The world is cracked and in ruin. The air is full of dead men's ashes, fallen colossi smother the earth with their decayed husks, and infectious monsters roam freely. In their desperation, a group of alchemists have created a killer named Sym from obscene magic, outfitting her with an engine that will allow her to travel back in time to stop whatever it was that made their world so. But the alchemists don't realize that the engine is sentient, that their unstoppable killer is powered by the seed of their destruction.
Meet Marla Mason—smart, saucy, slightly wicked witch of the East Coast. . . . Sorcerer Marla Mason, small-time guardian of the city of Felport, has a big problem. A rival is preparing a powerful spell that could end Marla’s life—and, even worse, wreck her city. Marla’s only chance of survival is to boost her powers with the Cornerstone, a magical artifact hidden somewhere in San Francisco. But when she arrives there, Marla finds that the quest isn’t going to be quite as cut-and-dried as she expected . . . and that some of the people she needs to talk to are dead. It seems that San Francisco’s top sorcerers are having troubles of their own—a mysterious assailant has the city’s magical community in a panic, and the local talent is being (gruesomely) picked off one by one. With her partner-in-crime, Rondeau, Marla is soon racing against time through San Francisco’s alien streets, dodging poisonous frogs, murderous hummingbirds, cannibals, and a nasty vibe from the local witchery, who suspect that Marla herself may be behind the recent murders. And if Marla doesn’t figure out who is killing the city’s finest in time, she’ll be in danger of becoming a magical statistic herself. . . .
“… one of the most original books I’ve ever read.” – I Heart Reading “One of my most enjoyable reads of this year, cracking along at high speed and using intriguing ideas to create a world that’s like a cracked mirror version of our own history.” – BookieMonster In the heart of London lies the Engine Ward, a district forged in coal and steam, where the great Engineering Sects vie for ultimate control of the country. For many, the Ward is a forbidding, desolate place, but for Nicholas Thorne, the Ward is a refuge. Deep within the bowels of the Ward, Nicholas can finally escape his strange affliction – the thoughts of animals that crowd his head. The shadows of his past hang over him, forcing him to remain hidden alongside the Stokers – a forgotten people who toil day and night to keep the boilers of the Ward constantly firing, so that the engine of progress may continue to hum. But rebellion is stirring within the ranks of The Stokers, led by Nicholas' childhood friend, the brilliant engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Forbidden to do the work that brings him his only joy, Brunel innovates in secret, his mind growing ever more twisted by the desire for knowledge. Battles rage in the shadows of bizarre buildings at the heart of this nightmarish alternative London. As men transform into flesh-eating monsters, Nicholas and Brunel seek a way to restore peace – will London's salvation come from a mechanical army, or on the backs of prehistoric beasts? The Sunken is the first book in the Engine Ward fantasy series by S C Green. For fans of China Mieville and Neal Stephenson who want to explore the clash of religion, technology, and bestiary in a city on the cusp of industrial revolution. metaphysical fantasy, dark fantasy, epic fantasy, grim dark, steampunk, science fiction, alternate history, Victorian, Georgian, London, dragons, dinosaurs, zombies, vampires, dystopian, gothic, historical fantasy
A long, long time ago, the Star Wars galaxy was a very different place. Welcome to the Old Republic! When young Jedi Zayne Carrick is framed for murder by his own masters, he goes on the run with three unlikely allies: con artist Marn Hierogryph, fugitive scientist Camper and bodyguard Jarael. But can they survive long enough to clear Carrick's name, uncover a conspiracy -- and maybe gain a bit of profit along the way? Strap in for an adventure that spans the galaxy, as this ragtag group of heroes face corrupted Jedi, deadly Mandalorians, the power of the Sith and much more! COLLECTING: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2006) 1-50, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - War (2012) 1-5, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook (2007) 1, material from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion (2006) 0
It was early 1993 and id Software was at the top of the PC gaming industry. Wolfenstein 3D had established the First Person Shooter genre and sales of its sequel Spear of Destiny were skyrocketing. The technology and tools id had taken years to develop were no match for their many competitors. It would have been easy for id to coast on their success, but instead they made the audacious decision to throw away everything they had built and start from scratch. Game Engine Black Book: Doom is the story of how they did it. This is a book about history and engineering. Don’t expect much prose (the author’s English has improved since the first book but is still broken). Instead you will find inside extensive descriptions and drawings to better understand all the challenges id Software had to overcome. From the hardware -- the Intel 486 CPU, the Motorola 68040 CPU, and the NeXT workstations -- to the game engine’s revolutionary design, open up to learn how DOOM changed the gaming industry and became a legend among video games.
