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Down Below Beyond by T. A. Bruno Lodespace is a collection of worlds dominated by the Fessenog Fleet trade empire. Thanks to the Voyalten portals, alien civilizations from all over the universe can gather for glorious trade. For the wealthy, there has never been a more lucrative circle. But the Fleet is hiding something from its investors. A secret that, if exposed, could bring the empire to its knees. Levort Aatra is a prospector on the planet Tayoxe. While scavenging the wastes of the abandoned world, he discovers a mysterious starship and stakes his claim on it. Little does he know, he just made himself the most wanted man in Lodespace. DOWN BELOW BEYOND is a stand-alone sci-fi fantasy adventure filled with aliens, planets, and portals set in a universe crafted by T. A. Bruno, author of the award-winning Song of Kamaria trilogy. |
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The Invisible Tether by JP McDonald Cooper Belrose and his friends gear up for a sporting tournament in tropical North Queensland (Australia) for a week of carefree fun. In an unnerving twist of fate, a cryptic flight attendant hijacks the plane, altering their lives forever. After surviving the plane crash, Cooper and his friends learn the flight attendant was part of a much larger threat, not only to their existence but to the entire human race. In their desperation to return home and find answers, they discover abnormal abilities within themselves activated by the crash and the threat of an opposing force. Will these newfound abilities wield an edge over their enemies? As they strive to combat each twist and turn, Cooper and his friends learn the value of teamwork by navigating the space between life and death. If faced with an imminent threat to the human race, would you and your friends take up the fight? "The Invisible Tether," is a story of love, adventure and the pursuit of truth. |
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The Queen Protocol by Gregory Benson They thought they were finally safe⊠How did they end up on Nathasia, a planet of horrors? A place haunted by the souls of billions murdered in war, its seas poisoned by toxins explicitly engineered to kill and mutate, infested with Thraxon breeding pits, and quarantined by the Marck fleet. Kerriah and her companions awaken with holes in their memories, and the young Tolagon is missing. However, there is a twist of fortune. The yellow orb, lost for decades and protected by the terrors of this world, is finally within their grasp. Now, the calculating Marck Queen, hidden away in an impenetrable fortress, unfolds her diabolical plot. Her order is clear: destroy all life within the Oro system. Crushing pressure, frozen death, and the sacrifice of heroes is the only path to defeat her. As she breaks from her protocol, the queen's protocol, the system falls into darkness. With the return of the Thraxons, bitter alliances have formed, and fate has opened its dark eyes. Learn more about the different species and locations in this story! |
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Christmas in the Empty Cabin by E. Reyes Horror and the supernatural donât take holiday vacations⊠Take a holiday trip with E. Reyes to the dark side of the most wonderful time of the year. While youâre there visit⊠A hot holiday toy that brings terror to a department store. A man caught in a blizzard as he searches for help for a dying friend. A girl who wakes up to surprise visitors on DĂa de los Muertos. A man who recounts a sick and twisted Thanksgiving. A boy who becomes intrigued by a mysterious house and the girl who resides there during fall break. A family man who struggles with a dilemma that may cost him his soul. âA beautifully written collection⊠a unique and creative delight⊠I devoured it and loved it!ââJulie Hiner, author of Final Track âA great collection of thrilling and shocking tales that will get your heart pounding!ââEric Woods, author of Pummeled âA great range of short tales for anyone looking for a quick, mysterious read.ââM.E. Aster, author of Three Halves of a Whole âCaptures the melancholy, dark side of the holidays.ââElford Alley, author of Ash and Bone |
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The Wolf in Me: Survive by Alex Smith The 23rd century is nearing its end. Having been treated as subhuman (and worse) for over 300 years, the Wolves - a race of wolf-human hybrids - have reached their breaking point. With a clear threat of war rising daily, the US Military devises a plan to destroy the beasts they helped create. However, utilizing their intelligence and raw bestial instincts, the Wolves hatch a plan of their own: plunge the entire world into a war to end all wars! In the aftermath of a deadly airship crash, Percy - a six-year-old human boy - finds himself behind enemy lines; in the claws of the creatures he's been taught to fear his entire life. Xander - a twenty-eight-year-old elite black ops Wolf, finds himself with a very difficult choice to make; kill the innocent child he has found, or be ostracized by his own kind and protect the boy? What is a small, frail, boy to do when surrounded by beasts fighting to end his very existence? Survive! |
