Dark Fantasy War

Michael Chatfield and Dawn Chapman present Book 5 of the Maraukian War series.

We've come a long way in the forty years since the Shongairi attacked Earth, killed half its people, and then were driven away by an alliance of humans with the other sentient bipeds who inhabit our planet. We took the technology they left behind, and rapidly built ourselves into a starfaring civilization. Because we haven't got a moment to lose. Because it's clear that there are even more powerful, more hostile aliens out there, and Earth needs allies. But it also transpires that the Shongairi expedition that nearly destroyed our home planet ... wasn't an official one.

Among the scattered fringe cities bordering the Cienbal desert, the true name of the Monster of Karth is spoken only in whispers...RAZ I'SYUL ARRO. A sellsword of the utmost caliber, Raz is a killer of paramount skill and highest regard. Towering tall even amongst the atherian, he is the only of his kind to live free in the "civilized" confines of mankind's varied cultures. He has no need of loyalties, his sole affections pledged to the gold crowns that buy his time and skills.

Meet Matt Richter. Pi. Zombie. Another case proves dangerous for zombie PI Matt Richter, in the underworld realm of Nekropolis. From his arrival at Nekropolis, Matt has found himself embroiled in disputes with the city's vampire lords, shapeshifters, golems, and other monstrosities. Nothing has prepared him for the Dark War. Tim Waggoner is a novelist and college professor.

Since the beginning of time, the angelic forces of the High Heavens and the demonic hordes of the Burning Hells have been locked in the eternal conflict for the fate of all creation. That struggle has now spilled over into Sanctuary - the world of men. Determined to win mankind over to their respective causes, the forces of good and evil wage a secret war for mortal souls. This is the tale of the Sin War - the conflict that would forever change the destiny of man.

The galaxy follows a logical structure. Legion Dark Operator Kel Turner believed that. To know the order of battle and how an enemy unit was organized was to know its purpose and how to destroy it. That logic existed down to the smallest scale, down to what made up life itself. To know a molecule’s structure was to know its function - they were one and the same. It was no different for Kel. He was Dark Ops and Dark Ops was him. But the covert action arm of the Legion is changing. And so is he. And if Dark Ops is no longer the same, how could Kel be Kel?

Once, Tomas Piety looked after his men, body and soul, as best he could. Then those who ran his country decided his dark talents would better serve in the corridors of power. Crushed by the power of the Queen's Men and with the Skanian menace rising once more on the streets of Ellinburg, Tomas Piety is forced to turn to old friends, old debts and untrustworthy alliances. Meanwhile in the capital city of Dannsburg, Dieter Vogel is beginning to wonder if the horror he has unleashed in the Martyr's Disciples might be getting out of control.

Life hasn't been easy for Siobhan Dunmoore and many of her fellow veterans since the Shrehari War ended. The Fleet's quick return to a mundane peacetime footing left them unmoored and incapable of fully readapting after years engulfed in an existential struggle. Meanwhile, the memories of all those hard-won lessons, paid for with humanity's dearest blood, are fading as careerists, bureaucrats, and politicians in uniform replace the leaders who brought about the war's end.

As its neighbors muster for war, the city-state of Kantor clings desperately to neutrality. Suraan, the queen regent, is beset on all sides, her son Rahuul still too young to take the throne. As his elder sister and guardian, Adaali’s only purpose is to protect Rahuul from would-be usurpers. But dark forces are at play from within and without, and she must seek help from the most unlikely of places - or be consumed by the war of the gods that threatens to destroy the very fabric of her world.

The Four Realms—Life, Death, Light, and Darkness—all converge on the city of dusk. But the gods have withdrawn their favor from the once thriving and vibrant metropolis. And without it, all the realms are dying. Unwilling to stand by and watch the destruction, the four heirs to divine power—Angelica, an elementalist with her eyes set on the throne; Risha, a necromancer fighting to keep the peace; Nikolas, a soldier who struggles to see the light; and Taesia, a shadow-wielding rogue with a reckless heart—will become reluctant allies in the quest to save their city.

