Search Worlds Without End

A new fantasy adventure featuring "the highly talented Dhulyn and Parno."

Mercenary partners Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane think they're escorting the Princess of Arderon to her wedding with the new Tarkin of Menoin, but the Mercenary Brotherhood has a secret mission for them: find out what happened to the two Brothers who were sent on assignment to Menoin a year ago-and vanished.

Once in Menoin, they discover that the Brothers' disappearance is linked to a series of killings. And when the Princess of Arderon's corpse is found mutilated in the same way as the others, Dhulyn and Parno track the killer into the Path of the Sun, an ancient labyrinth from which people sometimes never return...

"He's one of my own people, Victoria, and he's hunting me."

Darkheart: a faded neutron star surrounded by dead planets. But there is life on one of these icy rocks -- the last enclave of the Earth Empire, frozen in the image of another time. As the rest of the galaxy enjoys the fruits of the fledgling Federation, these isolated imperials, bound to obey a forgotten ideal, harbour a dark obsession.

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive to find that the Federation has at last come to reintegrate this lost colony, whether they like it or not. But all is not well in the Federation camp: relations and allegiances are changing. The fierce Veltrochni -- angered by the murder of their kinsmen -- have an entirely different agenda. And someone else is manipulating the mission for his own mysterious reasons -- another time traveller, a suave and assured master of his work.

The Doctor must uncover the terrible secret which brought the Empire to this desolate sector, and find the source of the strange power maintaining their society. But can a Time Lord, facing the ultimate temptation, control his own desires?

At long last, the conclusion to Glen Cook's Dread Empire saga has arrived! King Bragi Ragnarson is a prisoner, shamed, nameless, and held captive by Lord Shih-kaa and the Empress Mist at the heart of the Dread Empire.

Far away in Kavelin, Bragia's queen and what remains of his army seek to find and free their king, hampered by the loss or desertion of their best and brightest warriors. Kavelina's spymaster, Michael Trebilcock, is missing in action, as is loyal soldier Aral Dantice. Meanwhile, Dane, Duke of Greyfells, seeks to seize the rule of Kavelin and place the kingdom in his pocket, beginning a new line of succession through Bragia's queen, Dane's cousin Inger. And in the highest peaks of the Dragona's Teeth, in the ancient castle Fangdred, the sorcerer called Varthlokkur uses his arts to spy on the world at large, observing the puppet strings that control kings and empires alike, waiting... For the time of the wrath of kings is almost at hand, and vengeance lies along a path to coldness of heart.

Reeling from the events at Solitude, Calene Alpenwood embarks on a journey to find meaning in all that she's seen, and discover the answers she so desperately seeks. Finding herself more alone than ever, Calene is trapped between doing what's right, and doing what needs to be done.

Meanwhile, Kade Besem continues his search for his son, Arlo, and the strange warrior-monk Tilo. His hunt takes him deep into Banished territory and into the jaws of danger.

Revelations are revealed, ancient secrets are uncovered and those who stand in the Empire's way can't hope to win when Haltveldt walks the Path of War.

Please be advised this book contains trigger warnings for self-harm, violence, death, mention of drug use, deadly magic, violence and heartbreak.

From the award-winning author of Doppelgangster comes the newest novel in the popular Esther Diamond series

Acting jobs don't grow on fire escapes, so struggling actress Esther Diamond is outraged when her guest role as a hooker on controversial TV drama The Dirty Thirty is jeopardized by zombies, angry spirits, and a voodoo curse. But will Esther's courage backfire and end up leading her to become a human sacrifice on the altar of the sinister supernatural powers that are taking over New York City?

Combine six of the finest fantasy authors working in the genre today: Mike Resnick & Brad R. Torgersen, Jay Lake, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, and Cat Rambo, and mix in veteran editor and New York Times best-selling author Philip Athans, and what comes out is the Fathomless Abyss: a wild new fantasy world where the laws of physics only work against you, there's no way out, and time means nothing.

This is the world of the Fathomless Abyss, a bottomless pit that opens who-knows-when onto who-knows-where, just long enough for new people from a thousand different worlds and a million different times to fall in and join the fight for survival in a place where the slightest misstep means an everlasting fall into eternity.

Tales from the Fathomless Abyss features six new short stories, and it's only the beginning. From here, each author will branch out to spin a series of new books sharing this impossible, explosive, infinite setting.

Your fall into the Fathomless Abyss begins here.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: At Play in the Fields of Wonder - essay by Ken Scholes
• The Lioness of God, Daughter of the Peaceful - shortfiction by Philip Athans
• It's Mine - shortfiction by J. M. McDermott
• The Gatherer - shortfiction by Mel Odom
• The Ascent - shortfiction by Brad R. Torgersen and Mike Resnick
• A Querulous Flute of Bone - shortfiction by Cat Rambo
• That Which Rises Ever Upward - shortstory by Jay Lake
• About the Authors (Tales from the Fathomless Abyss) - essay by uncredited

Bhaal must be stopped!

Someone is sabotaging the iron mines of the Sword Coast, pushing powerful realms toward a bloody war, and a young mercenary toward an unimaginable secret.

Evil gods, giant spiders, murderous doppelgangers, flesh-eating ghouls, and wicked Zhentarim come to life in the action-packed novelization of the Baldur's Gate computer game form BioWare and Interplay.

Bhaal is dead!

But his disciples want to bring him back. The blood of the god of murder runs through his children, and bad blood attracts bad people.

Shadow thieves, vampires, ninjas, and rockworms run rampant on the Sword Coast in the action-packed novelization of the Baldur's Gate II computer game from BioWare and Interplay.

The Greatest Fantasy Setting of Our Generations Begins Here

Sembia is a land of wealth and power, where rival families buy and sell everything imaginable - even life itself.

In that unforgiving realm, the Uskevren family may hold the rarest commodity of all: honor.

But even they have their secrets, and at least as many enemies.

This anthology of seven stories introduces not just one realm of good and evil, not just one family of troubled heroes, but the whole of the remarkable Forgotten Realms world. Their adventure, and yours, begins here.

Featuring Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood and The New York Times best-selling authors Lisa Smedman and Paul S. Kemp. Also featuring Clayton Emery, Dave Gross, Voronica Whitney-Robinson, and Richard Lee Byers.

