Wormwood has appeared and for twenty four hours the gateway to the afterlife is wide open. But just because a door is open doesn't mean you should step through it Those who have travelled to reach the town are realising that the challenges they've already faced were nothing compared to what lies ahead. The afterlife has an agenda of its own and with scheming on both sides of reality, the revelations to come may change the world forever.

Heaven Falls is an idyll of thriving humanity harnessing powerful feminine energy and the medicinal qualities of honey. Bountiful and serene, this agrarian community is the closest thing to sanctuary Ryan and his companions have ever encountered. But as they are seduced by a life they have only envisioned, they discover heaven has a trap door that opens straight to hell...

The world has been over-run by a lethal infection, ravaged by a pathogen that leaves its victims locked half-way between life and death. New York, bombed to prevent the spread of the disease, has been reduced to radioactive rubble. A rescue squad enters the subway tunnels beneath Manhattan, searching for the one man who can create an antidote as they race against the disease that threatens to extinguish the human race.

In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls - bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back. Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery.

It is the summer of 1883 and Professor Langdon St. Ives - brilliant but eccentric scientist and explorer - is at home in Aylesford with his family. However, a few miles to the north a steam launch has been taken by pirates above Egypt Bay; the crew murdered and pitched overboard. In Aylesford itself a grave is opened and possibly robbed of the skull. The suspected grave robber, the infamous Dr. Ignacio Narbondo, is an old nemesis of Langdon St. Ives. When Dr. Narbondo returns to kidnap his four-year-old son Eddie and then vanishes into the night, St. Ives and his factotum Hasbro race to London in pursuit.

After the young Eddie LaCrosse fails to save a stranger from being mauled to death by a bear, he leaves the baby girl that the man died to protect with a kindly shepherd family and goes on with his violent life. 16 years later his travels bring him back to that same part of the world. He finds that the child, now a lovely young teenager named Isadora, is at the center of complicated web of intrigue involving two feuding kings, a smitten prince, a powerful sorceress, an inhuman monster, and long-buried secrets too shocking to imagine. And once again she needs his help.

Telescopes on Earth have detected an Earth-sized planet circling a star some thirty light-years away. Now the race is on to get pictures of that distant world, photographs and spectra that will show whether or not the planet is truly like Earth, and if it bears life. Farside will include the largest optical telescope in the solar system as well as a vast array of radio antennas, the most sensitive radio telescope possible, insulated from the interference of Earth's radio chatter by a thousand kilometers of the Moon's solid body.

When underachieving film theory graduate and vampire Fortitude Scott sets out to find whoever (or whatever) murdered his roommate, he winds up on the trail of a creature that scares even his sociopathic family - and that puts them all in deadly peril.

Under the glare of live television cameras - and with her lover, Dr. Richard Helvelius, and her estranged husband, Kevin, both looking on - Ali O'Day, a dedicated young neurosurgeon, is about to implant a revolutionary mini-computer into the brain of a blind boy. But no sooner has she begun to operate than the hospital pagers crackle with the chilling announcement that a bomb has been found in the medical center. But this is no ordinary bomb - and no ordinary bomber. As minutes tick off toward the deadline, Ali suspects that a vast, inhuman intellect lies behind the plot.

Young Elf Arling Elessedil possesses the enchanted means to repair the eroding wards and once more seal the denizens of the Forbidding out of the Four Lands. But when she falls into the hands of the powerful Federation's diabolical Prime Minister, her efforts may be doomed. Only her determined sister, Aphen, who bears the Elfstones and commands their magic, has any hope of saving Arling from the hideous fate her captor has in store. Meanwhile, Railing Ohmsford - desperate to save his imprisoned brother - seeks to discover if his famed but ill-fated ancestor Grianne is still alive and willing to help him save the world.

London 1888. Jack Fargo, scholar and former special forces operator in Afghanistan is a man from our own near future thrust back in time or to wherever it is that this Brave Victorian World actually exists. Aided only by an elderly Scottish physicist, a young British officer of questionable courage, and a beautiful but mysterious spy for the French Commune, Fargo is a man on a mission: save the future from irrevocable destruction when the Forever Engine is brought to full power and blows this universe, and our own, to smithereens.

Two braids in the 1632 series. Braid 1. Daring pioneers cross the Atlantic and found a new colony on the Wild Coast of South America. The colonists hope that with the up-timers' support and knowledge they can prosper in the tropics without resort to Indian and African slavery. Then a slave ship visits the colony, seeking water.... and the colonists must make a fateful choice. Braid 2. In 1633, the wave of change emanating from the Ring of Fire reaches Japan. The Shogun is intrigued by samples of up-time technology, but it's a peek at what fate had in store for Japan in the old time line that has the greatest impact.

Ivan Delgato, a former leader of a rebel group called the Runners, is released from jail to carry out a secret mission. He catches a ride out to the wildest reaches of the galaxy via a mysterious transportation system, the Star Road. His fellow passengers on Star Road Vehicle-66 are a suspicious group, all with their own hidden reasons for traversing the star road. As they contend with increasingly deadly encounters, it isn't long before suspicions build against Ivan.

Having murdered his wife and exiled his mistress, Louis X of Grance becomes besotted with Princess Clemence of Hungary and makes her his new Queen. However, though the matter of the succession should be assured, it is far from so, as Louis embarks on an ill-fated war against Flanders.

In a prequel tale, Gin Blanco goes through her paces on the way to become the most feared assassin in the Ashland. Her mentor, Fletcher Lane, is not going to go easy on her if she is going to become a fearsome killer, she has to learn to use her elemental Stone and Ice powers alongside old-fashioned human street smarts.

Dark fantasy from seventeen pairs of acclaimed writers, all collaborating together for the first time, including Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Stuart MacBride, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jonathan Maberry and David Liss.

Hawk and Fisher's adult children, Jack and Gillian, have been kidnapped. They were taken by the Demon Prince, an old enemy from the Forest Kingdom who challenges the couple to one final battle for their lives. But Hawk and Fisher believe there's another motive behind the abductions, one connected to a case they worked in Haven many years ago - a case they refuse to discuss. They have no choice but to return to the Forest Kingdom, to be Prince Rupert and Princess Julia one last time in one last story - of the kind of things that happen only once in a blue moon....

Wounded in combat and honorably discharged nine years ago, Jack Daley still suffers nightmares from when he served his country as a sniper, racking up sixteen confirmed kills. Now a struggling author, Jack accepts an offer to write a near-future novel about a serial killer, based on a Hollywood script outline. It's an opportunity to build his writing career, and a future with his girlfriend, Kit Majors. But Jack's other talent is also in demand. A package arrives on his doorstep containing a sniper rifle, complete with silencer and ammunition - and the first installment of a $100,000 payment to kill a "bad man." The twisted offer is genuine. The people behind it are dangerous. They prove that they have Jack under surveillance. He can't run. He can't hide. And if he doesn't take the job, Kit will be in the crosshairs instead.

Newcastle Detective Sidney Hurst learns that his case, the murder of a North clone, bears an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood. Only the same person could have done both crimes. Unfortunately, the convicted St. Libra slayer, Angela Tramelo, claims that the murderer was an alien monster.

Andrew Dare has found his mate in Silver, but they haven't found the pack they can call home. Some of his old friends think he should return and challenge Roanoke for leadership of all the werewolf packs on the East Coast. But Andrew has baggage - his violent history with the packs of Spain and the rumors of his lack of control. And then there's Silver - the werewolf who has lost her wild self to a monster's assault, and who can no longer shift forms. But perhaps together they can overcome all the doubters.

Barely escaping the city of Calm Seatt - and the assassins hunting them - Magiere, Leesil, and the elven dog Chap sail south to continue their quest to find the powerful Orb of Air before their enemies do. But they are not alone. The aging elven assassin Brot'an has forced himself on them by offering his protection. But his true motive is much more sinister. And he is willing to do whatever it takes to succeed - even if he must reveal his own dreaded secrets that may cost the entire party their lives...and their very souls.

A strange series of clues leads Wynn Hygeorht, her vampire protector Chane Andraso, and the elf Osha, to a remote keep built on the dark cliffs of the coast of Witeny. The young duke there has been undergoing some disturbing changes - and so have the people and livestock in the outlying villages. Wynn has no idea what awaits her at this keep - an old enemy who wants nothing more than to see her dead. At the same time, Dhampir Magiere, Leesil, and Chap continue their desperate search for the Orb of Air, still burdened with the master assassin, Brot'an, and the elven outcast girl, Wayfarer.

