Recent Releases in Fantasy! |
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The river has roots
by Amal El-Mohtar
"Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath."
In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.
There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family's latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.
But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters' bond but also their lives will be at risk...
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Tea You at the Altar
by Rebecca Thorne
Kianthe and Reyna are ready to finally walk down the aisle--in just seven days, their wedding of a wifetime will be a reality. There's loads to do--but like all best laid plans, everything seems to be going awry.
Between their baby dragons causing mayhem in Tawney, Kianthe's uptight parents inviting themselves to the wedding, and Reyna becoming embroiled in a secret plot to overthrow Queen Tilaine, the world seems against them--how are they going to live long enough to say "I do"?
Tomes & Tea #3
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The Ragpicker King
by Cassandra Clare
Kel Saren, body double to Conor, crown prince of the dazzling city of Castellane, is caught between two worlds. In order to protect his beloved prince, Kel must find the culprits responsible for a massacre at the royal palace--and the only clues are held by the Ragpicker King, the notorious criminal who rules Castellane's underworld. The trail Kel follows leads back to the Hill, where among decadent nobles and glittering parties a dark conspiracy to destroy the royal family has taken hold--a conspiracy headed up by the monstrous Artal Gremont, the man engaged to marry the woman Kel adores.
Meanwhile, Lin Caster must face the aftermath of the greatest risk she's ever taken. To save the life of a dying friend, Lin has falsely claimed to be the Goddess Reborn, the legendary heroine destined to save her people. Now the terrifying--but strangely magnetic--leader of her people has arrived to test her powers. The price of failure is exile, and only through her alliance with the Ragpicker King can she continue to access the magic that may save her.
Then Prince Conor reappears in her life, demanding that she use her healing powers to cure the madness of his father, the King. Lin soon realizes the King is gripped by an ancient and terrible magic, one whose lure she cannot deny any more than she can deny her growing passion for Conor.
As the simmering tensions in Castellane reach a fever pitch, Lin and Kel must decide who to trust when any false move means death--or worse.
The Chronicles of Castellane #2
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Slaying the Vampire Conqueror
by Carissa Broadbent
She was commanded to kill him with a single strike to the heart. She didn't expect her own to betray her.
Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess--her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea's tyrannical king.
But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She's tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust...and kill him.
Atrius is a terrifying warrior carving an unstoppable path through Glaea. Yet when Sylina becomes his seer, she glimpses a dark and shocking past--and a side of him that reminds her far too much of parts of herself she'd rather forget.
Sylina's orders are clear. The conqueror cannot live. But as the blood spilled by Glaea's tyrant king runs thicker, her connection with Atrius only grows stronger. A connection forbidden by her vows. A connection that could cost her everything.
The Crowns of Nyaxia #6
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Vox Machina : stories untold.
by Jess Barber
Celebrate a decade of Critical Role with this anthology featuring the perspectives of ten characters who fought alongside--and against--Vox Machina, with a foreword by cast member Liam O'Brien.
In these ten stories, see the legendary adventuring party anew through the eyes of some of the most memorable characters whose lives were touched by Vox Machina.
Within its pages:
- Shaun Gilmore reflects on the life he has chosen, as told by Aabria Iyengar.
- Raishan, racked by a pestilent curse, plots to release the Cinder King from his fiery prison, as told by Rory Power.
- Trinket the Wonder Bear accompanies the next generation of Vox Machina on their first adventure, as told by Sarah Glenn Marsh.
- Plus seven more hilarious, heartbreaking, and heroic tales featuring Kaylie, Doty, Kevdak, and more!
The adventure began in 2015 with a group of friends sitting down in front of a camera to roll some dice, bring their characters to life, and tell a story that would become immortalized in their livestream tabletop roleplaying game: Critical Role. What started as a humble home game eventually grew into a worldwide phenomenon that has touched countless people with its poignant, larger-than-life storytelling--and in that same vein, this collection celebrates the characters whose lives were touched by Vox Machina but whose stories are yet to be told.
