Epic Historical Fantasy

From USA Today best-selling author David Dalglish. One has conquered a city. The other covets an entire nation. In book number three of the Shadowdance series, Haern is the King's Watcher, protector against thieves and nobles who would fill the night with blood. Yet hundreds of miles away, an assassin known as the Wraith has begun slaughtering those in power, leaving the symbol of the Watcher in mockery. When Haern travels south to confront this copycat, he finds a city ruled by the corrupt, the greedy and the dangerous.

From the end of the 18th century, Americans traveled west to find new homes and new lands. They brought with them the magics of plain people. It is from these roots of the American dream that award-winning writer Orson Scott Card has crafted what the Charlotte Observer called "a uniquely American fantasy." Using the lore and the folk magic of the men and women who settled a continent, and the beliefs of the tribes who were here before them, Card has created an alternate frontier America.

War and madness cast shadows over the lands dragons once ruled. Geder Palliako's star is rising. He is a hero of Antea, protector to the crown prince, and darling of the court. But storms from his past are gathering, and with them, a war that will change everything. Cithrin bel Sarcour founded a powerful bank on stolen wealth, forged papers, and ready blades. Now every move she makes is observed, recorded, and controlled. Unless Cithrin can free herself from her gilded cage, the life she made will be for naught; war may provide just the opportunity she needs.

With the demon dactyl and its foul minions defeated, the war-weary citizens of the kingdom of Honce-the-Bear wish only to begin rebuilding their broken lives. Yet the specter of civil war haunts the ravaged land - and a specter more fearsome still. For the demon, though defeated, was not destroyed. And now its vengeful spirit has found an unholy sanctuary. The elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden presses north to reclaim the savage Timberlands from retreating goblin hordes.

Elbryan and Pony - soul mates from childhood who grew even closer over time - fervently hope that the tide of darkness is at last receding from the land of Corona. Yet if evil is on the retreat, why are hordes of goblins and bloody-capped powries slashing their way ever deeper into civilized lands? A sinister threat now looms over Corona, for the power of the demon dactyl was not entirely vanquished by the sacrifice of the monk, Avelyn Desbris.

The peace of the Sect has been broken. Incursions come from the nomadic tribes of the southern mountains and from deep underground. Against these foes of the Empire—both old and new—Ling Qi and her allies will be set to test themselves. It is said that conflict is the great whetstone of talent, but war may devour the genius and the common talent alike without differentiation. What is to be gained and what is to be lost as the fires grow?

Guo Jing has confronted Apothecary Huang, his sweetheart Lotus Huang's father, on Peach Blossom Island, and bested the villainous Gallant Ouyang in the three trials to win the hand of his beloved. But now, along with his two friends and shifus, Zhou Botong of the Quanzhen Sect, and Count Seven Hong, Chief of the Beggar Clan, he has walked into another trap. Tricked into boarding an unseaworthy barge by Apothecary Huang, the three friends will surely drown unless Lotus - who has overheard her father's plans - can find a way to save them.

Lady Selene Ravenwood has come into her full power as a dreamwalker just as the war with the Dominia Empire begins. Working with the other Great Houses, Selene and Damien use their gifts to secure the borders and save those devastated by the war. But conflict, betrayal, and hatred begin to spread between the Great Houses, destroying their unity as the empire burns a path across their lands. At the same time, Damien Maris starts to lose his ability to raise the waters, leaving the lands vulnerable to the empire's attacks.

From the shores of Ireland, Cormac O'Connor sets out on a fateful journey to avenge the deaths of his parents and honor the code of his ancestors. In return for aiding an African shaman who was brought to America in chains, Cormac is given an otherworldly gift: He will live forever - as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan.

In Xanth, everyone has a talent. But that doesn't mean everyone loves his talent, and no one understands that better than Hapless. Endowed with the ability to conjure any instrument he wants, Hapless could be an extraordinary musician if only he could play a tune that didn't fall ear-piercingly flat. His one desire is to find an instrument he can play. When the Good Magician hears about Hapless's desperate desire, he sends the young man on a quest to find the elusive Isis Orb, a magical talisman that could fulfill his wish.