As part of her devil's bargain with the industrial steam barons, Evelina Cooper is finally enrolled in the Ladies' College of London. However, she's attending as the Gold King's pet magician, handcuffed and forbidden contact with even her closest relation, the detective Sherlock Holmes. But Evelina's problems are only part of a larger war. The Baskerville affair is finally coming to light, and the rebels are making their move to wrest power from the barons and restore it to Queen Victoria. But their plans are doomed unless Evelina escapes to unite her magic with the rebels' machines--and even then her powers aren't what they used to be. A sorcerer has awakened a dark hunger in Evelina's soul, and only he can keep her from endangering them all. The only problem is ... he's dead.

Iraq War veteran Gordon Van Zandt, ten years on, is still struggling with the ghosts of his past when a new reality is thrust upon him and his family: North America, Europe and the Far East have all suffered a devastating Super-EMP attack, which causes catastrophic damage to the nation's power grid and essential infrastructures. With civilization in chaos, Gordon must fight for the limited and fast dwindling resources. He knows survival requires action and cooperation with his neighbours, but as the days wear on, so does all sense of civility within his community - and so he must make some of the most difficult decisions of his life in order to ensure his family's safety.

Most of America has become a wasteland filled with starving bands of people, mobs and gangs. Millions are dead and millions more are suffering, with no end in sight. For Gordon, Samantha, Sebastian, Cruz and Barone, the turmoil and chaos they dealt with in the early weeks after the attack will seem trivial in comparison to the collapse of society that plays out before their eyes. Uncertainty abounds as they all travel different paths in search of a safe place to call home.

Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her missing best friend Molly. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal - into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she comes to a new enemy, one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.

Three classic novels. 2nd century AD: Photinus, Greek nobleman, is mistaken for a Norse God because of the items he carries. Forced to keep up the pretence of being a god while staying ahead of men out to get him, he must juggle the severity of his situation with the enjoyment of being a God.

Grim reaper Charley Davidson gets sidetracked when the sexy, sultry son of Satan, Reyes Farrow, moves in next door. Since he is her main suspect in an arson case, she has vowed to stay away from him until she can find out the truth. But when dead women start appearing in her apartment, one after another, each lost, confused, and terrified beyond reason, Charley has no choice but to ask for his help, especially when it becomes apparent that her own sister Gemma is the serial killer's next target.

With the appearance of each new volume (and I mean the truly voluminous kind of volume) in the WHEEL OF TIME I am overcome by the same pair of burning questions: Just who are all these people? And just what, exactly, do they think they're doing? By the time a new book appears I've forgotten entirely what is going on and am forced to re-read the entire series. And so, this newest volume is a cause of celebration: the feeling of confusion that has persisted since 1989 will finally disappear, the Sisyphean task of reading THE EYE OF THE WORLD for the 14th time has finally ended. This is the long-awaited culmination of the Wheel of Time series.

The metaheroes deal with supervillain Verdegris, who seeks to destroy them from within, before turning their attention back to the Thulian conspiracy. It's go time once again for the metaheroes including fire-bender John Murdock, hacker-witch Vikki Nagy, healer Belladona Blue, super-quick Mercurye and most of all for their ghostly ally, Seraphym, the spirit of the world. Verdegris knows he must trap and destroy her if he is to take down the metas.

Fifteen tales complete Volume Two!

On the cusp of an industrial age that threatens the warrior caste's rule, the Empire of a Hundred Houses awaits civil war betwee noble factions. Centuries of conquest have made the empire a brittle and bloated monster; constrained by tradition and crying out for change. To save his own life and those of untold thousands Narin must understand the key to it all - Moon's Artifice, the poison that could destroy an empire.

As Britannia falls into anarchy and the city of Viroconium is left undefended, two cousins who remained behind when the imperial forces withdrew pursue very different courses in the ensuing struggle to unite the disparate tribes and factions throughout the land.

Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies, the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces. Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.

Before Quaeryt's dream to create the world's first Imager academy is realized, or Khel's fateful choice to accept or reject Lord Bhayar's rule is made known, the spectre of high treason threatens to unravel all that Quaeryt has achieved, catapulting him toward a fateful confrontation with Bhayar's most powerful military leaders.

The monarchies of the Royal Vispasian Union have been bound together for 200 years by laws enforced by the powerful Sun Chamber. Upon receving news of his father's death, Sun Chamber officer Lucan Drakenfeld is called home only to be embroiled in a mystifying case. The King's sister has been found brutally murdered. With rumours of dark spirits and political assassination, Drakenfeld tries to separate superstition from certainty but his determination to find the killer quickly makes him a target.

THE IRON CAGE and THE BREED TO COME in one volume.

When government agents kick down Claire Forrester's front door and murder her parents, Claire realizes just how different she is. Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and hours later stepped off it, the only passenger left alive, a hero. Chase Williams has sworn to protect the people of the United States from the menace in their midst, but he is becoming the very thing he has promised to destroy. So far, the threat has been controlled by laws and violence and drugs. But the night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge...and the battle for humanity will begin.

Kay, the alien member of the Cutter Force Initiative, has returned to her brutal home world of Vast on a mission of mercy. Before she joined the merc team, she was a great healer. And now her skills are sorely needed. Hundreds of Vastalimi - including her blood-kin - are dying mysteriously. But is the plague a work of nature? Or is it a bioengineered virus, purposefully unleashed? Kay and Doc Wink will have to find out the hard way.

Retelling the Snow White fairy tale. Illustrated by Les Edwards, POISON takes all the elements (the handsome prince, the jealous queen, the beautiful girl and, of course, the poisoning) and puts a modern spin on the characters, their motives and their desires.

In order to hide from his unwanted fame as the spitfire-pilit-monkey who emerged from a computer game to defeat the dangerous corporation who engineered him, the charismatic and dangerous Ack-Ack Macaque is working as a pilot on a world-circling nuclear powered Zeppelin. But when the cabin of one of his passengers is invaded by the passenger's own dying doppelganger, our hirsute hero finds himself thrust into another race to save the world - this time from an aggressive hive mind, time-hopping saboteurs, and an army of homicidal Neanderthal assassins!

Twin sisters Lillian and Valeria have never felt complete without each other, but when they are separated by a dangerous magical storm created by a rogue sorcerer, their strength - and their weaknesses - are put to the test.

After hearing a prophecy from a blind seer, aged General Dalgoran searches to reunite the heroes of old for what he believes will be the final battle. But as mud-orcs and twisted beasts tear through the land, Dalgoran discovers the Iron Wolves are no longer heroes of legend. United in hate, the Iron Wolves travel to the Pass of Splintered Bones; and as half a million mud-orcs gather, General Dalgoran realises his grave error. Together, the Iron Wolves hold a terrible secret which has tortured them for three decades. Now, they only wish to be human again.

Lousiana homicide detective and demon summoner Kara Gillian has returned to Earth to search for a kidnapped summoner protege. With the help of two FBI friends and a brilliant young computer expert, she soon discovers that an old homicide case may hold the key to her success - or to her doom.

250 years after nuclear war, the dregs of humanity fight to survive on a ruined Earth while the rich and powerful plan to secretly ascend to another planet. But the enslaved soldiers of the elite rulers are a deadly new kind of human who are desperate for freedom and plan on fighting back against their masters. When a new kind of psion power is discovered that could reshape the wasted planet, the renegades must race to save society before it destroys itself, but the cost is high and in the end, there is no such thing as compromise.

Nathan died the summer before his final year in high school. But he wakes in his room - or in the shrine his mother has made of his room - confused, cold, and unable to interact with anyone or anything he sees. The only clear memory he has is a dream of a shining city and its glorious queen, but the dream fades, until he once again meets his girlfriend Emma by the side of his own grave. Nathan wants life. He wants Emma. But, even if Emma can deliver what he desires, the cost may be too high to pay.

Makenna Fraser, a Seer for SPI (Supernatural Protection & Investigations) and her partner Ian Byrne tackle the things that go bump in the night. But nothing bumps harder than a sickle-wielding serial killer, a descendant of the fiend known as Grendel, who has been prowling the city's subway tunnels and who shares his ancestor's hatred of parties, revelry, and drunkards. New Year's Eve in Times Square is only two days away.