Contents:

• The Patriarch: The Burning Chalice by Ed Greenwood
• The Matriarch: Song of Chaos by Richard Lee Byers
• The Heir: Night School by Clayton Emery
• The Daughter: The Price by Voronica Whitney-Robinson
• The Second Son: Thirty Days by Dave Gross
• The Butler: Resurrection by Paul S. Kemp
• The Maid: Skin Deep by Lisa Smedman

Can the Crystal Shard be destroyed at last?

Drizzt is determined to destroy the evil Crystal Shard, and seeks out the help of the scholar-priest Cadderly. But instead, his worst fears are realized, and Crenshinibon falls into the hands of the dark elf mercenary Jarlaxle and his unlikely ally Artemis Entreri.

The Silent Blade is the book that brought Drizzt back to the Realms, and was a New York Times best seller on its initial release--and has been in print every day since. Like the rest of the Legend of Drizzt(R) reissues, The Silent Blade features beautiful new cover art by award-winning illustrator Todd Lockwood.

Join the world's most famous drow elf in the penultimate chapter of the Legend of Drizzt series!

Spending time in the unimaginable torture chambers of the Abyss for even a day would be enough to break even the heartiest soul, and the barbarian Wulfgar was there for years. When he returns, his friends find him a changed man, and not changed for the better. But Wulfgar's road to redemption is one he must travel on his own, even if it leads to the bottle.

The Legend of Drizzt comes to an end... for now!

The mighty warhammer Aegis-fang has found its way into the hands of the wicked pirate captain Sheila Kree, and Wulfgar is hot on her trail. When Drizzt and his companions leave Mithral Hall in search of Wulfgar, they find themselves on the trail of the warhammer as well, a trail that will lead them to a startling reunion, and the last battle for the heart and soul of Wulfgar.

When armies of evil rise up from the seas around Faerûn, no one is safe.

A young mage battles at the side of Khelben Arunsun to defend the city of Waterdeep.

A merman struggles to fulfill his desperate mission to reach the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Twelve all new stories by such Forgotten Realms stars as Mel Odom, Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, Troy Denning, Lynn Abbey, and Clayton Emery.

Table of Contents:

• Hard Choices - novelette by Lynn Abbey
• Fire is Fire - novelette by Elaine Cunningham
• Messenger to Serôs - novelette by Peter Archer
• The Place Where Guards Snore at Their Posts - novelette by Ed Greenwood
• Lost Cause - novelette by Richard Lee Byers
• Forged in Fire - novelette by Clayton Emery
• One Who Swims with Sekolah - novelette by Mel Odom
• The Crystal Reef - novelette by Troy Denning
• The Patrol - novelette by Larry Hobbs
• Star of Tethyr - novelette by Thomas M. Reid
• Persana's Blade - novelette by Steven E. Schend
• And the Dark Tide Rises - novelette by Keith Francis Strohm
• The Calendar of Harptos - essay by Philip Athans

The Wizard - Pleged to the Red Wizards of Thay from boyhood, he will do anything for anyone who can give him more power. In a twisted dimension outside the walls of time and space, he plots and plans.

The Senator - A genasi, he has fought his way up from the gutter and will never go back. Amid the tangled streets of Innarlith, he mixes ambition with thoughts of vengeance.

The Man - A master builder, he walks the coast of Faerûn, and the waves whisper to him of a mighty work, a task worthy of his talents.

Philip Athans, the New York times best-selling author of Annihilation, continues the epic saga begun in Whisper of Waves of a man consumed by his obsession and driven by an overwhelming vision of what might be.

The Wizard Furthering the plots of the Red Wizards of Thay while spinning his own webs, he works in the shadows, manipulating the highest reaches of power.

The Woman Tormented by the ghosts of the past and her own passions, she walks the fine line between sanity and madness, and her obsession may destroy the one thing she loves most.

The Man A visionary who cares nothing for the petty squabbling of those in power, his one desire is to accomplish his greatest work.

The finale of the acclaimed Watercourse Trilogy from The New York Times best-selling author Philip Athans!

When the true mission of the Thayan Enclave is revealed, the richest man in Innarlith decides he wants to be the most powerful too, a once promising young man is transformed into a twisted undead assassin, and a quiet genius finally makes his stand, the explosive fury of decades of boiling rage explodes from the heart of a city at war with itself.

For enemies of the drow, it would be the ultimate triumph. If the City of Spiders were to find itself buried by the uncaring sands of eternity, thousands would dance upon its grave, including more powerful enemies than even its most suspicious inhabitants have ever imagined. But Gromph Baenre, Archmage of Menzoberranzan, will not let that happen. When the time comes, he will risk everything to save a city and a civilization he loves more than any drow would ever admit.

While Menzoberranzan fights for survival, a dwindling company of would-be saviors travels the multiverse in search of a godddess who could be dead, or could have simply turned away from them. They might just survive the trip, but can they possibly survive the Demonweb Pits?

The fifth novel in an epic six-part series from the fertile imaginations of R.A. Salvatore and a select group of the newest, most exciting authors in the genre. Join them as they reveal the blackest hearts of Faerûn and send them to the deepest of hells.

In The Path, Scottish warrior Duncan McLeod meets the current Dalai Lama after having departed Tibet in 1781. He has to know whether the Dalai Lama remembers him or not.

Two hundred years after Adron's Disaster, in which Dragaera City was accidentally reduced to an ocean of chaos by an experiment in wizardry gone wrong, the Empire isn't what it used to be. Deprived at a single blow of their Emperor, of the Orb that is the focus of the Empire's power, of their capital city with its Impe-rial bureaucracy, and of a great many of their late fellow citizens, the surviving Dragaerans have been limping through a long Interregnum, bereft even of the simple magic and sorcery they were accustomed to use in everyday life.

Now the descendants and successors of the great ad-venturers Khaavren, Pel, Aerich, and Tazendra are growing up in this seemingly diminished world, convinced, like their elders, that the age of adventures is over and nothing interesting will ever happen to them. They are, of course, wrong.

For even deprived of magic, Dragaerans fight, plot, and conspire as they breathe, and so do their still-powerful gods. The enemies of the Empire prowl at its edges, in-scrutable doings are up at Dzur Mountain... and, unexpectedly, a surviving Phoenix Heir, young Zerika, is discovered -- setting off a chain of swashbuckling events that will remake the world yet again.

Wars may end. But vengeance is forever.

Reserve Major Ariane Kedros needs a shot at redemption-and the mysterious aliens known as the Minoans need an extraordinary human pilot with a rejuv-stimulated metabolism like Ariane for a dangerous expedition to a distant solar system. But there's a catch. The Minoans have to implant their technology in Ariane's body, and it might not be removable. Ariane is willing, but as she begins the perilous journey, there is an old enemy hiding within the exploration team who is determined to see them fail...

