Brenish, a mediocre highwayman but a brilliant liar, always dreamed of finding riches in the deeps himself. Since his fascination has earned him a reputation as a lore master, he’s the perfect man to sell a forger’s masterpiece: the wizard’s lost treasure map. His boss Gareth St. James is dangerous to disappoint, and equally obsessed with the ruins. His fury after a botched robbery is abated only by his untimely discovery of the map, forcing Brenish into a desperate bluff that it might be real. But the forger did his job too well, stoking Gareth’s desire and leaving Brenish and the other thieves no choice but to join his quest. Gareth’s expedition includes his best henchmen, and an extra hostage for insurance against Brenish. In the dark realm of monster-infested tunnels and abandoned cities below, both men need each other’s wits to keep the company alive. But Brenish knows the search for the wizard’s hoard is doomed—and if he can’t divert Gareth before the truth comes out, so is everyone he cares about. About 118,000 words.

    First, she must be trained...Betrothed to the King of Oran, Soriana must undergo a year of training to learn all that's expected of her before the wedding, but when the king's second in command, an unreachable man marred by scars, takes over her training, she's finally rocked by the passion necessary to fulfill her new role as queen.Unable to keep her heart from the man she cannot have, but with the possibility of finally being able to change the lives of her people, and her childhood rival doing all she can to usurp her position, Soriana must decide if she's strong enough to give up the love she never hoped to find to become the woman her people so desperately need.

    “I have misjudged you,” he said, sounding irritated actually: how dare Geralt surprise him.“I get that a lot,” Geralt said.

    In a world where most mages only have the ability to wield one element, she wields them all: fire, earth, water, air, life, and death. Though she is raised as royalty by an adoptive father at the prestigious Seran University of Magic, he refuses to put her skills to use in his army, so Kai breaks free of her bonds to go on a quest of adventure and self discovery.One simple quest will turn into a life-changing phenomenon for Kai and her companions. Beliefs are challenged. Old secrets are unearthed. Legal lines are crossed. Loyalties are divided. The seeds of rebellion are planted. When it comes time for Kai to face the truth, a legend will be born.

    Life and love proven through blood and flame. Choices changing destinies on a dime.”After slaying the dragon and “rescuing” Olivia, Crown Prince Magnus will settle for no one but her as his bride - his final challenge to overcome before becoming King Magnus, Dragon Slayer.Through trials of blood, fire, and death, Kaden has broken the curse confining him to a dragon’s form for over a century. With fire brewing inside him, he struggles to reach his beloved Olivia in time to save her - and his own sanity.Unsure of the fate of her dragon, Olivia is consumed with grief. She consents to wed the prince in order to save the lives of her family. His advances push her to take her destiny into her own hands.But trouble stirs deep in the woods, as an old enemy seeks to rectify a curse broken. The prize of a life earned must be stripped away again… permanently.

    The visions are of danger, death, and love – are they a promise or a curse? Her fiancé Daman hurts and abandons her before the wedding, her beloved museum is ransacked, and a robed man vanishes before her eyes. Haunted by visions of a time she knows long gone, Janet teeters on the edge of a breakdown.In the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall and 2,000 years back in time, Janet’s past and present collide. Daman has vowed to drive the invaders from the shores of Britain, and march his barbarian hordes to Rome. Trajan swears vengeance against the man who threatens both his loves - Janet and the Empire.Time is running out - for everyone.

    But instead, I entered a world of magic that saw me fighting for my life.” Layne Vayris has lost the two most dearest people to her. Her mentor and her Uncle Niklas. Each have tasked her with delivering their last requests. Layne’s mentor requires three letters to be delivered on specific dates and specific times. Whereas her Uncle Niklas has asked that she deliver an unusual book of his, to an unworthy previous student called Goter. To complete their dying wishes she must leave her peaceful and tranquil village of Wolverdell to enter a bustling city of magic and depravity. There she meets a young homeless boy called Remi, who guides her through the city. Their friendship spurs her on to find the first addressee of the three letters, a Master Sharrez. But Master Sharrez is aloof and spends his time in whore houses, making an audience with him near on impossible. Layne realizes that the only way to fulfill her promise to her dead mentor is to join the Academy of Magic, where the warlock Sharrez teaches the Faculty of Dark Magic. Except this decision comes with its own demons and Layne finds herself setting off on a path she never envisaged. A path that leads her to discover her own dormant magic, which becomes all consuming and more powerful than anyone has ever seen before. But with power comes enemies. And in trying to deliver her second letter, she finds that not all ‘old’ friends are friends, and things take a turn for the worst. Layne finds herself having to fight for her life with some unlikely friends to boot. Will Layne be able to deliver the third letter in time? Will she pass on her Uncle’s book to the unworthy Goter? Or will the power of magic end her before she's even begun?