The Skeleton King plots to claim the Fifteen Realms for his own. With armies in disarray and the dead not staying down, Avry's healing powers are needed now more than ever. Torn between love and loyalty, Avry must choose her path carefully. For the future of her world depends on her decision.

Arenadd Taranisaii, infamous leader of the Northern people, has vanished. Only his half-breed daughter Laela knows what happened to him. Left to rule her father's Kingdom, Laela is all that stands in the way of the war her cousin Saeddryn wants to declare. But Laela faces a far more dangerous enemy: the Night God herself wants Laela dead. Faced by enemies on all sides, Laela must learn to rule, and survive, with her griffin partner Oeka by her side. As allies come from unexpected places, someone new will enter Laela's life: the mysterious shapeshifter Kullervo. But soon the Night God will send the most dangerous enemy of all - the deadly Shadow That Walks, an invincible murderer created to fulfill only one mission: kill Laela.

Anna, because of her superhero grandparents, telepathic father and financially powerful mother, is dropped off at her exclusive high school by a company car. Hiding her burgeoning superpowers from her parents is hard enough. How is she supposed to keep them from finding out that her friends have powers, too? Or that she and the others are meeting late at night, honing their skills and dreaming of becoming Commerce City's next great team of masked vigilantes?

The war between the People's Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom is finally won and peace established, but a shadowy organization known as the Mesan Alignment plans to enslave the entire human species. Task number one for Honor is to shut down and secure the wormhole network that is the source of the Star Kingdom's wealth and power-but also its greatest vulnerability. Yet this is an act that the Earth-based Solarian League inevitably will take as a declaration of war. The thunder of battle rolls as the Solarian League directs its massive power against the Star Kingdom.

The Magical Enforcement Agency keeps dirty magic off the streets, but there's a new blend out there that's as deadly as it is elusive. When patrol cop Kate Prospero shoots the lead snitch in a crucial case, she is brought in to explain herself. But the more she learns about the investigation, the more she realizes she must secure a spot on the MEA task force. Especially when she discovers that their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier - on the same day she swore she'd given up dirty magic for good.

Miriam is on the road again, having transitioned from "thief" to "killer." Hired by a wealthy businessman, she heads down to Florida to practice the one thing she's good at, but in her vision she sees him die by another's hand and on the wall written in blood is a message just for Miriam. She's expected.

Jewel ATerafin has become the target of assassins and of a demon beyond her ability to defeat. No place within Averalaan remains safe - when elemental forces can change the very structure of the city, when the old ways are opening to release wild magic, when former enemies become uneasy allies and longtime allies are called into question.

No one is swinging a sword at her head or asking her to track the fae, and McKenzie Lewis finally has a regular - albeit boring - job. But when a ruthless enemy strikes against her friends, McKenzie abandons her attempt at normalcy and rushes back to the Realm. With the fae she loves and the fae she's tied to pulling her in different directions, McKenzie must uncover the truth behind the war and accept the painful sacrifices that must be made to end it. Armed with dangerous secrets and with powerful allies at her side, her actions will either rip the Realm apart - or save it.

A mutilated body in Crawley means another murderer is on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil, who may either be a common serial killer or an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man - a man whose previous encounters Peter Grant has barely survived. He's also got a case about a town planner going under a tube train and another about a stolen grimoire. But then he gets word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on a housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans, and inhabited by the truly desperate. If there's a connection to the Crawley case, he'll be entering some tricky waters of jurisdiction with the local river spirits. They have a prickly history, to say the least. Just the typical day for a magician constable.

An old enemy of the Cerebrus warriors unleashes Harpy-like killers on the Dark Continent, hoping the blood hungry winged beasts and their love of human flesh will aid in the capture of a legendary artifact: the powerful staff wielded by Moses and King Solomon, currently in Kane's hands.

Inside the Dome, Patridge has taken his father's place as leader of the Pures. His intent had been to bring down the Dome from the inside with the help of the secret resistance force led by Partridge's former teacher Glassings. But from his new position of power, things don't seem quite as clear.

Isabella, Lady Trent, is the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can't reach Adam - or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They've all been abducted. Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related - and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from the most unlikely of allies: the vampire seethe.

Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. He has never seen the sky, but believes he works for a better future for his children. But Darrow discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow and Reds like him are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class. Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within.

On the planet Ilmatar, under a roof of ice a kilometer thick, a team of deep-sea diving scientists investigates the blind alien race that lives below. The Terran explorers have made an uneasy truce with the Sholen, their first extraterrestrial contact. So long as they don't disturb the Ilmataran habitat, they're free to conduct their missions in peace. But when Henri Kerlerec, media personality and reckless adventurer, ends up sliced open by curious Ilmatarans, tensions between Terran and Sholen erupt, leading to a diplomatic disaster that threatens to escalate to war.

Six months have passed since the wizard Colby lost his best friend to an army of fairies from the Limestone Kingdom. But in vanquishing these creatures and banning them from Austin, Colby sacrificed the anonymity that protected him. Now, word of his deeds has spread, and powerful enemies from the past - including one Colby considered a friend - have resurfaced to exact their revenge.

A pair of rich young Varoki under the care of a beautiful human nanny are fleeing the colony Peezgtaan, and gangster Sasha Naradnyo is recruited to help. All things considered, he'd rather leave the little alien lordlings to their fate, but certain considerations - such as Sasha's own imminent demise if he remains - make it beneficial for him to take on the job. But Sasha discovers his simple choice has thrust him into the midst of a political battle that could remake the galactic balance of power and save humanity from slow death by servitude. Now all he has to do is survive and keep his charges alive on a hostile planet undergoing its own revolution.

When Ted Hall's birthday dinner in San Francisco's famous Chinatown ends with an explosion, the fire department blames a gas leak, but when Ted finds strange, personalised messages from the restaurant's fortune cookies scattered around his apartment, his suspicions are aroused, particularly as his somnambulant travels appear to coincide with murders by the notorious Hang Wire Killer.

Now that she's solved her sister's murder, Hallie Michaels has left the army and isn't sure what to do next. Then she gets a call asking her to help an elderly neighbour who is being stalked by black dogs, creatures from the underworld that are harbingers of death. When a black dog appears, Hallie learns, a reaper is sure to follow. And if the dark visions she's suddenly receiving are any indication, it looks like the reaper is now following HER.

In the fight for Latent equality Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind. When Scylla's inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, in order to redeem himself with the military, will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil.

Earth has been invaded by the Illyri a beautiful, civilized, yet ruthless alien race. Syl Hellais, conceived among the stars, is the oldest alien child on Earth. The daughter of one of the planet's rulers, she has hidden gifts and powers that she does yet fully understand. But all is not as it seems. Secret experiments are being conducted on humans, the Illyri are at war among themselves, and the sinister Nairene Sisterhood has arrived on Earth, hungry for new blood.

There is no time for Gair to dwell on his grief or hunger for revenge. Pursuing an artefact from the Founding Wars, he travels deep into the hostile southern deserts. As religious tensions erupt into bloody violence around him, he must make an impossible choice: save innocent lives or sacrifice them in the hope that thousands more can be saved later. And all the while, his grip on his powers is failing.

[Vancouver author]. A royal conspiracy is about to unfold in the most corrupt city in the world. A carefully orchestrated series of murders that began with the overthrow of an idealistic young king will end with the death of an orphaned girl and the ruin of everything that the magistrates Falcio, Kest and Brasti have fought for. But if the trio want to foil the conspiracy they'll have to do it with nothing but the tattered coats on their backs and the swords in their hands.

Overpopulation, disease and ecological disaster were edging humanity toward extinction. Hope arrived in the form of the Haan, an alien race that promised a future. And what they wanted in exchange seemed so harmless.

Rigel has been warned that if he remains in the Starlands much longer, his death is more than just likely, it's inevitable. Now a deposed prince plots Queen Talitha's ruin from the shadows while sending numerous assassins to claim Rigel's life. Even worse, if Rigel and Talitha ever consummate their growing passion, it will only hasten the hero's demise.

Biologists Nell and Geoffrey Binswanger barely survived their last encounter with terrifying, invasive creatures that threatened to engulf the planet. They think the danger is over until a ruthless Russian tycoon lures them to an underground city deep beneath the Ural Mountains, where they are confronted by a menagerie of biological horrors and voracious predators that are rising up from the bowels of the Earth to consume the world as we know it.