Mitsuko is being haunted by ghosts and bad luck. An angry spirit commands her to keep a forgotten promise and assigns her a series of impossible tasks. She turns to the mischievous shape-shifter Goranu for help. Together they journey through a landscape of Japanese myths and legends made real. This sequel to Little Sister is a mythical tale of adventure and star-crossed love set in twelfth-century Japan.

Michael Devlin is the first of a new breed. The way things are going, he may also be the last.

Being infected with an unknown disease is bad. Waking up on a slab in a morgue wearing nothing but a toe-tag is worse, even if it comes with a strange array of new abilities.

Medical student Michael Devlin is in trouble. With his flatmates murdered and an international cabal of legendary man-monsters on his trail, Devlin's got nowhere to hide. His only allies are a hot-tempered Sydney cop and a mysterious monster-hunter who may be setting Devlin up for the kill. If he's going to survive, Devlin will have to embrace his new powers and confront his hunters. But can he hold onto his humanity when he walks the Path of Night?

The world is woven of secrets.

I was born with lightning in one hand and mercy in the other, but what I need is the pattern to my tapestry of power.

Danger drove me from the primeval American wilderness to Windward Academy, where the Wizard of Manhattan offers me one last chance to learn magical control. Windward--where every word, every breath is a test. Every lesson can be deadly. And every challenge can explode out of the schoolroom and into the realms of demons.

Sometimes a shadow is so dark it arrives before the sun.

The company of heroes has thwarted the plan of the power-hungry basilissa to conquer Anfractus, but not without a cost. Andrew's character, Roldan, died, leaving him cut off from the mystical realm without any memory of its existence. If the others reveal the park's magical nature to Andrew, his banishment will become permanent. So they must hide their nighttime adventures--and hope that his memory returns.

Pursued by the basilissa's forces, the rest of the group keeps a low profile in Anfractus until they uncover an unholy alliance between their enemy and the silenoi, satyrlike creatures who hunt humans--an alliance that threatens to cross the barrier into the real world.

And while his friends struggle to prevent an invasion in both worlds, Andrew receives a visitor determined to restore his memory of Anfractus by leading him down a very dark path...

In the land of Kodu Riik, it is an honor to be selected by the Lady to become an ahalad-kaaslane -- to have your soul bonded with one of Her blessed animals, and roam the land serving Her will. But Riesil refuses to bow to fate -- a decision that may have repercussions across the realm...

Two years after Reisil's arrival, Kodu Riik is decimated by plague and famine. And now a race of sorcerers is trying to take over. Reisil's power is feared by the nobility, others wish to exploit her, and her fellow ahalad-kaaslane begin to doubt her loyalty, as her healing magic fails to stem the rising plague. But Reisil will discover that although she has lost her power to heal, she now possesses a surging new ability-to destroy.

Chaos reigns in the realm of Kodu Riik. Plague continues to ravage its populace. Armies of the power-hungry Aare are on the march, slaughtering everything in their path to place a madman on the throne. And the rift between the kingdom and the land of Cemanahuatl yawns ever wider, threatening to consume both beneath waves of uncontrollable magic and destroy every living soul within them.

Only Reisil possesses enough power to breach the spellbound city of Mysane Kosk and seal the fracture. Accompanied by her goshawk, Saljane, and her lover, Yohuac, Reisil must journey across a land besieged by war and fight for a domain torn asunder by sorceries beyond imagining...

Omnibus edition collecting together the Path of the Eldar trilogy

The eldar of the craftworlds devote their lives to the pursuit of perfection, following a series of paths which will their actions and decide their fates. Three friends--Korlandril, Thirianna and Aradryan--part company to walk their chosen paths--Warrior, Seer and Outcast--little realising how the actions of one will affect the others, and indeed their world. As Aradryan's choices bring the wrath of the Imperium down upon Alaitoc, it falls to Korlandril and Thirianna to defend their home--if they can avoid becoming stuck on their paths and being lost forever.

The ancient eldar are a mysterious race, each devoting their life to a chosen path which will guide their actions and decide their fate. When the artist Korlandril feels the call to war, he abandons peace for the Path of the Warrior. He becomes a Striking Scorpion, a deadly fighter skilled in the art of close-quarters combat. But battle is coming, as Craftworld Alaitoc comes to blows with the vengeful Imperium of Mankind, and the further Korlandril travels down the warrior's path, the closer he gets to losing his identity and becoming an avatar of war. Can he retain his sense of self and still be the weapon Alaitoc needs, or will he be consumed by one of the warrior-spirits of his race?

The second book in the best selling Eldar series by Gav Thorpe

The ancient eldar are a mysterious race and each devotes their life to a chosen path that will guide their actions and decide their fate. Thirianna abandons her simple existence to embark upon the mysterious Path of the Seer. She will tread a dark and dangerous road that leads her to the otherrealm of the warp, where daemons are made flesh and nightmares are manifest. For only there can she realise her psychic abilities. After unleashing her powers in battle and communing with the spirits of her craft world, Thirianna turns her skills to discerning the future amidst the myriad strands of fate. Her visions reveal a great threat descending on Alaitoc, and both the living and the dead will march to war to defend it.

Aradryan has chosen to leave his sheltered life on Craftworld Alaitoc and walk the Path of the Outcast, seeking the myriad pleasures and threats the wider galaxy has to offer. Still unfulfilled as a ranger, he is lured into the life of a star pirate, bringing him into conflict with the Imperium of Man. A chain of events is set in motion that could have catastrophic consequences for Alaitoc, forcing Aradryan to take drastic action if his old home is to survive.

It was once a land ravaged by war, minor city states, baronies and principates fight for supremacy, and then the rival cities of Tali and Quon formed an alliance and so Quon Tali came into being.

However that was generations ago, that dynasty has collapsed and the regional powers are now clawing at each others throats once more. But at the heart of Quon Tali lies the powerful city state of Li Heng which has for centuries enjoyed relative stability under the guidance of the powerful sorceress known as the "Protectress". She is not someone likely to tolerate the arrival of two particular young men into her domain: one is determined to prove he is the most skilled assassin of his age; the other is his quarry -- a Dal Hon mage who is proving annoyingly difficult to kill. The sorceress and her cabal of five mage servants were enough to repel the Quon Tali Iron Legions, so how could two such trouble-makers upset her iron-fisted rule?