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Lesser Known Monsters by Rory Michaelson Being the chosen one isnât always a good thing. Oscar Tundale is useless, or at least that's what he's always thought. He and his friends are about to discover that not only are monsters real, but some of them are very interested in Oscar. Now, they must find out what the monsters want, before something terrible happens to London; or worse yet, the world. Lesser Known Monsters is an own voices queer dark fantasy featuring diverse characters on a found family adventure. Perfect for fans of action and paranormal romance seeking LGBTQ+ heroes. This is the first book in the Lesser Known Monsters series. |
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The Fear of Moncroix by Bryan Asher All the Waywards have Fallen⊠After a mission against the Royal Vampiric Court goes horribly wrong, all of the Waywards are slaughtered. All except one. Davion, the last surviving member, must consume potions to mask himself and hide amongst the very people who killed his brethren. After a decade of living this double-life, Davion has resigned himself to his new purgatory. But all will not remain calm for him or the Court. An unknown swordsman arrives, and after killing several Royal Vampires, rumor spreads that heâs searching for anyone still belonging to The Wayward order. Davion decides he must track down this mysterious swordsman. But will finding him bring freedom or his own demise. |
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The Chaos Circus by Renee Dugan All Tessa LaRoche wants is to be the most ordinary person on Barrow Island. After a stint in a mental asylum, she's had quite enough of being anything else, thank you very much. But when a commission at her new reporting job forces her into the path of a not-quite-human murder suspect, Tessa finds that the unordinary is not through with her yet. Spirited away by a devilishly charming Nicolai to the Mirror Lands-- a parallel reality manipulated by the immortal Deathless-- Tessa loses one of the most precious tethers to her sanity. In order to reclaim it, she must risk entering The Chaos Circus: a citywide fair where mortals trade years for prizes in vicious attractions from which the Deathless draw their power. But there's a catch: if Tessa can't defeat the Deathless at their own freakish carnival games, she will lose her mind...and Nicolai will lose his life. Forced to rely on one another despite the secrets that come between them, Tessa and Nicolai embark on a dangerous adventure through the deceptively beautiful life of the Circus, where little is as it seems--even the games, their pasts, and the strange whirlwind of memories that Tessa can no longer recall. |
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Gold, Lock and Key by E J Doble From grimdark author E J Doble, comes a fairytale with a dark twist... "All it needs, is a bit of tenacity... and three little bears." Goldie, an outlaw and contract hunter of the Baron's State, accepts a new assignment from her employer to find an old cabin in the woods, home to three 'shapeshifters' who can morph into bears. Considered to be little more than a myth, Goldie assumes at first that the shapeshifters are an exaggeration - but with the sizeable bounty her employer is offering, she soon realises there may be more truth in it than she realised. And that isn't the only thing on her mind: she discovers her main rival - a manipulative and incredibly cunning trapper named Southey - has also taken on the contract, and will be contending for the same bounty she so fervently desires. Having waited many long years to have her revenge and outsmart Southey for past mistakes, Goldie sees the new contract as a perfect opportunity to do so. All she has to do is play her cards just right. And kill three bears... |
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A Dagger in the Dark by Tom Dumbrell Twenty years before the events of The Look of a King, in a world on the cusp of change, a young man dreams of a life far from the one he has known. Is he a captain in the making, or out of his depth? The stakes are high, and only time will tell if the spoils are worth the gamble. . . |
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Illusion of Stars by Sarah Marie Page From award-winning author Sarah Marie Page comes a stunning new adult enemies-to-lovers romantasy featuring a simmering slow-burn romance between a vengeful spy and an enemy general's alluring second-in-command on opposite sides of a pending war. She's stealing more than secrets. As the royal physician of a tiny, windswept island, Isabel spends her days trying to keep the queen from dying and the mad king from streaking naked down the halls. But when her best friend is found murdered on the beaches, her world is ripped apart. Desperate for answers, she discovers a stash of letters that reveal a terrifying truth: the neighboring kingdom of Volgaard possesses a kingdom-shattering weapon and is poised to conquer everything in its path. Seeking vengeance, Isabel infiltrates the enemy. Her mission? Woo Erik Lothgarson, the generalâs steamy, illusion-magic wielding son, and steal the dangerous weapon. She can bring Volgaard to its kneesâif she isnât caught. But as Isabel dances along the knife edge of deception, the lines between truth and fiction blur, and she must wrestle her quest for vengeance against her undeniable attraction to the enemy. |
