Here are twelve stories about characters from Kyell Gold's award-winning "Out of Position" series. Includes all the bonus stories published in the hardcovers as well as stories published elsewhere and some never before seen, all collected in one place. Get a closer look into the lives of Dev and Lee, as well as Charm, Polecki, Colin and his wife Penny, Coach Samuelson, Hal, Brenly, Argonne, Gerrard, and Kodi.
In Mercedes Lackey's Firebird, Ilya, son of a Russian prince, is largely ignored by his father and tormented by his larger, older brothers. His only friends are three old people: a priest, a magician, and a woman who toils in the palace dairy. From them Ilya learns faith, a smattering of magic, and the power of love--all of which he will need desperately, for his life is about to be turned upside-down. The prince's magnificent cherry orchard is visited at midnight by the legendary Firebird, whose wings are made of flame. Ilya's brothers' attempts to capture the magical creature fail. When Ilya tries to catch the Firebird, he sees her as a beautiful woman and earns a magical gift: the speech of animals. Banished, the young man journeys through a fantastical Russia full of magical mazes, enchanted creatures, and untold dangers. As happens in the best fairy tales, Ilya falls in love with an enchanted princess, but to win her freedom will be no easy task. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Firebirds is more than simply an anthology -- it is a celebration of wonderful writing. It gathers together sixteen original stories by some of today's finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. Together, they have won virtually every major prize -- from the National Book Award to the World Fantasy Award to the Newbery Medal -- and have made best-seller lists worldwide. These authors, including Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain), Diana Wynne Jones (The Merlin Conspiracy), Garth Nix (The Abhorsen Trilogy), Patricia A. McKillip (Ombria in Shadow), Meredith Ann Pierce (The Darkangel Trilogy), and Nancy Farmer (The House of the Scorpion), each with his or her own inimitable style, tell stories that will entertain, provoke, startle, amuse, and resonate long after the last page has been turned. The writers featured in Firebirds all share a connection to Firebird Books, an imprint that is dedicated to publishing the best fantasy and science fiction for teenage and adult readers.
Dev is a football player at Forester University, a small liberal arts college where he and his teammates get to strut around and have their pick of the girls on Friday nights. That's as good as it gets-until he meets Lee, a fox with a quick wit and an attractive body.Problem is, Lee's not a girl. He's a gay fox, an activist who never dreamed he'd fall for a football player. As their attraction deepens into romance, it's hard enough for them to handle each other, let alone their inquisitive friends, family, and co-workers. And if school is bad, the hyper- masculine world of professional sports that awaits Dev after graduation will be a hundred times worse.Going it alone would make everything easier. If only they could stop fighting long enough to break up.
Here is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the award-winning anthology Firebirds! Firebirds Rising takes readers from deep space to Faerie to just around the corner. It is full of magic, humor, adventure, and?best of all?the unexpected. The one thing readers can count on is marvelous writing. Firebirds Rising proves once again that Firebird is a gathering place for writers and readers of speculative fiction from teenage to adult, from the United States to Europe, Asia, and beyond.
This lush retelling of a classic Russian folktale tells the story of Alexi, a young huntsman who leaves home and finds the Golden Mare. She pledges eternal loyalty to him in exchange for sparing her life. With the mare's help, Alexi becomes the Tsar's best huntsman, and when the Tsar presents Alexi with several impossible tasks, the Golden Mare helps him succeed. Full-color illustrations.
With the aid of Gray Wolf, young Prince Ivan fulfills a series of tasks set for him by his father and two other kings, winning the legendary firebird, a magical horse, and the hand of Princess Helen by his efforts.
The Gates between the Worlds are weakening, Ancient Enemies are rising and Anya doesn't want to know about it ... Anya is grieving after the vicious murder of her grandfather when Tuoni, God of the Underworld, interrupts her breakfast to tell her that for centuries her family has protected the gates to Skazki, the Russian Otherworld. Enemies of her family are gathering, seeking to control the Gates and harness the magic hidden in her blood. If Anya doesn't sober up and awaken the dormant magic inside her she will be dead (or worse) within the year, the power of the gates seized by ancient enemies seeking to unleash the horrors of the Otherworld into modern day Russia. Drawn unwillingly into a deadly battle, the only person Anya can trust is the mysterious Yvan, a Skazki Prince who is forced to share his body with a powerful firebird. Anya is hunted by the prince's dark magic using brother, who has a secret agenda of his own. Forced to flee to Skazki for safety they meet a host of friendly and hostile forces, and Anya tries to piece together the secret history of her family. Drawn unwilling into a battle with only her unstable power as a weapon, Anya must rely on her new allies to guide her but how can she identify friend from foe when most of them aren't even human? Steeped in Finnish and Russian mythology comes a dark urban fantasy about the power of magic and the forces on both sides that seek to control it.
When the Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire went to war—again—Queen Samara wisely kept her Rogue Coalition out of the conflict. But staying neutral in a galactic war doesn’t pay the bills, not when both sides refuse to trade with neutral sectors.. With her people on the brink of starvation, Samara hatches a daring plan to snatch the kidnapped Kos Emperor from the Quint mercenaries holding him. The Kos Empire will pay a fortune for their emperor’s return, enough to feed the Coalition’s citizens while they wait for the return to a begrudging peace. But when her plan goes sideways, Samara finds herself evading Quint mercenaries with the very man she intends to capture. And the more time she spends with Valentin Kos, the more she realizes that he’s not the coldly indifferent villain she imagined. Torn between duty and desire, Samara must decide if saving her people is worth giving up the one thing she’s always wanted.