And now, under a new and ambitious king, the forces of Itko Kan are marching on Li Heng from the south. His own assassins, the Nightblades, have been sent ahead into the city, and rumours abound that he has inhuman, nightmarish forces at his command. So as shadows and mistrust swirl and monstrous beasts that people say appear from nowhere, run rampage through Li Heng's streets, it seems chaos is come - but in chaos, as a certain young Dal Hon mage would say, there is opportunity...

After the disappointments of Li Heng, Dancer and Kellanved wash up on a small insignificant island named Malaz. Immediately, of course, Kellanved plans to take it over. To do so they join forces with a small band of Napans who have fled a civil war on their own home island. The plan, however, soon goes awry as Kellanved develops a strange and dangerous fascination for a mysterious ancient structure found on the island. The chaos in the region extends to the metaphysical planes also as a young priest of D'rek starts to question the rot at the heart of the worship of the god of decay. And back in Li Heng, Dassem, now the proclaimed Sword of Hood, finds himself being blamed for a plague which leads him to a crisis of faith - and searching for answers.

During all this, war with the neighbouring island of Nap threatens, recruited allies wonder at Kellanved's sanity, and powerful entities take more of an interest in the little mage from Dal Hon. Dancer faces a hard choice: should he give up on his partnership? Especially when the fellow's obsession with shadows and ancient artifacts brings the both of them alarmingly close to death and destruction. After all, who in his right mind would actually wish to enter an Elder mystery known to everyone as the Deadhouse?

The incessant war between the bickering city states of Quon Tali rages. So engrossed are the warring lords and princes in their own petty feuds that few notice that an upstart mage from Dal Hon has gained control of the southern seas.

Kellanved could not care less about any of this petty politicking or strategy or war. Something other and altogether more mysterious has caught his attention and he - together with a reluctant and his decidedly skeptical friend Dancer - traverse continents and journey through the Realms. But this ancient mystery that has so captivated Kellanved is neither esoteric nor ephemeral. It involves the Elder races themselves, and more alarmingly, the semi-mythic Army of Dust and Bone.

Surely no one in their right mind would be so foolish as to embark on a journey from which none have returned? Well, no one except Kellanved.

After decades of warfare, Malazan forces are poised to consolidate the Quon Tali mainland. Yet it is at this moment that Emperor Kellanved orders a new, some believe foolhardy campaign: the invasion of Falar that lies far to the north...

And to fight on this new front, a rag-tag army raised from orphaned units and broken squads is been brought together under Fist Dujek, and joined by a similarly motley fleet under the command of the Emperor himself.

So the Malazans head north, only to encounter an unlooked-for and most unwelcome threat. Something unspeakable and born of legend has awoken and will destroy all who stand in its way. Most appalled by this is the Empire's untested High Mage, Tayschrenn. All too aware of the true nature of this ancient horror, he fears his own inadequacies when the time comes to confront it. Yet confront it he must.

Falar itself is far from defenseless. Its priests possess a weapon rumored to be a gift from the sea god, Mael?a weapon so terrifying it has not been unleashed for centuries. But two can play at that game, for the Emperor's flagship is also believed to be not entirely of this world.

These are turbulent, treacherous and bloody times for all caught up in the forging of an Empire and so, amongst the Ice Wastes and in the archipelago of Falar, the Malazans must face two seemingly insurmountable tests, each one potentially the origin of their destruction...

A powerful secret. A dangerous path.

Rigg is well trained at keeping secrets. Only his father knows the truth about Rigg's strange talent for seeing the paths of people's pasts. But when his father dies, Rigg is stunned to learn just how many secrets Father had kept from him--secrets about Rigg's own past, his identity, and his destiny. And when Rigg discovers that he has the power not only to see the past, but also to change it, his future suddenly becomes anything but certain.

Rigg's birthright sets him on a path that leaves him caught between two factions, one that wants him crowned and one that wants him dead. He will be forced to question everything he thinks he knows, choose who to trust, and push the limits of his talent... or forfeit control of his destiny.

When Rigg and his friends crossed the Wall between the only world they knew and a world they could not imagine, he hoped he was leading them to safety. But the dangers in this new wallfold are more difficult to see. Rigg, Umbo, and Param know that they cannot trust the expendable, Vadesh-a machine shaped like a human, created to deceive-but they are no longer certain that they can even trust one another. But they will have little choice. Because although Rigg can decipher the paths of the past, he can’t yet see the horror that lies ahead: A destructive force with deadly intentions is hurtling toward Garden. If Rigg, Umbo, and Param can’t work together to alter the past, there will be no future.

From the internationally bestselling author of Ender's Game comes the riveting finale to the story of Rigg, a teenager who possesses a secret talent that allows him to see the paths of people's pasts.

In Pathfinder, Rigg joined forces with another teen with special talents on a quest to find Rigg's sister and discover the true depth and significance of their powers. Then Rigg's story continued in Ruins as he was tasked to decipher the paths of the past before the arrival of a destructive force with deadly intentions. Now, in Visitors, Rigg's journey comes to an epic and explosive conclusion as everything that has been building up finally comes to pass, and Rigg is forced to put his powers to the test in order to save his world and end the war once and for all.

A MORRIS AND CHASTAIN INVESTIGATION

Senator Howard Stark wants to be President of the United States. So does the demon inside him. With the competing candidates dropping out due to scandal, blackmail, and 'accidental' death, Stark looks like a good bet to go all the way to the White House. And if he gets there, Hell on Earth will follow. Occult investigator Quincey Morris and white witch Libby Chastain are determined to stop this evil conspiracy. But between them and Stark stand the dedicated agents of the US Secret Service - as well as the very forces of Hell itself. Quincey and Libby will risk everything to exorcise the demon possessing Stark. If they fail, 'Hail to the Chief' will become a funeral march - for all of us.

The war with the Wasp Empire has ended in a bitter stalemate, and Collegium has nothing to show for it but wounded veterans. Cheerwell Maker finds herself crippled in ways no doctor can mend, haunted by ghosts of the past that she cannot appease, seeking for meaning in a city that no longer seems like home. The Empress Seda is regaining control over those imperial cities who refused to bow the knee to her, but she draws her power from something more sinister than mere armies and war machines. Only her consort, the former spymaster Thalric, knows the truth, and now the assassins are coming and he finds his life and his loyalties under threat yet again. Out past the desert of the Nem the ancient city of Khanaphes awaits them both, with a terrible secret entombed beneath its stones...