    The voice of the Emperor in the wild. A secretive and dangerous job, hunting down those deemed a threat to the Emperor's rule...whether monster or man. Twisted and bitter, he heads down a dark path to hunt a nightmare from his youth.This is his story.The first instalment of a new series, David Oliver's debut novel features mythical beasts, epic sword duels, dark rituals and a friendship for the ages. Following in the footsteps of authors such as Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie and Brian McClellan, The Great Hearts melds gritty, vivid action with the soft, warm purr of a gigantic panther.

    Some of them are previously uncollected, and appeared in print only in the magazine, so will be new to many of Tanith’s fans. Tanith Lee’s highly-respected and influential work spanned every genre, and this sumptuous collection demonstrates the range of her versatility. From the dark high fantasy of ‘The Sombrus Tower’, through the Arthurian-influenced ‘The Kingdoms of the Air’, the achingly beautiful ‘Stars Above, Stars Below’ of a science-fantasy Mars, the sinister retelling of a fairy tale in ‘When the Clock Strikes’, the real-world mysteries of ‘The Unrequited Glove’ and ‘Arthur’s Lion’, and the almost whimsical steampunk of ‘The Persecution Machine’, The Weird Tales of Tanith Lee showcases the myriad styles of the writer rightly known as the High Priestess of Fantasy.

     With Kelyn wounded in an attempt to barter for peace and Thorn recovering from his struggle against forces from the abyss, defeat and despair encroach. The human armies are stretched to their limit, and Lothiar’s horde relentlessly presses against their last stronghold. Amid the carnage, Carah is determined to mend the wounds sundering her family and risks a journey across hundreds of miles of ogre-infested territory. When Lothiar’s schemes pay off and Carah finds herself in the dreaded pit, her brother Kethlyn proposes an all-or-nothing campaign deep behind enemy lines to rescue her. As the War Commander and his desperate army prepare to make this final stand, events race toward a destiny no one expects. Either victory or defeat will usher in a new age…

    They fought for kingdoms and princesses and they lived and died by their valour. Or so the stories say. The way the minstrels sing it, everyone had a swashbuckling good time. Nowadays, buckles are rarely swashed. All the great beasts have been slain, all the great treasures unearthed. Princesses are few and far between — the ones worth fighting over, anyway — and the kingdoms have been divvied up between the sons of sons of sons of the heroes of old. No valour required. Frankly, the hero business is in a sorry state. Luckily for Grin the Cheat, thieving and murder are thriving as usual. A collection of five short stories

    But his self-serving cunning cannot save him when soldiers of the Magus Supremeus of the High Order burst in to drag the disreputable mage to the dreaded Red Citadel. Finster’s captor, the new Magus, is none other than Ingrid the Insane, his former acolyte, a young woman of cold heart and ruthless ambition who has already murdered numerous magic-doers in her quest for ultimate power. The only reason Finster still lives is Ingrid’s belief that he knows the whereabouts of the Founders Stone, a magical artifact that could make her invincible. Rendered powerless by a scarab beetle attached to his back, Finster realizes he is doomed unless he escapes and recovers the Stone before Ingrid does, and he turns to his dungeon cellmate for help. But the hulking, mute, barbarian youth he calls “Moth” is inscrutable and unpredictable. And their ultimate survival—and the survival of an entire kingdom—may require the cowardly wizard to assume a most unfamiliar and uncomfortable role: hero! More... There is a new champion in the realm of sword-and-sorcery fantasy: Craig Halloran! In a sprawling literary territory currently ruled by Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, and George R. R. Martin, Halloran makes a powerful stand with his thrilling fantasy adventure, The Scarab’s Curse. Chock full of battles, magic, evil, and intrigue—and peppered with some delightful Terry Pratchett Discworld-esque cynicism—Scarab is the story of the salvation of the disreputable fallen wizard, Finster. Taken prisoner by a murderous despot, the cowardly mage must join forces with a hulking, young, barbarian mute to uncover a magical artifact in order to save his own skin, and quite possibly a kingdom as well.