Extreme biotech experiments lead to the accidental genesis of a race of mutant humans with insectlike qualities. Highly intelligent, tribal, and embittered toward their creators, the Manti engineer a virus that nearly wipes out humanity. Thirty years later. Pax and Asha - strangers and enemies - find themselves stranded together on the wrong side of the Manti border, neither with a memory of how they got there. Asha is an archivist working to preserve humanity's most valuable resource - information - viewed as the only means of resurrecting their society. Pax is a menacing presence in the skies over Sanctuary, the last human city. He patrols the border, keeps humanity in check, and picks up strays for the slave trade. As the son of a Manti lord, he is viewed as untouchable. But neither of them is really what they seem, and what humanity believes about the Manti is a lie.

Pandemic drought, skyrocketing oil prices, dwindling energy supplies and wars of water scarcity threaten the planet. Only four people can prevent global chaos, united in their belief that a space elevator is the path to the future, and willing to take the steps and make the sacrifices necessary to make their dream a reality.

All her life Jessica Drake has dreamed of other worlds, some of them similar to her own, others disturbingly alien. She never shares the details with anyone, save her younger brother Tommy, a compulsive gamer who incorporates some aspects of Jessica's dreams into his games. But now someone is asking about those dreams...and about her. Then one night her house catches on fire, and when the smoke clears she discovers that her brother has been kidnapped.

The D'Artigo sisters are savvy half-human half-Fae operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. With a war in Otherworld and a daemon to stop here, their enemies are closing in on all sides. And this time there's no place to hide...

Jensen Murphy, murdered thirty years ago, has been a ghost since,staying under the oak tree where her body was found, and reliving her death over and over. So when a psychic named Amanda Lee Minter pulled her out of that loop into the real world, the grateful Jensen became a supernatural snoop, helping Amanda uncover a killer. Except that she's found out that even ghosts have enemies, human - and otherwise.

My name's Markowski. I carry a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets. A new supernatural gang is intent on invading Scranton - as if I didn't have enough to contend with! Supernatural gang warfare? Not on my watch!

Peking: October, 1912. James Asher, with his wife Lydia, and occultist/vampire-hunter Dr Solomon Karlebach have come to investigate rumours that the mindless Undead, whom even the vampires fear, have begun to multiply out in the countryside. Asher and his old vampire partner, Don Simon Ysidro, launch a hunt--but meanwhile the Peking vampires, known as the Magistrates of Hell, have an agenda of their own.

Silver and her mate Andrew Dare are pack leaders of the entire North American werewolf population, and that makes the more traditional packs in Europe very nervous indeed. It's getting hard to hide from human surveillance.

To cripple an approaching fleet the shadow-Xayans unite their minds to send a power surge along the original stringline path that links Hellhole with the Monarchy's hub on Sonjeera. Then a bigger threat appears. As three asteroids come in from the outer reaches of the Candela system, a large group of powerful, rogue telemancers split away from their race. They are coming for Hellhole, and this time they will completely destroy it.

Investigator Vissarion Lom has been summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist - and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown insurgents with an iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists. Lom has been chosen because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head.

Luce Keeva, the imprisoned son of the Good Man of Olympic Seacity, escapes his solitary confinement cell and returns to find his father assassinated. Attempting to take hold of the reins of power, he learns that a plot for his own imminent murder is afoot - and that a worldwide conflagration looms.

Following multiple economic crises and a devastating flu pandemic, Europe has fractured into countless tiny nations, duchies, polities and republics. Recruited by the shadowy organisation "Les Coureurs des Bois," Rudi, a cook in a Krakow restaurant, is schooled in espionage, but when a training mission to The Line, a sovereign nation consisting of a trans-Europe railway line, goes wrong, he is arrested, beaten and Coureur Central must attempt a rescue.

Uniting with his great rival Mark Antony, Octavian will stop at nothing to seek retribution and avenge his father's death. His greatest hatred is reserved for Brutus, Caesar's childhood friend, now the leader of those who murdered him. The reckoning for Brutus will come on the sweeping battlefield at Philippi.

Her last novel. A prophecy has come to light that someone from Aileen's island will gather a man from each of three islands, bring down the magical barrier between those islands and the largest, fourth island and allow the archipelago to reunite. According to the king that person is Aileen's aunt -- who insists on dragging Aileen along.

Michael Fay is a normal boy, living with his grandparents on their family farm in rural Ireland. Then, one day, as Michael wanders through the trees he finds himself in the Other Place. There are strange people, and monsters, and a girl called Cat. When the wolves follow him from the Other Place to his family's doorstep, Michael must choose between locking the doors and looking away or following Cat on an adventure that may take an entire lifetime in the Other Place.

Half-vampire, half-werewolf Siobhan Quinn survived her initiation into the world of demons and monsters. But staying alive as she becomes entangled in underworld politics might prove to be more difficult. When the daughter of a prominent necromancer vanishes, it's up to Quinn to find the girl. But her search will land her directly in the middle of a struggle between competing forces searching for an ancient artifact of almost unimaginable power...

Anya, 16 year old niece of the Faerie Queen, is sent into the human world to find her runaway cousin, Prince Zabriel, and bring him home before the impending death of his mother. But after leaving behind the safe haven of the faerie kingdom, Anya is attacked by human hunters who cut off her wings, making her return impossible. As she hunts for her cousin, she realizes that Fae are being kidnapped and mutilated in the human world and that she may have a second, even more important responsibility -- taking down the culprits.

Sequel to CAROUSEL TIDES. Kate Archer, owner-operator of a vintage wooden carousel, leads a double life, as carny, and as Guardian of the land. Her recent return has changed Archer Beach's luck for the better and energized the "trenvay" earth and water spirits who are as much citizens of the town as their mundane counterparts. But despite this new energy, Joe Nemeier, the local drug lord, whose previous magical consultant was vanquished by Kate, has now acquired a new ally - and this one plays with fire.

A companion collection to the Twilight Reign quintet, these 11 stories shine a rather different light on the Land. Look past the armies and politics of the Seven Tribes and you will find smaller moments that shaped the course of history in their own way. But even forgotten secrets can kill. Even shadows can have claws.

A proud and reserved alien society finds its homeland destroyed in an unprovoked act of aggression, and the survivors have no choice but to reach out to the indigenous humanoids of their adopted world, to whom they are distantly related. Now a man and a woman from these two clashing societies must work together to save this vanishing race - and end up uncovering ancient mysteries with far-reaching ramifications.

Baltimore detective Joe Ledger has just been secretly recruited by the government -- there's a problem that Homeland Security can't handle. Zombies. Terrorists now have a bioweapon that turns ordinary Americans into zombies. Joe, apparently, can tell the difference.

Two decades after the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar and forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising - but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

Drastically outnumbered and pursued by the enemy's best, Tamas must lead his men on a reckless march through northern Kez to safety, and back over the mountains so that he can defend his country from an angry god, Kresimir. In Adro, Inspector Adamat only wants to rescue his wife. To do so he must track down and confront the evil Lord Vetas. He has questions for Vetas concerning his enigmatic master, but the answers might lead to more questions. Tamas' generals bicker among themselves, the brigades lose ground every day beneath the Kez onslaught, and Kresimir wants the head of the man who shot him in the eye. With Tamas and his powder cabal presumed dead, Taniel Two-shot finds himself as the last line of defense against Kresimir's advancing army.

On a distant and mysterious island ruled by elves, where he was raised and trained by a trusted Captain of the slain High King, Reyer has now come of age. He has learned of his lineage - and those loyal to the bloodline of the true High King have rallied to his side. And though the forces of his enemy are far superior, Reyer will gather an army and lead them against the Usurper - to gain back the crown and kingdom stolen from him and to restore Mithgar to its rightful rule.

Now eighteen, Scottish teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is settling in London, though she still struggles with anxiety, depression, and self-abuse. Her new friends support her - and all is fine until the Guild of Werewolf Hunters start picking off her clan, one by one. And no matter how Kalix tries to make her life more normal, there will always come a time when, under threat, her insanity and battle-madness will descend on her, and the skinny young girl will again transform into the most feared and ferocious werewolf in the country.

Having split the walls of Rome with their sorcery and slaughtered the inhabitants with their axes, the barbarian tribesmen carved up the empire into a series of bickering states which were never more than an insult away from war. A thousand years later, and Europe has become an almost civilized place. The rulers of the old Roman palatinates confine their warfare to the short summer months, trade flourishes along the rivers and roads, and farming has become less back-breaking, all due to the magic, bestowed by gods, that infuses daily life.