When Marine Corps pilot Jacob Merely crashes during a routine mission off the coast of Cyprus, he was sure it was game over. After surviving the crash and pulling himself onto the sandy shores of a long-abandoned island, however, Jacob unwittingly stumbles headfirst into the ancient ruins of a dead city. Unfortunately, he also stumbles into an age-old battle between good and evil—and he is now its newest recruit.

Stiger has survived the brutal ordeal at Fort Covenant, which saw his company shattered and an enemy army destroyed. Stiger is slowly being accepted into the legion. There are still some who seek to make him feel like an outcast. Unexpectedly, he finds himself summoned to see the general. Stiger is dispatched on a critical mission for the empire. He must travel to the island kingdom of Thresh to deliver a message and a large quantity of gold. Despite the mission’s importance, it seems like an easy job: a march through friendly territory well away from the enemy....

The Omega War is in full swing. Earth has fallen to General Peepo’s army, and the surviving human mercenaries have taken refuge at the hidden Winged Hussars’ base in New Warsaw. On Earth, the defensive forces fight to keep the hearts and minds of their fellow humans, but Peepo’s plans are slowly converting the people to her way of thinking, and the Mercenary Guild troops continue to root out the forces arrayed against them.

Compelled step by step to actions whose consequences they could neither see nor prevent, Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery have fought for what they love in the magical reality known only as "the Land." Now they face their final crisis. Reunited after their separate struggles, they discover in each other their true power - and yet they cannot imagine how to stop the Worm of the World's End from unmaking Time. Nevertheless they must resist the ruin of all things, giving their last strength in the service of the world's continuance.

Full-scale rebellion rages in the south, and Sir Torsten Unger must lead the Glass Army to face it. But when a new and unfamiliar king forces Torsten to march alongside one of his fiercest rivals, he must draw on his faith to keep the army from fracturing. Whitney Fierstown continues his tutelage of the blood mage, Sora, who is desperate to get a better handle on her mysterious powers. Their journey brings them to the merchant city of Winde Port, where they seek passage to Yaolin City aboard a ship. It's smooth sailing until they realize an old nemesis is hunting them....

"I am alone in the dark, turning the world around in my head as I struggle through another bout of insomnia, another white night in the great American wilderness." So begins Paul Auster's brilliant, devastating tale about the many realities we inhabit as wars flame all around us. Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident in his daughter's house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget—his wife's recent death and the murder of his granddaughter's boyfriend.

A captured soldier must escort a mysterious girl to a distant city to broker peace between two peoples poised on the brink of war. Left to die in a deep chasm, his commander stumbles on to a dark and powerful secret: how to harness the energy of men's souls and bend them to his will. Is this the secret that Goblinkind has been hiding from the race of men? That all the shiny trinkets of the fabled Goblincrafters are powered by the trapped souls of humans? For Mage Imperator Rhael Lord Uhlmet, the lure of such power is irresistible, even if he must start a war to attain it.

I've said it before, but sometimes I'm a bad person. I cheated on my 12th-grade math final, I've run countless yellow lights, and I gossip about how hot my kickass best friends are. (Good thing my job as a guild bartender doesn't require moral perfection.) But there's bad, and then there's bad. And I'm not sure which applies to a certain dark druid/wanted criminal/reluctant friend of mine. His transgressions include black-magic dealings, kidnapping, and murder, and he's about to add "revenge-fueled killing spree" to his resume - if I don't stop him. Should I stop him?

Tales of the Apt is a companion series to the best-selling decalogy Shadows of the Apt (Tor UK), gathering together short stories from disparate places and supplementing them with a wealth of new tales written especially for the series. Together, they combine to provide a different perspective, an alternative history that parallels and unfolds alongside the familiar one, filling in the gaps and revealing intriguing backstories for many established characters. A must listen for any fan of the Shadows of the Apt books, where epic fantasy meets steampunk and so much more.

The Monster of Karth has risen once more. Quin Tern of Azbar has met his fate, and his council has borne the price of crossing Raz i'Syul Arro. Now, as the cruel walls of the city fade into the winter storms at his back, Raz rides north, seeking to take the High Priest Talo Brahnt up on an offer he never should have refused. The path Raz has chosen, though, is a bloody one, and before long he and his new companions find themselves pitted against hardships they can neither anticipate nor ignore.