- Home
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
A celebrated winner of fiction's Orange Prize, Helen Dunmore is as spellbinding a storyteller in her poetry as in her novels. 'Glad Of These Times' is full of haunting, joyous and wry narratives. Views: 1 074
Who but Russell Hoban could weave a tale of life’s pleasures and pain around a candy pig? And who but Quentin Blake could make the most poignant of stories so lighthearted and delightful? In this episodic picture book by an inimitable author-illustrator duo, a fantastic chain of events is triggered by the unacknowledged fall of a marzipan pig behind the sofa. We meet in quick succession a heartsick mouse, a lonely grandfather clock, an owl in love with a taxi meter, a worker bee, a fading hibiscus flower, a mouse who greets the dawn dancing, and finally a boy who guesses at the true relations between things. Appealing to the unsentimental yet sensitive nature of children, The Marzipan Pig is exquisitely attuned to the bittersweet wonder of life and to the sentience of all beings. Views: 1 074
A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril, has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, as the secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule.
It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it will ultimately lead him to the place he fears most, the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies, who once placed him in chains, now occupy lofty positions. In addition to the traitorous intrigues of villains, Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle, are faced with a sinister curse that hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. Only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics, can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge—an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a tool of the miraculous, and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death. Views: 1 074
An illusive Chinese mastermind and his henchman have already killed one socialite and they hold a mysterious sway over many of London\'s elite. What is the secret of their power? Follow the trail with Sax Rohmer\'s famous detectives Gaston Max and Inspector Dunbar as they chase the international gang of hoodlums and their leader, the evil Dr. King. Views: 1 074
Intrigue, Betrayal, Blackmail... From the violent, heroin-riddled back streets of Turkey to the heart of government corruption in America, Mission Earth relentlessly hurls into a new labyrinth of Earth's underworld, torn by Mafia wars and criminal rivalry, abounding with assassins, killers, prostitutes, drug-runners, and subverted government agents, the gripping story masterly twists and turns with its heart-pounding pace. The fierce, unique blend of tension, ingenuity, humor, betrayal and tragedy continues... Views: 1 073
Mandaline Royce swore off love. She’s happy working for her best friend, Julie, at her New Age shop, Many Blessings. Then her life’s turned upside down by Julie’s tragic death. Julie leaves her everything, including the shop and her dog, but the gaping hole in Mandaline’s heart isn’t one she’s sure will ever heal.
Ellis Fargo and Bradley Sawyer are as close as brothers. Ellis feels his life’s mission is caring for Brad, a veteran who suffered debilitating injuries. Brad insists their house is haunted. Ellis doesn’t believe in ghosts and thinks the trouble is Brad’s injured brain. He humors Brad by having Mandaline check the house for supernatural issues.
Ellis doesn’t understand the sudden, scorching attraction he has for Mandaline, but he can’t settle for anyone who won’t also put Brad first. Brad thinks Mandaline would be the perfect woman…for them both. Can they help each other heal and turn their various emotional wounds into Many Blessings?
Word Count: 112,288 Views: 1 072
Legacy of the Drow #4: Passage to Dawn Revenge and Resurrection in a Frozen Wasteland! Drizzt and Catti-brie have been away from Mithral Hall for six long years, but the pain of a lost companion still weighs heavily on their strong shoulders. Chasing pirates aboard Captain Deudermont's Sea Sprite is enough to draw their attention away from their grief. Then a mysterious castaway on an uncharted island sends them back to the very source of their pain, and into the clutches of a demon with vengeance on his mind. Views: 1 072
When Marianne's parents died, leaving control of their fortune to her feared older brother, she struggled to make her way as a student in America - and her old home began to seem as unreal as a fairy tale, her childhood there as distant as a dream . . . Until the Magus came to claim her, and the Black Madame to destroy her, and the Manticore to hunt her down through the streets of another world - for there is magic in Marianne's blood, and magic in her soul. And in a battle fought in an everchanging world of warped time and wicked magic, it is the souls of Marianne and her family that are the ultimate prizes. Marianne, the Madame, and the Momentary Gods is the second volume of Sheri S. Tepper's acclaimed Marianne Trilogy. Views: 1 072
Angels dark and light have inspired Storm Constantine throughout her writing life. In Mythangelus, all of her stories with an angelic theme, or inspired by angel mythos, are collected for the first time. This includes two Wraeththu stories, 'By the River of If Only' and 'Paragenesis' - as the Wraeththu novels were originally inspired by magical angelic legends. Included too are 'Fireborn', and 'The Feet, They Dance', pieces that were written while Storm was working on her Grigori trilogy, which are tales inspired by the myths of the Fallen Angels and the Nephilim. 'A Change of Season' is the short story that eventually became the opening chapters of 'Stalking Tender Prey', the first in the Grigori series, and 'Heir to a Tendency' features the lead Grigori character of Peverel Othman, years before his feet led him to Little Moor and the events of the first novel. From the fairy tale lore of 'Spinning for Gold' and 'Living with the Angel' to the more science fiction oriented 'The Green Calling', and the dark urban fantasy of 'Return to Gehenna', these stories are among the most sumptuous and vivid from the imagination of the celebrated Shadow Priestess of Fantasy. Views: 1 072
Seduction that kills. Pleasure to die for. She just can't resist. . . . Guardian Riley Jensen always seems to face the worst villains. And this time's no different. For it's no ordinary sorceress who can raise the dead to do her killing. But that's exactly what Riley expects to find at the end of a trail of female corpses used - and discarded - in a bizarre ritual of evil. With pressure mounting to catch one fiend, another series of brutal slayings shocks the vampire world of her lover, Quinn. So the last thing Riley needs is the heat of the upcoming full moon bringing her werewolf hormones to a boil---or the reappearance of a sexy bounty hunter, the rogue wolf Kye Murphy. Riley has threatened Murphy with arrest if he doesn't back off the investigation, but it's Riley who feels handcuffed by Kye's lupine charm. Torn between her vamp and wolf natures, between her love for Quinn and her hots for Kye, Riley knows she's courting danger and indulging the deadliest desires. For her hunt through the supernatural underworld will bring her face-to-face with what lurks in a darkness - where even monsters fear to tread. Views: 1 072
Subterranean Press is proud to present an election-oriented short story by John Scalzi on Whatever.