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Child of Vanris by Nikki McCormack At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, heâs lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a child of the enemy. Everything changes when mercenaries arrive hunting for Kasiel. The last people he expects to come to his rescue are Vanrian soldiers, one of whom claims to be his spirit brother, whatever that means. They plan to take him across the war zone to deliver him to his real father, a man whose name strikes terror in his enemies. With his secret exposed, Kasiel canât return to his old home. This is his chance to find out who he was supposed to be. It means traveling to a foreign land where they have unusual psychic abilities he may share. It also means leaving behind everything heâs ever cared about. If he is to survive, he will need to learn their language and culture and earn his place in their society. Meanwhile, the man who cut Kasielâs ears will do anything to keep him out of his true fatherâs hands, even if it means killing him. |
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The Reanimator's Heart by Kara Jorgensen A reluctant necromancer, a man killed before his time, and the crime that brings them together. Felipe Galvanâs life as an investigator for the Paranormal Society has been spent running into danger. Returning home from his latest case, Felipe struggles with the sudden quiet of his life until a mysterious death puts him in the path of the enigmatic Oliver Barlow. Oliver has two secrets. One, he has been in love with the charming Felipe Galvan for years. Two, he is a necromancer, but to keep the sensible life heâs built as a medical examiner, he must hide his powers. That is until Oliver finds Felipe murdered and accidentally brings him back from the dead. But Felipe refuses to die again until he and Oliver catch his killer. Together, Felipe and Oliver embark on an investigation to uncover a plot centuries in the making. As they close in on his killer, one thing is certain: if they donât stop them, Felipe wonât be the last to die. |
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The Assembly of Magic The Story of Myrddin in Ancient Atlantis: Book 1 of The Myrddin Chronicles by Sam Carnes Myrddin has lived for millennia, but his life truly began as a young scholar and magician in the Assembly of Atlantis. We follow his journey of self-discovery, from his thirst for knowledge and magic, to his coming out as gay and experiencing love and loss. Myrddinâs life in Atlantis is full of adventure, gay romance, and magic, but it's not all fun and games. Myrddin travels far and wide looking for answers that could change the world forever. He also endeavors to educate people against circumcision, always extolling the benefits of keeping oneâs foreskin intact. Join Myrddin on his first epic journey through Ancient Atlantis and discover the power of love, courage, perseverance, and friendship. The Assembly of Magic The Story of Myrddin in Ancient Atlantis is a captivating tale of love and romance, adventure and magic that will leave you longing for more. |
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Never Die (Mortal Techniques #1) by Rob J. Hayes Samurai, shinigami, vengeful spirits, and an impossible quest. Itami Cho has earned the name Whispering Blade. She is a Shintei warrior, sworn to the path of oaths and honour. But keeping her oaths has always been more difficult than taking them. When Flaming Fist and his bandits attack the city of Kaishi, Itami swears one last oath: she will protect the city and its people at any cost. Ein has spent his life dreaming of being a hero, and now the God of Death has given him a chance. The Reaper has set him an impossible quest: an eight-year-old boy sent to stop an immortal Emperor. Never Die is a stand alone set in the world of Mortal Techniques. Itâs a wuxia adventure filled with samurai, shinigami, heroes, and vengeful spirits. |
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Under Far Galaxian Skies by Natalie Kelda Balfour has committed the ultimate crime: the murder of his sisterâs boyfriend. It doesnât matter that it was accidental. Sentenced to working as ship labourer, Balfour is convinced he deserves it when he's captured by pirates and forced to a distant galaxy. He barely escapes enslavement, fleeing into a city more deadly than anything heâs ever known. Venomous reptiles hunt him. Iron-fisted tarilla chiefs are on the brink of war. Balfour must adapt quickly or prepare for a slow, torturous death in the hands of people more bloodthirsty than the Star-Eaters of old. But the biggest threat is his lingering self-loathing. If he can't fight through it, nothing else will matter â because he wonât live long enough to see it. |
