Showing results by narrator "Gabrielle de Cuir" in All Categories

Nothing is as it seems to be. The ancient past is not dead. The hand of the Wizard Kings still reaches out to challenge the Androfrancine Order, to control the magick and technology that they sought to understand and claim for their own. Nebios, the boy who watched the destruction of the city of Windwir, now runs the vast deserts of the world, far from his beloved Marsh Queen. He is being hunted by strange women warriors, while his dreams are invaded by warnings from his dead father.

Who is the Crimson Empress, and what does her conquest of the Named Lands really mean? Who holds the keys to the Moon Wizard’s Tower? The plots within plots are expanding as the characters seek their way out of the maze of intrigue. The world is expanding as they discover lands beyond their previous carefully controlled knowledge. Hidden truths reveal even deeper truths, and nothing is as it seemed to be.

Hedonistic socialite turned undercover detective and poster girl for the war effort, Fancy Anders is back to solve another case. The Hollywood Canteen has just opened as a refuge and nightclub to give enlisted men some nights they will never forget as they prepare to head into war. With Hollywood elite cooking food and tending bar, with beautiful young actresses and starlets serving as hostesses and dance partners, the Canteen is a wonderland indeed. But when a young hostess dies in a car accident, the entire club—and possibly the entire American military service—is in jeopardy.

Into the darkness within; or else the light.... When Margaret Atwood wrote these words, she left open the possibility that even our darkest tales may harbor a glimmer of hope. In Or Else the Light, the third and final entry in the Dystopia Triptych, more than a dozen of the best minds in science fiction conclude their stories with a descent into darkness, or perhaps a ray of light.

These 16 stories represent a unique perspective on Orson Scott Card's short fiction, from science fiction to social commentary to pure fairy tale. Included are three new stories not yet published in book form. None have ever been released in audio before.

On November 29, 1909, police were called to a ramshackle home in East Orange, New Jersey, where they found the emaciated body of 24-year-old Oceana "Ocey" Snead facedown in the bathtub - dead of an apparent suicide by drowning. There was even a note left behind. But it would not take authorities long to discover that Ocey's death was no suicide. And Ocey's own mother and two aunts were far from the sorrowful caretakers they appeared to be.

Immediately the words from Anna Karenina take on a significance for the women who have gathered over good food and good wine for their first book club meeting of the year. These six very different women are not quite friends, not quite strangers but, bonded by their love of literature, they share a deep understanding of one another - or so they think.

Lewis Dodd, a young, troubled composer, arrives at “Sanger’s Circus”, a wild gathering consisting of precocious children, a slovenly mistress, and an assortment of hangers-on in the Austrian Alps overseen by the eccentric Albert Sanger, a composer himself. Tessa, Sanger’s lively 14-year-old daughter, falls in love with their handsome visitor. After Albert’s death leaves Tessa and her siblings penniless, they must implore extended family members for assistance. Florence, Tessa’s 28-year-old cousin, graciously steps in to help and she falls in love with Lewis.

Joyce Lackey was a classic baby-boomer. She had it all: a high-paying position, a beautiful condo, a BMW. But there was one thing she didn’t have any more—her youth, and that was what she needed most. Her boss fired her because he wanted someone with “young blood and young ideas.” Joyce was forced to start all over again. But could she compete with all the beautiful young kids who were so hungry for what she had?

The year is 1590. The city of London flourishes, the most brilliant jewel in the crown of Elizabeth I. Years ago, Elizabeth forged a pact with her faerie counterpart to secure both of their thrones. Now that alliance is in danger. Michael Deven, a rising star in Elizabeth’s court, seeks the “hidden player” who has influenced mortal politics for so long. Lady Lune, a faerie out of favor, must infiltrate the mortal world to protect her vicious queen. Together this pair will uncover the secret of Invidiana’s power - a secret that has the potential to shatter both realms.

Gerald Wade is among the many invited to the Chimneys estate for a party. Rented by Sir Oswald and Lady Coote for the season, it is rather the place to be. Unfortunately, during his stay there Gerry has garnered the teasing of his friends for a particular talent of his: to oversleep. One day the set decides to “fix” the matter with a little joke. The plan is to set out eight alarm clocks in Gerry’s room, all set to different times … as early as 6:30 a.m.! When they go to check on him, his friends discover that Gerry hasn’t overslept this time. In fact, he has been murdered.

When the black elf king comes calling, / Hide your children and your gold, / When dead men hunger, outside, the bitter cold, / When trolls venture down from mountain peak, / Hold tightly your bones, for them they seek. / Beware they who thirst on island bleak, / The Regent to come and scourge your keep, / The Black Hand will stalk you, their ranks ever deep, / And Thetan will be there, of his wrath you will weep, / The Harbinger of Doom, your soul to reap.

Science fiction dwells mostly in the realm of possibility, where mysteries proliferate nevertheless, meaning is never static, and “time and history have convinced us that things are not as they seem”. So, too, does all language, argues Samuel Delany, in his vigorous justification for the writing life. Chronicling his struggle with dyslexia, the evolution of his gay and Black identity during the AIDS crisis, and his experiences and relationships through five decades as a writer of fiction and nonfiction, Delany is a longtime observer of language’s inner workings.

In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians is a collection of 26 short stories detailing the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War.

Carny Sullivan grew up in the zany world of a traveling carnival. Quaint and peaceful Serenity, Texas, has given her a home, a life, and a child. Logan Brisco is the smoothest, slickest, handsomest man Serenity has ever seen. But Carny Sullivan knows a con artist when she sees one—and she’s seen plenty, starting with her father. As far as Carny Sullivan can tell, she’s the only one in town who has his number. Because from his Italian shoes to his movie-actor smile, Logan has the rest of the town snowed.

The world is going to hell. So begins this book, pointing to the prevalence of apocalypse - cataclysmic destruction and nightmarish end-of-the-world scenarios - in contemporary entertainment.

Algernon Blackwood, a journalist and broadcast narrator, was one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. The title story, "The Touch of Pan", explores the lingering presence of myth in everyday life. In "The Glamour of the Snow", Blackwood winds a tale about a man's infatuation with a supernatural winter beauty. In "The Attic", the ghost of an usurer haunts the old Chateaux and, on the anniversary of a young boy's death, the boy's cat brings the family together. "The Willows" follows two campers who are on a canoe trip down the Danube.

Micah Abrams has been transformed. No longer the bully who tormented David Donner, he faithfully follows a divine mission to spread hope and healing across the ashy wastelands of the Pacific Northwest. But when Sera Donner is taken from him once again, doubt comes prowling for Micah's own soul, and he makes a shocking choice that changes everything. Running from an enemy he once believed couldn't destroy him, adrift in a lawless land where people will do anything to survive, Micah must come to grips with a God whose power is perfected in weakness.

For a hundred years, Delbin has lived on Earth, voluntarily cut off from his birth land, Moranaia. He's learned to hide his elven nature and use his mind magic without getting noticed - until he accidentally wields it on the Moranaian scout sent to check on him.

In the aftermath of a cataclysmic eruption, America becomes a wasteland trapped in a suffocating volcanic winter. In 16-year-old Sera Donner's isolated Pacific Northwest town, thousands are dead and hundreds are missing - including her own mother. With precious resources running low, neighbor turns against neighbor, sparking a brutal civil war, and when the new survivalist regime decides Sera's disabled brother isn't fit to live, she picks up the rifle she's vowed never to touch and fights to defend those she loves.