Paranormal Adventure

In The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and best-selling author Gardner Dozois presents an all-new anthology of original epic tales by a stellar cast of award-winning modern masters - many of them set in their authors' best-loved worlds. Join today's finest tellers of fantastic tales, including George R. R. Martin, K. J. Parker, Robin Hobb, Scott Lynch, Ken Liu, C. J. Cherryh, Daniel Abraham, Lavie Tidhar, Ellen Kushner, and more on action-packed journeys into the outer realms of dark enchantment and intrepid derring-do.

Lyra and Will, the two ordinary children whose extraordinary adventures begin in The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife, are in unspeakable danger. With help from Iorek Byrnison the armored bear and two tiny Gallivespian spies, they must journey to a dank and gray-lit world where no living soul has ever gone.

Thor, the Norse god of thunder, is worse than a blowhard and a bully - he’s ruined countless lives and killed scores of innocents. After centuries, Viking vampire Leif Helgarson is ready to get his vengeance, and he’s asked his friend Atticus O’Sullivan, the last of the Druids, to help take down this Norse nightmare.

Sophia Sinclair has hit rock bottom. Her biggest fear has been realized: She's been thrown in the Black Citadel for being a Fireborn. Except she's not a Fireborn - and for once, that's a problem. With her powers gone, it's only a matter of time until the Council of Magic sets her free. But is she truly free without her powers? She may have despised the target her gift painted on her back, but it was still hers. Who is she without it? As if an identity crisis wasn't bad enough, one of Sophia's friends goes missing, leaving behind a ruined, blood-stained house.

Cassie's had a rough few months. Being a vampire came with its own risks. Being a con-artist vampire was even tougher. Being forced to fake one's own death to keep from getting thrown in the slammer or murdered and then resurrecting oneself? Really takes a lot out of a girl. Frankly, she could use a little down time. But, true to form, she's skipped that and opted to jump straight from the frying pan into the fire as a new recruit-in-training for the Old Guard. They think she's got the skill set to help them ferret out some troublemaking vampires in the Undercity.

I didn't want to be worshiped like some deity—an instant replacement for the asuras. For so long, these people looked up to the asuras as gods, but the asuras kept trying to kill them. Arthur Leywin has finally returned to the continent of Dicathen, but his home is still firmly in the hands of the enemy. His display of unprecedented power brings hope to his allies and fear to his enemies. It also deeply embroils him in a conflict between the godlike asuras, with Agrona Vritra on one side and Kezess Indrath on the other.

The downside to faking your own death is that people tend to get upset when they find out they’ve been had. In Atticus O’Sullivan’s case, they’re upset enough to come after him to make sure he dies for real this time. Yet he can’t remain in hiding anymore: He has to bind his apprentice, Granuaile, to the earth so that she can become the first new Druid in centuries.

The Blackened Blade is the first in a new paranormal why-choose series. It's full of action, revenge, and five dark and damaged love interests that the FMC will not have to choose between. For mature listeners.

Having escaped an Unseelie prince and a world of shadows, Emerson and Calla are now hunted by the Guild of Guardians. On the run, constantly trying to remain one step ahead, they must figure out how to find and rescue everyone the Guild has taken from them. Then, in an unprecedented move, Unseelie Prince Roarke breaks the fae realm's most important rule. Now two worlds stand on the brink of war. Caught in the middle between guardians and Prince Roarke's forces, Em knows her Griffin Ability is powerful enough to stop them both.

There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse. What will be the spark that lights the conflagration? Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood–that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.

They say fire rained from the sky for seven days signaling the arrival of the monsters. They say humanity fought hard to beat them. They say the celestials saved us. They say a lot of things. Me? I deal in the present. In scouting for useful things and keeping my team alive outside the protective walls of our base. I might not have a fancy monster-killing blade like the Sweepers do, but I've avoided getting my face eaten off so far, so I call that a win. But when my base is taken by monsters, my scout skills are the only thing standing between imminent demise and survival.

After dying and being reborn into a world that's built like a video game, Jim has found himself stuck in a very old-world style new-player zone for low-level adventurers. Unfortunately, the zone fell out of use centuries ago, and no one told the monsters they were supposed to take it easy on the Noobs. Even worse, the only new player around is Jim. Jim has been given an opportunity, and he'll do his best to take advantage of it.

Devereau Webb is in uncharted territory. He thought he knew what he was doing when he chose to enter London's supernatural society, but he's quickly discovering that his new status isn't welcome to everyone. He's lived through hard times before, and he's no stranger to the murky underworld of city life. But when he comes across a young werewolf girl who's not only been illegally turned but who has also committed two brutal murders, he will discover just how difficult life can be for supernaturals - and also how far his own predatory powers extend.

My name is Kazimir Wolfe. People call me "Kaz", except they don’t. I never use my real name; it’s too dangerous, for me and for anyone I meet. I’m on the run from the law, who think I killed my aunt, and from whoever did kill her, because they want to finish the job. So, I move around a lot, working construction or whatever job I can find. It’s a lonely life. I don’t let anyone get close...people who get close to me end up dead. Why? I’m a wizard. The world’s only wizard, as far as I know.

A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems.

This is the way the world ends, for the last time. The season of endings grows darker, as civilization fades into the long cold night. Essun - once Damaya, once Syenite, now avenger - has found shelter, but not her daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request. But if Essun does what he asks, it would seal the fate of the Stillness forever. Far away, her daughter Nassun is growing in power - and her choices will break the world.

Where power is measured in cards, Arthur stands among the elite as a Legendary card wielder now forever linked to a frighteningly powerful dragon. Or Brixaby will be once he grows from the size of a parrot. Before that can happen, a chance encounter whisks Arthur and Brixaby away to a place they never thought possible: A new dragon hive outside the kingdom. This Free Hive doesn't suffer from the scourge that's infected the rest of the planet. It's a place where crafting using card powers is king.

It's raining in Liscor. The spring rains have come and Liscor's entire geography changes with the dawning of the new year. The Floodplains of Liscor live up to their name, and the only way anyone is going to travel is by boat. With the rains come more monsters, dungeon delving, more goblins...not to mention some unwanted attention for the Wandering Inn.

The Lowlands’ city states have lived in peace for decades, hailed as bastions of civilization. Yet that peace is about to end. A distant empire has been conquering neighbours with highly trained soldiers and sophisticated combat techniques. And the city states are its desirable new prize. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker – spymaster, artificer and statesman – foresees the threat, as the empires’ armies march ever closer. So it falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of the cities’ leaders.

Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I’m stuck in his body. Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I’m getting out of here. Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you’ve got the strength of ten men—though maybe I shouldn’t have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster.