Epic Cycle

"A sweeping drama unveiling a tale of love, hate and sacrifice against the panorama of an alien yet familiar society." ( Publishers Weekly)

The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest. Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass—and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather's body for burial.

Long recovered from the ravages of the Riftwar, the land and people of the kingdom of the Isles thrive. Nicholas, the youngest son of Prince Arutha, is intelligent and gifted but vastly inexperienced. In hopes of hardening him, his father sends him and his irreverent squire, Harry, to live at Rustic Castle Crydee to learn of life beyond the halls of privilege. But within weeks of Nicholas and Harry's arrival, Crydee is viciously attacked by unknown assailants, resulting in murder, massive destruction, and the abduction of two young noblewomen.

The kingdom has warred with the Vard long enough. Having gone with the Servant of the Vard, Ashan hopes to end that violence. First, he must find himself—even if it means coming to understand the strange Vard magic. When he finds an ancient and dangerous threat unlike anything he's ever encountered that once spread throughout the Vard lands, he begins to understand his enemy. As Ashan discovers the threat might still be active, he learns the truth behind the Vard actions and their hatred of dragons. What can he do if the threat has already spread to his people?

In the last days of the Silver Age, the tyrant god Zeus takes whatever and whomever he wants with impunity. He has already torn Pandora from one home and now he threatens to destroy another. When he turns his wrath upon Atlantis, Pandora flees with the Titan Prometheus. Despite her bitterness, Pandora finds a friendship she never imagined possible. But Zeus is not done with Prometheus, and what Pandora will face next will make all she has endured pale in comparison.

To the church, she is a heretic, tried in absentia and sentenced to burn. To her brother, Carlo, she stands as a threat to his corrupt rule and a symbol of resistance. To her new "allies" in the East, she is a pawn to be played and sacrificed as they see fit. They don't hear the whispers that follow her in the streets: whispers of hope and the name of a long-dead saint. When Livia rises up to fight, she will not rise alone.

In the grand tradition of George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan, Sunday Times best-selling author Peter V. Brett continues his critically acclaimed Demon Cycle with the next dramatic instalment: The Skull Throne. The Skull Throne of Krasia stands empty. Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honour and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all.

Besieged by spies and rival houses, stalked by a secret and merciless brotherhood of assassins, the brilliant Lady Mara of the Acoma faces the most deadly challenge she has ever known. The fearsome Black Robes see Mara as the ultimate threat to their ancient power. In search of allies who will join her against them, Mara must travel beyond civilization's borders and even into the hives of the alien cho-ja. As those near and dear to her fall victim to many enemies, Mara cries out for vengeance.

I started reviewing all of the things I had done over the past two years, memories flicking through my head almost too fast to follow. Each choice led to another: my choice to leave my home in Tobadorage and seek refuge in Hain led directly to my actions now, bringing a Queen into exile. And each choice, each action on my part, had started the chain reaction that was bringing magic back into Chahir.

She lived where the railway tracks met the saltpan, on the Ahri side of the shadowline. In the old days, when people still talked about her, she was known as the end-of-the-line woman. Vasethe, a man with a troubled past, comes to seek a favor from a woman who is not what she seems, and must enter the 999 realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war.

After defeating the Warlord of the Turan Khar, Rylan Lauchlin has assumed his place...and his troubles. Deprived of the ancient magic that allowed the Khar Unity to exist in harmony, their society is slowly dying, and it is now up to Rylan to save it. But only one man has the knowledge to release the magic of the Core - the same man who locked it away in the first place - and that man is imprisoned within Rylan himself.

Listeners first met Anna Marshall in The Soprano Sorceress, when she wished to be anything other than a music teacher and singer in Iowa - this was before she was pulled into the world of Erde, where her gift of song became a gift of magic. Her musical ability has since given Anna influence, control, and the potential to be an enormously powerful sorceress. Now, as the regent of Defalk, Anna must battle two men who would destroy her and claim Defalk for their own.

Ashan has saved his homeland, but the threat from the king—along with Ashan's mentor—remains. The price for saving Berestal was high. His once recovered brother is now debilitated again, while his sister struggles to connect to Affelah, leaving Ashan to wonder what path he should take. When the king threatens the Wilds, Ashan must discover the truth of a land long ignored, as it might be the key to stopping the king and the spread of the dangerous power of the murtar.

In the heart of the authoritarian country of Wivvol, astronaut Xto Djbbit is about to embark on his first mission off-planet when the exiled High Hat of Chnta comes to him with an unusual request: Help smuggle a Septal artifact out of Wivvol. It’s an impossible favor to ask of Xto, but it’s also impossible to refuse; the High Hat of Chnta is also his uncle. Meanwhile, waiting for Xto in space? His estranged father - who has his own impossible favors - and a mysterious anomaly whose secrets Xto is uniquely positioned to unlock.

After a near-disastrous confrontation with La Caçeria, Toba and Asmel are trapped on the human side of the gate, pursued by the Courser and a possessed Inquisitor. In the Mazik world, Naftaly’s visions seethe with calamitous images of Zayit, the prosperous gate city notorious for its trade in salt, consumed by flames and overrun by La Caçeria. If the Caçador can control the salt, he will be nearly unstoppable. But the stolen killstone, the key to the Caçador’s destruction, could eliminate the threat—if only Barsilay’s allies could find and use it.

Set on a planet in a parallel universe where magic is a reality, these three high fantasy novels from the Witch World series transport you to the eastern continent of Estcarp, illustrating why prolific author Andre Norton was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Contains Trey of Swords, Ware Hawk, and The Gate of the Cat.

Ling Qi's mastery of the realm of Dreams grows, and her strides carry her further daily. Meeting the skeletal echo again in his jail of twisted space has only reinforced that. But her time is not infinite; there is only so much she can Master and learn before the great undertaking she has taken up must bear fruit. The Summit between her home and the foreigners of the Polar Nation looms, and with it, the chance to head off further conflict and prevent the embers of war that have already ignited in the south from growing further.

Ashan has returned to the Vard lands, becoming what his people claim him to be: a traitor. Now that he's connected to the power of Affellah, the king will stop at nothing to bring him back. That includes attacking Ashan's home and those he cares about. Once again, he must leave the Vard lands before he can fully understand the power of Affellah. Saving his people has already meant betrayal. Can he still find a way to be their Servant?

Each night, the world is overrun by bloodthirsty demons. For centuries, humanity survived only by hiding behind defensive wards - magical symbols with the power to repel the demons. Now, the rediscovery of long-forgotten combat wards has given them the magic they need to fight back. In Tibbet’s Brook, the fighting wards have brought change, but the factions and grudges of a troubled past remain. Selia Square, the woman they call Barren, has long been the force that holds the Brook together. As a terrifying new threat emerges, she rallies her people once again.

Secca, a young sorceress, is thrust into a position of power and responsibility when the legendary Sorceress-Protector of Defalk dies unexpectedly before Secca's training as a master magic wielder is anywhere near complete.