Welcome to the City Unspoken, where Gods and Mortals come to die. Contrary to popular wisdom, death is not the end, nor is it a passage to some transcendent afterlife. Those who die merely awake as themselves on one of a million worlds, where they are fated to live until they die again, and wake up somewhere new. All are born only once, but die many times . . . until they come at last to the City Unspoken, where the gateway to True Death can be found. Wayfarers and pilgrims are drawn to the City, which is home to murderous aristocrats, disguised gods and goddesses, a sadistic faerie princess, immortal prostitutes and queens, a captive angel, gangs of feral Death Boys and Charnel Girls . . . and one very confused New Yorker. Late of Manhattan, Cooper finds himself in a City that is not what it once was. The gateway to True Death is failing, so that the City is becoming overrun by the Dying, who clot its byzantine streets and alleys . . . and a spreading madness threatens to engulf the entire metaverse. Richly imaginative, David Edison's The Waking Engine is a stunning debut by a major new talent.
This is book 1 of the Asphalt Angels MC romance series! Books 2 and 3 are available everywhere now! Taking her is wrong. Breaking her is worse. I was buried in shadows. Then she brought an unexpected light into my world. I’d sworn off hope after my brother’s murder. My life had becoming nothing but an endless stream of brutal violence, one-night stands, and drink after drink after drink. Then Kayla rang my doorbell. And everything changed. Kayla is a curvy, teasing beauty. She’s too gorgeous and too innocent for a broken man like me to touch. But I’m rock hard, ruthless, and I refuse to let her go. She needs my help. Desperately. And she has answers about my brother’s death that I’ve been searching for. We’re both broken in our own shattered ways. But maybe, together, we can make something whole. Not just for our own sake. Not just for our own happiness. But also for the baby in Kayla’s arms.
Doctor Doom has taken over the Earth whilst the X-Men were in another dimension. Their return finds them having to take on an armour-clad madman with the whole world against them and one of their deadliest enemies on Doom's side.
The first volume in a no-holds-barred adventure set in Asher's popular Polity universe One man will transcend death to seek vengeance. One woman will transform herself to gain power. And no one will emerge unscathed... Thorvald Spear wakes in hospital, where he finds he's been brought back from the dead. What's more, he died in a human vs. alien war which ended a whole century ago. But when he relives his traumatic final moments, he finds the spark to keep on living. That spark is vengeance. Trapped and desperate on a world surrounded by alien Prador forces, Spear had seen a rescue ship arriving. But instead of providing backup, Penny Royal, the AI within the destroyer turned rogue. It annihilated friendly forces in a frenzy of destruction, and, years later, it's still free. Spear vows to track it across worlds and do whatever it takes to bring it down. Isobel Satomi ran a successful crime syndicate. But after competitors attacked, she needed more power. Yet she got more than she bargained for when she negotiated with Penny Royal. She paid it to turn her part-AI herself, but the upgrades hid a horrifying secret. The Dark AI had triggered a transformation in Isobel that would turn her into a monster, rapidly evolving into something far from human. Spear hires Isobel to take him to the Penny Royal AI's last known whereabouts. But he cheats her in the process and he becomes a target for her vengeance. And as she is evolves further into a monstrous predator, rage soon wins over reason. Will Spear finish his hunt, before he becomes the hunted? PRAISE FOR THE TRANSFORMATION SERIES "One of his best works so far ... Asher is a modern master of Sci-Fi" Starburst magazine "Beautifully paced ... does just as well as at slam-bang action scenes as at painting frightening pictures" Publishers Weekly, starred review "Blends large portions of horror and mystery into an SF tale of revenge and redemption ... a complex and satisfying work" Library Journal, starred review "Hardboiled, fast-paced space opera epic ... Asher's books are similar to the world of Iain M. Banks' Culture universe, but the Polity is arguably a much darker and more vicious environment - and all the better for it" TheRegister.co.uk
