Fantasy Realism

Being dead isn't all it's cracked up to be, and nobody knows that better than Cora Hart. All it took was one wrong move, and she was on the wrong side of mortality. But a coven of ancient witches offers her a deal she can't refuse—temporary life in exchange for solving a murder—so she finds herself reluctantly breathing again. Cora has been fighting monsters all her life, so finding one bad guy in her hometown of Leap Point should be easy. She'll have to crack the case of Florence Whitaker, a peculiar librarian found dead in her cottage, clutching a cursed locket that's steeped in dark ...

Karen Russell’s comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. In “Bog Girl”, a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a 2,000-year-old girl that he’s extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In “The Prospectors”, two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. Plus much more.

Yossi is an ideal agent for the Mossad. He's recruited by an agent named Tajar, and code-named "the Runner." Thus begins the longest-running and most successful operation in the history of Israeli intelligence. Meanwhile, in the desert oasis of Jericho, Abu Musa, an Arab patriarch, and Moses the Ethiopian, meet each day over games of shesh-besh and glasses of Arak to ponder history and humanity.

Laila desperately wants to become a mother, but each of her previous pregnancies has ended in heartbreak. This time has to be different, so she turns to the Melancons, an old and powerful Harlem family known for their caul, a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power. When a deal for Laila to acquire a piece of caul falls through, she is heartbroken, but when the child is stillborn, she is overcome with grief and rage. What she doesn't know is that a baby will soon be delivered—by her niece, Amara—and delivered to the Melancons to raise as their own.

On the day of his dad's funeral, Sam finds a strange, black stone which he senses has supernatural power. But that is just the beginning. Stowed in his pocket, the stone increases Sam's strength and speed at a single touch. And he starts seeing things: two girls dancing, a lone figure on a hilltop summoning ravens, walking with wolves...and his dad too. Could this small black stone really help bring back his dad?

Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro's days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon this marvelous refuge becomes their playground.

To-do: Stop the bad guys. Rescue the wizard. Find the perfect outfit for New Year's Eve. At last, Owen Palmer, the dreamboat wizard at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., has conjured up the courage to get Katie Chandler under the mistletoe at the office holiday party. But just when it looks like Katie has found her prince, in pops her inept fairy godmother, Ethelinda, to throw a wand into the works. Ethelinda's timing couldn’t be worse. A plot hatched by MSI's rogue ex-employees, Idris and his evil fairy gal pal Ari, threatens to expose the company's secrets - and the very existence of magic itself.

A chronic asthma condition prevents thirteen-year-old Nanami from playing sports or spending time with her friends after school. But nothing can stop her from one of her favorite activities. Nanami loves to read and happily spends much of her free time in the library, cocooned among the stacks. Then one day, Nanami notices that, despite the library being as deserted as ever, some of her favorite books, including literary classics like Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Thief and Anne of Green Gables are disappearing from the shelves.

Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible. When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.

After months of being locked down due to a sinister virus, the people of the United Territories of Tut are celebrating 4th of July. The Minese socio-economic revolution is in full swing and the Minese Federal Bank is demanding that the trillions of Tutonian dollars owed to them by the United Territories of Tut, now the greatest debtor nation of the known universe, be repaid or Mina will confiscate Tut Isand in lieu of payment. And during this time of uncertainty, Mathew who was shot down by friendly fire on March 15th, 2031, while flyking, is coming home and Jennifer is hoping their love ...

Beneath the ruins of a forgotten Earth, an ancient Garden stirs — and it remembers everything. When botanist Evelyn Marrow falls through a fracture in the land, she finds herself in a living memory: an underground world where plants are sentient, grief breathes through the soil, and humanity’s forgotten sins bloom like poisonous flowers. Haunted by personal loss and burdened with guilt, Evelyn must journey through landscapes of sorrow, hope, rage, and wonder — facing the Garden’s deepest trials and her own broken heart. As the roots awaken and the surface world trembles, Evelyn must...

