Epic Magic

Scrappy but small, Kirrin gets beat up. A lot. So, when he hides from the local bullies in a powerful man's carriage, he's inadvertently transported to a vast rural estate. Far from home and hungry, Kirrin is caught stealing from the kitchen and fears the worst. But the So'har Hak'kar is impressed with Kirrin's tenacity and quick wit. Instead of having him criminally punished, the great ruler sentences Kirrin to serve him while learning to fight, move with stealth, and solve intellectual puzzles. Unfortunately, Kirrin doesn't realize he's being trained as the lord's personal assassin.

Cora never dreamed of returning to her old life, but with her kingdom at stake and her brother's life on the line, she has no choice but to reclaim her former title. Yet with new changes come new dangers, this time in the form of scheming royals with cruel politics. If she can play their games, she just might keep her crown. But can she say the same for her heart?

Simon and Kestra are hurtling down paths ever farther from each other as the battle for control of Antora rages. Simon, newly king of the Halderians, is pressed on all sides by royal duties. Harlyn Mindell is his betrothed and intended queen, but Simon can't give up hope for a life with Kestra. Kestra, exiled, feels her magic growing - and despite everyone's warnings, she knows she must embrace it. That power is the key to the kingdom's future.

Following the destruction of the City of Mercy, an ancient god has been resurrected and sealed inside Beru's body. Both are at the mercy of the Prophet Pallas, who wields the god’s powers to subjugate the Six Prophetic Cities. But every day, the god grows stronger, threatening to break free and sow untold destruction. Meanwhile, far away from Pallas Athos, Anton learns to harness his full powers as a prophet. Armed with the truth about how the original prophets killed the god, Anton leads Jude, Hassan, and Ephyra on a desperate quest to the edge of the world.

Exiled by his power-hungry brothers, Prince Tarkyn encounters the woodfolk: a secretive group of telepaths living deep in the woodlands. When bounty hunters attack, Tarquin narrowly escapes with the aid of the forest-dwellers and discovers a secret about their source of magic. Embracing his new identity, allegiances are formed as the woodfolk hail Tarquin as the guardian of the forest.

Three of the most powerful necromancers in the Blighted Lands have banded together into an unstoppable force, one capable of breaching the Craggy Mountains and laying waste to the lands beyond. If they cannot be stopped, they will tear the Allied Lands apart. Nothing will survive. And so Emily, the Necromancer’s Bane, is called upon once more to stand in defense of her adopted homeland and stop the necromancers in their tracks. Her presence may be the only thing keeping the Allied Lands from shattering as the war turns hot once again.

Protector of Light, Fiona Farrow, is finally reunited with her parents, but the country has been demolished and humans are flocking to a new city to worship an all-powerful demon mage by the name of Cagliostro. When Fiona discovers Cagliostro's plan to destroy the Monarchy, her only choice is to try and stop him. But this won't be easy. She can't use her magical Armor without being detected and hunted down, and must overcome alluring vampires, forceful demons and a traitor in her midst if she wishes to reach her target.

Still grieving the death of her guardian and dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by the Commander of the King's Army and summoned to the capital. But the king isn't the only one interested in Bleak's powers. The leader of an infamous society of warriors, the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated.

A plague is spreading across the land. Crops are rotting. People are dying in the streets. Sora, with the help of her magical Cat's Eye necklace, is the only one who can stop it. She must travel overseas to the Lost Isles, a place of legend and mystery. Only there can she destroy the bloodmage, Volcrian, putting an end to the curse. She is accompanied by Crash, a lethal assassin who once threatened - and saved - her life. But Sora is beginning to question her dark companion.

Following a fierce battle, Grau's life hangs in the balance. Velsa seeks healing and refuge in the land of Laionesse, only to learn that Grau's injuries may be beyond help - unless Velsa and her friends can beg a favor from the great necromancer Dormongara, who lives alone in a castle on a mountain and is notoriously unkind to visitors. Indeed, the steep price he demands will have unexpected consequences, bringing an old nemesis back into Velsa's life along with a notorious gang of bandits.

Velsa is Grau's wife and a free woman - thanks to a lie. And the High Sorcerer's Palace is no place for keeping a secret, with its bustling social life of parties and balls. The beautiful princess with coveted magic, the doll girl heiress, the Peacock General and the blood-sucking gentleman from another realm - are they friends or enemies? Velsa is torn between her old role as a concubine and her place in a strange new world.

The kingdom of Zangaria teeters on the edge of civil war. The nobles are plotting another coup, the merchants are demanding political representation and a say in government, and the peasants are on the verge of outright revolt. Everyone is preparing for war. And when a deadly secret from the past resurfaces at the worst possible moment, Princess Alassa, one of Emily's closest friends, finds herself having to make a choice that will put her at the center of the storm and determine the future of the kingdom … Or see everything she loves destroyed in the fires of civil war.

While trying to teach her adopted daughter, Reema, how to work with molten glass, Opal receives a letter from Master Magician Zitora Cowan requesting Opal's immediate help. Zitora resigned from the Sitian Council over two years ago to search for her lost sister, and no one has heard from her since. The letter is probably a trick, but Opal refuses to pass up the opportunity to help her mentor, who may be in genuine trouble. Good thing Opal isn't that easy to fool.

Eighteen-year-old Myla Lewis is a girl who loves two things: kicking ass and kicking ass. She's not your everyday quasi-demon, half-demon, and half-human, girl. For the past five years, Myla has lived for the days she gets to fight in Purgatory's arena. When souls want a trial by combat for their right to enter heaven or hell, they go up against her, and she has not lost a battle yet.

The powerful farseeker Elspeth Gordie is sent to Sutrium, seat of the totalitarian council that rules the Land, to seal an alliance between the secret Misfit community at Obernewtyn and rebel forces. The journey takes her far beyond the borders of the Land, across the sea and into the heart of the mysterious desert region of Sador, where she seeks help to destroy the weaponmachines. But before her dark quest can begin, Elspeth must learn the truth of her dreams: she must understand why the Beforetimers destroyed their world....

From master storyteller Melina Marchetta comes an exhilarating new fantasy springing from her celebrated epic, Finnikin of the Rock. Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home...or so he believes. Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been taken roughly and lovingly in hand by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper with a warrior's discipline.

With the armies of undead slowly encircling Greendown, James Holden doesn't have much time to get behind its walls before the witches and vampires of the northern mountains finish closing in. He'll have to get his lich-cursed apprentice and the rest of their party through hundreds of miles of ghoul-infested forest before it's too late to save the city.

Months of imprisonment have forged Gwyn into something new; something dangerous. Eight dead sorceresses whisper in her ear, hungry for blood and vengeance - and after unleashing the red magic to make her escape, she fears she won’t be able to stop. All Gwyn really wants is to go home. But as she soon discovers, escaping the Clockwork City may prove an impossible task.

Arilyn Moonblade has always feared the elfshadow, the essence of her sword's magic. When she learns the terrible truth behind her inherited moonblade, she vows to find a way to escape her fate. What begins as a means to an end becomes a deeply personal commitment. Determined to succeed in her quest, Arilyn will risk all she holds dear.

Neon Yang continues to redefine the limits of silkpunk fantasy with their Tensorate novellas, which the New York Times lauded as "joyously wild". In this third volume, an investigation into atrocities committed at a classified research facility threaten to expose secrets that the Protectorate will do anything to keep hidden.