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Blades of the Ice: Age of Rekindling: A Prequel by Luis Falcao De Magalhaes In a land ruled by patriarchy, an assassin sisterhood delivers justice from the shadows. Now, their mysterious patron has charged burly fighter Erika Langeshen and lithe shadow-stalker Annah Barksdottir with uncovering a plot against the very rulers that have mistreated and oppressed them their whole lives. Their quest will take them to a faraway village on the borders of the Razor Teeth Woods, where they will need to use all the tricks of their trade to build a base of power and expose the machinations of the local lord and his allies. But before they do, they must break into one of the Patriarchate's fortresses and retrieve an unlikely ally⊠Blades of the Ice is the prequel novella to The Daughter of The Ice, the first book in the Legends of Elessia: Age of Rekindling series. Expect a fast-paced sword & sorcery adventure in the style of R.A Salvatore and an homage to the Forgotten Realms fantasy series. Readers and reviewers alike have compared it to The Witcher and The Wheel of Time |
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Honu Book One: Waterborn by Dawyone Combes When magic enters Koldair Noa's life the world he once knew will never be the same. Someone whom was thought lost forever to the land of Lanrete returns to hunt Koldair and burn down Hawai'i. Koldair must make a choice to be the hero or the villain of his own story. |
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The Son of the Prophets by Bryan Wilson "Those of white and those of flame will clash, and the universe will begin to shake." Colton's mission is straightforward: go home to Earth, wield the power of the stars for all to see, and seek the prophet his planet was named after. But nothing has come easy since he left his world. Traitors lurk in the shadows, causing chaos across the stars. War has begun, and with newfound responsibilities arising, those around Colton realize they will have to carry some of the burden if there's to be any hope of defeating the Army of Flame. Ace and Morris set out on their own course, hunting a rogue admiral down at Willick's side. Meanwhile, Violet Doku travels with her fellow soldiers of Vintara Company, sailing to the mysterious Forsaken Barrier, where the fight they have trained for lies in wait. Colton knows he will have to be quick with his tasks if he hopes to fulfill the prophecies and save mankind. But when age-old mysteries are answered, and past conflicts reemerge, he starts to question whether he can even save himself. |
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Aestus: Book 2: The Colony by S. Z. Attwell An underground city. A deadly project. And an Intelligence agent who can help Jossey take down the City...if she can trust him again.Jossey grew up believing the Onlar, creatures of the aboveground, were monsters. But when they kidnapped her, she found out terrible secrets about her city and her family. Her choice to help the Onlar against the City almost cost her her life. And the Intelligence agent she'd thought was her friend was the one tasked with carrying out her execution.But he didn't quite succeed.Now Jossey, barely alive, has been sent to the Onlar by a mysterious figure from the City. And time is of the essence - her solar network project could mean disaster not only for the Onlar, but for thousands of citizens as well. She canât do much from the Onlar camp, but Gavin, Josseyâs Patrol leader and longtime friend, isnât convinced sheâs dead. And Patrol has started to learn the truth.As tentative alliances form, Jossey begins to think this might be easier than sheâd thought. But a terrible miscalculation has been made, one that may cost her and her friends both the City and their lives. Can she see it before itâs too late?Aestus is an adult dystopian science-fiction series set centuries after climate change has ravaged much of Earth. An epic story of vengeance, power, shifting loyalties, and survival that looks at just how far people will go to protect what they love, brought to you by science writer S.Z. Attwell, Aestus paints a picture of a world in which far too little has changed. |
