Epic Literature

Alex is one of us. An office rat during daytime, he spends sleepless nights playing his favorite MMO game: a familiar, predictable world which is about to collapse. A new virtual universe arrives to replace it, aggressively devouring all others: the Crystal Sphere. Alex gets involved in testing new technologies which promise to revolutionize gaming. Fitted out with a neuroimplant which provides a 100 percent authentic experience, he has to survive in the Crystal Sphere against all odds.

The Empire's plans have come to fruition. Duran has fallen, and with it the other city-states of Nehatra. Only the dungeon town remains safe, but for how long? While the leadership struggle to deal with the crisis, the dungeon dwellers watch on. As Doc continues to unlock new slime evolutions, Rowen deepens his bond with Milly, and the two experience much together. When the final attack begins, will Rowen and Doc stand with the townspeople? Why has Doc been framed for murder? Who is the traitor lurking in the shadows?

Every year in the great Temple City of Duvalpore, the image of the Wheel of the Infinite must be painstakingly remade to ensure another year of peace and harmony for the Celestial Empire. Every hundred years the sacred rite takes on added significance. For it is then that the very fabric of the world must be rewoven. Linked by the mystic energies of the Infinite, the Wheel and world are one. Should the holy image be marred, the world will suffer a similar injury. But a black storm is spreading across the Wheel.

If the past is prologue, then George R. R. Martin's masterwork - the most inventive and entertaining fantasy saga of our time - warrants one hell of an introduction. At long last, it has arrived with The World of Ice & Fire. This volume is a comprehensive history of the Seven Kingdoms, providing vividly constructed accounts of the epic battles, bitter rivalries, and daring rebellions that lead to the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and HBO's Game of Thrones.

Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted readers with her extraordinary fantasy novels of daring and wit. With The Wizard Hunters she launched her most ambitious undertaking yet-the return to the beloved world of the Nebula Award-nominated The Death of the Necromancer and The Fall of Ile-Rien.

When Alex joins Gamemakers Online, she finds there are no newbie areas, no tutorials, and nothing but vicious critters hunting her down. This seems like an impossible task, but Alex is a veteran platinum achievement hunter who has solved previously unwinnable scenarios. She won't give up now. As she delves deeper into the game, she discovers it hides sinister secrets. If she can't survive the first year in Gamemakers Online, then she'll lose more than her own life.

Elaine is an orphan girl who has grown up in a world where magical ability brings power. Her limited talent was enough to ensure a magical training, but she's very inexperienced and was lucky to get a position working in the Great Library. Now, the Grand Sorcerer - the most powerful magician of them all - is dying, although initially that makes little difference to Elaine; she certainly doesn't have the power to compete for higher status in the Golden City. But all that changes when she triggers a magical trap....

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan’s most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin’s Guild, she’s sworn to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer for hire, Sam. In these action-packed prequel novellas to the Throne of Glass series, Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and avenge tyranny. But by acting on her own terms, will Celaena truly free herself from her master, or will she suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery?

Erin is running an inn outside the city of Liscor, but she’s no longer alone. Ryoka Griffin, the City Runner, has business in the south of Izril; she’s out on a dangerous delivery of her own. Yet while both young women have finally found their calling, more and more people are beginning to realize that these visitors from Earth don’t belong here.

Tricked into a world of banished gods, demons, goblins, sprites and magic, Richter must learn to meet the perils of The Land and begin to forge his own kingdom. Actions have consequences across The Land, with powerful creatures and factions now hell-bent on Richter's destruction. Can Richter forge allegiances to survive this harsh and unforgiving world or will he fall to the dark denizens of this ancient and unforgiving realm? A tale to shake "The Land" itself, measuring 10/10 on the Richter scale, how will Richter's choices shape the future of The Land and all who reside in it?

The main character is a virtual game developer, who forces his way into the game. His character is a beetle who has lost his memory and doesn't consider himself a monster. He begins to upgrade his skills and get different achievements. He's trying to get to the truth as he pieces together shards of his memories, which he can't completely trust. As his intelligence grows, his memories are coming back. The realm he falls into is an underground world, which consists of 10 levels, with different caves, tunnels, and monsters.

Keiran, millennia old archmage, has managed to successfully control the reincarnation cycle and retain all of his memories and skills. That’s about the only thing that’s gone right. Mana seems to have all but disappeared, and a cabal of mages from a nearby city have been using the villagers of his new home as a mana farm for their own purposes. How long was Keiran gone? Where did the mana go? Does it have anything to do with the missing moon from the sky or the bizarre loss of the written language from his first life? Why are the best mages on the level of bumbling apprentices?

As the Empress ascends her throne and Numistar Winterborn plots to gain unstoppable power, it falls to a hatchling Star Dragoness to navigate the clash between two almighty forces. Upon her tiny shoulders rests the future of all Dragonkind. Yet, does a sinister mastermind lurk behind the war convulsing the Island-World? A supremely twisted, devious foe? Islands will be toppled from their roots. Nations will be ravaged by sword and talon. Legends will rise. And the courage of a girl born to dance, born to the flame of Dragon life, must withstand the ultimate test.

Hostile in ways that a surface-dweller could never know, the tunnel-mazes of the Underdark challenge all who tread there. Among these souls are Drizzt Do'Urden and his magical cat, Guenhwyvar. Exiled from his drow homeland, Drizzt must fight for a new home in the boundless labyrinth. Meanwhile, he must watch for signs of pursuit - for the dark elves are not a forgiving race.

The thrilling follow-up to Scholar - in which, after discovering a coup attempt and preventing a bloody civil war, Quaeryt was appointed princeps of Tilbor - begins a new episode in the young Imager's life. Now second only to the governor, and still hiding his powers as an Imager, Quaeryt is enjoying his new position, as well as his marriage to Lord Bhayar's youngest sister, Vaelora, when a volcanic eruption devastates the old capital of Telaryn. He and his wife are dispatched to Extela, Telaryn's capitol city, to replace the governor killed in the eruption.

Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien... On the gaslight streets of the city, Nicholas assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for vengeance: The murder of Count Montesq.

In the distant future, society has crumbled. Dark forces now rule the land, keeping all humans under their oppressive thumbs.

A [Mage] team from Wistram Academy is dogging Pisces, Ceria, Ksmvr, and Yvlon's steps, with revenge in mind. However, adventurers must work, and the Horns have been called on as security for an ambitious project: building a road past the Bloodfields towards the rest of southern Izril. There is more to the world than just Liscor, however. Players of Celum are coming to Invrisil with a splash. There are [Knights] from Terandria roaming around Izril after their battle with the Witch of Webs, and they have heard tell of a mysterious slayer of Goblins.

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th-century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by - palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing - are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive. But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to reconsider her beliefs.