1900 BC: the once-proud Suryavanshi rulers of the Meluha Empire are in dire peril. The empire's primary river, the Saraswathi, is slowly drying up. There are devastating terrorist attacks from the east, the land of the Chandravanshis – and to make matters worse, the Chandravanshis appear to have allied with the Nagas, an ostracised race of deformed humans with astonishing martial skills. The only hope for the Suryavanshis is an ancient prophecy: when evil reaches epic proportions and all seems lost, a hero will emerge...

The hunt is on. Shiva, the man believed to be the prophesied Neelkanth -- the destroyer of evil -- will not rest until he finds his demonic adversary; the Naga warrior that killed his friend, Brahaspati, and now stalks his wife. But the rise of evil is everywhere and Shiva's own philosopher guides have betrayed his unquestioning faith by accepting aid from the dark side. Even the perfect empire of Meluha is riddled with a terrible secret -- a master puppeteer is playing a grand game, and Shiva himself is at the heart of it. Shiva's search for truth takes him across the length and breadth of ancient India, a land of deadly mysteries where nothing is what it seems.

Today, Shiva is a god. But four thousand years ago, he was just a man - until he brought his people to Meluha, a near-perfect empire founded by the great king Lord Ram. There he discovered he was the Neelkanth, a barbarian long prophesied to be Meluha's saviour.

But in his hour of victory fighting the Chandravanshis - Meluha's enemy - he discovered they had their own prophecy.

Now he must fight to uncover the treachery within his inner circle, and unmask those who are about to destroy all that he has fought for. Shiva is about to learn that good and evil are two sides of the same coin...

Jon-Tom the spellsinger and his friends venture into the high mountains to free a cosmic creature whose captivity threatens to drive the whole world mad

It's an ordinary day in the Bellwoods, save for the fact that Jon-Tom the spellsinger has awoken as a six-foot blue crab. He soon reverts to normal—as normal as a college student trapped in a world of magic and talking animals can be, anyway—but the bizarre changes keep happening, affecting not just him but the whole of this strange world. His wizardly mentor suspects these are the effects of the perambulator, a cosmic being whose presence distorts reality. One has been imprisoned in the mountains, and unless they free it, it will rip the world to shreds one insane illusion at a time.

So Jon-Tom sets out, backed by the wizard, a boozehound owl, a gutter-minded otter, and a warrior koala with a taste for leather. Saving the world will be a cinch, as long as they don't lose their minds along the way.

On a diplomatic mission to the planet Andor, Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E bear witness to the rank devastation resulting from the Borg invasion. With the reproductive issues that have long plagued the Andorian people reaching crisis level, avenues of research that at first held great promise have proven largely unhelpful, and may well indeed be worsening the problem.

Despite the Federation's seeming inability to provide assistance and growing doubt over its commitment to a staunch, longtime ally, Andorian scientists now offer renewed hope for a solution. However, many segments of Andorian society are protesting this controversial new approach, and more radical sects are beginning to make their displeasure known by any means available. In response, President Nanietta Bacco has sent the Enterprise crew and a team of diplomats and scientists to Andor to convene a summit, in the hope of demonstrating that the Federation's pledge to helping Andor is sincere.

But the Typhon Pact is watching, and their interests may very well lead the Andorian people down an even more treacherous path....

They were created to be killing machines. Highly intelligent, resourceful, and deceptively complex, the Jem'Hadar are a species engineered for war and programmed at the genetic level for one purpose: to fight until death as soldiers of the sprawling stellar empire known as the Dominion. No Jem'Hadar has ever lived thirty years, and not even their masters, the shape-shifting Founders, know what such a creature is capable of becoming were it to be freed of its servitude.

One Founder, however, has dared to wonder.

Appointed by Odo himself to learn peaceful coexistence aboard Deep Space 9, Taran'atar, an Honored Elder among the Jem'Hadar, had for months been a staunch, if conflicted, ally to the crew of the station, ever struggling to understand the mission on which he was sent... until something went horrifically wrong.

Consumed by self-doubt and an ever-growing rage, Taran'atar has lashed out against those he was sworn to aid. While Captain Kira Nerys and Lieutenant Ro Laren both lie near death aboard DS9, their assailant has taken a hostage and fled into Cardassian space, pursued by Commander Elias Vaughn on the U.S.S. Defiant. But as the hunt unfolds, Taran'atar's true objective becomes increasingly less certain, as the rogue Jem'Hadar leads the Defiant to a discovery even more shocking than his crime.

In her acclaimed novel "Mosaic", Jeri Taylor, co-creator and former executive producer of the Star Trek: Voyager television series, explored the previously unrevealed past of Captain Kathryn Janeway, filling in the missing chapters of Janeway's life with a compelling story of bravery, sacrifice, and personal triumph.

Now, "Pathways" traces the winding roads that have led Janeway's fellow officers and closest friends to what may be the greatest crisis of their long journey home.

A deadly encounter with hostile aliens has left Captain Janeway's crew separated from the Voyager and slowly starving to death in a disease-ridden alien prison camp. To keep up their determination as they plot their escape, the crew shares with each other the unlikely paths that brought them all to the U.S.S. Voyager and the Delta Quadrant.

These are the stories of the command crew of U.S.S. Voyager: of a fair-haired youth who seemed destined for greatness -- or disgrace; of a troubled, half-human woman who didn't seem at home anywhere in the galaxy; of a traveler and treasure-hunter who found the greatest prize of all; of a naive young man who lost his love in pursuit of his dreams; of a Vulcan who formed a surprising bond with a human woman of unusual courage and passion; of a child-woman whose boundless curiosity led to a strange new world of marvels and dangers; and of the man who is perhaps closest of all to Kathryn Janeway, the man whose unspoken love and dedication may hold the key to her survival...

They began as individuals, following very different pathways, but together, under the leadership of one remarkable woman, they have become one of the finest teams in the known universe, the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager.

"Two there should be; no more, no less.
One to embody the power, the other to crave it."
- Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith

On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel, a cortosis miner, vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army and ships out to join the bloody war against the Republic and its Jedi champions. There, Dessel's brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the eyes of his watchful masters, a far greater destiny awaits him.

As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side, Dessel embraces his new identity: Bane. But the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness, he must defy the most sacred traditions and reject all he has been taught. It is a trial by fire in which he must surrender fully to the dark side - and forge from the ashes a new era of absolute power.

