'An enemies to lovers must-read' - Gay Times 18 years after her disappearance, the princess has returned. But what is left of her kingdom? Sapphire finds herself in Eriobis with a crown, a castle and too many handmaidens to count. And so her life begins as the heir to the throne of a country she doesn't understand - a country ruled by magic and secrets. That's before she meets Ashes. A dark witch with the power to destroy Sapphire's life and kingdom. But Ashes also happens to be the only person that can help her discover the truth. And the answers might unravel the very world she's come to know. 'A bewitching fantasy packed with dark secrets, luscious world building and heart shattering twists, Brenna Nation has woven a romantic and devastating tale about the things we do for love.' - Rosie Talbot, author of Sixteen Souls Perfect for fans of The Dark Tide and Six Of Crows, discover the secrets of Eriobis in this magical Sapphic story.
Intent on saving one of their own, a band of heroes travels to Eberron’s most isolated continent—facing drow elves and powerful magics along the way Xen'drik, the dark continent. A land of once-proud empires that now lie in ruin. A land shrouded in mystery where monsters and dark powers stalk the jungles, where only the bravest and most foolhardy will venture. Now, a band of former soldiers must brave the depths of Xen'drik to save Daine—their fearless leader, close companion, and the hero of the City of Towers. After joining forces with a mysterious woman, the friends venture to the dark continent, where they hope to find the ancient artifact that is the last hope to save Daine’s life.
The Syrian state is less than 100 years old, born from the wreckage of World War I. Today it stands in ruins, shattered by brutal civil war. How did this happen? How did the lands that are today Syria survive incorporation with the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and the trials and vicissitudes of the Sultan's rule for four centuries, only to collapse into civil war in recent years? Arguably it was the Ottoman period that laid the fragile foundations of a state that had to endure a turbulent twentieth century under French rule, tentative independence, a brutal and corrupt dictatorship and eventual disintegration in the twenty-first. Across a diverse cast of individuals, rich and poor, James Reilly explores these fractious and formative periods of Ottoman, Egyptian and French rule, and the ways that these contributed to the contradictions and failings of the rule of the Assad family; and to a civil war which produced the so-called Islamic State. In charting Syria's history over the last five centuries in their entirety for the first time, Reilly demonstrates the myriad historical, cultural, social, economic and political factors that bind Syrians together, as well as those that have torn them apart. Based on primary sources, recent historiography in English, French and Arabic and more than 30 years' experience living and working in the region, this is the essential book for understanding modern Syria and the Middle East.
Environmental devastation has left Earth a wasteland, but an even more nightmarish fate looms if the woman known as H124 can’t stop an extinction-level asteroid from destroying the planet. The Skyfire Saga On the run from a dangerous media empire, H124 places her hope in learning more about the Rovers, the last bastion of humans to embrace science as a solution to Earth’s ongoing environmental catastrophe. But with the planet under imminent threat from plummeting asteroid fragments, H124 must take on a perilous new mission: find and assemble the pieces of an ancient spacecraft capable of pushing the deadly projectiles off course. Her journey will lead her to the hurricane-ravaged remains of the east coast, and onto the brutal streets of Murder City, where she learns a startling secret about her own past. Death Riders and night stalkers prowl the badlands, but an even greater danger lurks above as H124 fights to build the craft that is humanity’s only hope for survival.
The Shattered Pillars is the second book of Bear's The Eternal Sky trilogy and the sequel to Range of Ghosts. Set in a world drawn from our own great Asian Steppes, this saga of magic, politics and war sets Re-Temur, the exiled heir to the great Khagan and his friend Sarmarkar, a Wizard of Tsarepheth, against dark forces determined to conquer all the great Empires along the Celedon Road. Elizabeth Bear is an astonishing writer, whose prose draws you into strange and wonderful worlds, and makes you care deeply about the people and the stories she tells. The world of The Eternal Sky is broadly and deeply created—her award-nominated novella, "Bone and Jewel Creatures" is also set there. The Eternal Sky Trilogy #1 Range of Ghosts #2 Shattered Pillars #3 Steles of the Sky At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
In this YA sci-fi, an heiress flees her controlling father to prevent her test-subject sister’s mind from being reprogrammed—but must ally with a smuggler to outwit a monstrous AI, gravity-shifting gladiatorial pits, and bloodthirsty criminal matriarchs to save her sister and their city.
Desperate Times The elves of Scarn remember a time when the lands were whole. They remember when sympathetic gods protected them from the thoughtless titans who dominated the earth. They remember the wars that raged when those titans fought to destroy the usurpers. The divine battles shattered the landscape, decimated many races and left gods dead -- including the god of the elves. The titans have since been overthrown and imprisoned and the world has moved on, but without their god, the bereft elves of the Scarred Lands are dying out. A Desperate Quest One elven priest, Vladawen, has not given up in these godforsaken times, despite the ravaged earth and the titanspawn who terrorize good people. Confronted by so much tragedy, he knows only one way to preserve his people and their way of life -- to resurrect their slain god.