Stepping Stone: As strange visions haunt a man's days and nights, he begins to wonder if he is losing his mind, or if he is on the brink of a startling revelation. Love Machine: Tricked into joining the collective Co-Mind, as part of a master plan to take over the world, Lois Kim struggles to adapt to her new reality and abilities. Is there any way back to the life that was stolen from her, or is she destined to lead humanity into a strange new era?

A low-stakes con artist and killer poker player, Griffen "Grifter" McCandles graduated college fully expecting his wealthy family to have a job waiting for him. Instead, his mysterious uncle reveals a family secret. Griffen and his sister, Valerie, are actually dragons. Unwilling to let Uncle Mal take him under his wing, so to speak, Griffen heads to New Orleans with Valerie to make a living the only way he knows how. And even the criminal underworld of the French Quarter will heat up when Griffen lands in town.

In post-apocalyptic Africa. Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny -- to end the genocide of her people. Nebula nominee. World Fantasy Award winner.

A new 'America', called Valhalla, is emerging more than a million steps from Datum Earth, with core American values restated in the plentiful environment of the Long Earth -- and Valhalla is growing restless under the control of the Datum government... Meanwhile the Long Earth is suffused by the song of the trolls, graceful hive-mind humanoids. But the trolls are beginning to react to humanity's thoughtless exploitation.

Now Wolf Squadron must take on another massive challenge - clear the assault carrier USS Iwo Jima of those infected with the zombie plague before the trapped Marines and sailors succumb to starvation. If Wolf Squadron can accomplish that task, an even tougher trial awaits: an apocalyptic battle to win a new dawn for humanity.

Tiger's 25 year old son accuses him of becoming "domesticated". Thus challenged by his own flesh and blood to reclaim his legendary status, Tiger, accompanied by Del and his son, embarks on a journey northward that will test his sword skill and resolve, and lead him and Del into the dangerous path of an old enemy.

Stories to make you think, to make you laugh, to make you wonder, to make you uneasy. Stories that ask questions, stories that sow mysteries. But always stories that entertain.

For Basha Argeneau anything is better than facing her estranged family. Even hiding out in sweltering southern California. But Marcus Notte has been asked by Lucian Argeneau to bring Basha back for questioning, and he is determined to do it.

1565. Malta must rely on the ancient Knights of the Order of St. John for survival. Sir Thomas Barrett is summoned by the Order and is compelled by loyalty to return to the beseiged island.

Weston Jennings is a dreamshifter and believes he is the only one of his kind. He fears his powers and resists learning to control them. After suffering a tragic loss, Weston heads deep into the woods of the Pacific Northwest to embrace a safe life of solitude. But when a terrible mistake leads to an innocent's death, his guilt drives him to his former home, where he encounters what he never thought he would find: another shifter.

The disappearance of the spaceship Ishiguro twenty-three years ago devastated the global space program and set back exploration for a generation. Now, thanks to the tireless efforts of twin brothers Mira and Tomas Hyvonen, the program has been resurrected. Hoping to solve the mystery behind the Ishiguro's disastrous mission, Mira and Tomas have arranged everything down to the smallest detail. Nothing has been overlooked.They don't know that in space, the devil isn't always in the details - and nothing goes according to plan.

1941. Learning that Hitler has charged Werner von Braun with creating a manned orbital spacecraft capable of attacking the US, Roosevelt gives Robert Goddard the task of building a spacecraft capable of intercepting it. So begins a race against time - between two secret military programs and two brilliant scientists whose high-stakes competition will spiral into a deadly game of political intrigue and unforeseen catastrophes played to the death in the brutal skies above America.

Adrian's twin sister Adrienne now leads a faction of the Shadowspawn - the ancient, shape-shifting, blood-drinking breed who secretly control the world. She has nothing but hatred and contempt for her brother, who remains on the side of humanity, fighting with the Brotherhood against the Shadowspawn. To defeat him, she has suborned his mentor - the greatest warrior of the Brotherhood.

When the team led by particle physicist Jon Grady finally produces a devices that can reflect gravity, Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. Rejecting the opportunity to join the organization and improve his own technology in secret, Grady is thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. Can the prisoners break the restraints that the organization has placed on their intellects - and on the future of the human race?

Historian Annie Kendall arrives at London's Bristol House on an assignment to research ancient artifacts from the Holy Land. She's desperate to escape her troubled past with the help of the shadowy employer who has hired her for an unusual, but well-paid, mission. So Annie is determined to ignore the strange manifestations in her flat - including the appearance of a ghostly Carthusian monk. When she crosses paths with Geoff Harris, a well-known TV journalist and a dead ringer for the strange apparition, they are called upon to crack an enigmatic code, still unbroken after five hundred years.

The first expedition to Area X returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer. This is the twelfth expedition. Their group is made up of four women including an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, and the de facto leader and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens, to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers - they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding - but it's the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything.

In the Provincial Union of Victoriana, a steampunk America that lost the Revolutionary War, Charmian Kit Kittredge makes her living investigating crimes of magic. Unlike most folks, Kit doesn't believe in magic, but she can't refuse to help Lady Diana Walsh, who claims a curse is viciously wounding her while she sleeps. As Kit investigates the Walsh family, she becomes convinced that the attacks are part of a more ominous plot, one that may involve the lady's obnoxious husband.

130 essays on Jo Walton's rereading of all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. Among her many subjects here are: the Zones of Thought novels of Vernor Vinge; the question of what genre readers mean by "mainstream"; the underappreciated SF adventures of C. J. Cherryh; the field's many approaches to time travel; the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children; the early Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have most certainly never read.

The first two (MARCH UPCOUNTRY and MARCH TO THE SEA) in the Empire of Man Series.

The island empire of Charis has declared its independence from the Church, and with Merlyn's help has vaulted forward into a new age of steam-powered efficiency. Fending off the wounded Church, Charis has drawn more and more of the countries of Safehold to the cause of independence and self-determination. But at a heavy cost in bloodshed and loss - a cost felt by nobody more keenly that Merlyn Athrawes. The wounded Church is regrouping. Its armies and resources are vast. The fight for humanity's future isn't over, and won't be over soon.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

This is the way the world ends...not with a bang but a scream in the dark. It begins at dawn, when the sun rises late. Then the holes appear. The first forms in Central Park, in sight of an apartment where Repairman Jack and a man as old as time watch with growing dread. Gaping holes, bottomless and empty...until sundown, when the first unearthly, hungry creatures appear. NIGHTWORLD brings F. Paul Wilson's Adversary Cycle and Repairman Jack saga to an apocalyptic finale as Jack and Glaeken search the Secret History to gather a ragtag army for a last stand against the Otherness and a hideously transformed Rasalom.

The year is 10,515 AD. The Hyades Armada, traveling at near lightspeed, will reach Earth in just four centuries to assess humanity's value as slaves. Now, with the countdown to its arrival nearing its end, Hermeticist del Azarchel and Menelaus Montrose, the Judge of Ages, square off for what is to be their final showdown for the fate of Earth, a battle of gunfire and cliometric calculus; powered armor and posthuman intelligence.

Celia Graves, once an ordinary human, now strives to maintain her sanity and her soul while juggling both vampire abilities and the powers of a Siren. Her cousin Adriana, about to marry the king of a small but politically important European country has been getting death threats from fanatics who want to see the whole Siren race wiped out. After a failed assassination attempt on Adriana,Celia decides to hunt for the terrorists and the vile mage who is helping them (while keeping her eyes open for the perfect maid-of-honor dress).

Alternate reality. 19 year old Alix Nico, code-named Scarlet, is a kick-ass superheroine with killer Mods and an attitude to match. She's considered one of America's top Levels, even though her last mission nearly precipitated World War III. So now Scarlet and her new partner, Darwin, have been sent to Greater Germany to help sow the seeds of anarchy and prevent Germany's defection to Russia and China. But where Scarlet goes, chaos follows - and when her mission takes an unexpected turn, she and Darwin must go ever deeper into enemy territory.

Crazy, powerful, and backed by a despotic sec crew, the Hanging Judge drops innocents from the gallows at will. When Jak narrowly escapes, a rift among the companions sends them deep into the wilderness outside the ville. Separated and hurting, time is running out for the survivors to realize they're stronger together than they ever could be alone - before a ruthless madman brings them to the end of their rope.

