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Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn't Fly
by Stephen Graham Jones Paul TremblayThe author of Mongrels and the author of The Cabin at the End of the World team up to tell a quirky and uplifting fantasy “that will enthrall young teens” (School Library Journal). Things Mary doesn’t want to fall into: the river, high school, her mother’s life. Things Mary does kind of want to fall into: love, the sky. This is the story of a girl who sees a boy float away one fine day. This is the story of the girl who reaches up for that boy with her hand and with her heart. This is the story of a girl who takes on the army to save a town, who goes toe-to-toe with a mad scientist, who has to fight a plague to save her family. This is the story of a girl who would give anything to get to babysit her baby brother one more time. If she could just find him. It’s all up in the air for now, though, and falling fast . . . Fun, breathlessly exciting, and full of heart, Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly is an unforgettable ride. “Straddles the border between magic realism and weird science . . . an entertaining, thoughtful piece.” —Publishers Weekly “Absolutely adorable . . . The plot was fast paced and driven and it kept me intrigued until the very end. It was [a] really light, easy read.” —Read Rant Review
The Distance Travelled: A Novel
by Brett Alexander Savory“A completely unique take on life in hell. Snappy dialog and a bizarre backdrop set this adventure tale apart from the pack.” —Christopher Moore, New York Times–bestselling author of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Why have certain denizens of Hell taken to throwing farm animals through innocent folks’ kitchen windows? How long does it take a dead, desiccated gas attendant to walk out to his pumps? What sort of relationship do the Lord of the Underworld and Hell’s Head Torturer have besides the obvious professional one? What kind of air conditioning units do they use down there? Do they listen to Cyndi Lauper? What is Hell’s official currency, and by what criteria did The Big Red Fella choose it? Can pigs eat cereal with a spoon? What nameless beast dwells in the flame pit near the hole to Upside? What is Upside, for that matter, and why should you care anyway? Within the pages of this book, you will find the answers to these pressing questions, as well as answers to other, significantly less pressing questions . . . “A raucous blood-and-guts pulper, complete with hardboiled mugs like PigBoy, Tom China, and Portnoy Spavin. By setting his hero’s mysterious quest in Hell itself, Brett Alexander Savory has started a whole new genre: Actual Underworld Noir.” —Stewart O’Nan, author of Snow Angels and Faithful, co-written with Stephen King “Distinctive and bizarre—and I mean that in a good way—this is a fine ride through some very unusual territories.” —Michael Marshall Smith, author of Spares and Only Forward
The Hexslinger Omnibus
by Gemma FilesThe award-winning author’s complete Hexsligner Trilogy—plus 3 new stories—set in a post-Civil War era full of dark magic: “A top-notch horror-fantasy saga” (Publishers Weekly). A Book of Tongues: A Black Quill Award winner. After the Civil War, ex-Confederate chaplain turned outlaw “hexslinger” Asher Rook and his notorious lieutenant (and lover) Chess Pargeter are desperate to shatter the laws that prevent hexes from joining forces. But while they enter an unholy alliance with the Mayan goddess Ixchel, Pinkerton agent Ed Morrow is sent in to discover their magic secrets—and he’s about to literally ride through hell to get them. A Rope of Thorns: As Ixchel consort, Asher Rook becomes the founder of Hex City, where magicians can live and work together. But Rook’s betrayed partner Chess Pargeter is on his way to exact his revenge, and he has former Pinkerton agent-turned-outlaw Ed Morrow along for the ride. Sacrificed to Ixchel, Chess now relies on a patron demon known as the Enemy for his power. A Tree of Bones: A new Civil War is brewing in the southwest where wild magic and black science clash headlong. Though back with the Agency, Ed Morrow finds himself caught between factions, as Aztec trickster god Tezcatlipoca roams the battlefield wearing Chess’s face and body, sowing dissent as this thrilling series approaches its apocalyptic climax. Experience the critically acclaimed series, as well as three new hexslinger short stories, full of “potent mythology, complex characters, and dollops of creeping horror and baroque gore” (Publishers Weekly).