Contributors: Foreword by Liam O'Brien - Jess Barber Martin Cahill - Rebecca Coffindaffer - Aabria Iyengar - Sam Maggs - Sarah Glenn Marsh - Rory Power - Nibedita Sen - Izzy Wasserstein - Kendra Wells
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Emberclaw
by Laura Lam
Arcady faces their greatest heist yet: posing as a noble student at the arcane University of Vatra. When the University announces the reinstatement of archaic trials of magic, the ever-penniless Arcady seizes the chance. If they win, they not only prove their worth, but the scholarship will give them more time to unlock secrets and reveal, once and for all, that their grandsire was not the Plaguebringer. Yet grief still leaves Arcady broken, and when they close their eyes, they dream of a certain dragon.
Everen, once the hope of dragons, is now hated by his kind. When he is eventually released from his prison, the Queen is clear: while he may help protect the island from wraith attacks, he is no longer a prince of the realm. As he struggles to find his place in Vere Celene, visions of the past, the future, and tantalizing glimpses of Arcady still haunt him. If he steers the wrong path through fate's storm, he may never be able to create a future where both humans and dragons live in harmony.
Arcady soon realizes that to survive the rising threats from both their old life and their new one, they must use every trick at their disposal--even magic stolen from a dragon they thought dead. And as time runs out before an ancient danger awakens, Everen must fight his way back to Arcady, earn their forgiveness, and learn what it truly means to be an Emberclaw.
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Once was Willem
by M. R. Carey
Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true.
I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impedes above. By the time you come to the end of this account you will know the truth of your own life and death, the path laid out for your immortal soul, your origin and your inevitable end.
You will not thank me.
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The Tomb of Dragons
by Katherine Addison
Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him?
While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he's terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar's life for a chance at what they feel they're owed.
Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; Anora Chanavar, his stalwart friend and fellow prelate of Ulis; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.
Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple as they seem, and Celehar's own life and happiness hang in the balance.
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Rose of Jericho
by Alex Grecian
Something wicked is going on in the village of Ascension. A mother wasting away from cancer is suddenly up and about. A boy trampled by a milk cart walks away from the accident. A hanged man can still speak, broken neck and all.
The dead are not dying.
When Rabbit and Sadie Grace accompany their friend Rose to Ascension to help take care of her ailing cousin, they immediately notice that their new house, Bethany Hall, is occupied by dozens of ghosts. And something is waiting for them in the attic.
The villagers of Ascension are unwelcoming and wary of their weird visitors. As the three women attempt to find out what's happening in the town, they must be careful not to be found out. But a much larger--and more dangerous--force is galloping straight for them...
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The Hymn to Dionysus
by Natasha Pulley
Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to follow his commander's orders at all costs. But when Phaidros rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes's palace, his commander's orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple, and to keep the baby's existence a total secret.
Years later, struggling with panic attacks and flashbacks, Phaidros is enlisted by the Queen to find her son, Thebes' young crown prince, who has vanished to escape an arranged marriage. The search leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus's company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.
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The bane witch : a novel
by Ava Morgyn
Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things--plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become... concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story.
But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger--it's a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters--Bane Witches--women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men.
Piers sets out to earn her place in her family's gritty but distinguished legacy, all while working at her Aunt Myrtle's cafe and perpetuating a flirtation with the local, well-meaning sheriff to allay his suspicions on the body count she's been leaving in her wake. But soon she catches the attention of someone else, a serial killer operating in the area. And that only means one thing--it's time to feed.
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The gate of the feral gods
by Matt Dinniman
New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.
You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent.
Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, that there's only one thing they can count on apart from each other: they never know what's coming next. And this floor is no exception.
A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.
It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here's the thing. It's never easy. Going it alone is not an option this time, so Carl and his team must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?
Welcome, Crawlers. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.
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Recent Releases in Science Fiction!
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Luminous
by Silvia Park
"I once had a family. At least, the earliest version of me had a family."