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Where Shadows Lie by Allegra Pescatore The Chosen One Is Dead. Magic Is Going Haywire. Time Is Running Out. When the King of Lirin murders Elenor's brother during a failed coup attempt, she must choose between turning a blind eye to her people's suffering or joining the rebellion and helping bring down the tyrant king. There's only one problem--the king is her father. Helped along the way by a grouchy old doctor, a boisterous group of nobles, and a well-meaning assassin, Elenor is forced to dance between duty and defiance as she tries to save her kingdom. Meanwhile, from the rainy streets of Lirin to the scorching dunes of the Mondaer Desert, the ripples of her actions have inadvertently broken a chain of events five centuries in the making. Ancient forces move in the shadows, calling in debts and striking deals. A monster with a thousand faces fingers his knife, ready to kill, and a pair of fugitives run for their lives. Where Shadows Lie is a non-stop, epic fantasy ride featuring an lgbtq+ and disabled protagonist and filled with court intrigue, sizzling romance, adorable baby dragons, and the battle between oppression and freedom. Dive in and get swept away! |
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The Beast Hunters by Christer Lende When a monster brutally kills her parents, Ara is saved by two beast hunters. Becoming their apprentice, she discovers serums, secret bestiary knowledge, and remarkable abilities-all to save unsuspecting souls from the same fate her parents suffered. But, terrifying creatures lurk everywhere and Ara must master the art of beast hunting quickly if she is to uncover the elusive creature plaguing the village of Cornstead. An epic monster-slaying story starring an orphaned girl turned beast hunting apprentice named Ara. This is the ultimate in escape fiction. |
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They Mostly Come Out At Night by Benedict Patrick Semi finalist in Mark Lawrenceâs SPFBO (2017) Are you scared of the dark? The villagers of the forest seal themselves in their cellars at night, whispering folktales to each other about the monsters that prey on them in the dark. Only the Magpie King, their shadowy, unseen protector, can keep them safe. However, when an outcast called Lonan begins to dream of the Magpie Kingâs defeat at the hands of inhuman invaders, this young man must do what he can to protect his village. He is the only person who can keep his loved ones from being stolen away after dark, and to do so he will have to convince them to trust him again. They Mostly Come Out At Night is the first novel from Benedict Patrickâs Yarnsworld series. Straddling the line between fantasy and folklore, this book is perfect for fans of the darker Brothers Grimm stories. |
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An Appreciation of Cats by Des DeVivo How do we know if itâs too late? Dr. Ian Devonshire, the beloved veterinarian of Holly Grove, is sixty-eight with no plans to retireâuntil a skin exam ends with an unexpected biopsy. Ian tells no one, privately worrying about what a worst-case scenario would mean for his practice and, more importantly, his assistant, Dr. Alec Tarley. Ian isnât sure if Alecâs friendliness means what he hopes it does, though it wouldnât matter if it did; Ian is old enough to be Alecâs father, and as his boss, Ian doesnât want the small-town scandal of becoming involved. So even as Ian wonders what it might be like to have their afternoon tea somewhere other than behind closed doors, he convinces himself the risks far outweigh the gains. Especially now, as the pending results strand him like Schrödinger's Cat. In an attempt to protect them both from the heartache of a malignant prognosis, Ian makes the abrupt decision to retire. But when Alec refuses to take over the clinic without an explanation for the sudden change of heart, Ian must decide between whatâll hurt more: revealing his secrets or walking away. |
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Lost in Paradise by Rachel Lacey SOMETIMES LOVE HAS TO BE LOST BEFORE IT CAN BE FOUND⊠Nicole Morella boards a private Mediterranean cruise with one goal: to reclaim herself after her divorce. When she sits next to a beautiful blonde in the shipâs lounge, sheâs knocked off balance by the immediate attraction between them, and itâs not just because Nicole hasnât found her sea legs yet. Fiona stirs things in Nicole that havenât been stirred in a long time, but a fiery kiss turns dangerous when the ship is hijacked. The women launch a daring escape, leaving them adrift in an empty lifeboat. Fiona Boone has been adrift most of her life, but never in such a literal sense. Sheâs a survivor, though, so when they land on a deserted island, Fionaâs ready to do whatever it takes to stay alive until theyâre rescued. In the meantime, she canât get enough of the feisty woman sheâs stranded with, despite her usual fiercely independent nature. Although theyâre lost, Fiona finds something unexpected in the comfort of Nicoleâs touch. But when an injury puts her life in jeopardy, they begin to worry help wonât arrive in time. If she survives their ordeal, Fiona might just face her biggest challenge yet: falling in love. |