A Terrible Beauty
by Nancy BakerA fairy tale with bite—vampire-style. “Don’t hold your breath waiting for Disney to film this very adult and erotic version of Beauty and the Beast.” —Winnipeg Free Press “Will you give me your blood to drink, though you die of it?” In an unexpected twist on a fairy tale, an artist goes into the wilderness to fulfill his father’s debt and finds himself the prisoner of a dangerously beautiful inhuman monster. “A Terrible Beauty is modern Canadian Gothic . . . Nancy Baker shows her mastery of the form—the mysterious letter, the journey into the wilderness, the shadows that hide from the flickering firelight—and her real affection for a good ol’ fashioned vampire yarn.” —The Telegraph Journal (Saint John) “Baker’s narrative is seductive and compelling. Like Rice, she transcends the horror genre.” —Province Showcase (Vancouver) “A polished and enchanting tale . . . It is, in a word, breathtaking.” —Ottawa Citizen “Baker’s prose is lush and sensual . . . she has a real gift for making the fantastic seem plausible and investing the mundane with eerie significance.” —Toronto Sun “A very interesting and unique take on Beauty and the Beast.” —SFFP Romance
The Night Inside: A Vampire Thriller
by Nancy BakerVampire horror from the author of A Terrible Beauty. “Riveting . . . her compromised heroine . . . is a strikingly drawn and hauntingly memorable figure.” —USA Today Dependable grad student Ardeth Alexander finds herself trapped in a nightmare as the unwilling blood source for a captive vampire named Dimitri Rozokov. “Baker’s engrossing debut alternates the present-day story with the 1898 diary of obsessed businessman Ambrose Dale, who drove Rozokov into hiding and a 100-year sleep . . . Learning his story, Ardeth gradually loses her horror of Rozokov and begins to see their human jailers as the real monsters. Their only hope of salvation is to trace the links to Rozokov’s Victorian nemesis and discover the person behind his 20th-century captivity . . . In prose studded with passages of dark luster, Baker offers a truly original scenario” (Publishers Weekly). “It’s almost impossible not to finish The Night Inside in one frenzied, chocolate donut munching sitting. It’s also impossible not [to] root for its feisty, feminist vampiress heroine.” —Charles Busch, author of Vampire Lesbians of Sodom “Terrific . . . The unrelenting tension between the monstrous and the human propels this unique tale of gripping suspense.” —Katherine Ramsland, author of The Vampire Companion “The metamorphosis is achieved in a highly charged ritual as sensuous as any written: this is consummation as bloodbath, as mutual blood-letting and blood-sucking . . . breathless, lingering, erotic . . .” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto) “Baker has obviously thought about what surrendering to the dark side means that lifts this book up above the vast . . . morass of romantic vampire fiction.” —Quill & Quire
Angels & Exiles: Stories
by Yves MeynardAn “unpredictable, brilliantly imaginative, and very engaging” collection of dark fantasy and sci-fi stories by the acclaimed author of Chrysanthe (Ursula K. Le Guin). In these fourteen stories, ranging from baroque science fiction to bleak fantasy, Yves Meynard brings to life wonders and horrors. From space travelers who must rid themselves of the sins their souls accumulate in transit to a young man whose love transcends time; from refugees in a frozen hold at the end of space to a city drowning under the weight of its architectural prayer; from an alien Jerusalem that has corrupted the Earth to a land still bleeding from the scars of a supernatural war, here are windows opened onto astonishing vistas, stories written with a scientist’s laser focus alloyed with a poet’s sensibilities. “These stories cover a vast range. . . . Some are fantasy, some are science fiction, and many of them cover an interesting middle ground between the two—a form I think of as myths of the future, and of which Meynard has a special mastery.” —Jo Walton, from the introduction
The House of War and Witness
by Mike Carey Linda Carey Louise Carey“A fantastical ghost story and a suspenseful military mystery . . . A daringly original fantasy novel” from the authors of The Steel Seraglio (Publishers Weekly). 1740. With the whole of Europe balanced on the brink of war, an Austrian regiment is sent to the furthest frontier of the empire to hold the border against the might of Prussia. Their garrison, the ancient house called Pokoj. But Pokoj is already inhabited by a company of ghosts from every age of the house’s history. Only Drozde, the quartermaster’s mistress, can see them, and terrifyingly they welcome her as a friend. As these ageless phantoms tell their stories, Drozde gets chilling glimpses not just of Pokoj’s past but of a looming menace in its future. Meanwhile the humorless lieutenant Klaes pursues another mystery. Why are the people of the neighboring village so surly and withdrawn, so reluctant to welcome the soldiers who are there to protect them? What are they hiding? And what happened to the local militia unit that was stationed at Pokoj before the regiment arrived? The camp follower and the officer make their separate journeys to the same appalling discovery—an impending catastrophe that will sweep away villagers and soldiers alike. Perhaps neither of them can prevail. If they do, it will be with the help of the restless dead . . . “TheHouse of War and Witness burns slow to start, but by the end it burns fiercely. It’s a compelling, accomplished novel, deft with its characters and interesting with its themes.” —Strange Horizons
The Yellow Wood
by Melanie TemA grown daughter confronts her father’s dark power in this “smart, creepy, and painfully insightful [novel]” by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly). To forge a life for herself, Alexandra Kove knew she had to escape the claustrophobic forest where her father had raised her. Always headstrong and independent, she was the only one of her siblings to leave. But now, after thirty years away from the yellow wood and her father’s influence, Alexandra is returning to see him, perhaps for the last time. Though she is determined to maintain her independence, Alexandra soon finds herself ensnared in a battle of wills with a man whose control over his children seems somehow more than natural. Alexandra always knew that her father was something of a wizard, but she’s about to discover just how real—and how powerful—his wizardry is. “The Yellow Wood is a terrific book, and I came away from it unsettled, even a bit horrified.” —Tor.com
The Dead Hamlets (The\book Of Cross Ser.)