...for life and light!

A provocative and thrilling adventure set in the world of the High Republic, 150 years before the storytelling of Phase I. Meet mysterious cult members, daring explorers, Jedi peacekeepers and more!

This enthralling follow up to Path of Deceit finds cousins Marda and Yana Ro bound by blood but driven apart by faith.

Marda and Yana belong to the Path of the Open Hand, a group led by a charismatic woman called the Mother, which believes the Force must not be used by anyone. While Marda joins a perilous expedition to Planet X in search of more mysterious creatures to use against the Jedi, Yana finds herself forming an unexpected alliance with the father of her dead lover in attempt to wrest the Path from the Mother's control. These two young women will face a crossroads, forced to choose not only their own fates, but that of the galaxy itself.

Elizabeth Weir and Ronon are prisoners of the Vanir whose damaged ship is plummeting into the mountains of Sateda. Meanwhile, Atlantis is in lockdown, infected by a virulent contagion, cut off from the rest of the galaxy. And time is running out...

Helped by Daniel Jackson, Colonel Shepherd's team fight not only to save their city and free their friends but ultimately to save an entire species from extinction. As tensions rise between the Wraith, Travelers and Lanteans, old enemies - and long lost friends - must unite to walk a third path if the fragile peace in the Pegasus galaxy is to hold.

In this riveting conclusion to the Legacy series, the destiny of Atlantis and her people will be decided.

Dun-Cadal has been drinking his life away for years. Betrayed by his friends - who turned their back on their ideals in favour of a new republic - and grief stricken at the loss of his apprentice, who saved his life on the battlefield and whom he trained as a knight in exchange, he's done with politics, with adventure, and with people.

But people aren't finished with him - not yet. Viola is a young historian looking for the last Emperor's sword, and her search not only brings her to Dun-Cadal, it's also going to embroil them both in a series of assassinations. Because Dun-Cadal's turncoat friends are being murdered, one by one... by someone who kills in the unmistakable style of an Imperial assassin...

A once-powerful magician, defeated decades ago by the Undying Man, lies in the dungeon of Andratan, planning his revenge. There are three things he needs: the stone, the blood and a hand of hate. The three people he has manipulated from afar to bring these things to him are on their way. They have no way of knowing what lies in store.

The Faltha War might have ended, but for three great continents - and their gods - the war for immortality has only just begun.

All paths lead to war...

Marcus' hero days are behind him. He knows too well that even the smallest war still means somebody's death. When his men are impressed into a doomed army, staying out of a battle he wants no part of requires some unorthodox steps.

Cithrin is an orphan, ward of a banking house. Her job is to smuggle a nation's wealth across a war zone, hiding the gold from both sides. She knows the secret life of commerce like a second language, but the strategies of trade will not defend her from swords.

Geder, sole scion of a noble house, has more interest in philosophy than in swordplay. A poor excuse for a soldier, he is a pawn in these games. No one can predict what he will become.

Falling pebbles can start a landslide. A spat between the Free Cities and the Severed Throne is spiraling out of control. A new player rises from the depths of history, fanning the flames that will sweep the entire region onto The Dragon's Path-the path to war.

Two years have passed since the war, yet without essence the Empire's economy has collapsed. Trade is at a standstill, famine sets in, and, with no food and no essence, the people begin to riot.

In the midst of the growing unrest, Miro struggles to balance his life with Amber against his resolve to keep threats to the Empire at bay. His sister, Ella, helps to build the machinery the Empire desperately needs, but she longs to find Killian and believes his powers will be needed in the conflict to come.

News of a wedding brings a much-needed ray of hope to the weary people. But as citizens and leaders gather from afar for the festivities, an evil threat shatters the fragile peace: one of the Evermen has returned. And he will not rest until he has completely destroyed the humans he despises.

THEY FOLLOW WHERE THE DAGGER LEADS

Ardhi, Sorrel and the excommunicated cleric, Saker Rampion, stow away on a ship to the Spice Islands. They must return stolen items of great power to Ardhi's home, but there are ruthless men after this power, men who will kill to possess it.

At home in Ardrone, an army of demonic origin runs amok while Saker's superiors in the church struggle to quell it. And the young queen Mathilda struggles with the possibility that her newborn child, the heir to the throne, may be linked to the corruption that has erupted throughout the land.

Sorcerers, lascars, pirates and thieves collide in this thrilling sequel to Glenda Larke's epic fantasy adventure The Lascar's Dagger.

LIFE AFTER DEATH

Kaito Ukei was destined for greatness in his new world, landing himself the role of a hero and defeating the evil sorceress alongside a band of noble adventurers. When he's double crossed, though, and brutally murdered by his former allies, something inside him snaps. Death brings Kaito neither peace nor salvation. Rather, it instills in him a singular desire--to squeeze the life out of his blasted betrayers in the cruellest manner possible...! The strange twist of fate that gives him a second chance in the world with all his memories intact provides opportunity to do just that, and so begins his quest to stalk and torture the members of his former party in the bloodiest, unholiest, most sadistic ways imaginable!

COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

Now that Kaito Ukei's been given another shot at life, he has set out on his journey to exact revenge on the party members who brutally murdered him. He walks this path of vengeance with the beastfolk girl Minnalis, inching toward the capital to carry out his plan. Their first stop along the way? The City of Learning, Elmia. There, he brushes shoulders with the band of adventurers who purged the place most precious to him...as well as the damned Eumis--the traitorous spellcaster who turned her back on him in his time of need!

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

As Kaito plots his revenge against Eumis, he discovers that the spellcaster has bolstered her powers by selling her sister Shuria's soul to a demon. Not one to let an opportunity to humiliate his foes go to waste, Kaito saves the girl from the brink of death and invites her to join him and Minnalis on their quest for vengeance. Now the stage is set for the three partners in crime to corner their common enemy and strip her of everything she holds dear in a spectacular act of retribution...

The next target on Kaito's quest for vengeance is Grond the merchant, a money-hungry villain who goes as far as murder to satisfy his greed. But when Kaito finally gets Grond in his clutches, he forces the corrupt magnate to make an impossible choice: Would he rather part with his money or his life?

Sights set on their next target, Kaito, Minnalis, and Shuria travel to the magical city of Karvanheim, where they find Minnalis's traitorous childhood friends leading carefree lives. But soon, the partners in crime come across an obstacle not even Kaito could have foreseen: a merchant woman named Leone who was also summoned from Japan and remembers the world of Kaito's first life. Still possessed of her morals, Leone attempts to interfere with the trio's rampage of revenge... but there's no stopping Minnalis from exacting hellish reprisal on the people who doomed her to slavery and killed her mother.

