Vim is an energy resource that exists deep beneath the surface. A life force, it approximates the idea of a human soul. When the people of Pearl die, their vim is returned to the soil. And each new baby takes a little back out.The company of Megacorp wants to change this natural process forever. They’ve found a way to mine the vim and use it to power numerous gadgets and machines on the surface. While this industry has given the planet’s inhabitants a better quality of life, it threatens to shift the balance of their entire existence.Cirrus Stark is determined to stop them. When he is inducted into WAVE, a shadowy secret rebellion, he is determined to break Megacorp’s monopoly and destroy the company. As he grows closer to the other members of WAVE and nears the achievement of his main objective, Cirrus realizes some startling things about the planet—and his own place in the universe. He is just one piece of a larger cosmic puzzle.Will he ever comprehend the entire picture, or is he destined to simply perpetuate systems put in place millennia before?

    until the blistering hot day when they go to the nearby lake for a swim. When they reach the lake, they spy an unknown mage conjure a massive water creature hundreds of feet tall. They watch in horror as the water creature plunges toward their home, apparently drowning all in its path, including their parents and older brother, Jak.As the only survivors, brother and sister strike out on their own, hoping to discover the reason their home and family was destroyed. They must make their way through a countryside where magic is outlawed, punishable by imprisonment or even death while struggling with the revelation that Kenders has magical abilities herself.Although Kenders can feel and touch the many-colored "strands" of magic she has no idea how to use them until she and Nikalys are attacked by a pack of wolves and Kenders instinctively summons a bolt of lightning, immediately collapsing when the effort drains her of all her energy. From nowhere a giant lynx appears and saves the pair from certain death and then miraculously morphs into his natural self, a seven-foot-tall man. The shape changer's name is Broedi and when the time is right, he reveals to the siblings that he is one of the original White Lions and he recites to them an ancient prophecy that tells of the coming of a new and even more terrible war than the one centuries ago. The evil Gods of Chaos, Strife, and Sorrow and Pain would combine efforts to unite the orcs, gnolls and razorfiends --- normally sworn enemies. The forces of good would be led by two children of other White Lions; those children are Nikalys and Kenders, the Progeny.As brother and sister struggle with the revelation that the only parents they could remember were not their birth parents, some of the Gods and Goddesses were busy setting other events in motion. Others people - strangers at first - would gather and become allies of the Progeny. Together, they were about to be caught up in the greatest conflict the world had ever seen.Ancient, powerful forces still seek the Progeny on their travels, some intent to eliminate the threat they pose, some hoping to help them fulfill a destiny of which they are unaware. Myths and legends come to life, whisking the pair along a journey they never could have imagined possible.

    or the cursed.SLATEI didn’t mean to steal the Bloodstone from the De Morel’s crypt. Scratch that, I did mean to steal it. Until I realized it was a curse-magnet that only comes off if I, along with a jolly trio, successfully defeat four curses.If any of us fail, I’m dead.I’ve never been a glass half-empty sort of person, but my glass looks in dire need of a refill right about now.The only highlight of this wicked treasure hunt: feisty, entitled Cadence de Morel.CADENCEI was raised on tales of magic, in a small town reputed to be the birthplace of French witchcraft.Did I believe all the stories I heard? Absolutely not. I mean, if magic existed, Maman wouldn’t have died, and Papa wouldn’t be stuck in a wheelchair, right?Wrong.The night Slate Ardoin waltzes into my life, wearing a ring he stole from my mother’s grave, I call him a monster.But then I meet real ones, and Slate, well . . . he becomes something else to me.Something frustrating to live with but impossible to live without.Something I will fight for, no matter the cost.*Warning: profuse cursing (and not just the magical kind).

    But the ancient bond with dragonkind is failing. Of those that answer a summoning too many are black. Black dragons are the enemy of humankind. Black dragons are mad.Falco Dante is a weakling in a world of warriors, but worse than this, he is the son of a madman. Driven by grief, Falco makes a decision that will drive him to the brink of despair. As he tries to come to terms with his actions Falco follows his friends to the Academy of War, an elite training school dedicated to martial excellence. But while his friends make progress he struggles to overcome his doubts and insecurity. Even Queen Catherine of Wrath has her doubts about Falco’s training.While the Queen tries to unite the Kingdoms against the Possessed, Falco struggles to overcome his fears. Will he unlock the power trapped inside him or will he succumb to madness and murder like his father?

    From virgin to grandmother, all the women in her city are in their last trimester, power drained by a lurking sorcerer. Only the Lord of the Feast, a dangerous yet charming illusionist, is uncivilized enough to help.

    Its soldiers find entertainment in the beds of the castle's servants rather than fight, believing they are safe from the deadly embrace of wielders. Wars are fought to encourage otherwise absent mortality, and countless citizens suffer the terrible pangs of nalka - the hunger for intimacy. All the while, Cadra's king concerns himself with choosing which of his disappointing concubines to execute next. The duty falls upon his son, Morghiad, to restore the city's strength and the army's purpose. As Morghiad attempts to do just that, he uncovers darker horrors and encounters a young servant who could either be his greatest ally or his greatest hindrance.