by Peter RomanThe immortal hero of The Mona Lisa Sacrifice turns from art history to a literary mystery. “A fun, and whip-smart, read.” —National Post Something is rotten in the court of the faerie queen. A deadly spirit is killing off the faerie, and it has mysterious ties to Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The only one who can stop it is the immortal Cross, a charming rogue who also happens to be a drunk, a thief, and an angel killer. He is no friend of the faerie since they stole his daughter and made her one of their own. When it appears she may be the next victim of the haunting, though, he must race against time to save her. He encounters an eccentric and deadly cast of characters along the way: the real Witches of Macbeth, the undead playwright/demon hunter Christopher Marlowe, an eerie Alice from the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland books, a deranged and magical scholar—and a very supernatural William Shakespeare. When Cross discovers a startling secret about the origins of Hamlet itself, he finds himself trapped in a ghost story even he may not be able to escape alive. “The Dead Hamlets resembles something written by Neil Gaiman with its somewhat mystical imagery, and at other times it reads as a full-blown work of bizarro fiction.” —The Examiner
A Telling of Stars: First Edition
by Caitlin SweetThis tale of love, grief, and a young woman’s quest for vengeance offers “a re-envisioning of the fantasy genre rich in imagination” (Quill & Quire). An Aurora Award Finalist and Locus Award Nominee for Best First Novel At eighteen, Jaele’s life is shattered when her family is murdered by a band of Raiders, members of a long-accursed race. Overwhelmed by rage and grief, alone for the first time in her life, and fueled by childhood myths of a warrior queen, Jaele sets out on an epic quest for vengeance. Her journey takes Jaele through a kaleidoscope of cultures, some compassionate, some fierce, all remarkably fantastic yet potently real. As she makes her difficult way, Jaele sheds her innocence, but none of her experiences can prepare her for her ultimate confrontation with her enemy. “While still working within the genre parameters of standard fantasy, Sweet has created something unique; a thoughtful, meditative, distinctly feminine fantasy novel, a rich fever-dream of a book.” —Quill & Quire
The Silences of Home
by Caitlin SweetAn epic novel of legends—and lies—from the author of A Telling of Stars, an Aurora Award nominee. It is a time of bounty in the Queensrealm, thanks to Queen Galha, whose wisdom and power are legendary. Her scribes record the glorious events of her reign, but beneath these words lie others—shameful, heartbreaking, and true—that threaten to destroy the realm. A prequel to A Telling of Stars, this is a saga of epic sweep, deeply realized characters, and page-turning suspense. The Silences of Home explores the gulf between official and unwritten accounts of history, and the ways in which individuals, knowingly or not, shape the events of their time—events that pass into myth . . . or silence. “Fans of Guy Gavriel Kay’s books, and readers who enjoy intelligent novels with strong characterization, polished imagery and thematic depth, will certainly find her writing a treat.” —SF Site
The Flame in the Maze (The\ariadne Ser.)