Devi Morris sees ghostly creatures no one else can, the inexplicable black stain on her hands keeps getting bigger, and she can't seem to stop getting into compromising situations with a man she's supposed to hate. But when a deadly crisis exposes far more of the truth than she bargained for, Devi discovers there's worse fates than being shot, and sometimes the only people you can trust are the ones who want you dead.

Agents of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences Braun and Books travel to America - where they suspect Thomas Edison is behind a mysteriously electrifying series of disasters.

As a "cassandra sangue," or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard - a business district operated by the Others. Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. But an instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And then, when he learns the truth, he will have to decide if she's worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard - Lakeside's shape-shifting leader - wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat. As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet - and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.

Although the Terran Federation has departed Darkover due to a nasty interstellar civil war, the planet's location in the galactic arm makes it a prime hideout for smugglers, rebels and other refugees. When smugglers start arming the warlike Dry Towners with forbidden weapons, Gareth Elhalyn, grandson of Regis Hastur and heir to the throne, takes off on a secret mission to stop them...

Three years after her fateful journeys through the forbidding mountains of Vystrana, Mrs. Camherst defies family and convention to embark on an expedition to the wartorn continent of Eriga, home of such exotic draconian species as the grassdwelling snakes of the savannah, arboreal tree snakes, and, most elusive of all, the legendary swampwyrms of the tropics. The expedition is not an easy one. Accompanied by both an old associate and a runaway heiress, Isabella must brave oppressive heat, merciless fevers, palace intrigues, gossip, and other hazards in order to satisfy her boundless fascination with all things draconian, even if it means venturing deep into the forbidden jungle known as the Green Hell... where her courage, resourcefulness, and scientific curiosity will be tested as never before.

Mercy's mate Adam's ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. But with Christy holed up in Adam's house, Mercy can't shake the feeling that something about the situation isn't right. Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she's willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam's pack against Mercy. And, worse, Christy's ex is more than a bad man - in fact, he may not be human at all. Mercy will need to put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

Would it be your ultimate fantasy to enter the world of a video game? A realm where you don't have to go to work or worry about your health? Where you can look like a hero or a goddess and where you can fly spaceships and slay dragons, while all of it feels completely real? A realm where there are no consequences and no responsibilities? Or would it be your worst nightmare?

Standalone SHANNARA novel. Paxon Leah never thought of the old family sword hanging above his living room hearth as anything other than an intriguing ornament - until his sister is kidnapped by a sorceror. Following the dark mage with nothing but this piece of steel to protect him, Paxon stumbles into a plot to remake the world - and accidentally unlocks the powers of the ancient blade.

When Beth wakes up one morning covered in dirt, she puts it down to an extreme case of sleep-walking. But when reports of a desecrated grave start to circulate, her night-time wanderings take on a sinister air. Soon the city is being plagued by strange sightings and sudden disappearances. Beth knows that something is changing within her. Something that's filling her with an urgent, desperate hunger that demands to be satisfied-at any cost.

[Canadian author]. When an Emperor is deposed, the Red Knight and his men find their services in high demand - and themselves surrounded by enemies. The country is in revolt, the capital city is besieged and any victory will be hard won. But The Red Knight has a plan. The question, can he negotiate the political, magical, real and romantic battlefields at the same time - especially when he intends to be victorious on them all?

Here on Earth, Danny North is still in high school, yet he holds in his heart and mind all the stolen outselves of thirteen centuries of gatemages. He has taken responsibility for the Great Gates - and when he comes face-to-face with the mages who call themselves Bel and Ishtoreth, he will come to understand just why Loki closed the gates all those centuries ago.

In 1781, George Washington's attempt to trap the British under Cornwallis at Yorktown ends catastrophically when the French fleet is destroyed in the Battle of the Capes. The revolution collapses, and the British begin a bloody reign of terror. A group of rebels flees westward and sets up a colony near what is now Chicago. They call it Liberty. The British, looking to finish what they started, send a very large force under Burgoyne to destroy them.

The oldest and fiercest of the Instrumentalities has been destroyed - by a mortal. There is no new Windwalker, nor will there ever be. The world, battered by savage change, limps toward its destiny. And the ice is coming.

Police officers Quill, Costain, Sefton, and Ross know the worst of London - or they think they do. While investigating a mobster's mysterious death, they come into contact with a strange artifact and accidentally develop the Sight. Suddenly they can see the true evil haunting London's streets. Armed with police instincts and procedures, the four officers take on the otherworldly creatures secretly prowling London. Football lore and the tragic history of a Tudor queen become entwined in their pursuit of an age-old witch with a penchant for child sacrifice. But when London's monsters become aware of their meddling, the officers must decide what they are willing to sacrifice to clean up their city.

The village of Marrowdell is an isolated pioneer community, but it is also the place where two worlds overlap, and at the turn of light - sunset - the world of magic known as Verge can briefly be seen. Jenn Nalynn belongs to both Verge and Marrowdell, but even she doesn't know how special she is or that her "invisible" friend Wisp is actually a dragon sent to guard her and keep her from leaving the valley. But Jenn longs to see the world, and thinking that a husband will help her reach this goal, she decides to create one using spells. Suddenly her invisible friend has been transformed into a man, and he is not the only newcomer to Marrowdell - and far from the most dangerous.

The world has been condemned. Only Gordon Black and The Crowman can redeem it.The search for the shadowy figure known only as the Crowman continues, as the Green Men prepare to rise up against the forces of the Ward.It is the Bright Day, a time long generations hence, when a peace has descended across the world.It is the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, the earth wracked and dying.

In an ancient time, in a far away land, a young woman named Aoife is allowed a rare apprenticeship to become her kingdom's mapmaker, tasked with charting the entire domain. Traveling beyond its borders, she finds a secretive people who live in peace, among great wealth. They claim to protect a mythic treasure, one connected to the creation of the world. When Aoife reports their existence to her kingdom, the community is targeted as a threat.

A young hero overcomes implacable foes to lead a planet fallen into a dark age back to the high point of its lost technological civilization. THE ANVIL and STEEL in one volume.

In September 2105 intelligence Analyst Caine Riordan uncovers a conspiracy on Earth's Moon - and ends up involuntarily cryocelled for his troubles. Now he is awakened and sent to the Delta Pavonis system. His task of evaluating a dead alien civilization leads him to the discovery that Earth is the lynchpin planet in an impending struggle for interstellar dominance, a struggle into which it is being irresistibly dragged.

Cent lives in isolation, with her parents, hiding from the people who took her father captive and tortured him to gain control over his ability to teleport, and from the government agencies who want to use his talent. Cent has teleported more than anyone on Earth, except for her mother and father, but she's never been able to do it herself - until the day when she went snowboarding without permission and triggered an avalanche. When the snow and ice thundered down on her, she suddenly found herself in her own bedroom. That was the first time.

When Miranda, baby daughter to James Asher and his wife Lydia, is kidnapped by the Master Vampire of London, the stakes are high. Blindly follow the Master Vampire's instructions, keep out of the way of the human networks that serve the vampires, destroy the interloper who seeks to seize control of the London Nest, and find the key to the Nest's tortuous inner workings: The Book of the Kindred of Darkness.

Witch and day-walking demon Rachel has managed to save the demonic ever-after from shrinking, but at high cost. Now strange magic is attacking Cincinnati and the Hollows, causing spells to backfire or go horribly wrong. Rachel must stop this dark necromancy before the undead vampire masters are lost and all-out supernatural war breaks out.

The Mentats, the Navigators, and the Sisterhood all strive to improve the human race, but each group knows that as Butlerian fanaticism grows stronger, the battle will be to choose the path of humanity's future - whether to embrace civilization, or to plunge into an endless dark age.

18 dark and twisted fairy tales from such authors as Jeri Smith-Ready, Sonia Gensler, Saundra Mitchell and Julie Kagawa.

S. T. Joshi-the twenty-first century's preeminent expert on all things Lovecraftian-gathers the greatest modern acolytes, including Caitlin R. Kiernan, Ramsey Campbell, Michael Shea, Brian Stableford, Nicholas Royle, Darrell Schweitzer and W.H.Pugmire, each of whom serves up a new masterpiece of cosmic terror that delves deep into the human psyche to horrify and disturb.

