Granddaughter of the sorceress Kethry, daughter of a noble house, Kerowyn had been forced to run the family keep since her mother's untimely death. Yet now at last her brother was preparing to wed, and when his bride became the lady of the keep, Kerowyn could return to her true enjoyments - training horses and hunting. But all Kerowyn's hopes and plans were shattered when her anscestral home was attacked, her father slain, her brother wounded, and his fiancee kidnapped. Drive by desperation and the knowledge that a scorcerer had led the journey which would prove but he first step on the road to the fulfillment of her destiny.
Two knights have their dinner plans derailed as they discover object after object in their stove—objects that ominously belong to their missing friend, Harold—in this delightfully slapstick picture book. Someone has put a sword in the stove. Was it Eenie? Was it Meenie? Was it Harold? WHO WOULD PUT A SWORD IN THE STOVE!? Frank Dormer’s rollicking whodunit has bumbling characters worthy of The Three Stooges, sly humor straight out of Monty Python, and an irresistible screwball spirit all its own.
Armed with a magic amulet which bestows eternal life on the wearer, a powerful knight protects the fortress of Grimhold, where the magical people of his world reside. But when his closest friend is pulled into the evil sway of the Devil's Armor, only the Sword of Angels can defeat it.
Rescued into another universe by the youngest of eight mage-brothers, world-weary Kelly Doyle finds herself exiled on an island where women are forbidden and surrounded by four sets of twin brothers who are struggling to avoid a curse. Reprint.
"The Book and the Sword was Louis Cha's first novel, published in 1955. The story has a panoramic sweep which has at its heart a few unbeatable themes: secret societies, kung fu masters, and the sensational rumour so dear to Chinese hearts that the great Manchu Emperor Qian Long was not in fact a Manchu but a Han Chinese, a line of descent that came about as a result of a 'baby swap' on the part of the Chens of Haining in Southern China. It mixes in the exotic flavours of central Asia, a lost city in the desert guarded by wolf packs, and the Fragrant Princess. This lady is an embellishment of an actual historical figure - although whether she actually smelled of flowers, we will never know."--Jacket
New epic fantasy in the grand tradition—including a never-before-published Song of Ice and Fire story by George R. R. Martin! Fantasy fiction has produced some of the most unforgettable heroes ever conjured onto the page: Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Classic characters like these made sword and sorcery a storytelling sensation, a cornerstone of fantasy fiction—and an inspiration for a new generation of writers, spinning their own outsize tales of magic and swashbuckling adventure. Now, in The Book of Swords, acclaimed editor and bestselling 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, featuring a stunning assortment of fearless swordsmen and warrior women who face down danger and death at every turn with courage, cunning, and cold steel. FEATURING SIXTEEN ALL-NEW STORIES: “The Best Man Wins” by K. J. Parker “Her Father’s Sword” by Robin Hobb “The Hidden Girl” by Ken Liu “The Sword of Destiny” by Matthew Hughes “‘I Am a Handsome Man,’ Said Apollo Crow” by Kate Elliott “The Triumph of Virtue” by Walter Jon Williams “The Mocking Tower” by Daniel Abraham “Hrunting” by C. J. Cherryh “A Long, Cold Trail” by Garth Nix “When I Was a Highwayman” by Ellen Kushner “The Smoke of Gold Is Glory” by Scott Lynch “The Colgrid Conundrum” by Rich Larson “The King’s Evil” by Elizabeth Bear “Waterfalling” by Lavie Tidhar “The Sword Tyraste” by Cecelia Holland “The Sons of the Dragon” by George R. R. Martin And an introduction by Gardner Dozois “When fine writer and expert editor [Gardner] Dozois beckons, authors deliver—and this surely will be one of the year’s essential anthologies.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Sharpen your knowledge of swords with Kristen B. Neuschel as she takes you through a captivating 1,000 years of French and English history. Living by the Sword reveals that warrior culture, with the sword as its ultimate symbol, was deeply rooted in ritual long before the introduction of gunpowder weapons transformed the battlefield. Neuschel argues that objects have agency and that decoding their meaning involves seeing them in motion: bought, sold, exchanged, refurbished, written about, displayed, and used in ceremony. Drawing on evidence about swords (from wills, inventories, records of armories, and treasuries) in the possession of nobles and royalty, she explores the meanings people attached to them from the contexts in which they appeared. These environments included other prestige goods such as tapestries, jewels, and tableware—all used to construct and display status. Living by the Sword draws on an exciting diversity of sources from archaeology, military and social history, literature, and material culture studies to inspire students and educated lay readers (including collectors and reenactors) to stretch the boundaries of what they know as the "war and culture" genre.
In this YA fantasy adventure by a New York Times–bestselling author, a shapeshifter must stop a demon from using a dragon to destroy the world. One thousand years ago, a wish was made, and a sword of rage and lightning was forged. Kamigoroshi. The Godslayer. A weapon powerful enough to seal away the formidable demon Hakaimono. Now he has broken free . . . Kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko has one task: take her piece of the ancient and powerful Scroll of a Thousand Prayers to the Steel Feather temple in order to prevent the summoning of the great Kami Dragon, who will grant one wish to whomever holds the scroll. But she has a new enemy now, more dangerous than any she has yet faced. The demon Hakaimono is free at last, and he has possessed the very person Yumeko trusted to protect her—Kage Tatsumi of the Shadow Clan. Hakaimono has one goal: break the curse of the sword and set himself free to rain chaos and destruction over the land forevermore. To do so, he will need the scroll. And Yumeko is the only one standing in his way. Books in the Shadow of the Fox trilogy: Shadow of the Fox Soul of the Sword Night of the Dragon Praise for Shadow of the Fox “One of my all-time favorite fantasy novels! I’m in love with this book, its characters, its worldbuilding!” —Ellen Oh, author of the Prophecy and Spirit Hunters series “Kagawa uses elements of Japanese mythology and folklore to spin an epic yarn . . . readers will be drawn into the world of Kagawa’s first Japan-based fantasy; with its engaging action scenes and the cliffhanger ending, they will look forward to the next volume. Action-packed adventure.” —Kirkus Reviews “Kagawa’s series starter never disappoints; she’s a vet at putting realistic characters within believable worlds, here doused in Japanese folklore.” —Booklist