by Caitlin SweetFrom the author of The Door in the Mountain, this tale of ancient gods and mythic monsters is “a book of both horror and beauty” (Ilana C. Myer, author of Last Song Before Night). The Princess Ariadne is scheming to bring her hated half brother Asterion to ultimate ruin. Asterion himself, part human, part bull, is grappling with madness and pain in the labyrinth that lies within a sacred mountain. And Chara, his childhood friend, is trying desperately to find him. In a different prison, Icarus, the bird-boy who cannot fly, plans his escape with his father, Daedalus—and plots revenge upon the princess he once loved. All of their paths are about to come together at last, drawn by fire, hatred, love, and hope—and all of them will be changed. From an author who has been nominated for Sunburst, Locus, and Aurora Awards and called “a formidable new talent”, this is a powerful fantasy set in the world of ancient Crete (SF Site).
Quaternity
by Kenneth Mark Hoover“A poetic, doom-laden Western soaked in blood and frenzy. This Cormac McCarthyesque terror fantasia of a prequel both frames and outstrips Hoover’s Haxan” (Gemma Files, author of Spectral Evidence). Before he became a US federal marshal in Haxan, John Marwood rode with a band of killers up and down the Texas-Mexico border. Led by Abram Botis, an apostate from the Old Country, this gang of thirteen killers searches for the fabled golden city of Cibola, even riding through the barren, blood-soaked plains of Comancheria. In this violent crucible of blood, dust, and wind, Marwood discovers a nightmarish truth about himself, and conquers the silent, wintry thing coiled inside him. “After 2014’s brilliantly brutal Haxan, Hoover revisits his nightmarish American West . . . A western of blood and violence with a marked lack of redemption tinged with hints of the fantastic, this is a pitch-black western that resonates.” —Publishers Weekly “With a voice both sparse and poetic, Hoover takes on the hoary cliches of Western fiction and dismantles them one by one. In Quaternity, Hoover’s unflinching look at evil will challenge everything you know about yourself and the world we live in.” —Melissa Lenhardt, author of Heresy “Hoover does it again. Quaternity starts with a bang and doesn’t quit until a satisfying conclusion. This is my kind of weird west. Love it!” —Jennifer Brozek, author of The Last Days of Salton Academy
Northern Frights: Volume One
by Nancy Baker Robert Bloch Carolyn Clink Charles De Lint Steve Rasnic Tem Tanya Huff Garfield Reeves-StevensThe first volume of the World Fantasy Award nominated anthology of Canadian horror short fiction by Nancy Baker, Robert Bloch, and others. When the first volume of Northern Frights hit the shelves in 1992, it started a new era of Canadian horror and dark fantasy fiction. Series editor Don Hutchison challenged authors “to produce weird fiction of exceptional merit”—and they delivered unforgettable short stories that launched careers, won awards, and garnered widespread acclaim. From “The Man Who Cried ‘Wolf!’”, Robert Bloch’s classic werewolf thriller, to Garfield Reeves-Stevens’ gripping story of supernatural terror in the Toronto suburbs, to Galad Elflandsson’s chilling look at horror on a snowbound highway, we invite you to bundle up with the first Northern Frights anthology and its seventeen cold-as-the-crypt tales of the fantastic and horrific. This volume includes chilling stories and poetry by: Nancy Baker, Robert Bloch, Carolyn Clink, Charles de Lint, Galad Elflandsson, Terence M. Green, Tanya Huff, Shirley Meier, Nancy Kilpatrick, David Nickle, Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Robert Sampson, Peter Sellers, Lucy Taylor, Steve Rasnic Tem, Edo van Belkom, Karen Wehrstein, and Andrew Weiner. Plus a new introduction from Don Hutchison himself.
The Apocalypse Ark: Book 3 Of The Book Of Cross (The\book Of Cross Ser.)