Kara is a mercenary - a Diamond warrior, the best of the best, part of the Majat Guild. When her tenure to Prince Kythar comes to an end, he wishes to retain her services, but must accompany her back to her Guild to negotiate her continued protection. When they arrive they discover that the prince's sworn enemy, the Kaddim, have already paid the Guild to engage her services - to capture and hand over the prince (who she has grown very fond of). A warrior brought up to respect both duty and honour, what happens when her sworn duty proves dishonourable?

Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighbouring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

When Jane and Vincent receive a commission from a prominent London family, they take it, and bring Melody with them. It doesn't take long for Jane and Vincent to realize that in addition to arranging a wedding, they must take on one small task: solving a crisis of national proportions.

Zoe Norris writes travel guides for the undead. And she's good at it too -- her new-found ability to talk to cities seems to help. After the success of "The Shambling Guide to New York City," Zoe and her team are sent to New Orleans to write the sequel. Work isn't all that brings Zoe to the Big Easy. The only person who can save her boyfriend from zombism is rumored to live in the city's swamps, but Zoe's out of her element in the wilderness. With her supernatural colleagues waiting to see her fail, and rumors of a new threat hunting city talkers, can Zoe stay alive long enough to finish her next book?

The world thinks of Saker Rampion as a priest, a gentle man preaching peace. The truth is, he's a spy for the head of his faith, posted in the court of King Edwayn. It's a time of fear --- as a mysterious and monstrous disease sweeps the country ---but also opportunity ---lucrative trade is opening up overseas, and what's grown on the Spice Islands is rumored to cure the demonic plague. However when the king uses his own daughter as a pawn in trade deals, Saker cannot help but get involved. And for his trouble, he may just end up excommunicated, or even dead...

To the kompani it seems that the arrival of Clan Korval on the planet Surebeak will bring catastrophe, changing the culture and the kompani, forever. In this time of change, the lives of three people intersect - Kezzi, apprentice to the kompani's grandmother; Syl Vor, Clan Korval's youngest warrior; and Rys, a man without a world, or a past.

A chase through time, with two people bound together in enmity and fury takes us on a fascinating journey from Paris of the late 1300s with the alchemists Perenelle and Nicolas Flamel, to contemporary New York City. Along the way, there are interludes with Bernini in Rome in 1635; with Vivaldi in Venice of 1737; with Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier and Robespierre in the Paris of the French Revolution; with William Blake and John Polidori in 1814; with Gustav Klimt in fin de siecle Vienna; with Charlotte Salomon in WWII France.

After the Aetar nearly kill Maxine's unborn child, and a betrayal within her own ranks leaves Maxine's husband, Grant, poisoned and dying, Maxine is forced to attack a race of beings that possesses almost unlimited power. Doing so will require she make a deal with the devil - the devil that lives inside her - risking both her sanity and her soul as she slowly transforms into something more than human. But even that might not be enough to save Grant, because the very thing that Maxine is becoming is destined to destroy the world.

When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn't expect people to start dropping dead. But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend - Shelby Trainer, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats - is starting to get suspicious. Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

In the near future the experimental nano-drug Nexus can cause humans to link together, mind to mind. When a young scientist is caught improving Nexus, he's thrust way over his head into a world of danger and international espionage, for there is far more at stake than anyone realizes.

Merit almost became a midnight snack for a vampire, until another vampire saved her life by turning her into one of the undead. Now she finds herself in a war between two opposing groups of bloodsuckers.

An illustrated retelling of the Cinderella story, with a contemporary spin on the traditional elements.

Though Touchstone, the magical theater troupe, continues to build audiences, Cayden is increasingly troubled by the uncontrolled moments that plunge him into visions of the possible futures. He fears that his Fae gift will forever taint his friendships; his friends fear that his increasing distance will destroy him. But Touchstone has been selected to travel to the Continent with a Royal Embassy to collect Prince Ashgar's new bride, the first theater artists to appear outside Albeyn for at least seventy years - for magic is suspect and forbidden elsewhere.

The crew of a research vessel are stranded by a storm on a tropical island. They quickly discover evidence of a brutal history left behind by former occupants: Unit 731, Japan's ruthless World War II human experimentation program. As crew members start to disappear, they begin to realize the horrible truth: Island 731 was never decommissioned and the person taking them may not be a person at all - not anymore.

Valerie McTeague's business model is simple: provide the students of Edgewood College with a late-night study haven and stay as far away from the underworld conflicts of her vampire brethren as possible. Elly Garrett hasn't known any life except that of fighting the supernatural werewolf-like beings known as Creeps or Jackals. But she always had her mentor and foster father by her side - until he gave his life protecting a book that the Creeps desperately want to get their hands on. When the book gets stashed at Night Owls for safe keeping, those Val holds nearest and dearest are put in mortal peril.

Dalinar leads the human armies deep into the heart of the Shattered Plains in a bold attempt to finally end the war with the Parshendia. Shallan comes along, hoping to find the legendary, perhaps mythical, city of Urithuru, which Jasnah believes holds a secret vital to mankind's survival on Roshar. The Parshendi take a dangerous step to strengthen themselves for the human challenge, risking the return of the fearsome Voidbringers of old. To deal with it all, Kaladin must learn to how to fulfill his new role as leader of the restored Knights Radiant, while mastering the powers of a Windrunner.

Sequel to THE LAST COLONY. For generations the human Colonial Union had defended humanity against hostile aliens, deliberately keeping Earth an ignorant backwater and a source of military recruits. Now other alien races have come on the scene and formed a new alliance against the Colonial Union. And they've invited the people of Earth to join them. Against such possibilities, managing the survival of the Colonial Union won't be easy, either. It will take diplomatic finesse, political cunning...and a brilliant "B Team," centered on the resourceful Lieutenant Harry Wilson, that can be deployed to deal with the unpredictable and unexpected things the universe throws at you when you're struggling to preserve the unity of the human race.

Marsh is assisting Commissioner Willoughby of the London Metropolitan police in solving a magical mystery. But in doing so, he loses his heart - literally. In place of the flesh-and-blood organ is a clockwork device - a device that makes Marsh a kind of zombie. Nor is he the only one. A plague of clockwork zombies is afflicting London, sowing panic and whispers of revolution. Now Elle must join forces with her husband's old friend, the Nightwalker Loisa Beladodia, to track down Marsh's heart and restore it to his chest before time runs out.

The Gods are dead. The Magelord Salazar and his magically enhanced troops, the Augmentors, crush any dissent they find in the minds of the populace. On the other side of the Broken Sea, the White Lady plots the liberation of Dorminia, with her spymistresses, the Pale Women. Demons and abominations plague the Highlands. The world is desperately in need of heroes. But what they get instead are a ragtag band of old warriors, a crippled Halfmage, two orphans and an oddly capable manservant: the Grim Company.

Retired Colonel Ray Longknife and Marine Captain Terrence "Trouble" Tordon come to Savannah via different routes, but what they find is the same. One bully strongman is intent on keeping power no matter what the new rules are for peace. He's got the population cowed by thugs, and tanks at the ready. He expects to win the coming elections handily. He doesn't expect trouble. Or, in this case, Mrs. Trouble - aka Ruth Tordon - a Marine wife on a mission to find the drug lords that almost killed her and her husband and put them out of business - and she's not about to be stopped by some barely trained roughnecks.

When a small crew of scoundrels, would-be heroes, deviants, and ruffians discover a map that they believe will lead them to a fabled sword buried in the barrow of a long-dead wizard, they think they've struck it rich. But their hopes are dashed when the map turns out to be cursed and then is destroyed in a magical ritual. The loss of the map leaves them dreaming of what might have been, until they rediscover the map in a most unusual and unexpected place.

It starts with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Horace, a soldier from the west, had joined the Great Crusade against the heathens of Akeshia after the deaths of his wife and son from plague. When he washes ashore, he finds himself at the mercy of the very people he was sent to kill, who speak a language and have a culture and customs he doesn't even begin to understand.

The Great Spa sits on the edge of London, a structure visible from space. The power of Britain on the world stage rests in its monopoly on "The Treatment," a medical procedure which can transform the richest and most powerful into a state of permanent physical youth. The Great Spa is the place where the newly young immortals go to revitalise their aged souls. In this most important and secure of facilities, a murder of one of the guests threatens to destabilise the new order, and DCI Oates of the Metrolpolitan police is called in to investigate.