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The Wild Court by E. G. Radcliff What perils await on the other side of the veil? In the seventh year of Ăed's reign, night descends on the autumn festival. But a time of revelry turns into one of fiery destructionâas fae pour across the veil and the Gut becomes a battlefield in an otherworldly war. Determined to protect his kingdom and the people he loves, Ăed finds himself catapulted into a realm as unfamiliar as it is dangerous, where magic is king and wild courts vie for supremacy. While the faerie Queen's missing consort holds the key to life and death, tenuous alliances raise questions about Ăedâs connection to the mysterious Bone Court. His survival hinges on cunning as much as illusion. On a mission like no other, only one thing is certain: no one will survive unscathed. |
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The Headsman by Christina MĂźrzoi Take a glimpse into the world of a headsman, a gloomy village in which each dweller has a secret: an evil witch, a shrewd florist, a naive young man, a foreign merchant, a dreadful husband, a mischievous maid, and a lustful duke. These stories are intertwined, weaving a dark narrative of love, trickery, brutality, and loss. Under the bleak aesthetic, raw human emotions unravel themselves in a gripping story about moral decay. In a world that belongs to the wicked, how far can one walk this path while keeping a clean conscience? The Headsman is a collection of short stories that focus on interconnected characters, sometimes looking at the same event from a different perspective. As a genre, it falls somewhere under dark fiction territory. |
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Norse Mythology for Bostonians: A Transcription of the Impudent Edda by Rowdy Geirsson Norse Mythology for Bostonians is a humorous retelling of the trials and tribulations of Odin, Thor, and the other Norse gods. Regarded as an authentic, new "Edda" (as the original Icelandic source material is called), the main narrative is told in the charmingly quaint dialect of a foul-mouthed Bostonian. New mythological episodes, such as Thor's attempt to renew his driver's license and Odin's mysterious journey to Boston Common, supplement the more traditional stories such as Odin's acquisition of the mead of poetry and the theft of Idunn's apples of youth. Substantial historical background information about the myths is provided in the introductory material, as well as in the footnotes that occur throughout the volume. Based on the long-running McSweeney's Internet Tendency column Norse History for Bostonians, Norse Mythology for Bostonians, introduces readers to a fresh, new perspective on both familiar and previously unknown narratives of Norse mythology. |
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What Was Lost by Melissa Connelly When a young girl feels complicit in her own abuse, how does that thwart her attempts to build a happy life as an adult woman? Disturbing memories begin to surface for Marti and so she returns to the small Vermont town she ran away from thirty years ago to face her demons. She drags her unwitting and unwilling teenage daughter along on the journey heightening already existing tensions between them. But Marti is determined to achieve what sheâs returned home for: forgiveness for lies told, and revenge for secrets held. Exploring the vast social change from 1970 to 2000, in times before language such as #MeToo helped give voice to these all-too-common occurrences, What Was Lost is a raw, powerful tale of one woman confronting the ghosts of her past. |
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A Canticle of War by Steven Raaymakers When the world is threatened with total destruction, can warchildren unite to save it? A grim story of trauma and power with a Sanderson-esque magic system. In this epic conclusion, all bets are off as Raziel and his rag-tag crew must finally come together against the rising dark power. If death doesnât find them first. The city of Archehan lies in ruins, banshees circle the crumbling towers. Famine and violence spread across the fallen kingdom. An empire marches its armies to war. Ancient magics are stirring, woken by Razielâs choices. With the fate of the world in their hands, will Raziel and his companions find the way forward through the darkness, or will they be the architects of their own doom? The âAria of Steel Trilogyâ is a heavy-metal power ballad of clashing blades, blood-soaked betrayal, and sweet revenge. Join the fight today! |
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Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty SOME BALLADS ARE INKED IN BLOOD. Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Krishna and Satyabhama have put their plans in motion within and beyond the Republic's blood-soaked borders to protect it from annihilation. But they will soon discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever. They are however not alone in this game. Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways to be a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores. Brooding but beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to giving second chances. The crippled hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through the path of daggers that is politics only to find his foes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance. Their lives are about to become very difficult for a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise, even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand |
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Heart of the Empire by Carrie Summers The Empire is heartless, but fate is crueler still. Tainted magic spills from a crack between worlds. Quakes rattle the Atal Empire, opening rifts that split towns in two. As the land shatters and betrayals cleave the Emperor's court, ancient power awakens in a flame-haired young woman. Savra, a miner on a remote coast, lives in relative innocence of her Emperor's savage rule. When she turns seventeen, she expects to be assigned sluice mining as her official Function. Everyone from her home village is a sluicer--unless they turn renegade and fugitive like Savra's father. But when she's suddenly torn from her home, turned pawn in the plots of madmen, a chance meeting with a young man provides the first glimpse of her tangled destiny. For nineteen years, Kostan has been groomed for one thing: ascension to the throne. One of thirteen imperial Scions, he bears a wound that won't heal until his twenty-first birthday. On that date, only the shape of the Scions' scars will determine the next Atal Emperor. Savra secretly fears she carries her father's rebel blood. Kostan despises everything the Empire stands for. Neither desires a fight, but as the Empire crumbles around them, they stand on opposite sides of a war. Each could be part of Empire's salvation, if only they could bridge the chasm dividing them. Tangled fates. Epic stakes. Join thousands who have entered the Broken Lands. |
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How To Sell Your Blood and Fall In Love by D.N. Bryn No romantic story has ever lived up to Dr. Clementine Hugheâs reality but at least he has his steamy two-million-word fanfic and a prestigious research position at Vitalis-Barron Pharmaceuticals, where their benefits are superb and their experimentation on vampires highly unethical. When a mysterious accident turns Clementine into a vampire, discovery would demote him to lab rat and his growing thirst for his coworkerâs veins forces him to the streets to hunt. Justin Yu is usually the one attacking villains in alleys, not the other way around. After the tragedy he brought upon his local vampiric community in his youth, heâs struggled tirelessly to keep their vampires safe. So when a panicking Clementine botches a bite attempt, Justin takes pityâand advantageâand offers the vampire a trade: his blood in exchange for an exorbitant fee. In desperation, Clementine accepts. Justinâs blood is bland and unappealing, but the more Clementine learns to appreciate the manâs sharp humor and persistent compassion, the more he acquires a taste for Justin. Justin is determined not to let Clementineâs good looks and thoughtful intellect distract him as hunters from Vitalis-Barron close in on Justinâs neighborhood, and it turns out someone there knows Clementineâs vampiric secret⊠|
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Remote Angel Volume 1 by Yennie Fer and Banunu After a freak accident of an attempted assault, Alice Desangi wakes up in a different apocalyptic universe. Gifted with mysterious powers of an earth angel, she dies in unfortunate occurrences. She wakes up to relive that day again in a confused manner. Depending on her choices, they could change history. |
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Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair Michael Duckett is fed up with his life. His job is a drag, and his roommate and best friend of fifteen years, Stephanie Dyer, is only making him more anxious with her lazy irresponsibility. Things continue to escalate when they face the threat of imminent eviction from their palatial 5th floor walk-up and find that someone has been plastering ads all over the city for their Detective Agency. The only problem is: He and Stephanie donât have one of those. Despite their baffling levels of incompetence, Stephanie eagerly pursues this crazy scheme and drags Michael, kicking and screaming, into the fray only to find that they are way out of their depth. They stumble upon a web of missing people that are curiously linked to a sexually audacious theoretical physicist and his experiments with the fabric of space-time. And unless Michael and Stephanie can put their personal issues aside and fix the multi-verse, the concept of existence itself may, ironically, no longer exist. |
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Last Stand of the Stone Fist by MIchael R. Miller A troubled past. War in the present. A dark future. Brode grew up a bastard in Athra, looked down upon as a child of chaos. Sent away to the dragon riders as a squire, Brode counted it his luckiest day when Silas Brightbark of Coedhen vouched for him to join their ranks. Now a Champion in the Order he faces the largest incursion the world has ever seen. Sent on a far flung mission to the Disputed Lands, Brode and Silas discover a remote town not on any map. It's a town of outcasts, of broken people, of folk that order has forgotten. As a scourge swarm gathers nearby, Brode and Silas face the toughest fight and decision of their lives. |