by Peter RomanThe author of The Mona Lisa Sacrifice and The Dead Hamlets delivers “a vastly entertaining, fantastical, breakneck hodgepodge quest novel” (Publishers Weekly). In the third Cross book, the immortal angel killer Cross faces his most dangerous enemy yet: Noah. For ages Noah has sailed the seas, seeking out all of God’s mistakes and imprisoning them on his ark. Noah is not humanity’s savior but is instead God’s jailer. But he has grown increasingly mad over the centuries, and now he is determined to end the world by raising the mysterious Sunken City. Only one person can stop him: Cross. As Cross races to stop Noah from finding the Sunken City, he’s joined by a few old friends, such as Alice from the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland tales, and several new characters make memorable appearances as well: Captain Nemo and his crew of Atlanteans aboard the submarine the Nautilus; the sorcerous pirate Blackbeard, who has sworn revenge upon Cross; the devilish angel Sariel, whose sacred duty is to protect God’s Bible; and the eerie and mysterious Ishmael, who may be the key to the world’s salvation—or its damnation. Cross must find a way to bring them all together to stop Noah or the world will drown in madness. “Despite their crazed, iconoclastic appearance, Roman’s novels are skillfully wrought, thematically deep, with a philosophical depth and a keen sense for both story and its implications . . . once you spend a bit of time in Cross’s head, you won’t be able to get him out of yours.” —Vancouver Sun
The Rib From Which I Remake the World
by Ed KurtzA travelling picture show turns a rural Arkansas town inside out in this WWII-era mystery horror novel—“engaging characters and a captivating story” (Crimespree Magazine). As World War II rages across Europe, a small Arkansas town is abuzz with the arrival of a travelling hygiene show. Ex-cop George “Jojo” Walker, now the Litchfield Valley Hotel’s house detective, is mostly concerned with maintaining the status quo. But nothing will ever be normal in Litchfield again once locals start viewing the peculiar travelling show. What begins with a gruesome and impossible murder soon spirals into hallucinatory waking nightmares for Jojo—nightmares that converge with his reality and dredge up his painful, secret past. Black magic and a terrifying Luciferian carnival boil up to a surreal finale for the town of Litchfield, when truth itself unfurls and Jojo Walker is forced to face his own identity in ways he could never have expected.
The Angels of Our Better Beasts
by Jerome Stueart“Populated with vampires, werewolves, gryphons, gods, and cryptozoological inquiry, these tales are ultimately about the nature of humanity” (Speculating Canada). Trust the beasts . . . The lemmings are really researching the Arctic biologists, the werewolves sing sweet Christian praise songs, and the signing gorilla just wants someone back in the cage for a minute or two. The black dog who tells you God loves you may not be believable, no, and those old lions in the canyon are up to something, aren’t they? The shaggy aliens just want to have dinner with the people who pillaged and destroyed their world, honestly, and the vampires just want to cure you of a terrible blood disease. In the forest, the sasquatch has fallen in love with the cryptozoologist who follows him. By the lake, the god of Lake Michigan struggles with the nature of reality while acting in his first buddy cop TV series. While the god of the Brazos River only wants to court the young, pretty Texas college students. These fifteen stories of beasts—and the beasts we sometimes become—ask us how much influence we have over each other, to bring out our beast or best sides . . . and how much control the beasts already have over us. “Throughout the book, I appreciated Stueart’s dry, often dark, situational humor, and his skillful, sympathetic characterizations.” —Kristin Janz, Mysterion “Fabulous ideas and even more fabulous characters . . . Stueart manages to craft an interesting and unique take on a number of common, sometimes overdone themes.” —Black Gate
This Insubstantial Pageant
by Kate StoryThe author of the Antilia series delivers “a sexy, sophisticated future-Shakespearean romp. Ambitious, rich, magical, and a joy to read” (Kelly Robson, Nebula Award finalist). Prosperina was robbed. Her chief executive officer—and betraying brother—stole her company Prosper Inc., her research, and almost her life: he marooned her and daughter Milana eight lightyears from Earth. A brilliant bioengineer, Prosperina genetically alters indigenous plant forms to provide food, shelter, and even conductive and data-processing technologies. When her old ally Joe Gallo manages to hijack the ship of corporate enemy Al King, Prosperina confronts her brother and his allies—including Stephen, the socialist atheist boatswain, Troy, the drunk frat boy, and Al’s handsome son, Fernando) in a fight for freedom. But the plants, Kaleeban and Auriel? They have other ideas. “Sticks much closer to Shakespeare’s Tempest than did Forbidden Planet, while at the same time reimagining the play in an exotic, funny and very sexy way. Science fiction (SF) fans and Shakespeare buffs should be equally delighted.” —The Toronto Star “An ambitious deep space retelling of The Tempest that would have delighted Shakespeare and Sagan in equal measure.” —Eric Choi, Aurora Award–nominated author
