Dark Ages Literature

This is the final book in the two-book duet. Book one must be heard first. One man thinks I'm a saint. The other thinks I'm a sinner. One man lives in the public eye. The other lurks in the shadows. One man wants to use me for his own needs. The other wants to use me for his revenge. One man will get what's coming to him. The other will get what he deserves. They told me good girls get rewarded. But I've been bad. Very bad. I made a deal with the Devil...and I liked it.

When her brother is murdered, a petty thief from the slums of Longhill sets out to discover who killed him and why. But the more she discovers about him, the more she learns about herself, and the truths she finds are more dangerous than knives....

Published in rapid succession in the middle 1930s, these two books shocked European literature and world consciousness. Nominally fiction but more rightly called "creative confessions," they told of the author's childhood in excoriating Paris slums, of service in the mud wastes of World War I and African jungles. Mixing unmitigated despair with Gargantuan comedy, they also created a new style, in which invective and obscenity were laced with phrases of unforgettable poetry. Celine's influence revolutionized the contemporary approach to fiction.

Born the weakest runt of his Moonclan tribe, Zograt was only ever one beating away from a nasty end...until the Bad Moon bestowed upon him its blessing. Now the Clammy Hand of destiny is upon him and back-stabbing grots scurry to his cause, afraid of the vengeances their new boss will inflict with his powerful spells. For every underling he suffocates with noxious fungi, Zograt stages a magnanimous gesture, for he is all too aware of his fragile grip on power.

Michael returns to fulfill a promise to his love, but the world isn't the same place. Michael just wants a little sleep. The last few days have been a bit of a learning overload after coming back 150 years after he was blown apart by a backpack nuke. The world destroyed itself, there are anti-gravity cars and ships, and his love is in the stars...somewhere. Plus, there is a vampire trying to make Europe his personal fiefdom.

To survive, Connor Magnuson must become a man with no equal. The path ahead is a deadly one. His end of the bargains he made to get this far have come due, and his debts take him back to a homeland he's been trying to forget. Kirkwall is an island of ancient secrets, and the magic in its soil will topple empires if he doesn't get to it first. His legend has begun to spread through the pubs, and others begin taking credit. Imposters pop up along the coast, and they threaten to undermine everything he has worked for.

The paladins have a storied history, one tainted by a twisted sacrifice. To fight the demon lords intent on taking over their world, they had to make a deal with one. Under this pact, paladin Cedric Arrington is forged into a weapon. Wearing his black armor to signal to all of Nirendia his dark allegiance, he is a man beset by shadow on a quest to send all demons back to the Abyss. A demon lord named Orcus emerges from the underworld, and the foundations of the human kingdom of Surdel begin to fracture and weaken. Undead rise without the Necromancer. Demons pour out of Mount Godun at the heart of the tranquil realm....

It’s dark outside, but hope will not be defeated. Michael, Akio, Yuko, and the rest are searching for the pieces necessary to put together a craft which Michael hopes will take him to Bethany Anne. But first, there are idiots in his way, seeking the same parts and intend to take them. By force. The challenge is they will find out what ‘force’ truly means when they dare to go up against the Dark Messiah. One way or another, Michael will get back to Bethany Anne.

Nyssa Volari is dying. But that is impossible, because she is a Soulblight vampire, blessed by Nagash with blood-fuelled immortality. More than that, Nyssa is a fighter – one of the handful of Kastelai vampires not dissolved into true death when the Crimson Keep abandoned them a century ago. With her blades and her will, she carved a kingdom out of the Broken Plains of Aqshy. These things matter little, for Nyssa's blood is cursed. It destroyed the vampire she called father, and as it threatens to do the same to her, Nyssa's allies abandon her one by one.