    Awesome!!!""OMG this book. Holy heck the gruesome descriptions of blood and gore and guts was SO RAD. I found myself cringing and fidgeting and yes, even feeling a bit nauseous in some spots - but totally in a GOOD WAY! Painless was exactly what I wanted in a super-unique, creepy, shocking horror-thriller."About the Book...The debut psychological-horror novel from author Marty Thornley is a page-turning ride, a front row seat to a clinical trial gone horribly wrong. For Greg Owens, this was supposed to be a chance to end years of back pain and escape his reliance on pain pills. If it all worked out, he could maybe even get back the life he left behind as the pills took control.Instead, as the patients are cured of their physical pain, they encounter a different sort of pain building inside them – obsessive thoughts, depression, self-destruction. The side-effects grow worse, and the suspense ratchets tighter. The patients want answers and violent revenge, setting them on a collision course with a crazed doctor, determined to protect his life's obsession.

    A wave of sinkholes appears on the anniversary of a rural tragedy, and local residents begin to hear the voices of the dead. A woman encounters a predator from her youth—and a chance to turn the tables. A child’s inner beast takes on a sinister life of its own. An undetectable serial killer raises tensions on a college campus. Experimental physics reveals another world, and it might mean the end of ours. Shrouded in darkness, lurking in the shadows, NIGHT TERRORS III awaits you. The third installment of the chilling Night Terrors anthology series includes stories from Jack Ketchum, Steve Rasnic Tem, Dennis Etchison, Taylor Grant, Eric J. Guignard, Aric Sundquist, Jennifer Brozek, John McNee, Simon McCaffery, Patty Templeton, and many more!

    It might be a sign at that. The Island girl wasn't stupid. She knew how to work. And she had it inside her to be ruthless. Block had seen it plain as day." Epic Fantasy, Muskets & Magic. Historical fiction in a fictional world.The Trade Houses of the Miilark Islands control the shipping lanes linking four diverse continents across the blue vastness of the Interminable Ocean. The Houses are represented abroad by the Guilders; men and women skilled in business and burglary, salesmanship and swordplay, merchandising and musketry. Tilda Lanai has trained for years to take her place among them, but now the House she is to serve is imperiled by the sudden death of the House Lord. Scenting blood in the water, rival Houses begin to circle. The desperate search for an exiled heir takes Tilda across a war-torn continent and to the gates of the Sable City, where centuries ago dark magic almost destroyed the world. Along with a sinister sorceress, a broken-hearted samurai, and a miscreant mercenary long on charm but lousy with a crossbow, Tilda must brave the demon-infested ruins to find the heir who may yet save her House.Volume I of the Norothian Cycle

    They will set off a race to unravel the deepest secrets of human existence--and an event that could change humanity forever.

    Seven were forged by the first Sovereign of the Seven Isles and bound to the bloodline of each of the seven Island Kings in exchange for their loyalty to the Old Law. Each sword is as long as a man’s arm, as wide as a man’s thumb and so thin it can’t be seen when viewed from the edge. Thinblade is the story of Alexander’s quest to find the ancient sword, claim the throne of Ruatha and raise an army to stand against the enemy that has awoken to claim dominion over all of the Seven Isles.

    Headstrong, accomplished journalist Martha Gellhorn is confident with words but less so with men when she meets disheveled literary titan Ernest Hemingway in a dive bar. Their friendship—forged over writing, talk, and family dinners—flourishes into something undeniable in Madrid while they’re covering the Spanish Civil War.Martha reveres him. The very married Hemingway is taken with Martha—her beauty, her ambition, and her fearless spirit. And as Hemingway tells her, the most powerful love stories are always set against the fury of war. The risks are so much greater. They’re made for each other.With their romance unfolding as they travel the globe, Martha establishes herself as one of the world’s foremost war correspondents, and Hemingway begins the novel that will win him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Beautiful Exiles is a stirring story of lovers and rivals, of the breathless attraction to power and fame, and of one woman—ahead of her time—claiming her own identity from the wreckage of love.

    In an America turned authoritarian, a desperate race against time begins. To send a starship to a distant planet, where the remains of humanity can survive.However, while the government wants to recreate the society it has engineered, there are those who secretly conspire to let the starfarers choose their own destiny. As mankind on Earth faces its final blow, the selected few set course for Aurora, more than 40 light years away.Follow Maria Solis, the billionaire daughter, Kenneth Taylor, Harvard professor of psychology, and Tina Hammer, a scramjet pilot and officer, through the selection and preparations for the adventure of a lifetime - and a final chance for a doomed civilization.

    None of these distract James Holtzclaw from his employer's mission: to turn the fading gold-rush town of Auraria, GA, into a first-class resort and drown its fortunes below a man-made lake. But when Auraria's peculiar people and problematic ghosts collide with his own rival ambitions, Holtzclaw must decide what he will save and what will be washed away. Taking its inspiration from a real Georgia ghost town, Auraria is steeped in the folklore of the Southern Appalachians, where the tensions of natural, supernatural and artificial are still alive.

    In a typical week he works as a police officer, lawyer and doctor and still finds time to murder someone and drink their blood. He used to feel guilty about the killings, but now he restricts himself to only eating the worst members of society. Few people in Starside, Illinois seem to care about the untimely deaths of spam e-mailers, pushy Jehovah Witnesses and politicians. However, the barriers between Nick's three secret lives start to crumble when a mysterious man from his past arrives in town seeking revenge. Nick must move quickly to prevent the three women in his life, and the authorities who are hunting him, from discovering his terrible secret.Dark Moonlighting is the first book in the humorous series. It explores four of the biggest clichés in popular culture, and it pokes fun at a number of popular television shows including Law & Order, Bones and House. It also takes a more realistic and amusing approach to the vampire cliché. For example, the average human has the equivalent of five Big Gulps worth of blood in their body. Nick takes twenty minutes to kill someone and, like the vampire bat, must immediately urinate afterwards.