Control of the magical world. The fate of witches, demons, mages, and druids alike. One event; four trials; one chance to turn the tides. If only the stakes of the Games were not so high. There is more at play here than just ritual and magical tradition. The Paragon Games have been a feature of the supernatural world, keeping order for centuries in realms where lore and magic reign supreme. However, with a new challenge on the horizon, a line will be drawn and division inevitable. For Lucian, the clouds of the past still gather in his mind. The loss, the lies, the enormous weight he bears under the guise of his great destiny swath him in uncertainty. Having only just returned to Valiant School of Magic after a tumultuous first year, Lucian must now ready himself for the terrors the Paragon Games' trials have in store. The competition is fierce, and Lucian's enemies have no intention of losing quietly. For more than just vampires, shadows, and vendettas follow the young mage as the battle between what is right and what is necessary places him at the center of a world alight. And as the darkness encroaches, the shadows grow longer.... Welcome to the Paragon Games: make your move. A struggle for survival, a test of will, and the ultimate crusade against the forces of darkness. New school year; new calamity. Welcome back.
Collects the gritty and hair-raising artwork behind Dark Souls III, featuring armor and weapon designs, character concepts, enemies, bosses, environments, DLC artwork, and more!
Story of a saga video games... If the Dark Souls series managed to seduce players and journalists, it was mainly by word of mouth. It was such a great success that Dark Souls 2 was named “Game of the Year” 2014 by the vast majority of gaming magazines and websites. To date, this saga is one of the most important in the gaming industry. The odd thing is that these games are well known for their difficulty and their cryptic universe. This publication narrates the epic success story, but also describes its gameplay mechanics and its specific lore across more than 300 pages. Characters, plots and the scenario of the three Souls (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II) are deciphered by Damien Mecheri and Sylvain Romieu, who spent a long year studying these dense and enigmatic games down to the smallest detail. The serie Dark Souls and her spiritual father Demon's Souls will not have secrets for you anymore! EXTRACT "In May 2014, Hidetaka Miyazaki succeeded Naotoshi Zin as president of FromSoftware, after the studio was purchased by Kadokawa Shoten. This was a highly significant promotion for the person who had led the company’s most successful project, Dark Souls. And yet, he did not lose from view what had attracted him to the field: an insatiable creative drive. In spite of his new status within the studio, one of the conditions he requested and was granted was to remain creative director of his new project: Bloodborne. This allowed him to successfully design this spiritual successor to the first Souls game, while also assuming his new responsibilities. Given his drive to work and create, it is not surprising how quickly Miyazaki moved up through the ranks." ABOUT THE AUTHORS Passionate about films and video games, Damien Mecheri joined the writers team of Gameplay RPG in 2004, writing several articles for the second special edition on the Final Fantasy saga. He continued his work with the team in another publication called Background, before continuing the online adventure in 2008 with the site Gameweb.fr. Since 2011, he has come aboard Third Éditions with Mehdi El Kanafi and Nicolas Courcier, the publisher’s two founders. Damien is also the author of the book Video Game Music: a History of Gaming Music. For Third Éditions, he is actively working on the “Level Up” and “Année jeu vidéo” collections. He has also written or co-written several works from the same publisher: The Legend of Final Fantasy X, Welcome to Silent Hill: a journey into Hell, The Works of Fumito Ueda: a Different Perspective on Video Games and, of course, the first volume of Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave. Curious by nature, a dreamer against the grain and a chronic ranter, Sylvain Romieu is also a passionate traveler of the real and the unreal, the world and the virtual universes, always in search of enriching discoveries and varied cultures. A developer by trade, he took up his modest pen several years ago to study the characteristics and richness of the marvelously creative world of video games. He writes for a French video game site called Chroniques-Ludiques, particularly on the topic of RPGs, his preferred genre.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns with book one of the all-new, compelling Flesh and Fire series—set in the beloved Blood and Ash world. Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort. However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot. Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.
When Lucian Draco becomes the youngest person to ever be accepted into the Valiant Minds School of Magic, the fact that magic even exists at all is as much knowledge as he has on the subject. After a lifetime of being sheltered by his father, Lucian is more than ready to learn where he fits into the magical community... but the answer is more complicated than he's prepared for. Thrust into a new world of competitions and rivalries, fast friends and faster enemies, Lucian soon discovers he's no ordinary mage-he's the living host of a long-dormant spirit called the Dragon of the Mind, born with power and intelligence beyond his wildest dreams. But there's a reason Lucian's father kept the truth of this power hidden from his own son, and it's not the only secret being kept. With supernatural threats looming on the horizon, including a bloodthirsty vampire aching to restart an ancient war, getting through school is about to become the least of Lucian's worries.
The first book in the thrilling fantasy series about arson investigator Anya Kalinczyk, the fires she fights and the demons she hunts. Truth burns. Unemployment, despair, anger—visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city. Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya—who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern—suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil’s Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya—with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team—can stop it. Anya’s accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she’s risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.
Read Tessa Adams's posts on the Penguin Blog. A new erotic paranormal series, starring dragon shapeshifters, kicks off with a very sexy debut... Prince Dylan MacLeod is one of the last pure-blood dragon shape- shifters-and ruler of a dying race, the Dragonstar clan. It falls to him to protect his people and their ancient magic. But he has one important duty: to provide an heir... Like all dragons, Dylan, who has a dark, rampant sexual appetite, can only procreate with his destined mate-for whom he's searched for the last five hundred years. But his quest is delayed when a disease sweeps through the Dragonstars, and Dylan must venture to the human world to find a cure. He tracks down bio-chemist Phoebe Quillum, never imagining the beautiful scientist would be the mate he's been seeking. But even with the fate of the clan on their shoulders, Phoebe and Dylan are overcome by their sexual desire. Their passion turns to something truer, but when Phoebe is kidnapped by Dylan's oldest enemy, he must risk everything for his love and his clan...
“What to read after A Court of Thorns and Roses! Full of twists you’ll never see coming!” –UppercaseYA I’ve never been a stranger to the darkness. But when darkness comes knocking and looks that good, who wouldn’t invite him in? Draven is mysterious, evasive, and hot as sin. The only thing more infuriating than his silence is how obnoxious he is every time he does open his mouth. But when a group of strangers attacks me and he fights back—causing them to vanish into a cloud of black dust—I know Draven is more than he seems. Now I know the truth. There’s a veil separating the world I know from a world of demons living all around us. Turns out, good and evil are just words. Some of the demons don’t fall into either category. And I’m realizing just how easily I fit in among the ancient warlocks, the divine soldiers, and the twisted supernaturals... There’s so much more to me and my past that I don’t know—let alone what I am truly capable of. So when all signs point to me having the ability to unleash Hell on earth? I’ll have to decide if I want to do the world a solid and save it...or give it one hell of a makeover. The Ember of Night series is best enjoyed in order. Reading Order: Book #1 Ember of Night Book #2 Shadow of Light Book #3 Spark of Ash
She takes my breath away; she is so beautifully damaged. Yes, I had broken her, ravished her life and destroyed her happiness. I brought her to the ultimate despair. I was responsible for all the pain and suffering that now brought her to her knees in front of me. Broken. Hopeless. Reckless in her agony. She is a mirror of my own tortured soul. But what I took away I can give back, in ways she cannot even begin to imagine. She is everything right in all my wrongs. She loves me. She needs me. She has no idea I’m the one who wrecked her life.