For Thelana Evenfall, Lumineth loreseeker and tutor at the Lyceum Fundamental in the city of Settler's Gain, the weapon is a footnote—the shadow of a rumour buried under mountains of long-forgotten lore. But when whispers of its whereabouts resurface, the vying factions within Hysh emerge to claim its power. From trusted allies to insidious cults, Thelana must navigate a treacherous landscape of clashing armies, political machinations and betrayals within betrayals, all in a desperate effort to defend the powerless from the all-powerful and to ask the unanswerable question:

Kieran Murphy is an Irish mob boss and one of the most powerful men in Boston. When he walks me home, people step aside out of respect for him. He could have any woman he wants. So why does he have eyes only for me? Is it how he has to lift my chin with his fingers to keep my eyes level with his when he scolds me and how I cover my bottom instinctively when he tells me that I've earned a spanking? Or is it how I quiver at the thought of everything I'm too ashamed to beg him to do to me? Maybe it's all of those, but I'm pretty sure there's something else too.

One evening, two years’ worth of memories lost. Under the pretense of recovery, my father sends me to an elite boarding college, but soon, my memories start rushing back, and it’s obvious I’m not at Lakeside to heal. I’m here to hide. Navigating the scattered past to decipher the threat lurking in the shadows is hard while I’m kept in the dark and even harder when he steals my focus. Crude, arrogant, and threatening, he draws me in, and the closer I get, the less I understand. Waking up without memories is terrifying, but remembering the time I lost is infinitely worse.

Vi was supposed to be the perfect crown princess. Then, she abandoned her throne. Vi was supposed to save the world as its Champion. Then, the world she loved vanished. Now, all she knows is that she has deadly magic and brutal cunning, and she's ready to settle some scores. Old loves and new allies tell her to play it safe. But Vi is done with caution. She has a chance to right ancient wrongs and this princess-turned-warrior isn't turning back. She's ready to bring an end to the vortex of death the world is trapped in.

To be born into a family of royal assassins pretty much guarantees that your life is going to be rather unusual. Especially if, like Miscellaneous 'Lanie' Stones, you also have a vicious allergy to all forms of violence and bloodshed, and an uncanny affinity for bringing the dead back to life. To make matters worse, family debt looms—a debt that will have to be paid sooner rather than later if Lanie and her sister are to retain ownership of the ancestral seat, Stones Manor.

In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military's most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills. When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger.

You want the diamonds? You want the mansion? You want the lake, and boats, and the cars? You want the security? And the man? Then you do what you’re told. I live in his castle. I sit at his feet. I wear his collar. I am his offering. The Chosen Ones...the Ruling Class. They are a breed apart. And yes, that pedigree matters. Not just anyone can rise above and become their equal. It takes sacrifice.

Jack extends his domain from the hills of Virginia to the waters of the Chesapeake in search of a more stable food supply. Unbeknownst to him, mechanized death under the control of a sadistic boy threatens what fragile progress he and the survivors at Big Timber have made. To protect the people he loves, Jack must ally with those he needs, and the line between savior and monster has never been blurrier.

Greed and ambition threaten to tear the north apart. War rages between the two kingdoms of Northumbria. Kin is pitted against kin, and friend becomes foe as ambitious kings vie for supremacy. When Beobrand travels south into East Angeln to rescue a friend, he unwittingly tilts the balance of power in the north, setting in motion events that will lead to a climactic confrontation between Oswiu of Bernicia and Oswine of Deira.

Ava Sinclair’s life was shattered days before her wedding when she discovered her fiancé's betrayal with her best friend. Devastated, she decides to take the honeymoon to Phuket, Thailand alone, hoping to find solace and escape the pain. But instead of peace, Ava finds herself caught in a whirlwind of passion with a mysterious stranger. Nikolai Volkov isn't just any man—he’s powerful, wealthy, and utterly captivating. Drawn into his magnetic pull, Ava is caught in a whirlwind of desire and danger that threatens to consume her whole.

La verve abrupte de Virginie Despentes pour des croquis dévastateurs d'un monde qu'on côtoie sans vraiment le voir.