    You can expect access to over 5,000 pages in the final edition that will deliver to your kindle on release day!* The collection includes titles from… Award-Winning author Jade Kerrion NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Joanne Wadsworth International bestselling author Nicole Zoltack International bestselling author Rachel E. Carter International bestselling author Andrea Pearson International bestselling author Alicia Rades International bestselling author Sophie Davis USA TODAY bestselling author Michael J Ploof International bestselling author Megan Crewe International bestselling author C.E. Wilson International bestselling author Kelly Carrero International bestselling author Jess Haines International bestselling author Alexis Kade International bestselling author GP Ching International bestselling author Gaja J. Kos & Boris Kos Award-Winning author Delphina Miyares International bestselling author Ash Krafton International bestselling author Jim Johnson NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Tom Shutt International bestselling author Emily Martha Sorensen International bestselling author S McPherson

    But as the veil of the dragon rises, so does the veil between prophecy and the past, where the Prophecy of Evarun suffers no rivals.

     Adept: Almost three thousand years after an extinction level event on Earth, mankind seeks to regain its former glory, in a new world where magic and technology collide. Laney Herder, a commoner in the realm of Wexbury, finds herself thrust into the world of nobles and knights. At the side of her Lady Celeste, Knight of the Realm, she goes on an epic journey from being a simple chicken farmer to one of the greatest heroes of the realm, while helping the Lands of Sparo avoid a second Great Mage War. Can kindness and innocence, defeat the oncoming storm? Soras: Laney Herder and Lady Celeste, are called upon by the Lupei of the Mountain Gypsies as their Soras, to help free their leader who had been kidnapped, and to stop a war between the realms of Sparo and the Gypsies. Again, Laney is thrown into a world and politics that seem alien to her. She must follow her heart to do the right thing when all seems lost in a foreign land, when she stands against the swords of a nebulous enemy and the magic of one of the most powerful magic users of all time. Can patience and understanding prevail in the face of an impending war that could change the face of the modern world?

    In Nyumbani Tales, Charles has gathered previously published stories that expand the world of Nyumbani beyond the exciting exploits of his hero, filling in the details of this unique world with the triumphs, failures, loves and losses of the people that inhabit its amazing borders. This is vintage Sword and Sorcery and a must read for all fans of the genre. ‘A Charles Saunders tale is a griot’s song, an alchemy of history and magic, both brutal and unflinching. And a reminder that all who write sword and soul work in his long shadow.’ -Maurice Broaddus "With his visionary take on African-themed sword and sorcery, Charles Saunders was decades ahead of his time. He's a true original. The rest of us are still trying to catch up with him." -David Anthony Durham, author of the Acacia Trilogy

    It’s also the first time he hears about the ancient death cult — the Order of the Serpent. Then, after a young woman is murdered and a mysterious book of arcane lore is stolen from her, Dorgo comes closer to learning more about the snake-worshiping Order. But first he must battle both humans and demons in order to find and destroy The Book of Echoes. Finally, when called upon to help a young girl trapped inside an evil spell, Dorgo must confront fiends born of dark sorcery as he tries to save her and destroy the undying warlock who is the leader of the Order of the Serpent. Magic, murder, mystery and mayhem all await you in Mad Shadows II: Dorgo the Dowser and The Order of the Serpent. “At first sight, it’s classic sword and sorcery, set on a world populated by fighting men, merchants, wizards and a multitude of mythical, non-mythical and just plain made-up beasts. There’s a difference, though, in the style of the storytelling. It’s a first person narrative, executed very much in the style of the hard-boiled private eye genre.” — Dave Brzeski, the British Fantasy Society. “Bonadonna balances the human and the grimness in such a way that one never becomes suffocated. Instead, the humor and wit make the characters seem more real, as some of the characters, including Dorgo, use the humor to deal with the darkness they confront.” — Keith West, Amazing Stories Magazine.

    As he watches over Raiya and Apollo City, he can't help but feel like he has too much to worry about. When Aleia reaches out to him, Hamilton finds that he must be able to handle the truth, no matter how inconvenient and demanding it is. Can he find comfort in Adonaias' own struggle with anxiety and fear? The Starlight Chronicles series continues with this short story set between Book 5 and Book 6 of the series from C. S. Johnson.