The transformation from ordinary vampires to ultrapowerful children of Persephone has left Miranda and David with a growing appetite for the taste of death. Meanwhile, The Order of the Morningstar, once a fringe group of humans, has become a serious threat, assassinating vampires all over the world. Now Miranda must set aside her hunger and access long-forgotten magic to save her kind.

In an ancient forest, where Mantis clans pursue their own civil war, the Empress Seda is seeking lost magic. Some dangerous shadow of old night is locked up among these trees and she is wants its power. Cheerwell Maker must stop her, at any cost, but will their rivalry awaken something far deadlier? Something that could make even their clash of nations pale into insignificance.

Michael has returned to the quiet Appalachian home of his forebearers following a suicide attempt and now takes care of his grandmother - old and sickly but with an important story to tell about growing up poor and Melungeon (a mixed race group of mysterious origin) while bedeviled by a snake-handling uncle and empathic powers she barely understands. In a field not far from the Gibson family home lies an iron-bound crate within a small shack buried four feet deep under Kudzu vine. Michael somehow understands that hidden inside that crate is potentially his own death, his grandmother's death, and perhaps the deaths of everyone in the valley if he does not come to understand her story well enough.

12 May 1940. Westminster, London, England: the early days of World War II. Again. British spy Raybould Marsh, has travelled to another Earth hoping to save at least one timeline from the Cthulhu-like monsters who have been observing our species from space and have already destroyed Marsh's timeline. To this end he must remove all traces of the supermen that were created by the Nazi war machine and caused the specters from outer space to notice our planet in the first place. His biggest challenge is the mad seer Gretel, one of the most powerful of the Nazi creations, who has sent a version of herself to this timeline to thwart Marsh.

The definitive anthology of time travel stories. The 800 pages includes stories from Douglas Adams, Asimov, Bradbury, William Gibson, George R. R. Martin, Le Guin, King, Borges, Moorcock, and, of course, H. G. Wells.

Doing a favour for deathmage Lucien Dredmore, Kit agrees to interview a newly widowed lady as a potential client. Upon meeting her, however, she learns that the woman in question is none other than Lady Eugenia Bestly, president of the Rumsen Ladies Decency Society, someone who once led a vicious campaign to ruin Kit's life. Ironically Lady Bestly now lives in fear herself, for the press is about to unmask her husband as the savage Wolfman who died while terrorizing the city. As monstrous rampages continue to occur, Kit soon determines there is more than one Wolfman, and that they may themselves be victims of evil players.

Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship. Fleeing an inquisition, physician Stephen Parris follows Sinclair to an island that perches on the edge of the world, bringing his daughter Catherine with him. The island is teeming with fantastical animals and alluring mysteries, and may hold the secret of immortality.

The shadowy Mesan Alignment has launched a bold move to destroy Manticore's reputation as the champion of freedom. And when the RMN doesn't arrive, when the MLF is brutally and bloodily crushed, no independent star system will ever trust Manticore again. Mike Henke knows she has no orders from her government to assist any rebellions or liberation movements, that she has only so many ships, which can be in only so many places at a time - and that she can't possibly justify diverting any of her limited, outnumbered strength to missions of liberation the Star Empire never signed on for. But no one is going to send thousands of patriots to their deaths, trusting in Manticoran help that will never come. Not on Mike Henke's watch.

Young adventurer Emilie joins her patron in investigating a disturbance of aether in the sky. Where Emilie and the Hollow World took her deep into the earth, this adventure takes her to the skies, discovering a ship from a different aetheric realm. She must find out if they are friend or foe, and face the even greater dangers which follow fast on the ship's trail.

"What would Kurt Russell do?" Oxford police detective Arthur Wallace asks himself that question a lot. Because Arthur is no hero. He's a good cop, but prefers that action and heroics remain on the screen, safely performed by professionals. But then, secretive government agency MI12 comes calling, hoping to recruit Arthur in their struggle against the tentacled horrors from another dimension known as the Progeny. But Arthur is NO HERO! Can an everyman stand against sanity-ripping cosmic horrors?

Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University, bringing with him some souvenirs. Included among them are an immensely powerful book, which he carelessly loaned to graduate student Chris Parson, who intends to use it to impress girls. One of the most dangerous artifacts in the universe, it cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. But Time Lord Skagra (whose hands are unquestionably wrong) wants the book and is on his way to get it.

Black ops squad Kilo-Five find their loyalties tested beyond breaking point when the father of their Spartan comrade, still searching for the truth about her disappearance, prepares to glass Earth's cities to get an answer. How far will Kilo-Five go to stop him? And will he be able to live with the truth when he finds it? The painful answer lies with a man long dead, and a conscience that still survives in the most unlikely, undiscovered place.

The Federation is rocked to its core as the Typhon Pact is suspected of being behind a barbarous act that shatters the fragile peace of the Alpha Quadrant.

The unthinkable has happened Terra has fallen to the traitor forces of Warmaster Horus! Nothing else could explain the sudden disappearance of the Astronomican's guiding light at the heart of the Imperium, or so Roboute Guilliman would believe. Ever the pragmatist, he has drawn all his forces to Ultramar and begun construction of the new empire known as Imperium Secundus.

The Flood - a horrifying shape-changing parasite - has arrived in force, aided by unexpected allies. Its roots may be found in an act of enormous barbarity, carried out beyond our galaxy ten million years before - Because of that barbarism, a greater evil looms. Only the Ur-Didact and the Librarian - husband and wife pushed into desperate conflict - hold the keys to a solution. Facing the consequences of a mythic tragedy, one of them must now commit the greatest atrocity of all time - to prevent an insane evil from dominating the entire universe.

Voyager and Demeter" set course for a region of the Delta Quadrant, determined to prove to Starfleet Command that the fleet's ongoing mission is vital to Federation interests and the key to doing so may lie in a distress call "Voyager" received nine years earlier, but could not investigate.

Anthology of short stories revealing the untold tales of the Underworld War, including Dan Abnett, Aaron Demsbki-Bowden and Rob Sanders. The battle for Calth is far from over.

Featuring the iconic Ellen Ripley in a terrifying new adventure that bridges the gap between Alien and Aliens.

As Drizzt's fate hangs in the balance, he reflects on the lives of the trusted allies who stood by his side throughout his early life - the friends now known as the Companions of the Hall. Meanwhile, the first stirrings of the Sundering begin.

It's kill or be killed in the space penitentiary that houses the galaxy's worst criminals, where convicts face off in gladiatorial combat while an underworld gambling empire reaps the profits of the illicit blood sport. But the newest contender in this savage arena, as demonic to behold as he is deadly to challenge, is fighting for more than just survival. His do-or-die mission, for the dark masters he serves, is to capture the ultimate weapon: an object capable of obliterating the Jedi and conquering the galaxy.

A cache of bones is found in a shallow grave in local woods... Meanwhile missing persons cases in Portland seem to be on the increase. As more bones are discovered, Portland homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt and his partner Hank Griffin investigate - but there seems to be no connection between the victims... A brand-new original story set in the Grimm universe.

Masters of tyranny, technology, and twisted double crosses, the Quintessons are out to enslave both Autobots and Decepticons. Their deadly bag of tricks includes fiendish trials and a secret link all the way back to Cybertron, where Shockwave is wreaking havoc with supercomputer Vector Sigma. In the coming conflagration, Star Seekers, Wreckers, Alpha Trion, and Sharkticons all have their parts to play. For none can dodge the Quintesson juggernaut of evil, and none will escape the cataclysmic life-and-death battles that will catapult Autobots and Decepticons to Earth.

Leia sends smuggler Han Solo on a mission to extract a high-level rebel spy from the very heart of the Empire. But when Han locates the brash rebel agent, Scarlet Hark, she's determined to stay behind enemy lines. A pirate plans to sell a cache of stolen secrets that the Empire would destroy entire worlds to protect - including the planet where Leia is currently meeting with rebel sympathizers.

A diplomatic mission to the planet Yusub erupts in violence when ruthless Orion raiders attempt to disrupt the crucial negotiations by force. Caught in the midst of a tense and dangerous situation, Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S "Enterprise" finds an unexpected ally in the form of an enigmatic stranger who calls herself Annika Seven.

Dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden returns to Gauntlgrym with old friends by his side once again, as they seek to rescue Bruenor's loyal shield dwarf-turned-vampire. But not only do Drizzt and his allies face a perilous journey through the Underdark and the dangers of the undead that lie within, but they must cross through a colony of drow, who would like nothing better than to see Drizzt Do'Urden dead.