In a reunified Korea of the near future, the sun beats down on a junkyard filled with abandoned robots, broken down for parts. Eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through the scraps, searching for a piece that might support her failing body. There among the piles of trash, something catches her eye: a robot boy--so lifelike and strange, unlike anything she's ever seen before.
Siblings Jun and Morgan haven't spoken for years. When they were children, their brother Yoyo disappeared suddenly, leaving behind only distant memories of his laughter and near-human warmth. Yoyo--an early prototype of a humanoid robot designed by their father--was always bound for something darker and more complex. Now Morgan makes robots for a living and is on the verge of losing control of her most important creation. Jun is a detective with the Robot Crimes Unit whose investigation is digging up truths that want to stay buried. And whether they like it or not, Ruijie's discovery will thrust their family back together in ways they could have never imagined.
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The Martian Contingency
by Mary Robinette Kowal
Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C.--triggering an extinction-level global warming event--Earth's survivors have started an international effort to establish homes on space stations and the Moon.
The next step - Mars.
Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, lands on the Red Planet, optimistic about preparing for the first true wave of inhabitants. The mission objective is more than just building the infrastructure of a habitat - they are trying to preserve the many cultures and nuances of life on Earth without importing the hate.
But from the moment she arrives, something is off.
Disturbing signs hint at a hidden disaster during the First Mars Expedition that never made it into the official transcript. As Elma and her crew try to investigate, they face a wall of silence and obfuscation. Their attempts to build a thriving Martian community grind to a halt.
What you don't know CAN harm you. And if the truth doesn't come to light, the ripple effects could leave humanity stranded on a dying Earth…
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Dissolution
by Nicholas Binge
Maggie Webb has lived the last decade caring for elderly husband, Stanley, as memory loss gradually erases all the beautiful moments they created together. It's the loneliest she's ever felt in her life.
When a mysterious stranger named Hassan appears at her door, he reveals a shocking truth: Stanley isn't losing his memories. Someone is actively removing them to hide a long-buried secret from coming to light. If Maggie does what she's told, she can reverse it. She can get her husband back.
Led by Hassan and his technological marvels, Maggie breaks into her husband's mind, probing the depths of his memories in an effort to save him. The deeper she dives, the more she unravels a mystery spanning continents and centuries, each layer more complex than the last. But Hassan cannot be trusted. Not just memories are disappearing, but pieces of reality itself. If Maggie cannot find out what Stanley did all those years ago, and what Hassan is after, she risks far more than her husband's life. The very course of human history hangs in the balance.
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Space Brooms!
by A. G. Rodriguez
Everyone aboard Kilgore Station is living their best life.
Everyone except for Johnny Gomez.
While humans, the augmented, and aliens of all shapes and sizes enjoy exotic cuisine on the dining deck, or gamble away their credits on the entertainment deck, Johnny is elbow-deep in oily, black, alien excrement. A 'space broom' custodian for the entire station.
This was obviously not the life Johnny dreamt of. Ten years ago, he travelled to Kilgore, the farthest space station in our solar system, in search of fortune like everyone else. Some people are just luckier than others.
Yet his meaningless, uneventful existence is immediately turned upside down when he happens upon a tiny glass data-chit, hidden amongst the alien poop he must clean up. Unbeknownst to him, every nefarious creature in the solar system will soon be after him to claim it for their own.
With the help of his augmented roommate, a pair of smugglers and a mysterious and beautiful stranger, Johnny fights off thugs and sails as fast as possible to earth's moon, Luna, in effort to sell the chit to the Obinna Crime Syndicate. But with assassins and mobsters on their tail, the trip is anything but a cakewalk. And Luna itself proves to be nothing like a safe haven, when Johnny's painful past finally catches up to him...
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Murder by Memory
by Olivia Waite
A mind is a terrible thing to erase…
Welcome to the HMS Fairweather , Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.
Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn't hers--just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship's detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.
Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor--and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting--knows more than she's letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work--and if so, they've had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…
Dorothy Gentleman #1
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