Funny, wise, and infused with a sense of wonder and knowledge....Nobody else made myths real and valuable in the way Roger Zelazny could.
--Neil Gaiman
Lord of Light is a classic tale of the far future from the incomparable Roger Zelazny. Winner of the Hugo Award--one of six Zelazny received over the course of his legendary career, as well as three Nebula Awards and numerous other honors--Lord of Light stands with Joe Haldeman's The Forever War and Frank Herbert's Dune as one of the seminal novels that changed the way readers looked at science fiction. Experience it and you will understand why New York Times bestselling sf author Greg Bear says, Reading Zelazny is like dropping into a Mozart string quartet as played by Thelonius Monk.
An extraordinary artist with few rivals in his chosen arena, Dan Simmons possesses a restless talent that continually presses boundaries while tantalizing the mind and touching the soul. Now he offers us a superb quintet of novellas -- five dazzling masterworks of speculative fiction, including Orphans of the Helix, his award-winning return to the Hyperion Universe -- that demonstrates the unique mastery, breathtaking invention, and flawless craftsmanship of one of contemporary fiction's true greats.
Human colonists seeking something other than godhood encounter their long-lost cousins...and an ancient scourge.
Available in the U.S. for the first time, ehre is the second volume in the exceptional Legends of the Riftwar series from “a master storyteller who weaves exciting, sweeping epic tales” (SF Site)
Durine, Kethold, and Pirojil are mercenaries who have spent 20 years fighting other people's battles, defeating the Tsurani and the Bugs and the goblins. Yet now it seems, there are no more enemies to vanquish, leaving them with a few months of welcomed garrison duty as the Riftwar rages on west in Crydee. When the trio are ordered to accompany a lady and her husband safely to the city of LaMut, it looks like an easy--even cushy--assignment. But in Midkemia, nothing is that simple. . . .
Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim--aka James Stark--is, quite simply, one of the most outrageous uber-anti-heroes ever to kick serious butt on this or any other world or dimension.
In his previous three adventures--Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, and Aloha from Hell--Stark has fled Hell for California, taken on angels, demons, outlaw bikers, zombies, covert government operatives, and all manner of monsters, while saving humankind from total annihilation on numerous occasions. But in Devil Said Bang, he finally assumes the role he was destined for: as the new Lucifer, ruler of the Underworld.
Combining outrageously edgy humor with a dark and truly twisted vision, Richard Kadrey has once again delivered a masterful amalgam of action novel, urban fantasy, and in-your-face horror that will delight a wide range of readers--from Christopher Moore and Warren Ellis fans to the devoted adherents of Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Simon Green.
An ordinary girl discovers she is a lost princess of Faerie--and is torn between two worlds and between two loves.
Anita was living an ordinary life, until an elegant stranger pulled her into another world. She discovers she is Tania, the lost princess of Faerie. Since Tania's mysterious disappearance on the eve of her wedding five hundred years before, Faerie has been sunk in gloom. With her return, Faerie comes alive again. But Tania can't forget Anita's world, or the boy she loved there. Torn between two loves and between two worlds, Tania comes to realize why she disappeared so long ago. There is a magical ability that only she possesses, and that she must use to stop a sinister plan that threatens not only her, but the entire world of Faerie.
War is forever
The people on Earth no longer remember how the human race was nearly obliterated centuries earlier during the terror visited upon them by the merciless Xul. But the Star Marines, thirty thousand light years from home, know all too well the horror that still lives.
In the year 2886, in the midst of the intergalactic war that has been raging nonstop for nearly a decade, the unthinkable has occurred. Intelligence has located the gargantuan hidden homeworld of humankind's dedicated foe, the brutal, unstoppable Xul. The time has come for the courageous men and women of the 1st Marine Interstellar Expeditionary Force to strike the killing blow. But misguided politics on an Earth that no longer supports their mission could prove the Marine's greatest enemy--as they plunge bravely into the maelstrom of conflict . . . and into the heart of a million-year-old mystery.
Tania is a princess of Faerie. And now she must return to the Mortal World.
Once upon a time, Tania was an ordinary girl. But then she was swept into another world, where she was the long-lost princess of the elegant and magical court of Faerie, and only she could save the court from great peril.
Now Tania--and her true love, Edric--will go back to the Mortal Realm to seek Queen Titania, lost hundreds of years ago while searching for Tania.
Their return leads to struggles with Tania's much-loved mortal parents and friends as she and Edric try to conceal their secret. But much more serious dangers lurk: The sinister Lord Drake is not yet defeated, they are pursued by dark supernatural forces, and Tania's two worlds are about to collide in amazing and frightening ways she never could have anticipated.
To save two kingdoms from a despot's rule, one man must journey into the unknown, seeking answers to the strange and powerful secret that so plagues him.
Wyl Thirsk, loyal soldier of Morgravia, has seen his best friend slain, his sister tortured, and his mentor sent to certain death, all at the hands of his sovereign, the cruel and manipulative King Celimus. Now Celimus, believing himself to be rid of the moral constraints of the Thirsk influence, has turned his greedy eye to expansion ... and Morgravia's neighboring kingdom, ruled by the spirited but inexperienced Queen Valentyna. As Celimus pressures Valentyna into a doomed political marriage, Wyl endeavors desperately to preserve both the honor of his country and the freedom of the woman he loves.