Spanning Gaiman’s career to date, The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction is a captivating collection from one of the world’s most beloved writers, chosen by those who know his work best: his devoted fans. A brilliant representation of Gaiman's groundbreaking, entrancing, endlessly imaginative fiction, this captivating volume includes excerpts from each of his five novels for adults—Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, Anansi Boys, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—and nearly fifty of his short stories.

Ben... "There. He heard it again. Something had woken him from a deep sleep. Normally he was a sound sleeper unless one of his girls needed him, and this wasn’t them. It sounded like a small wounded animal of some sort, or maybe a child, although he couldn’t even imagine how that was possible. The ranch had patrols out every night and a watch team monitoring electronic feeds covering all approaches. Surely if there was a child out wandering around they would have spotted them? Well, shit. He was awake anyhow- He might as well check it out. He carefully extricated himself from a sleeping...

Despite his warriors' lineage, Erroh would rather waste his potential stumbling alone from one tavern to the next, drinking and gambling. Fate, however, has greater plans for him. After decades of peace, a great war draws near, and though he doesn't know it, he is standing in the way of the first wave. What is more, and very much to his dismay, he's about to find out he's not entirely alone either. But Erroh has a plan, a simple plan.

While traveling to Reno through the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, The Four Wizards, a talented but unheralded cover band, encounters a thick and unusual fog. Unable to see or stop their RV, the group careens off the interstate and down a mountainside. Their vehicle plows straight into an unfortunate and strange battle, running over and killing numerous people that they mistakenly take to be cast members on a movie set. Annora St. Clair and the rest of her band soon discover that this is no movie set and that their intrusion will have real-life and death consequences. Captured, bound, and ...

In the bustling city of 1920s New York, where the streets are alive with jazz and the air is thick with opportunity, Zelda thought she had found her perfect match in the charming Eli. But little did she know, their whirlwind romance would lead her down a dangerous path. As Eli's dark secrets come to light, Zelda finds herself caught in the crosshairs of his powerful boss, the infamous Snake-Eye. With her life in danger, she turns to the mysterious Alder for help. But his solution comes with a hefty price - transformation into a living doll. Trapped in a ragdoll body, Zelda's once vibrant ...

Click your heels three times and say, "There's no place like Bloomies!" Katie Chandler's life is pure magic - literally. As an executive assistant at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc., she's seen more than her share of fantastical occurrences. A mere Manhattan mortal, Katie is no wizard, but she's a wiz at exposing "hokum" pocus, cloaked lies, and deceptive enchantments. And she's fallen under the all-too-human spell of attraction to Owen, a hunky wizard and coworker. Owen, however, is preoccupied. Someone has broken into his office and disrupted top-secret files, and it reeks of an inside job.

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of Northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, a stranger with piercing blue eyes presents a new father with a gift - a precious jewel on a delicate chain, intended for his young daughter. Uncertain of its meaning, the father hides the gift away, and his daughter, Vasya, grows up a wild, willful girl, to the chagrin of her family. But when mysterious forces threaten the happiness of their village, Vasya discovers that she may be the only one who can keep the darkness at bay.

A Spellbinding Contemporary Cozy Fantasy Full of Surprising (What Could Have Been) Romances and Suspense. When Cassie Harris steps into The Four Guardians, she’s merely chasing hope—a flicker of a future better than the life she’s been living. But what the mysterious shopkeepers offer is far more than she ever imagined: a chance to experience the lives she could have had… if only she’d made different choices. Each day for seven days, Cassie emerges from her shower not into her own world—but into an alternate reality where love, danger, and destiny collide. Some lives shimmer ...

Claire, rakish Hero, angel Rami, and muse-turned-librarian Brevity have accomplished the impossible by discovering the true nature of unwritten books. But now that the secret is out, in its quest for power Hell will be coming for every wing of the Library. To protect the Unwritten Wing and stave off the insidious reach of Malphas, one of Hell’s most bloodthirsty generals, Claire and her friends will have to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice to keep their vulnerable corner of the afterlife.