Rupert didn’t especially want to be a prince. And he certainly never asked to be the second son of a royal line that really didn’t need a spare. So he was sent out to slay a dragon and prove himself—a quest straight out of legend. But he also discovered the kinds of things legends tend to leave out, as well as the usual demons, goblins, the dreaded Night Witch—and even worse terrors hidden in the shadows of Darkwood.Rupert did find a fiery dragon—and a beautiful princess to rescue....

Hyam is a likeable lad who will make a fine farmer someday. But he carries a burden few can fathom. As his mother slips toward death, she implores him to return to Long Hall, where he spent five years as an apprentice. It was there that Hyam's extraordinary capacity for mastering languages came to light-and soon cast him into the shadows of suspicion. How could any human learn the forbidden tongues with such ease? When Hyam dares to seek out the Mistress of the Sorceries, her revelation te...

Amber Houston was born light-years away from Earth aboard the enormous colony starship Dandelion.By the age of 14, she has spent her entire life training as a Ranger, ready for the day when she will be among the first humans ever to set foot on an alien world and build a new civilization.When Dandelion suffers an emergency toward the end of its journey, Amber and her fellow young rangers are evacuated and land on the planet Newhome years ahead of s...

Tasmarin is a place of dragons, a plane cut off from all other worlds, where dragons can be dragons and humans can be dinner. It's a place of islands, forests, mountains and wild oceans, filled with magical denizens. Fionn-the black dragon-calmly tells anyone who will listen that he's going to destroy the place. Of course he's a joker, a troublemaker and a dragon of no fixed abode. No one ever believes him. He's dead serious. Others strive to refresh the magics that built this place. To do...

The year is 1642.As a decades-long war rages through Central Europe, military field surgeon Martin shares a shocking truth with his apprentice Gustav: Demons are real, and the victims of battle are their reward for fighting for mankind. A reveal that changes everything…Historical facts combined with elements of fantasy and sprinkled with a good dose of humor.

She points the lens of the camera. The artist turns his head slightly. The light catches his brow and his silver-white hair. She snaps. He is lit like a Vermeer.Ireland. County Wexford, 1951. A father and son go swimming in the sea. The waves crash. The wind rises. Only one comes back—Colin, aged six. His mother, Eileen, runs to seek help, but this is a tragedy that will haunt them forever. Colin won’t speak a word. He is mute and struggling to cope. But Eileen can see he ...

Tess Matheson expects nothing more from her summer job at the boarding school library than to bore herself to death shelving books. But when the insufferable headmaster’s son, Eliot Birch, requests a mind-boggling number of occult books,Tess’s search for them opens a door to a world of dark magic and forgotten places.She and Eliot find a secret tunnel that leads them to an ancient book. Upon reading it, they discover it’s filled with more than words and accidentally release ...

A hideous beast with glowing red eyes ambushes Bryn on his way home through the forest.After a narrow escape, the sixteen-year-old must flee with his foster father Gerald to the only place that promises safety: Âlaburg University, where humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs come together to study the colors of magic.Bryn soon discovers he can use all three magical colors, which renders him powerful and dangerous at the same time. Will he learn to channel his pow...

A remote English village wakes on the morning after harvest, looking forward to enjoying a hard-earned day of rest and feasting. But two mysterious columns of smoke mar the sky, raising alarm and suspicion. The first column of smoke comes from the edge of the village land, sent as a signal by newcomers to announce their presence as per regional custom. The second smoke column is even more troubling: it comes from a blaze set in Master Kent's stables. Walter Thirsk, a relative outsider in t...

Matthew Bramble, a gout-ridden misanthrope, travels Britain with his nephew, niece, spinster sister and man-servant, the trusty Humphry Clinker. In poor health, Bramble sees the world as one of degeneracy and raucous overcrowding, and will not hesitate to let his companions know his feelings on the matter. Peopled with pimps, drunkards, decadents and con-men, Humphrey Clinker displays Smollett's ferociously pessimistic view of mankind, and his belief that the luxury of eighteenth-century E...

Holiday stories and traditions enchantingly reimagined-with an insightfully satirical twist. Featuring five stories new to this collection, plus seven previously published stories, now all collected together for the first time. From the award-winning author of Crosstalk. No one could ask for a better present than a collection of Connie Willis Christmas tales. These are amazing stories, representing all the best of the Connie Willis experience: true Christmas gifts to her many fans. They ar...

In nine short stories and one brand new, never-before-seen Sherlock Holmes mystery, Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand, that begins with England's declaration of war in 1914. As told in Mary Russell's teenage diaries, the whip-smart girl investigates familial mysteries, tracks German spies through San Francisco and generally delights with her extraordinary mind - until an unimaginable tragedy strikes.