But fate has other plans for him. Despite his friends and loved ones becoming increasingly tangled in the evil machinations of King Celimus, though war with the dread Northern Kingdom appears imminent and Valentyna is poised to succumb to Morgravia's oily rule, Wyl must leave behind all he knows and cares about and travel into the land from which none return, seeking out the bestower of Myrren's sinister gift.
The universe of the mind is a limitless expanse of wonders, filled with worlds and secrets that cannot be fully explored within the pages of a single novel. Here, science fiction's most beloved and highly honored writers revisit their best-known worlds in perhaps the greatest concentration of science fiction ever in one volume.
For all the rabid fans who devoured Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, comes A.E. Moorat's Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter! This outrageously entertaining and deeply irreverent tale of palace intrigue and bloody supernatural mayhem features the most unlikely monster-slayer ever to go toe-to-toe with the living dead. It's George A. Romero meets the Bronte sisters--it's Max Brooks's World War Z in Victorian garb! Watch out flesh-eating zombie scum, it's Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter!
A witty and unexpected take on the zombie genre; I had a great time.
--Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels
Subtitled A Zombie Memoir, Brains looks at America's favorite walking-dead flesh-eaters from an audaciously original and deliciously gruesome new perspective. Debut author Robin Becker blazes new ground with this story of former college professor-cum-sentient zombie Jack Barnes, who recounts the tale of the resistance he organized in the wake of the recent zombie apocalypse. World War Z; Shaun of the Dead; Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies... Becker tops them all with Brains--a witty, tasty treat for anyone who every spent a midnight glued to a classic George A. Romero zombie epic!
In this thrilling sequel to Black Dog--the first volume of award-winning Caitlin Kittredge's dark urban fantasy series, Hellhound Chronicles--a soul catcher must stop demonic monsters from her past from infecting the world.
After winning her freedom from a reaper and facing off against a fearsome demon boss, Ava is now a masterless hellhound. Her friend, Leo, has found a new life after death: He's returned as the Grim Reaper--the first in centuries. As both try to adjust to their new circumstances, Ava's dark past comes back to wreak havoc on her . . . and the entire world.
A breed of monsters as smart as vampires--but who behave like zombies--has been sighted in Kansas. Ava can't believe these zompires are back. She thought she'd kicked their asses for good when she first battled them in a Nazi death camp. Now, they're spreading their infection across America's heartland thanks to a nasty piece of business named Cain.
Free at last after being locked up in Hell for millennia, Cain has some scores to settle. To stop him, Ava must form an unholy alliance with some old foes . . . a bargain that will lead her to uncover deeply buried truths about her past--and Leo's future.
The heart-pounding conclusion to the Books of Raziel trilogy, a gothic supernatural tale about a girl who discovers she holds the keys to both Heaven and Hell--and that angels, demons, and all the creatures in between will stop at nothing to possess her and control that power.
Like sand in an hourglass, time is slipping away . . .
The war started by three powerful angel siblings--Raziel, Lucifel, and Israfel--has divided the kingdoms of both Heaven and Hell for ages. Now, that destruction is spilling over into the human world, and only the Archon can stop it.
She is Angela Mathers, a human who sits on the Devil's vacant throne, seemingly fulfilling a prophecy of ruin. As the Archon, Angela alone can oppose Lucifel and open Raziel's Book to use its power for good. But to do so would mean murdering her best friend, Sophia, and that's a sacrifice Angela refuses to contemplate.
But ruin does not always mean destruction--sometimes it means revolution. Echoes of the past have resurrected the Angelus, the Song of Creation, and its notes are somehow linked to the Book. Now Angela must discover the truth behind the song and her own origins, but time is running out. There are dark forces who believe Angela's success will not end tragedy but continue it, and they're determined to stop the Archon's destiny once and for all.
The second book in Jay Allan's Far Star series, Enemy in the Dark, follows Blackhawk and the crew of the Wolf's Claw as they are gradually--and unwillingly--drawn more deeply into Marshal Lucerne's campaign to form a united power bloc in the Far Stars to resist imperial encroachment.
Successfully completing their mission to rescue Marshal Augustin Lucerne's daughter, Astra, the crew of the Wolf's Claw are enjoying some well-deserved rest--all, that is, except Blackhawk. The space gun for hire cannot escape Lucerne's relentless pleas for help against growing imperial control in the Far Stars. While Blackhawk deeply respects his friend, he fears that the power Lucerne offers will lead him back to his old dark ways.
His resistance crumbles, however, when Lucerne presents evidence that the imperial governor has been manipulating the conflicts in the Far Stars. Convinced of the deadly danger of imperial domination, Blackhawk and his crew board the Wolf's Claw once more and set out to gather intelligence on the Empire's movements--the proof Lucerne needs to unite the fractured and feuding worlds of the Far Stars into single power bloc capable of resisting imperial aggression. But deep in the sparsely populated territory of the Far Stars, he discovers that the imperial governor's machinations are far reaching--and threaten the independence of every world this side of the Void.
