Epic Literature

Some people just knew how to go out in style. Tim had never been one of those guys. Tim was always a planner. The plan was to get into college, graduate, and find a well-paying job. That plan was coming together nicely until he saw a presentation to get paid to play The Etheric Coast. At his graduation ceremony. After watching the company's employee recruitment video, Big Richie's words had a whole new meaning. He could spend his life going from a cubicle at work to a one-bedroom apartment and back again...or enter a virtual world of unlimited possibilities.

Ysabel is a contemporary fantasy that centers on the Saint-Sauveur Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence, where a 15-year-old boy accompanies his father on a photo shoot. Befriending a whip-smart American girl and confronting a knife-wielding maniac, the boy finds that the ancient site shimmers with mysteries of fantastical design.

Aelin has risked everything to save her people - but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day....With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they've gathered to battle Erawan's hordes might not be enough to save them.

It is said that when war threatens the world, one individual will be selected by prophecy to lead the Shadow Warriors out of the Land of Mist and reclaim the freedom that has been stolen. Shanti has grown up under the constant threat of war. Since she helped her people defeat a raiding party by using a special power, she's been a hunted woman. Carrying rare abilities and an uncanny fighting aptitude, Shanti is the only hope of salvation for her people.

In an era in which ancient gods live in the world’s cities together with their mortal followers, forming tight-knit guilds and powerful temples, the disfigured ash-caster and blacksmith Hineni has lived his entire life as a reclusive outcast. Hidden away behind layers of clothing and just as many walls and doors, he only ever leaves the house in the dead of night, so that neither the gods or anyone else can ever see him. However, on one of these night-tide outings, he finds that has gained the unwanted attention of what is seemingly a perfectly normal owl.

Luke was your typical nine-to-five office drone when he was killed in a head-on car collision during his morning commute. Instead of going to heaven, Luke's soul is brought to a hellish realm on the verge of total destruction, where two supernatural beings soon engage in brutal combat. Defeating her rival, the victorious Arke prepares to claim her prize, the powerful God Seed. But the ancient artifact has plans of its own, offering to soul-bond with Luke, who accepts and flees to the world of Theos to escape Arke's wrath.

What do you do when the game resets around you? Just when Montana thought he had life in Vuldranni figured out, the rug is pulled out from under him. He's alone once again, but now he's in the crosshairs of the man who would be emperor, and a whole host of people are counting on Montana to provide a safe haven for them. Montana has one hope of actually completing his quest of forming a dukedom: he needs to bust Nikolai out of prison. A prison that no one has ever escaped from alive.

She was Tarma. Born to the Clan of the Hawk of the nomadic Shin'a'in people, she saw her entire clan slain by brigands. Vowing revenge upon the murderers, she became one of the sword-sworn, the most elite of all warriors. She was Kethry. Born to a noble house, sold into a hateful "marriage", she fled life's harshness for the sanctuary of the White Winds, a powerful school of sorcery. United by sword-spell and the will of the goddess, Tarma and Kethry swore a blood oath to carry on their mutual fight against evil. Together, sword master and sorceress set forth to fulfill their destiny.

Eric didn't ask to be a vampire. In fact he didn't even believe in them. Biting your own tongue with your fangs does a lot of convincing. Even so, being a part-time undead isn't as easy as you might think. It can let you hold down a day job, true, but sometimes the night "life" can be more than a little difficult, what with those bloodthirsty urges and predatory instincts kicking in.

Having survived their journey into the Dark Heart, Arthur and his dragon, Brixaby, have a new goal: complete their Legendary card sets. Unfortunately, the next Legendary card is locked away in Blood Moon, a hive with a reputation for chaos, lawlessness, scourgling eruptions, and—rumor has it—dedicated dragon hunters. Still, Arthur and his retinue feel they have little to fear. Then again, they also don't have much knowledge of what actually lies ahead.

Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire's exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Korda's father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny.

Dragons, catgirls, guns, and magic—oh, and the ability to stop time. What more could a modern gal want? Well... If my past would stay locked in a dark corner back on Earth, that'd be nice. Right, there was that one other thing: finding a way home before the world ends. But hey, that's what my mom would call the last step in your five-year plan. The first? Play with magic.

In the lower wards of Kahnzoka, the port city of the Blessed Empire, 18-year-old ward boss Isoka enforces the will of her criminal masters with the power of Melos, the Well of Combat. The money she collects goes to keep her little sister living in comfort, far from the bloody streets they grew up on. When Isoka's magic is discovered by the government, she's arrested and brought to the Emperor's spymaster, who sends her on an impossible mission: Steal Soliton, a legendary ghost ship - a ship from which no one has ever returned. If she fails, her sister’s life is forfeit.

Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the king of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken. His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica - the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire.

The Empire’s ancient foes have come to destroy, bringing with them threats new and old. The Blood Clan pirates and the savage Hudar Horde cavalry are joined by the magic of the Vandil, long believed lost to the ages. Kullen and Natisse must fight to preserve the threads that hold Dimvein together. Only together can they and their allies both high and low keep the enemy from burning everything they’ve built to the ground. It’s a race to the end, blades slashing and fire raging.

In the fifth and final part of the Dragonian series, 18-year-old Elena Watkins and her dragon, the Rubicon, need to find the missing ingredients in order to free her father from Etan. But what could the missing ingredient be? And will she be willing to sacrifice her life if they don't find it before time runs out?

An evil has risen in the land, one that, if not dealt with, threatens to start a war which would include the gods themselves. To counter it, the realm must call on its greatest heroes, its most courageous adventurers. Unfortunately, those great heroes, those brave adventurers, are all busy - being dead mostly. So it is left to Dannen Ateran, known in his youth as the Bloody Butcher, but more recently as the passed-out drunk at the table in the corner, to lead his companions against an army of the dead.

The Worldwalkers of legend are beings touched by Fate and transported from another realm, tasked with a grand destiny. Traditionally, they prevent great cataclysms or the fall of empires. Whatever their undertaking, their appearance brings about momentous change. It’s been some two hundred years since the last Great Game, but the time has come again. Seven are chosen, and the game begins once more . . .

Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien is bold, daring and beautiful - the perfect seductress and the greatest assassin her world has ever known. But though she won the king’s contest and became his champion, Celaena has been granted neither her liberty nor the freedom to follow her heart. Celaena faces a choice that is tearing her to pieces: kill in cold blood for a man she hates or risk sentencing those she loves to death.

Unfinished Tales is a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth to the end of the War of the Ring and provides those who have read The Lord of the Rings with a whole collection of background and new stories from the 20th century’s most acclaimed popular author.