For years the provinces of Deverry have been in turmoil; now, the conflict escalates with the kidnapping of Rhodry Maelwaedd, heir to the throne of Aberwyn. Intent on rescuing him, his beloved Jill and the elven wizard Salamander infiltrate the distant land of Bardex, where Rhodry is held captive. Tied to Deverry by obligation and circumstance, the immortal wizard Nevyn begins to see that all the kingdom's problems can be traced to a single source: a master of dark magics, backed by a network of evil that stretches across the sea.

In present-day Cambridge, Abi, a recently ordained priest of the Church of England, is appointed to a notoriously difficult parish. The priest in charge is the charismatic but fundamentalist Kier. He objects to her mysticism, her practice of healing in particular. When she sees a vision of a congregation in an old church, Kier accuses her of witchcraft, but Abi soon sees more visions; an entire Roman family history dark with betrayal and a promise of bloody revenge.

They're an odd pair, to be sure: pale, rail-thin, black-clad Zelikman, a moody, itinerant physician fond of jaunty headgear, and ex-soldier Amram, a gray-haired giant of a man as quick with a razor-tongued witticism as he is with a sharpened battle-ax. Brothers under the skin, comrades in arms, they make their rootless way through the Caucasus Mountains, circa A.D. 950.

In the late 20th century, the streets of Paris are lined with haunted ruins. The Great Magicians' War left a trail of devastation in its wake. The grands magasins have been reduced to piles of debris, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine has turned black with ashes and rubble and the remnants of the spells that tore the city apart. But those that survived still retain their irrepressible appetite for novelty and distraction, and the great houses still vie for dominion over France's once-grand capital.

With Souma's coronation and wedding behind him, he's ready to send his little sister Tomoe off for her first day at the Royal Academy. But from her first step through the gates, she's greeted with comments and stares from the other students. Tomoe's adoption, her gift, and her older brother are drawing a lot of attention . . . good, bad, and possibly even dangerous.

It is 3000 BC. A hundred clans have been destroyed and thousands of people are dead. The Wolf God commands an inexperienced young warrior to hunt down the bloodthirsty demon horde. With a handful of his faithful spear-brothers and a heartbroken young seeress at his side, his quest will take him on a perilous journey through devastated lands. He may be the son of a god and a mortal woman, but he will need more than just his great strength to overcome the dark forces that stand in his way.

The tournament is past, the Inner Sect achieved, and Ling Qi has chosen the path of her life going forward. Retainer to the heir of the province, an absurd step up from a girl who lived on the street a year before. Now she faces a strange prospect, peace. There are no great tournaments in her immediate future, no desperate battles to maintain her station. Formal duels and skill challenges just aren't the same. But she has much to learn, and now that she has proven herself, the Argent Peak Sect has much to teach an inner disciple.

Cat Barahal and her cousin Bee think they have reached a safe place to shelter. But the Cold Mages who are conspiring to take them prisoner are closing in. The warlord who hopes to conquer all Europa is convinced their destiny is to aid him, whether they want to or not. And the man Cat was forced to marry is back, as vainly arrogant and annoyingly handsome as ever. Worst of all, as Hallows' Night approaches, powers hidden deep within the spirit world are rising. Cat must seek allies against these threats and figure out who to trust, for if she makes the wrong choices, she'll lose everything.

Contains books three and four of the Dragontiarna series: Gates, book three, and Wraiths, book four. The gates between worlds have been thrown open, and armies of invaders have come forth to threaten the realm of Andomhaim. Ridmark Arban is the Shield Knight of Andomhaim, and he and all his allies stand in the invaders' path.

The long struggle is over at last. The demon dactyl is no more, its dark sorceries shattered by the gemstone magic wielded by the woman known as Pony. But victory did not come easily. Many lives were lost, including Pony's lover, the elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden. Despite the dactyl's demise, the kingdom still seethes in the same cauldron of plots and machinations. But when a deadly sickness suddenly appears among the people of Corona, Pony must undertake a pilgrimage that will test her powers.