A man seemingly running from himself, Blackhawk is beginning to realize he can no longer remain a prisoner to his own past while the future of the Far Stars is in jeopardy.
For readers of Deborah Harkness, J.D. Horn, Lev Grossman, and any supernatural thriller, a young witch must risk death and damnation to defeat a powerful ancient evil in Alex Gordon's follow-up to the masterful debut Gideon.
In unearthing her father's secret past, Lauren Reardon discovered a shocking truth about herself. She is a Child of Endor, a sect of witches who believe they are the guardians of the thin places--areas across the globe where evil can seep through the divide between the worlds separating the living and the restless dead. At any time, she can be called upon to close one of these breaches and prevent demons from infiltrating our realm. When Lauren has a disturbing vision of an Oregon forest, she is drawn back to the familiar woods of the misty Pacific Northwest to investigate.
Locals had long whispered about an abandoned logging camp known as Jericho--of the strange disappearances and eerie sounds heard in the woods deep in the night. But these ghost stories only hint at the true evil lurking within the camp's dilapidated buildings, a primeval malevolence far more terrifying than Lauren's darkest imaginings. And now, Lauren must face this evil, even if it takes her life . . . even if it costs her soul.
The battle for the unification and rule of the Far Stars Confederation will be decided in Jay Allan's exhilarating third and final book in the swashbuckling space saga, The Far Stars, begun with Shadow of Empire and Enemy in the Dark.
The Far Stars stands on the edge of a precipice. The forces of Governor Vos have surged forth, conquering worlds and imposing the emperor's brutal rule over millions. Only one thing stands in the way of total victory: Marshal Augustin Lucerne and his newly created Confederation. Vos has a simple plan: assassinate the marshal, and manipulate his generals to fight over his legacy, destroying each other in the process.
But another threat lurks: Arkarin Blackhawk. The smuggler and mercenary has been the marshal's ally, working in the shadows and unraveling Vos' plans. The governor can only hope the mysterious adventurer continues to resist a formal position in the Confederation.
Or he can have Blackhawk assassinated, too.
Because with Blackhawk succeeding Lucerne, the black and gold imperial flags will be stained red with blood. For his is a dark and dangerous past, and if he is put at the helm of the Confederation armies, the brutal imperial general he once had been may rise once again.
The Far Stars are facing the final battle. The Imperials seem unstoppable. But if Blackhawk somehow survives--and can come to grips with the horror deep within him--he just might be able to save the Far Stars from the iron hand of empire.
Dr. Eliza Jekyll, heroine of the electrifying The Diabolical Miss Hyde--an edgy steampunk retelling of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde--investigates a bizarre murder case in an alternate Victorian London while battling her treacherous secret half: Lizzie Hyde.
Solving the infamous Chopper case has helped crime scene physician Dr. Eliza Jekyll establish her fledgling career in the chauvinistic world of Victorian law enforcement. But the scrutiny that comes with her newfound fame is unwelcome for a woman with a diabolical secret. And there is the mercurial Royal Society agent and wolf man Remy Lafayette. Does he want to marry her, eat her, or burn her at the stake? Though Eliza is uncertain about Remy, her dark and jealous shadow self, Lizzie, wants to steal the magnetic and persistent agent, and usurp Eliza's life.
It's impossible to push Remy away when he tempts her with the one thing she can't resist: a bizarre crime. The search for a bloodthirsty ritual torturer dubbed the Pentacle Killer draws them into a terrifying world of spies, art thieves, and evil alchemy, where the price of immortality is madness--or damnation--and only Lizzie's dark ingenuity can help Eliza survive.
As Eliza and Remy race to thwart a foul conspiracy involving the sorcerous French, they must also overcome a sinister enemy who is all too close: the vengeful Lizzie, determined to dispose of Eliza for good.
The first installment in the Far Star series, a swashbuckling space saga that introduces the daring pirate Blackhawk and the loyal crew of the Wolf's Claw, from Jay Allan, the author of the bestselling Crimson Worlds saga.
Smuggler and mercenary Arkarin Blackhawk and the crew of the ship Wolf's Claw are freelance adventurers who live on the fringe of human society in the Far Stars. A veteran fighter as deadly with a blade as he is with a gun, Blackhawk is a man haunted by a dark past. Even his cynicism cannot banish the guilt and pain that threaten his sanity.
Sent to rescue the kidnapped daughter of his longtime friend Marshal Augustin Lucerne, Blackhawk and his crew find themselves drawn into one deadly fight after another. When the Wolf's Claw is damaged, they are forced to land on a remote planet subsumed by civil war. Pulled unwittingly into the conflict, they uncover disturbing information about secret imperial involvement that could upset the plans of Lucerne.
For the Marshal is determined to forge a Far Stars Confederation powerful enough to eliminate all imperial influence and threats in the sector. He needs a skilled warrior like Blackhawk on his side, but the mercenary, plagued by dark memories from the past, refuses to join the cause. All too soon, though, he and his crew will have to take a stand.