The Bone Mother
by David DemchukFinalist for the Shirley Jackson Award: “Beautiful and brutal nightmares . . . made all the more terrifying by the history in which they’re grounded.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Three neighboring villages on the Ukrainian/Romanian border are the final refuge for the last of the mythical creatures of Eastern Europe. Now, on the eve of the war that may eradicate their kind—and with the ruthless Night Police descending upon their sanctuary—they tell their stories and confront their destinies. The Rusalka, the beautiful, vengeful water spirit who lives in lakes and ponds and lures men and children to their deaths. The Vovkulaka, who changes from her human form into that of a wolf and hides with her kind deep in the densest forests. The Strigoi, a revenant who feasts on blood and twists the minds of those who love, serve, and shelter him. The Drevniye, an apparition that impersonates its victim and draws him into a web of evil in order to free itself. And the Bone Mother, a skeletal crone with iron teeth who lurks in her house in the heart of the woods, and cooks and eats those who fail her vexing challenges. Eerie and unsettling like the best fairy tales, these incisor-sharp portraits of ghosts, witches, sirens, and seers—and the mortals who live at their side and in their thrall—will chill your marrow and tear at your heart. “A fable filled with mythical creatures ranging from werewolves to witches . . . set, in part, among the villages of eastern Europe on the eve of the Second World War.” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto) “Extraordinary . . . A dark and shining mosaic of a story with unforgettable imagery and elegant, evocative prose.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller PrizeWinner of the 2018 Sunburst AwardLonglisted for the 2018 Toronto Book Awards
Empty Hearts: A Novel
by Juli ZehA prescient political and psychological thriller ripped from tomorrow's headlines, by one of Germany's most celebrated contemporary novelistsA few short years from now, the world is an even more uncertain place than it is today, and politics everywhere is marching rightward: Trump is gone, but Brexit is complete, as is Frexit. There's a global financial crisis, armed conflict, and mass migration, and an ultrapopulist movement governs in Germany. With their democracy facing the wrecking ball, most well-off Germans turn inward, focusing on their own lives. Britta, a wife, mother, and successful businesswoman, ignores the daily news and concentrates on her family and her work running a clinic specializing in suicide prevention. But her legitimate business is connected to a secret and far more lucrative operation known as The Bridge, an outfit that supplies terrorist organizations looking to employ suicide bombers. Using a complex candidate-identifying algorithm designed by Babak, a brilliant programmer and Britta's only employee, The Bridge has effectively cornered the market, and terrorism never takes place without Britta's services—which is why news of a thwarted suicide attack in Leipzig comes as a shock. Then The Bridge's database is stolen, driving Britta, Babak, and their latest recruit into hiding. On their heels is a new terrorist organization called the Empty Hearts, a group unlike any Britta and Babak have encountered before. Part suspenseful thriller, part wickedly effective social satire, Empty Hearts is a novel for our times, examining urgent questions of morality, politics, and culture and presenting a startling vision of a future where empathy is a thing of the past.
The Cruel Stars: A Novel (The\cruel Stars Trilogy Ser. #1)
by John BirminghamIn this epic sci-fi adventure for fans of The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica, five intrepid heroes must unite to save civilization after a long-dormant enemy awakens and strikes a devastating blow“This jarring, engrossing story of a species-wide fight for survival is recommended for all science fiction readers.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) The galaxy was once terrorized by the Sturm, a group of “species purists” intent on destroying any human with genetic or cybernetic enhancements. Fashioning themselves as the one true “Human Republic,” the Sturm cut a bloody swath across the stars, killing billions before finally being defeated and driven into the far reaches of Dark Space. Centuries of peace bred complacency. Everyone believed the Sturm had died out in the Dark. They were wrong. The enemy has returned and, with a brutal and decisive attack, knocks out almost all of humanity’s defenses. Now on the brink of annihilation, humankind’s only hope is a few brave souls who survived the initial attack: Commander Lucinda Hardy, thrust into uncertain command of the Royal Armadalen Navy’s only surviving warship. Booker3, a soldier of Earth, sentenced to die for treason, whose time on death row is cut short when the Sturm attack his prison compound. Princess Alessia, a young royal of the Montanblanc Corporation, forced to flee when her home planet is overrun and her entire family executed. Sephina L’trel, the leader of an outlaw band who must call on all of her criminal skills to resist the invasion. And, finally, Admiral Frazer McLennan, the infamous hero of the first war with the Sturm hundreds of years ago, who hopes to rout his old foes once and for all—or die trying. These five flawed, reluctant heroes must band together to prevail against a relentless enemy and near-impossible odds. For if they fail, the future itself is doomed.“Frenetic action viewed in a black fun-house mirror.”—Kirkus Reviews
