Book picks similar to
Portrait of a Wide Seas Islander by Victoria Goddard


fantasy
magic-in-another-world
type-short-story-novella
not-at-library

The Spires of Dasny: Dragon Riders School


Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait - 2020
    I scrambled up the Spires of Dasny, even though I knew it once was a haven for dragons and the old Dragon Riders School. The ground thundered. I trembled in the small niche tucked into the mountain. Had the knights returned? I caught my breath as an enormous green eye peered in. A dragon!I awoke in a deep, dark cavern. Staring at me through one opened eye lay a huge black dragon. I had been taught the stories of the dragons, of the days long ago when they ruled the sky and searched for their riders, but this wasn’t at all what I had been taught. Why was I there? Suddenly, pressure built up in my head. My eyes sprung wide in fear and... I heard him.What happens when three dragon riders come together as told in the prophecy? The Blind, the Healer and the Magician…There are secrets to be uncovered, but only if Seyra is brave enough. Discover the intriguing lives of the brash young Seyra and Dreyth, the one who rescues her--or is it she who rescues him?*I loved this story. It had shades of Anne McCaffery to it - and I loved her books.**This was amazing. I loved this line because it says so much. “One dragon eye slowly opened. It is possible. Sleep now. Sleep heals all things. We will talk later.” This has the beginnings of something grand. So good.**I thought of Anne McCaffrey while reading, so you must be doing something right. I liked the way you gave us all the information we needed without it feeling like an information dump. The section on the dragon riders felt natural.*

The Other Side of the Sky


Amie Kaufman - 2020
    Perfect for fans of Laini Taylor and Brandon Sanderson.Prince North’s home is in the sky, in a gleaming city held aloft by intricate engines, powered by technology. Nimh is the living goddess of her people on the Surface, responsible for providing answers, direction—hope.North’s and Nimh’s lives are entwined—though their hearts can never be. Linked by a terrifying prophecy and caught between duty and fate, they must choose between saving their people or succumbing to the bond that is forbidden between them.

Iron and Blood


Auston Habershaw - 2015
    Not one to be deterred by this setback, he quickly puts into motion a plan for revenge—one that will use every dirty trick in the book.But things are never simple for mastermind Tyvian, especially not after he uncovers a sinister plot: evil wizard Banric Sahand is planning to decimate the city of Freegate. Now Tyvian must learn to work with—and rely on—his motley crew of accomplices, including an adolescent pickpocket, an obese secret-monger, a fearsome gnoll, and a Mage Defender…who is also trying to get him arrested. Time is running out for Tyvian's plan for revenge—while the fate of the city hangs in the balance.

American Hippo


Sarah Gailey - 2018
    Now readers have the chance to own both novellas in American Hippo, a single, beautiful volume.Years ago, in an America that never was, the United States government introduced herds of hippos to the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This plan failed to take into account some key facts about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.By the 1890s, the vast bayou that was once America's greatest waterway belongs to feral hippos, and Winslow Houndstooth has been contracted to take it back. To do so, he will gather a crew of the damnedest cons, outlaws, and assassins to ever ride a hippo. American Hippo is the story of their fortunes, their failures, and his revenge.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

An Unreasonable Doubt


Jonathan L. Howard - 2014
    Unfortunately, the Cresswill case was anything but. It started as a suicide, but then it was a murder pretending to be a suicide. Then it appeared that it was a suicide masquerading as a murder pretending to be a suicide. It was all so ridiculous, but the only thing a jury needs to acquit is a reasonable doubt, even when it seems quite unreasonable. Or is it? Or not? Perhaps to find the truth, the police need help that is every bit as unhinged as the case…

Caroline's Heart


Austin Chant - 2017
    They say it's impossible to bring back the dead, yet Cecily's resurrection spell is nearly complete and grows more powerful by the day. But when a cowboy she barely knows is fatally injured, the only way to save him is by sacrificing an essential piece of the resurrection spell—and all possibility of seeing her lover again.