    

    Some, like ours, are grounded in the reality of the physical laws, and there are rules we have to live by. Some others, though, are based on magic, with gods who interfere in mortal lives. Likewise, there are societies where you have to live by rules and laws. In every universe, though, there are those who refuse to live by the bounds civilization sets on them. We call them pirates, outlaws, and renegades. They call themselves free. This is one of those planes of the multiverse that has both magic and men who call themselves free, and this is their story. Brian Cumberland has been many things; slave, mercenary, royal bodyguard, and more. Now, though, he and his brother Tristan command the privateer Widowmaker, sailing the four seas looking for freedom and adventure. When a ghost from Brian's past reappears in his life, he is sent on a quest which will take him to the very gates of death.

    To the dismay of the city born rogue, Melegal, Venir, wielding a mystic war axe, sets out on a one-man crusade against the insidious race of fiends, called the underlings. Venturing deep into the wasteland’s jungles Venir discovers that the underlings have destroyed a village, slain their people and kidnapped their woman and children. Donning the mantel of power, the ultimate hunter of the Outlands sets out on one of the bloodiest rescues missions of all time. The Darkslayer: Brutal Beginnings is a sword and sorcery/fantasy short story that serves as a quick introduction to a much larger fantasy setting in the world called Bish. Set in a harsh climate with two blistering suns, created by a bored immortal, The Darkslayer brings to light everything a fan of science fiction fantasy could hope for, including the full buffet of monsters and races such as giants, dragons, dwarves, orcs, ogres, underlings and worst of all god-like beings that are unpredictable. Give this action packed short story a try, that is only a taste of two full lengths series that are over16 books and one million words long.

    Since his battle with Orpheus and Starry Knight, he has felt distracted. Not with important things, or anything, really. Just work and video games and sleeping in during the summer. When Elysian forces him out of the house, Hamilton heads out for Rachel’s, only to find out it is closed for her wedding. Hamilton is relieved, and then concerned, as a new demon gets ready to attack the ceremony. Can he save Rachel’s big day without letting his anger toward Starry Knight get in the way? This is a short story set between Book 3 and Book 4 of The Starlight Chronicles from C. S. Johnson.

     But when catastrophe’s dagger hit its mark,her world was changed forever. An ancient evil -- hidden in the pages of legend for generations -- creeps from the shadows shattering Edelaine’s tranquil way of life… and possibly its very existence. Thrust into a destiny she doesn’t want and a family legacy she never knew, Cali is forced to trust in a mysterious power she doesn’t understand. Can she accept her destiny and convince the people of Edelaine of the looming evil? Or will she bear the ultimate loss as her home, and the entire world of Idoramin falls into darkness? The long days of peace have ended... an old darkness has returned.

    Scott Lynch takes us along on an insanely dangerous quest with a down-on-his-luck thief who has nothing left to lose, and who finds that by finding everything; he gains nothing except for a rousing story to tell on a cold winter's night.

    The stories include Ninjas & Nephilims (Enlighten series) by Kristin D. Van Risseghem, Jonah's Curse (Midnight Chronicles series) by Rhonda Sermon, Prince of Hawks (Unweaving series) by Sarah K.L. Wilson, and Wrath of Witches (Shift of Shadow and Soul series) by Hilary Thompson. This edition was free on the authors joint mailing list.

    There’s a new spinoff series coming soon (set three years after the events in the original series), and the first two books are almost ready to go. Just waiting for final cover art! There will also be another book coming late winter/early spring with the original core characters.Those are the guys we’re visiting with this short story. “Crazy Canyon” stars Ridge and Therrik (with a few appearances by the dragon who believes he’s a god, Bhrava Saruth). It takes place after the events in Shattered Past, but you should be able to read it even if you’re not familiar with the series.

     Two men, both strangers, hardened by blood and steel. Both are poised to kill. Neither knows whom to trust. Only one thing is certain: any mistake will result in death. This book is rated T! according to the AO3 content rating system.

    . . high adventure and wondrous wizardry . . . dread monsters and vast rewards . . . Tales of swashbuckling sword and sorcery at their best offer keen wit, ingenious perception, freewheeling imagination, and canny invention. From its swashbuckling beginnings of good versus evil battles to clashes of more nuanced principles set in complex settings to havoc shaped by grittier perspectives, ambiguous morality, deep history and expansive worldbuilding--readers continue to be thrilled by the exploits of great warriors and mighty mages. Swords Against Darkness: an epic anthology of short stories and novellas from classic to modern, each tale a memorable vision from masters of mistresses of heroic fantasy past and present!