The Emperor's Fist: A Blackhawk Novel (Far Stars #4)
by Jay AllanIn this thrilling new installment in the Far Stars saga, a reluctant hero with a bloody past must reunite with an old love to battle an evil emperor willing to destroy all their worlds if he cannot control them.When the Far Stars came under imperial attack, Astra Lucerne—the daughter and successor of the Far Stars’ greatest conqueror—Marshal Augustin Lucerne—rallied her father’s confederation forces to defend their worlds. They were joined in the fight by former imperial general Arkarin Blackhawk, a warrior whose skills and brutality made him infamous, and who has, for two decades, sought the redemption he knows is unreachable. Now, with the imperial foothold in the sector eliminated, the Far Stars is free and almost united. While Astra’s forces continue to depose local tyrants and warlords, Ark and his crew have slipped back into the shadows. Though his heart belongs to Astra, Ark cannot get too close. His imperial conditioning remains under control, but it is still volatile, and the temptation of power threatens to unleash the dark compulsions that made him the most merciless of the emperor’s servants. He cannot risk allowing Astra to see the darkness inside him.But while the battle has been won, the war may not be over. A petty smuggler makes a discovery that can enable the emperor to strike back and crush the resistance—unless Ark and Astra join forces again to stop him.
Maggie & Abby and the Shipwreck Treehouse
by Will TaylorThe sparkling, fast-paced sequel to Maggie & Abby’s Neverending Pillow Fort, which Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey called “a magical adventure!”Nine long months after being shut out of the pillow fort network for good, Maggie and Abby finally have a whole new mission to focus on—and this one starts with a return to the infamous Camp Cantaloupe.Abby needs this trip after a year of big, BIG changes back at home. But Abby knows that Maggie will never relax until they've solved the lingering puzzle left over from last summer: the mystery of the trap door in Camp Cantaloupe’s historic Shipwreck Treehouse. What neither of them expect, though, is for their first night at camp to go down in Cantaloupe history. And when that trap door busts open for the first time in centuries, Abby’s going to need the help of friends both old and new to help her uncover the truth—and get her back to Maggie's side before Camp Cantaloupe itself gets shut down...for good.Readers will love exploring a whole new network of magic in this twisty sequel, perfect for fans of Caroline Carlson and Kathryn Littlewood.
American Magic: A Thriller
by Zach FehstIn this fast-paced, international thriller, chaos erupts after a shadowy figure with ties to an elite and ancient society posts incantations on the dark web that allow people to perform real magic.When an enigmatic message uploaded to the dark web turns out to contain an ancient secret giving regular people the power to do impossible things, like levitate cars or make themselves invisible, American government officials panic. They know the demo videos on YouTube and instructions for incantations could turn from fantastical amusement to dangerous weapon at the drop of the hat, and they scramble to keep the information out of the wrong hands. They tap Ben Zolstra, an ex-CIA field operative whose history with the Agency is conflicted at best, to lead the team that’s racing to contain the dangerous knowledge—and track down the mysterious figure behind the leak who threatens that even more dangerous spells will be released one by one until the world as we know it no longer exists. This sweeping, globe-spanning thriller explores the dark consequences of a question mankind has been asking for centuries: What if magic were real?
Adjacentland
by Rabindranath MaharajToday is a new day but yesterday was the same day. A man awakens with no memory in a strange, rundown institution. Struggling to make sense of his surroundings, he begins to piece together the story of his life from clues someone has left for him—drawings that line the walls of his room and fragments of letters hidden in the lining of his jacket. When he leaves his room to venture into the surrounding Compound, he encounters a group of oddly familiar people that urge him to undertake a desperate mission. In dreamlike prose, award-winning novelist Rabindranath Maharaj weaves a story of fragments in which our narrator comes to believe he was once a comic book writer who warned against humanity's reliance on artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, his caretakers try to convince him he's insane. Soon he uncovers more clues that suggest memory is stored outside the body, and he learns of Adjacentland, a primitive land of outsiders where human imagination still survives. Together with a motley group of inmates from the Compound, he decides he must make his way there. In this brilliant, unsettling novel, Maharaj asks us, "What happens to the soul when all minds are tied together?"