Bestselling author Tanya Huff presents an all-new world of action and intrigue, where survivors of a disastrous war have outlawed all magic in favor of shared knowledge—but all is not as it seems. Ryan Marsan was never meant to be Heir to the Lord Protector. But his brothers are dead, and for the first time in decades, the Black Flame that protects his people is flickering. Ryan must retrieve its fuel from the mage-destroyed wastes of the Broken Lands, leading Scholars with more knowledge, warriors with more experience, and an ambitious cousin with the morals of a cat. His authority rests with the weapon. The only mage-crafted artifice to survive the wars, it responds to the command of the heirs of Marsanport. While its capabilities are mysterious, its brutality is legend. Except Ryan soon discovers some mysteries are really omissions. The weapon is more than it appears and the Broken Lands will reveal secrets, lies, and the horrors of twisted sorcery. Even his companions hide more than he knows. With Marsanport’s future at risk, Ryan can only race forward, hoping to survive, keep his friends alive—and see truth where it is, not where he wants it to be...
A VAST EMPIRE'S GREATEST FOE. A CONQUERED PEOPLE'S LAST HOPE. HIS NAME IS HANUVAR, AND HE WILL SET HIS PEOPLE FREE! The Dervan Empire has at last triumphed over Volanus, putting the great city to the torch, its treasures looted, temples defiled, and fields sown with salt. What little remains of Volanus is scattered across the empire, its wealth plundered and its survivors sold into slavery. It is an absolute victory for the Dervans in every way but one. Hanuvar, last and greatest general of Volanus, still lives. He now travels the length of the Dervan Empire that conquered his homeland, driven by a singular purpose—to find what remains of his people who were carried into slavery across the empire, and free them from subjugation by any means necessary. Against the might of a vast empire, he had only an aging sword arm, a lifetime of hard-won wisdom, and the greatest military mind in the world, set upon a single goal. No matter what the empire musters against him, no matter what man or monster stands in his way, from the empire’s festering capital to its furthest outposts, Hanuvar would find his people, every last one of them. And he would set them free. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Advance Praise for Lord of a Shattered Land: “This wonderful work put me in mind of the stories I read when I was editing Baen’s Robert E. Howard library.” —David Drake, best-selling author of the Hammer’s Slammers series, Redliners, Vettius and His Friends, and the RCN series. “Howard Andrew Jones is the leading Sword & Sorcery author of the 21st century . . . His Lord of a Shattered Land is his best work yet, a heroic fantasy retelling of one of the great tales of antiquity, the fall of Carthage and its legendary general Hannibal . . . It's a magnificent achievement, destined to become a modern classic.” —John O’Neill, World Fantasy Award Winning Publisher of Black Gate “The book is a riveting portrait of a hero trying to keep his civilization alive in the wake of a devastating military defeat; it’s a series of ripping yarns that collectively add up to a greater story with a deeper impact than any of its parts; it’s another triumph for Howard Andrew Jones, premier wielder of the new edge in sword-and-sorcery.” —James Enge, World Fantasy Award nominated author of Blood of Ambrose Praise for Howard Andrew Jones: “Howard Jones writes not-to-be-missed epic fantasy with immersive world building and the highest stakes for the characters, fighting for personal survival and the survival of their world.” —Martha Wells, Hugo, Nebula and Locus award-winning author of the Murderbot series “Howard Andrew Jones is a scholar and a gentleman, a deft multi-genre wordsmith . . . a living link between the right action-adventure narratives of old and the sprawling epic fantasies of today.” —Scott Lynch, author of The Republic of Thieves “Howard Jones creates engrossing fantasy tales by combining historical authenticity with his thoughtful modern sensibilities and shapes events with his keen understanding of great adventure writers like Harold Lamb, Robert E. Howard, and Leigh Brackett.” —S. Craig Zahler, novelist and writer/director of Bone Tomahawk Praise for the Ring-Sworn trilogy: “Jones writes well, his strong prose giving a good sense of setting and able to stir emotions without ever getting itself noticed. . . . but the real strength of the book is simply that it is fun to read.” —Mark Lawrence, author of the Book of the Ancestor series “For the Killing of Kings is a fast, fun swords-and-sorcery tale in the grand style, but updated for a modern reader. Magic, mayhem, betrayal, reversal, sword fights, court intrigue? This book hits all the right notes and has a great time doing it.” —Kelly McCullough, author of the Fallen Blade and WebMage series “This is exciting storytelling from one of the best and most knowledgeable writers of heroic fantasy around . . . Jones’s prose is skillful and clean, equally adept at creating intimate moments of loss and longing or trumpeting big moments of battle and disaster.” —Black Gate Praise for The Chronicles of Sword and Sand series: “A modern iteration of old school storytelling. Highly recommended to anyone in search of a fun run through strange lands and times.” —Glen Cook, author of The Black Company series “A grand and wonderful adventure filled with exotic magic and colorful places.” —Kevin J. Anderson, NYT best-selling author of The Saga of Seven Suns and the Young Jedi Knights series “First class New School Sword and Sorcery, and anyone with the remotest interest in Sword and Sorcery would be cheating themselves if they did not avail themselves to try the work of Howard Andrew Jones.” —SF Signa
A whole army of evil Librarians! And Alcatraz Smedry has only his friend, Bastille, a few pairs of glasses and an unlimited supply of exploding teddy bears to help him defend the island of Mokia. Even Alcatraz's extraordinary talent for breaking things may not be enough to defeat the evil Librarians' giant robots. Can Alcatraz find a way to save the Free Kingdoms?