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Blanky by Kealan Patrick Burke In the wake of his infant daughter's tragic death, Steve Brannigan is struggling to keep himself together. Estranged from his wife, who refuses to be inside the house where the unthinkable happened, and unable to work, he seeks solace in an endless parade of old sitcoms and a bottle of bourbon. Until one night he hears a sound from his daughter's old room, a room now stripped bare of anything that identified it as hers...except for her security blanket, affectionately known as Blanky. Blanky, old and frayed, with its antiquated patchwork of badly sewn rabbits with black button eyes, who appear to be staring at the viewer... Blanky, purchased from a strange old man at an antique stall selling "BABY CLOSE" at a discount. The presence of Blanky in his dead daughter's room heralds nothing short of an unspeakable nightmare that threatens to take away what little light remains in Steve's shattered world. Because his daughter loved Blanky so much, he buried her with it. A new novella from the Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of SOUR CANDY and KIN. |
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A Canticle of Two Souls by Steven Raaymakers A magic sword forged of a demon. A broken boy seeking revenge. A grim coming-of-age tale with a Sanderson-esque magic system. Raziel watched the Rhotian Empire slaughter his family. When a sentient sword promises him the head of the emperor, Raziel carves a bloody path in an epic journey across a land filled with banshees and mercenaries in pursuit of his revenge. But forced to travel with a strange young woman with a dark past, will Raziel even reach his destination? Alicia has plans of her own. Gifted with a terrible magic that can bend others to her will, she also has revenge on her mind and Raziel in her sights. Can two enemies put aside their differences to seek a higher goal, or will mistrust and inner-demons condemn their fates? Magic is a dangerous thing. So is hope. The âAria of Steel Trilogyâ is a heavy-metal power ballad of clashing blades, blood-soaked betrayal, and sweet revenge. Will you walk away or join the fight? |
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Those Once Forgotten by N. C. Scrimgeour They were a memory once forgotten. For millennia, they waited. Now, they are coming. The galaxy has been plunged into chaos, left reeling from the trap Alvera Renata triggered around the ancient alien waystations. As the leaders of the allied systems desperately try to prepare for what might be coming, Ridley and Kojan go on the hunt in search of answers. But the one person who might hold the keyâthe rogue starship captain who started it allâis missing in action, and her old friends arenât the only ones looking for her⊠Meanwhile, tensions between the Coalition and the Idran-Var are at breaking point in the aftermath of a brutal attack. The only hope for peace may lie in a fragile alliance between Rivus and Niole, old enemies thrown unwillingly onto the same side. But even if they can bury their past, what will it take to overcome the centuries of bloodshed dividing their people? As the mysterious signal coming from the waystations counts down, only one thing is for certain: something is coming, and if the fractured factions of the galaxy canât find a way to stand against it together, it may be the end for them all. |
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Worse Than Dying by Brett Van Valkenburg After his father suffers a nervous breakdown, Noah Barnes is tasked with caring for his family in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. A dark novella about fight and family, as one survivor confronts untold loss and struggles with unimaginable choices. Worse Than Dying takes place in a small town in upstate New York toward the beginning of an inexplicable uprising of the living dead. This powerful story is a more adult take on the zombie horror genre with fast pacing, mature themes, and, of course, plenty of disfigured, flesh-eating corpses. "Beautiful. If a sequel isn't forthcoming, it's a shame." -talesofworldwarz.com |
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The Long Lost War by Jeff Walker Far from Earth, in a distant solar system, clone soldiers are stuck in an on-going battle against colonial separatists. John 999801 must battle against an enemy that refuses to give up, and dreams of a woman he feels he's seen before. The life of this low ranking clone soldier is about to take a turn for the worst. Or is it going to open his eyes to the truth? Can one clone soldier make a difference? And who is the woman in his dream? Answers and horrors await him as he joins his fellow replicas to the surface of a planet called... Hell. |