A DEVASTATING HOMECOMING

Metelia ambushes Kaito just after he completes his latest feat of vengeance, forcing him through a portal to his home of present-day Japan. Stripped of his memories, Kaito comes to terms with his tragic new reality - a world where almost everyone he knows is dead, having been sacrificed when he was summoned as a hero the first time, and the few survivors of the incident are being hunted by a group of conspiracy theorists. Even this fragile status quo is disrupted when an assassin nearly succeeds in taking his life. But the brush with death restores Kaito's memories and powers, giving him the perfect opportunity to take revenge on his assailants and chart a course back to his partners in crime...

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED

After successfully coming back to the other world, Kaito happens upon Leticia, only to discover that she doesn't recognize him. From there, he and his two newest accomplices, Mai and Yuuto, travel to the town of Zolkia and start climbing the ranks at the Adventurers Guild. Don't think they've turned over a new leaf, however--it's all in service of drawing the attention of their next targets: a prince of the beast lands named Leon and Leticia's elder sister Lilia. In the past, this accomplished duo betrayed Kaito out of a conviction that it would save their realm.

But Kaito couldn't care less about their motivations; the only thing he's concerned with is returning the pain they inflicted on him, a thousand times over.

For too long had the Vth Legion ranged out beyond the sight of the wider Imperium, remaining ignorant of the Warmaster's rebellion and the war that inevitably followed.

Only once their primarch, Jaghatai Khan, had satisfied himself that the path before them was just and true did the White Scars choose a side, taking the fight to the traitors on every front. But, four years later, the Legion's unfettered spirit has been broken by relentless attritional warfare against the Death Guard and the Emperor's Children--the Khan's Stormseers must find a clear route to Terra if they are to take part in the final, apocalyptic battle.

The third in the fast-and-furious fantasy adventure The Legends of the Älfar: the worlds of the dark elves and the dwarves collide in what Malazan Empire calls 'Tolkien with a dash of Gemmell and a sprinkling of George R.R. Martin'.

There are four races: the Elves, the Dwarves and the Humans and the Älfar.

The other three all know the Älfar to be dark, relentless warriors, set on conquest; they have been deadly enemies since time immemorial. But are things about to change?

The young älfar triplets Sisaroth, Tirigon and Firüsha have been banished to the deadly underground realm of Phondrasôn, two of them exiled for a murder they did not commit, the third determined to stay with them, to help them survive this terrifying place full of monsters. Then Sisaroth meets a dwarf, Tungdil, who has been locked up in the Dark Abyss (Tungdil will be well-known to readers of the Dwarves series!) - and their unexpected relationship will change the fate of the älfar and the dwarves - for ever.

John Taylor just discovered his long-gone mother created the Nightside--the dark heart of London--and intends to destroy it. To save his birthplace, he will have to travel back through a very distant--and probably deadly--past.

RETURN TO MITHGAR-

that magical realm of The Iron Tower Trilogy and Trek to Kraggen-Cor, a land of adventure and enchantment as fully realized as Tolkien's Middle-Earth and Le Guin's Earthsea. Return with this second book in The Silver Call Duology to a time when the armies of light are massing for a desperate attack against the stronghold of Darkness in this

THE FINAL BATTLE!

Kraggen-Cor, once the heart of the Dwarf kingdom, now the mountain fastness of all the creatures of evil that remain in Mithgar. Here the Dwarf King Durek has led his forces to fufill his destiny and reclaim his realm. But with the Dawn Gate held by ememy troops and the Dusk-Door of Kraggen-Cor barred by a nightmare guardian, Durek must split his forces. He sends the Warrow Perry, the human Kian, and several doughty Dwarf warriors to chance the Brega Path, the legendary twisting way through the heart of Kraggen-Cor. With the powers of evil in pursuit, can this small band win through to Durek's army before the enemy springs a diabolical trap which could prove the death of all the Dwarves in Mithgar?

In this new paranormal fantasy series, a powerful woman who can see the dead must choose whether to forge a new path for herself and her family....

"The problem with ghosts is that they don't quite realize that they're dead."

Voada Paorach can see the dead. It is a family trait, but one that has had to remain hidden since the Mundoan Empire conquered her people's land three generations ago. But this ghost isn't the same as the others she has glimpsed, the lost souls she has helped to find their way to the land beyond life. This ghost demands that Voada follow a new path, one that will mean leaving behind everything and everyone she has known and loved.

Voada will come to understand the power that her people possess, but she will also learn the steep price that must be paid for such a gift.

Fast-moving and intense, A Fading Sun explores grief, sacrifice, ambition, and the forging of personality in the crucible of war.

The second novel in this gripping historical fantasy series, set in an alternate first-century Britain, follows Orla Paorach, freedom fighter and daughter of a Boudica-like warrior.

"Orla! Hurry, girl! You must come with me!"

Orla Paorach's life was overturned for the first time when her mother Voada was beaten senseless, and Orla was taken by Bakir, a minor Mundoan army officer, as his second wife. Now her world is shattered a second time: Bakir has died in battle, and so has her mother, now known as the Mad Draoi of the Cateni.

Orla flees northward to Onglse, the island home of the draoi that is the center of the Cateni rebellion against the Mundoa. She becomes quickly embroiled in battle as well as deceptions from both sides of the conflict, as everyone expects that she's come to take up her mother's mantle. Those who knew her mother offer their help, but can she trust any of them? Can she avoid becoming the Mad Draoi herself, lost in the magic her mother once tried to wield?

An intense, fast-paced novel, A Rising Moon explores trust, courage, and the deep seduction of power.

Reunited, Audun and Ulfar have a new sense of purpose: to ensure that the North remains in the hands of those who hold with the old gods. To do this, they must defeat the people who seek to destroy all they have ever known with the new White Christ. But these are powerful enemies and if they have any chance of victory, they must find equally powerful allies.

In Trondheim, King Olav, self-appointed champion of the White Christ, finds that keeping the peace is a much harder test of his faith than winning the war. With his garrison halved and local chieftains at his table who wish him nothing but ill, the king must decide how and where to spread the word of his god.

And in the North, touched by the trickster god, something old, malevolent and very, very angry stirs...