The Antagonists: Book One


Burgandi Rakoska - 2015
    When she was younger, she had wanted to harness her fighting skills by joining The Quartet - New Quartz City's finest superhero team. She had been young. Her head had been filled with dreams. Now she's a graduate student with a head filled with anxieties. And yet, there's still a small part of her that longs to join The Quartet. Then again, as the old saying goes, one shouldn't meet their heroes. It's not long before Minerva Banks finds herself in a battle that has existed since the Era of Merlin, a battle to survive, a battle to prove herself...

The Shadow Cats


Rae Carson - 2012
    And it was not Alodia.Alodia is the crown princess of the realm. The sister who knows how to rule, and the one who is constantly reminded that she has not been marked for a grand destiny. But Alodia has plans, and she will be the greatest queen her people have ever known. So she travels--with her hopeless, naïve, chosen sister--to a distant part of their land, to begin to secure her supporters. This region needs its princesses, for it is plagued with a curse. The crops don't grow, the spring doesn't arrive, and a fierce jaguar stalks the shadows, leaving only empty homes splashed with blood behind. If Alodia can save them, no one will be able to deny her strength and her sovereignty.But what she discovers could change the fate of her kingdom, if not her world. And it will most certainly change her opinion of her younger sister."The Shadow Cats" is a prequel to the riveting Fire and Thorns trilogy: Book One, The Girl of Fire and Thorns; Book Two, The Crown of Embers; and Book Three, The Bitter Kingdom.

The Man Who Folded Himself


David Gerrold - 1973
    When Daniel Eakins inherits a time machine, he soon realizes that he has enormous power to shape the course of history. He can foil terrorists, prevent assassinations, or just make some fast money at the racetrack. And if he doesn't like the results of the change, he can simply go back in time and talk himself out of making it! But Dan soon finds that there are limits to his powers and forces beyond his control.

The One & Only


Jennifer L. Armentrout - 2015
    A Deacon and Luke story from the Covenant series.

Blue and Gold


K.J. Parker - 2010
    'In the morning I discovered the secret of changing base metal into gold. In the afternoon, I murdered my wife.'For a man as remarkable as the philosopher Saloninus, just another day.Of course, we only have his word for it, and Saloninus has been known to be creative with the truth. Little white lies are inevitable expedients when you're one jump ahead of the secret police and on the brink of one of the greatest discoveries in the history of alchemy. But why would a scientist with the world's most generous, forgiving patron be so desperate to run away? And what, if anything, has blue got to do with gold?Cover illustration by Vincent Chong

Six Earlier Days


David Levithan - 2012
    A must never get too attached, must never be noticed, must never interfere.  The novel Every Day starts on Day 5994 of A’s life. In this digital-only collection Six Earlier Days, Levithan gives readers a glimpse at a handful of the other 5993 stories yet to be told that inform how A navigates the complexities of a life lived anew each day.  In Every Day, readers discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. In Six Earlier Days, readers will discover a little bit more about how A became that someone. Fans of Levithan’s books such as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, co-written with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with John Green, will not want to miss A’s adventures in Every Day and Six Earlier Days.

The Ruin of Kings


Jenn Lyons - 2019
    When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn't what the storybooks promised.Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family's power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.Then again, maybe he's not the hero, for Kihrin is not destined to save the empire.He's destined to destroy it.

The City Born Great


N.K. Jemisin - 2016
    K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season, the winner of this year's Hugo Award for Best Novel, New York City is about to go through a few changes.Like all great metropolises before it, when a city gets big enough, old enough, it must be born; but there are ancient enemies who cannot tolerate new life. Thus New York will live or die by the efforts of a reluctant midwife...and how well he can learn to sing the city's mighty song.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Forestborn


Elayne Audrey Becker - 2021
    She uses her abilities to spy for the king, traveling under different guises and listening for signs of trouble.When a magical illness surfaces across the kingdom, Rora uncovers a devastating truth: Finley, the young prince and her best friend, has caught it, too. His only hope is stardust, the rarest of magical elements, found deep in the wilderness where Rora grew up--and to which she swore never to return.But for her only friend, Rora will face her past and brave the dark, magical wood, journeying with her brother and the obstinate, older prince who insists on coming. Together, they must survive sentient forests and creatures unknown, battling an ever-changing landscape while escaping human pursuers who want them dead. With illness gripping the kingdom and war on the horizon, Finley's is not the only life that hangs in the balance.