Epic Literature

When Ishmael Jones and his partner Penny are asked to escort a VIP on the late-night train to Bath, it would appear to be a routine case. The Organisation has acquired intelligence that an attempt is to be made on Sir Dennis Gregson’s life as he travels to Bath to take up his new position as Head of the British Psychic Weapons Division. Ishmael’s mission is to ensure that Sir Dennis arrives safely. How could anyone orchestrate a murder in a crowded railway carriage without being noticed and with no obvious means of escape?

Surviving in a tough situation is not always the best option; sometimes dying is much better than staying alive. The Academy showed Paladin Yaropolk what makes the world go round: pragmatism and personal gain. Restart was set in motion, but it only makes players more frantic. Now everyone plays only for themselves. Yaropolk faces the same dilemma: be like all of them, or keep his humanity and be known as an odd duck. Because there is only one rule in this world: kill or be killed....

Moon, Jade, and other favorites from the Indigo Cloud Court return with two new novellas from Martha Wells, who continues to enthusiastically ignore genre conventions in her exploration of the fascinating world of the Raksura. Her novellas and short stories contain all the elements fans have come to love from the Raksura books: courtly intrigue and politics, unfolding mysteries that reveal an increasingly strange wider world, and threats both mundane and magical.

Eva is a herd mistress without a herd. A tagalong by her own definition. Not thrown away by her people, but rather someone who created a new life for herself when the old one died. When she rescues one of the mysterious winged horses, a creature straight out of myth, from those who would enslave him, Eva opens the door to something her chosen people want more than anything else. An alliance.

Yaz finally knows where to find his mother. After losing his father, he's determined to get to her in time. Meanwhile, the Dark Sages have gained the full power of the dragonspires. Dragons rule the sky above Carttoom and Rend. Fire and death await anyone who dares resist. Only a desperate group of wizards and rangers stand between the kingdoms and slavery. Yaz's power is the ultimate trump card. If only he can gain control of it. The final battle is here.

Evil is spreading across the Western Continent. One by one, kingdom, king, and wizard are falling under its influence. Dragon King Bakari, Battlemaster Alli, and High Wizard Roland are now powerful leaders in their own right. Differing missions and responsibilities have separated them; Bakari flies north to find the last Dragon Rider, Alli goes south to find the source of the evil, and Roland, leader of the Citadel, finds himself stuck in the magic stream without his body.

Ayleth and Terryn survived the Witchwood, but they're no closer to solving the mystery of the dead shade hunter. In their quest for answers, they discover that a witch has escaped through the Great Barrier and is leaving a trail of corpses in her wake. A murderous witch is only one of Ayleth's problems, however. Terryn, her infuriating and intriguing rival, will give his all to win their competition. And Kephan, their Outpost Master, conceals more than one dangerous secret. Worst of all, while pursuing a lead, Ayleth finds herself on the hunt for a three-year-old girl....

In the follow-up to Stronghold, the time for retreat has come to an end as Rohan's son and heir, Pol, rallies his forces in a desperate bid to halt the advance of the invaders. But ancient rivalries begin to weaken his alliance and only time will tell whether those loyal to the High Prince can defeat both the foreign invaders and the betrayers in their own ranks. And even as Pol leads his troops forth, Andry, the Sunrunner Lord of Goddess Keep, is also determined to take the attack to this enemy force which has sworn to slay all workers of magic.

Four centuries after its founding, Solidar's Collegium of Imagers is in decline, the exploits of its founder, the legendary Quaeryt, largely forgotten. The Collegium is so lacking in leadership that the dying Maitre must summon Alastar, an obscure but talented senior imager who has little knowledge of politics in the capital, as his successor.

Ridmark Arban was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor. But he alone sees the danger to come. Calliande awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her. For she alone holds the secret that can save the world...or destroy it utterly. The secret of the Frostborn.

Exploring the rich depths of the history of Recluce, Magi'i introduced Lorn, a talented boy born into a family of Magi'i. A fastidious student mage who lacked blind devotion, Lorn was made into a lancer officer and shipped off to the frontier. Having survived an extended stint fighting both barbarian raiders and the giant beasts of the Accursed Forest, Lorn has proven himself to be a fine officer - perhaps too fine an officer. As his prowess has grown, so has his number of enemies and rivals.

What if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy? Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as the Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the crown prince’s Council of Eleven. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai. But the Lady has other ideas....

Rahl, a young apprentice scrivener on the island of Recluce, likes life to work out in his favor. And he has a bad attitude, too. To make sure things go his way, he uses a small amount of order magic at opportunistic moments-but his abilities are starting to get the attention of the Council magisters. So the Council sends him to the mage training school for testing, and through misuse of his powers, which are getting stronger all the time, Rahl gets himself banished to the continent and empire of Hamor.

When young Jamie Chase is kidnapped by his father and made the victim of a radical cult, his desperate mother, whose resources have run out, is aided by a fun-loving and hard-driving elf to get him back

Alex and Enea are back in the Crystal Sphere, where, in their absence, a catastrophe has struck. Virtual reality is now controlled by the Reapers: hybrid identities evolved from high-level NPCs who kill human players to harvest their neurograms. Reapers are constantly on the prowl for more neurograms. No one is safe from their cannibalistic greed. Survival in this new world becomes an ever-increasing challenge. A Reaper army is about to invade the Agrion cluster. Rion Castle has become the players' last outpost - but the struggle is too unequal.

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.

Mirror World is stirring, about to embrace the new global changes of its map. Everyone is getting ready to colonize No-Man's Lands. The strongest clans send their best fighters on recon missions, impatient to make stakes for the juiciest locations. Market prices have taken to the sky like flocks of scared pigeons. New alliances are struck while mercenaries upgrade their armor and grind edges on their swords. Their time is looming. A war is coming to Mirror World.

In a far-ago age, wizards ruled the world with a power so dark even the Elder races feared them. But when their power caused them to unleash dragons from the depths of the earth itself, they were undone by their own hand, thus freeing the world.

Magi'i of Cyador marks the beginning of a new tale from deep within the rich depths of the history of Recluce. This is the story of Lorn, a talented boy born into a family of Magi'i. A diligent student of remarkable talent, Lorn lacks only the single most coveted attribute required of a Magus of Cyador: Unquestionable loyalty. Lorn is too independent for his own good. So Lorn is forced to become a lancer officer, and he's sent to the frontier to fight off the all-too-frequent barbarian raids.

With a huge open planet before him, Jake has literally grown wings as he begins his conquest of the local wildlife. With his newfound freedom, he finds his true Path as a hunter. All the while trying to avoid the responsibilities of having founded the first city on the planet. Meanwhile, all across Earth, godly and mortal factions alike move to establish themselves as the dominant force on Earth. None of which Jake cares too much about while he finds himself far too busy doing what is truly important in life: Hunting, alchemy, and getting that D-grade evolution.