For millions of fans around the globe, the wait is over. Sequel to the international blockbuster best seller A Crown of Swords, this epic volume continues one of history's greatest fictional journeys and the most extraordinary work of American fantasy ever published--The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and worldwide best-selling series The Wheel of Time. The phenomenal tale that is mesmerizing a generation of readers now continues.

The Seanchan invasion force is in possession of Ebou Dar. Nynaeve, Elayne, and Aviendha head for Caemlyn and Elayne's rightful throne, but on the way they discover an enemy much worse than the Seanchan.

In Illian, Rand vows to throw the Seanchan back as he did once before. But signs of madness are appearing among the Asha'man.

In Ghealdan, Perrin faces the intrigues of Whitecloaks, Seanchan invaders, the scattered Shaido Aiel, and the Prophet himself. Perrin's beloved wife, Faile, may pay with her life, and Perrin himself may have to destroy his soul to save her.

Meanwhile, the rebel Aes Sedai under their young Amyrlin, Egwene al'Vere, face an army that intends to keep them away from the White Tower. But Egwene is determined to unseat the usurper Elaida and reunite the Aes Sedai. She does not yet understand the price that others - and she herself - will pay.

This is the first in a series of adventures featuring the soldiers of foturne trio Roderick McKay, Tim Ryan and Meredith Knowlton. They are on the hunt for a missing millionare "lost" in the Amazonian jungles of South America. Along the way they meet up with Arthur Friel's long running characters Pedro and Lourenco, along with headhunting Mayorunas and the even more frightening Red Bones tribe.

The most wanted man in America is about to destroy the entire nation... or save it.

It's 2066 and Sandra has kept a low profile for 16 years, working as a tech in a quiet British university, hoping her past would never catch up with her. But it has.

When Jay hears Sandra has been kidnapped, he drops everything and goes to the U.S. to find her. But Sandra's kidnapper is not an ordinary criminal. He's America's most-wanted terrorist - a man driven to to free his country from religious oppression at any cost. Sandra, still suffering from the fallout of earlier timesplashes, refuses to help create the biggest timesplash ever, which would unleash a wave of destruction that the rebels hope will kickstart a new American revolution.

When Cara, Sandra's teenage daughter, is taken by one of the many factions on the ground in Washington D.C., Sandra's resolve is shaken, and Jay is forced into a race against time to stop the deaths of millions or save Sandra and her daughter.

Sandra and Jay must ultimately decide between what is right for them and what is right for all in this thrilling continuation of the Timesplash series.

With the plot against them foiled and the city of Qi-Katai in safe hands, newlywed and tentative lovers Velasin and Caethari have just begun to test the waters of their relationship. But the wider political ramifications of their marriage are still playing out across two nations, and all too soon, they're summoned north to Tithena's capital city, Qi-Xihan, to present themselves to its monarch.

With Caethari newly invested as his grandmother's heir and Velasin's old ghosts gnawing at his heels, what little peace they've managed to find is swiftly put to the test. Cae's recent losses have left him racked with grief and guilt, while Vel struggles with the disconnect between instincts that have kept him safe in secrecy and what an open life requires of him now. Pursued by unknown assailants and with Qi-Xihan's court factions jockeying for power, Vel and Cae must use all the skills at their disposal to not only survive, but thrive.

Because there's more than one way to end an alliance, and more than one person who wants to see them fail... and they will resort to murder if needed.

The Visitor's plot to bring about a new ice age through world-freezing technology while they bio-engineered bacteria that metabolizes heating oil into uselessness. The goal is to freeze humanity into submission in the cold areas where the Visitors can't survive because of the regenerative red dust. But when cases of a mysterious poisonous gas kills people in buildings that use heating oil begin showing up, a scientific research group discovers the fact that the oil has been tainted after studying collected samples from these locations. If it were not for the poison gas bi-product, they would not have discovered the cause, nor the Visitor plan to use the bacteria to wipe out the world's crude oil supply by injecting it directly into underground reserves. Travel with the resistance from New York through New England and overseas to the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, as American resistance members join forces with Israeli and Arab resistance fighters in an attempt to foil Diana's latest plan, with the help of an egotistical computer expert who may also be a double agent.

The eleventh anthology of short stories set in Mercedes Lackey's beloved Valdemar universe features stories by debut and established authors and a brand-new story from Lackey herself

The Heralds of Valdemar are the kingdom's ancient order of protectors. They are drawn from all across the land, from all walks of life, and at all ages--and all are Gifted with abilities beyond those of normal men and women. They are Mindspeakers, FarSeers, Empaths, ForeSeers, Firestarters, FarSpeakers, and more. These inborn talents--combined with training as emissaries, spies, judges, diplomats, scouts, counselors, warriors, and more--make them indispensable to their monarch and realm. Sought and Chosen by mysterious horse-like Companions, they are bonded for life to these telepathic, enigmatic creatures. The Heralds of Valdemar and their Companions ride circuit throughout the kingdom, protecting the peace and, when necessary, defending their land and monarch.

Now, twenty-three authors ride with Mercedes Lackey to her magical land of Valdemar, adding their own unique voices to the Heralds, Bards, Healers, and other heroes of this beloved fantasy realm.

Join Janny Wurts, Elisabeth Waters, Michele Lang, Fiona Patton, and others in twenty-four original stories, including a brand-new novella by Mercedes Lackey, all set in Valdemar, where:

A young woman without any of the Heralds' Gifts must see a Companion safely delivered to Haven....

A Herald must revisit the mysteries of his childhood to save his own young family and combat a threat at the very heart of Valdemar....

A Hawkbrother flees for his life, trailed by a mysterious bird that prophesizes a dire future....

A mage must choose whether to steal a priceless artifact and be branded a thief and traitor, or let his country fall to magic that could prove far more deadly....

The descriptions of the quaint villagers of Werst, their costumes, manner of living, and belief in the supernatural world would in themselves prove an interesting narrative, but when coupled with the exciting adventures of Nic Deck, the two Counts, the cowardly Doctor, and the beautiful La Stilla, the story is undoubtedly one of the most enchanting ever offered. This mysterious tale takes place in the area which in just a few years would become known as Dracula's homeland. Jules Verne has the knack of it. He knows how to make the scientifically romantic story. You might not know what a "nyctalop" was, but if you saw one flapping his wings around the dark fortress in the Carpathians, you would run for it, as did Nic Deck. Orfanik is head conjurer, and in his trial he explains how he brought into play for a wicked purpose a variety of ingenious inventions. Includes unique illustrations!