Toril and Malena barely complete wedding vows before their future crumbles. War ignites the borderlands; conspiracy stalks the young clan chief. Attackers raze their town, assaulting Malena and leaving her near death. Whoever commissioned the violence kidnaps dozens of children, with plans to sacrifice them in taboo acts of blood magic. Legend says an ordeal might give the couple power to fight back--but its price is as mythic as its potency... Can they battle real and inner demons, sacrif...

Rafa thinks he's safe in witness protection until a former FBI partner is murdered, and he's arrested for the crime. Has he been set up?He can't divulge enough truth to get off--it would endanger his new family. Sentenced to life in prison and heartbroken by his wife's rejection, he trades cell time for a one-way ticket off-planet and becomes a disposable employee for a company prospecting the galactic frontier.Explorers get implants that transmit their neural impulses back...

Are human beings doomed to muddle through a dreary existence, bereft of hope? Can we do better than put a brave face on it, as Camus recommended in "The Myth of Sysiphus"?In this one-act play--a classic response to existential favorites such as "Waiting for Godot" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"--two actors wrestle with science, religion, an unseen director, and their own choices about how they'll interpret the script they've been given.Snappy dialog, whimsy, an...

Hear My Voice: Stories of Coming Out. An anthology of 'coming out' stories.

When destiny demands two time-crossed lovers must meet**Thorfinn...**is a fierce Viking warrior grieving for his lost son, Miklof.Lydia... is a modern woman grieving for her dead Navy SEAL husband.Thorfinn shoots through time, one thousand years, and is convinced that Lydia's son Mike is his own Miklof. Lydia thinks Thorfinn, who claims to be a time-traveling Viking, has one oar missing from his longboat. Thorfinn is tempte...

In 9th century Denmark, a child born to a slave is also a slave, and the property of his mother’s master. Halfdan, the son of an Irish noblewoman and the Danish chieftain who captured and enslaved her, has grown up a slave in his own father’s household. But the Norns, the weavers of the fates of all men, have different plans for him--although rarely do they give a gift without exacting a price. A cruel twist of fate both frees Halfdan and robs him of the mother he loves, setting him upon t...

What if Mulan had to travel to the Underworld? Uncover who you are inside with this tale inspired by Disney's Mulan, from the New York Times bestselling series that reimagines beloved Disney films.When Captain Shang is mortally wounded by Shan Yu in battle, Mulan must travel to the Underworld, Diyu, in order to save him from certain death. But King Yama, the ruler of Diyu, is not willing to give Shang up easily. With the help of Shang’s g...

In the Enduring Flame trilogy, Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory have given readers a new view of the complex and fascinating world they originally created for the Obsidian Trilogy.Jumping one thousand years in time, Lackey and Mallory have told the compelling story of Harrier Gillain, the first Knight-Mage in a thousand years; Tiercel Rolfort, the first High Mage in hundreds of years; and Shaiara, the young leader of a desert tribe who takes both boys under her wi...

New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory teamed up to write The Obsidian Trilogy, set in a wondrous world filled with magical beings, competing magic systems, and a titanic struggle between good and evil.That world proved so popular with the creators and readers alike that Lackey and Mallory have returned to it with The Phoenix Unchained, Book One of The Enduring Flame, the opening volume of a new...

"Within a fiercely beautiful, cruel world, three young servants of three deadly witches change each other's lives forever. Alicia Jasinska's lush, darkly romantic The Midnight Girls is the subversive sapphic monster girl fantasy you've been waiting for."—Tor.comIn a snow-cloaked kingdom, two wicked rivals secretly compete for the pure heart of a prince, only to discover they might be falling for each other.Karnawal season is a time for mischief and...

Under the pale glow of dawn, Xue Xian--once a mighty dragon, now a handmade paper effigy--is moments away from being exorcised. The worst part? He doesn't see it coming. Spellbound into his form alongside the ever-irritating Jiang Shining--a restless ghost caught up in the dragon's misfortunes--the two must navigate a perilous path to settle long-standing scores.Enter Xuanmin, an enigmatic monk drawn to the ruins of Jiang Manor by the lingering traces of a sinister curse. Finding two crude...

View our feature on Barb and J.C. Hendee’s In Shade and Shadow. The national bestselling Noble Dead saga is "one of those [series] for which the term dark fantasy was definitely intended" (Chronicle)Wynn Hygeorht arrives at the Guild of Sagecraft, bearing texts supposedly penned by vampires. Seized by the Guild's scholars without Wynn's consent, several pages disappear-and two sages are found murdered. Convinced the Noble Dead are responsible for ...