When his city council representative is hit by a bus, David Sawyer decides to run for the newly-vacated seat. One problem: He's a human in an alien-majority district that hasn't voted in a human in half a century. Can Sawyer pull it off in a race that includes a politically smooth, physically gelatinous front runner, a carnivore whose entire platform is on the right to consume pets, and two literally bile-spewing sisters? A tale of aliens, politics and humor from the author of "Old Man's War" and "The Android's Dream". Views: 1 072
An adventurous and high-flying fantasy novel, this is the thrilling tale of the swashbuckling Benvenuti Sfondrati-Piccolomini, who arrives in the city of Goimir intent on lending his talents to the King--but instead has a series of madcap misadventures en route to his involvement in an epic quest that pairs him with Gwendolyn Greyboar, a female revolutionary whose beauty is matched only by her ferocity--and in whom the fate of the kingdom rests. Views: 1 072
Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants. . . Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy--one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.Eugenie Markham is a shaman for hire, paid to bind and banish creatures from the Otherworld. But after her last battle, she's also become queen of the Thorn Land. It's hardly an envious life, not with her kingdom in tatters, her love life in chaos, and Eugenie eager to avoid the prophecy about her firstborn destroying mankind. And now young girls are disappearing from the Otherworld, and no one--except Eugenie--seems willing to find out why. New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead takes readers back to the Otherworld, an embattled realm mystically entwined with our world--and ruled by one woman's dangerous choice. . .Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land's queen, she's fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear. . .1 New York Times bestselling author Richelle Mead returns to the Otherworld, a mystic land inextricably linked to our own--and balanced precariously on one woman's desperate courage . . .Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham strives to keep the mortal realm safe from trespassing entities. But as the Thorn Land's prophecy-haunted queen, there's no refuge for her and her soon-to-be-born-children when a mysterious blight begins to devastate the Otherworld. . . Views: 1 071
Readers of Patrick Taylor’s books know Mrs. Kinky Kincaid as the unflappable housekeeper who looks after two frequently frazzled doctors in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo. She is a trusted fixture in the lives of those around her, and it often seems as though Kinky has always been there.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Some forty-odd years before and many miles to the south, the girl who would someday be Kinky Kincaid was Maureen O’Hanlon, a farmer’s daughter growing up in the emerald hills and glens of County Cork. A precocious girl on the cusp of womanhood, Maureen has a head full of dreams, a heart open to romance, and something more: a gift for seeing beyond the ordinary into the mystic realm of fairies, spirits, and even the dreaded Banshee, whose terrifying wail she first hears on a snowy night in 1922....
As she grows into a young woman, Maureen finds herself torn between love and her fondest aspirations, for the future is a mystery even for one blessed with the sight. Encountering both joy and sorrow, Maureen at last finds herself on the road to Ballybucklebo---and the strong and compassionate woman she was always destined to become.
An Irish Country Girl is another captivating tale by Patrick Taylor, a true Irish storyteller. Views: 1 071
Thanks to his relationship with the ancient Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, Oberon the Irish wolfhound knows trouble when he smells it—and furthermore, he knows he can handle it.
When he discovers that a prizewinning poodle has been abducted in Eugene, Oregon, he learns that it’s part of a rash of hound abductions all over the Pacific Northwest. Since the police aren’t too worried about dogs they assume have run away, Oberon knows it’s up to him to track down those hounds and reunite them with their humans. For justice! And gravy!
Engaging the services of his faithful Druid, Oberon must travel throughout Oregon and Washington to question a man with a huge salami, thwart the plans of diabolical squirrels, and avoid, at all costs, a fight with a great big bear.
But if he’s going to solve the case of the Purloined Poodle, Oberon will have to recruit the help of a Boston terrier named Starbuck, survive the vegetables in a hipster pot pie, and firmly refuse to be distracted by fire hydrants and rabbits hiding in the rose bushes.
At the end of the day, will it be a sad bowl of dry kibble for the world’s finest hound detective, or will everything be coming up sirloins?
The Purloined Poodle is another exciting novella entry in Kevin Hearne’s New York Times best-selling Iron Druid series. Views: 1 071
