back to The Shade. Views: 999
Wilbur Murphy sought romance, excitement, and an impossible Horseman of Space. With polite smiles, the planet frustrated him at every turn - until he found them all the hard way! A classic science fiction story originally published in the "If Worlds of Science Fiction" in July, 1953. Includes a detailed "About the Author" and a selected bibliography. Views: 998
Sometimes the scariest things in life aren’t the Vampires and the Werewolves. Since the dawn of time there have been things God doesn’t want to know about. Which is why he created the Devil's Roses. There is a place between worlds where our souls take a moment, before they go to Heaven. It is a quiet place where everything feels as if it has paused. It is here that Aimee James first meets him. He is standing over her dead body. He is more beautiful than anything she has ever seen. Waking in the hospital after the first attempt is made on her life, Aimee discovers the missing pieces of her memory may have something to do with the one thing she does remember. A man. Not just any man, but a beautiful man who has enchanted her from her dreams. No one else saw him or recalls him, but Aimee isn't convinced that he doesn't exist. From the moment she wakes, she is thrust upon a journey that will contradict everything she holds true in the world and reveal secrets about her mother's untimely death. In the end Aimee must choose between life and love, as death is forced upon her once again. Views: 998
