Adult Historical Fantasy

Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents—who frequently leave her behind.

What magical beings inhabit Earth’s waters? Some are as almost-familiar as the mer-people; some as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. Here are seven tales from the remarkable storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Vividly imagined and written, they transform the simple element of water into something very powerful indeed.

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight. The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.

1794, London: Camille and Al are desperately hunting Olympe's kidnapper. From the glamorous excesses of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens to the city's seedy underbelly, they are caught in a dangerous game of lies and deceit. And a terrible new enemy lies in wait with designs more monstrous than they could ever imagine.... Can Camille play on to the end, or will she be forced to show her hand?

Gabriel's dreams always come true. Then he dreams of drowning. That is when his adventure through time begins. Plucked from the timeline of history at the moment of his death, 13-year-old Gabriel Salvador awakens in a castle millions of years in the past. Saved because of his ability to sense the flow of time, he mourns the loss of the family who thinks he is dead as he trains to become an apprentice time mage. When a mission to stop the creation of an alternate reality fails, Gabriel is revealed as the Seventh True Mage, able to use all six forms of magic. Soon, he is hunted by three dark ...

Buckle up! The ride's about to get bumpy. When a claw rips through Grogan 'Chief' La Tortue's teepee at midnight, he quickly learns it isn't an ordinary beast but a rougarou, a Cajun werewolf stalking Oyster Island, the ancestral home of the Atakapa Indians. Along with the ghosts in the nearby lighthouse, the island is about to become even more haunted. Buckle up! The ride's about to get bumpy. Here's what some Amazon reviewers are saying: "Can't wait for the next book." "As always, I enjoyed my foray into Eric Wilder's Louisiana world. Some genuine spooky moments and the usual ridiculously...

Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves. Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever 500 years ago.

An exploration of ambition and class, autonomy and religion, survival and love, Vesuvius combines the romantic angst of They Both Die at the End and the blended magic and history of The Song of Achilles to show listeners that it is never too late to change your fate—or change the world.

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny. But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming.

Ever since she was cursed by a faerie, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear or embarrassment—an unfortunate condition that leaves her prone to accidental scandal. Dora hopes to be a quiet, sensible wallflower during the London Season—but when Elias Wilder, the strange, handsome, and utterly ill-mannered Lord Sorcier, discovers her condition, she is instead drawn into peculiar and dangerous faerie affairs.

Born into a mysterious family, Gatina always knew there was something special about those around her. But when the duke and duchess of Alshar - close friends of her family - are brutally assassinated, her idyllic countryside life is upended by secrets emerging from the shadows.

After selling her soul to become queen of the Wicked, Emilia travels to the Seven Circles with the enigmatic prince of Wrath, where she's introduced to a seductive world of vice. She vows to do whatever it takes to avenge her beloved sister, Vittoria...even if that means accepting the hand of the prince of Pride, the king of demons. The first rule in the court of the Wicked? Trust no one. With back-stabbing princes, luxurious palaces, mysterious party invitations, and conflicting clues about who really killed her twin, Emilia finds herself more alone than ever before.

When dark fairy magic meets Regency romance, no bargain comes without a price. In the woods bordering Pemberley, Elizabeth Bennet strays from the well-worn path and into a fairy ring where an otherworldly gentleman offers to guide her home. But this is no ordinary nobleman - it's a dangerous fae with sinister designs, and Elizabeth soon finds herself ensnared in its magical trap. Mr. Darcy arrives just in time to witness Elizabeth's enchantment, but saving her will require more than his wealth or social standing. The malevolent fairy demands a steep price for her freedom - one that will ...

If 14-year-old Cassandra Reed makes it through her first day at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies without anyone discovering her secret, maybe, just maybe, she’ll let herself believe that she really does belong at Miss Castwell’s. Except Cassandra Reed’s real name is Sarah Smith and up until now, she lived her whole life in the Warren, serving a magical family, the Winters, as all non-magical “Snipes” are bound by magical Guardian law to do. That is, until one day, Sarah accidentally levitates Mrs. Winter’s favorite vase in the parlor....

Something dark and evil has awakened.... Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City - and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It's 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far.

Alanna of Trebond is no ordinary girl: her dream is to become a knight. So she disguises herself as a boy and begins training at the palace of King Roald. Alanna quickly finds out that the road to knighthood is not an easy one, but her skills and stubborness help her become friends with Prince Jonathan and his followers. At the same time, Alanna makes an enemy of the prince's uncle, the overly charming Duke Roger.

What happens when the most powerful witch of today meets the most powerful witch of 1502? Passions ignite, secrets are revealed, and the world will never be the same. Adam Parrish is a modern-day witch. A pediatric oncologist by day and a hunter of evil witches by night, he’s conflicted by his two callings. Saving the world all on his own is not what it’s cracked up to be, and it’s hell on a social life, but what choice does he have? Vivienne Lanier is a witch and a midwife in 1502. When she touches an illuminated manuscript, she's thrown through time to its present-day location at ...

A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous palace nearby. He's hell-bent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago...and now he’s determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost. Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from wrongful imprisonment if the girls will entertain Fate’s presence. But the more time they spend with him, the more frightening their reality becomes.

Fourteen-year old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. More interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea - and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy - Mrs. Temminnick is desperate her daughter become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish all right - but it's a different kind of finishing.

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable—she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.